Official Boston Celtics Thread

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Well, we gave the Pistons their 1st loss on the season tonight in good style & fashion. Beating up on them in Detroit by a score of 109-89. A lot of bench players got extended minutes tonight. Jaylen Brown lead the way in scoring with 19 points. Hayward had 15 points & 5 rebounds. Those were the only 2 starters in double figures.

Off the bench, Morris had 18 points & 8 rebounds in 25 minutes. Theis had his best game on the young season thus far with 17 points & 8 rebounds in 19 minutes. Rozier added 14 points & 8 rebounds & a thunderous dunk to boot in 27 minutes. Smart had 5 points, 9 assists, & 4 rebounds in 23 minutes. GO MEAN GREEN! http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401070755

We play these same Pistons @ home on Tuesday night. Why does the NBA schedule games this way? They really need to fix this issue of playing the same team in back-to-back games. It's just not necessary! They did fix the issue of having too many back-to-back game nights but they still didn't fix this issue of playing the same team in consecutive games.

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

This team is really weird, man. I don't think they've played a complete game yet. I can't quite put my finger on why they're struggling so bad. I guess I would start with missed shots, and bad shot section at times when the offense goes stagnate.

Kyrie has been great since the haircut and is really keeping us in games. Marcus Morris has been really good. He's probably been the 2nd or 3rd best player in most of the games they they've won. He needs to really keep it up to keep them afloat while everyone else is figuring it out.

Hayward still looks rusty but you have to think (or at least hope) he eventually turns it around. Horford is being a little too passive, imo and needs to be more involved. Rozier can't get it going due to being a bench guy now. I feel like the young guys (Tatum, Brown) just aren't used to playing with great players or something...It's like each of them are relying on Kyrie to be "the man" when really they should all have the mentality that they're "the man". Hopefully, they figure it out soon.

[areobee401]

Official Boston Celtics Thread

I have slowly begun treading into rooting against this team territory. That’s how much watching them play pisses me off right now. A part of me was like “you deserve to lose, don’t complete the comeback” while watching last night.

There is nothing fun about watching them at all.

I know, bad fan or whatever, but they make me that angry.

[jeremym480]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

I have slowly begun treading into rooting against this team territory. That’s how much watching them play pisses me off right now. A part of me was like “you deserve to lose, don’t complete the comeback” while watching last night.

There is nothing fun about watching them at all.

I know, bad fan or whatever, but they make me that angry.

Each player has kind of taken turns infuriating me but I haven't gotten to point of hating them. I usually DVR the games and watch them about an hour or two late but there's been a couple of games that I've gotten frustrated and fast-forwarded through large portions of the game

Like I said earlier, I can't put my finger on why they're doing what they're doing, well other than open missing shots. I think the pressure from limited minutes may be why. I believe trying to prove their worth with the the minutes they they're pressing. Tatum, Brown and Rozier aren't playing with the spark that they had last year at the end of the year. I mean, you might see it in spurts but it's not there like I though it would be. I don't know... I just want Brad and/or Danny to figure it out. This team is too talented to be losing to Orlando and almost losing to Phoenix.

I think I would look at starting Baynes tonight and let Brown or Tatum come of the bench. It just seems like Hayward, Brown and Tatum on the court at the same time doesn't work that well together. Hayward is a better passer/playmaker and Brown is better defensively so I think Tatum heading up the second unit may wake him up a little more. At least do something to shake things up.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

This team is really weird, man. I don't think they've played a complete game yet. I can't quite put my finger on why they're struggling so bad. I guess I would start with missed shots, and bad shot section at times when the offense goes stagnate.

Kyrie has been great since the haircut and is really keeping us in games. Marcus Morris has been really good. He's probably been the 2nd or 3rd best player in most of the games they they've won. He needs to really keep it up to keep them afloat while everyone else is figuring it out.

Hayward still looks rusty but you have to think (or at least hope) he eventually turns it around. Horford is being a little too passive, imo and needs to be more involved. Rozier can't get it going due to being a bench guy now. I feel like the young guys (Tatum, Brown) just aren't used to playing with great players or something...It's like each of them are relying on Kyrie to be "the man" when really they should all have the mentality that they're "the man". Hopefully, they figure it out soon.

Excellent post Jeremy. I agree 100% with what you posted above & your view on the teams issues. Great post & spot on! We have got to pick it up. No way we should have won that game last night but Kyrie rescued us again. You are totally right that Kyrie & Morris are really the only 2 players that are playing well here through the first 11 games of the season.

Kyrie was even struggling the first few games until like you said he cut that hair. The Raptors & even though we beat the Bucks a few games ago are 2 teams that are definitely better than us in the Eastern Conference right now.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Well, Portland is up next so I guess we're going to be 7-6 after tomorrow night. We haven't played well on Western Conference road trips at all in recent years & it just continues. Wonder if Kyrie will play tomorrow night vs Portland? That will be our only chance at beating Lilliard & company on their home court. Dame & McCollum are one heck of a starting backcourt.

We are just not jelling together at all. Hayward still isn't 100% but he is at least providing some offense. Tatum has been really off his game but he did play well in the loss to Utah. Horford is being way too passive & he's not rebounding like he should for a big man his size. Morris has been great so far. Brown has been spotty.

Rozier got the start against Utah because Kyrie was out & he looked like a totally different player. I think Baynes deserves a few more minutes per game right now. He's only playing 14-16 minutes a game. I say give him 20+ minutes because when he's in there he always provides something positive. Theis can't stay healthy at all. Smart has been pretty much his usual self with the non-stat plays with hustle & solid defense but he's had a couple of decent offensive games as well.

We just need more from 2-3 players besides just Kyrie & Morris. I think it has to come from Tatum, Horford, & Brown with Rozier hopefully picking it up offensively after having a solid night last game out all be it in a starting role. We get the starting 5 going & wait until Hayward is 100% then I think we're going to go on a tear. If not, then we're going to continue to struggle with maintaining any winning streaks. This team just has too much talent for it not to happen though in my opinion.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Well, just as figured we lost @ Portland last night. I'm really starting to get concerned with this team. Something just isn't right. We are easily 10 deep but we just aren't playing well together. Our defense which shouldn't be a problem has even been bad recently. It's obvious too that Rozier just can't get going in a coming off the bench role. Kyrie really is our only guy that's being consistent each game. Morris would be the next most consistent.

After those 2, nobody is playing with hardly any type of fire or want to. Tatum's driving to the basket is down like 35% from last season. He's pulling up for more short jump shots. Therefore, he's not getting as many easy baskets and/or getting fouled. Horford seems to have turned into a 3-pt. shooter like 50% of the time. We need him to score more down low & he's only averaging 5.5 rebounds per game.

He should be up around 9-10 rebounds per game with his height & athletic ability. Brown will have 1 solid game & then 2 bad/not so good games. No consistency coming from hit at all. Brown has the worst Player Efficiency Rating(PER) of all the guys in our rotation @ 7.3. Hayward is still trying to get his game back to 100%. He's obviously not there. He's shooting under 40% overall from the field & 32% from 3-pt. range.

We have to get more out of Ojeleye on offense even though we use him mainly as a defensive stopper. Ojeleye can shoot the ball from deep so he should get a few more looks & also a few more minutes per game as well. I don't know how much longer Theis is going to be out but he's a hustler & kind of fits the mold that Jerebko played for us during his time as a Celtic. We have got to get things going though & I trust in Brad Stevens 100%.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

What a game tonight by Kyrie. Just shows how important it is for him to play well each night but especially against the better teams like the Raptors. Tatum also stepped it up in the 2nd half. He's been settling for too many jump shots & tonight he attacked the rim.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

We beat the best team in the Eastern Conference(Raptors) last night & turn around tonight @ home & lose to a struggling Utah team. This team just can't get it going. I'm starting to get really concerned because after 16 games now we should be playing better together as a team.

The biggest problem though has been our defense. We are not playing typical Celtics defense. We are off & on from the offensive side with the ball but we are usually in the top 5 teams in the NBA defensively. We are not in that category so far this season.

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

We just lost again. Giving up 117 points to the Hornets. Like I said before, defense is the problem with this team. They are playing really bad defense. How many games last season did this team give up 100+ points? Well, I can tell you that we're already close to that total from 2017-18.

We are scoring enough points to win games. Our defense can't stop any team. I mean the worst team in the NBA in the Suns put up a bunch of points against us & it took OT for us to win that game after trailing by 15 points early in that one.

Something else that I've noticed. We now have both Kyrie & Hayward. In the playoffs last season we didn't have Kyrie & of course we didn't have Hayward all season long. We played better defensively as a team with Hayward not playing & Rozier in that starting role. However, Kyrie is playing really solid defense & so is Hayward as well. That means some of the other guys are not playing defense like they did last season.

In my personal opinion, I think it's both Jaylen Brown & Al Horford. Tatum has played well most of the time on defense but has had some games to where he hasn't been so good. Morris has played really well defensively just about every game. We usually put Morris on the other teams best PF or SF. Smart always plays defense well. He gives it his all in his minutes on the floor on both ends. There's no way we are going to even be a top 4 seed in the Eastern Conference unless our defense picks up.

Toronto, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Indiana, & Charlotte all are better teams than us right now. That means we are the 6th best team & if we would end up 6th then no home court advantage probably at no point in the playoffs. I'm so frustrated with this team right now. Brad Stevens is indeed a good coach so I expect him to figure it out but it's the defense that he needs to get figured out because we can score enough points to win most games. We can't be giving up 105-110+ points a game regularly though if we want to get things back on track. Geez!

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

We lost to the sorry Knicks @ home tonight? What in the world is going on with this team? 9-9? You have got to be kidding me with a team that we have. Again, just as it's been all season long it was defense that cost us the game. Giving up 117 to the Knicks & that point amount in back-to-back games? We literally can't stop ANY team right now. I mean every single team that we play is scoring on us & way too many baskets are easy ones.

I'm so puzzled as to why when we have everybody back available & healthy(Kyrie & Hayward) but our defense has gone from really good to really bad from just last season. What does that tell us about our Celtics 2018-19 team? We have plenty of offense. We have plenty of scorers. We don't have but a couple of guys that seem to be playing defense like they were last season though.

One thing we can look at this & say is the Warriors are also not playing well at all in the Western Conference & they like us were supposed to be the best team in their Conference. The difference between us & them though is they have 2 key injuries right now(Curry & Green) & also turmoil as well. We have none of that. We are a healthy team & no tension or turmoil happening in Boston as of right now.

The Knicks tonight hit on 15-30 3-pointers(50%) & shot 49.5% overall from the floor. We didn't shoot the ball well tonight(10-33 3-pointers) & 39% overall from the floor. Knicks were 14-17 FT's while we were 23-32. Rebounds were very close with us grabbing 50 while the Knicks had 49. We only had 8 turnovers while the Knicks had 17. Stats look like we didn't play a terrible defensive game except for giving up 15 3's. They got us by 15 points on the 3 ball & that was the difference in us losing the game.

The Knicks were 4-14 coming into the game against us tonight. I mean we can't beat teams like the Knicks, Hornets, & Utah with 2 of those teams being home games? How can we have all of the talent & play like we are playing the 1st 18 games of the season? It is defense as our #1 concern for sure but what's going to be done about it? I've only seen defense played every game this season coming from Morris & Smart. Kyrie's defense has been spotty.

Brown's defense & offense is way down. Horford is down on defense, rebounding, & scoring. Tatum is scoring more & more each game but he's getting burnt on defense & also getting into foul trouble as well. Rozier coming off the bench is not the same player like when he's a starter. I mean a totally different player. Not even close. Maybe Stevens needs to consider starting Rozier @ PG & Kyrie @ SG & let Jaylen Brown come off the bench until he starts playing better. Hayward has been coming off the bench the last 2 games & seems to be working well. Baynes has been starting in his place. I would seriously consider trying some changes though if I was Stevens. The starting 5 might need to be like this for a while anyhow:

PG Rozier
SG Irving
SF Tatum
PF Morris
C Horford

Bench players would be like this(in no particular order coming off the bench):

PG Smart
SG Brown
SF Hayward
PF Baynes
C Theis

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Brad Stevens speaks on the Celtics struggles: http://www.espn.com/nba/recap?gameId=401070936

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Kyrie speaks on pondering early retirement possibility: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...30s-retirement

[areobee401]

Official Boston Celtics Thread



Yeesh

https://twitter.com/VenableTouch/status/1068302271405010944?s=20

[tonybologna]

Re: Official Boston Celtics Thread

Great win tonight on the road vs the Wizards. We have now won 7 games in a row & are starting to play like everybody thought they would be by now. I think Coach Stevens making that change of starting Morris has made a world of difference. Morris has been tearing it up since being placed in the starting lineup.

Morris was already playing well of the bench but even better starting now. Stevens has also inserted Smart into the starting lineup the last 3 games. His scoring has went up & he of course is doing All of the dirty work on defense as well. These changes in the starting lineup have worked out well for us & I was calling for starting lineup changes just before Stevens decided to make a couple of changes.

We are going to be without Horford for at least a few games due to ongoing knee pain: http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...left-knee-pain

I hate to see this happen to Horford because the 2 games he was able to play before this news he had his 2 best games of the season against the T'Wolves & Knicks.

Kyrie was absolute CLUTCH tonight & has been all season long for us. Some of those shots he hit tonight were unbelievable. The one 3-pointer from the wing with Wall right in his face & a nothing but net I don't see how even got that shot off. Then, a little later in OT the 3-pointer from 8 feet behind the arc was from way downtown. Wall didn't think Kyrie would shoot that far out so he wasn't even up on him that far out.

We played tonight without Horford, Hayward, & Brown too. Both Hayward & Brown were out with illness so this just shows how good this Celtics team can be even without 3 really good solid players not even in the lineup. The Raptors are still no doubt the best team in the East but the Celtics are quickly closing the gap on both the Raptors & Bucks.

I honestly think by the All-Star break we will either be ahead in the East or no more than a game or 2 back for the best record. The Warriors struggles are like the Celtics in that both teams were expected to be dominate & leading their Conference but both have not done so. The Warriors are not playing well at all right now while we're getting it going. I don't think the Warriors are a lock at all to take the Western Conference.

We are not a lock either but at least we're starting to show signs of trying to be that team everybody was expecting us to be. I really think the incident between Green & Durant has dismantled the Warriors team & that locker room.

We didn't allow that to happen to us because of multiple leaders on this Celtics team in Coach Stevens, Kyrie, Smart, Morris, & Horford. They all are veterans & knew how to handle their lacking situation that seems to now have been fixed with the lineup changes mainly.