4/25 - G5 vs. Hawks

jmcc5400

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MannyRam

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I can live with that shot. It’s just that it should never have come to that. Stating the obvious.
Totally agreed - but why not blitz and force either a tough pass or at least some hesitation. There was 3.5 seconds left when he shot it.

Also - I want White guarding Trae there - not Brown.
 

Bernie Carbohydrate

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I can live with that shot. It’s just that it should never have come to that. Stating the obvious.
See, that's the thing. We didn't lose on Young's 30-foot heave. We lost on missed free throws (7/13), not closing out on Atlanta threes (they shot 46% from deep), and treating the fourth quarter of a playoff game like it was the second quarter of a fucking midweek February third-game-in-four-nights matchup against the Pistons.
 

fairlee76

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jp
Supporting cast night and day, especially in those early aughts
Looks like PP was 56 - 43 in the playoffs post Garnett's arrival and before they both left for Brooklyn.

Was talking to a friend last night about being at the Nets comeback game back when. I get the frustration with efforts like last night's but also vividly remember being a fan of those 2000s Celtics teams whose ceiling was the ECF if everything broke perfectly. Just need them to not mess around and win game 6.
 

mostman

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Still pissed off. They better roll tomorrow. I want a 24 point lead at half time and no looking back. Foot on throat.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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I'm sure my memory of all historical teams is not perfect but the thing that had us all so excited about last season was that out of fucking nowhere the team started grinding every possession on defense like the old OB teams and the Crowder/Bradley teams and hell even the peak KG teams. Suddenly looked like the perfect combination of talent + size + energy that had them putting teams away by 20+ like they were taking out the trash. They only show that edge in spurts now. Yes Atlanta has shot well but the C's have not done enough to make them really earn their open looks.
 

Ed Hillel

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Looks like PP was 56 - 43 in the playoffs post Garnett's arrival and before they both left for Brooklyn.

Was talking to a friend last night about being at the Nets comeback game back when. I get the frustration with efforts like last night's but also vividly remember being a fan of those 2000s Celtics teams whose ceiling was the ECF if everything broke perfectly. Just need them to not mess around and win game 6.
KG broke year 2 and was never the same, of course.

Point being, in the 4th quarter, you wanted the ball in his hands and everyone feared him. Brown is the closest we have to that, but his handles get him into trouble and you can’t trust him at the line like Pierce.
 

Auger34

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Tatum is the microcosm of this variance: his ceiling is as high as any player in the league, but he has worse stinkers than other all-NBA first-teamers. He hasn't learned to make a positive impact when his shot isn't falling and when the whistles aren't friendly.
This.

I was talking to a friend who’s a big NBA fan (Suns) and he put it succinctly…”Tatum seems to shit the bed completely way more than other stars”.

Basically, he has a tendency to coast and get comfortable way more than any star I can think of. It’s a problem
 

Ed Hillel

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Tatum led the team in both assists and rebounds yesterday. I don't agree he doesn't contribute all around on his poor shooting days, but he does seem to have a far bigger variance on offense than your typical top 10 player. I think it has to be mental in some respect.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Tatum led the team in both assists and rebounds yesterday. I don't agree he doesn't contribute all around on his poor shooting days, but he does seem to have a far bigger variance on offense than your typical top 10 player. I think it has to be mental in some respect.
His FTA have trended up every year but still very subject to wild game to game swings. It's not fair to compare to mega-elite FT-getter Jimmy Butler but for someone of Tatum's scoring prowess, length, and driving ability to suddenly drop from regular season 8 FTA to 5 FTA per game in this series is really rough and a big part of where that variance comes from. He has games of 2, 0, and 2 FTA in this series. That sucks, and shouldn't happen, and at least part of it is definitely a mindset thing.
 

fairlee76

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jp
KG broke year 2 and was never the same, of course.

Point being, in the 4th quarter, you wanted the ball in his hands and everyone feared him. Brown is the closest we have to that, but his handles get him into trouble and you can’t trust him at the line like Pierce.
Yes to the bolded. A few times in close/late games with this group of Celtics, I have thought of how confident I was in Pierce to at least create a great shot opportunity in those situations.
 

GB5

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Just a few thoughts:

Was inserting Blake who hadn’t played meaningful minutes in the whole series, equivalent to Red’s cigar or was it meant to signal the guys to play harder, or even something else?

Risk/reward for Marcus attempting to pick pocket Trae at half court while in the penalty with 30 seconds left was heavily slanted to the negatively. He was emotionally immature last night. Barking at the refs late, then immediately after his stupid decision he comes back down the other end on offense, sets a moving screen for which he was not called for then threw himself on the ground looking for a foul, and then yelling at the ref again. He needed some bench time to readjust.

Trae had to be double teamed on that last possession like GS did to Fox at the end of Game 4 which led to the Harrison Barnes miss. Have to live with someone else trying to beat you there.
 

Jed Zeppelin

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Just a few thoughts:

Was inserting Blake who hadn’t played meaningful minutes in the whole series, equivalent to Red’s cigar or was it meant to signal the guys to play harder, or even something else?

Risk/reward for Marcus attempting to pick pocket Trae at half court while in the penalty with 30 seconds left was heavily slanted to the negatively. He was emotionally immature last night. Barking at the refs late, then immediately after his stupid decision he comes back down the other end on offense, sets a moving screen for which he was not called for then threw himself on the ground looking for a foul, and then yelling at the ref again. He needed some bench time to readjust.

Trae had to be double teamed on that last possession like GS did to Fox at the end of Game 4 which led to the Harrison Barnes miss. Have to live with someone else trying to beat you there.
And all that after committing an even more obvious illegal screen, which was called at a critical moment. They've been targeting that specific foul all series. And yes, it's annoying as hell that if 17 is on the floor, he is committing illegal screens, but that's why it's an art form—Marcus should know better, he has drawn countless offensive fouls on plays exactly like that in his life
 

Mooch

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The Final 2 Minute report is out and the only call the league says was missed was the TimeLord putback attempt against Collins on the Jaylen miss. Should have been free throws for Williams down 1 with under a minute left.