Maine Celtics continue to impress in the shadows: G-League check-in
As the Boston Celtics continue to roll at the top of the NBA, their counterpart, the Maine Celtics, is quietly making their mark in the G-League. It is nearly impossible to talk about Joe Mazzulla’s team without uttering the word “unselfishness”, but that goes beyond just the team at the professional level.
The Maine Celtics have embodied just what their older brother has through the beginning part of the season.
Despite a loss to the Capital City Go-Go on November 18, Alex Barlow’s team has put its foot on the gas and has not looked back. Seven different players are averaging double-figures in points per game, one more than Mazzulla’s side possesses at the moment.
Barlow’s team found a way to get eight out of the 10 players that played in the contest above 12 points in the Maine Celtics’ win over the Delaware Blue Coats a few nights ago. The willingness to pass up a good shot for a great one, and keep the opposition’s halfcourt defense in constant movement is evident as Maine sits in second in the NBA G-League in assists per game with an astounding 29.9.
In the last two triumphs over the Blue Coats, the Maine Celtics have averaged 36.5 assists, including a 40-assist night in a 49-point blowout, where eight players totaled three or more assists. From Denzel Valentine’s triple-double the other night to Scottie Lindsey’s 7/10 night from beyond the arc, there always seems to be someone new who steps up for this talented developmental squad.
JD Davison and Mfiondu Kabengele are living up to their two-way contracts early in the season, posting the two-highest field-goal percentages on Boston’s G-League affiliate. It is not only the points that each of them are putting through the basket, it is their willingness to give the players around them an opportunity to shine.
Alex Barlow has the Maine Celtics dominating on offense just like Joe Mazzulla
The Maine Celtics are 11th in the G-League in offense but lead the league in assist percentage with 68 percent along with sitting second in the league in defensive rating. Alex Barlow’s team is top-three in pace, and first in the G-League in offensive rebounding led by Mfiondu Kabengele whose hard work inside the paint has earned him 4.1 offensive rebounding per contest. When the shot goes up, there are always multiple players in green focusing on where the ball will land if it falls through the net.
With the way the Joe Mazzulla’s team has come together in the beginning parts of the season, there looks to be no bigger story in the NBA than the Celtics. What Barlow and his team in Maine are doing should be shown some recognition as well. Brad Stevens’ and the rest of the organization’s praise for Barlow before the season made it seem he could have the potential to be on Boston’s staff one day, maybe even a head coach.
The system he has implemented in Maine demonstrates that there is not only real promise in many of the players’ futures but the future of the head coach at the professional level. Being atop the G-League standings may not mean that much to the organization, with the goal of simply developing players, but watching a team possessing some of the same qualities as their NBA club stands out the most. Maine shoots the second-most 3-pointers in the G-League, trying to give its best impression of what Mazzulla’s team is doing in Boston.
While the players on the team have the goal of making it to the NBA, it is quite astounding to see how well a group of players is meshing together at a level where team success is not the most important thing.