The Three Keys To A Successful Second Season for Ime Udoka and the Boston Celtics

Celtics head coach Ime Udoka benefited from a patient fanbase a year ago, and they were rewarded with a memorable postseason run. How will he handle even greater expectations in Year Two?

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Ime Udoka, much like his Boston Celtics team, seemed to get better as the season progressed last season.

And all that growth led to an improbable run towards the NBA Finals where the rookie head coach came within two wins of an NBA title.

With training camp about a month away, expectations are again on tap for Udoka as he begins his second season as the Boston Celtics head coach.

But what Udoka will soon learn about Celtics Nation is they go by many names - patience is not one of them.

This season will begin with a heightened level of expectations that's both a blessing and a burden for Udoka.

Coming off the kind of season the Celtics had while returning most of the core guys from a year ago, in itself breeds a level of expectations that puts Boston squarely in the mix as one of the NBA's legit teams to beat.

But as the Celtics' up-and-down ways dominated most conversations about the Celtics for the first half or so of the season, there was quite a bit of wait-and-see on the part of fans and their overall judgment of the job that Udoka was doing.

As a first-year head coach, Udoka had a lot to learn about the position. But what stood out beyond the team's surge in the second half of the season, was Udoka's even-handed mentality towards the team, the players and his role within the overall team structure.

No matter how bad the team played or how overwhelming they might have appeared in certain games, you never got the sense that Udoka was ever down about losses or too gleeful following most wins.

While he may have a team that on paper looks even better than the one he had last season, don't be fooled.

The pressure to win is always high in the pros; it's an even bigger deal among a fanbase like the Boston Celtics which sees last season's unexpected playoff run to the NBA Finals as the first of many deep postseason journeys for a team whose best players are not even 25 years old yet.

Udoka will face a number of challenges this upcoming season. Here are three that stand out among the rest.

STRETCH BIG DEPTH

The Celtics came into this season looking to implement a"load management" strategy for 37-year-old Al Horford. They addressed the need for a backup big who could stretch the floor when they signed Danilo Gallinari to a two-year, $13.28 million contract.

However, the 6-foot-10 veteran big man suffered a torn meniscus injury to his left knee, and is expected to be out for a couple of months.

Udoka will certainly look to go with some of his smaller lineups that would keep good shooters on the floor, but also make the Celtics extremely vulnerable when it comes to defending bigs in the post or fighting through tough, physical screens with some bigs looking to create space via picks and screens against smaller players.

JAYSON TATUM'S MINUTES

Jayson Tatum played 2,731 minutes last season, trailing Mikal Bridges (2,854), Miles Bridges (2,837), and DeMar DeRozan (2,743) among the most minutes played.

While 35.9 minutes per game may not seem like a ton of minutes for an NBA player to log on a nightly basis, part of Udoka's challenge this season will be to ensure that Tatum is as healthy as possible for when the games matter most - the playoffs.

Tatum is Boston's best player, so it only makes sense for the Celtics to want him on the floor as much as possible. But there is a balance that has to exist between Tatum getting a bunch of minutes while also being mindful of the need for him to rest.

BENCH PLAY

Because Boston's starting five has been so strong of late, it hasn't really afforded a ton of opportunities for the reserve players. That has to change this season if Boston is to have any real shot at winning an NBA title which is very much the primary goal for this season.

To Boston's credit, they went into the offseason with two primary goals in mind which were to add a big who can stretch the floor, as well as another scoring guard who can play both positions. They got their big man in Danilo Gallinari, although it will be some time before Boston sees him on the court. They also signed former rookie of the year, Malcolm Brogdon whose ability to play both on and off the ball will bode well for both his own individual success as well as that of the Celtics whose bench unit ranked 26th out of 30 NBA teams in scoring last season.