Celtics could learn from Atlanta’s team dynamic

[RandomFan]

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics_nba/boston_celtics/2015/02/celtics_could_learn_from_atlanta_s_team_dynamic

 

This is a good article that partly focuses on something we don't talk enough about when considering adding new potential players to our roster: making quick decisions and quick reads.

 

 

NEW YORK — When Mike Budenholzer took control of the Atlanta Hawks after 17 years as a San Antonio assistant, he understood what made the right locker room. Tim Duncan’s low-keyed greatness gave the Spurs a gray-flannel identity in a league of runway divas. Now listen to Kyle Korver’s description of a similar dynamic on the 43-11 Hawks.

 

“Winning is getting everyone to buy in,” the Hawks guard said last week. “If we had a knucklehead on our team, one guy who was playing selfishly, he would stand out, and no one wants to stand out. We all get along, we’re all pulling for each other.”

 

Duncan’s spirit carries on. Al Horford, Paul Millsap, Jeff Teague and Korver — the four Hawks who will play for the East in tonight’s NBA All-Star game — are on the quiet side, low on flamboyance. They are also playing with San Antonio’s efficiency and balance. Ball movement and 3-pointers. Sound defenders who invariably make good decisions, and make them quickly. They are not Josh Smith’s Hawks. They have a selfless success that seems to have caught the rest of the league by surprise.

 

“I like to watch Atlanta,” Miami’s Chris Bosh said before catching himself. “You have to watch Atlanta. You have to see what they’re doing.” The Celtics, in particular, are watching. Brad Stevens is attempting to install all of the above qualities in his young, unpredictable team.

 

In Kelly Olynyk and Jared Sullinger, Stevens has a pair of big men as good passing the ball as they are shooting it, albeit without the consistency of Atlanta’s big men. Stevens is gathering athletic players who can guard multiple positions, at least on their good nights. But perhaps the most encouraging message from Atlanta is that you can, indeed, win without headliners. Yes, on one level that doesn’t make sense.

 

“It depends on what you consider a superstar, too, because they have four All-Stars,” Stevens said. “They are All-Stars because of their individual abilities and their team’s success and their ability to add to each other. Everyone plays their role to the absolute fullest.”

 

If it’s all about Danny Ainge’s trove of draft picks, then the construction of the Hawks should also encourage Stevens. The Celtics’ own picks in the next two or three years remain their best hope of good lottery position. For the most part, they can count on a lot of picks in the mid-first round or lower. That essentially describes the Hawks.

 

Horford was the third pick overall in the 2007 NBA draft. Millsap was the 47th pick overall in 2006, Teague was 19th in 2009 and Korver 51st in 2003. True, Elton Brand was the top pick in the 1999 draft, but in Atlanta the 35-year-old is a depth player. He played his greatest basketball elsewhere. Players like DeMarre Carroll and Mike Scott, not great commodities coming out of college, gained entry to the lineup thanks to basketball IQ as much as talent.

 

That’s what Stevens, a stickler for players who think about the game properly, recognizes when he looks at the Hawks now. “The thing that stands out is just the quick decision making,” Stevens said. “I’m hoping that’s a function of age.” It’s certainly a function of good scouting and drafting.

 

“It starts with our players. It’s the way they’re built — high-character guys, high basketball IQs,” Budenholzer said. “They enjoy making decisions and being put in position to make reads and share with each other. “We do practice it, we do watch film and drill it. But it always starts with our players. They’re made up and built in a way that makes us fortunate. They make quick decisions, quick reads. They do a lot of things that hopefully make us hard to guard.

 

“We just try to build and get better. More and more people are making more decisions,” he added. “We’re very fortunate with our bigs. They’re very good in their ability to make good decisions passing and handling the ball. We have multiple guys and people. Thabo (Sefolosha) and Kent (Bazemore) are new and growing. Trust me, their decisions are not always quick and not always good, but we are pushing them in that direction.”

 

Millsap describes his game with his former team (Utah Jazz) as “15 feet and in,” and on this Atlanta team of the past season-and-a-half as “15 feet and out.”Though he always had ability to hit the 3-pointer, his role has expanded as a so-called stretch 4.“It’s the modern day basketball game,” Millsap said. “But it’s definitely a work in progress. Two completely different teams. Atlanta has a system that has allowed us freedom to play our games. I’m a testament to that, Kyle (Korver) is a testament to it. Free motion, free play.”

 

In the middle of that motion stands Budenholzer, drilling his players on their choices and making sure the ball doesn’t stick. Though he has a similar sobering approach to his former boss, Gregg Popovich, Budenholzer isn’t as hands-on as some might think.

 

Asked about micro-managing, Teague shook his head. “Not at all,” the point guard said. “He’s definitely a free-flowing coach. It’s become second nature to us, and it’s easier to play for a coach like that.”

 

Korver has been impressed by Budenholzer’s ability to install a winning system in a relatively short amount of time.

“It all starts with him. Bud has our respect as a person and a basketball coach,” Korver said. “He teaches the game really well. He talks to you, asks for your input. It’s his second year of being a head coach, and he’s figured out a lot of things really quickly. A lot of it is probably Pop, and watching his example for so many years.”

 

Like Popovich, Budenholzer notices the shortcomings more than progress. “Coaches are never happy,” he said. “The good thing about our group is they’re mature, and want to be coached. They don’t get too caught up in the other stuff.”

The Celtics can only hope to reach that level. Stevens laughed when asked about a great team lacking stars.

“That’s a team full of superstars, that’s a team full of guys who get it and are focused on winning,” he said. “It’s something all of us can learn from. It’s a fun way to play.”

 

Most of this, if not all, is stuff we've all heard over and over again. But I thought the emphasis on not only good decisions with the ball, but quick-good decisions with the ball was worth talking about more. This made me think of another potential reason for the Payne trade. It makes me think that one of these possibilites are probably accurate: either Payne demonstrated that he might not ever "get" Buds system and be good enough on those areas; or he was so much farther behind Muscala in these areas (and maybe even what they've seen from Tavares so far) that he was likely never going to move past those guys for playing time.

 

The people that keep complaining about Pero, obviously this is part of his game that Bud must appreciate that goes beyond the traditional stats that people see.

 

I like how Bud mentioned Baze and Thabo both as still a work in progress. You would assume Baze would fall in this category since he's so young and inexperienced. But that an older vet like Thabo is still showing room form improvement there is nice.