While Brad Stevens reiterated throughout the season Semi Ojeleye was one of the Celtics more valuable reserves, his playing time decreased considerably in his second season.
It seems Ojeleye became more of a specialist, making appearances against some of the game’s top offensive players or Stevens opting for his strongman to play against bigger players in the post.
With the departures of Al Horford, Marcus Morris and Aron Baynes, the opportunity is there for Ojeleye to seize more playing time and a bigger role. One thing that can be counted on, the imposing workout maven will be prepared for the challenge.
“Obviously in the back of my mind I know those guys are gone now,” Ojeleye said. “That opportunity is there but I don’t think my approach has changed that much. In the summertime, it’s really about being mobile. It’s not getting too strong. Not focusing on getting more explosive or trying to push more weight but really staying mobile and getting my cardio up.’’
The Celtics’ goal for Ojeleye is to become a 3-and-D guy, a player who can defend different positions and also stretch the floor offensively with 3-point shooting. Ojeleye has shot just 31.8 percent from the 3-point line during his first two years, below the 35.5 league average.
Ojeleye knows improving his long-range shooting will help gain more of Stevens’s trust and therefore increase his playing time. The Celtics are lacking proven big men, with newcomer Enes Kanter being the most experienced along with two-year reserve Daniel Theis.
Vincent Poirier and Robert Williams round out the frontcourt, but the club has little idea what to expect from either.
“I understand it’s a process and you have to wait your turn and hopefully the time is now,” Ojeleye said. “We have a lot of similar-type guys. I think we have a lot of guys that can switch multiple positions and that can help us be versatile.”
Ojeleye acknowledged that last season was difficult to gain team chemistry, one of the reasons the Celtics were thumped in the second round of the playoffs by the Milwaukee Bucks.
“I think everybody knows that this year is going to be a fresh start for us, a chance for us to really play good basketball all year and be a team all year,” he said. “Having all the young guys there (working out) with some of the older guys builds culture.”
The Celtics lacked the fortitude last season of Stevens’s past teams. The players would point fingers during losing streaks and suffer meltdowns and collapses in the middle of games. Ojeleye said this year’s team can perhaps learn from the failures of the previous year.
“There’s going to be ups and downs,” he said. “There’s going to be losing streaks, a game or two or three. Not pointing fingers, not hitting the panic button but realizing we’re coming through this together and basically we’re going to turn the corner.”
When asked whether the atmosphere was really that “toxic,” as Jaylen Brown called it, last season, Ojeleye said perhaps outside forces led to the environment.
“On the inside I was like, ‘we’re all right’ but you start hearing the whispers and you hear this in the media and that in the media and you think, ‘Is it really that bad?’” he said. “That’s the nature of sports.”
Gary Washburn can be reached at gwashburn@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GwashburnGlobe.