Someone needs to post the entire Marcus Morris interview in here. A whole lot to unpack, but IMO, he's the problem in that locker room. He hates the young guys.
Baynes reg rotation is 15-16 min. I’m too drunk to bother right now but I’m gonna guess that most of those say 18+ min games are blowouts but can almost assure the 20+ min games def are.Surprised this hasn't been posted by Hoganbaynes. Of course it's not definitive but it would be pretty nice to have a healthy Baynes for the playoff run.
All veterans hate young guys though. That’s why veteran led teams stock up on veteran role players and not young guys. Oh and I’m drunk.Someone needs to post the entire Marcus Morris interview in here. A whole lot to unpack, but IMO, he's the problem in that locker room. He hates the young guys.
this team is driving HRB to the bottle...All veterans hate young guys though. That’s why veteran led teams stock up on veteran role players and not young guys. Oh and I’m drunk.
Because he’s example no. 1... he doesn’t pass and is a black hole.. always looking for his shot over anything else.. so it’s sort of rich that he’s the one saying it. He’s also one of the ones making sure it isn’t fun. If he looked himself in the mirror that if he played the way he talked maybe some things would change.What am I missing about that MaMo interview? He’s saying that players are playing as individuals (and as a result not having fun)? Haven’t we been saying the same thing all season? Why does this mean *he* is the cancer?
Two guys that can’t seem to stay on the court.. Kyrie’s injuries almost seem to be mounting and I worry about AD at his size over the years.This is an all time sum-is-less-than-its-parts team.
Ride or die, Kyrie and AD. Ride or die.
They got outscored 28-12 in 3Q and then gave up 42 in 4Q.WTF? I went to bed at halftime. How the hell did they lose this game?
Completely agree.Because he’s example no. 1... he doesn’t pass and is a black hole.. always looking for his shot over anything else.. so it’s sort of rich that he’s the one saying it. He’s also one of the ones making sure it isn’t fun. If he looked himself in the mirror that if he played the way he talked maybe some things would change.
If you watch the bench during the games most of the players there are jumping around and having fun and cheering on their teammates. It seems like Morris is the one not having fun, not the team as a whole.What am I missing about that MaMo interview? He’s saying that players are playing as individuals (and as a result not having fun)? Haven’t we been saying the same thing all season? Why does this mean *he* is the cancer?
I thought this when I heard him as well. Baynes is up for every shot. Kyrie is cheering on Terry as if he is the one making the baskets. They are jumping all over the place.If you watch the bench during the games most of the players there are jumping around and having fun and cheering on their teammates. It seems like Morris is the one not having fun, not the team as a whole.
For the same reason we traded for Ray Allen when the cries were, “Why would we jeopardize our future to try and lure KG to Boston when he doesn’t want to be here?”Tatum $7.8 million
MLE player ≈ $5.6 million
Yabusele $3.1 million
TimeLord $1.9 million
Keep Tatum and TL. Why would you trade these two young guys for someone who doesn't want to play in Boston? I am looking forward to watching these two young men grow old in green.
Which means it’s definitely a chemistry issue and Danny probably should have shipped some people out at the deadline. Morris would have been a prime candidate even if his removal would have been a bad thing on paper.What baffles me is how quickly everything deteriorates. The go from playing decent basketball to one pass and a shot. They stop running. And what's even crazier, it doesn't seem to depend very much on the rotations. The switch just goes off, no matter who is on the floor.
If you look at the individual pieces it shouldn’t be that baffling. Kyrie, MaMo and Tatum have the ball in their hands the majority of the time. They are iso players which are crucial to a teams success but having too many is a bad fit. We’ve discussed this since the preseason.What baffles me is how quickly everything deteriorates. The go from playing decent basketball to one pass and a shot. They stop running. And what's even crazier, it doesn't seem to depend very much on the rotations. The switch just goes off, no matter who is on the floor.
Just by eyesight, I'm not sure it's the ball movement. Cs are really good when they get out on the break - i.e., when they turn the ball over or when they are able get stops.But sometimes the ball movement is good. They were up by 28. Then they just stopped playing basketball. I don't think Kyrie's knee had anything to do with it. They have too many iso players because that's the way they start to play. If one guy takes a shot, the next guy has to jack one up next time down the floor. It's as though they are competing with one another.
Exhibit A, 8 seconds left on the shot clock:It is the ball movement. When the ball moves side to side it gives players either wide open shots or open lanes to go to the basket. When things get tough, they resort to iso ball at the end of the clock and force up a tough shot or drive into a clogged lane which ends up in a bad shot/charge/turnover. When this group shares the ball and doesn’t worry about who gets the shots, they are better offensively than just about any team. Problem is that they don’t do it for stretches which is infinitely frustrating.
I know you catch a lot of flak around these parts and loathe as I am to draw inferences on the mental state of players this has to be a consideration for these guys. Everyone bagged the Lakers for having that game against Indiana after Lebron offered to trade his entire team away and it has to be registering with a whole bunch of Celtics what the *failure* of said Lakers' trade means for their own future.Last year they were a team. This year they are a collection of trade assets. Rozier and Morris are gone in July, and Tatum's future may be in New Orleans. Baynes is on a one year deal, Brown wants to be paid, Horford can opt out and who knows what Kyrie will do? There's alot of uncertainty and it's affecting their play at both ends.
I mean the arm extends following the guy going down, that's textbook what ref look for.Exhibit A, 8 seconds left on the shot clock:
It was a bad call- James Harden would foul out in under a quarter if he was treated like that. However, one extra pass and Morris has an open look or another after that and Rozier does too. Instead it's a contested mid-range. Morris has little room to complain since he takes that same shot 100% of the time too. He should look in the mirror along with the rest of the team. Horford is the only guy I'd trust to consistently pass out of that situation right now. Kyrie might not, but he's also a superstar. Everyone else needs to get with the fucking program.
He's 29 years old, and he acts like he's some 34 year old grizzled vet who knows what it's like to play for a winner. The guy is pretty much the opposite of a winner. The teams he played on had played a grand total of 4 playoff games in his career prior to last season with the Celtics. I'd love to hear Kevin McHale's thoughts on Marcus Morris. In 2012/13, Morris was a 23 year old, 2nd year player coming off the bench for Houston. He was playing 21.4mpg and averaging 8.6ppg/4.1rpg (14.5/6.8 per 36) and had a TS of .538%. He was fine for what he was. But at the trade deadline, they dumped him for a 2nd round pick from the Suns (which they turned into Isaiah Canaan). At the time of the trade, Houston was 29-26. From that point forward, they went 16-11 (addition by subtraction), and snuck into the playoffs as the #8 seed, where they lost to the Thunder in 6. Then they signed Dwight Howard in the offseason, and went 54-28 the following season.Because he’s example no. 1... he doesn’t pass and is a black hole.. always looking for his shot over anything else.. so it’s sort of rich that he’s the one saying it. He’s also one of the ones making sure it isn’t fun. If he looked himself in the mirror that if he played the way he talked maybe some things would change.
Thank you Wade. This pretty much nails it. All-Star Al of 2017-18 is gone and we are left with a misused, strictly a 5 Horford. It sucks, I love Al and hate to see him catching any blame, this is on Brad. Brad even promised a few weeks back he would team up Al at the 4 with Baynes (or Theis) on occasion like he did vs. Memphis. It worked and we haven't really seen it used effectively since, this is 100% Brad's fault.This article from about a month ago suggests that the problem may be Al: https://www.theringer.com/nba/2019/1/16/18184141/al-horford-celtics-struggles. Not that Al is playing poorly but because he is so important to what Brad is trying to do. Not sure if it is injuries or just a fluke of numbers but this is the first year when the Cs have a better net rating when Al is off the court.
One thing the article mentions is that Al has always been the best playmaker for the Cs but he is doing less of that this year (assists are down).
I'm also noticing that by position, in 2016-17, he played 25% at 4, and 75% at 5; in 2017-18, that was 43% at 4 and 57% at 5, and this year he is playing 4% at 4 and 96% at 5.
Here are the numbers (I assume numbers don't total because of rounding).
2016-17:
2017-18:
- Cs were 113.5 with Al on court versus 109.4 with him off (+4.1)
- Cs opponents were 108.9 with Al on court versus 108.3 with him off (-0.7).
- Net = +3.4
2018-19:
- Cs were 110.9 with Al on court versus 104.4 with him off (+6.5)
- Cs opponents were 103.8 with Al on court versus 105.2 with him off (+1.4).
- Net = +8.0
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from having so many wings is that Brad isn't playing Al at the 4 anymore. That and they really need Baynes back and healthy. @benhogan
- Cs are 114.2 with Al on court versus 109.8 with him off (+4.4)
- Cs opponents are 112.5 with Al on court versus 103.6 with him off (-8.9).
- Net = -4.7
I doubt Al is going to be back in Boston next year. About the only possible scenario where I can see him returning is if Kevin Durant Chris Pauls his way to Boston. Then Boston might give Al a four year deal (at a reduced annual salary) to keep KD happy and ease the luxury tax concerns.All of this is irrelevant since Brad won't go with Al at the 4 and it's probably too late to install/build any continuity with it. The one glimmer of hope here is if we get AD, Brad will be forced to play Al and AD together.
I wonder if he'd just exercise his huge player option and play the year out especially if Davis is going to be playing alongside him.I doubt Al is going to be back in Boston next year. About the only possible scenario where I can see him returning is if Kevin Durant Chris Pauls his way to Boston. Then Boston might give Al a four year deal (at a reduced annual salary) to keep KD happy and ease the luxury tax concerns.
Aside from that, especially if they acquire Davis, he’s nearly certain to sign that four year deal elsewhere (or sign an MLE deal with the Warriors to get his ring).
Agree with all of this.He's 29 years old, and he acts like he's some 34 year old grizzled vet who knows what it's like to play for a winner. The guy is pretty much the opposite of a winner. The teams he played on had played a grand total of 4 playoff games in his career prior to last season with the Celtics. I'd love to hear Kevin McHale's thoughts on Marcus Morris. In 2012/13, Morris was a 23 year old, 2nd year player coming off the bench for Houston. He was playing 21.4mpg and averaging 8.6ppg/4.1rpg (14.5/6.8 per 36) and had a TS of .538%. He was fine for what he was. But at the trade deadline, they dumped him for a 2nd round pick from the Suns (which they turned into Isaiah Canaan). At the time of the trade, Houston was 29-26. From that point forward, they went 16-11 (addition by subtraction), and snuck into the playoffs as the #8 seed, where they lost to the Thunder in 6. Then they signed Dwight Howard in the offseason, and went 54-28 the following season.
I've wondered about that trade in the 12/13 season at various times since Morris came here, and I started thinking about it again last night as I was watching that shitshow of an interview. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Does he not have any self-awareness? The guys is, IMO, the worst ball stopper on the team. If he hasn't taken a shot in about 5-6 trips down the floor, you can guarantee if the ball hits his hands, it's stopping right there. Yesterday, at one point, he grabbed a defensive rebound, and because he hadn't taken a shot in a little while, you knew he was going to dribble all the way up the court, and either make some awful drive to the hoop that would get blocked, or back someone down and do a fallaway. He didn't get the chance, because as he was getting ready to go into "ME-Mo mode," there was a foul away from the ball. I've pointing it out a lot recently, but Morris is able to hide it well, but the guy has literally NO HOPS. Zero. We joke about Al not having hops, but MaMo is just as bad, if not worse. He can't get off the ground. That's why he's such a bad finisher at the rim, when he takes it to the hoop.
Over his last 18 games, he's shooting .430/.355/.844, which is in line with his career #'s of .433/.364/.745. Prior to that, he was shooting .501/.441/.886. Brad hasn't cut his minutes (he's gone from 27.5 in 2018 to 27.6 in 2019, he's gone up slightly) and he's taking the exact same number of shots at 11.1fga, so he's "still getting his," but he's not exactly playing well, and if soneone was going to speak up last night, and talk about how they aren't "having fun," it most definitely should not be the guy who consistently looks the most miserable, who's been seen on video attacking a younger teammate and is the first example of ball "hog" they have on the team, when things get a little tough on the offensive end. He was also dreadful defensively yesterday, losing track of his men at the 3 point line, getting blown by when his man would go to the hoop, etc.
Yeah, this is a really weird season insofar as it’s essentially a transition season between the current group and very likely a drastically different team next season, and yet no players have actually left yet.Long term, their best chances are either to (a) obtain Davis; or (b) let Kyrie walk and retool around Brown/Tatum while hoping Memphis continues to lose.
Wasn't it the same situation 2 years ago? Everyone knew that there would be big changes in IT's last year yet they played to the best of their abilities. Something is up in that locker room.Yeah, this is a really weird season insofar as it’s essentially a transition season between the current group and very likely a drastically different team next season, and yet no players have actually left yet.
I do think that must be factoring in at least somewhat to the disjointed feeling from the team this year - there’s literally not a single player on this year’s team that might not be gone come the summer and that must be in their heads to some degree.
It depends on the matchup. If the playoffs started today, the Celtics would be the 5 seed playing on the road against a loaded Sixers squad.It’s also an immature collection of talent that is playing with pressure for the first time.
As bad as they’ve looked at times, would anyone be shocked if they went on a run during the playoffs? I’m not saying it’s likely – but I’d be a fuckload more surprised if they went one and done.
The risk is that Horford's contract after next season is an MLE deal, as he would be 34 and has already shown some signs of decline here and there.He's owed $30 million next year if he wants it. Why not exercise the option, play one more year with Boston (or possibly be traded) and then sign a 3 year deal as a FA?