The Celtics are going to beat teams however they want

https://sports.yahoo.com/celtics-going-beat-teams-however-064129124.html



The Celtics are going to beat teams however they want



DJ Bean
NBC Sports Boston•Oct 17, 2018, 8:41 AM



If you were to tell me before Tuesday night that the Celtics would get barely anything out of Kyrie Irving and still smoke the 76ers, I'd have been like, "well, yeah."

Then I'd have asked you if you watched the playoffs last season, when they beat the 76ers in five games without Kyrie Irving.

Then I'd have pointed out that they could have smoked the 76ers even if a couple of their other stars didn't have big offensive nights. I probably would have said the Celtics could get seven points from Kyrie, nine from Al Horford and 10 from Gordon Hayward and still win by 18. I would have called it exactly because I'm a brilliant man.

I would say they'd do it because one of their other stars would go off and at least a couple guys off the bench would have big nights. And because they'd probably still keep the 76ers under 100 points, as they did in three of four regular-season meetings last season.

Tuesday's season opener illustrated a lot of things: that the C's and 76ers are rivals the same way the last two people at the bar are in love, that Jaylen Brown is the most photogenic dunker in the league and that Ben Simmons is still allergic to shooting.

Yet the biggest and most important thing is that the Celtics are indeed deep enough to have different players carry them at different times -- even as players go quiet for a game or two at a time -- and still win games. They'll do it to the mediocre teams in the East, and they'll probably do it to the better teams in the West. Only when they presumably meet the Warriors in the NBA Finals -- and a lot can happen between now and then -- will they actually live and die by all of their players showing out.

We can talk about that in June, though. For now, let's talk about how Jayson Tatum's 23-point, nine-rebound night probably wasn't an anomaly, and how games like that will afford the Celtics the luxury of bringing along Hayward at whichever pace they'd like.

Or we can talk about how even with Irving having a dreadful shooting night (8-for-14; 1-for-8 on threes), everyone knows better than to worry about it. Even the most cynical of media figures couldn't fear it being a common occurrence, with it far more likely that Irving will do his normal routine of scoring early, getting everyone involved after and gong for the jugular if needed in the second half.

Brown made a big jump from Year 1 to Year 2; Tuesday he had a modest performance that was punctuated by a dunk through (?) Joel Embiid. He'll have his nights. So will Al Horford. And the now RFA-to-be Terry Rozier, who had 11 off the bench, as well as Marcus Morris (16 points).

The list goes on, and with the Celtics depth brings lineup options beyond the obvious starting five of Iriving-Brown-Hayward-Tatum-Horford. Brad Stevens doesn't need the best players in a given matchup to exploit the opposition, but now he has them.



bob
MY NOTE:  Pop has been considered the best coach in basketball for a long time because he:
1.  Has a system he plugs players into, making drafting and recruiting clearer and more effective.
2.  He is great at managing superstar egos and getting players to "buy in" to his team-oriented system.

Credit must also go to Steven Kerr of GSW managing his superstars.

I think we can say that Brad has a system.  It might be a combination of Pop's and Steve Kerr's, but he has one.  We will now see how good he is at managing superstar egos, not just Kyrie's but also max contract player Gordon Hayward (who will want 30+mpg), budding superstar Jayson Tatum (who was a starter last year, played over 30mpg and, with all due respect to Jaylen Brown (whom I love), IS our future, IS our next Paul Pierce 2.0), long-time starter Marcus Morris (who is in the last year of his very team-friendly contract) and 2x Euro Champion and MVP Daniel Theis (who is in the last year of his ridiculously cheap contract).  This doesn't even include Rozier, who may be gone for a variety of reasons but still needs to "buy in" for as long as he is with us.  If this is a big growth year for the two J's, when they are expected to take a big step up, it is also a big growth year for Brad Stevens.  We talk about how we are built to last for years.  That depends a lot upon Brad's ability to embrace Pop and Kerr's successes on point #2.


.

Hey Bob!

It's been a while! After Sam's unexpected departure, I found it difficult to come to this site like I used to. It appears to be thriving, though! Which is good for Sam and what he started many years ago after having enough of the Boston Globe site. I still regret not getting up to Boston for the annual "Board Meeting" to meet him and the gang personally! I am in a much better position in life to make that a reality if the group still does that.

I was talking with my boys this week and saying Boston has 8 players that can go off any night for at least 15 points if and when asked. That's ridiculous and almost like cheating! That's just going to wear opposing teams out.

Kyrie Irving
Jayson Tatum
Gordon Hayward
Jaylen Brown
Al Horford
Terry Rozier
Marcus Smart (looks like he took to heart his brick laying, shopping mall builidng Game 7 experience to heart and practied 3-ball accuracy)
Marcus Morris

I can't say the same about GSW. I only come up with Curry, Thompson, Durant and a stretch for Green. Now, of course they can (and almost have to) go for a few more, probably 23+ each. Sam always had me watching the Assists/Baskets Made Ratio. GSW does this very well all the time. An ideal game would be 2 out of 3. An incredible game would be 75%. With that many hands wanting to make the shot for Boston and Brad's plethora of hot hands to pick from, we're probably going to see nightly this stat up there on a regular basis. Sam would love this. Sharing the ball and helping put others in scoring position. A great formula for success. Balanced scoring grows from heavy assisting.

Brad is the glue for sure. He's never freaking out on the sidelines unless it is absolutely necessary and even then you wouldn't know it.

I hope you, all the old school Sam Celt's regulars and the new folks on the site are doing well. I do apologize for my absence. All is going well for myself and my family.

David Brown (a.k.a. db)

P.S. Put me down for Kyrie and 40 vs. TOR. TOR didn't scare me vs. the new look CAV's last night. They might have been looking forward one game. Unfortunately for them, BOS will be a worse nightmare than LeBron-led CLE ever was.

Dbrown. It is great to see you posting. It has been a very long time.

dbrown4 wrote:Hey Bob!

It's been a while!  After Sam's unexpected departure, I found it difficult to come to this site like I used to.  It appears to be thriving, though!  Which is good for Sam and what he started many years ago after having enough of the Boston Globe site.  I still regret not getting up to Boston for the annual "Board Meeting" to meet him and the gang personally!  I am in a much better position in life to make that a reality if the group still does that.  

I was talking with my boys this week and saying Boston has 8 players that can go off any night for at least 15 points if and when asked.  That's ridiculous and almost like cheating!  That's just going to wear opposing teams out.      

Kyrie Irving
Jayson Tatum
Gordon Hayward
Jaylen Brown
Al Horford
Terry Rozier
Marcus Smart (looks like he took to heart his brick laying, shopping mall builidng Game 7 experience to heart and practied 3-ball accuracy)
Marcus Morris

I can't say the same about GSW.  I only come up with Curry, Thompson, Durant and a stretch for Green.  Now, of course they can (and almost have to) go for a few more, probably 23+ each.  Sam always had me watching the Assists/Baskets Made Ratio.  GSW does this very well all the time.  An ideal game would be 2 out of 3.  An incredible game would be 75%.  With that many hands wanting to make the shot for Boston and Brad's plethora of hot hands to pick from, we're probably going to see nightly this stat up there on a regular basis.  Sam would love this.  Sharing the ball and helping put others in scoring position.  A great formula for success.  Balanced scoring grows from heavy assisting.

Brad is the glue for sure.  He's never freaking out on the sidelines unless it is absolutely necessary and even then you wouldn't know it.    

I hope you, all the old school Sam Celt's regulars and the new folks on the site are doing well.  I do apologize for my absence.  All is going well for myself and my family.

David Brown (a.k.a. db)

P.S.  Put me down for Kyrie and 40 vs. TOR.  TOR didn't scare me vs. the new look CAV's last night.  They might have been looking forward one game.  Unfortunately for them, BOS will be a worse nightmare than LeBron-led CLE ever was.    

   

DB,

Nice to see you again.  Glad to hear all is well.

I know what you mean about Sam.  That was a big hurt, especially for those of us who got to know him personally.  There is NO doubt he would want us to carry on with enthusiasm after his departure.  I say this with complete, irrefutable certainty because I had dinner with Sam and Mrs Sam in San Francisco, at a restaurant in Little Paris called Cafe Claude, and we talked about the board and its future.  I won't say he had a premonition of death, although he was fully cognizant of his heart problems, but he was "getting his affairs in order" nevertheless and one of those was the continued growth and vibrancy of this board.  This collective was important to him.  Not the basketball quite so much, although he was The Keeper of the Faith of the Russell Tyranny as he called it, but of the people drawn here to discuss basketball in an intelligent and convivial way.  He LIKED us.

It's hard for me to organize board meetings because I live in the San Francisco bay area, not to mention my rolling stone mentality inre traveling.  Hopefully someone else can grab that ball and dribble with it.

See you around, I hope.  Don't be a stranger.


bob


.

I know what you mean. Has there been one done in the last 5 years or so? I know from the past it is a monumental effort.

db

David,

Great to see you post again after a long absence. I hope you're back here often.

Board gatherings are difficult to arrange at best, but stay tuned.

I've already had conversations with a board member from Boston who is willing to lead the effort, and with gyso and Pete, my fellow admins, on the topic. It's in the very early/can't promise anything yet stages, but we know it's something we need to work on.

Regards

NYCelt,

Perfect! Thank you so much! Yeah, it almost has to be done by someone local to Boston. I'll keep my eyes and ears open.

db