Celtics Talk Podcast: Who deserves blame for C's continued struggles? originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The panic meter is at an all-time high when it comes to the Boston Celtics.
They've now lost 14 of their last 21 games after suffering their third straight defeat Wednesday night to the Atlanta Hawks. The nightmarish stretch has highlighted deficiencies up and down the roster in addition to questionable coaching decisions by Brad Stevens. With the second half of the season right around the corner and the C's ninth in the Eastern Conference, something needs to change. And fast.
Scal and Perk preach accountability amid C's struggles
So who deserves blame for the Celtics' struggles? Chris Forsberg is joined by The Boston Globe's Chad Finn on a brand new Celtics Talk Podcast to slice up the blame pie.
Celtics Talk Podcast: Searching for positives with Chad Finn, plus dunk talk with Time Lord | Listen & subscribe | Watch on YouTube
"I think we're probably slicing it up seven or eight different ways, and pretty equally," Finn said. "Kemba is a frustration because he's still approaching the game like he's the same guy as he was in the first half of last year, which is an easy All-Star pick, guy who came in here and you can call him the alpha. I think he's still regarded as the best player and the guy with the most individual accomplishments. And so, Tatum and Brown fell in line a little bit behind him. He's not that guy anymore.
"One of the things that really needs to happen with him is he needs to recognize that Jaylen Brown's ascent has been pretty linear for an NBA player. He just keeps getting better and better. ... He became the number two guy for sure, maybe even the number one while Walker was out. And Tatum's Tatum, he has a chance to be and is one of the better scorers in the league and needs the ball. I think there have been a lot of adjustments for Kemba that are a lot to ask and really difficult, but he needs to make them. He needs to figure out what he is as a player while dealing with this knee injury. He needs to recognize that he is option number three and he can't try to shoot his way out of things like he's been trying to do, and be more of a playmaker."
Forsberg: Ainge waiting until offseason to use TPE is a dangerous game
In addition to Walker, Brad Stevens has been taking plenty of heat for the team's recent downfall. General manager Danny Ainge and owner Wyc Grousbeck have adamantly defended the C's head coach, but Forsberg and Finn handed him a slice of blame pie as well.
"[Stevens] tends to favor veterans, which is kind of surprising for a guy who came from the college game and recognizes that a young player can provide," Finn said. "It's not just veterans, it's guys who are low-upside veterans like Semi [Ojeleye]. Semi's gotten a lot better this year, he's shooting a lot better than he has from long range, but he's still eighth man, ninth man on a good team. Ideally, they would have spent the first part of the season finding out what they had, finding out how many minutes Time Lord could give them down the stretch late in the season and in the playoffs. ...
"I wanted to see Aaron Nesmith. Even though he was lost, put him out there and get him some reps. Get him those minutes on the court where he's going to start understanding the pace of the game and getting in the flow of it."
While Stevens certainly hasn't been perfect, Finn notes he still trusts the C's head coach to turn his team around in the second half.
"He's got his issues. He has these trends, the third-quarter thing isn't a real thing but blowing leads is a real thing and sometimes the iso ball feels like it falls on Brad a little bit," Finn said. "But in the big picture, I want this guy coaching the Celtics. I want Danny Ainge coaching the Celtics. And with a transaction or two and decent health, I still think this is a really good team contrary to what we've seen these last couple of weeks when they've gone 7-14."
Also in the new episode: Forsberg and Finn try to identify what has caused the C's recent funk and how they should use their traded player exception. Forsberg also is joined by Celtics big man Robert Williams for a 1-on-1 interview.
Check out the latest episode of the Celtics Talk Podcast on your favorite podcast app or watch it on YouTube below.
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