The Boston Celtics’ Final Grades For 2018
With the Celtics season over, it’s time to look back at the season as a whole. I will be giving grades for every Celtic player over the past year. This is my personal opinion based off of expectation and execution. Let’s begin with the coach.
Brad Stevens- While we don’t know who the Coach of the Year is, we know Brad is in the top 3. To me, Stevens should be the Coach of the Year. Gordon Hayward missed the entire season, Kyrie Irving missed 22 games, and the Celtics still won more games than the year before. He’s one of the best coaches in the league for a reason. A+
Aron Baynes- Baynes was not expected to make as big of an impact as he did this year. When Hayward went down, Baynes became a consistent starter. He provided muscle down low and allowed Al Horford to play more of his natural position of power forward. Hopefully he’s back next year. B+
Jaylen Brown- Another player to benefit from Hayward’s injury, Brown made a huge leap from year one to year two. His points went up by 8 points per game, he nearly doubled his rebounds, and almost shot 40% from the 3. If Brown can improve his dribbling and free throws, he’s going to be a superstar A
Gordon Hayward- Yea, that was a fun 5 minutes. INCOMPLETE
Al Horford- In his 2nd year in Boston, Horford took on a much larger leadership role. He served as the big brother to Brown, Tatum, Rozier, and Smart in the playoffs and was able to keep them calm during tense moments. The only issue with Horford is that he needs to become more aggressive on the boards and with his shot. B
Kyrie Irving- When Kyrie came to Boston, the question was if he could the number one option on the championship. While we didn’t get to see him in the playoffs, he sure looked like a franchise player in the regular season. After all, he shot a career high from the floor. While this injury to his leg doesn’t appear to be career altering, Kyrie needs to prove he can stay healthy. B+
Shane Larkin- I wasn’t expecting a lot from Larkin but he did have his moments. He was a solid back up guard when Kyrie went down. But I don’t know how long Larkin can last in the league with his size without a good shot. C
Greg Monroe- I was a big fan of the Monroe signing when he came halfway through the year. He was able to score in the post and add an extra body down low. But he struggled to get on the court in the playoffs due to his defense. I’d like to see him back next year, but that’s unlikely. C-
Marcus Morris- After getting off to a slow start, Morris averaged 19 points per game in the month of March. He showed that he can be a consistent scorer off of the bench and a versatile defender as well. Morris did fall off in the playoffs and needs to show he can shine on the biggest stage. B-
Abdul Nader- Darth Nader is a fantastic nickname. D
Semi Ojeleye- Semi’s arms are bigger than my head, just wanted to say that. While he showed promise on defense, Ojeleye was a liability on offense. He’s got a long way to way to go to become a consistent role player. C-
Terry Rozier- Scary Terry made the most of his opportunity when Kyrie Irving went down. He averaged 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 6 assists in the postseason and proved he is a starting guard in the NBA. If he can stop jacking up 3s and become a more consistent shooter, he’ll be a good player for a long time. A-
Marcus Smart- Smart is the most frustrating players to root for. He makes some of the most boneheaded plays on offense but is an absolute dog on defense. He did set a career high in assists but Smart HAS to improve his shot. 37% from the floor and 30% from 3 can’t cut it. B-
Jayson Tatum- Jayson Tatum had one of the most incredible rookie years in the history of the sport. He finished 8th in the entire league in 3 point shooting, had 7 straight 20 point games in the postseason, and came one point away from breaking the all-time scoring record in the postseason by a rookie. This guys is going to be a superstar. Just imagine when he gets some muscle. A
Daniel Theis- Like Tatum but on a much smaller level, Theis did make a solid impact in his rookie season. If he can develop a legit outside shot, he’d be a solid stretch 4 for Boston next year. B-
Guerschon Yabusele- The Dancing Bear is an even better nickname than Darth Nader. D+
Steven Santoro (SVS_1993)
Agree with most besides Al. He deserves at least an A as he was the biggest reason for our playoff successes. He didn’t look flashy or anything like Rozier, Brown, or Tatum but he stabilized this team and gave us our most important wins (Milwaukee game 7 and overtime game 3 against Philly). Telling him to be more aggressive on the boards is just telling him to do or be something he’s never been. He shoots on opportunities that he needs to but always looks to make the best shot possible. An underrated stat of his was that the Marcus Smart-Al Horford pick and roll was top 2 in regards to success this season. And I’m pretty sure they were only behind KD and Steph when it comes to that.
I’m not bashing your grades either because I agree with the rest of it too with maybe some reconsideration to Semi Ojeleye. You can’t get mad at him for his offensive struggles when Brad only ever put him in the game for defensive purposes. He was the Giannis stopper on top of that lol. His three point shot shows that it will eventually become decent enough to have defend. I would have gone with at least C+ to B range.