Ime basically Proctored Rob by doing this.For whatever reason, this team seems to respond much better to an asskicker like Ime. Ime constantly called them out in the media for effort/execution/whatever. His style seemed really demanding and pretty Assholeish. Simmons has specifically mentioned how tough he was with Rob and how he challenged him all of the time to play “hurt but not injured”.
Yup. It's too bad because we've seen what he is when he's 100% (2nd team all-defense and adds a dimension to the offense that no one else does), but I think that right now, he's as effective and healthy as he'll ever be. Unfortunately that's not much more than a really good rotation big.Rob got hurt again this year…I think Rob is just one of those players who gets hurt
Not surprising at all, we obliterated ATL's D, and have scored well in this series outside of the last game... problem has been turnovers and defense.
Agreed, and to add I feel like people sometimes forget the fact that his inexperience is even greater than pretty much every first year coach in that he didn't even have an offseason to prepare to be a HC. The fact that he seems to have a really sharp basketball mind in the moment but came into the season with zero preparation to be a HC makes me think he has the makings to be a good to great HC, not one you bail on after one seasonI think CJM’s best skill as a coach is the game to game adjustments. He seems like a film junkie. I know he has been credited a lot (by the Jays most importantly) for his film sessions and ability to break down complex stuff and make it much more digestible. He also seems very flexible and willing to adapt, when given the benefit of watching film and time to reassess
I think his negatives are obvious (and most of them go hand in hand); he’s very inexperienced so he’s learning on the fly and there seem to be literally 0 in-game adjustments. A common refrain from people who go to the games is that he seems very overwhelmed.
The other negative is something that is specific to this team and this particular group of players…. I think his communication style and how he handles the team is way too similar to Brad Stevens. To be honest, this is the type of style that I prefer. Keep everything in house, be positive about players in the media, etc.
For whatever reason, this team seems to respond much better to an asskicker like Ime. Ime constantly called them out in the media for effort/execution/whatever. His style seemed really demanding and pretty Assholeish. Simmons has specifically mentioned how tough he was with Rob and how he challenged him all of the time to play “hurt but not injured”.
I love this adjustment.
This guy apparently knows ball.Wouldn't hate to see a little more of the 2 bigs lineups tomorrow. I know people say it kills their spacing and that Rob isn't 100%, but w/ the Jays and Marcus/DW/Brogdon out there they'll still have 4 shooters on the floor and a vertical lob threat near hte rim. On offense Rob still sucks in a big on drives- either it's Embiid lurking with him and the rim is opened up a bit for drivers, or its tucker/Harris who he can get higher than. If the Celtics don't want to rely on the variance of 3 point shooting, they need to generate a larger share of shots at the rim and free throws. That's almost impossible with Embiid loitering near the rim.
The frustrating part is this level of defense is available but very often not seen.As a Celtics fan, I'm envious of how easy both Embiid and Harden seem to be able to get into their signature offense compared to how difficult it seems to be for Brown and especially Tatum to get into comfortable spaces for them to score. A big thing has been Horford shooting so poorly this series, he hasn't made enough threes to draw Embiid out of the paint and that has really stifled the Celtics ability to get to the basket.
The defense tonight from everyone was tremendous, even with a million rip-through soft-ass calls against Harden and Embiid. They fronted Embiid with a smaller defender and relied on Al to come over to help. They dared guys like Tucker and Melton to make big shots, and hustled after every loose ball. It would have been REALLY annoying if they lost because Tatum laid such an egg, but can't doubt the hustle from the team tonight.
YesWill Joe go 2 bigs to start again
Doubt itdoes Doc have it in him to start Niang over Tucker to match
TL made a huge difference defensively. Offensively I think they'd be better off if he was a little more aggressive. There were a couple of possession where he had the ball deep and could have posted up but he just kicked back out again. Gotta make them pay when you've got the advantage.This guy apparently knows ball.
The 2 bigs absolutely crushed tonight. TL's plus-minus was no fluke.
Whoa…those are real quotes?!?!
Was it a Brad call, or was it all the players going to him and being like “hey, coach, you really should think about starting Rob.”View: https://twitter.com/byjayking/status/1656859241649524737?s=46&t=Yv-0viabFQl7Lk7DrSRbBA
View: https://twitter.com/jaredweissnba/status/1656852799286661121?s=46&t=Yv-0viabFQl7Lk7DrSRbBA
@CoffeeNerdness got kind of dunked on for saying that Brad made the decision to go 2 bigs (I didn’t dunk on him but I didn’t think he was right)….but shit, all of these quotes from the players are kind of making me think it might have been a Brad call
Great point and I think you’re probably right.Was it a Brad call, or was it all the players going to him and being like “hey, coach, you really should think about starting Rob.”
I think TL/Horford played a total of 7 minutes together over the first 5 gamesI'm interested to see how game 7 goes in terms of 2 bigs... earlier in the series it didn't work that well, (TL was great in non-Embiid minutes too early series, but that's like 5-9 minutes a game tops) but that was often not against a pure starting unit. Late in this game it struggled some when Doc adjusted and made them put Rob on someone other than Tucker, and when they attacked Rob directly they got him up in the air a lot.
Will Joe go 2 bigs to start again, and does Doc have it in him to start Niang over Tucker to match?
Keep banging that drum.It might have been Brad. It might have been the players. It might have been both. Only thing I'm pretty sure of is that it wasn't Joe.
It's such a chore to get them the ball an absurd amount of the time. I'm a fan of the J's alternating taking the ball up after rebounds. Offense was so bad tonight. Defense was great. Admittedly a big part of thattonight was the 6ers going 8-34 from 3 (breaking that down a bit: Harden 0-6 on mostly tough attempts, Melton 0-4 on wide open ones after making everything in G1, Tucker 2-6 is about what you'd expect given the quality of his looks, Maxey 3-9 it felt like he underperformed his shot quality a bit). But they defended the rim well, 7 steals is very solid compared to their usual output, and their defense got sabotaged by the FOURTEEN STEALS the 6ers got that helped juice their transition attack. Looking at that number makes me want to vomit. I almost can't believe they won.As a Celtics fan, I'm envious of how easy both Embiid and Harden seem to be able to get into their signature offense compared to how difficult it seems to be for Brown and especially Tatum to get into comfortable spaces for them to score. A big thing has been Horford shooting so poorly this series, he hasn't made enough threes to draw Embiid out of the paint and that has really stifled the Celtics ability to get to the basket.
The defense tonight from everyone was tremendous, even with a million rip-through soft-ass calls against Harden and Embiid. They fronted Embiid with a smaller defender and relied on Al to come over to help. They dared guys like Tucker and Melton to make big shots, and hustled after every loose ball. It would have been REALLY annoying if they lost because Tatum laid such an egg, but can't doubt the hustle from the team tonight.
Maybe Mazzulla came to the realization that White had been bad in the previous two losses, and decided to go out with Rob playing more minutesCall me Tito Puente, brother.
You guys are too much.It might have been Brad. It might have been the players. It might have been both. Only thing I'm pretty sure of is that it wasn't Joe.
Feels like the players are more excited he tried something different than dissing him?How do you bring a coach back after half the team makes these comments publicly? Brutal lol.
Sam Mitchell called this out too on NBA TV studios’ show. Said that was disrespectful to the coach and CJM should take Smart aside about those comments.
They've gotta give Tucker a chance to make some shots in game 7, if they replace him with Niang then all of their perimeter defenders range from below average to awful. That's just too much pressure on Embiid, and all they need on offense is for Tucker to hit that corner 3 (and he's 8-19 from 3 in the series, not exactly bad).They also stopped ignoring Rob on O. the early lobs made Embid less aggressive.
Philly counter moves...play Niang more? Make Rob guard a shooter? Get Rob in ballscreen action?