Post game Hornets

"You are your record." - Bill Parcells

We didn’t come to play

I was certain a few games ago that we had turned the corner, and that Brad and especially Tatum had figured it out.
Now I have come to the point where I'm just giving up trying to figure out who or what this team is.
We'll just have to ride it out until the end of the season. Our young stars need to mature and maybe it's going to take another year or two. Perhaps it'll never happen, in which case it's going to be very frustrating.
Even in Brad's first seasons when we had little talent, I never felt so negative about the team and even though we didn't win much, the effort was there and one could enjoy that.
God, do we need a point guard. No more Tatum bring up the ball!

Berlin-T

We have 3 point guards in Kemba, PP and Smart. We just came out and didn’t defend, Kemba’s defense regressed and it snow balled from there. We lost our fight again, Tatum being ice cold didn’t help and Jaylen got off to a terrible start, Frenchy non existent.

The word is discontinuity, too many players out recently, when you put them back together there is no continuity, they have to learn to play all over together again with limited practice time. Unless you have a player like a Chris Paul or Luka or Lebron that knows how to get the team on the right page immediately, most teams suffer from this issue.

I think a problem of recent turnovers is no RWill, his high post offense and crisp passing was essential, as was his defense. Now there’s times we are trying to get TT off down low and some success and a lot of teams loading up leading to way too many turnovers and steals. Tatum and Brown still struggling with knowing when to score, take over and when to feed, set up teammates. They are super talented, but not naturals like a Bird or Luka in taking apart a defense with the right play.

I'll agree with that. That's going to be about a wrap, folks. I said this jokingly before a couple of weeks ago before the win streak started but now this is in stone. Time to prepare to be swept in the 1st round, whether we get into the play-in or get a 6th seed. Not trying to be a jerk or a Debbie Downer, but it's time to start preparing for next season. This season for the Celtics is, for all intents and purposes, over.

I'll continue to watch for glimmers, but it's time to begin to put this season behind us, look toward the off season and perhaps some major adjustments on the management side and another roster shuffle, probably significant. That's what is coming.

We've digressed significantly since last season. Our Big Two have progressed and improved some. Williams III has come along although towards the end has raised more questions about his stability. P-Square has made himself known. MS stock has risen significantly. Brad has also shown signs of life given a continuation of last year's incessant, chronic line up changes.

Also, here are some more early predictions. Mike B. of the Bucks will be shown the door for anything less than a title. He's in the identical situation Brett Brown was in with Philadelphia. That's an easy one. And the Lakers will officially pass us for total number of NBA titles. There's an easy trifecta for you.

I've said it before. You can't move up against teams that are in the same boat with you if they are winning and you are not. Can't be done. It's the end of the road for 2020-21 for this team. The iceberg has been hit.

db

RWill is obviously dealing with his calf issue, which is why so many teams passed on him. Shame he may only be a limited 15 minute a game player, since whatever the problem is, this medical staff has never totally addressed it. Shame when Rockets were trying to get rid of Capella a year ago, we never made a move. Another guy for the taking a year ago was Nerlens Noel. If RWill is always going to have leg issues, we need a real center as hardworking TT is not the answer at 5 full time either.

Ugly from start to finish.

They shot 49% from 3.  Some of that is hot shooting, you have to hit the ones you take, but a lot of it was them being allowed by our defense to just walk up into an uncontested 3.  When your opponents are blistering from 3 you need to fight over the picks, you need to shade on your picks by not being directly behind the picker but on his weak side so you can contest if his defender gets rubbed off and we didn't do either of those.  Hornets were coming around picks and there was no step up by the pick man's defender, and the on-the-ball defender kept going under the picks.  TERRIBLE perimeter defense.  Remember when perimeter defense was our forte because we had Smart and two excellent wings?  Where'd all that go?

Every Hornet starter scored 20+ points as they went on for a 50% night.  We shot 39%.  

Jaylen Brown, 8-22.
Jayson Tatum 6-16.
Kemba Walker 7-17.
That's a combined 21-55, 38%, and they represented 5/8 of our total fgas.  You cannot shoot that poorly, and consume that many of your team's fgas, and expect to win.

Who won the deal between Kemba and TRo?  Rozier with 21 points on 8-18, 5-9 from 3, and 11 assists.  Kemba with 20 on 7-17, 3-9 from 3, and 4 assists.  There's no doubt Kemba Walker is the worst contract in the NBA.

Fournier, 0-3.  He's shooting 33.3% since coming to Boston, just 16 out of 48 fgas.  I know, I know, COVID etal but he hasn't proven himself to be reliable so far.

Kornet with 3 garbage minutes and goose eggs across the board.  No points, no fgas, no rebounds, no fritos, no steals, no assists, no turnovers, no fouls.  Non-existence.  Why am I bringing up Luke Score-not?  Because he, along with Frenchy, were Danny's big roster changes this year.

Only one Celtic shot > 50%, Grant Williams, and he was 3-4, so not high volume.  Langford was 1-1 in his 3 garbage time minutes and Thompson was 2-4 in 26 minutes, but that's it.  

Good news!  We only had 13 turnovers.  Bad news!  5 of them belonged to Jayson Tatum.  This experiment is starting to remind me a bit of when Doc and Brad both tried to shoehorn Avery Bradley into the point guard role.  He had the size that would make you think he could/should do it, he just didn't have the skills.  Brad's trying to force Tatum into a point forward and, at best, he's not there yet.  He's trying to do the same thing with Romeo, and he's not there yet either.  Why?  I think it's because he's realizing that Kemba isn't a floor general, PP is still a rook and has enough on his plate to think about so there's no depth at point guard behind Smart to speak of so Brad's throwing darts.

They had 39 assists on 47 fgas, 83%.  We had 18 on 34, a little over 50%.  They moved the ball, they hit their shots.  We either didn't move the ball, because we were playing ME-ball, or we missed our shots (38.6%).  


Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Celtics finish the loss in Charlotte with a -21 assist differential, their worst since December 5, 2004 against Sacramento and only three short of the franchise record, per @Sportradar. Just the ninth time in franchise history they have been -21 or worse.

We took 26 ftas, they took 11.  Now, admittedly, they didn't get many ftas because they were getting wide-open 3s and so they got the 3pts and not the opportunity to earn 2 at the line but we decisively won the frito battle.  Imagine how bad this would have been if ftas had been anywhere near close.

The Hawks were without Trae Young last night and rallied to beat Milwaukee.  If you think Robert Williams III is the difference between getting blown out by 21 points and winning then you are delusional.  This was a pathetic effort on defense and ineffective ME-ball on offense.  

We lost every quarter.  We only scored 16 points in the 4th, and bench-clearing garbage time was for only 3 minutes.  We started last week in 4th place.  We are now 2 games out of 4th.

Gary Washburn @GwashburnGlobe
yesterday
Brad Stevens' biggest indictment on his team: "We guarded (the #Hornets) like we were expecting to play against ourselves. Like we were going to hold it for an extra dribble." #Celtics

"Like we were going to hold it for an extra dribble."  You mean like your designated point forward, coach?

Mark Murphy @Murf56
yesterday
Jayson Tatum has 19 turnovers in his last four games.


Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
yesterday
Celtics have this Kemba, Smart, Fournier, Brown, Grant lineup in that should have beautiful ball flow but instead they're unable to execute in transition and just run isolation when they're in the half court. Not really making things hard for the Hornets defense.


Tom Westerholm @Tom_NBA
yesterday
Jaylen Brown: "I think the last few weeks, we have played extremely well, and maybe this game is being held to our past because we've been up and down in the past. I’m always looking towards the future."

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401307712


Bob


.

I would prefer Jaylen Brown being pissed that they lost, not blasé about it.

bobc33,

I don't think this team has the "it" factor. As a matter of fact, I know they don't. At least consistently. We've seen ever so brief flashes of "it" throughout the season, but it's been juxtaposed almost immediately against some of the worst play and stretches in Celtic history given what they have to work with. Also, negatives speak far louder than positives. So with about a 50/50 split for the season, the negative roar has been far more deafening and dominant. You just can't get any traction that way to make a run.

Teams that have seasons like the Celtics have had, if they are lucky enough to make the playoffs, fizzle very quickly. Sad. Very sad. It's reaching the trying to catch a greased pig status.

db

Tom Westerholm getS the Optimist of the Year Award for 2021.

I don't know what Larry Bird would have to say about this team and their performance. It's not even in the "sissy" status.

db

Momma, don't let your Celtics grow up to be babies...


Bob


.

The ghost of T Rozier continues to haunt the Celtics.

Our depth wasn't very deep.

Curious to see Langford and Semi go from starting to playing 3:25 and a healthy DNP, respectively. No objection, just curious.

Yes, we are out of our depth.

Bad habits are hard to get rid of.

If this team wins or loses it is a matter for the record book but playing soft and lethargic is totally unacceptable to most fans.

Tatum has turned the ball over 5 times in each of the past 4 games.

There is nothing wrong with pulling a star from the game when he is not playing the right way. It is called accountability with consequences. It is called discipline. Something coach Stevens seems unwilling or unable to do.

They’re intent on turning Tatum into a Point Forward which clearly he is not-yet.
This keeps up and a Franchise chain of Bakeries may be in his future.

Tatum...???

Okay at least he can play, I’m more concerned about Robert Williams. Get the guy his f..kin surgery already!!! Fix it, non surgery is not working, fix it all finally!!!

Or get a real center

cowens/oldschool wrote:Tatum...???

Okay at least he can play, I’m more concerned about Robert Williams. Get the guy his f..kin surgery already!!! Fix it, non surgery is not working, fix it all finally!!!

Or get a real center

That was in response to dboss post about Tatums turnovers. But you’re both right. For real!!

The Celtics have been coy about RW situation.
I do not know what the knee issue is all about but if surgery is a solution it is probably an off season initiative.

20 turnovers by Tatum is awful and it hurts the team.  In general this team does not value possessions.

dboss wrote:The Celtics have been coy about RW situation.
I do not know what the knee issue is all about but if surgery is a solution it is probably an off season initiative.

20 turnovers by Tatum is awful and it hurts the team.  In general this team does not value possessions.

Should have been done already after year 1

I have many questions about the Celtics medial staff. Not pleased.

More importantly, though, I question the coach and his inability to demand that the team play consistently harder on defense, which is much more about energy, attitude, and commitment to work hard. Thibs and Nate McMillan both have their teams winning because they have kicked ass and demanded and got full on efforts from their players...good old fashioned work. Our team is not working hard enough and is not focused on the details upon any good high school coach would insist.