Boston Celtics: Kemba Walker isn’t the only one to blame for lack of success
The Boston Celtics are simply not a good team right now. And it’s not entirely Kemba Walker’s fault.
A few weeks ago, the Boston Celtics made headlines when team general manager Danny Ainge said the roster was not good enough to win a championship. Looking at the standings, I don’t think anyone would argue against that statement at the moment.
The Celtics are currently 15-15 and holding on to the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference. They aren’t particularly special on the offensive end and are barely above average defensively. The team struggles to take care of the basketball (ranked 20th in the league with the most turnovers) and has struggled in clutch situations – which was on display when the team blew a 24-point second-half lead against the New Orleans Pelicans over the weekend.
Boston has plenty of issues and, especially recently, the scapegoat has become Kemba Walker. And it’s easy to see why. Kemba, in his second season with the Celtics, is struggling mightily. Kemba is on pace to have the least productive efficient season of his career since his rookie year.
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Kemba Walker has been bad for the Boston Celtics this season
Since returning to the lineup (after missing the team’s first 14 games), Kemba is averaging 17 points and four assists on 37 percent shooting from the field and 35 percent shooting from 3-point range.
Kemba’s struggles on both ends of the floor have certainly hurt the team, but their overall issues go well beyond Kemba. The Celtics aren’t playing at the same level as they were inside the restart bubble and still look lost in big moments on the offensive end.
Sure, not having a point guard that can be counted on a consistent basis hurts. Absolutely. There’s no question about it. Although, even if Kemba was playing at a high level offensively the defensive issues would still remain. As would their late-game execution.
For a team as talented as the Celtics are, there have to be some questions about this team’s coaching. Not to say that Brad Stevens isn’t a great coach, but that perhaps there’s some misconnect taking place this season. I’m just spitballing here.
In a vacuum, Stevens is probably one of the top 5 coaches in the league. He’s certainly set that reputation over the last few years, but a team with Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Kemba Walker, Marcus Smart, Tristan Thompson, and other supporting role players is only good enough to post a 15-15 record through the first 30 games of the season?
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Something isn’t right in Boston and perhaps the first true sign of that should’ve been the general manager calling out the roster in public.