The Heat is on, ECF here we come!

Jimbodandy

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I'm still going to challenge it; a healthy Kemba Walker isn't going to lose minutes to Brad Wanamaker. And while, if everyone is healthy, I think we could see stretches where Smart plays with the starters, I don't think it'll materially decrease Kemba's minutes.

I don't buy that Jimmy Butler has magically become a good three point shooter in the bubble. He shot 24% from three this year, which probably is a bit of an outlier as well. For his career, he's at 33%. I'd go under screens against Butler all day and let him launch over the screen. That's not how Miami wants to play on offense; they want to move the ball, attack the interior of the defense, and generate open looks for their best shooters. I think the C's need to dial down the switching in this series, keep Butler and Dragic out of the paint, and live with some of those Butler threes, even if they're going in.

I do think that Miami will pick on Kemba on offense, especially if they can get him switched onto Butler. I'm still way less concerned with that, given the rest of the Celtics' defense, than I would be about Kemba picking on guys like Goran Dragic or Duncan Robinson, if I were a Heat fan. Said differently, the matchup problems that Kemba gives the Heat on offense far outweigh his defensive limitations.
This seems right. They'll live with Jimmy shooting over screens, the same way that they lived with Ibaka launching from deep or Siakam posting...because the alternative is worse. JB getting in foul trouble or Jimmy getting easy elbow jumpers is bad.

Brad's going to use Kemba to create advantages. When he gets Dragic, Robinson, or Herro on him, it's barbecue chicken for someone, nevermind if he can get Olynyk or a big. Miami will have to blitz or zone, and we should have a plan for both.
 

PedroKsBambino

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Kemba also isn't giving up much defensively to Wannamaker for me. Kemba is small, but feisty defensively. Wannamaker has 3-4 inches on Kemba and some bulk but is not as feisty and his intensity varies more. If you really end up with a ton of Butler overpowering Kemba situations, ok...I get the benefit. But generically, the defensive different just isn't enough to really worry about given the offensive difference is so massive. In my mind it is only if Kemba is really really strugglign shooting such that Miami sags way off him that you even consider swapping minutes there. Even if he in fact has a bad shooting series, he remains a threat until Miami gambles otherwise
 

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Small sample and all but Butler has gone from a 24% 3-pt shooter during the regular season to hitting 9-18 in the bubble during the playoffs. Bubble shooting is much different for many players due to the great disparity in depth perception and sight lines down in Orlando.

In theory, it sounds so simple for Kemba to go over screens however this would play right into Miami’s hands as it would give the ballhandler angles off the dribble. This forces help which leads to shooters being open for 3. I expect Spo to target Kemba repeatedly to create mismatches as he is the guy the Heat want both defending the dribble as well as closing out on all of their perimater

It wouldn’t surprise me to see Kemba losing minutes this series to Wanamaker or a Smart/Hayward backcount if the latter returns.
Agree Kemba will be targeted on defense, he always will be. If Duncan Robinson is attacking the basket off the dribble into the middle of the Celtics defense we can live with that. Not sure Coach Spo would be thrilled with that idea.

No, Kemba won't lose minutes to play Brad Wanamaker. Brad's too good of a coach, he can figure out a defensive scheme to hide KW deficiencies to the "big, bad" Miami Heat. If he can figure out how to play IT4 in the playoffs, he can figure out Kemba minutes

Not only does Jimmy shoot 3s poorly but he doesn't shoot them often. He was 9th on 3PA for the Heat in the reg season & 7th in 3PAs during the playoffs (I guess we shouldn't count Jimmy's 0-2 3PA in the 4 bubble regular-season games he played?)...So my point is Jaylen won't chase him around screens on the perimeter to challenge a shot he rarely takes to end up on Jimmy's hip. Butler's strength is FTs where he ranked 5th in the NBA in FTAs.
 
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DJnVa

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I don't buy that Jimmy Butler has magically become a good three point shooter in the bubble. He shot 24% from three this year, which probably is a bit of an outlier as well. For his career, he's at 33%.
So I shouldn't believe the bubble is the reason Grant Williams is 8 of 12 from three in postseason?
 

HomeRunBaker

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So I shouldn't believe the bubble is the reason Grant Williams is 8 of 12 from three in postseason?
Or that Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell are Steph and Seth in Dell’s backyard. Depth perception is real. The bubble effect is real. We can discount individual increases based on sample size of one player but what about when the overall sample is consistent with other known factors?
 

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Or that Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell are Steph and Seth in Dell’s backyard. Depth perception is real. The bubble effect is real. We can discount individual increases based on sample size of one player but what about when the overall sample is consistent with other known factors?
100% agree on depth perception. Gyms vs Arenas vs Stadiums. I attended about 50 games in the Carrier Dome, and that place has probably the worst lighting/shooter depth perception on the planet. It affects long-distance/FT shooting for sure.

Just haven't seen Jimmy turn up the # of attempts in the bubble vs. the regular season. It's a pick your poison situation, Jaylen chasing over screens screams Butler free-throws attempts. I think we'll see Jaylen go under and not get Kemba switched on to Jimmy, which was my original point.

CBS is very cognizant of Kemba's whereabouts defensively. KW is the #1 target of every opponent since Tatum, Smart, Theis, Brown range from All-NBA defense to good/strong on-ball defender (Brown)
 
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the moops

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Or that Jamal Murray and Donovan Mitchell are Steph and Seth in Dell’s backyard. Depth perception is real. The bubble effect is real. We can discount individual increases based on sample size of one player but what about when the overall sample is consistent with other known factors?
I don't think the overall sample shows that though. Sure, there are players like Murray and Mitchell who have shot lights out, but here are the pre-bubble and bubble 3P% shooting for all 8 teams that made it to the semi finals.


LAC - 36.8 vs 40.8 (+4.0)
TOR - 37.1 vs 39.1 (+2.0)
BOS - 36.3 vs 37.4 (+1.1)
DEN - 35.8 vs 36.6 (+0.8)
MIL - 35.6 vs 34.5 (-1.1)
HOU - 34.8 vs 32.6 (-2.2)
MIA - 38.3 vs 34.8 (-3.5)
LAL - 35.4 vs 30.3 (-5.1)
 

Jimbodandy

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100% agree on depth perception. Gyms vs Arenas vs Stadiums. I attended about 50 games in the Carrier Dome, and that place has probably the worst lighting/shooter depth perception on the planet. It affects long-distance/FT shooting for sure.

Just haven't seen Jimmy turn up the # of attempts in the bubble vs. the regular season. It's a pick your poison situation, Jaylen chasing over screens screams Butler free-throws attempts. I think we'll see Jaylen go under and not get Kemba switched on to Jimmy, which was my original point.
Yeah Jimmy on Kemba is really the only gross matchup here, and CBS will find a way to mostly stay out of that. If that means more 3s for Jimmy, they'll have to live with it. Sitting down Kemba is a terrible alternative, as that allows Miami to blitz Tatum and frankly leaves way too many points on the table with Kemba generating easy shots off breaking down Miami guards. Dragic isn't terrible, but he's a big step down from Lowry/FVV on Kemba, and Robinson/Herro is highlight film stuff.
 

DannyDarwinism

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I don't think the overall sample shows that though. Sure, there are players like Murray and Mitchell who have shot lights out, but here are the pre-bubble and bubble 3P% shooting for all 8 teams that made it to the semi finals.


LAC - 36.8 vs 40.8 (+4.0)
TOR - 37.1 vs 39.1 (+2.0)
BOS - 36.3 vs 37.4 (+1.1)
DEN - 35.8 vs 36.6 (+0.8)
MIL - 35.6 vs 34.5 (-1.1)
HOU - 34.8 vs 32.6 (-2.2)
MIA - 38.3 vs 34.8 (-3.5)
LAL - 35.4 vs 30.3 (-5.1)
Is that including the playoffs? Because if so, you’d have to figure it accounts for significantly more intense defenses.

There’s been a lot of talk about improved shooting in the bubble, with a bunch of players talking about the better sight lines, and benefit of playing on the same court night after night. 538 wrote a piece on it:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-have-nba-offenses-been-so-good-in-the-bubble/amp/
 

the moops

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Is that including the playoffs? Because if so, you’d have to figure it accounts for significantly more intense defenses.

There’s been a lot of talk about improved shooting in the bubble, with a bunch of players talking about the better sight lines, and benefit of playing on the same court night after night. 538 wrote a piece on it:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-have-nba-offenses-been-so-good-in-the-bubble/amp/
That did not include the playoffs. Playoff shooting looks like this

LAC 37.8
TOR 36.3
BOS 34.1
DEN 39.5
MIL 35.8
HOU 36.2
MIA 38.0
LAL 35.9

BOS, TOR, LAC all shooting worse in playoffs compared to bubble non-playoffs

DEN shooting lights out compared to pre-bubble and bubble non-playoffs

MIA, LAL, MIL, shooting like they did in non-bubble regular season, and much better than they did in bubble non-playoffs
 

DannyDarwinism

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That did not include the playoffs. Playoff shooting looks like this
I totally overlooked this when I asked, but since bad teams (correlated with bad defenses) didn’t even make the bubble, it’s tougher to compare regular season vs bubble.

IIRC, teams generally shoot slightly worse across the board (including FTs) during the post season.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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Also, this is complete speculation, but players have been saying that they are less tired due to lack of travel, and I think that would help shooting as there are fewer nights when players don't have their "legs".
 

the moops

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Is that including the playoffs? Because if so, you’d have to figure it accounts for significantly more intense defenses.

There’s been a lot of talk about improved shooting in the bubble, with a bunch of players talking about the better sight lines, and benefit of playing on the same court night after night. 538 wrote a piece on it:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/fivethirtyeight.com/features/why-have-nba-offenses-been-so-good-in-the-bubble/amp/
That article is from AUG 20. At that point, teams were averaging 113.17 points per 100 possessions.

In the playoffs, only 3 teams are scoring that efficiently. However, compared to the previosu few years, scoring is way up in the playoffs
 

DannyDarwinism

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That article is from AUG 20. At that point, teams were averaging 113.17 points per 100 possessions.

In the playoffs, only 3 teams are scoring that efficiently. However, compared to the previosu few years, scoring is way up in the playoffs
Right, so the article is looking at all regular season bubble games. I’m not sure why you’re just looking at 8 teams. In any event, I specifically pointed out that it was bad to look at playoff vs regular season numbers- because defense is more intense in the playoffs, and playoff teams typically don’t get to feast upon the worst defenses in the league like they do in the regular season. Then, as I later noted, the latter was true for bubble teams even before the playoffs since the bubble was mostly comprised of good defensive teams.

You initially responded to HRB with data that you seem to think indicates that shooting was not up in the bubble, and I offered some context as to why the data you offered is not an apples to apples comparison. If I misunderstood you, or if you think your initial comparison is kosher, I’m all ears.
 

HomeRunBaker

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DD is echoing every point I came here to make regarding shooting in bubble and the decrease in playoff shooting due to defensive intensity/game plan.
 

Manramsclan

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How did they let Jimmy Butler get that fucking rebound while sitting on the floor. Get the ball!

EDIT: Sorry, thought it was the game thread.
 

InstaFace

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Well, that sucked. Frittered away a 10-point 1Q lead and a 12-point 3Q lead, not to mention a 5-point lead with barely over a minute to go. On the key sequence of the game, Tatum couldn't avoid fouling Butler, and Adebayo then stuffed a dunk attempt at the other end.

It felt like we got rotated off a lot of shooters to the point where we gave up way more wide-open / uncovered 3P shots than we should have. If I had to guess I'd say the number was 6 tonight. And against the Jae Crowders and Dragices (Dragici?), those went down more often than not.

Theis also took a bunch of cheap fouls, especially early in the game, such that he wasn't there to be the one contesting that final Butler drive or giving help on a number of other plays where it ended up in a layup.

Not sure what obvious adjustments exist here, clearly we have the capacity to dominate for stretches, but that level of focus just isn't being kept up, whether the Heat's shots are falling or not. But giving up 44% from 3 is a pretty guaranteed way to lose at this stage.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Some data. Miami was 21-31 down low. That is 67.7%. They also shot 47.1% from the field. Once Stevens gets done yelling at Kemba to try harder and Tatum for not being ready and himself for all the things he did wrong, he has some actual fixes he can make.
 

OurF'ingCity

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Some data. Miami was 21-31 down low. That is 67.7%. They also shot 47.1% from the field. Once Stevens gets done yelling at Kemba to try harder and Tatum for not being ready and himself for all the things he did wrong, he has some actual fixes he can make.
Which are what? Not being sarcastic/snarky, honestly curious.

Edit: I do think Brad should be playing Wanamaker more over Kemba. That's not just a knee-jerk reaction to Kemba's struggles in this game - when BW came in was one of the Cs better stretches because he's more of a facilitator, is better on defense, and doesn't try to do too much. Plus, if Kemba is still hurting, getting him more rest earlier in games is a good idea anyway.
 

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Some data. Miami was 21-31 down low. That is 67.7%. They also shot 47.1% from the field. Once Stevens gets done yelling at Kemba to try harder and Tatum for not being ready and himself for all the things he did wrong, he has some actual fixes he can make.
I don’t think anyone in the gamethread thinks Kemba needs to “try harder” or “just play better”. I think we’re concerned his knee is bothering him again and he is physically incapable of playing better.

And the Kemba we’ve seen the last few games is a major liability on both ends. We haven’t heard anything about his knee or treatment so it’s all speculation, but to me he looks way slower than he did against Philly and in the first half of the Toronto series.
 
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DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Which are what? Not being sarcastic/snarky, honestly curious.

Edit: I do think Brad should be playing Wanamaker more over Kemba. That's not just a knee-jerk reaction to Kemba's struggles in this game - when BW came in was one of the Cs better stretches because he's more of a facilitator, is better on defense, and doesn't try to do too much. Plus, if Kemba is still hurting, getting him more rest earlier in games is a good idea anyway.
For starters, they need to do a better job on Dragic. He was 8-11 in the painted area. They clearly also need to be more connected to Crowder. That is just for starters.

They could also do more to counter the zone and the blitzing/doubling of Kemba. He probably needs to play off the ball more with Smart bringing the ball up.

But I am pretty confident Stevens will adjust. The Heat will too.
 

lovegtm

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I don’t think anyone in the gamethread thinks Kemba needs to “try harder” or “just play better”. I think we’re concerned his knee is bothering him again and he is physically incapable of playing better.

And the Kemba we’ve seen the last few games is a major liability on both ends. We haven’t heard anything about his knee or treatment so it’s all speculation, but to me he looks way slower than he did against Philly and in the first half of the Toronto series.
This. I'm very concerned. He is struggling to generate space against Tyler Herro.
 

HomeRunBaker

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I don’t think anyone in the gamethread thinks Kemba needs to “try harder” or “just play better”. I think we’re concerned his knee is bothering him again and he is physically incapable of playing better.

And the Kemba we’ve seen the last few games is a major liability on both ends. We haven’t heard anything about his knee or treatment so it’s all speculation, but to me he looks way slower than he did against Philly and in the first half of the Toronto series.
How many 6-foot scoring guards have not fallen off a cliff once they hit age 30? Even the best of them all, Allen Iverson, did and he wasn’t really damaged goods. The energy and effort, the wear and tear, that a 6-foot guard has to generate is what causes them to consistently break down quicker than other position players or style of players. Kemba has gone HARD for the past dozen years dating back to UConn. Similar to Isaiah.....that tank is close to E.

View: https://youtu.be/tDnAzGpxR4k
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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Regardless of what ails Kemba, it seemed pretty obvious that part of Miami's plan was to make him as uncomfortable as possible. They are excellent at defending without fouling (Miami averages the fewest PF per game of the remaining teams) and just mucking up the Celtics actions early. Its similar to what Boston did to the Raptors.

I suspect we may see Kemba off the ball way more in game two with Smart facilitating.
 

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Two things stood out to me and probably a lot of other folks in the last few games:

1) The end of game / overtime offense is just horrible. This team tightens up way, way, too much, way too early. Meanwhile Miami runs their offense, for better or worse.

2) Something is wrong with Kemba. He was stumbling a lot, especially when driving. Didn't often lead to turnovers but just killed the flow of their offense. I don't think the floor was particularly slippery.
 

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Two things stood out to me and probably a lot of other folks in the last few games:

1) The end of game / overtime offense is just horrible. This team tightens up way, way, too much, way too early. Meanwhile Miami runs their offense, for better or worse.

2) Something is wrong with Kemba. He was stumbling a lot, especially when driving. Didn't often lead to turnovers but just killed the flow of their offense. I don't think the floor was particularly slippery.
Agree on both counts. This team gets incredibly tight when trying to hold on to late leads. That stretch after 105-100 lead was just pure trash. You simply can’t blow 5 point leads with a minute to go. They were 1 stop away from winning the game...again.

Kemba is a complete lost cause, IMO. I have seriously downgraded my expectation for him. The knee simply has to be bothering him. He needs to figure out what the new version of him can do. And we need Hayward. Brad also needs to be realistic and go Wanamaker more, if needed. Kemba’s flat out killing this team.
 

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There were multiple points, but to me the game was really lost at the end of regulation. All we needed was a point to win the game, and the best "strategy" we had was to simply hold the ball and shoot a 3PA from a couple feet behind the arc? This was also not a one time occurrence, as we've seen the same "play" at the end of quarters in other games recently. C'mon guys! That's basically playing not to lose, not playing to win.

As others have mentioned, I'm getting a bit tired of Kemba dribbling the ball all around, falling down, losing the ball or scrambling back up but just completely destroying the flow of the offense. There were stretches when the offense just looked so chaotic and flustered. I could understand it against Toronto, but Miami is not as tough defensively.

I"m also getting a bit tired of the Theis foul machine. It was a short stretch, but I thought they looked better with Grant in there.
 

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Miami is the better team here, no question. Something needs to change for the Celtics to even extend this to 7. If the Celtics had anything off the be nch it might be different. From the start of the 4th, the Celtics basically had nothing left and just struggling to hang on. They either get a productive Gordon Hayward back or stick a fork in them.
 

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You simply can’t blow 5 point leads with a minute to go.
That's a stretch. The C's went up five on a Kemba jumper with 1:09 left, and Herro hit a 3-pointer seven seconds later.

It might have been different had the C's had a five-point lead and possession, but this was a two-point game with a minute left.

Did the C's look awful in the final minute, especially on offense? Absolutely. But a two-point lead is anything but insurmountable.
 

BigSoxFan

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That's a stretch. The C's went up five on a Kemba jumper with 1:09 left, and Herro hit a 3-pointer seven seconds later.

It might have been different had the C's had a five-point lead and possession, but this was a two-point game with a minute left.

Did the C's look awful in the final minute, especially on offense? Absolutely. But a two-point lead is anything but insurmountable.
It was a 2 point lead because they didn’t get a stop. The fact of the matter is they were up 5 with 1:09 to go. They were 1 stop away from a win. Get a stop on that possession and it’s over. Get a score on the ensuing possession and it’s not over but it’s close. They failed on both accounts. Right after the Herro make, Kemba didn’t even get a shot off. Just terrible execution.
 

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Glass half full take: Miami won't continue to shoot 44% from three. Grant Williams has discovered a good three-point shot and is becoming much more valuable on the second unit. Wanamaker had a great game. Maybe he matches up well against Miami?

Glass half empty take: Kemba looks worse than ever. Notice that he's not taking charges anymore? Not sure if it's because he's not quick enough to get in position or doesn't want to risk tweaking the knee. Also, zone seemed to bother Celts at times, though that should be fixable. Also, Miami just seemed to have a better game plan than the Celts last night.
 

BigSoxFan

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Glass half full take: Miami won't continue to shoot 44% from three. Grant Williams has discovered a good three-point shot and is becoming much more valuable on the second unit. Wanamaker had a great game. Maybe he matches up well against Miami?

Glass half empty take: Kemba looks worse than ever. Notice that he's not taking charges anymore? Not sure if it's because he's not quick enough to get in position or doesn't want to risk tweaking the knee. Also, zone seemed to bother Celts at times, though that should be fixable. Also, Miami just seemed to have a better game plan than the Celts last night.
Agreed. Bad losses happen all the time. We’ve already seen some really bad ones these past few games. It sucks but it’s one game. I’m more concerned about...

The Kemba issues just have me feeling very pessimistic right now. The version of Kemba is a complete albatross hanging over the Celtics’ neck. We’re still waiting for Hayward to come back and even when he does, we have to temper our expectations. Tatum can’t be a superstar every game against Butler. Jaylen obviously needs to play better as well for us to have a chance at beating these guys 4 times in 6 games.
 

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Agreed. Bad losses happen all the time. We’ve already seen some really bad ones these past few games. It sucks but it’s one game. I’m more concerned about...

The Kemba issues just have me feeling very pessimistic right now. The version of Kemba is a complete albatross hanging over the Celtics’ neck. We’re still waiting for Hayward to come back and even when he does, we have to temper our expectations. Tatum can’t be a superstar every game against Butler. Jaylen obviously needs to play better as well for us to have a chance at beating these guys 4 times in 6 games.
Yep. I didn't wake up feeling particularly optimistic either. Miami is just going to keep playing zone and, like against Toronto, the Celtics have no answer for it with a Kemba who is getting trapped so easily. I said it in the GT and maybe it's crazy, but I'd absolutely try Kanter off the bench tomorrow. Rob Williams wasn't effective, the small-ball lineups weren't effective, and Miami has nobody who can check Kanter inside.
 

BigSoxFan

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Yep. I didn't wake up feeling particularly optimistic either. Miami is just going to keep playing zone and, like against Toronto, the Celtics have no answer for it with a Kemba who is getting trapped so easily. I said it in the GT and maybe it's crazy, but I'd absolutely try Kanter off the bench tomorrow. Rob Williams wasn't effective, the small-ball lineups weren't effective, and Miami has nobody who can check Kanter inside.
I mean, if we’re going to give up a million wide open 3’s without Kanter anyways, might as well see if he can give us an offensive boost off the bench.
 

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The Celtics won their first 6 playoff games to put them up 2-0 on the Raptors. Since then they are 2-4 and apart from one dominant performance against the Rotors in game 5 they have been inconsistent, mixing strong stretches of play with dismal stretches.
 

HomeRunBaker

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It was a 2 point lead because they didn’t get a stop. The fact of the matter is they were up 5 with 1:09 to go. They were 1 stop away from a win. Get a stop on that possession and it’s over. Get a score on the ensuing possession and it’s not over but it’s close. They failed on both accounts. Right after the Herro make, Kemba didn’t even get a shot off. Just terrible execution.
I’m not sure what else the Celtics could have done on that possession. The defense forced Herro to make a contested 3 off the dribble.
 

CoffeeNerdness

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Kemba who is getting trapped so easily.
Isn't the solution here getting Kemba to pass the damn ball earlier? It's not like he should be surprised that the trap is coming yet he keeps getting pressed to the half-court by two guys and has to make really difficult passes out of it, which throws off the whole rhythm of the offense because it's so much easier for Miami to get into position to defend the player receiving the pass when that player has to reach for a pass coming at them from a shitty angle. Coach needs to come up with something here asap because this what 6, 7, 8 straight games of them getting snuffed by the zone without any answers.
 

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I attribute this loss to the Celtics being exhausted from a seven game war against Toronto. There were too many defensive breakdowns, easy layups and wide open 3's allowed. And Miami still needed overtime to win. The Celtics are not going to have another game as bad defensively as that for the rest of the series.

Celts in 6.
 

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I’m not sure what else the Celtics could have done on that possession. The defense forced Herro to make a contested 3 off the dribble.
It’s not about that one possession. They had a 5 point lead with 1:09 left and a 87.4% win probability. They gave up the 3. Then, they had a horrible possession and didn’t even get a shot off. Then, they gave up another 3. And then had another horrible possession to end it and were lucky to even get to OT.

They had 4 chances to really take control and they failed on all 4 attempts. That’s just not winning basketball. They deserved to lose that game for their execution down the stretch.
 

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TOR was a better team than PHI and MIA is a better overall team than TOR. At this point I have them about even, with the question being whether MIA's shooting and execution will win out over BOS's athleticism and defense.

BOS only forced 13 TOs. Hopefully that number can go up as they figure out how MIA likes to play.

Should be a fun series to watch, particularly if the good guys can pull it out.

Really wish they'd stop giving up open 3s to Crowder. I suspect they put Kemba on him.

Yep. I didn't wake up feeling particularly optimistic either. Miami is just going to keep playing zone and, like against Toronto, the Celtics have no answer for it with a Kemba who is getting trapped so easily. I said it in the GT and maybe it's crazy, but I'd absolutely try Kanter off the bench tomorrow. Rob Williams wasn't effective, the small-ball lineups weren't effective, and Miami has nobody who can check Kanter inside.
Kanter is unplayable against MIA's offense. While Kanter would certainly get a few points on offense, he'd given them all back on defense. MIA shoots to well to have someone who doesn't cover any ground on defense.
 

Devizier

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Jul 3, 2000
19,473
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I’m not sure what else the Celtics could have done on that possession. The defense forced Herro to make a contested 3 off the dribble.
Yeah, that was just a killer shot by Herro. I cannot complain about the defense down the stretch, it was the fucking offense that killed the Celtics.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
47,094
Yeah, that was just a killer shot by Herro. I cannot complain about the defense down the stretch, it was the fucking offense that killed the Celtics.
They gave up 35 points in the 4th quarter. The defense was absolutely part of the problem.
 

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
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Jan 15, 2004
30,096
I mean, if we’re going to give up a million wide open 3’s without Kanter anyways, might as well see if he can give us an offensive boost off the bench.
Kanter would be a nightmare on the floor for us. If you think that the Heat were targeting Kemba in the paint on switches now they would have another easy 2 or an open 3 virtually every time down the floor.

It’s Game 1 and as I wrote the other day, Miami is going to get clean looks from 3 at the start of the series until the defense becomes accustomed to how and where they are getting these shots. We were going to have a ton of trouble winning the first two games for this reason. If we don’t adapt to what they are doing then the Heat likely will continue to hit 40-45% of their 3’s however as the series progresses they shouldn’t have nearly as many open looks as last night.
 

BigSoxFan

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May 31, 2007
47,094
Kanter would be a nightmare on the floor for us. If you think that the Heat were targeting Kemba in the paint on switches now they would have another easy 2 virtually every time down the floor.

It’s Game 1 and as I wrote the other day, Miami is going to get clean looks from 3 at the start of the series until the defense becomes accustomed to how and where they are getting these shots. We were going to have a ton of trouble winning the first two games for this reason. If we don’t adapt to what they are doing then the Heat likely will continue to hit 40-45% of their 3’s however as the series progresses they shouldn’t have nearly as many open looks as last night.
Giving up a bunch of easy 2’s would be a relief at this point given all the easy 3’s they gave up. I’m just irritated today. Hate losing to Riley and hate giving games away like that.