Dominance of the Collective

No matter how many times they show it, I will turn away again just like I did last night.  I can't watch what happened again.  

Gordon's injury was horrendous and his rehabilitation will be grueling.  This is where we are now.  Lost in a bad dream.  We may want to be in despair but us fans cannot do that.  No matter how shocking the event, fans should expect the team to move forward.  Gordon Hayward will recover but is unlikely to play again this year.  

So the Celtics have to play and win without him.  They have to compete to win without him.  That is the reality.  My best wishes go out to Gordon, his family and the Boston Celtics.  

Thrown out the lineup card.

If we dared to speculate about the young kids helping out a bit, the needs have grown exponentially.  Hayward's loss means that Jason Tatum will be in the starting lineup henceforth and he will play big time minutes.  It is a lot to put on his shoulders. He will not bare that burden alone.  More will be expected of everyone.  All that wing depth does not seem that deep this morning.  I expect the Celtics to add someone.  

The Celtics cannot hope to make up for the loss of Hayward in one big chunk.  It must be a shared responsibility.  Guys must not try to do more than they can do.  Taking bad shots will not fill the void.  Brad has a wonderful system in place that was designed to maximize the skills of his players.  Hayward's loss will in fact be absorbed by the entire team.

Go Celtics!

dboss

dboss,

Well written and well done.  It's not just "next man up", it's "every man up".  One player cannot replace an All-Star, unless there is a team with an All-Star coming off the bench.

I am not convinced Tatum will stay a starter, I'm still thinking Morris will get the nod within a few weeks, but that's ok.  Tatum will get weeks of excellent reps against high quality NBA competition.  He'll get to see what the NBA game is really like.  That will expedite his learning curve and will make him much more effective off the bench.  Where Jaylen needed until the post-All Star game last year before some of his shininess wore off these next few weeks will move that date up for Jayson.  And if I'm wrong and Tatum stays in the starting lineup then it will be because he earned it over a much more veteran Marcus Morris and that's damn good too.  The two Marcus's and Baynes and Rozier is a very solid bench, at least two if not 3 of those 4 players could start on other teams (if Tatum goes to the bench then that's still quite a powerful bench).  I think Brad wants to win more than "develop players" and Morris won't ever get the deer-in-the-headlights look like rookie Jayson Tatum is likely to.


bob


.

Bob

Under Brad's system, the Celtics rely on everyone to play the right way and as long as they do that they will be fine.

The one guy on this team that has the ability to put up big numbers is Kyrie Irving.  Other guys must contribute but without Hayward, Kyrie can carry the team offensively.

I was very impressed by his play scoring 22 points and handing out 10 assist.  While some have questioned his ability to play in a system where isolation basketball is a last option, he played excellent team basketball with and without the ball in his hands.  He also had 4 rebounds and 3 steals.   It was an excellent showing against his former team and their fans.

Jaylen is no longer a rookie and although he has layers of improvement to reach you could see that he is a guy that will impact the game at both ends.  He will likely be our second best scorer on the team.  There were plays in the game where he was unguardable.  

Smart never backs down and his  tenacious nature will not allow Boston to fall apart.

Everyone feeds off of Smart.  Lots of energy out there.

The older veterans on this team will need to keep up because fast break basketball has returned to the Celtics and it will be triggered by their defense and ability to get up and down the court faster then other teams.  We have a ton of guys that can get the ball and go and make plays for other or finish themselves when he opportunity presents itself.

To hell with the pundits.  This is still a very intriguing team that can and will be a tough out for anyone.

When they were down 18 I just knew they were going to get back in the game.  They almost won the damn thing.  One or two plays here or there and we win.  As this team grows together over the season I believe we will be thrilled with the results.

dboss

dboss wrote:Bob

Under Brad's system, the Celtics rely on everyone to play the right way and as long as they do that they will be fine.

The one guy on this team that has the ability to put up big numbers is Kyrie Irving.  Other guys must contribute but without Hayward, Kyrie can carry the team offensively.

I was very impressed by his play scoring 22 points and handing out 10 assist.  While some have questioned his ability to play in a system where isolation basketball is a last option, he played excellent team basketball with and without the ball in his hands.  He also had 4 rebounds and 3 steals.   It was an excellent showing against his former team and their fans.

Jaylen is no longer a rookie and although he has layers of improvement to reach you could see that he is a guy that will impact the game at both ends.  He will likely be our second best scorer on the team.  There were plays in the game where he was unguardable.  

Smart never backs down and his  tenacious nature will not allow Boston to fall apart.

Everyone feeds off of Smart.  Lots of energy out there.

The older veterans on this team will need to keep up because fast break basketball has returned to the Celtics and it will be triggered by their defense and ability to get up and down the court faster then other teams.  We have a ton of guys that can get the ball and go and make plays for other or finish themselves when he opportunity presents itself.

To hell with the pundits.  This is still a very intriguing team that can and will be a tough out for anyone.

When they were down 18 I just knew they were going to get back in the game.  They almost won the damn thing.  One or two plays here or there and we win.  As this team grows together over the season I believe we will be thrilled with the results.

dboss

dboss,

I think someone on the Game On thread said something like "just when you were about to despair about Smart, he turns it on".  He was 2-12, which is obscene even by Marcus Smart standards, and then proceeded to post up 2 different Cavaliers 3x in a row.  He turned into his One-Man Wrecking Crew on defense.  His play was almost beyond remarkable, it was Horatius at the Bridge heroic.

Our game improved, and that 18 point deficit began to disappear, when both Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown stopped taking 3s and started taking it to the paint.


bob


.

I like dboss's post.

The notion that all is lost without Gordon Hayward is one I hope to see proven wrong.

This is a team constructed of quality younger veterans and a few very young, very talented, newcomers.

Although Hayward did and does figure large in the picture going forward, team rosters and schemes are built to withstand some pretty big shocks.

We'll see what this group can do.  I try to set the green tinted glasses aside and be objective.  I still think giving Cleveland a run for it in a young and improving East is a very real possibility.