The backcourt defense becomes a loophole & no one is available in the interior. How will Mazula deal with Tatum s absence?

Translator's note: The original text was published in The Athletic. The data in the article are as of the time of the original text (September 4th local time). The dates and times involved are local time

NBA Training Camp will be opened later this month. For the first time during head coach Joe Mazura's tenure, the Celtics will not be regarded as a favorite to win the championship. With Jason Tatum's Achilles tendon ruptured and missing indefinitely, the team has more questions than before at this stage of the season. Here are five questions that may determine the direction of the new season.

1. How will the backcourt cooperate?

For years, the Celtics have used almost only capable defenders. Ju Holiday once joked: "Even our white players will defend." His humor highlights one of the Celtics' biggest advantages, which is that there are no weak links on both offense and defense at the court.

General Manager Brad Stevens was very cautious when forming a full-scale roster, but he chose to deviate from this guiding principle in order to cut salaries this offseason. So, how will the Celtics deal with Anfini Simmons? His defensive ratings are usually noticeably negative—and according to some highly respected metrics, he has been one of the worst defenders in the NBA throughout his career. Simmons' offensive talent is unquestionable, but assuming he can make the opening roster, he will be the most easily targeted weak point in the Celtics' defensive end since Mazura became head coach.

The Celtics will have little room for mistakes. As the team's frontcourt is composed mainly of players who serve as substitutes for most of their career, outside players will bear a heavy burden. Even without Tatum, they should be able to keep the scorers busy. Last season, Jaylen Brown, Derek White and Payton Pritchard played together for only 351 minutes without Tatum, but during that small sample time, the Celtics scored an astonishing 128.4 points per 100 rounds.

Since then, some changes have occurred in the Celtics' frontcourt, but Nimias Kota and Luka Garza have been productive in their limited playing time in the past, and they should at least be able to play a role in offensive rebounds. Introducing a talented scorer like Simmons who can hit three-pointers with extremely high output should increase the pressure on the opponent's defense. The Celtics should still shoot a lot of three-pointers.

But who will Mazula send to start with White? If Simmons played for a long time, how much impact would the Celtics’ defense be? How will they cooperate when he and Prichard are present at the same time? In such a lineup with many defenders, how small is Mazula willing to line up? ? How much will the Celtics miss Tatum’s ability to organize an offense?

If all goes well, White and Prichard should benefit from the extra chance, and Simmons' defense should improve in the Celtics' squad culture. The team's tactical idea is likely to be to play at a faster pace while constantly scoring, scoring, and scoring again. This may work, but it requires excellent performance from the defenders.

2. What will the Celtics do in the power forward position?

After trading George Nyan - he will be remembered forever as a Celtic legend - the Celtics' choice in power forward position will become very tight.

I guess Mazula will put Jaylen Brown and Sam Hauser as two starting forwards, but such a combination will expose weaknesses on the rebound. The Celtics can use Xavier Tillman in power forward position, but he hardly played last season with a knee injury and rarely played in this position in the past. They could put Garza in this position with Kota, but the idea would be very eccentric and could be doomed.

Josh Minnot may get a chance, but he rarely played with the Timberwolves before signing with the Celtics as a free agent. Someone among the younger players may come forward (perhaps Baylor Sherman?), but that will make the Celtics smaller than they normally have in recent years.

No matter what Mazula chooses, the impact of Tatum's absence will be revealed in many ways. He defends the center on the defensive end, plays point guards on the offensive end, and is also competent for offensive and defensive tasks in multiple positions on the field. The overall nature of the Celtics lineup was greatly weakened after Tatum's injury and several key players left the team during the offseason. Mazula needs to find ways to make up for the shortcomings in his lineup.

3. Will there be a center forward?

Kota will be in the spotlight in training camp, he has been a fringe player, but now has the opportunity to compete for the starting center position. For the Celtics to compete for a playoff spot, they will need someone – anyone – to stand up in this position. Given that 32-year-old Chris Boucher may have been set at this stage of his career, Kota and Garza are the most likely candidates to explode. Although they have never been regular rotation players, the efficiency they have shown in their limited playing time (i.e., output per minute) has brought at least some hope that people will expect them to stand out in more important roles.

How Mazura will use Kota this season is worth paying attention to. In recent seasons, Mazura has been no less severing than any other Celtic player. After the big man made a mistake, Mazula can often be seen expressing disappointment on the sidelines. But now the Celtics will have to tolerate some of the mistakes Kota made. Without many other options, Mazura may need to be more patient with him.

The Celtics need to find one or two high-quality centers in some way-not only for this season, but for the future.

4. Can key players stay healthy?

This question may be the key to determining the fate of the Celtics this season. Given that they have lost the depth of the lineup significantly, their ability to deal with more major injuries will become very limited.

Even if their main players can maintain moderate health, the depth of the lineup is still a problem. Since the 2018-19 season, Brown has missed at least 12 games per season.

If Sherman, Jordan Walsh and Ugo Gonzalez Pena are not ready for the game, the dozen games Brown is missing may play ugly. When Brown rests, Hauser will be the only winger with stable rotation experience.

White, Prichard and Hauser have been the Iron Man of the Celtics, but what would happen if they all missed some time more this season? The level gap between the Celtics' main players and the substitutes will be devastating.

5. Can Brown, White and Prichard stay efficient while improving their performance?

When the Celtics gave Prichard more autonomy last season, his response was: he ranked fifth in the league in three-point shooting, ranked eleventh in effective shooting percentage, surpassing all defenders in the latter stats - except for Christian Braun, who scored mainly within the three-point line. Prichard increased his three-point shooting percentage to 40.7%, while also setting a new high in his personal career three-point shooting. While most players will lose their efficiency when taking on more important roles, Prichard's efficiency in and outside the three-point line has soared. Can

Prichard accomplish a similar feat again? The Celtics will most likely let him try it. Without Tatum, Brown, White and Prichard are expected to play the most important roles in their careers. When the Celtics were short of Major Generals, they seemed ready to take on more responsibilities, but now they need to keep proving that.

Author: Jay King

Translator: GWayNe