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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Nov 20, 2017 23:51:19 GMT -5
Thank God for Kyrie Irving. Best game as a Celtic and he willed them to a victory.
Smart had a bad shooting game and is having a terrible shooting stretch, yet he hits a huge clutch 3 late in the 4th quarter and made a great play late in the 4th quarter to hand Kyrie a 3 pointer late too.
Smart makes things really hard for Celtics with his poor shooting and shot selection, but he is usually making the winning plays to help the Celtics win. I'll take that with his shooting flaws.
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Post by Don Caballero on Nov 21, 2017 3:20:58 GMT -5
Feel bad that it took an epic effort to beat a bad Mavs team, but it feels awesome to witness another epic effort.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Nov 21, 2017 4:53:26 GMT -5
Feel bad that it took an epic effort to beat a bad Mavs team, but it feels awesome to witness another epic effort. It could be worse, you could be the Cavs lol. Sorry couldn't help myself and I'd know you'd appreciate this comment. |
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 21, 2017 7:41:13 GMT -5
This team needs to stop falling behind by double digits all the time. I saw a stat yesterday that they are 4-1 when trailing by 15 or more that’s an .800 winning percentage the rest of the NBA is .096.
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 21, 2017 7:46:57 GMT -5
When the Kyrie trade was made the big question was: Is Kyrie a true franchise player who you can win a championship with?
I’ve always been a huge Kyrie fan so I’m a bit biased but i think the answer is yes. He’s not a traditional super star but he’s a guy who can take over a game when you need him late and carry the team. He’s been doing it all year and last night he finally carried the team all night. He still only took 22 shots which is a lot but it’s not really that many for a game like the one he had. I’m sure people will start to look at his assist numbers and question him as a pure true PG but he’s been facilitating and getting them into the offense when he’s asked to and he’s played a lot off the ball too.
Love Kyrie and I love that he likes it here and pray that it stays that way so they extend him.
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Post by jmei on Nov 21, 2017 8:02:57 GMT -5
Say what you will about Smart's shooting, but he was second best on the team in +/- with a +15 last night.
(It would be really nice if he started hitting more of his shots, though.)
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Post by voiceofreason on Nov 21, 2017 8:05:56 GMT -5
Kyrie has definitely proven to me he is the superstar that can lead this team to the top. The combination of unselfish play and the ability to take over a game when needed is perfect and rare for a star. The fact he is playing D also is a huge benefit for this team as the leader.
I have been saying for a while that Smart needs to take fewer shots but there could even be a silver lining here. His shooting stats are costing him a lot of money and the C's might be the only team willing to look past that and see his worth to the team. How can another GM justify giving him a big deal based on his offensive inefficiency when so much emphasis is put on those numbers. It is really hard to measure the intangibles he brings. Maybe the C's get him back on a somewhat reasonable deal because of it. I can't remember a player who brings as much to the table while shooting so poorly and for gods sake why is he taking so many shots? Is it getting to the point where you give up on him ever being a decent shooter? I still believe that much of it is in his head and I am afraid that head has some rocks rolling around in it.
16 in a row!!
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 21, 2017 8:34:36 GMT -5
It’s setting up perfectly to keep it trade Smart for the reasons your giving. The only way to justify him getting paid good money is using bird rights by going over the cap to sign him. You simply cannot build a good team by using a bunch of cap space to sign a player like Smart (or Rozier for that matter). NBA team building is as much about the order in which you sign guys as it is about who you sign. Layering is key. That’s why using the cap space to sign two max guys (Horford and Hayward), then trading for a guy’s bird rights who’s not a max now but will be in Kyrie was so important. It’s also why you HAD to wait to sign Hayward first then make a trade so George and Butler were impossibilities.
NBA money has mostly dried up, there will always be teams with cap space but the abundance of it the last 2 years is gone. No one is going to sign a guy like Smart who can’t score to a huge deal from their cap space. That leaves midlevel money or bird rights.
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 21, 2017 8:36:54 GMT -5
As much as I love this team, I’m very close to not celebrating their come back wins any more. It’s a troublesome trend that I’m willing to deal with for now because they are such a new team and if that’s their way of “struggling” as they learn one another that’s cool. However, that’s kind of weak and it needs to stop.
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Post by Don Caballero on Nov 21, 2017 8:41:27 GMT -5
Say what you will about Smart's shooting, but he was second best on the team in +/- with a +15 last night. (It would be really nice if he started hitting more of his shots, though.) play pretty much resumes Marcus Smart. He sprints like a mad man to take Tatum's save from the Mavs player and then puts up a completely ridiculous shot that barely touches the rim, hustles for the rebound in the middle of 3 dudes, nearly falls off the court and somehow delivers a pass to Kyrie that shouldn't be humanly possible. |
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 21, 2017 8:58:40 GMT -5
Just read that the one and done rule is likely to be eliminated so that high school players will be eligible for the 2019 draft. That could be key to deepening that draft for the Celtics in the likely scenario they are holding the Kings pick. Not that they want a HS player but increased options and depth are good both for the picks trade value and the Celtics options.
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Post by umassgrad2005 on Nov 21, 2017 13:05:53 GMT -5
Do you have a link for that? Everything on Silver was that he wanted to increase the age for the draft, not decrease it. So if that is true that's shocking.
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Post by umassgrad2005 on Nov 21, 2017 13:17:18 GMT -5
Irving +21
Tatum +15
Horford +15
Smart +15
Smart needs to shoot less when he is having a bad game. It's like he thinks he's a great scorer shooting his way out of a slump. Smart should not be taking 15 shots when he makes only 3. Heck he should never be second on our team with 15 shots.
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Post by Oregon Norm on Nov 21, 2017 13:37:11 GMT -5
When the Kyrie trade was made the big question was: Is Kyrie a true franchise player who you can win a championship with? I’ve always been a huge Kyrie fan so I’m a bit biased but i think the answer is yes. He’s not a traditional super star but he’s a guy who can take over a game when you need him late and carry the team. He’s been doing it all year and last night he finally carried the team all night. He still only took 22 shots which is a lot but it’s not really that many for a game like the one he had. I’m sure people will start to look at his assist numbers and question him as a pure true PG but he’s been facilitating and getting them into the offense when he’s asked to and he’s played a lot off the ball too. Love Kyrie and I love that he likes it here and pray that it stays that way so they extend him. I don't think there was ever any question that he could be a dominant player. He was as responsible as anyone on the Cleveland team for their championship. Ainge was on the money with the trade. This is a player who's still only 25 but carries himself with a real veteran presence. It can only help Brown and Tatum to be on the same court and watch him lead the way. The other pieces of this is how well he works with Horford - they've got the pick-and-roll thing down - and watching him play defense. The way he undressed Nowitzki stripping him of the ball and starting a fast break with everything on the line was deeply satisfying. |
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 21, 2017 15:33:50 GMT -5
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 21, 2017 16:42:10 GMT -5
In non-Celtics news Michael Porter Jr, is out for the year with back surgery all but ensuring he falls out of the top 5 so Philly can draft him with the Lakers pick and have him miss his true rookie year.
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Post by umassgrad2005 on Nov 21, 2017 16:50:05 GMT -5
In non-Celtics news Michael Porter Jr, is out for the year with back surgery all but ensuring he falls out of the top 5 so Philly can draft him with the Lakers pick and have him miss his true rookie year. How bad is it? Almost two full years is a crazy amount of time even for a back injury. He could and almost should go back to school and prove he is healthy first. This might improve the 2019 class. |
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 21, 2017 17:43:11 GMT -5
In non-Celtics news Michael Porter Jr, is out for the year with back surgery all but ensuring he falls out of the top 5 so Philly can draft him with the Lakers pick and have him miss his true rookie year. How bad is it? Almost two full years is a crazy amount of time even for a back injury. He could and almost should go back to school and prove he is healthy first. This might improve the 2019 class. It’s supposedly only 3-4 months... i was being tongue in cheek with that post. |
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Post by Don Caballero on Nov 22, 2017 20:44:32 GMT -5
Smart, Morris and Rozier shooting 3-15 combined. Bench sucked for the last few games.
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 22, 2017 21:56:30 GMT -5
Glad they lost - can’t keep going down by double digits every game
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Post by Don Caballero on Nov 22, 2017 21:57:25 GMT -5
Oh well, it was a good way to end the winning streak: team gave it a good go and it reassures them that they can't keep getting in big holes and expect to win. I'm very okay with this.
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Post by pedrofanforever45 on Nov 22, 2017 23:44:50 GMT -5
This team needs to relearn to shoot. They also need to relearn how to shoot free throws especially. That was the key difference in this game imo. Miami hit their free throws and the Celtics didn't.
All good things have to come to a end eventually.
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Post by umassgrad2005 on Nov 22, 2017 23:57:59 GMT -5
The problem is a catch 22 though. Smart and Rozier can kill your shooting, but they are also a Huge part of your D. We just have to hope that Tatum can take the next step this year. He had a great game and it's asking way too much, but he needs to take more shots. Same with Brown.
They got out rebounded by 11 and Brown was like last years Brown. He needs way more than 3 rebounds in 31 minutes. It's fun to nitpick what was just a down game. They happen and it's really no big deal, but lets not try to turn our D and effort on and off.
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 23, 2017 9:38:12 GMT -5
The win streak put people’s expectations of what this year is out of whack. Don’t get me wrong the ceiling has been raised. It’s possible they could win the East and not get embarrassed in the finals but it’s also possible they are a second round playoff exit. As good as Brown and Tatum are and could be they are still super young and will Just not show up for games at s time. Inconsistency is going to be a problem.
The second unit needs scoring and they aren’t going to get it from their guards. Tatum could be a go to scorer at times but it is a lot to ask of him. This is where the Hayward injury and the 6 roomies really show.
Just reality and it’s ok. Love the squad.
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Post by rjp313jr on Nov 23, 2017 9:41:30 GMT -5
It know it’s a bit unorthodox but I’d be interested to see Theis in the starting lineup with Kyrie - Brown - Tatum - Horford and put Morris with the second unit. He can be a go to guy for short spurts and usually they have one of Brown or Tatum still in the game. Just staged the minutes a bit differently.
Theis can also knock down wide open 3s. It’s not that he’s a starter who should get starter minutes but he can be used to stagger minutes to spread offense.
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