Round 2 Celtics vs. Wizards
- Thread starter smastroyin
- Start date
We began each game with a double digit deficit....Game 4 was an improvement only down 8-0 but then it was the first unit that was on the floor for most of the 26-0 3rd quarter run. The starting unit has been a major problem in this series and why change hasn't occurred to address this doesn't look good on Stevens.
The good news to those calling for change is that reports are that Jaylen spent a good chunk of time at practice yesterday with the starting unit wearing a green jersey while Amir wore the second unit whites.
In game 4, first quarter, the Celtics missed a series of good open looks before they finally scored. In the third quarter, I'm pretty sure Amir (who scored 5 points to open the quarter) was on the bench for the bulk of the run.
In any case, I think there were 4 other guys on the court who deserve at least as much blame as Amir.
I don't think Brad actually announced his starting lineup. What some articles reported as being no changes to the starting lineup, this article reports as Brad saying that he wouldn't commit to any changes his starting lineup Wednesday night, followed by this quote: “We have 36 hours before the game starts,″
It would surprise me that Brad would do anything that far in advance of the game.
BTW, apparently KO wore the starting green at the end of practice too.
I'm not sure what I would make of starting KO. He's a worse rebounder than Amir (somehow), but a better offensive player and almost certainly a better option on D against the Wizards. He moves his feet way, way better than Amir does at this point in time and would probably be better at containing Beal, Porter and Morris -- though, of course, nobody can contain Wall the way he's been playing.
If the C's do 2 of three things -- keep up on the boards, keep up on fast break points, and win the turnover battle -- then they put themselves in a good position to in this game. Since the boards aren't going to happen, barring some miracle of gang rebounding, they've got to take care of the ball and get back on defense. They do that and shoot well and they'll win.
Given IT's and Marcus' charades the last couple of games, I'm not confident in that regard at all.
Yeah, I think KO shouldn't be an option to start but just reporting what I saw.
Obviously when a team gets blown out in back-to-back games, there's more going on than just one player, but if Marcus Smart was most other players, people would be calling for his head.
It's amazing having two teams in town, one with Marcus Smart and other with JBJ Jr. They can be so much fun to watch on one end and so cringe-worthy on the other.
I know he doesn't match up well with IT on the court, but Rozier is most deserving of the starting nod. He's suddenly an outstanding rebounder, is good in transition, and most importantly attacks to keep DC on their heels instead of settling for bad threes like others have seemed to do too often. He's the spark plug that Marcus was until recently.
I think Rozier is too important as a ballhandler in relief of Thomas, and needs to come in when Thomas takes a breather. If Smart or Bradley were given primary ballhandling duties, the Celtics would take too long to get into their offensive sets, and the Bullets would pick them apart.
Have we ever heard what diagnosis Amir is laboring under? Plantar fasciitis again? Old age?
Good point. Starting him doesn't disrupt the flow of the bench. The only question is whether he understands the defense well enough to help keep the Wiz at bay.
I mean, they've given up 116 and 121 the last two games, and allowed a 26-0 run. I could play defense and it would be hard to do much worse. At some point, his ability to impact the game individually outweighs a couple of defensive breakdowns. For example, his height and quickness seem to be the only thing that slowed down Wall this series for the two minutes we got to see it.
I started watching the game late (early third quarter) but immediately noticed how they were running the offense through Horford. Very nice move by Brad, and overdue. Horford really showed why he's such a good player; no one should begrudge him his salary after last night's performance. The 48.5 percent three-point shooting is clearly unsustainable, and John Wall probably won't have another off game this series, but hopefully the Celtics rattled the Wizards enough to make game six interesting.
That's more or less what he did with the Atlanta Hawks when they shut down IT and the Celtics in 2016 -- Horford and Millsap smothered everything inside, and they did it without fouling.
This isn't true though. Green started game 1, Amir game 2. Green game 3. Amir game 4&5. He almost hit the maximum for changing the starting lineup. I guess you don't like the changes he made, but to say he hasn't made changes is wrong. I don't see who the magic elixir is for the 5th guy anyway.
Also not true the first unit was on the floor for most of the 26-0 run. They were on for first 7 points, then a timeout and Smart replaced Amir. Unless your complaint is about the other four starters on the first unit, Amir wasn't the issue on that run. He wasn't the dude turning it over trip after trip up the floor.
Interesting article on ESPN Boston talking about Jaylen Brown and his defensive impact. I'm sure plenty of SSS caveats apply to the possession numbers quoted in the article, but the numbers suggest he has been better on D than many would think (looks lost on rotations, doesn't know assignments,etc).
Not saying those negative scouting views are incorrect, just thought these numbers were interesting. Really hope this kid blossoms into something over the next few years.
http://es.pn/2pEqkRY
Not saying those negative scouting views are incorrect, just thought these numbers were interesting. Really hope this kid blossoms into something over the next few years.
http://es.pn/2pEqkRY
Speaking of stats, JB ended up with one steal and one block but there were several more plays on defense where he got his hand or hands on the ball but couldn't come up with the ball to a foul was called. I point this out because he was inches away from having a few more steals - and some statistical love - for the gane.
I thought his best defensive matchup for JB was guarding Bogdanovic for a stretch. Literally all he had to do was stand next to him and not help too much off him. Bog didn't have the athleticism to get away or get his 3 point shot off against him so JB was effective neutralizing a dangerous option and on offense JB could do some stuff against him. It was also perfect for JB because they ran zero PnR or screen action for Bog, so required very little decision-making.
Yes, this. JB really seemed to take Bogdanovic completely out of the offense and was still effective with his own offense. I think Brad goes back to that matchup tonight
And in the BB self-scout mold, they'd be foolish if they didn't think that PnR were coming to exploit that weakness in JB's game. They have to at least plan for it.
I thought Bog was the key for WW in Game 3. His 3's really ignited the crowd and gave Washington hope that their bench would not be another black hole. So if JB could neutralize this, it could be a big help to keeping the crowd and the WW bench out of the game.
If I am Washington, if I ever see IT4 and JB in the game at the same time, I set up PnR against those two every time down floor.
Exactly... and I don't know if there is anything the Cs can do about that in either direction. IT4 would struggle with whoever he picked up, and a bunch of the time JB would get lost and end up coming back with a pretzel and a beer.
Not sure I agree. If Bog screens for Wall and Brown switches to him, that doesn't seem awful. Then Thomas (or Bradley) just gets in Bog's shirt and hopes/assumes he doesn't go to the post.
To me, Brad won game 7 midway through the third quarter, when Washington looked like it was about to pull away.
Wizards had their starters in, and Brad went to his bench against them, bringing in Brown and Smart for Amir and, crucially, IT. The Al Avery Jae Smart Brown unit stemmed the tide and held its own, and when Washington finally went to its bench, Brad went to IT and Olynyk and blew the game open.
Wizards had their starters in, and Brad went to his bench against them, bringing in Brown and Smart for Amir and, crucially, IT. The Al Avery Jae Smart Brown unit stemmed the tide and held its own, and when Washington finally went to its bench, Brad went to IT and Olynyk and blew the game open.
He also have half a dozen phenomenal play calls coming out of timeouts, particularly two or three times when they absolutely needed a bucket. That was some great manufacturing of non-IT offense.
Mentioned this in the game thread but everyone guffawed when Stevens went to KO on the play out of the timeout at the end of game 6. Perhaps he knew something we didn't?
It's a video clip. If you can't see it (you're on mobile app), here is the twitter acct:
https://twitter.com/BDiehards
I thought the same. IT was getting torched at the defensive end, getting him out was a gutsy and smart move. When he came back in he lit things up and we finished the quarter with a great run.
I loved the one play where Smart set a screen under the basket only to immediately post his man up and get the layup. Great play out of the timeout there
