Was the song Luka written for this matchup? The Mavs teammates were aware of the violence committed upon Luka, but didn’t want to get involved.
I actually wasn't sure which he was referring to between Luka and Kyrie
I think the term you are looking for is disinterest.
Also, he’s out of shape. And way worse than Embiid.
This is the truth. Watching Pritch guard him was so funny because it was like watching a 45-year-old dude at the Y get exasperated that the new high schooler who just showed up is a try-hard. He should be relatively unstoppable one-on-one, but he gets too tired to body guys into the paint later in the game.
Exactly. He’s unique in that he plays two traditionally different positions on each end of the floor which makes matchups tricky. He’s not a good perimeter defender in space….as a 6-10 defensive 4 he really shouldn’t be.
PP is strong and pretty quick laterally, and he's learning how to use that strength in the Lowry/FVV tradition of 6-1 guards who still get it done on D, because they know how to get up into guys. We've seen this more and more from him this year, and it's a big reason Joe is moving PP up in the rotation, ahead of Hauser when it counts in games.
Not sure Tatum's missed transition layup was a great look, given that he was going 1-on-3 and didn't really have possession of the ball as he neared the hoop. There was also his final shot, which he later admitted he rushed.
that's fair
Facts. And honestly it's the most surprising thing of the season so far to me, and that's saying something. PP has improved his defense materially (seems due to some athleticism gains) and his vision has improved as well (game is slowing down for him). I'm super glad that we locked him up.
I explicitly left out the end of the game stuff since a) everyone agrees it wasn't great b) 85% of the time, they don't need that shot to tie, with the looks they were getting.
I.....guess? This seems really, really results-oriented. It's not like they were just jacking lazy 3s. It's exactly what everyone here wants from a team with this talent: diverse offense leading to good looks from all levels of the floor, without being predictable in a way other teams can lock in on. But, because they missed all those shots, everyone in national media is hyperventilating about Celtics late-game offense. It's all so tiresome.
To play devils' advocate to myself: every PP lineup is somewhat worse on defense than the Cs base lineups. They score well, but it's always 112-115 drtg as opposed to ~110.
All nice and well, but if Bill Simmons father tells me on the BS podcast that the Celtics stopped sharing the ball in crunch time and only jacked up contested threes (paraphrasing), I have to ignore your facts.
And I wasn't even thinking of Simmons!
I've noticed that the defense lags a bit when he's in, but more of an off-ball problem IMO. His length is still a problem there (probably awareness too, but not sure). But being less of a liability on-ball is a leap and makes him more playable.
I dunno. It's an airball right to JT; he pushes the ball with only Jokic on his hip (interesting that Jokic can stay with him even with JT dribbing for about 1/2 a court length) but it's really just JT on (I believe to be) KCP and he eventually gets past him.
The length thing is right-on. I had a guess as to who he'd pair really bad with, and I checked the stats and was right:
When they showed the other angle of that play from under the basket with a direct line of sight, I thought you could clearly see him get hit on the wrist to lose control. I don’t want to say that for sure though, just my recollection.
He held up well against Luka. As I posted above, he is a playable defender as long as he doesn't have to contest over screens, and if the other team doesn't have a guy who can take him down low and shoot over him. The latter is harder than it sounds, as Luka found out, because PP is pretty strong.PP is defensively challanged....I am NOT saying he isnt. But real time ......there were a handful of possessions in the Dallas game where he (SEEMED like He) was very effective agains Luka. SSS and all that but I did find it interesting. Wherever the fancy "PPVsLUKA ISO" stats are will now be posted and i will be proven wrong.
This team grows/learns from a tight Denver game much more than a blowout, which is all that matters during the regular season. Winning is nicer, but couldn't care less about a January loss.
Doesn't Kidd himself deserve a lot of the blame here? Why didn't he switch up what they were doing defensively? Where was the defensive help for an obviously outmatched Luka.
PP"s overall DRating is 109.1 (per NBA.com), which is pretty in line with the team number. Just behind Hauser and Tatum, just ahead of Brown, Holiday and Porzingis. Kornet and Queta are a little further off the back. His net rating is a stellar +11.8, 2nd only to White among the rotation players. Easy to say he's been a great part of the rotation this year, and I still think he's got some shooting upside left.
Wait...I know the first paragraph is sarcasm but did this happen on a podcast today or recently?
Simmons released a pod today, where his father was on (at the end) and they discussed the "crunch time problems" of the Celtics and the Denver game was part of the discussion.
It's funny: when I started re-watching, I thought there would be some bad possessions before the final one. A lazy iso 3, a turnover, a really stagnant possession.
Not to single one poster out bc it’s many….but did anyone ever doubt that PP’s effort level during the reg season would result in ok/solid defense? You guys are missing the big picture when the playoffs are here and PP’s effort level is no longer a difference bc everyone is playing those games at a high level of effort/intensity. That’s when he’s had his issues being on the floor. He’s always been fine in the reg season.
I believe a better coach would be doing more schematically to help Luka, but the practical problem anyone will have is that Celtics can play 5 out for long stretches and there's no one out there Luka can guard...while offensively, you must have Luka on the court. Kind of like when Celts had IT. Thus, all your options stink - Luka would be 'least bad' playing the Celts center, but that means Lively is stuck trying to guard Tatum (which is bad) and you lose your rim protection even more. So you leave Luka on Tatum or Brown and hope his length can help when they drive while not messing up the rest of your matchups. Which is what Kidd did, but Brown (in particular) just decided to shake Luka off and shoot mid-range and negate Luka's length. Time after time after time. Especially when he was matched up wtih Jaylen, who is just an ok passer, he probably should have shaded and doubled more than he did to help Doncic there, and if I were guessing the scheme was for guys to shade or bluff a double and they weren't consistent in doing it...which is why he said guys had to be more alert/attentive.
Has his defensive ratings with similar players aside from Porzingis shown a leap from last year's with a similar cast?
The Celtics have been so close and fallen short enough times over the last few years that at this point, public perception has set in about Tatum and the Celtics. The only way it disappears is if they win a title. People said Jordan was too selfish to win after he fell short in multiple playoffs against Boston and Detroit, until he did. People said Lebron didn't have the right mentality after multiple 60 win Cavs teams missed the finals (followed by the loss to Dallas), until he did. I'm really confident about this years group, but even as the majority of the media will pick them as the betting favorite, there will be a LOT of negativity around Tatum and the team in general, and their crunch time offense in particular. Until they win, they are who they were in the past.
I'm still pretty skeptical that we can count on Pritchard for real minutes in the playoffs, late in series in games that matter. It's not the end of the world if that ends up being the case - even if we don't bring anyone else in and even if none of the guys behind him step up, it's possible to succeed in the playoffs with a regular 7 man rotation. The Celtics almost did that last year (Grant was the 8th man, and he had 5 DNP-CDs).
Completely agree, but it's weird how much he harps on Joe and PP especially. His issue isn't with Tatum. You need to watch the games to understand how much both have improved.
Yeah we are so strong with the Top-6 we really won't need a whole lot from 7 or 8 provided we are healthy. We could get by with some Brissett/Kornet/Stevens/Banton minutes for a handful of possessions should Hauser have trouble but we don't have anyone as PP insurance should we need some. The #1 priority prior to the deadline is to find this years Sam Cassell imo. I know this server may crash at the thought but if Lowry is bought out he's one of the candidates.
I agree with that; I was with Simmons last year that CJM probably wasn't good enough--or at least not close enough to be good enough soon enough---for this team to win. And this year's play---not just the record, but the adjustments and tweaks in-game---have persuaded me I was wrong about that.
Once again - and its kind of unbelievable if you know Simmons origin story - he has become the exact sort of take-generator that he used to mock in his youth.
Totally with you. Joe was a liability last year. This year, he simply isn't.
Oh, for sure, and yes completely aware of Simmons origin story. I'll listen to JJ Redick all day over Simmons. I haven't actually consumed any Simmons content in over 10 years. He's become totally irrelevant to me. There was a time and place that he was the first voice I'd seek out when something major happened in Boston sports. He hasn't been that guy for like 15 years now for me. Longer? It's hard to even remember.
It was the coaching staff as a whole (Thanks Ime) that left a rookie HC, who shouldn’t have yet been a HC, to lead a championship contender with and entire bench of 2nd row assistants who were loyal to the previous coach. The kid literally had no chance. Seeing how The Adrian Griffin Experience has worked out I’d say that this is a feather in Joe’s hat for keeping that entire group together.
Lowry can't be brought in, as he made too much to be eligible as a buyout candidate for any second apron team. And there are a couple hardcapped first apron teams that can't sign him.
Ah gotcha thanks. That’s the prototype for a deadline acquisition though imo….veteran combo guard who has played under the bright lights.
