"Guys are trying to find their rhythm instead of playing together" - Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka calls out team after loss to San Antonio Spurs
Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka has openly criticized his team after their loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Friday. Udoka specifically called out four players, including stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
After the Celtics' 96-88 defeat at the hands of the Spurs, the first-year head coach was not happy with how they started the game. Boston had another slow first quarter and were even down by 24 points in the first half. Udoka wants the Celtics to play like a team and not find their rhythm individually.
"We shouldn’t have to take two or three shots to get us in a rhythm or get us going. Come out and play the way we do in the second, third and fourth quarter from the start. Guys are trying to find their rhythm instead of playing together and that’s what it looks like to me in the first quarter at times," Udoka said.
We fought our way back from a 24-point deficit but weren’t able to close out during crunch-time against the Spurs on Friday night. https://t.co/M1SITjWItB
Ime Udoka added that his players were more worried about their own game than playing together. The Boston Celtics are one of the worst first quarter teams in the NBA this season at 24th in first quarter offense. If the Celtics cannot figure out how to play as a team in the opening minutes, they are going to have a hard time earning homecourt advantage for the playoffs.
In the 96-88 loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Celtics were down as many as 24 points in the first half before playing great in the third quarter. They even had the lead with three minutes left in the game, but allowed a 15-0 run to the Spurs. It was an unacceptable performance for the Celtics.
Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka name-drops Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown in postgame criticism of the team
Boston Celtics head coach Ime Udoka's public call-out of his team after the loss to the San Antonio Spurs was not a first this season. Udoka criticized his players after their slow start to the season and it worked. The Celtics had a stretch of eight wins in 11 games.
The difference between the criticism this time around is that Udoka name-dropped his players, including Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. He also called out Marcus Smart and Dennis Schroeder, who were also in the starting five against the Spurs.
"It’s habits that we need to break, not trying to go isolation with all those you know, we got Marcus, Jaylen, Jayson and Dennis starting they need to learn to play together. Not try to just get baskets for themselves," Udoka said.
Celtics coach Ime Udoka had this to say of the Tatum/Brown/Smart/Schröder lineup https://t.co/bI4IcdTug1
Jayson Tatum led the Boston Celtics in the loss to the Spurs. He had 24 points, but shot just 9-for-23 from the field. Jaylen Brown, Marcus Smart and Dennis Schroeder also had a bad shooting night. The only positive for the Celtics is they were able to come back and take the lead. They will need to improve their first-quarter offense, as well as their overall defense, especially late in close games.
With the loss to the San Antonio Spurs, the Boston Celtics are now 10-10 for the season. Things are not going to be easy moving forward with games against teams such as the Utah Jazz, LA Lakers, LA Clippers, Golden State Warriors, Phoenix Suns and Milwaukee Bucks in December.
The Boston Celtics will be back on the court in Toronto on Sunday as they face off against the Raptors. It's going to be interesting to see if Ime Udoka's callout of his players will have a positive or negative effect on the team.