Official Boston Celtics Thread

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

What a performance by our guys in game #1. Stevens had the perfect gameplan to start this series. We used Morris as the main player to guard LeBron but we used other players to also guard him to help keep Morris from possibly getting into foul trouble. Just an absolute beauty. This was the worst playoff game that I have seen LeBron play in all his years in the NBA.

He seemed himself to even be passive & just not into the game. I don't know if it's the Cavs thought our Celtics just wasn't good enough or what but we dominated them in every phase in game #1. I expect a totally different LeBron next game but we obviously match up very well with them regardless.

Even though I expect a blitz from LeBron & the Cavs in game #2 I still think we're just the superior team overall. We just have too many weapons to stop & our defense is going to adjust to however the Cavs adjust as well. LeBron will not have another game in this series like he did in game #1 but it doesn't matter if he gets back to the normal LeBron in my opinion because all we need to do is stop his supporting cast to now win this series.

I said the Cavs would beat us before the series started in either 6 or 7 games. But, I did say if we could get it to a game #7 at home we would have the advantage even though closing out LeBron in a game 7 would seem almost impossible. After watching/seeing what I did in game #1 I honestly think just like Tim Legler & Paul Pierce from ESPN that we are the better team.

I'm now changing my prediction to say that we are going to take the series in either 6 or 7 games instead of the Cavs. I think we will get the Warriors in the NBA finals. That's honestly how I see things happening now. GO MEAN GREEN!

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23511515/marcus-smart-ill-mom-wants-son-focus-boston-celtics

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...boston-celtics

Man, I love me some Marcus Smart. Prayers for both his mom and him as she goes through this difficult journey.










And **** cancer.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23546394/jayson-tatum-gratefully-accepts-advice-kobe-bryant-how-improve

I think the Cavs are going to take game #3 tonight but if we win this game tonight then we are going to the Finals. I know the Cavs have LeBron & they can NEVER be counted out but I see no way they can beat us 4 in a row. We just have the better team.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I was thinking & figured what happened in game #3 tonight did certainly happen. However, I didn't think that we would play that poorly. We didn't take our game from Boston to Cleveland at all. I mean not a single player showed up.

Horford was the biggest disappointment for me as a seasoned veteran player & especially the way he had played in the 1st 2 games of this series. He was shutdown by Thompson.

Thompson has shutdown Horford before in the playoffs when he was with the Hawks so Horford is going to have to pick up his game even more now.

The supporting cast for LeBron that I said we had to shutdown wasn't shutdown tonight at all. All 5 starters were in double figures & we can't have that. Defense is supposed to be our biggest strength but tonight it was non-existent.

Even if we aren't hitting shots there are no excuses for some of the shots that the Cavs had tonight. Too many easy layups & also wide open 3's. We didn't allow this to happen in the 1st 2 games in Boston. We're just a totally different team on the road.

Stevens is going to have to produce a different gameplan for our guys on the road for sure. We are just sloppy in all phases of the game on the road. I don't know what Stevens is going to need to adjust/do but there's got to be changes made in how we play coming up in game #4 if we even want a remote chance at a win.

I don't get our defense in the game tonight because we didn't close out on shooters nor did we help on players cutting or driving to the basket. That's just not us on defense. It was like we expected Cleveland to win this game tonight so our effort wasn't even there.

I do think game #4 will be played differently but I feel like this series is now destined to go 7 games. I wouldn't have thought or stated this if we would have won tonight. So, I see us losing Game #4 but put up a better fight & effort than game #3. I think the series 2-2 heading back to Boston was the majority of thinking anyhow mainly because of the LeBron factor even though we took the 1st 2 games rather easily.

I am hoping though for us to pull of a stunner in game #4 so we can head back to Boston with that chance to wrap it up in 5 games. Not likely but it can happen if we bring our A+ game & play like we do at home. GO MEAN GREEN!

[areobee401]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Jackie MacMullan was a guest on the Hoop Collective podcast. Said that Marcus Smart will likely sign with the highest bidder this summer, rather than take a pay cut to stay in Boston.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Jackie MacMullan was a guest on the Hoop Collective podcast. Said that Marcus Smart will likely sign with the highest bidder this summer, rather than take a pay cut to stay in Boston.

I kind of figured Smart was going to be gone after this season. I really hate to see such a leader & player with maximum effort leave our Celtics but I was thinking Smart would leave. I know he loves Boston but you can't blame him to want to get paid more. He has a sick mother & he deserves all the money he can get. He is such a tough player. He will guard positions 1-5 on the floor.

He doesn't care about the limelight. He just wants to do whatever he needs in order to help a team win. That's all he cares about on the floor. Points don't mean a thing to him. I expect him to really be a factor tonight & have a great overall floor game. If he's going to leave Boston it would be nice to send him out with an NBA title. I think we have to win tonight or the series will probably be over in 6 games.

I don't like our chances going back to Cleveland down 2-3. We need a win tonight in our palace where we seem to play a totally different game. Stevens must & will make adjustments from games #3 & #4. Horford has been shutdown by Thompson in Cleveland. We must have a gameplan to get him going early on in the game in my opinion.

We can allow 2-3 Cavs to score in double figures tonight but not the entire starting 5 plus a bench player like we allowed to happen in Cleveland the past 2 games. LeBron scoring 40+ again isn't going to get us beat. It's us playing bad defense like we did on his supporting cast in the last 2 games. Korver had way too many open looks. Thompson was killing us on the boards & just shutting down Horford.

Swish was hot in games #3 & #4 for sure but 2/3 of his 3's were not contested enough. Hill outplayed Rozier overall in the last 2 games but Rozier got the best of him the 1st 2 games in Boston. Let's hope Rozier gets that done again back at home. I think tonight's game will be a game like the West Finals game #4 last night. It will be a close game throughout with neither team going up more than 10-12 points & ending up a 1-5 point game in the end. GO CELTICS!

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Great win last night. 1 more to go. Nothing would be sweeter than watching LeBron's Finals streak end on his own home floor.



Regarding Smart, I don't blame him for leaving for more money but I'd love him to stay. Either way I'll always be a fan. With all of that said, I still don't see many teams that could/would pay him. Just thinking off of the top of my head, but with the teams that I can think of that may have cap space, Philly/LA Lakers are looking for bigger fish, I'm not sure if he would be a better fit than Collison next to Dipo in Indiana, I think Sacramento's back-court is already full enough and he wouldn't want to come off the bench there. To me the big threats are Dallas, Atlanta and maybe Chicago.


I'm hoping that Wyc will bring him back as long as no team offers him more than $10-12m/yr. I think any of those teams signing him for $15m+/yr would be a mistake. Qualifying offers years can be tricky, hopefully other teams stay away.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Great win last night. 1 more to go. Nothing would be sweeter than watching LeBron's Finals streak end on his own home floor.

Yes, a big win for sure. I can't figure out though why our defense can't translate to being the same on the road. I mean last night we played the type defense we had played the 1st 2 games at home. We didn't leave Rozier alone to guard LeBron on the switches.

We sent another guy at LeBron instead of just allowing him to back Rozier under the basket for a layup. We MUST use that same strategy in game #6 back in Cleveland. Now, it might not work out as well but it's what we MUST do in order to have a chance at winning at Cleveland.

And yes, it would be totally awesome for us to beat LeBron on his home court to go to the Finals & send him home on his own court. I still think the series is destined for 7 games but if we can play the same defense in Cleveland as we did last night then we will most certainly have that chance in my opinion.

Regarding Smart, I don't blame him for leaving for more money but I'd love him to stay. Either way I'll always be a fan. With all of that said, I still don't see many teams that could/would pay him. Just thinking off of the top of my head, but with the teams that I can think of that may have cap space, Philly/LA Lakers are looking for bigger fish, I'm not sure if he would be a better fit than Collison next to Dipo in Indiana, I think Sacramento's back-court is already full enough and he wouldn't want to come off the bench there. To me the big threats are Dallas, Atlanta and maybe Chicago.


I'm hoping that Wyc will bring him back as long as no team offers him more than $10-12m/yr. I think any of those teams signing him for $15m+/yr would be a mistake. Qualifying offers years can be tricky, hopefully other teams stay away.

I too love me some Marcus Smart. Like I said, he's the heart & soul of this team. He is certainly the best all-around player on this team for sure. No other player provides what he does. We have several players that are all-around players but as far as doing all things on the court really well he's got them all beat. His hustle is unmatched. He doesn't take a single possession off whether it's on offense or defense.

I agree with the teams that you posted that might come after Smart the hardest. I would have said those same exact teams except I would say Sacramento might still be another team in on his stakes because even though they have some backcourt players Smart provides something that a couple of them just can't which would be the case for ALL of those other teams mentioned.

I would say for us to be able to keep Smart it would take probably $10+ million per year. I too don't see another team offering more than $12 million per year though. I'm really hoping & praying that somehow we can keep him in Boston.

I hope Ainge can work something out for Smart because there are no replacements for a player like him. His only weakness has always been his 3-pt shot. He's improving on that part of his game & he hit 3 big ones last night. He shot them with confidence too.

Now, with Kyrie coming back hopefully fully healthy for next season no way Rozier is going to accept a backup PG role now. He has blown up since becoming our starting PG & there is going to be multiple teams coming after him.

I feel like if we make a move/trade with Rozier then Smart just might have a better chance at staying with us. I would also hate to see Rozier go because he's turning into a star player & he's young but I would rather us keep Smart because of ALL the things he provides to this team. We could then either in a trade get a capable backup PG to Irving or sign a capable FA PG as his backup.

I think Smart would accept coming off the bench playing both PG & SG roles with us. He could spell both Irving & Brown so this would get him more time on the court. He could also even play SF because of his toughness so spelling Tatum is another option.

I just hope Ainge can do whatever it takes to keep him. I'm sure Ainge will be setting down with Smart after the season is over & discuss matters with him about what he would want & what he would accept as role(s) on this team.

If Smart tells Ainge he wants to be a starter then it's probably going to lead to him being traded. We're more than likely not going to get much from the 2018 draft so no immediate impact from a player from this years draft like we've had with Tatum this season. GO CELTICS!

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I just figured this series was destined to go 7 games. Tonight in Cleveland the only 2 players that traveled with the rest of the team from Boston was Brown & Rozier. Not another single player showed any passion to even want to try & win this series in Cleveland.

The one player that extremely disappointed me was Horford. He is the veteran leader on this team. He should know how to handle this type of situation & also set an example for all the young guys on this team. He didn't show any leadership whatsoever. He played terrible in all phases of the game. He couldn't even hit his FT's which he is normally a decent FT shooter.

He only had just a few rebounds but other than that he didn't even show up in Cleveland. Brown was aggressive from the start & so was Rozier. These 2 guys showed they would rather have won the series in 6 games & not take a chance on trying to beat a LeBron team in a game #7. Our defense away from home is totally different than at home.

The intensity is not there & the way we play defense is also different. I just don't get it. I can understand if the offense away from home can not be as good but there's no excuses for our lack of defense. LeBron was on fire tonight & he beat us himself in the 4th quarter but George Hill killed us tonight. Jeff Green also made some pretty big plays as well.

I hate that we are heading back to Boston for a game 7 but I figured this was probably going to happen anyhow. I just dread facing LeBron in a game #7 even though it's at home. I have to admit that I'm pretty nervous & concerned for this game #7. I like our chances at home but it's LeBron we're trying to beat. I said we could allow LeBron to get his 40+ every game & still win this series.

We can still allow him to get that 40+ in a game 7 but we can't allow a George Hill or another player to get 20+ either. We allow LeBron & 2 of his supporting cast to score 20+ then I think we're going to be done. If we let LeBron score 40+ & allow only one other of his supporting cast to get 20+ then we should have a good chance at still taking the series. I am really concerned though because LeBron didn't look as tired in game #6 as he did in game #5. Maybe this game #6 effort took a lot out of him & he won't be as dominate in this last game of the series. GO CELTICS!

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Love has just been ruled out for game #7 because of concussion-like symptoms. I hate to see anyone injured but that's one less of LeBron's supporting cast we have to worry about now. Love was certainly capable as a veteran of going off on us in a game #7 too just like LeBron.

[23]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I just figured this series was destined to go 7 games. Tonight in Cleveland the only 2 players that traveled with the rest of the team from Boston was Brown & Rozier. Not another single player showed any passion to even want to try & win this series in Cleveland.

The one player that extremely disappointed me was Horford. He is the veteran leader on this team. He should know how to handle this type of situation & also set an example for all the young guys on this team. He didn't show any leadership whatsoever. He played terrible in all phases of the game. He couldn't even hit his FT's which he is normally a decent FT shooter.

He only had just a few rebounds but other than that he didn't even show up in Cleveland. Brown was aggressive from the start & so was Rozier. These 2 guys showed they would rather have won the series in 6 games & not take a chance on trying to beat a LeBron team in a game #7. Our defense away from home is totally different than at home.

The intensity is not there & the way we play defense is also different. I just don't get it. I can understand if the offense away from home can not be as good but there's no excuses for our lack of defense. LeBron was on fire tonight & he beat us himself in the 4th quarter but George Hill killed us tonight. Jeff Green also made some pretty big plays as well.

I hate that we are heading back to Boston for a game 7 but I figured this was probably going to happen anyhow. I just dread facing LeBron in a game #7 even though it's at home. I have to admit that I'm pretty nervous & concerned for this game #7. I like our chances at home but it's LeBron we're trying to beat. I said we could allow LeBron to get his 40+ every game & still win this series.

We can still allow him to get that 40+ in a game 7 but we can't allow a George Hill or another player to get 20+ either. We allow LeBron & 2 of his supporting cast to score 20+ then I think we're going to be done. If we let LeBron score 40+ & allow only one other of his supporting cast to get 20+ then we should have a good chance at still taking the series. I am really concerned though because LeBron didn't look as tired in game #6 as he did in game #5. Maybe this game #6 effort took a lot out of him & he won't be as dominate in this last game of the series. GO CELTICS!

I couldnt tell if this post was a Cs fan or Raptors fan talking for a minute.

Sent from my LG-LS998 using Tapatalk

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I couldnt tell if this post was a Cs fan or Raptors fan talking for a minute.

Sent from my LG-LS998 using Tapatalk

Ha! Ha! :wink:

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23615806/boston-celtics-coach-brad-stevens-calls-al-horford-play-game-6-outstanding-quiet-stat-line

I understand what Brad Stevens is trying to say about Al from this article but Horford DID NOT perform to me like a leader & veteran that we needed in game #6. He needed to do way more than he did. He doesn't have to come back to Boston & have a great game but he has to provide that leadership that we know he can bring.

He just needs to score when the chances come & rebound well plus make the right passes when double teamed. He can have an average game & allow players like Rozier, Brown, Tatum, Smart, & Morris do most of the scoring. I do think he needs to be in double figures scoring & rebounding though & play good defense on Thompson & keep Thompson off the offensive boards.

We don't need a 20+ point game from him but if he does it's an added bonus. I look for Brown & Tatum be our 2 main offensive options with Rozier & Morris right behind. Horford is going to be double teamed again a lot just like has was in game #6 so it's going to be difficult for him to put up a big game scoring unless it's from the FT line & getting some easy rebound putbacks. We get all 5 starters in double figures then I'm guaranteeing a win in game #7 regardless of what LeBron does. GO MEAN GREEN!

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Marcus Smart talks about game 7: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...valiers-game-7

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Marcus Smart on upcoming Free Agency: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...ts-stay-boston

I sure hope that Ainge can figure out some way to keep Smart in Boston. There's just not many players that bring what he does to a team. He's not an offensive juggernaut but he is a decent offensive player & can do it all on defense plus he's a leader too.

What I do not agree with though is Smart saying that he's worth more than $12-$14 million per year contract. I think definitely $8-$10 million per he certainly deserves but contracts that pay $12-$14 per these days are players that can score a little more than he does.

Yes, we can't replace him with another player that does ALL the things that he does but for him to ask or think he should be paid $12-$14 million per is a little extreme. Yes, some FA's in the past 2-3 years have gotten contracts around that range & not necessarily been offensive juggernauts & just role players or do only 1-2 things decently so it's possible another team will give him that much money but it would only be from a select couple of teams other than Boston. I just hope whatever the pay scale is on him that we can be the one that signs him. Thanks.