There were certainly some raised eyebrows on Sunday night when the Celtics’ starting lineup was announced for their showdown with the Bucks, and Mike Conley’s name appeared. Conley has been a great addition in Boston, a sort of extension of the coaching staff, as he has brought his veteran leadership with 19 years of NBA experience.
But his days as a high-impact player are clearly behind him, and through the first nine games, he had seen nothing but mop-up duties. So, it was a bit odd to see that, with everyone healthy, Conley was to be the team’s starting point guard on the road against a team that took them down to the wire earlier in the week.
Well, come to find out, what seemed like an odd decision by Joe Mazzulla may not really have been his decision at all. Noa Dalzell of CelticsBlog tracked down Conley and got some great information out of the 39-year-old, including his explanation for the start, saying the decision was left to the players, and Jayson Tatum and Derrick White gave the nod to Mike.
Conley starting was players' decision
Conley told Noa all about how much he has been empowered in Boston and how much he appreciates it. He explained that Joe asked the players who they thought should start, and Tatum and White informed him of their decision.
I’m all for player empowerment, and I think this is the kind of thing that can build chemistry and camaraderie in the locker room and give an extra level of accountability to the players. But at the same time, this may be taking things a little too far. Joe loves to downplay the importance of the starting lineup, and to an extent, I get where he’s coming from.
But starting a player who’s not even in the rotation because the players chose that may be a bridge too far. There’s a reason that NBA coaches are paid a lot of money to coach while the players make a lot of money to play. I’m sure Conley has been great in the locker room, but that doesn’t translate to what he does on the floor.
I don’t want to put all of the blame on Conley here, but the Bucks jumped out to a 20-6 lead before Conley was replaced, and the Celtics were up 13 by halftime, meaning they won the non-Conley first-half minutes by 27. Luckily, the Bucks aren’t very good, and Boston was easily able to dig out of the hole, but why even risk handicapping your team like this?
Starting a player outside of the rotation sends the wrong message
The Bucks are still an NBA team that played you tough just a few days ago. This lineup sends a message that you’re not taking the Bucks seriously enough. This Celtics team is still learning to play as a group, and they need time to build cohesion with their best units. Conley is definitely not a part of those units, so this seems like a gimmick that shouldn’t be employed in game 10 of the new season.
Again, I love Conley, and the rest of the team clearly does too. This isn’t supposed to be a knock on him in any way. But the Celtics haven’t exactly looked like world-beaters to start the season, and they still need to figure out their best lineups and starters. Using a game to reward Conley is a bit much, and if the team hadn’t rallied back and won the game, there would be some major questions being asked.
This feels like the kind of move that should be pulled out in game 82 of the season, with everything locked up, as a way to reward the players with this kind of empowerment and reward the vets for keeping the team focused all year. Doing it in early November is aggressive for my taste and almost a little disrespectful to the opponent and the players competing for the starting job.
I’m hoping this is a one-off because the Celtics can’t afford to be starting games in a huge hole. Mazzulla is the reigning Coach of the Year, and he should be the one making these decisions. I like the idea of making the players feel involved, but it’s hard to get behind this particular move.
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