Joe Mazzulla has called centers the most important position in basketball, and if the Boston Celtics' season-opening loss showed us anything, it’s that he was right about that assessment.
“They’re involved in every single pick and roll on the defensive end, their ability to communicate the defense, their ability to begin the physicality of the rim on both sides of the floor, the rim protection, offensively they are involved in a ton of actions,” Mazzulla said at the team’s Thursday practice. “They can make the two-on-one so much easier for all of our guys. It's used as a compliment because I think that and all three of those guys have a clear understanding of that. And so when you take a look at that, we can protect the rim a little bit better, we can rebound a little bit better, we can execute a little bit better on the offensive end. It's not all on them, but it starts with them because of how good and impactful they can be. And they know that, they appreciate that, they work on that.”
Boston’s centers were not good against the Pistons. Neemais Queta was limited by foul trouble. Luka Garza was bullied. And Mitchell Robinson, Boston’s big offseason addition, struggled against Detroit’s burly frontline.
“I played like ass,” he bluntly said. “It’s kind of just straightforward. I can’t have that.”
Robinson is looking nowhere but the mirror for what happened in Detroit, and he says he’s using it as fuel moving forward.
“We got demolished. As a big, you can't let that happen,” he said. “I’ve got to take that on the chin and learn from it, watch the film and get better, and just focus on the next one.”
The next one has a chance to be a little easier for Robinson, Queta, and Garza. The New York Knicks don’t bring the same level of physicality, so it will inherently be easier in some respects. And facing his former team could be a little added motivator for Robinson, although he’s not playing into that right now.
“It don't really matter that much,” he said. “It's more so just trying to bounce back from what happened two nights ago. At the end of the day, basketball is a business and we gotta play the [other] teams.”
Boston’s centers, specifically Robinson, being a huge part of what the Celtics are trying to accomplish has been a running theme over the past month. Mazzulla has asked for Robinson to evolve into a more dynamic player, and he has the faith in him to do it, because it’s something he needs Robinson to do.
“He's a very important piece to what we do. And so the standard is a little bit higher and the expectation is a little bit higher,” Mazzulla said “So I think it just comes with time, understanding that every play, you're at the nucleus of what we're trying to accomplish on both ends of the floor. … I appreciate that he's in that space and I think he's taking on the responsibility of knowing how important that position is to us.”
It’s not just that the position is important, it’s critical to what Boston is trying to do. The Celtics don’t get to the best version of themselves without high-level contributions from their centers. It’s not Robinson and the others to reach that full potential, and it’s on Mazzulla to find a way to coax more out of them.
“Joe's a great guy. He talked me through a lot of things, especially that night,” Robinson said. “He sent me some text messages and stuff like that, and I appreciate it … just building that relationship with Joe, he still trusts me and stuff like that. It's great. It's awesome. But I’ve still got to do better.”
There's no hint of panic at the Auerbach Center. One game isn’t going to define anything about the team. At the same time, their failures exposed critical truths about the team. First and foremost, their bigs need to play well. All three having a rough night is going to hinder their chances of winning. Everyone looks to the perimeter players to figure out how to score and settle things down during opponent runs, but it’s the big who create the best opportunities. If they can’t do that, this Celtics team will be in trouble.
“I think they're so involved in what we do, setting off-ball screens, running the floor, setting ball screens, running the rim hard, checking the rim on the other end,” Sam Hauser said. “They do a lot for us, and when they're at their best, usually we're at our best too. We put a lot on them, and they can handle it, but it's not always an easy job. But those two [Robinson and Queta] and Luka as well are cut out for it.”
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