Noise and averaging 37.2 mpg going into tonight. Another 42 tonight.
I'm guessing it's mostly just noise and shots start falling soon. Or I hope so anyway. He's never been the most efficient player to begin with, at least by TS%.
Analysis of Celtics Games, '21-'22 Season
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I'm guessing it's mostly just noise and shots start falling soon. Or I hope so anyway. He's never been the most efficient player to begin with, at least by TS%.
I don't expect the coach Thibs thing to last forever. If the culture needed changing, he needs to burn in new behaviors first. You're right that this level of intensity with a short rotation will kill guys, but I don't think that he'll do that.
Agreed with CC that it's largely noise, but the eyeball test tells me that he's not getting a lot of easy looks. He's always going to shoot a lot of those contested 3s, and he does ok at them, but it seems like he's having to earn everything the hard way. All the talk about him trying to increase his FTA is distant memory when the refs eat whistles. Not enough easy ones = too many hard ones = suboptimal conversation rates, thus inefficiency. Just my eyes though. Seems that he has a hand in his face or up his shirt every minute.
Thoughts after the game last night:
Marcus is getting past whatever issues he was having before and rounding into form. Last night he shot well from 2 (5 of 8) and 3 (2 of 5) on the way to 19 points, but he also added 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, did not turn the ball over. And he's back to doing the little things that matter. He boxed out Portis for a key defensive rebound. In the OT, the Celtics were hunting the Schroder/Portis matchup. At one point, Portis was on Smart (not sure how that happened), who set a great screen to get him switched onto Schroder. He was the only Celtic guard last night who showed any interest whatsover in creating offense for teammates, and he had some brilliant assists to the bigs.
Marcus had a 4th quarter layup that was comical. He drove into the paint with the clear intent of passing and the Milwaukee defense, recognizing that, just fell away from him to guard the passing lanes. Marcus was left with an open path to the hoop for, basically, an unguarded practice layup, which he made. But there was a hilarious moment where he hesitated to look for a pass, realized he wasn;t being guarded, and went in and scored.
Schroder will go down as the star of this game for good reason: 40 points, 16 of 27 from the field, overcame a poor shooting (6 of 15) first half with a 10 of 12 second half/OT. But I question his fit on this team. I don't think he can start with Brown and Tatum because he's loose with the ball and more interested in his own offense than anyone else's. More shot attempts than Tatum last night - that works if the shots are falling but Schroder is not a career 50% shooter.
I don't really understand Tatum's continued shooting struggles. I had thought the Dallas game was a sign that he is breaking our of whatever slump he was in. Last night, 10 of 25, though he shot OK from three (5-13). Added 11 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Rob Williams was 5-5 from three, hit 2 key late free throws, to finish with 12 points. Cashed in on some brilliant feeds from Marcus and Al. In the past couple of games he's been very focused on crashing the offensive glass, 6 of his 10 boards were offensive. Added 3 assists and 3 blocks. We haven't seen as much passing from Williams as he did last year, but he had a nice play tonight. Tatum had the ball and was trapped, passed to Rob, who was on the left side near the top of the key. Rob quickly turned and hit Langford, cutting in from the right corner unguarded, for an easy dunk. Langford's only points on the night.
Al continues to be a disaster from 3, going 1 for 6 last night which drops him to 24% on the year. Not sure what is up with that as he continues to do everything else well. He shot .344 from three in 2015-2016 and has been better than that, usually much better than that, in every year since.
Richardson gave them key bench minutes last night and is basically the 7th mean if the Celtics are healthy.
Grant didn't do much numbers wise, but he seems to have gotten his craniorectal inversion corrected, as he was making good plays - good cuts, took a key charge, had a couple of assists.
Nesmith got very little time but he hit a three.
Langford struggled driving against the Bucks' length, though he put up a couple of difficult layups that just rolled off the rim. His defense is there, though. He's always competitive in 1-on-1 defense, and seems able to recover effortlessly when it loks like he's been beaten.
Marcus is getting past whatever issues he was having before and rounding into form. Last night he shot well from 2 (5 of 8) and 3 (2 of 5) on the way to 19 points, but he also added 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 3 steals, did not turn the ball over. And he's back to doing the little things that matter. He boxed out Portis for a key defensive rebound. In the OT, the Celtics were hunting the Schroder/Portis matchup. At one point, Portis was on Smart (not sure how that happened), who set a great screen to get him switched onto Schroder. He was the only Celtic guard last night who showed any interest whatsover in creating offense for teammates, and he had some brilliant assists to the bigs.
Marcus had a 4th quarter layup that was comical. He drove into the paint with the clear intent of passing and the Milwaukee defense, recognizing that, just fell away from him to guard the passing lanes. Marcus was left with an open path to the hoop for, basically, an unguarded practice layup, which he made. But there was a hilarious moment where he hesitated to look for a pass, realized he wasn;t being guarded, and went in and scored.
Schroder will go down as the star of this game for good reason: 40 points, 16 of 27 from the field, overcame a poor shooting (6 of 15) first half with a 10 of 12 second half/OT. But I question his fit on this team. I don't think he can start with Brown and Tatum because he's loose with the ball and more interested in his own offense than anyone else's. More shot attempts than Tatum last night - that works if the shots are falling but Schroder is not a career 50% shooter.
I don't really understand Tatum's continued shooting struggles. I had thought the Dallas game was a sign that he is breaking our of whatever slump he was in. Last night, 10 of 25, though he shot OK from three (5-13). Added 11 rebounds and 2 blocks.
Rob Williams was 5-5 from three, hit 2 key late free throws, to finish with 12 points. Cashed in on some brilliant feeds from Marcus and Al. In the past couple of games he's been very focused on crashing the offensive glass, 6 of his 10 boards were offensive. Added 3 assists and 3 blocks. We haven't seen as much passing from Williams as he did last year, but he had a nice play tonight. Tatum had the ball and was trapped, passed to Rob, who was on the left side near the top of the key. Rob quickly turned and hit Langford, cutting in from the right corner unguarded, for an easy dunk. Langford's only points on the night.
Al continues to be a disaster from 3, going 1 for 6 last night which drops him to 24% on the year. Not sure what is up with that as he continues to do everything else well. He shot .344 from three in 2015-2016 and has been better than that, usually much better than that, in every year since.
Richardson gave them key bench minutes last night and is basically the 7th mean if the Celtics are healthy.
Grant didn't do much numbers wise, but he seems to have gotten his craniorectal inversion corrected, as he was making good plays - good cuts, took a key charge, had a couple of assists.
Nesmith got very little time but he hit a three.
Langford struggled driving against the Bucks' length, though he put up a couple of difficult layups that just rolled off the rim. His defense is there, though. He's always competitive in 1-on-1 defense, and seems able to recover effortlessly when it loks like he's been beaten.
A big problem is that the team moved him to a style of play that relied on the fouls he was drawing at the end of last year to be efficient. When he's more in the post and he's not drawing fouls, teams don't need to send as much help, and he's not generating as many points when he just goes at the defender, so you end up with worse shots for him and his teammates.
They've adjusted some by playing him more on the perimeter in his familiar spots, and he's done good stuff attacking defenders, drawing help and passing. The problem right now is that his 3 isn't falling, and he needs that elite self-created 3 to really make his perimeter-based game have good efficiency.
I'm as frustrated as anyone with Schroeder's turnovers the past couple games, but he hasn't turned it over at particularly crazy rates throughout his career. Is there any reason you think that is less likely to revert to the mean than his shooting?
He took a ton of shots because he was getting to the rim at well whenever bigger guys were switched on to him. That's fine/great/exactly what you want when you have a matchup advantage.
He has no future in Boston and is playing towards his next contract. And he shot more in the first half when he wasn't hitting than he did in the second/OT when he was. And for most of the game he showed no indication whatsoever of trying to create offense for anyone but himself.
Been a weird stretch with Tatum over the last 6ish games, he’s been killing it in ISO, but can’t hit the easy looks. His iso PPP have jumped from .60 to .84 in that stretch, which we’ve needed with Jaylen out the last three games.
His spot up looks on the other hand? .80 PPP, after it being 1.25 (92nd percentile) last season. What makes it more frustrating is that he’s getting spot up looks 17% of the time, as opposed to 11% last year. Once that normalizes, his efficiency should skyrocket.
Lastly, in what has become my biggest issue with Ime (whose improving rapidly), is what they’ve done to the Tatum PnR offense. Last year Tatum ran PnR 28% of the time, and was in the 72nd percentile (.96 PPP). Two season ago he ran it 26% of the time, and was in the 88th percentile (1.01 PPP). So far this season? They’ve ran Tatum PnR just 16.7% of the time, even though he’s averaging .98 PPP. On the other hand, Schroder is running PnR 33% of the time, and averages .78 PPP.
They need to adjust that, the primary initiator needs to be running PnR at least 25% of the time. Most of the star players are in the 30-40% range so far. Get back to that, it gets Tatum out in space, and it will generate tons of open looks for other guys.
His spot up looks on the other hand? .80 PPP, after it being 1.25 (92nd percentile) last season. What makes it more frustrating is that he’s getting spot up looks 17% of the time, as opposed to 11% last year. Once that normalizes, his efficiency should skyrocket.
Lastly, in what has become my biggest issue with Ime (whose improving rapidly), is what they’ve done to the Tatum PnR offense. Last year Tatum ran PnR 28% of the time, and was in the 72nd percentile (.96 PPP). Two season ago he ran it 26% of the time, and was in the 88th percentile (1.01 PPP). So far this season? They’ve ran Tatum PnR just 16.7% of the time, even though he’s averaging .98 PPP. On the other hand, Schroder is running PnR 33% of the time, and averages .78 PPP.
They need to adjust that, the primary initiator needs to be running PnR at least 25% of the time. Most of the star players are in the 30-40% range so far. Get back to that, it gets Tatum out in space, and it will generate tons of open looks for other guys.
Here’s the net rating on/off’s for the starters, Al is going to stand out.
Smart +18.5
Rob +17.8
Tatum +13.8
Jaylen +13.6
Al -0.1
Schroder +10.1
Smart +18.5
Rob +17.8
Tatum +13.8
Jaylen +13.6
Al -0.1
Schroder +10.1
My prediction is that, because 1) he's playing for his next contract and 2) he has no realistic future as a Celtic, he will be looking out for #1 first and foremost. That will mean higher usage and more turnovers than we would like to see, because both of those have a negative impact on the Js. Sitting back in a more supporting cast type of role ultimately saw him get a 1 year deal at short dollars, so he isn't going to do that again.
To my eye, he doesn’t feel like he’s being rewarded when he works hard to get to the rim, so he’s settling for contested perimeter shots. While he can make them better than most, they’re not falling at a rate that you or I would term “efficient.”
Sitting back in a more supporting cast type of role also saw him get a 4 year offer at $84 million dollars that he foolishly turned down.
SSS aside, something may be off with Tatum's shot mechanics, it's showing up at the free-throw line ( 42/57 74%) and 3pt shot (33/98 34%). JT has also been crap around the rim, but suspect the physical play/defender's hand on JT's lower back/hip is affecting that more.
Expect Hanlen is dissecting tape and has a cure if its shot mechanics.
Tatum's incessant whining/arm waving at refs has stopped, which is a good 1st step.
And horrible negative numbers for everyone else. Ime is stuck here, he's trying to win games, but he's got a pretty short rotation of guys playing well. Combine that with a number of OT games and you have high minutes for the starters.
This is spot on to me. It's not like Schroeder is going to have several of these games this year, but he's going to try to. This team would be so much better with a distributor/connecter at the point guard spot rather than a score-first PG, which has been their MO since Thomas. It works better with the Jays, it would unlock the young guys... I daydream about what it would be like if we signed Brogdon instead of Kemba a couple of years back, or if we swooped in on Lonzo somehow instead of the Bulls.
I'm not a huge fan of on/off after 12 games, but I'm still in the start DS camp + split the Center minutes between Horford/TL (esp with Kanter stapled to the bench)
Horford's 3pt shooting draws the opposing BIG away from the rim, unless he is paired with Rob. Playing Horford at the 4 cuts down his effectiveness IMO (I know people will immediately flash TL/AH pairing being positive, which is obvious with the rest of the starters)
how many games has DS shot more than Tatum? Without looking, I suspect it was only last night, which is fine since JT was facing double and triple teams when driving. Plus Hill/Connaughton can't stay with DS, and that had to be exploited
If you would rather have a Lonzo Ball/Monte Morris ballhandler at the point we'd all be cool with that. But that's not happening. Getting Lonz at $20MM/yr for 4yrs was highway robbery in RFA, sounds like there was some dodginess involved there. BUT a shame PBS couldn't wedge the Celtics into getting Ball.
Temple/Satoransky/2nd round pick for Lonzo....I'm fukn ill
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Rob also made a gorgeous interior pass to Tatum during that sequence when Smart (I think) stole the ball in transition at mid court, couldn’t convert the layup and the Cs finally converted the putback after 2 or 3 tries. No assist because Tatum was blocked on his first attempt, but great vision.
Once this correct, we should be pretty good in close games.
View: https://twitter.com/ChrisForsberg_/status/1459541527466852367?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/ChrisForsberg_/status/1459541527466852367?s=20
Defenses are loading up against him. Those numbers won't revert if they keep trying to get Tatum to go one v three, four or five. Opponents should be thrilled to give anyone else on the floor a better look as long as the bigs are accounted for near the rim. They need more scoring, even when Brown returns.
That’s definitely part of it, but he was the most double teamed front court player in the league last season as well. Though this year he’s seeing 3/4 dudes at him when he puts the ball down lol.
Part of it is definitely defenses loading up on him, but it’s also him just missing looks he will make a majority of the time. That part I have zero concern about, with regards to it normalizing.
Agreed on open looks eventually falling.
With Brown out it feels like a blogger screen grab of most halfcourt sequences would show one big staying attached to TL and four dudes who are all occupied with stopping only Tatum. Its almost comical and you would expect the Cs to adjust sooner rather than later.
It really is crazy how he gets defended, even when Jaylen plays. I feel like a relatively easy fix would be having Tatum run more pick and roll, instead of doing it 12% less than last year. Get him out in space, and then if they trap, at least you have Rob or Al in the middle, and they both are damn good passers.
I feel like Semi's block/strip in the 4th last night was indicative of Tatum's struggles. Especially late in games, he is so predictable. He catches the ball, just stares at his defender for a couple seconds, and goes right into his step-back. It's almost like he's waiting for them to get set instead of attacking the closeout. Semi knew exactly what was coming and just slapped the ball away.
He’s playing the same style late in games as he has the last two years, and he was excellent in crunch time in both of them, 61% TS last year and 62% the year before. He’s been BY FAR their best/most efficient scorer in those situations. I don’t think 12 games is a real sample to suddenly think he’s too predictable late in games, it’s just him missing shots.
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Definitely a time and place for it, but I'm thinking about the healthy version of the Celtics. It was really helpful last night and wouldn't have probably been needed if Jaylen was playing. At full strength, I think a less scoring-centric PG fits in better. Easy to say that now, especially with Schroeder coming so cheap, but a man can dream.
that's fair, and the Lonz would have been perfect
How do you feel about packaging DS+assets at the trade deadline to a contender (if the C's are muddling along) for the PG of the future?
I threw out DS + protected 1st for Coby White at the trade deadline
I'm not sure this team can futz around and wait on unproven PG in addition to the unproven wings. I was thinking, if the Cavs ever fall out of the playoff picture (not looking great but you never know) something like Josh Richardson + some draft capital for Ricky Rubio and hope you catch one of his odd years where he can shoot the 3 at an average-ish rate.
The only reason not to deal Schroder at the deadline is if the Celtics see themselves as legitimate title contenders this year. We are a long way from there.
OK, at the half of this Cleveland game, I'm starting revising my opinion of Schoder a bit. Maybe he's just a 6'3" penetrator/scorer who is uttlerly miscast as a PG because creating for teammates is just not his thing. First half today, 7-9 from the field, 1-2 from 3, 19 points to lead the team. But only one assist and he really doesn't even look to set people up.
Marcus, on the other hand, has no points, on 0-2 shooting. But he has 6 assists and 3 steals vs 1 turnover. Who is he assisting? Rob (3), Tatum (1), Grant (1), Schroder (1, on a fast break).
Rob is 4-4, all assisted baskets (3 Smart, 1 Tatum). Smart gets Rob involved - Schroder either can't or won't.
Final things to mention at the half:
Langford shot 1-4, 3 of the shots including the make were attempts to drive. He doesn't quite get to where he is looking to go, and ends up tossing up a shot he doesn't really want to take, and it rolls off the rim. But he was being more aggressive in trying to get there - hopeflly this is part of figuring things out. Last year he was mostly just standing in a corner. The one make was pretty nice because he took some serious contact, then hit the shot ang the and 1.
Junacho is a disaster.
Marcus, on the other hand, has no points, on 0-2 shooting. But he has 6 assists and 3 steals vs 1 turnover. Who is he assisting? Rob (3), Tatum (1), Grant (1), Schroder (1, on a fast break).
Rob is 4-4, all assisted baskets (3 Smart, 1 Tatum). Smart gets Rob involved - Schroder either can't or won't.
Final things to mention at the half:
Langford shot 1-4, 3 of the shots including the make were attempts to drive. He doesn't quite get to where he is looking to go, and ends up tossing up a shot he doesn't really want to take, and it rolls off the rim. But he was being more aggressive in trying to get there - hopeflly this is part of figuring things out. Last year he was mostly just standing in a corner. The one make was pretty nice because he took some serious contact, then hit the shot ang the and 1.
Junacho is a disaster.
Maybe, there is also the fact that absolutely nobody wanted him in the offseason. so I'm not sure there is suddenly going to be a line to get him at the deadline. And I know he has had a coupl big games without Brown
From reading this sounds like he is forced
Also on a night, Tatum was 1-8 from 3, I see Schroeder getting the blame in here,
After the opening night disaster, Tatum shot over 50% the next three games, After that streak he has shot over 50% once in the last 9 games. In those 9 games he has been under 40% 6 times and right at 40 on two others. So other than Dallas the best we get is 40% shooting. He has scored fewer points than shots (I think they call this putrid accomplishment "A FInal Year Kobe") 6 of those 9 games and has scored only 1or 2 more points than shots twice.
Tatum is the problem. He isn't making shots, but also isn't about to stop shooting.
I risk backlash, but he just isn't a great athlete by NBA standards so going to the hoops is hard for him. He doesn't have the angled finishes or floater touch a nonvertical guy needs.
Also on a night, Tatum was 1-8 from 3, I see Schroeder getting the blame in here,
After the opening night disaster, Tatum shot over 50% the next three games, After that streak he has shot over 50% once in the last 9 games. In those 9 games he has been under 40% 6 times and right at 40 on two others. So other than Dallas the best we get is 40% shooting. He has scored fewer points than shots (I think they call this putrid accomplishment "A FInal Year Kobe") 6 of those 9 games and has scored only 1or 2 more points than shots twice.
Tatum is the problem. He isn't making shots, but also isn't about to stop shooting.
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You shouldn’t get backlash as this is accurate. He has improved so much from two years ago when he would force everything off the dribble to doing a much better job of recognizing what he can and can’t do against certain defenders. Still has a ways to go but this has been one of the growth areas I’ve noticed. He’s never going to be a big time scorer off the dribble as he simply isn’t an explosive athlete.
The summer is a different market than the trade deadline, for one there are more players available.
PLUS teams underperform, injuries happen, and contending teams like to add proven vets.
If DS scores like this, there will be several suitors for Schroder at the trade deadline. His contract makes him very easy to move for young-ish talent (which is what the Celtics should want)
I wish I could find somebody with the undying faith in me you have in the mediocre NBA player.
We need to get back to the fact out best player sucks.
We would have to be calling it a season hovering below .500 with one of our big two done for the year to quit on the season with this group. Schroder is an expiring contract and isn’t going to bring any value. If you want to trade for someone like White a package with players under team control would be more valuable to Chicago (in this example) while it would still allow for us to compete for/in the playoffs. Don’t look now but Schroder is arguably our second most indespensible on the roster behind Tatum.
Yep. I've wanted DS to start from Opening Night instead of the Double BIG approach. I like Dennis and think he makes the Celtics better.
BUT PBS should do a DS deal if they're hovering around .500. (As was the stipulation in the White fake trade after the Bucks game, which was a horrible showing by the Celtics). A play-in game/.500 Celtic team would be stuck in NBA Purgatory. I find moving DS, in that scenario, a more appealing approach than blowing it up by panic selling on Jaylen Brown
I used Chicago because Coby will be coming back to a team where he will see a lot less shots/minutes. They signed/traded for Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso. They drafted a guard, Dosunmu, who has been playing quite a bit. Other additions, DeRozan and Vucevic, will need their shots. Plus Zach will be re-signed. Coby won't be scoring like he did when he went down. Less PPG means a lot less $$$ for a kid like Coby, he may want out??? Trading for a veteran like DS, who Donovan had at OKC, may put the Bulls over the top (in their opinion). I also stipulated the Celtics add assets to DS.
If I squint real hard I can see the Celtics getting Jaylen back, the C's staying completely healthy, Tatum returning, IME graduating from being a rookie coach quick and this team being a top 4 EC team. BUT they'll need a lot to go right for that to happen. Otherwise making use of DS's absurdly cheap/moveable contract instead of letting it expire makes a lot of sense.
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That's not quite accurate and part of the issure with him is the salary cap. Lakers offered him a big multiyear deal to return that he made the mistake of turning down. When the dust settled on free agency, the salary cap limited what he could be offered.
Yes, but let's keep perspective here. 2 for 5 in 29 minutes, with the and one and a layup over Jarrett Allen. If he had a reliable floater he'd be more effective, but he throws up crazy ones.
Thoughts on the secnd half. Rob WIlliams had 4 assisted baskets in the first half, but only 3 unassisted baskets in the second. But he was immense on defense and on the glass later in the game. Finished with 12 points, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, and a steal in 34 minutes. He had a couple of critical blocks in the 4th quarter where he not only blocked it but kept the ball and started the transition.
Smart finished 0-5 from the field but got 2 points on free throws. But 4 rebounds, 8 assists, 5 steals vs 2 turnovers. They seemed to have a tiny bit of offensive success later in the game with Marcus posting up to pass, but it wasn't enough to save a terrible 4th quarter (29-15), worst quarter they have played since they were routinely gettong torched.
Schroder and Tatum were the elading scorers (28 and 21 points) but combined to turn it over 10 times.
The Celtics sorely missed Al Horford tonight. The lineup that got torched had Jabari and Grant as the 2 'bigs.' Up until that stretch, Grant had mostly played smart and within himself, scoring 11 points includung 3-3 from three.
Jabari got the backup center minutes in both halves. He wasn't terrible in the first but was an absolute disaster in the second.
The team as a whole could have pulled this game out in any number of ways:
- Shooting decently from three: the Celtics shot 6 for 23 from the game. Grant (3-3) and Schroder (2-4) were the only players who shot weel from three. The rest of the team was 1 for 16, led by Tatum's 1 for 8.
- Not turning the ball over so much. 19 turnovers, mostly by Schroder (4) and Tatum (6).
- Tatum having a decent game instead of 8-22 (1-8 from three), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 6 turnovers.
- Having Al Horford or Jaylen Brown
Right after Tatum hit that three, he, Smart, and Rob checked out, replaced by Jabari, Grant, and Nesmith. That group closed out the 3rd by getting outscored 9-2.
Ime brought Schroder in for Nesmith but left Pritchard, Langford, Jabari, and Grant out there for the first 2.5 minutes of the 4th, during which the Cleveland had an 8-0 run, cutting the Celtics lead to 4 (74-70).
Then Smart, Tatum, and Rob came back (for Pritchard, Grant, Jabari) and stopped the bleeding but the Celtics never regained control of the game.
Tatum has been garbage this season. I don’t know what it is, but this by far his worst season shooting the ball and that includes the FT line, which is concerning. I would attribute about 90% of the Celtics’ struggles to this.
To me, Udoka cost them the game in that stretch. I realize that the team is on the road and on the second night of a back-to-back, but he had basically four NBA players at his disposal last night in Williams, Tatum, Schroder, and Smart. To take all four off of the floor at the same time at that point in the game was coaching malpractice.
There's a little bit of hindsight bias in there. It was the second night of a back to back, the Celtics were shorthanded, and they had a 19 point lead when he made the move. Anything better than giving up a 17-2 run might have been enough.
He stuck with them for too long, and he is too resistant to playing Enes Kanter. Kanter at least might have gotten a basked or a key rebound. He would have sucked on defense, but Cleveland scred 17 points in 5 minutes, so it probably could not have been worse.
Karalis had an interesting Up/Down list for the game:
https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2021/11/13/bsj-game-report-cavaliers-91-celtics-89---ugly-collapse-caps-ugly-game
I acknowledged the context, but there’s a difference between a unit that is challenged and one that is dysfunctional. You might be able to get decent minutes from Grant and Romeo if they’re complementary players to Tatum and Schroder. You just can’t ask them to be primary creators opposite Jabari Parker. And I’d be saying the same even if they grabbed one of three late defensive rebounds to close out the game.