ECF Game 6 vs Heat

Well Spolstra came up with another new key wrinkle, he attacked us with Bam off dump offs after penetration and pnr and attacking out of high post with drives. As usual we were a day late to come up with a defensive counter, actually we never came up with any counter. Guess Brad still had his hands full still trying to figure out with a WAY to not get Kemba attacked over and over. Bam put up Hakeem like numbers, Spolstra is the best coach in the L right now, based on what he gets out of his players and the way he comes out with new game plans and the execution of his players.

I really don’t feel like pointing out all the lame coaching I just saw, but we were unprepared for the Bada Bing Bada Bang Bada Boom by Bam, and he kept on grinding inside and midrange wearing out our guys. Brad does not know how to stop big scoring games when a star player goes off, this is obvious and cannot be disputed. He also doesn’t know how to put his best offensive players in the best positions to score. The offense is way too predictable, I can see putting Semi in corner, he’s got no offensive game, but Jaylen, really...??? Is that the best strategy you got. I don’t remember Dr J or Clyde the Glide standing in the corner posession after posession. I thought this was a modern offense? How does Smart get 22 shots in 36 minutes and Jaylen gets 17 in 40? Jaylen went 10-17, 3-7 from 3, am I missing something here? I know Smart tries and plays hard, but there’s a reason certain players get more touches than others, Brad underutilized Jaylen all series. I got more, but I’ll stop now....

Brad shut up, he sounds like such a wimp saying we had no idea how super tough and physical they really are....like Bam and Crowder are Robinson and Duncan or Howard and AD...???? Shut the flip up, this guy is a wimp!!!!

Isiah Thomas, who I hated as a player just said in last 5 minutes we lost all faith in our offensive system, the offense just broke down, no trust in the players, so we took rushed 3 after rushed 3. Bad hero iso ball, guess Brad couldn’t even come up with a good TO as we were beating ourselves with the season on line....????

cowens/oldschool wrote:Well Spolstra came up with another new key wrinkle, he attacked us with Bam off dump offs after penetration and pnr and attacking out of high post with drives. As usual we were a day late to come up with a defensive counter, actually we never came up with any counter. Guess Brad still had his hands full still trying to figure out with a WAY to not get Kemba attacked over and over. Bam put up Hakeem like numbers, Spolstra is the best coach in the L right now, based on what he gets out of his players and the way he comes out with new game plans and the execution of his players.

I really don’t feel like pointing out all the lame coaching I just saw, but we were unprepared for the Bada Bing Bada Bang Bada Boom by Bam, and he kept on grinding inside and midrange wearing out our guys. Brad does not know how to stop big scoring games when a star player goes off, this is obvious and cannot be disputed. He also doesn’t know how to put his best offensive players in the best positions to score. The offense is way too predictable, I can see putting Semi in corner, he’s got no offensive game, but Jaylen, really...??? Is that the best strategy you got. I don’t remember Dr J or Clyde the Glide standing in the corner posession after posession. I thought this was a modern offense? How does Smart get 22 shots in 36 minutes and Jaylen gets 17 in 40? Jaylen went 10-17, 3-7 from 3, am I missing something here? I know Smart tries and plays hard, but there’s a reason certain players get more touches than others, Brad underutilized Jaylen all series. I got more, but I’ll stop now....

Thanks for stopping the Monday morning quarterbacking - it's just an an ego trip for every want to be coach to take on Brad as a coach - since second guessing assumes that the outcome wiill always be good - it's a waste of time.

swish

There’s no Monday quarterbacking whatever that is, everything is based on fresh facts, go check for yourself and my eyes work very well too. I’m not ripping him half as hard as I could....

You didn’t see Jaylen standing in the corner game after game after game? You didn’t see Kemba getting scored on, attacked all series?

Whatever.....

This series exposed several things.

We need a legit big man.  Coach has yet to use all of the tools in his box.  And the Celtics are very unlikely to win with an undersized one-way PG.  

It also exposed the lack of quality depth.  

Danny will need to get to work as he was asleep at the wheel while other teams added quality players.

dboss wrote:This series exposed several things.

We need a legit big man.  Coach has yet to use all of the tools in his box.  And the Celtics are very unlikely to win with an undersized one-way PG.  

It also exposed the lack of quality depth.  

Danny will need to get to work as he was asleep at the wheel while other teams added quality players.

Yeah, we’re real good to a certain point, but if I’m the opposing coach, am I gonna attack Smart, Tatum, Brown? That’s the heart of our defense, Theis is good in most situations and is an excellent help defender, as we all know RWill has tons of special defensive potential. So it’s obvious who you have to attack.

Jimmy Butler also said Pat Riley is at every practice giving his input and that he would do anything for Riley, how Riley did so much putting this team together.

I like Stevens, but it seems to me that too often he goes away from what's working. The two Williams's were doing just fine and he went away from them fairly quickly. Not putting in his Swiss army knife (AKA GWill) after Thies fouled out was a mistake. In fact pulling GWill out for Theis after he was doing a great job just about defending against the whole Miami team was a mistake. RWilliams gave us a spark and was pulled. Theis whom I like very much just didn't have it last night against Bam. Also agree that Danny needs to give us some help at the 1 and the 5.

But the players are responsible for playing smart and not panicking, shooting hero 3 balls, having no composure at the end of the game. That is a maturity problem that we have and Miami doesn't - even though they were also playing some rookies.  

Berlin-T

If I had to can come up with one word to describe our run in the playoffs for 2020 that came to an unceremonious end last night it would be...

Inconsistency.

That's really it. In an effort to be transparent, last night before the game I texted my brother-in-law. I said, "I'm going to say this and hope I am wrong but I believe the Celtics season ends tonight."

I sent it and a little later I looked at the text I had sent and realized all the things I had said on this site up to this point, trying to be as positive as possible. I don't know why I wrote what I did.

I thought about it for just a few minutes and the answer came to me. I texted him back. "I just haven't been able to predict with any great accuracy which Celtic team is going to show up this series."

Bingo. Definition of inconsistency. And this is all the way through, from the top down. We've been saying it ad nauseum since the series started.

Then I thought of another thing. 2018. The last 5 minutes reminded me of G7 ECF 2018. Now we probably should have won that series and we were leading 3-2 going into G7 I believe. I think you can even superimpose the two and you will see absolutely no difference. Bricking 3's, building shopping malls, no rebounding, air coming out of the tires, etc.

As far as depth in the playoffs goes, I'm going to call 2018 and 2020 a wash. 2020 was just slightly less progressive as 2018, but the result is the same. Played int he ECF but no ticket to the Finals.

I'm not sure what that says from top to bottom. Have we wasted two years? Have we really not progressed? I think this team has much more talent than 2018 ECF team with Hayward back in the mix. But the only thing that hasn't changed is Brad. We're becoming the darlings of the ECF. The bridesmaids. That hurts.

Now is this normal, you ask? Well if you compare the two greatest franchises, Celtics and Lakers, by trips to the Finals, LAL has now been there 32 times. Their record is not that great, just above 50%, but they go there a lot. High water covers a lot of stumps.

Boston doesn't go there as much but they are far more accurate, 17-4, right around 80%. I don't know whether to put this year's performance under the "normal" category for 2020. The point is we just don't get there as much. So losing in the ECF is probably pretty normal.

Let's move up the ladder even further. Danny's been in Boston quite a while. 17 years I believe I heard. He's 1-1 in Finals play. Most GM's never even get to the finals or stay that long with one organization. It would be tough to put him on the block as he is a Celtic through and through. But might it be time to turn the reigns over to someone else? He's not moving Brad anytime soon. I'd be very surprised if he pulled a Nate McMillan on Brad at this point. So it's the player revolving door shuffle. That's all that is left for the time being. Stay tuned.

db

I'm going to have to defend Kemba and Danny with his choice of Kemba. Tiny Archibald was able to play very well as a vertically challenged player in the NBA's League of Giants. Kemba is a very good player that was on a crappy team all his NBA life. He went further than he's ever been in his career in this year's playoffs his first year out of Helltown. He'll figure it out. Just like Tiny did.

He, too though, was caught up in the inconsistency web. He was shot out of a rocket, however. He learned a lot in a very short amount of time. No disrespect to MJ and his Hornets, but those two teams and organizations are managed and owned in a completely different universe. Kemba did the best he could and even had some very key buckets and free throws he hit to put us in a position to win all of our games in this series. He'll be fine and completely up to speed next season. Better than fine.

db

Hi,
Unfortunately, we lost.
The reason for that, IMO, is that the team isn't ready mentally for the big dance, neither its coach.
I don't know what has to change but hopefully they'll figure it out next season and don't repeat mistakes of this season.

AK

Brad and Gordon were big disappointments. Jaylen way too underutilized. Let's learn from our mistakes Danny.

Should the Clippers fire Doc? The NBA is the ultimate players league. Brad should have called more timeouts to interrupt runs IMO. He was more hands on when the guys were younger (2018) and I guess wanted to trust in their maturity. Mistake. He’ll learn he’s a good coach.

worcester wrote:Brad and Gordon were big disappointments. Jaylen way too underutilized. Let's learn form our mistakes Danny.

Thanks so I’m not nuts and blind....

dboss wrote:This series exposed several things.

We need a legit big man.  Coach has yet to use all of the tools in his box.  And the Celtics are very unlikely to win with an undersized one-way PG.  

It also exposed the lack of quality depth.  

Danny will need to get to work as he was asleep at the wheel while other teams added quality players.

Once again, dboss says everything I want to say and says it better and more directly than I would have anyway.

I'm thinking of having him stop by my house to speak for me the next time I get into a debate with my wife.

Hate to say it, but I think Stevens has taken this team as far as he can. He's getting outcoached consistently in the playoffs. He's good for an up and coming team that has untapped potential but thats about it. Offensively and defensively he is lackluster and has been able to get by on having gifted offensive players and exceptional individual defenders. There's no reason Miami should have won this series.


KJ

k_j_88 wrote:Hate to say it, but I think Stevens has taken this team as far as he can. He's getting outcoached consistently in the playoffs. He's good for an up and coming team that has untapped potential but thats about it. Offensively and defensively he is lackluster and has been able to get by on having gifted offensive players and exceptional individual defenders. There's no reason Miami should have won this series.


KJ

Exactly +1

You might be onto something there kj88 but Danny won't pull what IND did to Nate McMillan by extending his contract and then pulling the plug. Probably will have Brad around for one more season. If he doesn't get to the Finals next season, all bets are off. That would be 4 of 5 seasons to the ECF and no trip to Finals. Boston/Danny being very patient and forgiving with Brad. Must know something we don't.

db

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
Unfortunately, we lost.
The reason for that, IMO, is that the team isn't ready mentally for the big dance, neither its coach.
I don't know what has to change but hopefully they'll figure it out next season and don't repeat mistakes of this season.

AK

Well said. It is difficult to be good - it is really difficult be great. Neither the coach nor the team are great. Yet.

If they had a consolation round, I say we would beat the Nuggets for 3rd place. Third best team in the NBA is not bad. Better than most of us would have expected last summer. JT and JB made monumental leaps this season. Next season they will be a little more mature. Really, it came down to poise when things got tight. We saw it all playoffs. Fortunately, our talent got us by a tough Toronto team. Miami is a better team than Toronto. They are better than us too, so they deservedly won. Miami earned my respect, thats for sure. I just hope they continue to surprise everyone and kicks LA's ass

k_j_88 wrote:Hate to say it, but I think Stevens has taken this team as far as he can. He's getting outcoached consistently in the playoffs. He's good for an up and coming team that has untapped potential but thats about it. Offensively and defensively he is lackluster and has been able to get by on having gifted offensive players and exceptional individual defenders. There's no reason Miami should have won this series.


KJ

except they WERE the better team in the bubble. Many Celtic fans even now can't see it I suppose, truth can be hard to accept sometimes.

The Stevens angst is frankly silly.

you'd rather have D'Antoni or one of the Van Gundys" ?

please

we made the east finals, that was OVER-ACHIEVING for this roster folks, no matter if some felt we were a championship team this year., they were NOT.

but yes lets all hope Ainge fires Stevens and signs a Van Gundy....LOL.

dbrown4 wrote:If I had to can come up with one word to describe our run in the playoffs for 2020 that came to an unceremonious end last night it would be...

Inconsistency.  

That's really it.  In an effort to be transparent, last night before the game I texted my brother-in-law.  I said, "I'm going to say this and hope I am wrong but I believe the Celtics season ends tonight."

I sent it and a little later I looked at the text I had sent and realized all the things I had said on this site up to this point, trying to be as positive as possible.  I don't know why I wrote what I did.

I thought about it for just a few minutes and the answer came to me.  I texted him back.  "I just haven't been able to predict with any great accuracy which Celtic team is going to show up this series."

Bingo.  Definition of inconsistency.  And this is all the way through, from the top down.  We've been saying it ad nauseum since the series started.  

Then I thought of another thing.  2018.  The last 5 minutes reminded me of G7 ECF 2018.  Now we probably should have won that series and we were leading 3-2 going into G7 I believe.  I think you can even superimpose the two and you will see absolutely no difference.  Bricking 3's, building shopping malls, no rebounding, air coming out of the tires, etc.  

As far as depth in the playoffs goes, I'm going to call 2018 and 2020 a wash.  2020 was just slightly less progressive as 2018, but the result is the same.  Played int he ECF but no ticket to the Finals.  

I'm not sure what that says from top to bottom.  Have we wasted two years?  Have we really not progressed?  I think this team has much more talent than 2018 ECF team with Hayward back in the mix.  But the only thing that hasn't changed is Brad.  We're becoming the darlings of the ECF.  The bridesmaids.  That hurts.  

Now is this normal, you ask?  Well if you compare the two greatest franchises, Celtics and Lakers, by trips to the Finals, LAL has now been there 32 times.  Their record is not that great, just above 50%, but they go there a lot.  High water covers a lot of stumps.  

Boston doesn't go there as much but they are far more accurate, 17-4, right around 80%.  I don't know whether to put this year's performance under the "normal" category for 2020.  The point is we just don't get there as much.  So losing in the ECF is probably pretty normal.    

Let's move up the ladder even further.  Danny's been in Boston quite a while.  17 years I believe I heard.  He's 1-1 in Finals play.  Most GM's never even get to the finals or stay that long with one organization.  It would be tough to put him on the block as he is a Celtic through and through.  But might it be time to turn the reigns over to someone else?  He's not moving Brad anytime soon.  I'd be very surprised if he pulled a Nate McMillan on Brad at this point.  So it's the player revolving door shuffle.  That's all that is left for the time being.  Stay tuned.  

db          

Lakers going 32 times and ours going 21 times does not weigh as much as HOW MANY TITLES DID YOU WIN? And 17 ain’t a bad number for 1 franchise. Go ahead and count Minneapolis if you’d like. I don’t.

When Boston went up 96-90 I thought the game was over and the series could be over for Miami because they could not finish off Boston.
Then, Miami regained their confidence while Boston mostly wanted to shoot 3 pointers.
Kemba does not seem like Kemba from Charlotte.
He might not be 100% healthy.
He seems to focus so much on getting fouled when he's on offense.
Brad Stevens is not going anywhere.
If he had a veteran who was clutch in the 4th quarter and lead Boston to victories, nobody would be talking about Brad.
I do think that Boston needs to acquire a veteran with playoff experience who can be counted on in the 4th quarter.
They also need more length to go against Giannis, Bam, AD and Durant.
Just a few small tweaks of the roster and Boston will run it back again next year.

tjmakz wrote:

Brad Stevens is not going anywhere.
If he had a veteran who was clutch in the 4th quarter and lead Boston to victories, nobody would be talking about Brad.
I do think that Boston needs to acquire a veteran with playoff experience who can be counted on in the 4th quarter.
They also need more length to go against Giannis, Bam, AD and Durant.
Just a few small tweaks of the roster and Boston will run it back again next year.

Agree TJ. Sometimes it takes an objective eye (or, in this case, a Laker fan) to see things clearly.

tjmakz wrote:When Boston went up 96-90 I thought the game was over and the series could be over for Miami because they could not finish off Boston.
Then, Miami regained their confidence while Boston mostly wanted to shoot 3 pointers.
Kemba does not seem like Kemba from Charlotte.
He might not be 100% healthy.
He seems to focus so much on getting fouled when he's on offense.
Brad Stevens is not going anywhere.
If he had a veteran who was clutch in the 4th quarter and lead Boston to victories, nobody would be talking about Brad.
I do think that Boston needs to acquire a veteran with playoff experience who can be counted on in the 4th quarter.
They also need more length to go against Giannis, Bam, AD and Durant.
Just a few small tweaks of the roster and Boston will run it back again next year.

I agree on needing more length for sure.

I think the Celtics are playing Kemba and Hayward to be those clutch Veterans , they need to step up or step out frankly.

its' been a long season and I think many of us forget that Ainge lost/let go/whatever of FIVE of the top 10 players form last season. That's a high turnover for a team that is trying to win now (unless you are bringing in old Vets for a short one time run, like Lebron's teams always do).