PLYMOUTH — Brad Stevens arrived at Old Sandwich Golf Club in the midst of Monday’s Shamrock Foundation outing and began greeting participants on the course. The Celtics coach was as sunny and warm as the afternoon, too, when he greeted media a while later.

Shining through all of it is one of the best things about the coming Celtics season: It’s not last season.

While the 2018 event here was filled with expectations of a run to the NBA Finals and perhaps more laundry for the Garden rafters, all of that dissolved into drama and disappointment by the time the Celts were eliminated by Milwaukee. Kyrie Irving’s ride out of town had been idling for quite a while by then.

All things Celtics seem far more relaxed now, from calmed expectations to players talking excitedly about working together.

“I just think it’s generally each team is different,” Stevens said. “We have so many new guys. It’s just a different scenario, it’s a different feel, it’s a different group altogether. There’s always going to be noise. I think no matter what the expectations are, or whether you’re not projected to be any good, or whether you’re projected to be really good, the bottom line is there’s noise everywhere. And that just increases year to year, to be honest, especially with the amount of attention, the amount of media, the amount of social media, the amount of instant feedback.

“I think that’s one of the things that over time everybody has to get used to. And I think being able to sift through what’s important and what’s not and trying to be as good as we can be together is all we’re trying to focus on. I said this the other day: My care is that we play with great effort and togetherness. That is it. That’s what we’re looking for, that’s what we want to be. All the technical basketball plays and system and all that stuff … will figure itself out.

“I feel like we’re in a good foundation there, but we’ve got to play like a Boston team should.”

On the effort and togetherness scale – particularly the latter – the 2018-19 Celtics were open to question. Asked if his team played those qualities, Stevens said, “I thought we did at times. I didn’t think we were as good as maybe a couple years before.

“But, I mean, that’s not brain surgery. I realize that every time we say that, that’s the headline, but at the end of the day, this team’s done a good job of flipping the page, moving forward and, you know, focusing on itself. I really like the guys that are in our gym right now.”

And those guys should be ready to go for the opening of camp next Tuesday. Stevens reported that Jayson Tatum is “fine” after suffering an ankle sprain while playing for the U.S. national team.

“He’s ready to go from what I’ve been told,” the coach said. “I don’t know if he will do anything 5-on-5 this week, but we anticipate no issues when camp starts next week. At least, that’s the latest that I got.”

Cult hero Tacko Fall also should have no problems.

“Tacko twisted his knee in a little one-on-one or 2-on-2 work the other day, but he should be cleared by, if not tomorrow, by the end of the week,” Stevens said. “I don’t know if we’ll have him do anything per se until he gets on the court next week against live competition.”

For now, while there is obviously much work to be done, the road looks free of potholes. After an unhappy ending four and a half months ago, this is welcome relief.

“I mean, I think we all know what kind of weight as far as just the way that we ended as a team,” Stevens said. “And we didn’t play as well as we had hoped. And I’ve said this many times: That starts with me. So it was my job to do a better job of getting ready, and I think we’ll be better as far as the important stuff. And then we’ll find out how good we can be as time moves on.”

Three of last season’s starters (Irving, Al Horford, Marcus Morris) are gone. Kemba Walker, Enes Kanter and rookies are here.

“I think we have a different challenge this year from a pure tactical standpoint than we’ve had in the past with some of the strengths of our players, especially at our bigger positions,” Stevens said. “So that will be new in some ways. But that stuff will take care of itself with good work and good focused work and the right mindset. And I have no reason to think we won’t have that.”

Indeed, it’s not last season.