2019-2020 Celtics Regular Season Thread
- Thread starter Devizier
- Start date
Kemba is fine. BJ, stay on the Tremont Waters train.
DENNIS SMITH JR????? good heavens NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Just replace "refund" with "Dennis Smith Jr" in the video below for my initial reaction.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQaavQNGsMY
Well, I think he's terrible too, but Smith, Sexton, Ntilikina, Monk, Dunn and Mudiay were all lottery picks who could be had for a bag of stale potato chips. Chauncey Billups bounced around the league for years before he became a good player, so who knows?
Next years draft: Cole Anthony, Nico Mannion, Tyrese Maxey, RJ Hampton, Mac McClung, Ashton Hagans, Devon Dotson, Arturs Zagars, Tre Jones, Killian Hayes... and the list goes on.
Agree 100% with Nighthob that a closer like Kemba was a critical need. We saw Kemba with 4th quarter daggers in both of their wins this year.
If the Celtics had just gotten Herro this year -- if he had just slipped one place -- it would have been a perfect draft, where they got amazing talent at every slot. Now I'm afraid that Langford (I know it's still early and he's young, but his shot doesn't look that good) is setting up to be the only underperformer for where he was drafted.
Romeo’s reaction was perfect. He remained calm and measured which would be a welcome dynamic in the Celtics’ game threads.
That's a great bunch of guys to pick up if you're not interested in contending. Not sure how they fit at all into the Kemba vs Brogdon/Beverely discussion, given that either of those guys could help you win.
Here's my projected lineup if the Celts have to go into comeback mode at some point tonight. Smart, JB, JT, Hayward and Grant. Love that lineup defensively and offensively as long as Marcus isn't jacking threes at will.
Kemba isn't too old, he's great right now and will be fine throughout. The timelines aren't perfect for the last 2 yrs of KW's contract with JT/JB, but the team made a point to bring in offensively talented and super high character guys. Maybe they figured if the character/effort part is there Brad can coach up the team defense (see IT4).
Pat Beverly was kicked around at a significantly cheaper price and fewer years then KW.
Barring Brogdon/Beverly/Satoransky speculation in June, Smart at PG was also a perfectly acceptable option. I don't recall any of the guys on your list being discussed in June (pre-Kemba). I never have an issue with idle speculation on players, but the Celtics are really set at PG for now and the future.
Smart is a solid back-up PG to Kemba. Brad Wanamaker is a capable veteran 3rd string PG. Edwards can handle the ball in small doses and Hayward can run a half-court offense if need be. We all love Tremont Waters defense, handles, potential, and moxie. He'll benefit from PT at Maine playing with Tacko, Green, Langford, etc
It's also important to remember that planning making exact plans 3+ years out in the current NBA is a fool's errand. If you have a team that can be brought close to contention without blatantly sacrificing the future, you do it. If you can make a team that's a clear contender, you go ahead and blatantly sacrifice the future too.
Kemba+a couple other moves put the Celtics on the edge of contention without unduly hurting the future, so you do that every time imo.
It looks like a standard Gaelic font to me. Like St. Mary's basketball uniforms.
Not that I like it on a Celtic uniform.
I 100% agree with the bolded and your entire post. So planning for Kemba's 4th year is rather silly on my part (mea culpa
). I'll just add I probably like Brogdon a lot more than most and was a little concerned about Tatum/Brown being overshadowed by a ball-dominant/score-first PG. But Kemba, unlike Kyrie, seems willing to sacrifice for the greater good (JT/JB development). JB/JT leaping is IMO by far the most important element for the Celtics success this season and the next 5 years.Shifting gears, we're going to need to add a young, mobile, rim protector, defense-first Center to help the Celtics get by Sixers/Bucks (to slow down Embiid/Simmons/Giannis rim runs) this year and the next few seasons.
Here is my early focus list for upgrading the 5 in December:
Favors,
If Nets/Knicks implode, could Jarrett Allen or Mitchell Robinson be had for a package built around Langford/TL maybe add Waters or Tacko or a late 1st?
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probably Marcus Smart or Semi? although I'd rather see Grant start out on Giannis and see how that goes
I don’t know that you can beat the current iteration of the Bucks with Semi playing big minutes—you lose too much on offense. I also honestly have more confidence in Grant on the defensive end as well.
At the end of the day though, it’s an October game. You try a few different things out and see how it looks, and no one even remembers the result 2 weeks from now. (The Celtics beat the Bucks in the first matchup last year).
At the end of the day though, it’s an October game. You try a few different things out and see how it looks, and no one even remembers the result 2 weeks from now. (The Celtics beat the Bucks in the first matchup last year).
I'd imagine we get a ton of Semi tonight with the Giannis matchup and a large dose of super small ball. This should be an interesting watch.
Agree. I’m thinking they’ll get beaten handily (due to lack of offensive flow) but also find a few things they can use in later matchups. I guess I’ll call it now: Grant will do the best job of anyone on Giannis.
Maybe it's something serious, but I'm trying to imagine how ill Larry Bird or Paul Pierce would have had to be to miss a matchup like this after the Bucks ended last season for us.
Times have changed w/"load mgmt" part of the NBA lexicon. I wouldn't be surprised to hear JB out for the Knicks also, see you next Tuesday against the Cavs.
Brad wants to experiment with rotations/players. He knows what he has in Jaylen.
Same, but this could serve us well down the road by forcing Brad to get creative, and maybe something shows promise.
Imagine being a Clipper fan living in Utah and excited about tonights matchup...….only to find out Kawhi is sitting out to "Load Mgmt" in Game 5 of the season? I understand that when you buy tix for a Clippers game there is a great risk of Kawhi not dressing especially when the game in one leg of a B2B but it still has to suck for those fans.
[QUOTE="benhogan, post: 3611277, member: 37174"
Brad wants to experiment with rotations/players. He knows what he has in Jaylen.
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He'll have to do that tonight whether he want to or not. But yes, it's better to find out what you've got earlier in the season than later.
Brad wants to experiment with rotations/players. He knows what he has in Jaylen.
[/QUOTE]
He'll have to do that tonight whether he want to or not. But yes, it's better to find out what you've got earlier in the season than later.
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Could be, but could also be the damn norovirus. 75% of my household has been wearing out one bathroom since Friday. SSS.
Illness could also mean some form of flu. No sense having him coughing (or vomiting) his germs all over the locker room and getting everyone else on the team sick. Equating illness with "maintenance day" is certainly bizarre behavior among a group of people that probably don't go to work when they are sick with norovirus or influenza.
What a game tonight. Celtics got excellent work from everyone in the second half. Walker, Hayward, Tatum, and Smart were all excellent, but so were Theis, Ojeleye, Grant, and Rob.
You really see the good and the bad of Ojeleye in a game like tonights. He is absolutely one of the few guys in the league you want to put on Giannis, but there were several times during the comeback that I thought he was going to suck the life out of their offensive flow. Fortunately the Bucks stayed ice cold.
Smart, Hayward, Tatum, and Walker scored 19, 21, 25, and 32 points. Hayward led the team with 7 assists, Smart and Walker right behind with 6 each, and Rob chipped in 3 off the bench.
You really see the good and the bad of Ojeleye in a game like tonights. He is absolutely one of the few guys in the league you want to put on Giannis, but there were several times during the comeback that I thought he was going to suck the life out of their offensive flow. Fortunately the Bucks stayed ice cold.
Smart, Hayward, Tatum, and Walker scored 19, 21, 25, and 32 points. Hayward led the team with 7 assists, Smart and Walker right behind with 6 each, and Rob chipped in 3 off the bench.
maybe cutting Semi Ojeleye to keep Max Strus wasn't such a good idea... mea culpa's need to be offered on the SoSH alter 
Nice building block win. Guys staying within themselves, making good basketball plays. I know, yadda yadda.
Regarding watching these guys and their flaws, they really do have a misfit toys thing going. Grant and Theis are too short, Semi can't score on a chair, even better Hayward is in slow motion sometimes. Kemba gets hunted on D. But what they do, they do really well. And they have an edge to them that's a joy to watch.
Regarding watching these guys and their flaws, they really do have a misfit toys thing going. Grant and Theis are too short, Semi can't score on a chair, even better Hayward is in slow motion sometimes. Kemba gets hunted on D. But what they do, they do really well. And they have an edge to them that's a joy to watch.
Here to offer mine. He absolutely has a role, even if, as EddieJurak said, he breaks up the offense some.maybe cutting Semi Ojeleye to keep Max Strus wasn't such a good idea... mea culpa's need to be offered on the SoSH alter
Kemba is absolutely necessary, and ridiculous. One thing he does a lot better than Kyrie is generate off-the-dribble 3s, rather than stepping into 2s. Math can do a lot to make up for talent gaps.
This defense has a chance to be something really, really special. They fly around, help well, generate turnovers, and have guys who can make up for lack of size with strength. If TL develops into what he can be, they'll be a complete nightmare to play against.
This win was so different from the October Bucks win last year. That one was completely dependent on hot 3-point shooting. In this one, they locked Giannis down with Smart and Semi. Giannis was frustrated as hell by the end.
If we can find an answer to Philly's defense, this year could get pretty freaking interesting.
Finally, fuck Kyrie.
I just wish Semi could hit that corner 3, which would at least give him one useful offensive skill.