It’s officially playoff time.
The Boston Celtics took the court Monday morning for their first postseason practice, which lasted more than two hours and included live scrimmage action with TD Garden sound effects being pumped in over the speaker system.
Meanwhile, as the players were grinding on the floor downstairs, their President of Basketball Operations, Brad Stevens, was upstairs making a rare appearance with the media.
Stevens spoke to the media for about 13 minutes while covering a long list of topics. One of the most interesting takeaways from the session is that Stevens actually appreciates the fact that some of his players lack deep playoff experience.
Yes, you read that correctly. Stevens likes the fact that not all of his players have made deep playoff runs. He actually used the term “naivety” while describing how the lack of experience can actually be a benefit to the team.
“Shoot, we’ve got Al Horford. He’s lived it as much as anybody, right? Jrue Holiday’s won and lived it,” Stevens said. “I value some of the guys that haven’t lived it as much, because they’ll bring a fresh naivety to it. I just think that there’s power in all of that.”
One key player who falls into that category is Boston’s starting center, Kristaps Porzingis. The 7-foot-2 big man has participated in the Playoffs just twice in his career, and he has never won a playoff series. As Stevens indicated, however, that can be a positive for Boston.
“Kristaps just hasn’t been as far or deep into that as some of our other guys,” said Stevens. “And again, I kinda think that’s a good thing at times, because you’re naïve in some ways, and this is something that you are so looking forward to if you haven’t been through it.”
That’s really a microcosm of Porzingis’ season in Boston. He joined a championship contender and elite organization for the first time this offseason and he immediately brought a fresh attitude to the group. After stepping into that environment with a dose of naivety, Porzingis put forth arguably the best season of his career. Boston is hoping that will continue into the postseason.
In addition to those comments, Stevens also for the first time publicly addressed the extension that Jrue Holiday signed with the team last week. Stevens said that the team wanted to extend the versatile point guard not only for is tangible skills, but also for what he brings to the organization off the court.
“Jrue came here, joined our team, and all he tried to do was add to winning,” Stevens said of the two-time All-Star. “And for a guy who is as accomplished as he is, that’s used to more usage, more reps, more touches, and all of those other things, that never even came into play. All that came into play was, ‘What kind of a teammate am I being, and how can I help us win?’”
Stevens continued, adding, “I think that as you look at a person like him and you think of the long-term of a group, you think obviously you need really good players and guys who can play on both ends of the court, but you also want people that the young players can look up to. And he is a person they should look up to, and certainly do look up to.”
One of those young players is big man Neemias Queta. He is a 24-year-old big man who was a two-way player with the Celtics throughout this season until Boston signed him to a standard contract On April 8. Stevens gave some insight not only as to why they upgraded Queta’s contract, but also as to why they structured it to include multiple years.
“Oftentimes with Neemi, he's been able to come in and really fill a role and keep our team at a high, high level,” Stevens said. “The likelihood of anybody you sign at that 15th spot playing huge minutes in a playoff run is probably pretty low, but he’s shown that he’s able to do that if surrounded by the right guys and in the right role.”
Stevens then commented on the terms of the Queta’s deal, saying, “With the contract that we signed, we think Neemi is more than just a right-now player. We think he’s a player that can help us in the future.”
The signing of Queta to a standard contract gives Boston an official rotation of four big men, including three 7-footers. That group is comprised of Horford, Porzingis, Queta and Luke Kornet.
Some fans were questioning that group heading into the season, not knowing if it was strong enough for the Celtics to compete for a title. Those fans can stand proudly, knowing that Stevens wasn’t quite sure about the group, either.
“If you would’ve asked me going into the year with our four bigs, maybe we were a little bit unproven,” he said.
But now, with the 82-game regular season complete and with Queta signed to a full deal? Both Stevens and the fans have their answers.
“By the middle of the year, I was like, ‘Damn, that’s a really good group. They can really play.’”