Post Game - Celtics at Brooklyn Nets- Wednesday, November 13 (W)

I really think in watching these early season games, that Joe's MO is cat and mouse.  We clearly have no desire to punch first in these games and keep punching to the end of the fourth quarter.  And I think I see the reasoning behind it.  There is no reason to change.  In Joe's mind it is a 4 quarter game.  In the NBA, I can count on one finger the number of teams that go out in the first quarter, run up a huge lead and actually win the game.  Joe says relax.  Let their game come to you and punch you in the face.  No one is better than you in the league.  No one.  And that's what we did last night.  The first two quarters are used to determine what our opponents are trying to do.  And guess what, lately teams have been falling right into the trap described above.  Joe actually wants the competition to come out guns a-blazing.  Because he knows that team isn't going to win with the logic and proof above.  

Listen folks, Joe is ALWAYS one or two steps ahead of EVERY coach and team in this league.  Yeah, we aren't going 82-0 and neither is CLE.  The more they win, the bigger they fall.  Newton's 3rd Law again.  Joe is praying for CLE to keep winning.  Joe mindset is to eliminate all those things that make us lose.  After these first 13 games, he's not even out of first gear yet.  I don't even know if he's left the parking lot.  

OK.  That's enough of that.  The above is not tied to the thread topic.  My bad.  Just some observations.  

db

This was more like it, an offensive outburst after another slow start. Nets played good and have some decent offensive players that challenged us at the beginning, we had to earn this one and we did. Tatum is really zinging the ball, passing better than ever and can still finish as well or better than any 6’9”-6’10” player in the league. He had one incredible lob to Luke at the end where he arched the perfect long pass that was really magnificent and breathtaking. For a guy not a particularly fast leaper, Luke has great hands and the coaches have taught him well to find the seams in the defense to get open for lobs and finishes. For a team without it top center, we sure can still dominate.

Actually both J’s are playing to their strengths even better this year. Jaylen is posting/punishing in the paint better than ever. He’s Lebron like in the way he just gets to the basket and for years this aspect of his game was not being exploited enough. Now add White, Jrue and Pritch that can all play off the J’s and will also always make the right play/pass and this 139 points and slicing and dicing teams up can start being more of a normal occurrence.

This was a nice bounce back win. The Nets are not horrible.

The J's are just getting better, believe it or not. When they are both clicking we are almost impossible to beat.

The first 5 minutes of the game D White played the worst I think I have seen him play in years. Two bad turnovers, a charge, two misses from three and 3 fouls. It happens, of course he steadied the ship and made his usual solid contribution.

Cleveland keeps winning. I don't want to jump ahead, but I am looking forward to the game next Tuesday.

I can not recall a time when there was a more obvious deficiency with the collection of 15 teams in the EC as compared to the WC

It's a real head scratcher.  There are only 3 teams playing above .500.   Having 12 teams with losing records this early in the season is weird.  Out of the 3 top team only the Cavs and Celtics are legitimate contenders.

Orlando, as the 3rd team, lacks the fire power to really be a factor.  All the other teams are off to a very inconsistent start to the season.  

With last night's sizzling 139-114 win over the Nets, the Celtics are #2 and 3 games back of the Cavs.  We will finally get to play them next Tuesday, November 19th.

Last night the Celtics  took 46 three point shots  and scorched the Nets (literally) by making 22.  When you take that many while shooting 47.8% it is damn near impossible to beat that equation.  AH sat out the second night of B2B as usual so our center was maned by our 3rd and 4th string guys.  

The Jays were particularly effective on the glass while combining for 21 rebounds.  That more than offset abysmal rebounding numbers from our Neemias/Luke center combo. They somehow managed to record only 4 rebounds.

The Jays were in Primetime mode while combining for 60 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists.  They only turned the ball over one time.  Jrue, Payton and Sam provided great scoring to enhance our margin of victory.

The Celtics are playing with house money as they have gone about the business of winning  as they patiently wait for the return of our most dynamic bigman.

The Celtics defense needs to go to another level.  That will not happen until they turn up the physicality gage.

We need a mandate.   The no layup rule must be implemented.  Players are allowed to commit fouls and we should really embrace that part of the game.  We need legal but hard fouls on the opponents.  

It appears that the weakest aspect of our defensive schemes is related to how we defend screen actions up top.  Drop coverage is conciliatory.

The big man needs to come up hard and fast with no hesitation to squash the guy coming over the top of the screen.    If the guy manages to get by him our centers should knock them on their ass if they go to the rim.

This only really works if your 3rd line of defense are able to cut guys off from getting a pass or an offensive rebound.

The other tactic that should be integrated into the mix, when we are getting cracked off the bounce, is to mix in some zone coverages.  Think about it.  The only time our offense gets bogged down is when teams throw zones against us.  It usually takes a few possession to figure that out.  A few possessions each game is the difference between winning or losing.  They are momentum defining events.

I also like some of the defensive actions that GSW use.  They play an attacking style of defense while the Celtics are more of a read and react defense.  We have great perimeter defenders and should be trapping up top early in the shot clock.    Basically, we need to surround our base defense with tactics that interferes with our opponents ability to run their offense efficiently.  

The Celtics were a superior defensive team during their march to The Title.  Our offense, like in the world of geometry, is a given.   Playing great defense is damn hard to do.

First of all, just a point of clarification, last night's game was NOT an "L" as the title of this thread says.  139 points is a shoot-ton of points and it's pretty hard to lose when you score a shoot-ton.

Tatum started off strong.  He had 13 first quarter points.  His first 10 minutes were uneventful but he scored 11 of those 13 in the last 2:15 of the 1st.  It was Brooklyn by 11, 29-18, and then Tatum took over and we went on a 13-5 run to end the first down only 2 and that was HUGE.  We trade buckets those last 2 minutes and we're down 34-23 after one and that's a damn sight worse than 34-32.  Tatum ended up 1 rebound short of a triple double but, best of all, he had 10 assists and only 1 turnover.  Compared to the Turnover Trauma vs Atlanta that is MUCH better.




Jaylen with a bully ball 24, but 6-9 from the line.  He's averaging 76.4% from the line this year, he's actually better than he's been looking, but it's tough to watch him miss so many, but here's the good news:  He's averaging 8.0 ftas/game.  Not only is that the highest of his career, his next highest season was 5.1 ftas/game.  Jaylen Brown is now recognized by the league and its fans as a stud but the path to the All-Star game, and All-NBA teams, is through the free throw line.  IT would have been a good player, maybe even an All-Star, in that great 2016-2017 year of his but if he hadn't averaged 8.5 ftas/game he certainly would not have made it to 5th in MVP voting and named to the All-NBA 2nd Team.  Jaylen has been snubbed by sportcasters and sportswriters when it comes to making the All-NBA teams.  He's trying to force their hands by just beating up on everybody between him and the rim.

Derrick with an extremely forgettable game.  3 turnovers and 3 fouls in the 1st quarter and he never got back on track after that.

Jrue was solid, as usual, starting in the second half.

Payton with 10 points in the 2nd and Sam with 6, but I want to give an especial shout-out to their defenses.  BOTH of these two played exceptional defense throughout the entire game.  Our team defense sucked through the first, say, 18-20 minutes of the game, but these guys were playing hard.  Payton's hands were everywhere.  He didn't always get the stat, he might just create a turnover without getting possession, but he was blowing stuff up.  Sam too.  I have been on the Celtics' asses since the beginning of the season for their underwhelming defense but these two last night lead the way.  Pritchard played 36 minutes because of Derrick's foul troubles (and poor game) and he made the most of them.  23 points on 8-13, 5-9 from 3, 6 boards (2 offensive), 8 assists and only 1 turnover.  He also had 2 steals and even a block.  

This highlight film is 4:10 long, but there's so much to enjoy here regardless if you're an offense fan or a defense fan.  Little Payton Pritchard with the offensive tip-in at 1:05 in this film.  And again, at the 1:43 spot, he crashes the boards from the corner and gets an offensive rebound off a Tatum miss and puts it in.  I love this guy.  He has said that he thinks he's the most competitive player on the Celtics.  Considering who he is playing with that's a remarkable statement, and yet the evidence is mounting that he may be right.  I can't wait to read Net fans losing their minds over Pritch da god in the Comments From The Other Side thread later today.  Can.  Not.  Wait.




Our 3 centers; Tillman, Kornet and starter Queta were generally underwhelming.  I suppose some slack needs to be let out here, we were without out top TWO centers, but it would be nice to see them excel.  In fairness to them Nic Claxton didn't look good either.

50-93.  That's not just 54% it's also a lot of fgas in a regulation game.  

22-46 is 48% from 3.  Half our fgas were 3s and we shot almost 50% from there.  If we just play something that roughly resembles defense, and we only give up 7 turnovers and 4 steals, NOBODY is going to beat us.  Brooklyn shot > 50% (but only 79 fgas) and 44% from 3, with a reasonable 12 turnovers, and this game wasn't close in the final frame.

Joe WANTED this win.  He played 8 players all but the last 2 minutes when he sent in Tillman and Peterson and, with only 1:44 left, we were up 131-107.  He was taking zero chances.

We have off until Saturday when we play the currently 2-10 Raptors in Boston.  I just hope we don't look past them to Cleveland on Tuesday.  As of right now we are 10-3, 3-2 at home.  Setting aside the poor 3-2 home record this means we have played 8 of our first 13 games on the road.  It also means we are 7-1 on the road.  For better or worse we're playing Cleveland at home.  Two games in 6 days.  Easy living.


Bob


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You're preaching to the choir here, bobh.  Joe's anti-matter theory.  Subtract out all the ways you can lose and winning is the only possible solution and outcome left.  I like it.  

We need some practice.  I'm talkin' 'bout practice!!  With the breaks in the schedule for us this next week, things should get back in order.  Just a couple hard ones max.

I've got nothing to add to the above. You guys and gal covered everything!  

db