The Celtics came into the 2018-2019 NBA season with huge expectations, not just from the media, but from themselves as well. They were a team who made it all the way to Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals without Gordon Hayward or Kyrie Irving and the expectations this year were to storm through the Eastern Conference and make it to the NBA Finals. Well, the story of this year, so far, can be summed up in one word; underachievement. Frustration, anger, confusion, and embarrassing can also sum up the performance so far, but underachievement fits the best. The whole team, outside of Kyrie Irving, Marcus Morris, and Aron Baynes, have underachieved to some extent, and some more than others. A 9-8 record is a winning record and most teams in the weak Eastern Conference would be satisfied with that throughout the first stretch of games. The Celtics should not be satisfied, not even close. What is going on with this team? In my opinion, there are too many players who are worried about getting their shots and their looks and not worried about the overall success of the team. With so many talented players, shots are few for some of the bench guys such as Terry Rozier and Marcus Smart. So, Brad Stevens is left with a big time decision. Do you cut into people's minutes to play your best 5-7 guys for more of the stretch run? Or do you keep playing all the guys who have been getting minutes this year and hope for them to figure it out? In my opinion, it is time to make it a harsh reality for some. If you are not performing during the game, then you should not play during the stretch run. Ride the hot hands for the final minutes, although Kyrie and Tatum, no matter how cold they are, must play in the stretch run. That leaves the options of Brown, Smart, Morris, Rozier, Horford, Hayward, and Baynes, realistically, to fill three spots. Ideally, you would hope Brown, Hayward, and Horford would be able to fill out the rest of the starting lineup, but at this juncture in the season nothing has been certain as far as consistency goes. Marcus Smart is also a very viable option in the end of games based on his defense, so with the many whistles there are at the end of games Smart would be a defensive sub, if I was at the helm. Now look, it is early, and there is plenty of time to turn this ship around and figure it out. However, as a big fan of the Celtics, I would like to see them turn it around ASAP! In Brad we trust. In Danny we trust. In Kyrie we trust. 74-8 is on the way.
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