When the Boston Celtics notched their 50th win of the season last week, first-year head coach Ime Udoka was asked about the secret to his teamâs second-half surge.
"I think itâs a pretty simple formula we talk about: play defense at an elite level, share the ball, be unselfish on offense, and the results are kind of there,â said Udoka.
No muss, no fuss.
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Thatâs Udoka, who strolled into the Auerbach Center on June 28, 2021, laid out that same simple game plan and patiently waited for his team to embrace it. While the Celtics rode a roller coaster at the start of his coaching tenure, Udoka stood firm on his basic principles and warm-but-demandingly waited for his team to buy in.
With some not-so-subtle nudging, they did.
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âIme is Ime,â said Celtics guard Marcus Smart, who quarterbacked the NBAâs top-ranked defense. "I think Ime is the same way behind closed doors that he is in public. Heâs gonna always keep it real with you. He doesn't care if he hurts your feelings, he's gonna keep it real, heâs gonna be honest with you.
"Cool guy. Not really hot, not really heated. But he can be. You obviously donât want to make him mad. He's not going to back down from any challenge, just like anybody else. We still forget that he still thinks he's a competitor. But we definitely needed it as a team. Sometimes you need that extra little kick in the butt to get you going.â
After guiding the Celtics through an improbable midseason turnaround, Udoka will land on a bunch of Coach of the Year ballots. He probably wonât leapfrog Phoenixâs Monty Williams, who should have won the honor a year ago, but even placing in the top three is a reflection of the way Udoka broke this team of many of its more maddening habits.
That's what he promised to do on June 28. Introductory press conferences are typically filled with hyperbole about how a new coach or player plans to change the culture of a team and deliver a title. Udoka simply stated his plan, chided new boss Brad Stevens about some of last yearâs shortcomings, and basically offered the road map to the Celtics emerging as legitimate contenders.
And then he made it a reality.
The most memorable moment was when Udoka took aim at Bostonâs disappointing assist rate from the 2020-21 season.
"Looked at the numbers overall, sorry to mention this Brad, but 27th in assists last year. We want to have more team basketball there."
Udoka didnât get immediate results. Bostonâs assist percentage was still floundering at 57.6 on Christmas Day while ranking 23rd in the NBA. But in the aftermath, it spiked to 63.1 percent, which ranked eighth to the finish line of the season. Boston ended the year at 14th overall with an assist percentage of 60.9.
The key to that was getting Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown to embrace being more willing playmakers. While Udoka showered that duo with love on Day 1 and deemed them the "pillars" of the franchise, he also stated his challenge was getting them to evolve more.
"Something that you see in the perception of them outside this organization is All-NBA-level players, MVP-caliber players. And getting to know them over the last few years, youâve seen their growth. Theyâve taken huge leaps this past year, and we look forward to them continuing in that progress. Itâs my job to put them in situations to be successful, push them to be greater, and like I said, the sky is the limit for those guys."
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Both Tatum and Brown ended up setting career highs in assist percentage this season. During his annual second-half surge, Tatumâs passing might have gone up two levels as he started picking apart double teams and generating quality looks for teammates. Brownâs passing made its own leap late in the season and the star tandem became far more willing to use the attention they command to create for others.
Over their final 33 appearances of the season, Tatum and Brown combined to average 9.1 assists per game. That was up from 6.5 combined assists through Christmas Day. Merge that with the fact that the duo routinely produced 30-point nights together and itâs easy to see how Bostonâs offense went from middle of the pack to No. 1 in the NBA since late January.
But Udoka made his bones on the defensive side of the ball and he made sure on Day 1 to stress that would be a priority for this squad.
"I like to try to bring the dog out in guys. We have some young dogs here and Iâm looking forward to pushing them."
The Celtics started the year a bit disjointed, maybe struggling to adapt to Udokaâs switch-heavy system. The defense was already turning a corner by early January when Udoka unlocked the groupâs potential by shuffling Robert Williams into more of a free safety role. Bostonâs starters held opponents to an impossibly low defensive rating of 97 over nearly 500 minutes together this season. Brad Stevens suggested the Celticsâ starting five played defense with a cohesion and spirit that was truly special.
Being introduced with 17 title banners hanging behind him, it was only natural that Udoka got quizzed about how quickly he could restore Boston to a title contender.Â
"What I keep going back to is the talent. When you have two young pillars at that age, the sky is the limit. That's what it starts with. You're only as good as your players, and where you push them to get to. And we understand, we've talked about this in-depth: we have some work to do. That's my job, to bring out the best in them, and continue to strive for what this organization is about, and it's about winning. Winning, getting No. 18 in here, and that's our goal."
The Celtics were only going to be as good as Udoka pushed them to be. And his personality helped eliminate many of the bad habits that sometimes left this team a chore to watch. Now they fly around on defense and the ball doesnât stick on offense. Itâs so simple and all Udoka ever asked of his team.
Yes, heâs followed through with everything that he promised from his first day on the job. And thatâs why the Celtics have a legitimate chance to make noise in the 2022 playoffs.
Editor's Note:Â Each day this week, NBC Sports Boston will spotlight a different "pillar" of the 2021-22 Celtics. Next up: the floor general, Marcus Smart.