Maybe I’m in the minority I don’t know but this season doesn’t appear any weirder than others. Toronto was missing Kawhi, Ibaka, and Valenciunas on the road as Embiid was drooling about his matchup against Greg Monroe. Milwaukee lost a road B2B against a red hot Heat team......these are both normal occurrences. The Celtics are struggling with chemistry, the Rockets were complacent (adding Melo didn’t help), and the Warriors are coasting most games until the spring.Lets be honest, its been a weird NBA season overall. Despite the C's season being over according to this thread, the Raptors just got destroyed by Philly (who have lost to some bad teams) and the Bucks lost last night to the Heat. The C's have 2 more losses than the Warriors, but a better point differential (close to the Raptors) For all the early season talk of the Raptors and Bucks, they have not run away with anything thus far - the West is bunched up as well.
There is a ton of basketball to play in this season and nothing has been "decided" yet.
And the Celtics were missing Baynes, Horford and Morris but it still induced a panic here - and the Cs lost a back to back game at Detriot to start the 3 game losing streak. Are these also normal occurrences?Maybe I’m in the monitory I don’t know but this season doesn’t appear any weirder than others. Toronto was missing Kawhi, Ibaka, and Valenciunas on the road as Embiid was drooling about his matchup against Greg Monroe. Milwaukee lost a road B2B against a red hot Heat team......these are both normal occurrences. The Celtics are struggling with chemistry, the Rockets were complacent (adding Melo didn’t help), and the Warriors are coasting most games until the spring.
there is only one that can defy the computer and his name is JanosChrist, a computer could read all of our posts and predict what we're going to say next.
Yeah but there have been issues since the start of the season when the team was at full strength.....this isn’t an overreaction from one game which isn’t uncommon here. I’ve been looking at our best played games being the ones where a couple guys were missing. I still believe that is when we are at our best but we really missed having one of Horford or Baynes on the floor.And the Celtics were missing Baynes, Horford and Morris but it still induced a panic here - and the Cs lost a back to back game at Detriot to start the 3 game losing streak. Are these also normal occurrences?
Gash, you make some good points here BUT who on this thread implied/stated the season's over?Lets be honest, its been a weird NBA season overall. Despite the C's season being over according to this thread, the Raptors just got destroyed by Philly (who have lost to some bad teams) and the Bucks lost last night to the Heat. The C's have 2 more losses than the Warriors, but a better point differential (close to the Raptors) For all the early season talk of the Raptors and Bucks, they have not run away with anything thus far - the West is bunched up as well.
There is a ton of basketball to play in this season and nothing has been "decided" yet.
Yes, yes and yes. Whatever role Brad dreamt up for Horford, should be soaked up by Theis with Baynes/Horford out. Theis has good hands and is not a bad shooter. He can pick and roll or pop with KI or Tatum.Yeah but there have been issues since the start of the season when the team was at full strength.....this isn’t an overreaction from one game which isn’t uncommon here. I’ve been looking at our best played games being the ones where a couple guys were missing. I still believe that is when we are at our best but we really missed having one of Horford or Baynes on the floor.
Might not be a ton of fits, but as an example I threw out Pat Beverley.Teams make trades to improve themselves. You'd have to receive Kyrie insurance that is better than Rozer while sending him to a team where he is better than their backup guard. Good luck finding that match.....I don't see it happening. If Rozier's reps demand a deadline deal it will likely be for a future 2nd rounder.
I'm not sure who those "people" are, but my guess is that they are simply not very knowledgeable about basketball.People are citing the fact that he received no votes for coach of the year last season as proof that he isn't as good as some of us thought he was. Its hard to argue with anyone these days given the results though Stevens lack of COY votes seem like a petty way to judge him.
The bottom line is the team is performing below expectations for a variety of reasons and Stevens gets some of the blame. If this keeps up, the drumbeat to replace him with someone with more of a brand will increase. I don't think Ainge will bend to the pressure but I am curious who people think is capable of doing more with this roster.
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The point that you are missing is that the timeline for Hayward's recovery always had very large error bars; most pundits were predicting that Hayward may not be 100% back until February at the earliest, or possibly not until the start of next season. His play at this point in the season is hardly predictive of the Hayward we will see next September.So where did the people who blithely assume that Hayward will become 100% of what he was in 2016-17 get their medical training? I could give you a long, long list of NBA players who tried to come back from injuries but were never the same, including great players like Grant Hill and Bernard King.
No, I didn't mean to imply that he's 100% physically but not right mentally. He's neither at the moment, as far as I can tell.
Yeah literally nobody is using sportswriters COY voting to prove their point and literally nobody is questioning Brad’s job stability here. He’s a perfect fit with Ainge at this point.I'm not sure who those "people" are, but my guess is that they are simply not very knowledgeable about basketball.
Yes but with one caveat. An NBA coach can get the most out of a lottery with limited talent and effect wins and losses. We’ve seen this with Brad, with Doc in Orlando, with Atkinson in Brooklyn, etc etc. This actually isn’t uncommon for a new coach to motivate a team that catches others off guard during the regular season. What you aren’t going to find is a coach of a 40-45 win team turn them into a 55-60 win team due to his “coaching” as once you get to that level the talent wins out.I believe the point that @HomeRunBaker is making is that a coach can only do so much, as basketball is still a game that comes down mostly due to the players on the floor. In any event, Stevens is going nowhere, as Ainge is fortunately smart enough to ignore the so-called "drumbeat" (whose existence is questionable anyway).
Not calling posters out here because it was in the most recent gamethread where people typically emote in real time. But Stevens has been called out there as well as in posts in this thread.I'm not sure who those "people" are, but my guess is that they are simply not very knowledgeable about basketball.
I believe the point that @HomeRunBaker is making is that a coach can only do so much, as basketball is still a game that comes down mostly due to the players on the floor. In any event, Stevens is going nowhere, as Ainge is fortunately smart enough to ignore the so-called "drumbeat" (whose existence is questionable anyway).
Everything for this team starts with offensive intensity and purpose. They over-passed a lot in this game, but it's way better than stagnation, and it led directly to a more connected defensive performance.Great to see them make the extra pass and make a concerted effort to drive into the lane to get a higher percentage shot or free throws. This and their intensity really showed in the first half. We need to see them do it against teams with more length and do it consistently, but still great to see them attack their weaknesses successfully.
Foul trouble in the first half.I couldn't watch tonight---Brown's minutes seemed low. Any particular reason?
Jaylen had 4 fouls, 1-6 from the field (0-3 from three) in the 1st Half.I couldn't watch tonight---Brown's minutes seemed low. Any particular reason?
I think his defense has been much better these past two games. I didn't see the sulking though I may have missed it as I was going back and forth between this game and football.Jaylen had 4 fouls, 1-6 from the field (0-3 from three) in the 1st Half.
He scored 6pts after they got it up to a 29pt lead late in the 3rd Quarter.
He did have some nice steals but sulked/jogged back on D after missing shots.
He got the defense memo. Rozier still hasn't.Jaylen had 4 fouls, 1-6 from the field (0-3 from three) in the 1st Half.
He scored 6pts after they got it up to a 29pt lead late in the 3rd Quarter.
He did have some nice steals but sulked/jogged back on D after missing shots.
Sulking might be too strong...I think his defense has been much better these past two games. I didn't see the sulking though I may have missed it as I was going back and forth between this game and football.
Team meetings happen all the time in the NBA. Sometimes we hear about them, sometimes we don’t. Two meetings in a 24-hour period is a bit unusual, and that’s exactly what happened ahead of the Celtics’ 119-103 drubbing of the Hornets on Sunday night.
“To be quite candid, we walked out of there and we said we’re going to continue this tomorrow,” Brad Stevens admitted on Sunday night of the team’s postgame meeting from Friday. “We spent another hour and a half yesterday, and again, those are the moments in coaching that you can’t explain, that’s what it’s all about if it’s well-intentioned and if it’s not off the rails. And it was the furthest from that.”
Who doesn't love Al Horford? He's got a MAX contract, played on the 2018 All-Star team, and led the Celtics to the EC Finals. Heck, he married Ms. Universe. Al is appreciated by owners, coaches, teammates, fans and the most beautiful women in the world.What a difference it makes to have Horford manning the middle rather than Daniel "Fouling Machine" Theis. He continues to be one of the teams most underappreciated players on both ends of the floor.
Shot chart from last night: https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/shot-chart/201812230BOS.htmlGreat to see them make the extra pass and make a concerted effort to drive into the lane to get a higher percentage shot or free throws. That plus their intensity really showed in the first half. We need to see them do it consoatently and against teams with more length, but still great to see them attack their weaknesses successfully.
That's a fair and pertinent point since we are getting killed in FT contests. I do think a lot of the fouls Theis, Horford and Baynes pick up are them helping at the rim and not on the guys they are guarding.Theis leads the league in PF/min this year. The impact of putting your opponent in the bonus doesn't necessarily show up in his on/off net rating as the effect of a team in the bonus early impacts the final 6 minutes of the half and the game when that player is on the bench.
Happy Holidays to you as well and to everyone here!!
Theis is particularly bad at hand discipline (insert joke here). It's not hard to see why he picks up a lot of fouls: he'll very often move his hands in swiping motions, or have them down low near the offensive player. Not sure whether that's just him, or a difference in how the game is called in the Bundesliga.That's a fair and pertinent point since we are getting killed in FT contests. I do think a lot of the fouls Theis, Horford and Baynes pick up are them helping at the rim and not on the guys they are guarding.
I went and checked the highest PF list. It seems like a lot of highly regarded defensive players dominate that group (mostly Centers, which makes sense). Funny enough your all-time favorite, Kris Dunn, leads the league in PF/game.
https://stats.nba.com/players/misc/?sort=PF&dir=1
There are so many things that happen on the court that impact winning/losing but don't show up on the stat sheet. On/off net is my favorite stat, kind of a catch-all, but has its flaws.
Agreed, Daniel does have a tendency to swipe. On the other hand, Semi does a great job of keeping his arms high and using his body to move the offensive player into tough spots. Looking forward to the day for Semi to start hitting his threes', he'll be Jae Crowder all over again.Theis is particularly bad at hand discipline (insert joke here). It's not hard to see why he picks up a lot of fouls: he'll very often move his hands in swiping motions, or have them down low near the offensive player. Not sure whether that's just him, or a difference in how the game is called in the Bundesliga.
What I love about Kyrie is that he actively focuses on getting the team to enjoy that process of identity discovery, rather than getting caught up in "omgggzzz we're not the Dubs RIGHT NOW!!!11!."Most of us, I would presume, have played competitive basketball with and without coaches and we know the hardest part about gelling as a team is to have an approach - an identity, if you will - and getting everyone to buy into it so that people are doing things that are making the team successful. That was the amazing part of 2007-08: that team seemed to instantly know what everyone should do, where everyone should be, and what shots everyone should be taking.
Same thing when Kerr took over GSW. They knew how they wanted to play and how they wanted to generate shots and everyone bought in.
This team is still trying to figure all of this stuff out. But I'm sure they will figure it out before the playoffs and I'm looking forward to a deep run after they do. It's actually a great thing to watch as it's happening if you are into this stuff.
Same to you and all my fellow SOSHers/hoopster fanboys.What I love about Kyrie is that he actively focuses on getting the team to enjoy that process of identity discovery, rather than getting caught up in "omgggzzz we're not the Dubs RIGHT NOW!!!11!."
Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas/Best NBA Day to all! Excited to spend it angrily refreshing the game thread!
I think it’s been hard for Rozier, Brown and Tatum to refigure out their roles with Kyrie and Heyward back. All three had become much more important at the end of the season last year. Right now I think we still have a bunch of guys that think they’re starters and haven’t quite figured out roles.Happy holidays everyone.
Really interesting quote from Kyrie here: https://nesn.com/2018/12/what-kyrie-irving-believes-celtics-must-do-for-chance-of-a-lifetime/
Getting past those things, the ego-centric things, this is a chance of a lifetime for us. And I think that, in order to achieve what we want to, we have to be closer as a team and really understand that when someone takes a shot, it’s our shot, we feel good about it, now we get back on defense and we prepare the right way and we do the right things for one another and not just for ourselves.Most of us, I would presume, have played competitive basketball with and without coaches and we know the hardest part about gelling as a team is to have an approach - an identity, if you will - and getting everyone to buy into it so that people are doing things that are making the team successful. That was the amazing part of 2007-08: that team seemed to instantly know what everyone should do, where everyone should be, and what shots everyone should be taking.
So, I’m enjoying this. Every day is a new challenge. I’m just so open to what these guys have to offer and what we can accomplish by the end of the year, because talking to you guys is boring. It’s really boring, honestly, talking about game-to-game, what we can change, what we look like and stuff like that. But the in-game for us is the big picture, understanding what the goal is and how we accomplish it. It’s an everyday thing.
Same thing when Kerr took over GSW. They knew how they wanted to play and how they wanted to generate shots and everyone bought in.
This team is still trying to figure all of this stuff out. But I'm sure they will figure it out before the playoffs and I'm looking forward to a deep run after they do. It's actually a great thing to watch as it's happening if you are into this stuff.
Toilet! Can't lead a team! Barely a rotation player! Reality!Who knows? Horford or no Horford, the Celtics' championship aspirations for 2018-19 are in the toilet. Kyrie Irving cannot lead a team, and Hayward is barely an NBA rotation player. That's the reality.
Gordon was pretty blah again, honestly, but Kyrie can carry anyone on any given night, and he gets the least support from the refs I have ever seen a star get. If Brad won’t say anything, he should. Or Danny. Kyrie is an assassin.Toilet! Can't lead a team! Barely a rotation player! Reality!
Merry christmas everybody. Even the grinch can't steal it.
Yeah, but the move to get to the rim was awesome. Then he didn't finish. He's gotta put it all together.The thing with Gordon is it’s tough to tell what’s mental, and what’s physical. He blew that layup/dunk in OT because he hesitated and didn’t jump high enough to dunk.
Geez, that’s harsh. I don’t think his knee is that bad.Horford is the glue.
We were talking about this around the TV last night. This is going to be an interesting offseason. We have a million wings, but Morris is clearly a team leader and a legit go to guy. If some other guys get moved in deals, Moby Dick or otherwise Danny has to give consideration to trying to keep him.So when do we start talking about resigning Morris? What started as just a hot start seems to have turned into a great fit for the starting 5
He is having a career year particularly with respect to 3P%, eFG% and rebounding. Very good on the defensive side of the ball as well. Seemingly a great teammate and his energy on the court may be only exceeded by Smart in terms of players on the current Celtics team.So when do we start talking about resigning Morris? What started as just a hot start seems to have turned into a great fit for the starting 5
We don't. There are already others under contract to take his minutes/shots without having to shell out another $15-20m per year on a long-term deal for a guy turning 30 with knee problems. Morris was a starter for two years in Detroit, has always demanded he be starting here, and will certainly be signed to starting 4 money this summer.So when do we start talking about resigning Morris? What started as just a hot start seems to have turned into a great fit for the starting 5
Far more likely that he gets signed & traded to the Thunder this offseason for future picks than re-signing here.So when do we start talking about resigning Morris? What started as just a hot start seems to have turned into a great fit for the starting 5
The knee problems for a big guy are what worry me the most. I'm starting to believe Horford's knee may be in worse shape than people think.There are already others under contract to take his minutes/shots without having to shell out another $15-20m per year on a long-term deal for a guy turning 30 with knee problems.