So what do we think the price might be then? Who are the tradable pieces on this team that don’t blow up the rotation?I am down with all of the Poetl talk except that I think people should be prepared for a hefty asking price from the Spurs.
Perhaps I am wrong but given the scarcity of players with his profile (size, experience, age, contract status), the cost will be expensive, whatever that means to folks here, rather than moderate - the Cs are probably up against a few teams who can offer Poetl more minutes too so that may be a factor. It feels like most contenders can use that skill set.
Given that it feels like folks here generally overvalue draft capital and my preference for banners over binkies, I am fine if the Cs have to "pay up" for Poetl. But I strongly suspect that more than a few people will be surprised at the price tag. Or maybe it will just be me.
Gallo and Pritchard. Both essentially have replacements already on the team, and the latter has value to other teams (albeit not huge value). Neither blows up the rotation.So what do we think the price might be then? Who are the tradable pieces on this team that don’t blow up the rotation?
Those pieces better not include Sam Hauser and his league-leading +121 +/-. I'm only slightly kidding.So what do we think the price might be then? Who are the tradable pieces on this team that don’t blow up the rotation?
I don't think you should be. The long search for bench shooter seems over. No more squinting at Nesmith through Rose colored glasses.Those pieces better not include Sam Hauser and his league-leading +121 +/-. I'm only slightly kidding.
Hey I watched the Pacers tonight. Cut him some slack. He shot 0-4 from the field and two of those misses even hit the rim!I don't think you should be. The long search for bench shooter seems over. No more squinting at Nesmith through Rose colored glasses.
Just waiting for him to crash into the back of Haliburton or Mathurin's knee on a loose ballHey I watched the Pacers tonight. Cut him some slack. He shot 0-4 from the field and two of those misses even hit the rim!
I was in this camp when the season started, i.e. that Pritchard is fungible, but given the way he's been playing and the fact that Brogdon and Smart both get banged up, might be good to hold onto him. Plus as others have mentioned the price for Poetl might be too high. Kornet being serviceable so far also helps.Gallo and Pritchard. Both essentially have replacements already on the team, and the latter has value to other teams (albeit not huge value). Neither blows up the rotation.
What's gonna hurt is the "other pieces", (e.g., multiple picks, Begarin).
I would agree if we had some control but he’s an expiring contract. We don’t have to trade for him this year for him to be a long term Al replacement. I also don’t think Al is going anywhere for a couple years.I think Poetl would be intended as a long term replacement for Al, not Rob.
Seconded, that was great. I vaguely recall there used to be condensed games that we could watch the day after. Do those still exist?As someone who doesn't watch too many full games, a huge thanks to @Eddie Jurak for these awesome recaps.
Pritchard has a role on this team. If any of the trio of guards go down (Smart, White, Brogdon) he will see the floor. He probably has more value to BOS than to SA.I think that people are reacting to the talk of two firsts. I'd do Gallo/PP plus a first. Probably worth it. A second first? Probably not.
Gods work.As someone who doesn't watch too many full games, a huge thanks to @Eddie Jurak for these awesome recaps.
Here is every scoring play from last night's game. Jaylen Brown was a beast last night. He is among the best in the NBA when he picks up a head of steam in the open court.Seconded, that was great. I vaguely recall there used to be condensed games that we could watch the day after. Do those still exist?
There are like 10 minute highlight videos on YouTube of every game. They're pretty good, you see a lot of stuff in 10 minutes. Same thing exists for NHL, MLB, and NFL.Seconded, that was great. I vaguely recall there used to be condensed games that we could watch the day after. Do those still exist?
I was in this camp when the season started, i.e. that Pritchard is fungible, but given the way he's been playing and the fact that Brogdon and Smart both get banged up, might be good to hold onto him. Plus as others have mentioned the price for Poetl might be too high. Kornet being serviceable so far also helps.
I'm not saying that Pritchard doesn't have a role. I'd rather have him as emergency ballhandler than rely on Davison at this point, but he has only gotten in 8 of 14 games and only played 20 minutes last night when both Brogdon and Smart were out. He's not a rotation player anymore. The question was "how do you avoid impacting the rotation".Pritchard has a role on this team. If any of the trio of guards go down (Smart, White, Brogdon) he will see the floor. He probably has more value to BOS than to SA.
The deal can be made with Gallo and any other small contract on the team. There is no way SA gets two firsts for a half year of Poeltl who is then an unrestricted free agent.
Gallo/Jackson/top 4 protected future first seems about right
Yeah. I dont want to come off as knocking Ainge. His contributions to this team are undeniable and indispensible.Stevens' attention to depth does jump out relative to Ainge.
Part of that is where the team is in the 'competition lifecycle' and Ainge wasn't wholly wrong to have a lot of young guys who might pop....but I also believe he was a little too conservative about trading assets and utilizing veterans his last couple years as the team moved into a new, competitive phase.
?? Mazzulla has nearly exactly the same guys.I think we knew this all along, but it's now obvious why Udoka rarely played more than 6-7 guys. He only had 6-7 guys that could play. Ainge may have built the foundation, but Stevens has really finished the house, filled it with furniture, and stocked the fridge. (If this sounds like a knock on both past and present coaches, it isn't meant that way).
Adding Brogdon could be called a ton, and certainly outweighs the impact of a washed up Theis. And Hauser's and White's improvements are a significant organic addition.?? Mazzulla has nearly exactly the same guys.
No Theis or (so far) TL for Mazzulla. No Brogdon for Ime. That's it.
Obviously Grant and Hauser getting another summer in helped them, but Brad didn't change a ton this year.
Does Brogdon outweigh no TL so far?Adding Brogdon could be called a ton, and certainly outweighs the impact of a washed up Theis. And Hauser's and White's improvements are a significant organic addition.
I see this season's White as being much better than the half season sample we got last year. Yes, hitting open 3's has helped him a lot, and his 40% rate is not sustainable. But he was simply bad at shooting last year with Boston in both the regular season and playoffs. And he has also cut down on his turnovers and seems in general more confident in the offense.Nitpicking but what has White improved? He’s the same player I’ve seen in SA from a couple years ago except being in more of an off-guard/spot-up shooter role and less dribble penetration/creativity. As far as production I don’t see any difference.
NBA.com has condensed games. I presume one has to be a league pass subscriber to watch them though. I think it's pretty reasonable if you only want to watch Cs games.Seconded, that was great. I vaguely recall there used to be condensed games that we could watch the day after. Do those still exist?
I thought the original post was comparing this year's roster to last year's roster at this time, particularly when people were complaining about how much the Js were playing. (Ime played more people in 2nd half of last season because the Cs were blowing everyone out.)?? Mazzulla has nearly exactly the same guys.
No Theis or (so far) TL for Mazzulla. No Brogdon for Ime. That's it.
Obviously Grant and Hauser getting another summer in helped them, but Brad didn't change a ton this year.
White is clearly shooting 3s with more confidence than last season. He was tentative and passed up wide-open 3s numerous times in the playoffs. After the finals, he said he was going to work on it. Seems like he did the workNitpicking but what has White improved? He’s the same player I’ve seen in SA from a couple years ago except being in more of an off-guard/spot-up shooter role and less dribble penetration/creativity. As far as production I don’t see any difference.
You know this but defense, let alone the measuring of it, is kind of messy this time of the season. Teams are just now adjusting rotations to account for how the season has started out, plus you have the impact of rule changes as well as any officiating points of emphasis that may be impacting how teams can defend.Despite the hand-wringing (including from me) about the Celtics' defense, it's now ranked #12, and only 2 points behind the #3 Suns' D. The C's #1 offense is 3 points better than #2 Denver's.
https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/summary
The difference to me is that guys like Hauser and PP are much more useful with Mazzula's up-tempo offense. With Udoka's grind-it-out half-court system, it was much more difficult for guys like that to get free. With this year's team pushing the pace and attacking the paint more, you suddenly free up these kinda one-dimensional offensive players to take advantage of that one dimension better. Same for White. The more free-flowing the offense, the more White's physicality and athleticism comes into play. He's a much better open-court player than a half-court guy. His shots this year are way more in rhythm and he's far more confident in the paint.I thought the original post was comparing this year's roster to last year's roster at this time, particularly when people were complaining about how much the Js were playing. (Ime played more people in 2nd half of last season because the Cs were blowing everyone out.)
Yes the rosters are very similar from end of last year to beginning of this year but that's expected.
I wouldn’t consider that “improvement” as much as he’s playing in non-pressure regular season games with an easy flow rather than being in a high-intensity halfcourt playoff grind.White is clearly shooting 3s with more confidence than last season. He was tentative and passed up wide-open 3s numerous times in the playoffs. After the finals, he said he was going to work on it. Seems like he did the work
Thanks for the recap.The Hawks were able to get Dejounte Murray switched onto him a bunch of times and Hauser didn't "shut him down" or anything but he mostly made it difficult on Murray.
Except White struggled during the regular season last year, in both San Antonio (where there were no pressure games) and Boston. It's not a mirage; this season's Derrick White is the Derrick White we thought we were getting.I wouldn’t consider that “improvement” as much as he’s playing in non-pressure regular season games with an easy flow rather than being in a high-intensity halfcourt playoff grind.
Totally agree with you on this. I think he's taking tougher threes, and his shot looks less flat and has much more consistent arc. We'll see if it sticks, but I'm encouraged. This was true in the preseason, too, a lot of people noticed it right away.Except White struggled during the regular season last year, in both San Antonio (where there were no pressure games) and Boston. It's not a mirage; this season's Derrick White is the Derrick White we thought we were getting.
Mostly that. I look at Nov 17, 2021. Celtics lost in Atlanta, 110-99. Richardson, Langford, Freedom and Nesmith were the main subs. Schroder started because Brown was out.I thought the original post was comparing this year's roster to last year's roster at this time, particularly when people were complaining about how much the Js were playing. (Ime played more people in 2nd half of last season because the Cs were blowing everyone out.)
Yes the rosters are very similar from end of last year to beginning of this year but that's expected.
I was actually going to drop him a PM saying the same thing, but his write ups have been absolutely terrific. Thank you for doing them.As someone who doesn't watch too many full games, a huge thanks to @Eddie Jurak for these awesome recaps.
That's fair. I for one appreciate the movement that Mazzula installed. But Ime was preaching ball movement for all of the 1H of last year and it wasn't until the UT game to the PHO game where the Cs really figured out how much ball movement can help.The difference to me is that guys like Hauser and PP are much more useful with Mazzula's up-tempo offense. With Udoka's grind-it-out half-court system, it was much more difficult for guys like that to get free. With this year's team pushing the pace and attacking the paint more, you suddenly free up these kinda one-dimensional offensive players to take advantage of that one dimension better. Same for White. The more free-flowing the offense, the more White's physicality and athleticism comes into play. He's a much better open-court player than a half-court guy. His shots this year are way more in rhythm and he's far more confident in the paint.
Boston had a sloppy defensive 2nd quarter last night but cleaned it up at the half.Despite the hand-wringing (including from me) about the Celtics' defense, it's now ranked #12, and only 2 points behind the #3 Suns' D. The C's #1 offense is 3 points better than #2 Denver's.
https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/league/summary
FWIW, I think that this is a phenomenal observation. This team is downhill all of the time, and it liberates basically everyone. Aside from crunch time (when everything slows down), I've seen maybe a dozen possessions this year where the offense went into some ridiculous, hopelessly lost grind like we'd see for whole quarters last year. Even last year's fantastic run, there were lots of possessions where everyone stood around for like half of the shot clock trying to beat their guy off the dribble, no cutters, not even starting the offense until a poor shot was a fait accompli. Pace and movement have changed everything.The difference to me is that guys like Hauser and PP are much more useful with Mazzula's up-tempo offense. With Udoka's grind-it-out half-court system, it was much more difficult for guys like that to get free. With this year's team pushing the pace and attacking the paint more, you suddenly free up these kinda one-dimensional offensive players to take advantage of that one dimension better. Same for White. The more free-flowing the offense, the more White's physicality and athleticism comes into play. He's a much better open-court player than a half-court guy. His shots this year are way more in rhythm and he's far more confident in the paint.
That’s 3-pt shooting though. There is always going to be short-term year-to year variance in this isolated area……I don’t call that an improvement. Last year he was a little below his career norm and so far this year a little higher. He could easily make 6 of his next 20 three’s then he’s back to last years “regression.”Except White struggled during the regular season last year, in both San Antonio (where there were no pressure games) and Boston. It's not a mirage; this season's Derrick White is the Derrick White we thought we were getting.