People get mad when the Celtics don't follow their very special plans for how to break the zone, even though the Heat have seen it all and adjust quickly to basic zone-breakers.Celtics averaged 1.4 points per possession against 30 ish possessions in the zone game 5. Y'all shouldn't complain about how they're handling the zone. They are absolutely wrecking it.
Al Horford is the first name on any of those lists. But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves here.Embiid, Bam, Davis, Draymond, Steven Adams are the first names to come to mind for me. All stout, bigger guys with some mobility
Martin has had such a good series. It’s hard not to be impressed. Other than maybe a stretch during the second half of game 4, he has pretty much knocked down every shot you’ve hoped he would.I’m going to be interested to see if Caleb Martin is hobbled at all going into the next game. It looked like he hyperextended his knee fairly badly early in the game
Wikipedia says that there have been 204 teams in the Stanley Cup playoffs who could have come back from a 0-3 deficit. So it may be a larger sample size, but the low-scoring nature of hockey games makes for more variance in outcomes (and that benefits the underdog).Hockey also has the goaltender issue. Basically 1 string of 4 straight excellent performances by one player can flip the series in a way that it can't in any other. You could have an amazing pitcher throw 2 great games in 4 games, but not 4. In basketball a single player can't just prevent the opponent from scoring at all. The impact of a goalie is just going to be larger.
I admit I watched this morning. The guy has clearly never watched the Heat zone with the high wings. His frustration is delicious.Yes, they are trashing the ZONE.
I enjoy this way too much, clearly a character flaw of mine
Cody Zeller, what are you doing!!!!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAn0gleYyQg
...we can even reverse engineer an estimate of the odds that a team in each sport who's up 3-0 on an opponent will win a given next game against that opponent.Not directly related, but a question:
0-3 comebacks by sport:
1 time in Baseball (as we know)
4 times in Hockey (Bs being one such team)
0 times in NBA
Do you suppose there is something unique in hockey that has enabled it to happen much more often? The best I can come up with is there is a lot more variability in hockey where the better team often doesn't win (more 'puck-luck') that causes more variance and allows anomolies like that to happen
That play @ 2:08 where Tatum just ran through for the dunk was awesome. Frankly, I think the lane was open enough I could have even scored.Yes, they are trashing the ZONE.
I enjoy this way too much, clearly a character flaw of mine
Cody Zeller, what are you doing!!!!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAn0gleYyQg
Nicely done......we can even reverse engineer an estimate of the odds that a team in each sport who's up 3-0 on an opponent will win a given next game against that opponent.
NBA: Since 1984, in a 7-game 2-2-1-1-1 series, teams that go up 3-0 are 111-0.
- Of those 111 series, 71 were sweeps, 40 went to 5 games, 9 went to 6 games, and 0 went to 7 games. So the leading teams were 71-40 in Game 4, 31-9 in Game 5, and 9-0 in Game 6.
- Therefore, the team that went up 3-0 had a game W-L of 111-49 from that point forward, a 69.4% winning percentage.
- With that Win %, you'd expect a 4-game comeback by the underdog once every 114 series.
- (if you include 2-3-2 format series, 5 series got to 3-0, of those 4 were sweeps and 1 went 6 games, the 1996 Finals)
NHL: all-time in any 7-game series, teams that are up 3-0 are 201-4 in the eventual result.
- Of those 205 series, 128 (62.4%) were won by the leading team in 4, 55 (26.8%) ended in 5 games, 13 ended in 6 games, 5 were won by the initially leading team in 7, and 4 were comeback wins by the trailing team.
- Therefore the team that went up 3-0 had a game W-L of 128-77 in game 4, 55-22 in game 5, 13-9 in game 6, and 5-4 in game 7, for a total W-L of 201-112, a 64.2% W%.
- With that Win %, you'd expect a 4-game comeback by the underdog once every 61 series, or about 3.4 times in NHL history (vs actual 4).
MLB: all-time in any 7-game series, teams that are up 3-0 in a series are 38-1 in the eventual result.
- Of those 39 series, 31 were won in 4 games, 4 were won in 5 games, 2 were won in 6 games, and the 2 that went to a 7th game were split 1-1 (the other was the 2020 ALCS, Rays over Astros)
- Therefore the team that went up 3-0 was 31-8 in game 4, 4-4 in game 5, 2-2 in game 6, and 1-1 in game 7, for a total W-L of 38-15, a 71.7% W%.
- But after the 4th game, those series were sure even! This goes against what I was saying about the spread of the teams' quality. But MLB is more selective about the teams making the postseason, they should be more evenly matched, not less!
- Looking more closely, 23 of these series were in the World Series, and the results were even more skewed there: of the 23 series, and excluding 2 tied games early in baseball history, 20 were sweeps, 3 went to a 5th game, none beyond that. That's a 23-3 W-L, 88.5% W-L. Maybe a lot of these series in the pre-free-agency era were just very lopsided, maybe the teams just wanted to go home and kinda gave up once they were down 3-0. They only get paid a share of gate for the first 4 games, after all.
- By contrast, in the LCS, best-of-7 in 1988-present, you have the 11 series in that article, plus the 2016 ALCS (4-1), 2017 NLCS (4-1), 2019 NLCS (4-0), 2020 ALCS (4-3) and the 2022 ALCS (4-0).
- In those 16 series, 10 were sweeps, 2 ended in 5, 2 ended in 6, and 2 ended in 7 (initially-leading teams 1-1). Teams up 3-0 went 15-11 from there, a mere 57.7% W%.
- If the first number including all those WS sweeps is correct, you'd expect a comeback only once every 136 series. But if it's the second number, you'd expect it once every 31 series - and wouldn't be surprised that it had happened once and only once.
I'm right there with you. At this point I don't even care if he's doing a bit or not, I don't care if he's wrong half the time and an asshole with unrealistic expectations 100% of the time, it's enjoyable after every win. In fact I think it's funnier if it's not a bit.Yes, they are trashing the ZONE.
I enjoy this way too much, clearly a character flaw of mine
Cody Zeller, what are you doing!!!!
That's extremely poetic and beautiful English in this context; love it.I'm right there with you. At this point I don't even care if he's doing a bit or not, I don't care if he's wrong half the time and an asshole with unrealistic expectations 100% of the time, it's enjoyable after every win. In fact I think it's funnier if it's not a bit.
Like, it's barely English sometimes. "Highsmith's presence in this game is that of disaster!"
Robinson can’t defend anyone. He might be one of the worst defensive players I have ever seen. Grant Williams went around him like a traffic cone a few times. If Grant Williams is driving by you, that’s a really bad sign.Despite handwringing about Highsmith making some shots, that video highlights that he was horrific on the defensive end, as was Duncan Robinson and Zeller. We definitely have more depth at this point, and just need to keep trying to run them off the floor - the more they have to play those guys, the better our chances.
(I love that guy too!)
I think it's a mistake to assume a 50-50 win odds for a team that ends up winning 3 in a row, at least one of those an Away game. And then to assume 50-50 odds by the trailing team. Especially since the NBA teams who go up 3-0 have a ~69% winning percentage in the subsequent games of the series. The odds and frequency of an 0-3 comeback change dramatically if the trailing team's chances to win any given game are 30% vs 40% vs 50%, because you're compounding those odds 4 times.As between NHL and NBA sample sizes are too small to say, I think. One of the hockey ones was over 80 years ago.
To me, the NBA thing is an anomaly. It should have happened once or twice.
Here's a way to think about it. Imagine a series where the teams are roughly even. Home court matters. And the psychology of being up or down in a series will matter too but let's just say that by and large the teams are roughly comparable and a good match up and maybe the spread goes from -3 to +3 depending on venue.
Question 1: How often will it happen in a series where teams are roughly even that one team will get out to a 3-0 lead? About 25 percent of the time. Why? Well the team that wins game 1 will have about a 50 percent chance of winning game 2 and a 50 percent chance of winning game 3. So, 25 percent.
Question 2: How often will the other team win the next four? It should be about 6.25 percent. (.5x.5x.5x.5)
So, for every 100 series where the teams are evenly matched you would expect that a team would come back from 3-0 down about 1.6 times.
How often are series evenly matched? I don't know. Has to be at least 3 or 4 per year. So it feels like it should have happened once or twice in the last 25 years or so. And even where the teams are not evenly matched -- if you assume the matchup is 65/35, then the team down 3-0 should still have a comeback about 1.5 percent of the time.
Clearly the majority of the time that a team goes up 3-0 it is because the team is better and that means that it's very to very very unlikely the other team will win 4. But it seems as though there should be enough series where a team would get up 3-0 just because, which should make conditions favorable to a comeback occasionally the number of 3-0 series is 150.
This neglects the facts that:
I enjoy Exasperated Ex-Coach’s act. I wonder how NBA superstars would reach if a coach actually went at them like this in a video session. Probably somewhere between sprewelling the coach’s neck and lobbying ownership for a coaching change.Yes, they are trashing the ZONE.
I enjoy this way too much, clearly a character flaw of mine
Cody Zeller, what are you doing!!!!
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAn0gleYyQg
So you're saying we're due..NBA: Since 1984, in a 7-game 2-2-1-1-1 series, teams that go up 3-0 are 111-0.
- With that Win %, you'd expect a 4-game comeback by the underdog once every 114 series.
A Jim Boylen video sessionI enjoy Exasperated Ex-Coach’s act. I wonder how NBA superstars would reach if a coach actually went at them like this in a video session. Probably somewhere between sprewelling the coach’s neck and lobbying ownership for a coaching change.
Brogdon on Jimmy? Yikes, I want no part of that.Brogdon questionable, Vincent questionable for tomorrow night.
Brogdon obviously hasn't been good this series, but I still think he can give them something for stretches. I like him on Jimmy instead of D-White but I doubt he'll play enough for that to really matter in g6.
White is a much better defender than Brogdon when Malcolm is healthy. Injured Malcolm struggles to hold his position, which makes him especially bad.Brogdon questionable, Vincent questionable for tomorrow night.
Brogdon obviously hasn't been good this series, but I still think he can give them something for stretches. I like him on Jimmy instead of D-White but I doubt he'll play enough for that to really matter in g6. He still provides some level of gravity when he's out there and his handle helps vs the Heat's half court defense. Could use him not jacking up contested pull-up 28 footers when hes out there, though.
Vincent being questionable in theory means that, even if he's out there, he'll be a little less explosive and a bit more vulnerable on defense. Could provide another spot for the J's to poke at on defense. Would imagine he'll still be better then Lowry was in g5 (I wouldn't write off Lowry playing better, g5 was the worst he's looked all playoffs). Will be interesting to see how Spo manages the guard rotation if he plays. Rewatching g5 I thought the half court offense better at challenging weaker defenders (Robinson obviously, but also Strus) consistently in the half court. I think thats where excising Lowry (if he's actually benched for most of g6) could hurt Mia,. They played Bam-Butler-Martin-Highsmith all together in the 3q of g6, which is pretty solid on D and relatively light on dribbling. Is Spo really gonna go to Highsmith early tomorrow night if Vincent suits up though?
Horford's defense is more than fine on Bam. When Al hits 3s this team really hums since it usually removes the opponent's BIG from the paint.Anyone watching Al Horford and thinking he's washed is watching a different game than I am. Not to mention a +7.0 net rating in the playoffs, best of any of the starters. And owning MVP Joel Embiid. WTF does the man have to do to get some respect?
Or games 1 or 3, for that matter. It was a factor in Game 2.This neglects the facts that:
- they could have shot worse in game 5 and won
- Miami shot well from 3 in the competitive part of game 5, but the Cs just completely turned off the water in terms of attempts allowed
Shooting variance is a big part of NBA life, and it may well come back to bite the Celtics. But it's not the story of games 4 and 5.
I said sometimes for a reason.Anyone watching Al Horford and thinking he's washed is watching a different game than I am. Not to mention a +7.0 net rating in the playoffs, best of any of the starters. And owning MVP Joel Embiid. WTF does the man have to do to get some respect?
Preach!Anyone watching Al Horford and thinking he's washed is watching a different game than I am. Not to mention a +7.0 net rating in the playoffs, best of any of the starters. And owning MVP Joel Embiid. WTF does the man have to do to get some respect?
As have Tatum, Brown and Smart. No one's calling them washed.I said sometimes for a reason.
You don't think he has had some brutal games?
Can happen to anyone of course, but frequent enough at his age to be a bit concerned this his floor in any given game (especially with limited rest, big minutes, on the road) could be pretty low.
LOL. Al is 36, 2 years older than another former All-Star forward on the roster who definitely is washed.As have Tatum, Brown and Smart. No one's calling them washed.
Al's my fave, I'm gonna stick up for him.
At least in these playoffs, if Brogdon’s not scoring with good efficiency, he’s just not a good player. He’s a bad defender and is rarely interested in even looking to pass let alone actually passing.Brogdon on Jimmy? Yikes, I want no part of that.
A healthy Brogdon is by far the worst defender in the rotation, only rivaled by the disinterested version of Jaylen.
If his elbow is that bad, should be an DNP and only used in case of emergency.
7 man rotation with potential spot minutes for PP or Houser.
My biggest concern there is actually Al Horford (sometimes looking totally washed) counted on for 25-30 min on the road with 1 day of rest.
Sooo.....you're saying he's gonna have a Schilling game?Brogdon on Jimmy? Yikes, I want no part of that.
If his elbow is that bad, should be an DNP and only used in case of emergency.
7 man rotation with potential spot minutes for PP or Houser.
Al has not look washed playing defense. When he's tired, it shows up in the 3s and rebounding, but rarely, if ever, in his defense.LOL. Al is 36, 2 years older than another former All-Star forward on the roster who definitely is washed.
I like Al too, he's a valuable piece on the team, but he sometimes looks pretty washed. It's OK to admit, but let's just hope we don't see that version in the next game.
There was a quote from a baseball player (I want to say it was Bernie Williams, but can't verify) awhile back, something like: "When you're young and in a slump, they call it a slump. When you're old and in a slump, they say you're washed up."As have Tatum, Brown and Smart. No one's calling them washed.
Al's my fave, I'm gonna stick up for him.
Yeah, it's not washed if it varies from game to game, all with the same rest. It's just inconsistency.There was a quote from a baseball player (I want to say it was Bernie Williams, but can't verify) awhile back, something like: "When you're young and in a slump, they call it a slump. When you're old and in a slump, they say you're washed up."
Al's defense has looked fine (and Bam with his athleticism has always been kind of a hard matchup for him) and his rebounding has been mediocre for awhile now, but how washed he looks tends to just depend on whether or not he's making his 3's. His shot profile is radically different now than what it was even a year ago. In last year's playoffs, 51% of his shots were 3 pointers. This postseason, it's up to 73% of his shots are from 3. More than ever, his offense is about making his outside shots. If he's missing (and he's just under 30% for the playoffs), it really stands out because he's not doing much else offensively.
He’s certainly not washed but he’s not peak youth either. I expect him to be good for a couple more years as well, but I would expect the hangover from an Embiid series to impact the next games even more moving forward.Yeah, it's not washed if it varies from game to game, all with the same rest. It's just inconsistency.
It's weird to me that at a time when so many guys are playing well into their mid/late 30s, Al is the one people constantly expect to be washed. His game, body and lifestyle were engineered in a lab to age well, and he had an elite physical profile to begin with.
I really want the Celtics to add some regular season depth so that he can play less, but I expect him to have a couple more good years.
This shows that the Celtics have been getting open looks all series long. Nothing more, nothing less. Knock them down and they have a very good chance to win.This neglects the facts that:
- they could have shot worse in game 5 and won
- Miami shot well from 3 in the competitive part of game 5, but the Cs just completely turned off the water in terms of attempts allowed
Shooting variance is a big part of NBA life, and it may well come back to bite the Celtics. But it's not the story of games 4 and 5.
Broadcast said that the 3P by JB in G5 was the first 3P the Cs hit against the zone all series - do you know if that's correct?Celtics averaged 1.4 points per possession against 30 ish possessions in the zone game 5. Y'all shouldn't complain about how they're handling the zone. They are absolutely wrecking it.
I don’t understand how anyone thinks they would let down in a game 7 after seeing what happened against Milwaukee last year and Philly this year.I don't know that I would ever count on Miami folding in a game. Game 7 is likely to be the let down/trap game for the C's.