Analysis of Celtics Games (2020-2021)

lovegtm

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My guess is we'll see a lot of Romeo and Nesmith, since that worked well in game 3. A lot of Smart ball-handling. Probably try to steal some minutes with PP, but I'm skeptical of him in this series.

Kemba has been so bad this series, even in the win, that I'm excited to see what happens when Brad is forced to commit to bigger guard lineups.
 

Cesar Crespo

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There really aren't any other options other than Romeo, PP and AN. Given it's the playoffs and the team will rely heavily on Tatum offensively, Stevens will probably lean on Romeo. Now isn't really the time to get AN and PP involved on offense.
 

the moops

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It's not the end of the world and likely wouldn't have changed much, but they could have very easily split the MLE and got a big and a wing. Tough to know who was available so hard to speculate, but to me, it seems like an overpay to give TT two years at the full MLE. Could have squeezed Cauley-Stein and Wes Matthews. Or Ennis and Noel. Or any other combination of players
 

lovegtm

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It's not the end of the world and likely wouldn't have changed much, but they could have very easily split the MLE and got a big and a wing. Tough to know who was available so hard to speculate, but to me, it seems like an overpay to give TT two years at the full MLE. Could have squeezed Cauley-Stein and Wes Matthews. Or Ennis and Noel. Or any other combination of players
The final outcome of having Fournier+TT from the deadline on is quite good though. The fact that everyone had covid all the time and Jaylen got hurt at the end makes it look worse than it was.

I think Ainge deserves a TON of criticism for the past couple years, particularly for his obliviousness in the Kyrie situation, the Kemba signing, and handling of picks. I'm unsure he should be GM of this team going forward.

However, it's weird to see him getting criticism for probably his some of his better work in that entire mess (admittedly damning with faint praise).
 

PedroKsBambino

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It's not irrelevant.
Sure teams talk contingencies, but the idea that guys like Holiday would sit on an offer that could go away at any point in the hope of slightly more money somewhere else if things go well isn't really supported by history, guys in that sub full mid-level area who have bounced around the league don't turn down contracts bigger than their first 2 deals combined for a no guarantees shot at a little bit more with downside. Guys like Jae Crowder or the like who have a bunch of years and money locked in and are looking for a ring, might, but to assume that a guy like that would have waited if you asked him to with no guarantee isn't a particularly reasonable position. Holiday wasn't available when the Celtics got to the point of having the MLE, something they weren't sure they would have, and that's an important distinction.
I do not believe, and when I've read both front office people and agents they do not say, it is as black and white as you describe. While you can keep making assumptions about things you cannot know about who talked to whom when, the bottom line remains that they chose TT instead of a wing---which in retrospect looks like a bad call about FA. But sure--it was complicated and there was a theory for TT. It is not true there were no wings in FA, as several have noted consistently since last summer. I

As lovegtm notes, it also is not crazy to view Fournier and TT together as being ok as the end-state. I think the problem there is they absorbed a lot of losses and lost time while they filled the wing gap. That's hard to assess, but in my view one of the problems this year was a ton of minutes from bad (Javonte, etc.) and out of position (Grant) players which not only cost wins, but cost the confidence and cohesion of the starters and the Jays in particular.
 
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Eddie Jurak

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View: https://twitter.com/brohrbach/status/1399122113101979649?s=20

Ben Rohrback: Both Kemba Walker and Rob Williams have been ruled out for Game 4.

So, who starts? Langford, Nesmith, Pritchard seem like the only options. I could also see Waters getting a minute or three while Smart is out if Pritchard is not up to the task.

At C, I think it will be Thompson backed up by Grant or Parker, depending on whether the need is for offense or defense.

Walker did not contribute much on Friday, so in theory this is not a huge loss. But this might be that case where a lousy Walker still beats the alternatives handily.

Edit: I would guess that Langford will start but I might try Nesmith here.
 

Cellar-Door

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I would start Langford. He's coming off a very strong game, and it lets you have him and Smart there for Kyrie/Harden actions (Nesmith much as he has great effort on D is gonna get eaten alive on those), plus there is less need for him to shoot with a bunch of willing (and good) shooters around him.
 

BigSoxFan

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I would start Langford. He's coming off a very strong game, and it lets you have him and Smart there for Kyrie/Harden actions (Nesmith much as he has great effort on D is gonna get eaten alive on those), plus there is less need for him to shoot with a bunch of willing (and good) shooters around him.
Yeah, same. He’s going to have to be big today on defense. See early what you’ve got there.
 

dhellers

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View: https://twitter.com/brohrbach/status/1399122113101979649?s=20

Ben Rohrback: Both Kemba Walker and Rob Williams have been ruled out for Game 4.

So, who starts? Langford, Nesmith, Pritchard seem like the only options. I could also see Waters getting a minute or three while Smart is out if Pritchard is not up to the task.

At C, I think it will be Thompson backed up by Grant or Parker, depending on whether the need is for offense or defense.

Walker did not contribute much on Friday, so in theory this is not a huge loss. But this might be that case where a lousy Walker still beats the alternatives handily.

Edit: I would guess that Langford will start but I might try Nesmith here.
Fournier has his chance to prove his worth as a secondary scorer. I assume Tatum gets a ton of attention. Hence ef just needs to hit open shots and be a bit creative. Probably can be very effective if he plays his role. He does not need to be a primary stud!
 

MuppetAsteriskTalk

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Just bumping this thread to say how much I enjoyed following along with it last season, and I hope you all intend to have another for this season. I don't know enough about BB to contribute, and rarely watch games, (although hopefully I'll watch a bit more this year), so this thread was great for keeping tabs on how the Celts were doing throughout the season at a deeper level than just checking standings.