Post-game Thread: Celtics - Warriors in Boston

[Sam]

Post-game Thread for this game

Sam

[dboss]

The Celtics took too many 3 point shots (8 for 31) and their defense came unglued.

Overall this was a very exciting game. Trying to beat a team at their own game proved to be a monumental. Task.

Dboss

[gyso]

Curry scores 37, leads Warriors from 26 down to beat Celtics

https://sports.yahoo.com/news/curry-scores-37-leads-warriors-26-down-beat-014739081--nba.html

BOSTON (AP) -- When you're sitting on the NBA's best record like the Golden State Warriors, you don't have to stress over every single game.

Because you usually win, anyway.

Stephen Curry scored 37 points on Sunday night, and the Warriors erased a 26-point deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 106-101. Golden State won for the seventh time in nine tries to improve its league-best record to 46-11.

''This was a fun challenge for us,'' coach Steve Kerr said. ''If we lost, it wouldn't have been the end of the world. But we were down and we came back. I was happy that we showed good poise.''

Klay Thompson scored 20 for the Warriors, Harrison Barnes had 17 and Draymond Green scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Isaiah Thomas scored 20 points off the bench for Boston, which had its three-game winning streak snapped. The Celtics led 56-30 midway through the second quarter, bringing the usually quiet TD Garden back to life.

''Twenty-whatever we were up in the first half felt like three to me,'' Boston coach Brad Stevens said. ''And 16 at halftime feels like two against those guys. They just come back so fast.''

Jae Crowder had a career-high 17 rebounds to go with his nine points, but his 3-pointer with a chance to give Boston the lead with under a minute left rolled around the rim and out. Andre Iguodala followed with a layup to give Golden State a three-point lead, driving down the center of the lane as the final seconds ticked off the shot clock

Thomas made a layup, then Curry sank two free throws to make it 104-101 with 10.5 seconds left. Thomas had an open 3-pointer, but it bounced off the back of the rim and Curry grabbed the rebound.

He made another pair of free throws to clinch it.

''We didn't want to be down 26,'' Curry said after the Warriors played their fifth game on a six-game road trip, and the middle of a string of three games in four nights. ''It seemed like it was sluggish there in the first quarter. We had to be mentally tough to make it an interesting game and close out the half.''

It's the first time since the Warriors moved west from Philadelphia in 1962 that they have won four straight games against the Celtics.

Boston led by 13 at the end of the first quarter despite 14 points from Curry. Boston stretched it to 56-30 on back-to-back 3-pointers by Crowder and Jonas Jerebko midway through the second.

But the Warriors had cut the deficit to 16 points by halftime and scored nine straight points early in the third quarter - seven of them by Curry - to bring it into single digits.

It was 86-75 after three before Golden State scored the first six points of the fourth on a 3-pointer by Green and Shaun Livingston's three-point play.

Trailing 92-87, the Warriors went on a 9-2 run, tying it 94-all on Iguodala's dunk and taking the lead on Green's tip-in.

TIP-INS

Warriors: The Warriors gave up 17 fast-break points in the first half before scoring their first. ... Golden State plays three games in four nights and finishes its six-game road trip Monday at Brooklyn

Celtics: Boston's next win against the Warriors franchise will be its 200th.

BENCH PLAY

Thomas said he was surprised he had an open look at a 3-pointer to tie the game on Boston's last real possession. Tyler Zeller set the screen that freed him up.

''I thought it was going in,'' Thomas said. ''It was on line. But it just didn't fall.''

It was Thomas' fifth straight game with at least 19 points off the bench. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the last Celtic with four in a row was Hall of Famer Kevin McHale in 1989-90.

BOUNCED

Warriors center Festus Ezeli missed Sunday night's game to serve a one-game suspension for grabbing the throat of Toronto's Tyler Hansbrough in the third quarter of Friday night's game at Toronto. Ezeli, who was averaging four points and three rebounds in 11 minutes, was ejected from the Raptors game.
___________________________________________________________

I missed the first half, so I missed the part where it was mostly going our way.  I started watching the game seconds before halftime.

It was impressive that we played one of the top teams in the league and took them down to the wire.  Now I am curious to see how far we can go, if we make the playoffs.

Sorry for the loss, Rosalie.  I know that you were cheering them on right to the end.

gyso

[kdp59]

it's always a good thing for both fans and players to see how they stand against the best in the League.

this game and the one against the Cleveland are good examples.

we can hang on good nights (last night) but not ready fro prime time against the elite.

we are MUCH better than at the start of this season though and we ARE an NBA playoff team.

with our defense, teams will NOT want to play us in a playoff series (even if we don't win ).

[RosalieTCeltics]

Nice try, disappointing, but they played the best team in the west and for the second time gave them a real run for their money. It was a fun first half to watch, but, as we all know it takes four quarters and this team just has a hard time holding leads.

I love Thomas, but once they puut Livingston on him, he had no one to go to to bail him out. No Turner, No Bradley. Both missing shots in the second half,

It was a fun game to watch, Curry is an unbelievable shooter, hitting from everywhere, hand in face, practically at the half court line, turn around jumpers, so smooth. He truly is remarkable.

The one thing I was puzzled at was the non existence of David Lee.Was ther something going on there or has he been relegated to the bench.?

Oh well, I hate to say it because they lost, but it was a fun game to see, these kids are really bringing the joy back into watching them play. See you next game!


Rosalie

[Sam]

It was my impression that, for the Celtics to have a shot at beating the Warriors, they had to pull out all the stops.

I do not call it pulling out the stops to play James Young in the fourth quarter.  He took several ill-advised threes because I guess he feels it's his duty to do so.  And his defensive deficiencies simply added to the Celtics' inability to thwart the warriors' furious comeback.

I'm aware that they could have lost the game even without playing Young, and he's obviously not the only reason they lost.  But I felt particularly badly that they squandered a huge lead and lost by very few points without putting what I would have considered their best foot forward.

Tommy called it a moral victory.  But I don't believe a moral victory was as meaningful to the players as a real victory—which was definitely in their grasp—would have been.

I can only conclude that Brad is thoroughly committed to playing Young in all circumstances as part of the development process.  But this would have been the perfect exception to the rule.

Rosalie, we were thinking of you on the Game-on Thread.  At one point in the first half, I mentioned that I thought I saw you on the Celtics bench.  We were excited about the euphoria you must have experienced when the Celts had a 26 point lead, and we empathized with the agony of the eventual setback.

Sam

[dboss]

Sam

Tommy mentioned last night that Young is due for a breakout game.  He looks more and more like a one trick pony and that trick is not working that well.

I think one of the issues is a lack of quality long distance shooting depth.  

from behind the arc

Young 1/4
Smart 2/6
Crowder 1/7
Thomas 3/11

Young only played 15 minutes but his lack of production during a key stretch of the game was a killer including the 2/4 at the line.

I love the way Crowder plays but since when should he be bombing away from deep?

Thomas was not able to get in the paint in the second half and just took three pointers.  I did not see any attempts to set some high P and r screens to free him up.  Livingston is not on the all defensive team.  They adjusted to what Thomas was doing but the Celtics did not re-adjust.

Smart hit a rain making three late in the game and that seems to be something he can do but the numbers are the numbers are the numbers.  He has yet to prove to me that he is a reliable 3 point shooter.

The pace slowed in the 2nd half because the Celtics stopped pushing the ball as much.  That problem is correctable.

But if they want to play this style, Danny would be well served to add more shooters on the team.  

Therefore we need a post defender and at least 2 more outside shooters and if they can also slash that would be great.

Brandon Bass gets my game ball.

Last night Jerebko should have gotten more minutes.  I thought he was very active in the 12 minutes that he did get.  

dboss

[bobheckler]

That was one exciting game to watch.  It would have been a fun game to watch if we had won.  Sorry, but I just cannot consider losing "fun" in any context.

We started off hitting 3s and running, running, running.  We shot 54% in the first quarter with all our starters scoring.  Evan Turner lead the Celtics with 10 of our 38 first quarter points with 4-7 shooting.  When that happens, you're firing on all 8.  Things were so good that we were up 26 points in the 2nd quarter and Cowens was suggesting on the Game On thread that maybe "this team doesn't need a center?".  I immediately recognized that as a sign of the end of days and the world was about to come to an apocalyptic end but that should tell you how good we looked.  We looked so good Cowens forgot about Perkins.  We had 65 points on 59fgas in the 1st half.  30 points in the paint for us vs 18 for a team with a bonafide, beefy shot blocking center.  18 fast break points for us vs only 3 for them.  The lead was down to 16 at the half because Steph Curry is the best shooter in the league and because of some big 3s by Harrison Barnes.  That was the first half.  Unfortunately they don't suspend basketball games mid-game for snow alerts.

Our 15 point 4th quarter doomed us.  Giving up 31 in the 4th didn't help either.  We shot 6-25 in the 4th.  Crowder was 1-6 in the 4th and had a shot blocked by Iggy.  Turner was 4-8 at the half and ended up 4-12 for the game.  They just completely discombobulated us and you have to give them credit for that.

1.  Mighty Mouse had 15 points on 6-11 shooting in the first half.  He was his usual high energy offensive firecracker.  Then Steve Kerr made a great halftime adjustment and put 6-7" Shaun Livingston on Thomas and Thomas, for the first time I've seen, became very tentative.  He wasn't penetrating, he wasn't shooting from downtown.  He was really bothered by the length of Livingston.  He scored 20 points in the game on 8-21 shooting, so he was 2-10 in the 2nd half.  He was 3-11 from downtown after being 2-6 in the first half, so 1-5 in the second half.  The yin-yang of Thomas.  He is your offense.  Last night GSW did a remarkable job of adjusting and shutting him down.  5 assists with only 1 TO is better than usual but hardly a point guard's total.

2.  I'll get some blowback on this but I saw a lot of weakness in Crowder's game last night.  He rebounded like a crazy man, 17 rebounds (that has to be a career-high for him) but he made, to my count, 3 really dumb offensive plays in a row that resulted in empty possessions for us and GSW converted on at the other end.  A dismal 4-17 on the night, 1-7 from 3.  He got 2 offensive rebounds on putbacks at the rim that DID NOT go in.  The second putback was an almost nonchalant tip shot that he could have grabbed and stuffed but didn't.  He was 2-5 from 5' and in last night, so he didn't finish well.  Ok, he's entitled to an off night, I'm still excited and happy he's in green and hope Danny signs him to stay in green, I just was shaking my head last night.

3.  Jerebko got his fingers on a lot of balls, which doesn't show up in the boxscore.  Having said that his boxscore still stinks.  I don't know why he only played 12 minutes last night.  Another one that I'm not going to hold it against him, he's done well enough since he came here to earn some slack.

4.  Not feeling it for James Young.  Nope, uh-uh, too bad so sad.  I'm still trying to hold to my promise that I'll cut him some slack because he's a rookie who missed camp and pre-season but he has been getting minutes lately and I am not seeing any improvement.  He is still losing or getting beat by his man on defense.  His shooting, which is his key to getting into the NBA, is and has been poor.  I'm ready to see some of the other player in the "other trade", Gigi.  Maybe sitting Young for a game might help him clear his head a bit.

5.  The big story over the past few weeks is that our bench has been phenomenal while our starters have been mediocre.  Last night, though, our bench was outplayed by their bench, and what a bench they have!  Shaun Livingston started 54 games for Brooklyn last year, Iggy is an all-star who is one of the most well-rounded wings in the game (and who has always played well against us, he probably did a better job against Pierce when he was at Philly than anybody else in the league) and 2x all-star David Lee (who also has had some great games against us as a Knick) and The Brazilian Blur and 1x 6th man of the year, Leandro Barbosa.  What a bench!

What happens when an irresistible back court force meets an immovable back court defense?

6a.  Tommy said that if he had a vote for MVP, he'd vote for Curry.  So would I.  Daryl Morey, GM of the Rockets, ,made a pitch for his MVP at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference that just wrapped up saying that, "without James Harden we'd be nothing".  GSW GM Bob Myers, who was at the conference too, responded with "look at the score".  I'm going with Myers.  Curry is amazing AND he has become a pretty good defender and passer.  He is a very good 2.58:1 assist-to-turnover ratio and is averaging almost 8 assists per game.  He has one of the quickest releases in the game.  The ball comes up and is almost flicked off the wrist with almost no cocking of the arm.

Watch the difference between Curry's shooting mechanics and Smart's.




In this video you see Smart and Pressey practicing 3s at the left side 3pt line.



This is why Curry is a great, great shooter and Smart will probably never be better than good.  Too much motion in Smart's wind-up and shot creates too many variables that can throw the shot off.  Ray Allen is the same as Curry.  Minimal motion + same mechanics every time = consistent results.

6b.  Minny wanted Klay Thompson to be included in any deal for Kevin Love last year.  Bob Myers of GSW dug in his heels and said "no".  Smart move, Bob, smart move.  Thompson had 20 points last night, and it wasn't even a good night for him!  8-23, 2-10 from 3 and even played some defense against Mighty Mouse.  At 6'7", a BIG SG.  I like our back court but they have the best in the league.  The best.  You cannot give either of them even the smallest sliver of daylight.

7.  Zeller had a productive night against a bigger, stronger Andrew Bogut.  He outscored him by a whopping 17-2 and played as good as I've seen him play in a while.  He ran the floor, he got 3 offensive rebounds and putbacks, he used his strengths to his advantage.  He did some head-shaking things though.  Bradley was being rubbed off a high pick by Bogut and Zeller, instead of stepping up and challenging Curry coming off the pick, would stay in the middle of the lane.  Andrew Bogut from 6' away is not as dangerous as a wide-open Steph Curry from 18'.  7 of Curry's fgm were in the paint but he hit 3 3ptrs from the top of the arc coming off of picks without a defender stepping up to challenge him.  Nevertheless, we did well with a primarily finesse center against a team with a bull center.  It can be done.

8.  On the positive side, we held the league's #1 3pt fg% AND overall fg% team to below their season averages in both categories.  We also held them to below their average ftas/game.  We also held the league's #1 scoring offense to below their average.

9.  Think we take too many 3s?  We took 31 last night.  GSW took 34 despite taking 14 fewer fgas total.  The difference is that they hit 4 more than us.  12 points.  Smart 2-6, Crowder 1-7 and Thomas 3-11.  

10.  46 points in the paint, 22 fast break points and only 8 turnovers.  Our fg% was an execrable 36.7% driven, in large part, by our 26% 3pt fg%.  We were 6-18 at the half (33%), 6-20 after 3 (only 2 3pt fgas in the 3rd quarter!) but 8-31 at the end.  We went 2-11 in the 4th.  25fgas in the 4th quarter, 6 fgm in the 4th quarter and 2 of those were 3s.  That leaves 2pt fg% at 4-14 in the 4th.  We had 18 fast break points at the half but only 19 after 3 and 22 at the end.  In other words, we stopped running.  And there you have it.

11.  They played without Festus Ezeli (because he's a talented bone-head) and we played without Kelly.  Difference-makers?  Ezeli is a really good intimidator and Kelly is a good offensive player.  If the irresistible back court can trump the immovable back court then maybe we would have had a slight edge with a diverse-scoring center over a non-scoring defensive one.  We'll never know, unless we make the Finals, but it does offer a small ray of hope.  The delta in impact of 11.1points/.7blks/5.4rebs per game Kelly over 3.9points/.8blks/2.9rebs per game Ezeli could have been 6 points and that equals victory for us.

The mood on the Game On thread was positively giddy for most of the game, and why wouldn't it be?  We were whomping the best team in the league.  Not just a good team, or even a very good team but a basketball juggernaut.  Ok, so we lost, but we fought them hard and we learned some stuff in the process (one of which, I hope, is to never ever leave Steph Curry with enough room to even inhale).  It gets easier from here on out because it just can't get any harder.

Another tough game coming up against Cleveland with LBJ having blood in his eyes from losing the game last night on missed free throws.  

Character building, that's what this is called, character building.


bob


.

[Outside]

The one thing I was puzzled at was the non existence of David Lee.Was ther something going on there or has he been relegated to the bench.?

Lee is a bench player this year. The switch to a bench role happened because Lee started off the year with a hamstring injury -- he missed the first three games, reinjured his hamstring in game 4, and missed 21 more -- combined with how well Draymond Green is playing. He eased back into playing as a bench player, and he's been part of their bench unit ever since.

He didn't play much against Boston because of matchups. Bogut also didn't play much. Kerr went with his small unit with Green as his "big" for most of the comeback. Lee, Barbosa, and Livingston were all subbed out when the Celtics got their 26-point lead in the second quarter, and Lee and Barbosa didn't play again. As Kerr said after the game, it just wasn't Lee's day, but he'll likely get plenty of opportunity against the Nets tonight.

[cowens/oldschool]

The one thing I was puzzled at was the non existence of David Lee.Was ther something going on there or has he been relegated to the bench.?

Lee is a bench player this year. The switch to a bench role happened because Lee started off the year with a hamstring injury -- he missed the first three games, reinjured his hamstring in game 4, and missed 21 more -- combined with how well Draymond Green is playing. He eased back into playing as a bench player, and he's been part of their bench unit ever since.

He didn't play much against Boston because of matchups. Bogut also didn't play much. Kerr went with his small unit with Green as his "big" for most of the comeback. Lee, Barbosa, and Livingston were all subbed out when the Celtics got their 26-point lead in the second quarter, and Lee and Barbosa didn't play again. As Kerr said after the game, it just wasn't Lee's day, but he'll likely get plenty of opportunity against the Nets tonight.

Draymond Green is the better player right now, with Lee and Igoudala and Livingston they have a really deep bench.

However if they play Thunder in first round, I'm picking Thunder not because of Westbrook and Durant, but their staple of bigs that will wear out GS, and not convinced Bogut can take the grind of playoff basketball.

[RosalieTCeltics]

For most of the second half, but mostly the fourth quarter my son kept saying that Young belonged on the bench and Turner/Bradley should have been in. They (Livingston mostly) trapped Thomas and he had no one to get the ball to, so..clock running down, desperation shots, etc.

I do agree with you that I think the Warriors are a terrific team, but if they face the Thunder in the playoffs, they will lose. They are a couple of players away from the big time.

I will never take Curry for granted again, he is unreal, so talented, so smooth. I wish Avery would be half as good as him, it would solidify his place on this team. He has a long way to go, and Smart will never be the shooter the Celtics dream him to be.

But, Bob, I hate losing too. But you do have to admit it is a bit more enjoyable watching this team this year, there are a few more "glimmers" out there than we had last year.

Rosalie

[bobheckler]

For most of the second half, but mostly the fourth quarter my son kept saying that Young belonged on the bench and Turner/Bradley should have been in. They (Livingston mostly) trapped Thomas and he had no one to get the ball to, so..clock running down, desperation shots, etc.  

I do agree with you that I think the Warriors are a terrific team, but if they face the Thunder in the playoffs, they will lose.  They are a couple of players away from the big time.

I will never take Curry for granted again, he is unreal, so talented, so smooth. I wish Avery would be half as good as him, it would solidify his place on this team. He has a long way to go, and Smart will never be the shooter the Celtics dream him to be.

But, Bob, I hate losing too.  But you do have to admit it is a bit more enjoyable watching this team this year, there are a few more "glimmers" out there than we had last year.

Rosalie

Rosalie,

I'm glad you had a good time.  The jungle must have been rocking.

Curry is the best pure shooter in the league right now.

As far as being "more enjoyable" this year goes, I'll consider them that when they've won 3 more games (which would give them 1 more win than last year).  More glimmers?  ABSOLUTELY!!  Reason to be excited about the next year or two?  ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY!!  Fun?  Winning is fun.  Everything else is a "work-in-progress".  There's no such thing as #17 1/2.

I'm tough, the son of two schoolteachers.  I don't like grading on a curve.  You want an "A"? Then do what it takes to get one and not an inflated "B".  That's how they were with me.  They always asked my teachers on parents-teachers day whether they graded on a curve and, if they said 'yes' or 'sometimes', I would roll my eyes because I knew my life just got harder.

If you think we're "more fun to watch" this year, isn't that because we have more wins by this point in the season than last year?  We were scrappers last year too, we just didn't win as much.  So yeah, I'd say that compared to where we are this year vs last year they are more fun, but that's because we have more wins at this point than last year.  If they cannot win 3 more games with 25 left to play would you still think it has been "fun"?

How's that for cold?  LOL.


bob


.

[Sam]

No, they're more fun to watch this year not because they're scrappers.  They are, but so was last year's team.

They're more fun to watch this year because they play basketball more suited to their talents AND their vulnerabilities.  The pace is better (especially since Rondo left).  The spacing is better.  To a limited extent, the offensive motion is better.  The read and react defense is better.  Even the rim protection is a tad better (notable lack of enthusiasm on that one).

Obviously, none of these is perfect, or we'd have visions of championships dancing ni our heads.  As Brad keeps saying, there's lots more work to be done.  And, as all of us keep saying, reinforcements—especially big ones and shooting ones—are needed.

They're also more fun to watch because their identity has become one of opportunism.  That may take them just far enough to miss the playoffs (who know?), but it is a rallying point and is exciting to watch.  My guess is that, when they eventually become contenders, their identity will have moved on.  But opportunism is a good discipline to start with, and it can offset (to some extent) lack of talent.

I bet my passion for winning is not exceeded on this board and possibly not in all of Celtics fandom.  I believe nothing tops the satisfaction of winning.  However, winning is almost certainly not destined to become the litmus test on which the current Boston Celtics should be judged.  In the absence of constant winning, being fun to watch is not a bad substitute.

Although I don't do hypotheticals, the answer to your question, Bob, is that, if they finish the season with demonstrable improvements on the developmental scale as they contemplate a summer of improvement, and with energy as their hallmark, I will have gotten great enjoyment out of watching them play.

Sam

[RosalieTCeltics]

As Red would say:

WINNING ISN'T EVERYTHING, IT'S THE ONLY THING!!!!

I read an article recently by Dan Shaunessey (who is not one of my favorite people) comparing Red and Bill Belechick. Interesting. But they should be comparing him to Vince Lombardi.

Rosalie

[mrkleen09]

For years, many people complained that Doc never played young players. Now they have a coach who is balancing keeping the team moving forward and competing with trying to develop Smart, Young, Sully, KO etc - for the betterment of the long term - and many are still not happy.

Even being in the game with Golden State is a great step in the right direction at this point in the development of the team. In 3 years when James Young is drilling shots from all over the court and Marcus Smart is All Defensive first team, it will be games like last night that stand out as corner stores in their development.

Even since Thomas has arrived, I am on the edge of my seat every night - and that is a great place to be. Fun team to watch and I am enjoying watching them

[Sam]

Agree about the excitement of being on the edge of my seat for every game.

Don't agree that not playing Young when Golden State was obviously taking charge in the second half would have detracted seriously from his performance in three years.  The team deserved a win in that game more than Young merited a handful of minutes at a critical time period that may very well have cost them the game.

I never agreed that Doc didn't play young guys, and I always pointed to the numerous young guys who developed enough under his tutelage to be trade bait for KG.

I also believe there comes a time when a young player is continually overmatched to the point where more minutes can have negative rather than positive impact on his self-confidence and poise.  The DL has been his arena of success this season, and I'd like to see that continue for the remainder of the season to give James a fresh start after another summer of hard work.

Sam

[RosalieTCeltics]

Alot can be learned from the bench in a game like last night for Young. I am all for playing someone like him in a game, but when the game is on the line, having someone with a little bit more experience could be beneficial to the entire team.

I like Young, but he has alot to learn, in increments. It is not going to happen all at once.

[mrkleen09]

I agree with Sam and Rosalie - that down the stretch, especially if his shot isnt falling - Young doesnt add much to the mix. But I have to think that the Coach saw something in the matchups last night that had him keep James in longer than usual.

I dont think going up to Portland makes any sense at this point. He tore up the D League and averaged 24 ppg and shot 51% 3PA, he is learning much more being with the Celtics vs the Red Claws.

[cowens/oldschool]

He has proven he can score in the D-League, time for him to learn how to apply his trade against the big boys, the real thing.

[swish]

I'll submit a minority vote on this issue. All for game time for Young and the loss.

swish

[Sam]

It's hard to decide about the pros and cons of sending Young to Maine.  On one hand, he hasn't really been succeeding in the bigs, and his self-esteem might benefit from a good dose of success right now.

On the other hand, as some point he has to go against major leaguers to get to the point of stepping up his progress.

If the Celtics merry-go-round weren't in such a state of flux this season, I'd say the stability of the big team would be a good backdrop for his gradual improvement.  But it's obvious that, despite being mostly successful lately, this team is a long way from jelling.  I'd rather have the team jell for the remainder of the season and have James succeed up in Maine; and then I'd like to see the two entities (each with some success under its belt) come together next season.

There's such a thing as paying attention to too many fronts simultaneously.  Some people may feel that another two months of frustration would be good for James' growth.  I don't feel that way; and nothing that's happened so far this season has convinced me that the next two months—especially when the remainder of the team could be undergoing a lot of experimentation and adaptation—will be a lot different for James.  If he stays, I hope he'll experience a sudden miracle—or even a gradual one.  I'm just not bullish on the possibilities.

Sam

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