Post Game Thread - @ Spurs

[bobheckler]

Giving up 46 points in a quarter will croak you pretty much every time. They shot 19-25 in that quarter, 76%. That's embarassing. 46 points is the most any Celtic team has given up in a single quarter since 2000. Yuck.

Career game by Jaylen. You could see he was playing slowly. He got his man where he wanted him, did his turn around and used his athleticism to hang in the air and get a really good look at the rim. 30 points on 10-15, 2 blocks. He was 7-8 from the line. It was all clicking for him last night.

We shot 32% from 3, they shot 54%. Can't win in this league like that. 32% sucks and 54% is embarrassing. Where did our league leading 3pt defense disappear to? It seems to me we are over rotating strong side and are leaving shooters TOO open in the weak side corner. Give them a 3pt fga from above the break before you give them a wide open 3 from a corner.

LaMarcus Aldridge is a moose. Nobody could stop him, especially not Theis. At least Yabby, for the 4 minutes he played, and Horford got him to take fade away jumpers but they went in too. We had no answer. It's amazing how important Baynes is, isn't it? No way Aldridge bullyballs his way to the rim with Baynes. Williams is expected to be day-to-day after they get back to Boston, so we'll see. Obviously our thinness at 5 has made for difficult matchups inside.

Hayward 0-6. 0-5 from 3, ZERO points. 5 assists, sure, but ZERO points?! WTF!?

The good news, I guess, as I fish through the filth and excrement I see the small freshwater pearl that is the Spurs picked up a half game on the Kings and are now 1 game ahead of them in 8th place in the West. One, very small, non-seawater pearl, probably from an oyster bed with red tide. 46 points. Damn, that's awful. That's how many points we should be giving up in a half.

http://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401071221






bob


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[hawksnestbeach]

Baynes, a journeyman, is our only center other than Williams, whom Brad doesn't want to play. In short stretches, Horford can man the middle, but after one stellar game he needs time off because he cannot take the pounding. It's becoming clearer to others that the way to beat the C's is to drive. Even Yabu looks okay in small samples, because compared to no center, any center is better. (The fix? Play Williams, or find another center). If Williams plays more and Baynes returns, the hole in the middle will be plugged, but there is another glaring problem. Hayward is not earning his minutes. He has not defended well, so he hurts on that end. Teams look to match their good scorers (Harden, for example) against him because he can't keep up with them. He's slow to defend the perimeter. On offense, he's tentative and kills the flow. He is part of lineups where he's supposed to be the scorer, but his shot is off. When he gets the ball late in the clock, he tends to pass rather than shoot, so we're not taking advantage of our best looks. Other bench players out there with him seem confused. So, at times, we have no center and a below average forward on the floor together as opponents drive easily and dominate the boards. The solution? Send Hayward to Maine so he can rehab, play Williams, Brown, Semi more...The game has evolved, but fundamentals remain. A good big man is more valuable than an equally skilled small man. We need a good big man on the court much of the time. Also, any weak link will be exploited, and therefore needs to be addressed...It will be hard to sit Hayward after all he has been through, but minutes must be earned. After an injury like his, it could be years to regain form and confidence. Also, it might not ever happen, which would be a personal tragedy, but at $31 million a year, it could be worse, from the player's POV. Hawk

[worcester]

Excellent posts Bob and Hawk. No question we need a big and that Gordon needs time to rehab. If with the Red Claws I can give you daily updates since my son now goes to every game in Portland. Again, in the NFL, players often need a whole season after rehab to regain form.

Good news is that Jaylen is back with a vengeance. Always looking for glimmers.

[cowens/oldschool]

Popovich showed me he’s still the best coach in the business, how does he do this with all these no names? Who ever heard of Bertens, White, Forbes...??? and these guys knew exactly what to do, played fast, made the right play, a lot of these guys weren’t even drafted. If Pop still had Kawhi, they’d be contending. If Pop was coaching us, gotta think we would look much better and crisper, I’m starting to think he doesn’t know how to get best out of 2 J’s.

Been waiting for Jaylen to have a strong game like this, not too many players have the talent to remind you of Bernard King and Dr J. He and Tatum make up karmically for the tragic loss of Len Bias, 2 super athletic wings. Tatum’s defense has been really good of late, progressing nicely, he was shutting down DeRozen, in his face. This stretch of games shows how much we need Baynes and Williams to get regular minutes. I’d like to see Brad do a better job getting the 2 J’s offense going, imagine what Pop could do with these 2 specimens. Come on Brad you did it with Smart, he should be exploiting Jaylen in the low block a lot more....

[cowens/oldschool]

Excellent posts Bob and Hawk. No question we need a big and that Gordon needs time to rehab. If with the Red Claws I can give you daily updates since my son now goes to every game in Portland. Again, in the NFL, players often need a whole season after rehab to regain form.

Good news is that Jaylen is back with a vengeance. Always looking for glimmers.

Agreed I would even sit him for awhile, let him rehab and train more, as you know worse, when you heal from such a dramatic injury, as your healing and rehabbing other areas compensate and other problems, sometimes subtle can develop. Gordon looked great after that 30-9-8 game a month or so ago, but his body is regressing, he just might need some time rehabbing further away from the game...???

[dboss]

I always record these games just in case I want another look see.

I recorded the game last night as usual..  This game left me with a foul disposition  But it was New Years Eve and the bottle of champagne was ready to be popped open so why the hell should I be upset with another loss of this type that seems more common theses days than not?

So I watched part of the game again.  Not the entire game just the despicable 3rd QTR where they dropped 46 big ones on the Celtics.  One thing was clear.  The Celtics where taken off the dribble relentlessly.

Guess who could not stay in front of his man?

Our beloved youngin Jason Tatum.  I counted  him giving up 5 off the dribble baskets, followed by Irving with 3 followed by Al, Morris, Smart and Theis with 1 each.  And if they were not taking it to the rim they were making a barrage of 3 point shots.  

The Spurs were clicking on all cylinders.  It was beautiful basketball from them.  

The biggest hole however is at center where once again big Al played like little Al.  Aldridge goes for 32 and 9 and Al scrubs together 9 and 3.  Theis with a helpless 4 and 6.  We can't defend the post,  Rebounding was even but not because of our center play.

Short term Boston will need to live with this malady.  Baynes will be back in another 30 days and maybe Williams will get to play although I am wondering now about his health issue.  They will still be a good team, a playoff team but they will not be good enough to compete with equally good teams that happen to have a strong post game.  

Once again last night proves that if you live by the 3 you will certainly die by the 3.  But that does not stop Boston from putting up 36.5 per game.  The analytics say keep shootin em' and they will.  

Last year was disappointing but understandable.

What I have figured out this year is that young players take time to develop a high level of consistency but if you do not play them they will no develop.

Positionless basketball is a nonexistent reality.  A center is a center is a center.  Our starting center is past his expiration date.  His shelf life has come and gone.    I know, I know, Al does all of the little things.  But we need Al to do the big things that centers can do.  Yes he is past his shelf life like a carton of milk that requires the sniff test before you mix it with your morning scrambled eggs routine.  There is a bit of curdling  and a few lumps are forming but it still lacks that putrid sour aroma so you pour it in.

So Boston needs a dominant big man going forward.  Luckily only one year left on Al's contract.

There is no reasonable pathway to upgrade this year.

Boston needs a dominant big man because no Celtics team in history that has made it to the top of the mountain has done so without one.    Boston fans are only coming to terms with what the Hawks fans already knew 3 years ago.

[dboss]

That 9 game stretch I talked about is over. Boston finished 4-5.

Injuries played a part as did on going issues with how this team plays,

Expectations rarely consider other teams. Sometimes we forget that other teams do not stand still. There are 3 teams in the East that are at least as good as the Celtics.

[tardust]

Popovich showed me he’s still the best coach in the business, how does he do this with all these no names? Who ever heard of Bertens, White, Forbes...??? and these guys knew exactly what to do, played fast, made the right play, a lot of these guys weren’t even drafted. If Pop still had Kawhi, they’d be contending. If Pop was coaching us, gotta think we would look much better and crisper, I’m starting to think he doesn’t know how to get best out of 2 J’s.

Been waiting for Jaylen to have a strong game like this, not too many players have the talent to remind you of Bernard King and Dr J. He and Tatum make up karmically for the tragic loss of Len Bias, 2 super athletic wings. Tatum’s defense has been really good of late, progressing nicely, he was shutting down DeRozen, in his face. This stretch of games shows how much we need Baynes and Williams to get regular minutes. I’d like to see Brad do a better job getting the 2 J’s offense going, imagine what Pop could do with these 2 specimens. Come on Brad you did it with Smart, he should be exploiting Jaylen in the low block a lot more....

Excellent post Cow,   could agree with you more  on Pops and the ball movement his team has every year.  I noticed Tatum shutting down DeRozen also,  and when someone else was on him it seem liked he scored.  I think Brad should be getting more out of the two J's as well.  We got it last year.  Hard to believe we haven't seen much of improvement from either guy this year. A lot of times I see guys get beat off the dribble and someone was suppose to switch and didn't. Rozier should have switch on a screen set on Tatum last nite but didn't, Tatum tried to get back and block the shot but couldn't. Looked like it was his man but wasn't. That happens with a lot of our guys.

[bobheckler]

Btw, just to add injury to insult, literally, Kyrie has a scratched left cornea from Bellinelli.


bob


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[bobheckler]

bob


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