Post Game Thread - Preseason, vs Cavaliers 10/15/19

[bobheckler]

When we played Cleveland on Sunday I asked "Are we really this good or are they just that bad?".  Well, it looks like it might be both.  The caveat with preseason games is that you don't get as many minutes from your high quality starters as you do in the regular season, players aren't in mid-season form and it's all new to a lot of players, especially rookies.  Well, we were on the road, Cleveland played everybody a lot of their good players (Tristan Thompson, Brandon Knight and Zizic sat out, but Love played) while we were without ALL our starters and, not necessarily in this order; our 6th (Smart), 7th (Hayward),  8th (Kanter) men.  With the exception of 11th or 12th man Semi Ojelaye and back up point guard Brad Wanamaker everybody else who played for us was a summer leaguer or a camp invite and we smoked them by 23.  Let that sit for a bit.

Our back court of a 30 year old 2nd year NBA veteran (who only played 343 minutes last year total), and two 2nd rounders tortured the Cleveland back court of #8 pick (and starter) Collin Sexton, #5 pick Darius Garland and #30 pick Kevin Porter Jr.

This wasn't a Coming Out party for Carsen Edwards, it was a parade in his honor that he lead himself.  8 3s in a 5:05 stretch in the 3rd quarter where he was absolutely unconscious.  He was 10-16 for the game, 9-15 from 3 for 30 points.
It was amazing to watch.  Even the unflappable Brad Stevens was sitting on the bench watching it and laughing.

Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
yesterday
Brad Stevens to reporters in Cleveland on Carsen Edwards: "I don't know if I've ever seen anything like that. Those were deep, hard 3s. And how many? Eight? In like five minutes? I've never seen anything like that. … He was pretty special."


Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Brad Stevens on the Carsen Edwards microwave (eight threes in 5:06). "I think he lives on heat check."

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Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
yesterday
Carsen Edwards went 22-43 FG this preseason for 61 points in 73 total minutes.

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Tremont Waters is a water bug.  Great handle that turned players around as they tried to keep up with him.  He also surprised me by going a respectable 3-8 from 3, I didn't know he had that range.  7 assists and 3 turnovers is also respectable.  He knew where all his teammates were on the floor.  He has very good point guard skills, maybe our best pure point guard on the team.  24 points on 10-16 in 29 minutes is quite efficient.

Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Stevens on Tremont Waters: "He has a shiftiness to his game, and his brain moves as fast as his feet."

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Brad Wanamaker is steady and solid.  Always in control.  If I have one problem with Brad is that he brings the ball up the slowest.  We've been getting over half court with about 20-21 seconds left on the shot clock.  He gets it over in more like 19 seconds.  That's an extra pass worth of time.  Other than that nitpicking, he's an asset and will settle down our young 2nd unit.

Poirier looked good.  He is a natural rim runner and an aggressive rebounder.  I think his performance last night answered some of the questions raised about him on this board.  He needs a couple of months to burn Brad's playbook into his brain, with minutes, but then I'm confident he'll move up the depth chart.  He does everything Enes Kanter does on offense and on the boards and he's a better defender already.  Not only did he have 2 blocks he had 3 assists.  He also had 3 turnovers, but those will iron themselves out over time.  I'm a big fan of Theis but I think by next year, certainly, we'll see Poirier look like a better long term fit at center.  Theis' outside game will move him to 4.

Tacko needs to live in Maine.  He has a LOT of work to do.

Grant Williams got schooled by Kevin Love early, no shame there, but had some good moments of his own.  2-3 from 3 is a part of his game I thought was less developed than it appears to be.  What might be best of all is he had 5 assists and zero turnovers, which is what you expect from a high BBIQ kid like him.  

Robert Williams took a Kevin Love elbow to the chops and left the game.  Possible concussion symptoms.  He is being examined today and may have to enter the NBA's Concussion Protocol Program.

I know it's preseason.  I know enough not to put much weight into how this will all transfer to the regular season but I do feel I can already say that this is the best draft by Danny yet.  Romeo is the biggest unknown and he's a lottery pick.  The other 2 rookies on the team (GWill and Edwards) are ballers.  Tremont Waters, who is on a two-way, is a baller.  Tacko is Tacko, raw as hell but 7'5" and working hard on his skills.  Strus might not make the team, Green might not either, Danny might leave that spot open but they don't look lost out there (especially not Green!).

You don't have to be a psychic to know all the Celtics who stayed in Boston watched the game, maybe even all together at the Auerbach Center.  Imagine what that room must have sounded like when Edwards and Waters went nuts.

A great pre-season but now it's time to get ready for Philly, and the real games.  I can't wait.  Let the games begin.

On The Bubble
With the contract maneuvering this week with Tacko and Strus the bubble has changed a bit.  Tacko is no longer on the bubble.  By moving Strus to an NBA contract so Tacko can get his 2-way that was an unmistakable decision by Danny to keep Tacko with us.  Waters, clearly, is going nowhere but up.  That leaves just Max Strus and Javonte Green on the bubble.

Green is the better player.  He's probably not the catch-and-shooter Strus is, and Brad loves catch-and-shooters, but he's more versatile and has a good nose for the ball.  I'm not sure about Strus, other than his shooting.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=401163171





bob


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[cowens/oldschool]

With everyone clamoring of the performance of CE and Waters and deservedly so, love the little things I noticed in GWill and Poirier. GWill had some crisp passing, feeding the hot hand, he can receive the ball anywhere and he makes the right play/pass, he also had some good defense, keeping up with a guard and blocking his shot. Poirier further showed he can defend and board, but I loved the crisp passes from the high post that were perfect for the score. His positioning defensively is something RW still needs to work on. Can’t wait for season to start, love the new pieces Danny has acquired this year, all improving young players with growth....I think were gonna see an exciting team that plays with real unselfish passing/sharing of the ball, the Celtic way.

[dboss]

VP proved that he can play and he will be in the mix for some minutes at the 5.  He is still behind as he remains in the adjustment period.

Brad is just scratching the service and has a long road ahead in how he puts his team on the court together.

The last week of practice will be a time to put some things together.

[NYCelt]

5 takeaways from the last pre-season game...

Cleveland is really, really bad.

Love's elbows are lethal.

Carson Edwards is going to be a rotation player.

Kara Lawson is already earning her keep (see Carson Edwards, above).

Maine Red Claws games will sell out.

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