Pre-Games @CHI & @NYK

As the time now elapses post-ASG, and the feverish pitch of regrets from the game being a complete waste of time dies down, the stretch run of the 2023-2024 NBA Season is looming, beginning back on Thursday.  Many good storylines, but only one is important on this site.  Will the Boston Celtics put it all together and bring home Banner 18 this summer?  

JT has been saying all along that there are still plenty of things to fix before the season end and the playoffs begin.  As good as we are, we are not near where we are going to be, he would say.  Banner 18 this year will change everything, if we are so fortunate to obtain it after the 16-year drought.  First Take is already discussing the new "Face of the League" post-LeBron, Curry, KD, etc.  JT's name is coming up and being thrown around.  He has a lot of the qualities.  But per FT, you don't enter that conversation without the chip first.

That's fair.  All the past Faces of the League have at least that in common.  So what's coming?  I've lumped the next two games together.  I'm thinking of them as a launching pad.  While @CHI could be considered an easier game, we know what playing down or looking past a game to the next has done and can do to a team.  We seem to have a pretty good grasp on that.  

Since all the teams will have had equal time off, let's dispense with any excuses pertaining to the time off or coming out soft, etc.  I'm never really sure what to expect out of CHI.  I'm sure they will be happy to get back to work.  They could be a 1st Round match-up for us.  If that were indeed to be the case, we certainly don't want to give CHI any life or hope that a 1st Round meeting would be anything less than Broomsville.  And I'm excluding the Gentleman's Sweep.  Beat the teams you should beat.  We've held to that.  Not 100%, but neither has anyone else.  

It will be interesting to see who shows up for the NYK in Saturday's game.  The Knicks are going to begin their closing trek to get out of the 4th seed neighborhood and into the 2nd-3rd seed arena.  That can and would start with Saturday in NYC.  A loss to us would be devastating with all the hype going on there, regardless of who shows up.  Plus it would continue to breathe life into this Knicks run, despite all the losing coming in prior to ASG.  This is where we will see our team's mindset.  It's just a game, of course, but an important one and one the Knicks have plastered all over MSG and in their minds.  They have to win this game.  As a matter of fact, every game for them is a must win going forward if they are going to move up the charts and avoid Boston in the second round.  And no matter who's on the court for them, I'd have to give them the edge at least initially just on hype.  New York Knick fans are nuts, delirious and going overboard after years and years and years of horrible, sub-mediocrity play.  Talk about crash and burn. But for us, it is all about mindset.  We have a few things to do before the playoffs.

1.  Take the pressure off.  Shift to coming in early in these game and squash the competition by halftime instead of toying with them until 3 minutes left in the 4th quarter.  With that, we can give lots of time to our newly acquired assets and Coach Joe can tinker with lineups without fear of losing games and halting momentum.

2.  Recognize Coach Joe as a basketball savant.  He knows what he's doing.  I can't wait to see him in action next year.  he just keeps impressing me with each outing.

3.  While similar to #1 above, back off blowing these leads.  They're not really blowing them IMHBAO since they are in my 12-15 point range for swing any or all games have with the "New NBA" and 3-balling.  But they do bring back memories for all of us.  And not particularly good ones.  I find myself expecting it to happen but also after their run us coming around and stretching the lead back out.  It is not asking much to get a big lead and extend it.  We've done that several times with two huge runs, i.e. 20-point+ runs.  I'd just like to see more of that and less of the "blown" leads.  

4.  The bench.  To say I'm comfortable beyond Al...well I can't completely say that.  I'm 70% comfortable if I had to lay odds on it.  The bench at times has been beautiful and at other times non-existent and unable to throw it in the ocean from 5 miles out at sea.  But when all the pieces are in place, we're looking at Al, Pritch and Doogie, with cameos from who knows come playoff time.  Now our starting 5 over compensates at times with all the fire power, but at some point in the playoffs, we're going to need the bench to be ready and show up when needed.  That starting 5 is a blessing for sure.

5.  Killer Instinct - Related to #1 & #3, this is no time to be nice or any perception thereof.  Just like what we did to BKN before the break unfortunately led to Jacque Vaughn's exit, that's what we need to do vs. .500+ teams and playoff contenders.  We already have the reputation as a bunch of nice guys that play really good basketball.  A slight tilt would not hurt as as the games slow down in the playoffs and things become exposed.    

That's a good start.  Let's see how the next two games play out.  This is what we've all been waiting for!

db          

When Pritch and Sam are on we are unbeatable

cowens/oldschool,

Very true. And usually having just one on plus Al is enough. More than enough. I'm just thinking as things tighten up in the playoffs, we're going to need slightly more that just one of those two (Pritch and Doogie) on in each game. They need to be more dependable performance-wise. We know our starting 5 have had a couple of occasions this season when everyone was off. It's rare. Maybe twice that I remember, but those cannot happen in the playoffs.

Of the two, I would give the nod to Pritchard for being the more consistent all-around vs. Doogie this season. He brings a lot to the table and leaves it all out on the court. Doogie has been upping his defensive intensity very impressively game after game. The bench has many responsibilities and lots of pressure...scoring, playmaking, defense, pace, etc. all in very short bursts. Plus they can't lose points. The bench maintains or if possible adds to the score. And then the regulars all come back in. I'm not too concerned with whether our bench "beats" the opponents bench. We rely more on our starters to score regularly. They are an offensive juggernaut.

But if those w are on all the time, yes, it's 16-0. That's all I'm sayin'!!

db

I cannot wait to see Tillman, and to some extent, Springer.

It looks like from the ESPN Injury report, those two should be available. We'll see.

db

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
58 minutes ago
Xavier Tillman is no longer on the injury report, while Jaden Springer has been upgraded to questionable. They could make their Celtics debuts tomorrow in Chicago. Nobody else on the report.


Bob


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Really looking forward to seeing Tillman play, must be a reason he got so many minutes on a winning team for years. He’s still young and could be very good, adding defense next to Zinger or Al. I think he is in the mold of a Paul Silas/Charles Oakley type, we have needed that type of player for awhile.

dboss,

I like your thinking. Let's see tonight if we can avoid a Laker relapse with all of those CHI guys missing. There really isn't much if any room for excuses for us leading up to the playoffs. Line up/new player tinkering by CJ, avoiding injuries, player(s) fine-tuning and maintaining the best record/continued dominant winning in the league against all teams should be all that's on the agenda going forward for the last 27 games.

I'm also thinking it's time for MIL and Doc to put up or shut up tonight @ MIN. I don't think they will lay an egg, but MIN is/was on a 4-game winning streak and that will probably continue, IMHBAO. Be prepared for more Doc-Speak.

Other side hustles to record or check-in on tonight

NYK @ PHI
PHX @ DAL
LAC @ OKC
LAL @ GSW

Not a bad night of games to start the stretch run, I must say! Let's hope we are not the news. I'll take another ho-hum 40-point win by Boston press report.

db

cowens/oldschool,

Those are big shoes. If Tillman is indeed the second coming of those two, then full speed ahead!! Joe will get him in there as soon as humanly possible.

db

dboss wrote:I fully expect the Celtics to win both games.

The Bulls are fighting to stay in the Play-in portion of the playoff.  At 26 and 29 they are 4 games out of the 7th and 8th spots held by the Heat and Magic.  They are not good enough to move up.

They are beat up and have multiple guys out.  The last game they actually started Drummond alongside Vucevic.  That's because Patrick Williams, their best PF, is out.  Their everyday starters include DeRozan, Coby White and Vucevic.  We may see Caruso in there or maybe Dosunmu.

They are going to score in the paint as Vucevic is still a consistent double double guy and Drummond can rebound and score down low.

If the Celtics can contain Coby White they should be able to bring home a win.

That Knicks crowd at MSG on Saturday night, will be fully engaged.  The Knicks dropped 4 in a row heading into the All-star game as any momentum that they had built was pretty much snuffed out by injuries to their front court.  Randle and Anunoby are out and starting center Mitchell Robinson if unlikely to be ready to play.

Look for Boston to take them apart at the seams.  Look for a slice 'em and dice 'em  exhibition as the Knicks fans boo KP and Thibs loses his mind.

As Foot pointed out, in another thread there are no guarantees winning on the road against lesser opponents.  The Celtics will need to take care of their business.

Dboss

I think our two all defense guards will lock up Coby White very nicely.

Looking forward to seeing Tillman play. All the reports and from what I've seen of him all indicate he is an elite defender.

dbrown4 wrote:cowens/oldschool,

Those are big shoes.  If Tillman is indeed the second coming of those two, then full speed ahead!!  Joe will get him in there as soon as humanly possible.

db  

He has filled in alot at Memphis at the 5, he can add alot of toughness in our double big line ups. Our top 2 guys need to be load managed. I think he’s gotta be a better defender than Luke and more experienced than Queta. This move could help in alot of areas. I’m sure between Joe, the staff and Brad and Van Gundy they have the right plan to integrate his skills/strengths into the line up.

Speaking of Van Gundy I haven't heard boo about him since he was hired. I wasn't a huge fan of his banter with Mark Jackson as an announcer but I do respect his analysis and experience. Anyone have any updates on his activities/contributions??

I'm always grateful to all of you who regularly contribute here. I'm mostly quite taciturn except when I hopefully not often raise foot to my mouth. Thanks again to you all, I do read almost all of what's posted here. A big Cs fan since Bill Russell's first ring, 6th grade IIRC.

Well, the good news is CLE is beginning to show signs of chinks in the armor. Yeah, yeah. I know Mitchell wasn't present these last two games, but we have KP, JB and JT absent from games and we don't all go to crap when they sit out a game or two.

The question again tonight as it is in every situation like this with a gift from another team (in this case PHI beating CLE) is do we return to sender or do we widen our lead and act like Dory...Just Keep Winning. Just Keep Winning?

I know we aren't going to win the next 26 games. But as the CHI victory on the road on Thursday was a 1st Round signal to CHI that if we see you in there, you will be swept, tonight's game in NYK is a 2nd Round notification of the same or similar fate. (I'll open the door to a Gentleman's Sweep) I don't care who that have or don't have on the floor now or then. NY is driving their same old tired, lipstick on a pig story for the last 50 years that always ends the exact same way.

For us, this is all about dominance and imposing our will. Just like a Lebron has to do by himself, we do this much better as a team. The Garden needs a lesson tonight first of all how far they have come, because they don't suck, but then the dose of reality Iron Man Marathon look at how far they have to go. If NYK wins this game tonight, we all by ourselves open a bunch of previously closed, slammed and nailed shut doors just like the Bucks did last night thanks to MIN screwing around.

Let's see what we've got. dboss, we're going to need your magic touch and blessing(s) on Boston reiterated!! You see where I'm going!

db

Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
about 1 hour ago
#Celtics -6.5 tonight in New York with Randle, OG out for NY & Hartenstein on a minutes restriction.


Bob
MY NOTE: A significantly diminished front court. As long as we play hard and not take this W for granted we should win handily. Personally, I'd like to see how Tillman defends Robinson.

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bobheckler wrote:
Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
about 1 hour ago
#Celtics -6.5 tonight in New York with Randle, OG out for NY & Hartenstein on a minutes restriction.


Bob
MY NOTE:  A significantly diminished front court.  As long as we play hard and not take this W for granted we should win handily.  Personally, I'd like to see how Tillman defends Robinson.

.

Robinson is out for the year dude

cowens/oldschool wrote:

bobheckler wrote:
Bobby Manning @RealBobManning
about 1 hour ago
#Celtics -6.5 tonight in New York with Randle, OG out for NY & Hartenstein on a minutes restriction.


Bob
MY NOTE:  A significantly diminished front court.  As long as we play hard and not take this W for granted we should win handily.  Personally, I'd like to see how Tillman defends Robinson.

.

Robinson is out for the year dude

Cow,

Even better. No Robinson, no Randle, No OG, limited Hartenstein, no real front court. KP and Al should live in the paint and foul every Knick out.


Bob


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These are the games we took lightly last year and embarrassed ourselves. That will not happen tonight, these guys are out to knock out whoever they can and build an insurmountable lead so they can rest our important guys for when it counts. I am waiting for them to prove me right.

I also read Robinson is rehabbing and hoping he can make it back for the playoffs