POST GAME DENVER - AWAY

I am not going to copy and paste any article about what happened last night.  Boston lost in Denver 115-107 on a night when Jamal Murray score a career high with 48 points on 19-30 from the field.  It was a dazzling performance only marred by his last second shot to score 50.  More on that later.

The Celtics came out smoking but things got tight as the bench rotated into the game.  The Celtics continue to work through chemistry issues as brad searches to find an optimum balance.

The Celtics effort to get to the rim was quite apparent as they outscored the Nuggets 50-42 in the paint.  The Celtics shot 44-87 or 50.6% from the field.  Unfortunately they also missed a ton of open 3 pointers going 9-31 or 29%.  Denver beat us on the glass and especially on the offensive glass 15-7.  It seemed that the ball was bouncing their way all night and Boston was a fraction of a second too late or slightly out of position to secure those defensive rebound opportunities.  That happens sometime but credit Denver with playing very aggressive.

Kyrie Irving had an amazing offensive performance as he went 13-17 (76%) and 4-6 from deep or 66.6%.  I think we can all rest assured that Kyrie has found his shot and is ready to assume his role as our go-to-guy.

My game ball goes to Marcus Smart.  He had 2 steals and 4 block shots to go along with 3 rebounds and 3 assists.  He lead the 2nd unit with 9 points on efficient shooting of 3-5.  He only played 25 minutes.

Tatum is still struggling on offense and I have detected that he is rushing his shot just a tad.  He needs to slow down just a bit.

Jaylen went 7-14 from the field with no turnovers as he was in attack mode all night.

The Celtics really need to get Hayward more shot attempts.  He was 3-7.  They need to set more screens to get him open.

The other noticeable event was a 2 minute cameo appearance from our Rookie Robert William.  He scored 3 points and had 2 rebounds in 2 minutes of action.  His pure athleticism and instincts is truly amazing.  he went up high to grab an offensive rebound and with lightning quickness he dunked the ball over a defender.  Sooner or later Robert Williams must get rotation minutes.  

Regarding Jamal Murray he acted like a bush league player who was more interested in hitting the 50 point mark than showing respect for the game.  If you have your opponent beat you DO NO rub their face in it by taking another shot when the game is all ready over and the clock is seconds away from the final buzzer.  Shame on you Jamal.  

.

Wait until he comes to Boston. Look, the kid deserves credit, I will not take that away from him, but he was alone all night, where were our guys????? That aggravated the heck out of me. I think his teammates had something to say to him when he was walking off the floor, he was giving them (and the Celtics) dirty looks. Okay kid, you had your day, I hope this wakes the Celts up a little.

I went for coffee late this morning, all I heard from the guy behind the counter (who is young and has become a friend) was that Jaylen was awful. Do people watch the same games???? I have been hearing all day that he needs to be traded, what the heck???

I think we may see a shake up in the lineup in Phoenix. Terry Rozier is a very unhappy player right now, losing does that, and lack of playing time. Maybe a start at 2 guard will help? Hayward's offense is struggling, after he had that 18 point game I thought maybe he would pick it up a little. Is he frustrated? Heck, yes. But other parts of his game are coming along. Would coming off the bench help? I am not Brad, do not pretend to know the in's and out's. Let's let him deal with this, that is what we expect of him.

As the only woman on here, I take offense to having my opinion brushed off by someone telling me I never played basketball so I don't know what I am talking about Most everyone here knows, I have been a fan of basketball for well over 50 years. I know what I see, and have seen. I have watched the best of the best, and the worst of the worst. This team excites me, they are good, just give it time.

RosalieTCeltics wrote:

As the only woman on here, I take offense to having my opinion brushed off by someone telling me I never played basketball so I don't know what I am talking about Most everyone here knows, I have been a fan of basketball for well over 50 years. I know what I see, and have seen. I have watched the best of the best, and the worst of the worst.  This team excites me, they are good, just give it time.

Not sure where this happened, but sorry and 100% agree with you. You are fair, even, balanced and a big big basketball and Celtics fan. All the rest is just foolish, and anyone who thinks you need to play a sport to have an opinion on a sport is a fool. Keep up the good fight, lots of us are right with you.

I have no issue with Murray going for 50. You are professionals, find a way to stop him.


KJ

Rosalie

You are not alone.  I am with you 110%.

All the trade suggestions that are popping up is curious.  I guess some people only see the W or L column and react based on that.

Be assured that cooler heads prevail.  

I posted a thread several months back that highlighted our rebuild and documented the process and the results of this big dig project.  I am more than happy with this team.  

I would be concerned if our roster  actually lacked something or if our coach was average or if our GM and ownership group was not fully vested in winning championships.  That is not the case.

We are so blessed!  The white noise you hear is like static from the demons of doubt who lack any level of forbearance.

When the team begins to function like the green machine of old it will be interesting to read what the naysayers come up with.

In the meantime I will continue to support our team through thick and through thin.

On going for 50 points - opinion is probably based on which team your rooting for.

swish

k_j_88 wrote:I have no issue with Murray going for 50. You are professionals, find a way to stop him.


KJ

Well KJ I see it differently. The point is that they won the game because they could not stop him. The 48 points he scored were meaningful. Him going for 50 at that point in the game was overkill. Teams and players in the NBA have a protocol about stuff like that. It's called sportsmanship.

Murray is a young guy so he will learn from this. He played a tremendous game and deserves big props for his performance.

swish wrote:On going for 50 points - opinion is probably based on which team your rooting for.

  swish

I can recall many games where The Celtics are winning and a particular player is having a really good game and I want them to keep scoring right up until the final buzzer but then the coach says no...run out the clock and it is always the right thing to do.

dboss ....I said on another post, it looked to me like his own teammates tried to stop him. KJ is right, he scored the points, fine Where was the defense????? They pride themselves on being a great defensive team, yet this happened. Look in the mirror boys!!

Dboss,

but do we at all bat an eye when it's our team going for points (basketball, baseball, football, etc).

Kj

RosalieTCeltics wrote:

As the only woman on here, I take offense to having my opinion brushed off by someone telling me I never played basketball so I don't know what I am talking about Most everyone here knows, I have been a fan of basketball for well over 50 years. I know what I see, and have seen. I have watched the best of the best, and the worst of the worst.  This team excites me, they are good, just give it time.

I do know who implied this and when it happened. When I saw it, I immediately warned him. I was not impressed.

Let this stand as a warning to all, any future post that includes the words, "Anyone who has played knows . . ." will get deleted immediately. That is an overt suggestion that someone who has played the game is a better fan or understands the game more than someone who hasn't. There is no place for fan snobbery here.

gyso

gyso wrote:

RosalieTCeltics wrote:

As the only woman on here, I take offense to having my opinion brushed off by someone telling me I never played basketball so I don't know what I am talking about Most everyone here knows, I have been a fan of basketball for well over 50 years. I know what I see, and have seen. I have watched the best of the best, and the worst of the worst.  This team excites me, they are good, just give it time.

I do know who implied this and when it happened.  When I saw it, I immediately warned him.  I was not impressed.

Let this stand as a warning to all, any future post that includes the words, "Anyone who has played knows . . ." will get deleted immediately.  That is an overt suggestion that someone who has played the game is a better fan or understands the game more than someone who hasn't.  There is no place for fan snobbery here.

gyso

Well said GYSO I completely agree.

dboss wrote:

swish wrote:On going for 50 points - opinion is probably based on which team your rooting for.

  swish

I can recall many games where The Celtics are winning and a particular player is having a really good game and I want them to keep scoring right up until the final buzzer but then the coach says no...run out the clock and it is always the right thing to do.  

dboss

Right decission by a coach - but I'm not surprised to see the fans and players opting for the milestone of 50 points.

swish

I had to mention the 50 point thing but that is really a footnote.

Denver won this game but there was not one moment that I thought that Denver was a better team than Boston.

It's on to Phoenix.

Thank You Gyso, I will drop it here, no need for more. I appreciate all the friendship and respect I get from all here.

On to Phoenix, as Dboss says!!!

Bill Simmons

@BillSimmons
Other prob has been Rozier’s inability to thrive with less minutes. Some guys are just better as starters. Not sure he’s someone who can succeed playing 15 mins a game esp. in a contract year. He’s becoming a pretty obvious trade piece.

9:34 AM - Nov 4, 2018

On the subject of respect, I'm also a fan of the Celtics and the NBA for more than 30 years now.

But on one of the game threads, Rosalie called me a fair-weather fan.

Geez..I have been called that many times.

Actually I do not think you are a fare weather fan because you always seem to focus on what is not working well.   You are always so completely certain about things and do not seem to embrace the notion that this is a long and grueling season subject to change.  The possibility of improvement and a belief that it could happen is a positive outlook.  But you only see things through your own lens.

I do not think it is fair to be so damn adamant because the season is very young.  I am not ready to impugn the ability of coach Stevens to get the team to play at a level that can compete with anyone.

cowens/oldschool wrote:Fierce you are very negative and you keep beating a dead horse over and over. Because we are all being convivial, nobody has really let you know how they feel, many times I would have liked to say shut the fuck up already, but I didn’t. You have already made your point over and over, if you keep this up, I might have to figure out a way to block you.

100% and his act is getting tiresome.

fierce wrote:On the subject of respect, I'm also a fan of the Celtics and the NBA for more than 30 years now.

But on one of the game threads, Rosalie called me a fair-weather fan.

And a thin skinned one at that

No one is impressed with your 30 years of fandom. Most of us eat that for lunch. We care about exchanging ideas in a productive manner. Typing the same thing over and over isnt productive or convivial.

How can we exchange ideas in a productive manner if we don't adhere to the truth?

Clearly the Celts have a big problem.
If we don't acknowledge that then it's a clear case of denial.

And I'm not thin skinned.

We've been told not to tell other posters here that if you have not played basketball you don't understand what a player is going through if he's in and out of the game.

But we can call other Celtic fans here fair-weather fans if we don't agree with their ideas?

Only reason why I brought up how many years I've been a fan of the Celtics is to prove that I didn't just become a Celtic fan yesterday.

This Celtics team is spending 60m on two players that are not even averaging 14 points per game.

That's not acceptable.

OK Fierce, so your an expert on playing basketball and being a General Manager.

I am sure Danny Ainge is waiting patiently for your call.

Adhere to the truth? That's rich.

You are just stating your opinion (x 100) and not many here are buying it. That is the truth here.

What we've been told here is to not disrespect other fans just because they may not have played the game at a high level. There's more than one way to learn, understand and appreciate the game of basketball. Having been a player is not the end all to being a fan.

I'm sure that if Sam were still around, he would have made that quite clear long ago.

fierce wrote:Bill Simmons

@BillSimmons
Other prob has been Rozier’s inability to thrive with less minutes. Some guys are just better as starters. Not sure he’s someone who can succeed playing 15 mins a game esp. in a contract year. He’s becoming a pretty obvious trade piece.

9:34 AM - Nov 4, 2018

This is an inaccurate tweet from Simmons. Rozier is not playing 15 MPG. He is actually playing 22.7 MPG which is down from the 23.5 MPG played last year before he became a starter. He was productive coming off the bench last year and there is very little drop off in his overall production this year. I agree that he is a potential trade candidate although that does not mean he will be traded.