Post Game Thread - vs Atlanta Hawks, Home

[bobheckler]

Just awful. Completely dysfunctional on offense combined with missing open 3s gives you a 39% fg% and a 16 point blowout loss, and our fg% actually came up towards the end in garbage time to reach 39%. That's how ugly this was. On defense we were letting them come clean off of picks and getting open looks at jumpers.

Al Horford and Kelly Olynyk combined for 4-12, with Horford being the primary culprit with 3-9. Howard was having his way with Horford on defense too. And yet, Al Horford was given a +1 plus/minus rating.

On the other hand, The Kid had a really good game. I am really enjoying watching the light bulb come on with him. 26 minutes and 6-10 for 15 points. He was 2-4 from 3, 2-3 from the corner (he is shooting over 50% on corner 3s). He is going to be special, give him another year or two for the game to slow down and for him to work on a few things and he is going to be special. Mr. Special was a -15 plus/minus. If there was any doubt about how useless that stat is all you have to do is see that Al Horford was only non-garbage time player with >10 minutes with a positive plus/minus while the only non-garbage time players to shoot >50% were Amir (2-3, 5 points) and Jaylen Brown and Brown has a -15 plus/minus. In an odd way, Bradley's injury might be the best thing to happen this year. We still had a good record with him out and Brown has developed very nicely.

Howard is dumb. He got ejected for a stupid, unnecessary foul on Horford and then doing a stupid, unnecessary chinup on the rim and he could have been tossed earlier except they didn't give him a flagrant for horse-collaring IT from behind and around the neck. That's the good news. The bad news is that the Hawks still outscored us 35-31 after he was gone.

60-34 points in the paint. 15-7 fast break points. 55-40 rebounds. 13-9 offensive rebounds. They pretty much beat us in every facet of the game.

IT's 20 points/game streak is over. He shot 4-21 and had 7 TOs. Live by the IT, die by the IT.


http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=400900291



bob


.

[cowens/oldschool]

we sucked, hope IT is not too worn out, worst game from him ever this season and overall everyone was pretty bad except rook and Smart was okay.

obviously if hes not playing at an all star 30-35 points level we can be beat by good teams and bad teams. If IT can't get it going, who can step up, do we have enough players to step up if IT is very off like bad KO? then what?

[steve3344]

Celtics starters shot 28.3% for the game tonight (13 for 46).  At home.  

Doubt their starters have had many worse home shooting nights than that when they've been a playoff team in the past.

This is what you get with an over-reliance on one explosive player when he's abysmal (4 for 21).

Watching us play against quality teams of late I'm not optimistic about much playoff success this year. Wouldn't even surprise me if we don't win a round.  Our frontcourt is probably the least productive of all playoff teams.  Horford, while a fine player, is definitely looking overpaid for what he's giving us this year. And he's not getting any younger.

It should come as no surprise that this team needs a stud (or two) to get to the next level.  And it can be at any position.  Best chance is winning the lottery this June.

[worcester]

Bob, The simple rating numbers  found at this site hold up really well season after season , beyond what is predicted by +/- only.

http://www.82games.com/1617/1617BOS.HTM

Jalen's rating will go up as he plays more and more with the first team.

The five man unit ratings are also most enlightening.

[dboss]

There was a lot of contact against IT that was not called and he was also out of control plus he missed a lot of layups .

dboss

[kdp59]

There was a lot of contact against IT that was not called and he was also out of control plus he missed a lot of layups .  

dboss

yep that's playoff level basketball. Too bad this team has no one else that can create his shot , except Brown and his handle is still too suspect to trust him much yet.

Horford is getting worst, at the start of the season I kept telling myself he needed time to get into Stevens flow. But now it's apparent to all that he is WAY overpaid. Danny should have saved the money if no one else wanted to come here, IMO.
A 14 pt. 6 reb stat line does NOT cut it for a MAX contract Big man.

oh well, thank god the trade deadline has come and gone....no need to add any quality players here. Lets bring in 4-5 more rookies over the next couple years, that way Bradley, IT and Smart can all leave when they want paid (for nothing) and Danny can have a bunch more kids that we can all talk about how they will be so great in 3,4 or 5 years from now.


first round losers in the playoffs...that's a REAL possibility right now.

[dboss]

There was a lot of contact against IT that was not called and he was also out of control plus he missed a lot of layups .  

dboss

yep that's playoff level basketball. Too bad this team has no one else that can create his shot , except Brown and his handle is still too suspect to trust him much yet.

Horford is getting worst, at the start of the season I kept telling myself he needed time to get into Stevens flow. But now it's apparent to all that he is WAY overpaid. Danny should have saved the money if no one else wanted to come here, IMO.
A 14 pt. 6 reb stat line does NOT cut it for a MAX contract Big man.

oh well, thank god the trade deadline has come and gone....no need to add any quality players here. Lets bring in 4-5 more rookies over the next couple years, that way Bradley, IT and Smart can all leave when they want paid (for nothing) and Danny can have a bunch more kids that we can all talk about how they will be so great in 3,4 or 5 years from now.


first round losers in the playoffs...that's a REAL possibility right now.

No doubt Boston way over-paid for AH.  I knew that when the deal went down.  But I guess they felt that getting Horford on board would have made it easier to get Durant.  He was the main target.  I am concerned that AH numbers are declining and i do not know if they will pick back up.  Perhaps the worst aspect of his contract is the 15% trade kicker!  Basically we are stuck with him.

I am not in love with the 3 point shooting barrage.  3 point shooting should be part of the game not the dominant component.  Well I'm old school and would prefer to see a more diverse offense that brings into focus some low post offense.  

IT appears to be chasing stats and lately he has been forcing things.  Just making a lot of bad basketball plays and it seems that when he is off the chain the team follows along.  

Overall I still think Boston is on track but still a long ways from the station.

Given the inactivity leading up to the trade deadline I am feeling that DA is really not concerned about this year.  Things are starting to build and the day will come soon where he has to shit or get off the pot.

dboss

[worcester]

My concern with IT is that in the playoffs refs are reluctant to make calls. We do need another prime scoring guard, and thyen IT can come off the bench for a Vinnie Johnson Microwave type lift.

[dboss]

My concern with IT is that in the playoffs refs are reluctant to make calls. We do need another prime scoring guard, and thyen IT can come off the bench for a Vinnie Johnson Microwave type lift.

We have a prime scoring guard and his name is Avery Bradley.  And I do suspect that come playoff time your Jalen brown could become a factor.

Boston heavily relies on IT to be the engine but it does contradict the 'Team Concept'  I just like to see the ball moving like last night where it began with Jalen and then went all the way around back to him for a sweet spot up 3 from the corner.  

The physical nature of the playoffs may very well limit some of his production.  Also he had 3 steals yesterday but really does not play a lick of defense.

Not harping on him but there are some flaws that should not be underestimated.

dboss

[Sponsored content]