Jeff Teague: 1 year deal with the Celtics

barclay

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Marcus Smart's post-game explosion after a playoff loss may have led Danny/Brad to look for some physical/edgier role players. Teague/TT probably don't let Herro run around like he owns the joint
Thats an interesting and I think valid take on Smart's meltdown. A certain amount of bad assery among a core group of players impacts the collective sense of confidence, chemistry and backbone. When the going gets Tough the Tough get going, and at times last year the team suffered from a malaise at crunch time. You don't have to stoop to the distasteful criminality of the 80s Pistons to exude an intimidation factor that can sway games. Teague and TT help in that regard.
 

BillMuellerFanClub

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The school of thought pointing to the toughness and edge that Thompson and Teague bring is so interesting. JT and JB have shown that they are capable of playing with a chip on their shoulder for stints of time - minutes or games - but learning to harness an edge more effectively may be the best thing to come out of adding these players and their personality. If they’re hypothetically dead center on a scale of mamba mentality from Jeff Green to Lebron, maybe it moves the needle in the right direction. It’s also something I believe could help Payton Pritchard as he comes into an environment where his competitive fire is reflected in others.

Prior to these signings the 20/21 Celtics were (are) ridiculously young, and I suspect that the toughness is something that can be imparted and learned to a small extent as a part of culture.
 

reggiecleveland

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The school of thought pointing to the toughness and edge that Thompson and Teague bring is so interesting. JT and JB have shown that they are capable of playing with a chip on their shoulder for stints of time - minutes or games - but learning to harness an edge more effectively may be the best thing to come out of adding these players and their personality. If they’re hypothetically dead center on a scale of mamba mentality from Jeff Green to Lebron, maybe it moves the needle in the right direction. It’s also something I believe could help Payton Pritchard as he comes into an environment where his competitive fire is reflected in others.

Prior to these signings the 20/21 Celtics were (are) ridiculously young, and I suspect that the toughness is something that can be imparted and learned to a small extent as a part of culture.
Not worth much, but Canada basketball rumours have TT incredibly frusyated with the lack of toughness on the part of Wiggins. TT has not played for Canada much but Jay Triano said (TDF it was 4 years ago) TT was worrth more than his on the floor contributions due to his toughness.
 

Buster Olney the Lonely

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There was a shirt from 1986 that a friend of mine had that was very similar in illustration style. The headline read “Boston’s Best Six-Pack” and depicted the five starters and Walton in a beer carton. I always wanted that shirt.
 

Bernie Carbohydrate

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From Ian Thomsen's April 30, 1986 Globe story about Ainge getting ejected for kicking Atlanta Hawks forward Scott Hastings.

"We locked arms," Ainge said. "He threw me to the ground. I was on my back. He was coming at me. I stuck my feet up to protect myself. It was self- defense. I was protecting myself. My feet were the only thing there."
The Celtics keep no such statistics, but many Boston fans might believe that Ainge leads the NBA in such incidents. Jones blamed Ainge's reputation on Milwaukee Bucks coach Don Nelson, who called Ainge "a dirty player" in the play-offs. "To tarnish a player's name to help your game strategy -- that's going too far," Jones said.
But many of these Hawks recall Ainge tussling with Tree Rollins here three years ago. Ainge and Darrell Walker fought in the play- offs two years ago. Sedale Threatt and Ainge fought late this season. There are many more, none worth mentioning specifically -- yet together they form his public persona. The scowls. The complaining about fouls.
Hastings was not Ainge's only complaint. Ainge claimed [Kevin Willis] elbowed him flagrantly three times. Late in the first quarter, Willis elbowed Ainge as the two headed downcourt after Willis missed a free throw. "He ([Bill Oakes]) stood there and watched Willis throw an elbow that hit me in the face," Ainge said. "I don't understand. He elbows me in the face and gets a warning. I try to defend myself and get kicked out."
Edit for Teague content:
The Timberwolves had already received two technical fouls with two minutes remaining in the second quarter when guard Jeff Teague drove towards the paint against P.J. Tucker.

As Teague went up for the shot, Tucker smacked his arm, a clear foul. Teague flailed after the contact, and the referee correctly signaled for a shooting foul.

That was when things got weird. The referee signaled for a tech almost immediately after calling the foul, pointing at Teague. The point guard stared in disbelief as his teammates raised their arms in shock and looked on disgustedly. Derrick Rose pleaded for an explanation, while Taj Gibsons could only scratch his chin in confusion[.]


 
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EL Jeffe

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Lots of mixed feelings around here after the Teague signing, but after one preseason game, all those doubts can be put to bed!

But seriously, he looked like the skilled offensive PG he's been for most of his career. Four 3's was nice to see (even nicer to see him make all four). He got to the rim and finished consistently. Dropped a few nice dimes. There were a couple of atrocious looking defensive sequences, but that's part of the Jeff Teague Experience. I have a feeling they'll be relying on his offense a bit more than expected, and the 13/3/6 that he put up in Minnesota last season may look close to what he does while Kemba is out.
 

Bernie Carbohydrate

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Lots of mixed feelings around here after the Teague signing, but after one preseason game, all those doubts can be put to bed!

But seriously, he looked like the skilled offensive PG he's been for most of his career. Four 3's was nice to see (even nicer to see him make all four). He got to the rim and finished consistently. Dropped a few nice dimes. There were a couple of atrocious looking defensive sequences, but that's part of the Jeff Teague Experience. I have a feeling they'll be relying on his offense a bit more than expected, and the 13/3/6 that he put up in Minnesota last season may look close to what he does while Kemba is out.
One advantage of the combination of Teague's instant offense and shoddy defense--when he comes in from Kemba there won't be any changes in the rotations, etc. The same defensive players that know they need to help out on Kemba's man will also have to help out on Teague's man.

I'm serious--one way to think about Walker's backup would be to look for a defensive specialist (a Kris Dunn type). But if Kemba's backup is a lesser version of Kemba then everyone else on the court will know their role no matter who is in at PG.
 

mwonow

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View attachment 36554


Seriously, Danny must’ve been the most irritating player to play and root against. He makes Grayson Allen look like a choir boy in those videos. Just starting shit and getting superstars off their games and spiking balls off of people’s faces.

Who’s the guy in warm ups who dives in the pile throwing haymakers in the first video? Carr?

Lol at DJ being all Team Moncrief after Sidney had just body slammed Ainge.
Yep, ML. IIRC, there's a longer version of that somewhere, where Carr resets and is hammering at a warmup jacket. One angle, which continues a little longer than the others, shows the jacket moving, and the head of the guy who started with Ainge underneath it
 

radsoxfan

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It's looking like the glue factory for our boy Demarco0055.

Kemba, Smart, PP.... then open tryouts at the YMCA.
 

EL Jeffe

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Lots of mixed feelings around here after the Teague signing, but after one preseason game, all those doubts can be put to bed!

But seriously, he looked like the skilled offensive PG he's been for most of his career. Four 3's was nice to see (even nicer to see him make all four). He got to the rim and finished consistently. Dropped a few nice dimes. There were a couple of atrocious looking defensive sequences, but that's part of the Jeff Teague Experience. I have a feeling they'll be relying on his offense a bit more than expected, and the 13/3/6 that he put up in Minnesota last season may look close to what he does while Kemba is out.
Poorly Aged Things

But seriously, I was optimistic. His numbers (both the counting stats and the advanced metrics) were legitimately solid last year for Minnesota. Then he got traded midseason to Atlanta and they plummeted. I was hoping that could be chalked up to the general 2020 Atlanta dysfunction, but clearly there is some cratering going on in his game without much reason to think it's going to turnaround. Hopefully Pritchard (imminent) and Langford (not too far away) getting back will be enough to staple Teague to the bench (or just move on from him).
 

reggiecleveland

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Not to stray too far from the twitter feed, and I have defended Teague and TT from what are the unrealistic expectations of bench players...

But

This infuriated me yesterday 7:49-7:50 of this video. Tatum ties game with a 3 . Theis makes a perfect switch where it is too late to hit to the roll guy, forces a miss, Teague completely lost ends up, losing Losing Holmes, when all he has to do is box out. That to me is unforgivable for a veteran guard. A kid may make that mistake, but you expect a veteran to take care of business on the little things.
 

Koufax

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Honestly, the fact that Tre Waters got so much playing time last night tells you everything you need to know about Teague. He is lost out there. Too bad, he seems like a good kid, but it's time to kick him to the curb.
 

slamminsammya

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What was his game when he was good? He seems to have lost a step - its not like he's missing open shots, he doesn't appear capable of creating advantages for himself at all now.
 

BigSoxFan

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What was his game when he was good? He seems to have lost a step - its not like he's missing open shots, he doesn't appear capable of creating advantages for himself at all now.
Used to be really quick and a decent shooter. Classic scoring PG. It's actually kind of funny now. He's shooting the 3 well on low volume (41%) but has been absolutely miserable on 2's (29%). The physical attributes that made him good are no longer there so the easy buckets aren't coming anymore. Kemba is going through this as well albeit at a slower rate.
 

Jimbodandy

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Not to stray too far from the twitter feed, and I have defended Teague and TT from what are the unrealistic expectations of bench players...

But

This infuriated me yesterday 7:49-7:50 of this video. Tatum ties game with a 3 . Theis makes a perfect switch where it is too late to hit to the roll guy, forces a miss, Teague completely lost ends up, losing Losing Holmes, when all he has to do is box out. That to me is unforgivable for a veteran guard. A kid may make that mistake, but you expect a veteran to take care of business on the little things.
Fwiw, I think that you have mostly been right about the board's expectations for MLE and vet minimum guys. TT and JT have been getting slammed for not being guys that people wish they were.

The play that you mentioned was bad of course, but I think that Teague is just down a mental rabbit hole right now. Bunch of bad ball luck for both guys for a while, and they look like sunk costs. Those short bunnies rimming out is murder. Last few games, they're going in for Tristan so nobody cares anymore about shooting him into the sun.

Neither guy is a stud. Teague is definitely not the guy that he once was. But a few shots falling changes public perception. Someone should be reminding Jeff of this right about now.
 

bakahump

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His drives to the Foul line then retreat back to 3pt line make me enraged.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Used to be really quick and a decent shooter. Classic scoring PG. It's actually kind of funny now. He's shooting the 3 well on low volume (41%) but has been absolutely miserable on 2's (29%). The physical attributes that made him good are no longer there so the easy buckets aren't coming anymore. Kemba is going through this as well albeit at a slower rate.

He was a 2 way player too. More than capable on defense.
 

reggiecleveland

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He was a 2 way player too. More than capable on defense.
Jimbodandy is probably on to something about his mental state. It is not like he played in the league this long and didn't know what to do. He is feeling the pressure. Lots of guys unravel a bit when they don't score.

Theis was not great to start the season, but has gotten it going, maybe Teague will get it together.
 

JakeRae

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DARKO thinks Teague is heading off the same cliff we can all see, especially on offense (O-DPM)
DARKO isn’t alone. RPM has him as one of the 50 worst players in the league right now (or 25 worst if you adjust for playing time) and almost as bad last year, lest anyone think this is a sample size issue. If you go back 2 years he was still a positive value player. RAPTOR tells the same story. He was a pretty neutral value player 2 years ago (which has real value), became terrible last year, and remains terrible this year. His defense has really fallen off a cliff according to the metrics, and that reflects what he looks like on the court. Stevens has been good at scheming around poor defensive PG, so I can see why Ainge took the chance, but I think he’s just done.
 

NomarsFool

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At least he's a minimum contract guy, so I think it's pretty immaterial for the most part. While I was super hard on Brad Wannamaker last year, I think I personally would have gone with him as the 3rd string PG over Teague - but I can understand why they thought (hoped) Teague would be an upgrade. That hasn't worked out so far - but I don't know if there's any real case for ditching him now. Heck, TT rose from the grave last night to show that he's still a useful basketball player (he had a good game the night before as well - but yesterday was by far his best as a Celtic). Maybe the same thing could happen with Teague at some point. Although, I more suspect that he'll just be buried (I hope) on the bench once PP comes back. Honestly, I'd rather see what Carsten could do than Teague at this point.
 

radsoxfan

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If Teague will accept 4th string PG/towel waving vet role there is no urgency to replace him given the salary, I agree.

He really is only a problem if we have multiple injuries and/or Brad doesn't realize he is toast.

It would be nice it Waters didn't stink but unfortunately he does.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Wanamaker has been pretty bad so far this season himself, which really shouldn't surprise anyone.

The C's were bailed out with PP, really. Wanamaker played far more minutes that he should have last year and so far, Teague has played far too many this season. I'm probably forgetting someone obvious, but PP seems to be the last true back up PG the C's have had in awhile depending on your opinion of Marcus Smart.
 

Cesar Crespo

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If Teague will accept 4th string PG/towel waving vet role there is no urgency to replace him given the salary, I agree.

He really is only a problem if we have multiple injuries and/or Brad doesn't realize he is toast.

It would be nice it Waters didn't stink but unfortunately he does.
I wish Edwards was a little more of a playmaker because he can at least get his own shot.

None of this will matter when PP and Smart are back though. I'm beginning to think for this season, Edwards might be a better play than Teague too but it won't happen.

I feel gross advocating for Carsen Edwards.
 

slamminsammya

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Wanamaker has been pretty bad so far this season himself, which really shouldn't surprise anyone.

The C's were bailed out with PP, really. Wanamaker played far more minutes that he should have last year and so far, Teague has played far too many this season. I'm probably forgetting someone obvious, but PP seems to be the last true back up PG the C's have had in awhile depending on your opinion of Marcus Smart.
Does Scary Terry mean nothing to you?
 

BigSoxFan

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Wanamaker has been pretty bad so far this season himself, which really shouldn't surprise anyone.

The C's were bailed out with PP, really. Wanamaker played far more minutes that he should have last year and so far, Teague has played far too many this season. I'm probably forgetting someone obvious, but PP seems to be the last true back up PG the C's have had in awhile depending on your opinion of Marcus Smart.
Agreed. Think of all the things we hoped to be a storyline this year:

  1. Kemba return to Dec 2019 form (Hasn't happened)
  2. Nesmith making immediate impact (Hasn't happened)
  3. Romeo progression (Hasn't happened due to injury)
  4. Teague providing solid vet minutes (Hasn't happened)
  5. Thompson providing solid vet minutes (Hasn't happened outside of small pockets of effectiveness)
  6. GWill making a 2nd year leap (Hasn't happened)
  7. Development from Arson into useful NBA player (Hasn't happened)

Some of those we knew about, of course. But PP popping is one of the few bright spots this year outside of Jaylen's quantic leap and Time Lord's incremental development rate.
 

Cesar Crespo

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Agreed. Think of all the things we hoped to be a storyline this year:

  1. Kemba return to Dec 2019 form (Hasn't happened)
  2. Nesmith making immediate impact (Hasn't happened)
  3. Romeo progression (Hasn't happened due to injury)
  4. Teague providing solid vet minutes (Hasn't happened)
  5. Thompson providing solid vet minutes (Hasn't happened outside of small pockets of effectiveness)
  6. GWill making a 2nd year leap (Hasn't happened)
  7. Development from Arson into useful NBA player (Hasn't happened)

Some of those we knew about, of course. But PP popping is one of the few bright spots this year outside of Jaylen's quantic leap and Time Lord's incremental development rate.
I think GWill is a mixed bag because he is shooting the 3 pretty well. I think a lot of his issues is how he fits on this team with the way it's currently constructed. I think Semi is a bright spot at the moment too, along with Theis possibly emerging as a guy who can stretch the floor.

While I agree on Time Lord, I also kinda disagree. He's been really inconsistent this year. He's had reasons for that, but he always has reasons. At some point, TL has to be able to bring it every game.

Honestly, if TT wasn't on this team, a Theis/TL/GWill rotation would work well I think. Some teams may give us a problem but they will even with TT.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I wish Edwards was a little more of a playmaker because he can at least get his own shot.

None of this will matter when PP and Smart are back though. I'm beginning to think for this season, Edwards might be a better play than Teague too but it won't happen.

I feel gross advocating for Carsen Edwards.
I would love to see Carsen play in lineups where there isn't any other offense on the floor. I honestly don't understand why Brad insists on playing him (for example) with JB and JT on the floor. He sits in the corner and doesn't touch the ball.

I mean you can have JT play PG and have a lineup of Carsen, JT, Semi, GW, and a big and tell Carsen to go hunt his shots. I'll note that last night he hit the one shot he took off the dribble and missed yet another wide open catch and shoot.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

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I wish Edwards was a little more of a playmaker because he can at least get his own shot.

None of this will matter when PP and Smart are back though. I'm beginning to think for this season, Edwards might be a better play than Teague too but it won't happen.

I feel gross advocating for Carsen Edwards.
I would love to see Carsen play in lineups where there isn't any other offense on the floor. I honestly don't understand why Brad insists on playing him (for example) with JB and JT on the floor. He sits in the corner and doesn't touch the ball.

I mean you can have JT play PG and have a lineup of Carsen, JT, Semi, GW, and a big and tell Carsen to go hunt his shots. I'll note that last night he hit the one shot he took off the dribble and missed yet another wide open catch and shoot.