Tomase: Looking to cast blame for disappointing Celtics? Start with Brad Stevens

cowens/oldschool wrote:

Hey BingBang! wrote:

cowens/oldschool wrote:Tonight at crunch time with not even the best lineup, we stepped up enough with everyone sharing the ball and moving/playing with purpose. Smart made some drives and plays, Tatum had a great pass, Al did his job. It was refreshing to see, everyone was capable of making plays for each other, whether it was a drive, pass, shot. With Kyrie, Stevens let’s him do too much as he’s the only one that can make the play, shot or pass and Kyries never been in this role before. On Cavs it was Lebron with the ball making all those decisions, Kyrie just had to play off him, go for an open catch and shoot, or drive off of a defense geared to stop Lebron first. Kyrie has great skills, but he’s not the incredible super closer he thinks he is, he can do some damage, but to his own team too. He’s obviously no where near as clutch as Bird or Pierce. I hope it’s not too late to have some plays in the clutch where the ball can go through Smart or Tatum or Al first, enabling Kyrie to get even a better look. This shit of Kyrie bringing the ball up and having all the say in a shot, drive or dish at the end game is getting old and coaches have already figured out how to defend it.

I'm not sure I agree that he's not clutch, he did hit the shot that won an NBA championship. But, I agree absolutely he's doing too much with the ball in his hands, most of the game, not just the fourth quarter. The difference, IMO between he and The Truth (it's not fair to compare anyone to Larry so I won't) is size. Paul had an unusual combination of deftness (Kyrie) but body thickness (not quite Unseld-like but Paul was a strong man). Paul could get his shot and make his shot through all kinds of contact. Paul's built somewhat like Sir Charles and at the 2/3 played a pretty similar game IMO to Charles but at a different position with different emphasis but both featuring all around capabilities and strength. Kyrie is a slight point guard with amazing moves, ball English (which I would compare positively to Larry's), court sense, shooting ability, can rebound, run fast, etc. As I said in another post, short players physically can't see the floor in a setup offense as well as taller guys; it's impossible, so for that very reason he should give up the ball in the set offense and run off screens for open looks. Who knows how they'll look with him back in the lineup, but so far the results have certainly been mixed this year. I think they can be a much better team with Kyrie on the floor than not but he has to play to Brad's coaching, not his game, and right now it looks a little late in the season for that to change much.

I never said he wasn’t clutch, he’s just not clutch compared to Bird or Pierce and I understand he hit the clutch shot to clinch series for Cavs. Not that big a sleight as not many greats are near as good in the clutch as were Bird and Pierce, including Lebron. Some of that may be because of size as you mentioned, I don’t know if he has the stamina toughness and durability to take over late as much as those guys, he’s definitely dazzling overall. This playoff run will show if he really is the premier primary option as in Cleveland it was Lebron in that role. Not all the losses are his fault, but I stand by my statements that Kyrie Rama with him taking over everything in the clutch is not gonna work, it may at times, but I felt better watching Bird and Pierce take over the way they did than Kyrie.

worcester wrote:Kyrie is clutch. That is not the peoblem. It is a team chemistry problem. Let's hope Brad is a good chemist.

tardust wrote:

jrleftfoot wrote:OK. I am convinced. Get rid of Kyrie and this team will suddenly be transformed into an unbeatable dynasty. My bad. Can' t wait.

Well you never heard me say anything close to this.  I simply pointed out facts about Kyrie. Check them if you don't believe.   I basically said the ball moves without him and the team played well last year and 11-2 without him.  Another fact.  I never said we would win even one championship without him.  I also wasn't one of the posters at the beginning of the year that had us as a dynasty and a lot of comparisons to Golden State.   Now maybe those are the ones you should direct this at.  I obviously thought we would be better than we are but I never had us penciled in as champions as so many on this board did.  Hell we could have been knocked out the first round if we had drawn the Cavs.  The Pacers took them to seven games in the first round and they actually got screwed on a couple of late calls in game 7.   Yep your bad.

worcester wrote:Celts are 5-5 last 10 games. Indy 3-7. Indy is slipping. We are only 1 game behind. We will finish 4th and have a home court advantage. Enough to beat Indy. Then we will take on Milwaukee. If Philly takes care of Toronto, then we will face the 76ers in the ECF.

Positive thinking. Celtic pride still lives.