First Pre-Season Game TONIGHT

vs Sixers. Game Time is the normal 7:30pm EST tip off.

Let's start the season off right, and thank GYSO for creating the Game On! 2020-2021 category on the Home page and for already firing up this game's Game On! thread. He's Steady Eddie on this all season.

Join us. If you are not already a member it's easy to sign up and it's free. If you are a member let's gain your insights as things are happening. You don't have to comment on every play if your typing skills aren't up to it, jump in on time outs, free throws, quarter ends and other stopped action points.


Bob


.

ESPN or TNT?

TNT I believe

TNT. It says so here:

https://samcelt.forumotion.net/t17724-pre-season-game-on-celtics-76ers-december-15-2020

Cool thanks guys

Loving Payton, Teague, and Tacko!!!

Not the best night for Marcus and Jaylen.

RWill was ok.

Carsen choked gain.

I thought that last night/s game was very interesting in many ways, and it had nothing to do with winning or losing. The final score meant nothing with the Cs top two centers not playing even a second.

Teague is a professional point guard as he fit right in with the team right from the start. He is going to make a big difference for the team this season even though he is not quite the same player he was 3-4 years ago. If he had been on the team prior to last season Ainge may not have gone out and gotten Walker.

It was kind of a sloppy performance by many guys which is what I expected in the first pre-season game.

The two rookies looked pretty good and may have already cemented themselves at least in the bottom of the rotation. Neither was perfect, but neither looked totally lost at any time either.

I was hoping to see better performances from Grant Williams and Olejey, but they are still not improved. Watters is still quick with good handles, but he is still only 5'9 which will limit his NBA minutes over the course of his career. Edwards, as was mentioned above, looks like he is either going to get
dumped or relegated to the bottom of the roster taking Poirieer's spot as the 15th man.

Lastly, I thought that Tacko Fall has improved dramatically. He moved much better, he played far stronger than at any time last season, and seemed to be so much more confident. He may not be a full rotation player yet in Boston, but he will play some meaningful minutes this year. His free throws even looked better!

Hi,
Yes! Celtics basketball is back.
A lot of rust, obviously. I'd say more than usual.
The stars (JT, JB, MS) were quiet and unimpressive.
Teague looked like a vet which he is.
The most impressive was PP - looked like he belonged there.
The other rookie, Nesmith, looked timid.
I was surprised to see Green in the starting line. He was OK.
The front line of Taco and RW3 leaves much to be desired. Of course, they were dealing with Embiid and DH12...
Edwards and Waters should stay in G-league.

AK

Tacko! Tacko! He deserves a #15 spot on our bench and is learning how to be an NBA player.

No real surprises. All pretty much as expected. Too soon to say much about the Celtics or 76ers.

Short time off is going to slow teams down significantly. This should look more like the NBA by March.

A little patience and it will be OK.

We lost by 9.  The L doesn't matter, it's not just a preseason game it's the first preseason game.  What's amazing, if not impressive, is that we only lost by 9 without our first two bigs and no Kemba (and no Romeo, for whatever that's worth) and Doc said he was planning on playing his rotation pretty much as he intends to in the season.

What's also amazing is that we only lost by 9 with the two Js having AWFUL games.  They were a combined 5-24 for 15 points.  They combined for 7 turnovers.  The one redemption came from Jaylen's 8 rebounds, but that was it for either of them, a real stinker from our centerpieces.  Am I upset or worried?  HELL NO I'M NOT.  They'll be fine.  Like I said, their stinkpots of a game only adds to the mystery of why we only lost by 9.

The Time Lord said he was ready for a step up.  I did not see it last night.  I ended up having a LONG telephone conversation with Cowens after the game about this.  Embiid and Howard tortured him everywhere on the court.  They posted him up.  Williams' problem here is that he let them establish position with both feet in the paint before they got the ball.  You cannot let either of those players set up shop in the paint and think you have a chance.  RWill should have started fighting for position earlier, and that's lazy defense.  Embiid took him outside.  If you want to be Hassan Whiteside and not go leave the paint to defend at the arc then you damn well better be Hassan Whiteside.  The most egregious fault of RWill's, in my opinion, was losing Embiid on cuts.  As I pontificated with Cowens last night, if you're the baseline defender and your man is outside the paint you have to open up your stance so you can keep one eye on the ball and the other on your man, even if you have to step up to stop a penetration.  RWill forgot about Embiid.  I don't know what anybody else saw last night but I was disappointed in The Time Lord's time on the floor.

Smart's offense was negligible last night, but we all know that's the last part of his game we look at.  I love Marcus Smart.  His defense was elite, especially for a preseason game.  If that doesn't fire up Thompson and the rooks I don't know what will.  He took a charge from Embiid right in the sternum, and there's this ridiculous play.
https://twitter.com/i/status/1339024018062630912

I was down on Teague during the Game On! thread because I thought his defense sucked and he wasn't running the offense.  He had 1 assist and 2 turnovers in 19 minutes and was getting burned repeatedly on defense by players who should not have been able to take him off the dribble.  On the other hand, he had a Celtic high 18 points in those 19 minutes on 7-9 shooting, including 4-4 from 3.  So, I guess I'm ok now.  We couldn't score, he scored.  We needed scoring off the bench last year, need it this year, and he scored.  So, I'll stop nitpicking for now, but we do need him to run the offense better moving forward because if he doesn't we will really start to feel the absence of Gordon even if Teague does score.

Javonte got the starting nod, Brad says they'll be rotating players through that spot for now, and I thought he made a case to be a rotation player this year.  He's not a playmaker, we know that, but he's also not error prone either so no assists but no turnovers.  I thought his defense was solid and he contributed on offense.  Not a "Holy Cow(ens)!" type of performance, but solid.  He very much plays within his game and coaches are comforted by that from a bench player.  His contract isn't guaranteed until February, so who knows what will happen?  Danny could cut him and get someone else or he could package him as an expiring contract on a trade, but Javonte Green made a case for himself sticking around last night.

Gemi Willjelaye (what I get when I combine two players that I see as having a lot of overlap) did ok, but I am not a big fan of either at smallball 5.  Period.  I might be willing to be more openminded if either of them were rim runners, but they're not.  Putting Grant on Dwight Howard was dumb.  I understand the reasoning behind doing that instead of putting Tacko on him, in a regular season game Grant is the one who will be getting the minutes and is more likely to be on the floor with Howard so let's see him go for it, but Tacko has a better chance than the undersized Grant Williams.

Speaking of Tacko, I thought he played a decent 10 minutes.  Brad said before the game everybody will get at least 10 minutes and Tacko barely made it.  I don't get it.  RWill had 4 fouls in 10 minutes, Theis and Thompson weren't playing and yet Brad went with smallball instead of matching up with a big.  Is Tacko still a work-in-progress?  Absolutely, but you could see the work he has put in.  He is better on rotations, he is quicker on his feet, his conditioning is much better.  

And now we get to the end-of-benchers, the rooks and marginal players:  Pritchard, Nesmith, Edwards and Waters.

I liked what I saw from Payton Pritchard.  I'm trying to not get too far ahead of myself here (like we all did with Carsen Edwards last year during preseason) but so far so very good.  He's not awed by the bright lights, is he?  He's full speed ahead. 16 points in 22 minutes on 6-10 shooting.  He was 2-6 from 3, which isn't so great (still, just his first NBA game) but that also means he was 4-4 from 2 and that's pretty good for an NBA small man.  A lot of us were wondering why Danny took him in the 1st round. Last night gave us a glimpse why (although I still think he could have traded the #26 and taken him with the #30, but I'm nitpicking again).





Nesmith was a bit more of a mixed bag than Pritchard, imo, but still pretty good overall.  I don't care that he was 1-5 from 3, his long-range shooting is the last thing I'm worried about with him, he worked hard.  He tortured Tyrese Maxey a bit on offense (but Maxey did ok himself.  He has a really, really nice floater) and blocked a Maxey drive.  He had 5 rebounds, and I like that.  Go ahead, kid, stick your nose in there.  

Waters was ok.  I thought he came across as a bit timid, but he was ok.  3 assists and 1 turnover in 12 minutes.  If Teague is going to be our backcourt microwave, our Lou Williams, off the bench then Tremont needs to be the floor general and he had more assists, last night at least, than Teague.  An ok outing for Tremont.

And then there's Carsen Edwards.  <sigh>  No improvement in his game, at either end.  When summer league is held the 2nd year players are supposed to look like veterans compared to the newly drafted rookies and outperform them.  Didn't happen last night.  Pritchard is a better ballhandler (MUCH!), no worse a defender if not better (despite it being just his first game against players he has never gone up against before) and Edwards still cannot fill the hole.  1-5 and none of them looked good, not one of them.  If I'm drawing up a depth chart as of this morning Carsen is behind Pritchard and Pritchard just showed up with the last drop of rain.  What does that say?!  Edwards is lucky there's a plague going on and the NBA is being very forgiving on roster spots because of concerns that players could be lost due to COVID and so they are allowing teams to extend their benches.  Otherwise, Carsen's hasta la vista, baby.

Defensively, we didn't stop Shake Milton.  I understand not stopping Embiid, but Milton?  C'mon man.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401265848







Bob


.

During the game the thought hit me that Robert Williams is a lot like my golf game. I may hit over a hundred mediocre to lousy shots, but almost every round there are a couple of shots that are great and keep me coming back for more.

Robert Williams will almost always have a spectacular block and a thunderous dunk or two which keep us calling for more! But we need to also remember his numerous mediocre to lousy plays which may not be obvious. I hope he proves me wrong, but he doesn’t appear to be a player Brad can count on for meaningful minutes.

Last night I found myself focusing on 3 new players on the Celtics,  I have seen everyone else play before.  As we are at the beginning stages of evaluating this team, it occurred to me that we are not looking at normal rotations.  We got a sneak peak inside of the laboratory and the search for a more perfect chemistry was filled with a dozen or so smaller experiments each causing some reaction to be measured.

Again what I wanted to see was how our new guys may fit into the grand scheme.  I was not disappointed.  Jeff Teague is an experienced PG that can make buckets.  He can run this offense either in the starting lineup or as a backup.  He will keep the defense honest.  He was a really solid FA signing by the Celtics.

On draft night I referred to Peyton Pritchard as the future starting PG for the Celtics.  I was not the least bit concerned about his selection at #26.   I had no doubt that he could handle the rock and get to where he wanted to on the court.  I was quite certain that he could score at all 3 levels.  There is a toughness about this kid that will make him stick.  The one area he needs to work on is interior passing as he will learn that passing to the big guys at their ankles is not optimal.  

Aaron Nesmith was a bit nervous out there.  Yet you can just tell that he is going to be a shooter and will go to the glass for rebounds.  He was 1-5 from deep.  On two of those shots his structure broke down because he did not set his feet.  On 3 shots he looked fine.  His big challenge will be on the defensive end where just about ever wing player in the NBA presents a different challenge.  The Celtics have minutes that he can carve out at the wing.  

Javonte Green got the start and his energy was evident.  I still think the biggest issue with him will be his ability to score from the perimeter.  He did not play badly last night.

RWIII fouled too much last night.  Embid is a physical beast in the middle and bullied his way around in the post.  Embid went 6-13 during the game but 0-4 from deep.  Williams ran the floor well and scored 8 points going 4-5 from the field none prettier than a perfect alleyoop pass from Pritchard on the break.  He also had 6 rebounds, including 3 off the offensive glass. Williams remains a guy who will get rotation minutes at center.  

Carsen Edwards and Tremont Waters, two undersized PG's.  Carsen cannot handle the ball and Waters dribbles too much.  Their lunch money is already in PP pocket.

Tacko looks a bit more fluid.  

Grant Williams and Semi are horrible mindless options at the 5 but when you are down 2 centers there were limited options available.

This game was nothing more and nothing less than a glorified scrimmage.  There is simply not enough time for Brad to figure out rotations, etc.  We should expect to see the team flutter in the wind a bit until guys find their roles on the team.

Agreed bobc33 that’s exactly why we haven’t given out hope. As many of you know I’ve expressed too many times we need a big man coach. Clifford Ray seemed to really help get Big Al and Perk functional in this league. I don’t know if it’s a strength issue or technique, but RWill has to know/learn how to fight for better post position defending the bigs. He has to start way sooner, pushing out these opposing 5’s that are naturally wanting to get closer to the basket. Then on perimeter get up even closer if needed to challenge their shot and make them drive, then rely on your athleticism to catch up and still challenge them on the drive. Why is a novice like me pointing out fundamental things that he should already be doing? Even Precious Anchuwa was doing these things, fighting for position with Adams and Zion in his first game vs Pelicans.

Really liked what I saw from 2 rooks, reading all their scouting reports was afraid they could be liabilities on defense, but both were adequate, even though his first 2 defensive possessions Nesmith certainly got burned right away, not ready for the speed of the game. They both showed me enough on offense that they can help us and with injuries and depth issues we are going to need them to learn on the fly, this should be a great experience for both of them. Already PP looks like he can help us more than CE and Waters.

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
about 3 hours ago
Brad Stevens tells @ZoandBertrand that Tristan Thompson (hamstring) is out for Friday's preseason game against Nets but team is hopeful he will do some scrimmaging this weekend. No word yet on his availability for regular season opener.


John Karalis @RedsArmy_John
about 36 minutes ago
Brad Stevens on today's practice: I thought we played better today than we did last night, so that's encouraging


Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
about 33 minutes ago
Brad Stevens was pleased with Javonte Green's play in his start last night: "I thought he was a guy who played to who we think he can be."


Jay King
Jay King @ByJayKing
about 34 minutes ago
Sounds like Brad Stevens plans to have Javonte Green in the rotation at least to begin the season, whether he starts or not. Said the Celtics need Green’s energy and he has improved as a shooter.


Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
4 minutes ago
Aaron Nesmith on the quick acclimation period for rookies in camp this year: "The head spins every now and then."


Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
2 minutes ago
Important update on rookie duties: Aaron Nesmith had to pick up Chipotle for the team for the flight to Philadelphia.


Bob


.

"Important update on rookie duties: Aaron Nesmith had to pick up Chipotle for the team for the flight to Philadelphia."

Food Poisoning....remember Markell Fultz  

As soon as I saw him I thought, Pritchard is a ball player, and the more I watched the more it seems he has a good all around game. Scalabrine had some interesting commentary on RWIII needing to play more like Denis Rodman and front his man and take side-angles to cut off entry passes because he's not strong enough to stop someone like Embid or Howard from establishing position. Coach Stevens praised Teague; 4-4 from deep when everyone else is cold will make you popular with the coach.

dboss wrote:"Important update on rookie duties: Aaron Nesmith had to pick up Chipotle for the team for the flight to Philadelphia."

Food Poisoning....remember Markell Fultz  

I didn't know Danny was traveling with the team...


Bob


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BingBang! wrote:As soon as I saw him I thought, Pritchard is a ball player, and the more I watched the more it seems he has a good all around game. Scalabrine had some interesting commentary on RWIII needing to play more like Denis Rodman and front his man and take side-angles to cut off entry passes because he's not strong enough to stop someone like Embid or Howard from establishing position. Coach Stevens praised Teague; 4-4 from deep when everyone else is cold will make you popular with the coach.

BingBang

Four years of college has prepared Pritchard to be ready to help us right out of the gate.

The key to helping our rookies is to integrate them into games with 2-3 other starters so you do not end up with a bunch of young guys all playing together. Brad played everybody the other night but I think with only one more preseason game he needs to better simulate what will be a normal game rotation of players. TT may not be ready by the opener but DT should be. So Brad needs to decide on our wing rotation and our guard rotation. Right now JT, JB, MS and DT are probably a lock to start. If Brad also starts Teague, PP would the BU PG. If Green gets the call, then JT is coming off the bench. We will see.

https://www.facebook.com/8725012666/posts/10158835729732667/


Bob


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