2022-2023 General Celtics thread
- Thread starter RorschachsMask
- Start date
It's funny how fast we've gone from just wanting Rob healthy for the playoffs to wanting to optimize his minutes for regular season wins.
The Celtics are 28-12 while playing down to bad opponents and playing up to good ones. In terms of both record and approach, those are good/fine things.
The Celtics are 28-12 while playing down to bad opponents and playing up to good ones. In terms of both record and approach, those are good/fine things.
Yeah funny how before the season some people were suggesting (I know not totally seriously) that the Cs shouldn't play TL until after the ASB.
TL's currently playing about 20 mpg. We're in Game 40. When they come back from ASB it will be game 60. My guess is that they will insert him into the starting line-up at that point and start ramping him up to go 30 mpg.
TL's currently playing about 20 mpg. We're in Game 40. When they come back from ASB it will be game 60. My guess is that they will insert him into the starting line-up at that point and start ramping him up to go 30 mpg.
I think most wanted TL's rehab timeline to be conservative and not rushed. He looks 100% now
Using Rob's disruptive defense against the opponent's best offense usually occurs in the first 8 mins of the 1st/3rd Quarters.
I don't think we need to be optimzing for regular season wins. I do think the optimal playoff plan is not there and the team has half a seaosn to figure it out.
I’m not sure this occurs without him being able to play 30-32 mpg which isn’t really necessary during the regular season. I have said all year that when he returns I feel his best role is to play the 2Q and 4Q.
If his knee isn't good enough right now to jump off of either leg to dunk with no hesitation, we should be asking ourselves "which would be the best 2-week stretch to have him get the Hellenic Flu and give him a recovery fortnight?"
Horford and Smart could use one of those too.
Horford and Smart could use one of those too.
I’ve been thinking about this too. Perhaps before and after the ASB. A week of games off plus the ASB is 2 weeks. Can mix and match who gets before and after the ASB to keep most of the top 9 on the floor together. Then the team ramps up for about a month too get into good habits, and then takes their foot slightly off the accelerator (mostly lower minutes for the top 8, plus a game or 2 off each) to allow for another 2 weeks to heal/rest prior to the playoffs.
It was noticed in the Spurs gamethread, that TL didn't dunk on that block he returned for a touchdown, because he can only jump off of one foot and his stride took him to the other one, so he laid it up.
Here is the play.
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Qc5ZWhEo5_s
His injured knee was the left, he jumped off the right on this one.
It looked to me more like an awkward lead up / underestimating how far he had to go than any physical issue.
So you believe him to be at or near 100%, and limited only by conditioning?
Maybe I'm paranoid, I dunno. I just figure those ligaments / meniscus have only so many minutes in them, and I'd rather manage those by building in some time off in the rest of the season.
Maybe I'm paranoid, I dunno. I just figure those ligaments / meniscus have only so many minutes in them, and I'd rather manage those by building in some time off in the rest of the season.
Thanks for posting the link. I was expecting to see Willis Reed lumbering in for a layup…..not TL extending to block a 3-pt shot, outrunning a guard to the ball in the backcourt, gathering it at full speed and elevating on the gather to lay it in at said full speed.
If anything this play displays the health of TL’s knee…..not that he’s injured.
I think there's a bit of a disconnect. When talking to reporters, TL said his knee "buckled" a bit so he settled for a layup. To my knowledge, reporters did not ask any follow-up questions, like which knee buckled or whether that knee bothered him the rest of the game. Hopefully no news is good news.
His full quote was:
“My teammates wanted me to dunk but my knee buckled a little bit,” Williams told reporters, per NBC Sports postgame coverage. “I’m really surprised he shot the ball, man. Most people, they know I’m coming to block that. He won’t try it again, for sure.”
https://nesn.com/2023/01/celtics-robert-williams-really-surprised-he-got-chance-for-highlight-reel-block/
When I was around 12, (1973) I got this book as a gift. It had short pieces on about 20 NBA stars of the day. The one about Willis Reed quoted him as saying "If you must loaf, loaf on offense." Al is not loafing, of course (neither did Willis). But by pretty much turning his game into one that covers 70 feet instead of 94 on most nights, he is remaining a force well past the time that most big men do.
Celtics role players have been really good in the clutch, though the sample size is obviously really small lol.
TS
Brogdon 110.3% (9 points on 1 shot)
White 92.1% (19 points on 9 shots)
Grant 85% (20 on 10 shots)
Smart 64.7% (25 on 18 shots)
Tatum 55.7% (48 points on 33 shots)
Jaylen 44.1% (32 points on 31 shots)
Brogdon definitely stands out, only 1 crunch time shot.
TS
Brogdon 110.3% (9 points on 1 shot)
White 92.1% (19 points on 9 shots)
Grant 85% (20 on 10 shots)
Smart 64.7% (25 on 18 shots)
Tatum 55.7% (48 points on 33 shots)
Jaylen 44.1% (32 points on 31 shots)
Brogdon definitely stands out, only 1 crunch time shot.
Durability just doesn't come into consideration in these votes. Since 2018 when Tatum came into the league, he's averaged 73 games per year, astronomical compared with Durant (47) and Embiid (59). Tatum is again on pace for 75+ this year, while Embiid and Durant have already had serious injuries and will struggle to break 60. I get why Tatum won't finish in the top 3 in the frontcourt fan vote (a popularity contest), but:
-It looks like the Athletic is picking their own starters and not just going by the fan vote, so they can own how stupid it is to not realize that actually showing up is a skill, one that Tatum has over just about every other all star level player in the league.
-It's pretty damn likely that one of Durant or Embiid will miss the game and (just like last year) Tatum will start anyway.
So that's 2 games off for Smart. A third tomorrow, in all likelihood. I didn't see what's been reported wrong with him. Do we think he's getting his recovery fortnight, or will it be like the 2 games / one week off he got in November?
I thought I heard Scal say that he expected Smart to play tomorrow. I could be wrong though.
Well we know Al won't be playing tomorrow, and Pritch might be a bit sore after that awkward landing in the closing minutes, so we'll need all the bodies we can get.
If we need to abide by the stupid rules, then Embiid has to be in there because of him being a center. Maybe you could get creative and list Giannis as center, but that seems like a stretch. The better stretch would just be to list Tatum as a G/F and let him and Durant and Giannis and Mitchell occupy those slots.
. Banged knees the other night. Contusion. I got the sense from comments that it was short term.
Gorman had a disappointing slip up/reveal during the game. Don’t want to get too V&N, but it’s in this tweet.
View: https://twitter.com/DTram87/status/1613345982678286336?s=20&t=_0doRvy39lVg1fA6m1AWBQ
View: https://twitter.com/DTram87/status/1613345982678286336?s=20&t=_0doRvy39lVg1fA6m1AWBQ
Tatum was his usual self tonight (31/10/4, 10 of 22 from the field), but Jaylen had an even better game with 41/12 and 15-21 from the field.
Late in the game, as Tatum was shooting FT, the crowd nonetheless started chanting "MVP" for him as they often do.
I know Jaylen has had to deal with this for a long time, but his game has taken a tremendous stride forward this year and he still doesn't get this kind of love from the fans. I wonder if it rankles him a little. Just hoping he doesn't start wondering about what it would feel like to be the #1 somewhere else (Atlanta?) when his contract is up.
Late in the game, as Tatum was shooting FT, the crowd nonetheless started chanting "MVP" for him as they often do.
I know Jaylen has had to deal with this for a long time, but his game has taken a tremendous stride forward this year and he still doesn't get this kind of love from the fans. I wonder if it rankles him a little. Just hoping he doesn't start wondering about what it would feel like to be the #1 somewhere else (Atlanta?) when his contract is up.
I think it’s just as simple as one is one of the 3 MVP favorites, and the other likely won’t finish in the top 10 in voting.
I bet he’s pretty happy with where he’s at.
I clocked that, in the little time I watched the game. It was.... worrisome.
Maybe the crowd should start chanting “Third Team All NBA”. A bit clunky but appropriate
No good place for this, but last year, I bought an awesome Tommy Heinsohn tee shirt from a website called "funny celtics tees" or something. I can't find the site any longer. I checked my paypal statement and the transaction was processed through teespring, but no other details in the transaction notes, although I thought they had a unique URL. Anybody know what I'm talking about?
https://theathletic.com/4080964/2023/01/11/celtics-rob-williams-start/?source=dailyemail&campaign=601983
checkout last video
love the Horns set in the half-court with 2BIGz. Rim run or wide open Corner3
look at what happens when they run that same Spain action with Horford and Williams in a Horns formation
Tatum gets room driving wide, Williams gets a free roll through the paint, and Tatum has to just make the read whether to pass it to the corner or to Williams. These are the kinds of reads driving to his right that Tatum makes in his sleep now.
The more they use Williams to play to Tatum and Brown’s strengths, the more comfortable they’ll all be. But the more the playmakers can start learning how to open up Williams’ untapped potential that is ready to go, the better chance the Celtics have at being a dominant offense once again.
checkout last video
love the Horns set in the half-court with 2BIGz. Rim run or wide open Corner3
look at what happens when they run that same Spain action with Horford and Williams in a Horns formation
Tatum gets room driving wide, Williams gets a free roll through the paint, and Tatum has to just make the read whether to pass it to the corner or to Williams. These are the kinds of reads driving to his right that Tatum makes in his sleep now.
The more they use Williams to play to Tatum and Brown’s strengths, the more comfortable they’ll all be. But the more the playmakers can start learning how to open up Williams’ untapped potential that is ready to go, the better chance the Celtics have at being a dominant offense once again.
Keith Smith's 10 Takeaways, with nice video recaps
https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/1/12/23551452/stars-take-care-of-business-10-takeaways-from-boston-celtics-new-orleans-pelicans
https://www.celticsblog.com/2023/1/12/23551452/stars-take-care-of-business-10-takeaways-from-boston-celtics-new-orleans-pelicans
Honestly I was thinking the same thing last night. Jaylen was carrying the team with production and efficiency, and he crowd is chanting for Tatum. It would piss me off if I were him.
Speaking of Jaylen, his handle seems to have gotten much better this year. He now dribbles into a crowd to get to the basket and loses the ball much less often than he did last year. It has added significantly to his effectiveness.
This plus he is using his grown-ass-strength to finish through defenders much more effectively. The shot making on display by both he and McCollum last night (and both teams really) was pretty spectacular, even against the backdrop of this years scoring run up.
Each all star vote was worth 3 the day before yesterday. Gorman said something along the lines of, "Did you know it was 3 for 1 yesterday? Kinda like the last presidential election."
If I'm being generous to Gorman, it was just a topical take on the old "Vote early, vote often."
He's lost his fastball. This is more proof of that.
It's hard to hear, but they were talking about the All Star voting and how fans can vote over the next few weeks. Either Gorman or Scal made aa "vote early, vote often" comment or something similar, and then Gorman made a reference to the 2020 Presidential election, which was enough to get the faux outrage machine spun up on Twitter.
I think he's leaving regardless--owing to the utterly arcane NBA salary cap rules, Celtics can't offer him a max-out extension. They can offer him a max contract as soon as the current contract expires, but he'll be in free agency at that point and we'll be competing with all the other teams.
If he makes All NBA this season, the Celtics, and only the Celtics, would theoretically be able to offer him an extension for the supermax, which no other team could come close to.
Yeah having Jaylen make All-NBA, which I project him to do at his current pace, would all but secure that he remains a Celtic.
1) He's been worse this year than his last few years by most stats models. Is there something specifically you can point to that he's been better at?
2) He does get love from fans. It's more of a trope to say he doesn't.
3) Of course he's wondered what it's like to be the #1. I'm hoping he does make All-NBA (even though he doesn't deserve it) so he'd be in line for the super-max. Just a guess, but I think the Celtics would give it to him.