Post Game Thread - vs Pistons, Home 12/21/19

[bobheckler]

I only got to watch the last 6 minutes or so.  Just long enough for Tacko Time and a bit more.

Tacko has SO far to go.  SO far.  His BBIQ isn't great, he isn't instinctive on angles to cut off drivers.  He relies completely on height but at this level he needs more.  On one possession he let Thon Maker get a free cut to the basket for a dunk.
If he couldn't keep up with Maker, that's bad.  If he took his eyes off him and lost a step, that's bad too.  He also dribbled up over half court and turned it over as he got swarmed.  I think that was just him trying to show off for the crowd but that's not who you should be showing off for, Tacko, you should be showing off for the coaches and that is NOT what they want you to do.  Maine is the right home for him now.  It was fun, however, listening to the crowd.  He stood up and everybody cheered, then to taunt them he sat back down again.  The chant "LET'S GO, TACKO!!" instead of "Let's go, Celtics!!" was cool too.  A human Gino.

Good defense by Green in those few minutes too.  That's what I want to see from him.

Romeo looked smooth as silk.  WAY too soon to say much about him but a nice "Welcome to the NBA, Romeo" stint.

Anyway, that's all I saw in the final 6 minutes.  Anybody want to fill in the 42 minutes worth of blanks for me?

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401161064





bob



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[cowens/oldschool]

Coming out party for Grant Williams!! He’s hitting all sorts of shots, is developing a great feel for offensive rebounding, one putback/dunk I was like no way!! I didn’t think he could jump like that. If this kid starts to give us 15-16 points or so we will be unbeatable with the way 2 J’s are joyfully expanding their games and ability to take over games. 2 J’s were scintillating and Pistons had no answers, I see this trend continuing for teams without all star caliber wings to go back at them....and there’s a lot of teams that just cannot match up with them. Jaylen could have went for 40 so easily, he was 9-13 FG, his usually suffocating defense. ATTENTION:Tatum is finishing at the rim, he’s also able to get in zones from 3. Imagine if we could have gotten Ray Allen to play with Pierce say when they were both around 25? This is gonna be too much fun watching these kids evolve into superstars. Brown is now showcasing elaborate spin moves, Jayson is doing old school hook shots in the lane. They both didn’t even play in the 4th quarter.

More positive notes, I already mentioned GWill, Jevonte Green had a great game, flying/dunking all over the place, what a great find by Danny, kid plays fast he is only going to increase our pace whenever he’s in, putting even more pressure on teams. Romeo looked like he belonged, didn’t force anything, kid looks like a natural, can defend and has look like he can only help make us better. What a luxury having those 2 as back up at the 2 or 3. Tacko played and showed he can also play at this level, it was only garbage time, but with him, we must be the most entertaining team in the league.....hands down!!! What a fun great easy win!!

Keep this core together and I see a string of championships starting soon.

[cowens/oldschool]

Forgot to mention Theis had a great game, blocked a bunch of shots at least 2 right on Drummond, had an amazing putback dunk right on Drummond, the undersized 5 made some such spectacular hustle plays I compared him to Dave Cowens on the Game On....he covers out to perimeter on defense and mixes it up inside, fearless!!

[dboss]

Ho hum

The Celtics beat a team they were suppose to beat but even so, it was impressive.

The J's continue to make a strong case to be selected to the Allstar game.  Mirror 26/5.

Rookies Langford and Fall finally got a chance to play.  Green played well and G. Williams had his best game as a pro.  Semi's on the ball defense was outstanding.  Theis with 5 blocks and a spectacular putback.  Kanter with a season high 18 rebounds.

Kember with a dud game.

[Matty]

Forgot to mention Theis had a great game, blocked a bunch of shots at least 2 right on Drummond, had an amazing putback dunk right on Drummond, the undersized 5 made some such spectacular hustle plays I compared him to Dave Cowens on the Game On....he covers out to perimeter on defense and mixes it up inside, fearless!!

that's high praise.

[NYCelt]

Games like this are valuable because they let the team play the bench and some rookies.

Good chance to see how a few young players are coming along, and not sacrifice a win while looking.

[dbrown4]

Overall, great game. There are no guarantees in the NBA. All these guys are playing against their peers and no one team as initially set up is that much greater or that much worse than the other.

Cowens/oldschool, my thoughts exactly on the coming out party for GWIll. Great to see that.

Close to having 5 in double figures. Not to bad. Lots of turnovers. Lots of rebounds and steals. Not much to write home about from Frito line. Not going to bat an eye about Kemba. He has gone WAY beyond the call of duty. He can have a whole month of bad games as far as I'm concerned.

Here's my alliterative take on Tacko. The Detroit broadcasters said this was his first official game statistically. Is that right? I've mentioned this in another thread but would like to extend. The fans aren't helping.

First of all, they need to quit treating him like a Circus Side Show Act. I'm sure he is as happy as one could be just being able to play in the NBA however he comes in. But the fans are enabling him to continue to be a side show act.

Growing up, I still remember without looking the full starting line up from NC State's 1974 NCAA team. David Thompson, Mo Rivers, Monty Towe, Tim Stoddard and Tommy Burleson. Tommy Burleson was announced every game as 7' 4". Now he was lanky, but he was never viewed as or separated out as a circus act. Just, WOW, that is one tall dude who is a force inside the lane to be reckoned with. Just ask Tom MacMillan of the Maryland Terrapins at the time. Tacko's just an inch taller. Come on people. He's not a freak show.

Weighing in at 311 but not looking like a current Shaq or Barkley, something isn't adding up. Either he is by far the most in shape, solidly muscled up individual of all time at that height or the scales are a little off. Whatever it is, he shouldn't be snapping like a toothpick like he did crossing over mid-court in the last 4 minutes. If he is indeed in Semi Ojeleye shape, he should be way more coordinated than he currently is. BobH, you are right. He has a long way to go.

I know he hasn't been around the game long and that will probably be his problem going forward but there are a lot of people who are willing to help who can help if this is indeed where he wants to have a career. If he wants to super accelerate his progress, I will wager that a Kevin Garnett or a Kendrick Perkins or a Shaq or a Charles Barkley will GLADLY offer their services and toughen him up in very short order by season end.

I kind of feel the same way I felt about the Boston fans when Robert Parish played with them in the 80's. While the "Chief" moniker was endearing, the fans probably missed the mark on the significance and from which the name was derived. It was just one of those things that evolved. The One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest character was a "perceived" big, dumb (literally and figuratively) Indian. It turned out in the end he was smarter than all the rest of them in the nuthouse. I know you can argue either side of it, but in the end, it probably wasn't the best choice to come up with to have the fans perpetuate and enable. I don't think Parish cared in the end, but then again, I don't think anyone explained it to him.

Tacko should and can come out in about a year and be an absolute wrecking machine. He has the motivation and the desire. He just needs a new look. I don't know how you change images and perceptions. His agent should be all over this if he sees the writing on the wall. But that's his next step. And the sooner the better. All of us on this site want not only to see him succeed but to flourish.

db

[jrleftfoot]

Fans always have a favorite end of the bench guy. Terry Duerod, anyone? Tako speaks what, five languages? Can't be too dumb. He has already, gently suggested that he doesn't want to be that freak guy.

[dbrown4]

Let's hope everyone heard him. Even LeBron doesn't get that kind of treatment every time he comes in the game.

db

[dboss]

Tacko is a phenomenon.

I remember when fans cheered for Scalabrine to be put in the game.

To me it is not big deal.  Fans had fun last night.  Danny was yucking it up.  Team members were happy too.  Coach Stevens was happy.

There is no real downside for Tacko or the Celtics.

He is on a 2 way contract.  The road ahead is long but he made a first step last night.

[cowens/oldschool]

Forgot to mention Theis had a great game, blocked a bunch of shots at least 2 right on Drummond, had an amazing putback dunk right on Drummond, the undersized 5 made some such spectacular hustle plays I compared him to Dave Cowens on the Game On....he covers out to perimeter on defense and mixes it up inside, fearless!!

 that's high praise.

Matty Hooter good to see you, I know it wasn’t a vintage 20 rebound performance like Cowens used to do regularly, but he had some amazing athletic plays taking it right to Drummond both ends and very heady defense. I like the production we are getting from Theis and Kantor, now if only RWill and Tacko can further develop, sky is the limit with this team.

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