SoxProspects News
|
|
|
|
Legal
Forum Ground Rules
The views expressed by the members of this Forum do not necessarily reflect the views of SoxProspects, LLC.
© 2003-2024 SoxProspects, LLC
|
|
|
|
|
Forum Home | Search | My Profile | Messages | Members | Help |
Welcome Guest. Please Login or Register.
2017-18 Celtics Season Thread
|
|
Post by umassgrad2005 on May 10, 2018 12:55:28 GMT -5
We also need Smart playing back-up PG. He played awesome and was like a different player in that role. He wasn't just jacking up shots and played within the offense. Was a huge part of the ball movement, rather than killing it. If you could only get Morris to play within the offense now.
|
|
|
|
Post by pedrofanforever45 on May 10, 2018 15:46:47 GMT -5
Al Horford has a career playoff record of 1-15 against LeBron in the playoffs.
|
|
|
|
Post by umassgrad2005 on May 10, 2018 16:56:40 GMT -5
Al Horford has a career playoff record of 1-15 against LeBron in the playoffs. That has to be the most misleading stat ever. Are you implying Horford what folded playing against LeBron? Doesn't play well? This is the best playoff team Horford has every been a part of and it's the weakest LeBron playoff team since he went to Miami. Limit his supporting cast and even if he goes off they struggle. They don't have an Irving like last year and this Celtic team has 4 players that can score 20 points any given game. Last year the Cavs had 3 of the 4 top players in the series, with LeBron and Irving being the top two. How would you rate it this year? |
|
|
|
Post by benogliviesbrother on May 10, 2018 17:17:20 GMT -5
Al did good work on both Simmons & Greek Freak (but Semi was better). I'm in favor of putting Al on LeBron from the go. Of course that would likely mean a small ball 4 -- Semi or Morris -- to match up with K Love. No way Baynes could keep him off the 3 point line.
Minimizing LeBron's effectiveness with a single player has to be 1st priority. Al seems to me the best candidate.
|
|
|
|
Post by rjp313jr on May 10, 2018 19:56:42 GMT -5
Whoa Al can’t cover LeBron. Our Al on Love... regardless, Celts aren’t winning this series. I just hope it goes 6 or 7.
|
|
|
|
Post by rjp313jr on May 10, 2018 20:02:38 GMT -5
Al Horford has a career playoff record of 1-15 against LeBron in the playoffs. That has to be the most misleading stat ever. Are you implying Horford what folded playing against LeBron? Doesn't play well? This is the best playoff team Horford has every been a part of and it's the weakest LeBron playoff team since he went to Miami. Limit his supporting cast and even if he goes off they struggle. They don't have an Irving like last year and this Celtic team has 4 players that can score 20 points any given game. Last year the Cavs had 3 of the 4 top players in the series, with LeBron and Irving being the top two. How would you rate it this year? I’d rate the players in this series something like this: 1. LeBron . . . . .. .... ........ ....... 2. Horford 3. Tatum/Love/Brown 6. Rozier (at home) 7. Hill/Smart 9: Morris/ Smith 11: Green/ Korver |
|
|
|
Post by Don Caballero on May 10, 2018 22:15:16 GMT -5
We can beat the Cavs.
|
|
|
|
Post by pedrofanforever45 on May 10, 2018 22:41:57 GMT -5
Al Horford has a career playoff record of 1-15 against LeBron in the playoffs. That has to be the most misleading stat ever. Are you implying Horford what folded playing against LeBron? Doesn't play well? This is the best playoff team Horford has every been a part of and it's the weakest LeBron playoff team since he went to Miami. Limit his supporting cast and even if he goes off they struggle. They don't have an Irving like last year and this Celtic team has 4 players that can score 20 points any given game. Last year the Cavs had 3 of the 4 top players in the series, with LeBron and Irving being the top two. How would you rate it this year? It's just a stat and I don't think it means much. It is what it is. Hopefully Al can improve on it. The LeBron James mismatch is no small thing. Agree with the sentiment with RJP. LeBron can win this thing all by himself. He can limit Tatum offensively while getting 40 points. He's friggen Megatron. |
|
|
|
Post by umassgrad2005 on May 10, 2018 22:48:48 GMT -5
It's like everyone forgets the Pacers took LeBron to 7 games for the first time in his career in the first round.
We'll lose in first round. Nope.
No way we'll beat the Sixers. Guess what we did in 5 games.
Now it's no way we'll beat the Cavs.
Like I keep saying we can beat any team in the East. So lets have some faith guys! We are better than the Pacers and Raptors!
|
|
|
|
Post by umassgrad2005 on May 10, 2018 22:57:20 GMT -5
That has to be the most misleading stat ever. Are you implying Horford what folded playing against LeBron? Doesn't play well? This is the best playoff team Horford has every been a part of and it's the weakest LeBron playoff team since he went to Miami. Limit his supporting cast and even if he goes off they struggle. They don't have an Irving like last year and this Celtic team has 4 players that can score 20 points any given game. Last year the Cavs had 3 of the 4 top players in the series, with LeBron and Irving being the top two. How would you rate it this year? It's just a stat and I don't think it means much. It is what it is. Hopefully Al can improve on it. The LeBron James mismatch is no small thing. Agree with the sentiment with RJP. LeBron can win this thing all by himself. He can limit Tatum offensively while getting 40 points. He's friggen Megatron. If you don't think it means much why post it? No its not, but one player can't beat a team. Frankly the last two series proved just that as the Greek Freak and Embiid were by far the two best players in those series. Sure LeBrons better, more clutch, but he's one player. That team has been a mess all year. Players are refusing to enter games in the playoffs. We have by far the better coach. |
|
|
|
Post by pedrofanforever45 on May 10, 2018 23:02:36 GMT -5
It's just a stat and I don't think it means much. It is what it is. Hopefully Al can improve on it. The LeBron James mismatch is no small thing. Agree with the sentiment with RJP. LeBron can win this thing all by himself. He can limit Tatum offensively while getting 40 points. He's friggen Megatron. If you don't think it means much why post it? No its not, but one player can't beat a team. Frankly the last two series proved just that as the Greek Freak and Embiid were by far the two best players in those series. Sure LeBrons better, more clutch, Again following RJP's sentiment this is how I would rate LeBron James against the Greek freak and Embid- LeBron James . . .... ...... Embid Greek Freak It's one thing if you have the 86 Celtics versus Michael Jordan or LeBron James versus the Warriors. This Celtic team isn't them. LeBron can win this thing all by himself. I thought the stat was note worthy. That's why I posted it. Just a cliff note. |
|
|
|
Post by telson13 on May 10, 2018 23:21:44 GMT -5
Al Horford has a career playoff record of 1-15 against LeBron in the playoffs. That has to be the most misleading stat ever. Are you implying Horford what folded playing against LeBron? Doesn't play well? This is the best playoff team Horford has every been a part of and it's the weakest LeBron playoff team since he went to Miami. Limit his supporting cast and even if he goes off they struggle. They don't have an Irving like last year and this Celtic team has 4 players that can score 20 points any given game. Last year the Cavs had 3 of the 4 top players in the series, with LeBron and Irving being the top two. How would you rate it this year? Yes. |
|
|
|
Post by telson13 on May 10, 2018 23:24:18 GMT -5
|
|
|
|
Post by telson13 on May 10, 2018 23:37:44 GMT -5
It's just a stat and I don't think it means much. It is what it is. Hopefully Al can improve on it. The LeBron James mismatch is no small thing. Agree with the sentiment with RJP. LeBron can win this thing all by himself. He can limit Tatum offensively while getting 40 points. He's friggen Megatron. If you don't think it means much why post it? No its not, but one player can't beat a team. Frankly the last two series proved just that as the Greek Freak and Embiid were by far the two best players in those series. Sure LeBrons better, more clutch, but he's one player. That team has been a mess all year. Players are refusing to enter games in the playoffs. We have by far the better coach. I think the coaching aspect is easy to overlook, and huge. It’s not just about “who’s going to guard James?” or “if they double-team he’ll dish it.” It’s about utilizing defensive schemes that isolate and disrupt, about playing controlled, consistent aggressive ball, about preparedness and adaptability, and about heart. Ever since Hayward went down, this team has been ferociously underrated. Coaching has a lot to do with that: the sum is much greater than the parts, and the parts have by and large only each improved over the course of the year. James is a tremendous player, and he elevates those around him, but alone against a 5-man squad he would be hopeless. And I think Stevens is going to use an approach that focuses on that: make LeBron have to do the vast bulk of work. It will be exhausting and frustrating, and unless Love (who i think Horford will be on like some wacky new 3M adhesive) suddenly rediscovers his youth, LeBron is going to be hard-pressed to maximize his ball-handling skills. His greatness is in his versatility. Stevens will take a portion of that versatility away from him. |
|
|
|
Post by pedrofanforever45 on May 10, 2018 23:58:07 GMT -5
One last LeBron James praise and I'll just leave it at this.
LeBron is a man here. A man in his absolute prime. One of the 5 best players ever. Tatum and Brown are just kids.
I would be shocked if the Celtics won to be honest. There is no shame to losing to LeBron in this series. Been a great year regardless from now forward.
|
|
|
|
Post by umassgrad2005 on May 11, 2018 0:49:07 GMT -5
If you don't think it means much why post it? No its not, but one player can't beat a team. Frankly the last two series proved just that as the Greek Freak and Embiid were by far the two best players in those series. Sure LeBrons better, more clutch, Again following RJP's sentiment this is how I would rate LeBron James against the Greek freak and Embid- LeBron James . . .... ...... Embid Greek Freak It's one thing if you have the 86 Celtics versus Michael Jordan or LeBron James versus the Warriors. This Celtic team isn't them. LeBron can win this thing all by himself. I thought the stat was note worthy. That's why I posted it. Just a cliff note. You act like LeBron has never lost and are clearly overlooking the quality of this Cavs team. Which was my point before, this is by far and away his worst team in 7 years. Even with LeBron in his prime going off this team can lose and even lose big. It's like you are overlook how this team played this year and how they played against the Pacers. You're just looking at the Raptors series and it's LeBron. This isn't a very talented or even a very good Cavs team. Yea LeBron is good enough to win games, but stop acting like this is some super team. They needed miracle type plays to beat the Pacers. Yet our talking about the 86 Celtics and Jordan, wow. |
|
|
|
Post by pedrofanforever45 on May 11, 2018 2:55:53 GMT -5
Again following RJP's sentiment this is how I would rate LeBron James against the Greek freak and Embid- LeBron James . . .... ...... Embid Greek Freak It's one thing if you have the 86 Celtics versus Michael Jordan or LeBron James versus the Warriors. This Celtic team isn't them. LeBron can win this thing all by himself. I thought the stat was note worthy. That's why I posted it. Just a cliff note. You act like LeBron has never lost and are clearly overlooking the quality of this Cavs team. Which was my point before, this is by far and away his worst team in 7 years. Even with LeBron in his prime going off this team can lose and even lose big. It's like you are overlook how this team played this year and how they played against the Pacers. You're just looking at the Raptors series and it's LeBron. This isn't a very talented or even a very good Cavs team. Yea LeBron is good enough to win games, but stop acting like this is some super team. They needed miracle type plays to beat the Pacers. Yet our talking about the 86 Celtics and Jordan, wow. Yeap. 86 Celtics versus the Michael. LeBron is different and it takes unwordly talent to beat him in the playoffs, especially with his drive to always go to the finals and try to win. LeBron James has made it to what 7 or 8 NBA Finals in a row? He's a different animal in the playoffs. I don't care how little he has around him. The Celtics are HUGE underdogs here. The Celtics had to beat Milwaukee in 7 games too (the lesser team between them and the Pacers, mind you). They beat Philly in 5 games in a series that could have gone either way in 3 of these games. Meanwhile the Cavs beat the Pacers in 7 games like you mentioned, but they *sweep and destroy* the number one seed in Toronto and made them look horrible. I've seen LeBron put up the best game I have ever seen in my life in game 6 of the 2012 playoffs against the Celtics when he was facing Pierce, Allen, and Garnett. He went for 45 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. These 3 were HOF players, and LeBron dominated them. I'm done doubting the guy until he gets to the finals at least. Golden State is one of the few teams that has figured out how to beat LeBron with all their supreme talent, so I got to give it to them. They also have a team full of HOF type players. Yeah I clearly am looking past the Cavs talent level. Yeap I clearly am looking at LeBron only. It's not just some small thing, it's the biggest hurdle any team has had to face in the Eastern conference for a half decade plus. |
|
|
|
Post by pedrofanforever45 on May 11, 2018 3:19:46 GMT -5
I'm done arguing about it though.
We will see how good LeBron is this playoff series real soon. Chances are I'm going to see the greatest player in the world do what he usually does best in the playoffs. I'll probably be memorized by it with his dominance.
I'll be rooting for the Celtics, but there is no player I hold more highly than this guy.
|
|
|
|
Post by rjp313jr on May 11, 2018 7:32:08 GMT -5
Can the Celtics win? Sure it’s possible, but it’s more likely they don’t even with home court. We beat the Sixers in 5, but 3 of the wins came down to final minute and execution. LeBron wins those games, he’s basically impossible to stop so you need to dominate the rest of the game and I think you’re under-rating the Cavs season. They were 19-10 with a.655 winning percentage after their trades. That’s impressive integrating a whole new lineup and we all know a team like that is different in the playoffs than regular season.
|
|
|
|
Post by rjp313jr on May 11, 2018 7:32:56 GMT -5
Also the fact they went 7 vs the Pacers isn’t as bad as us going 7 vs the Bucks.
|
|
|
|
Post by umassgrad2005 on May 11, 2018 9:41:26 GMT -5
You act like LeBron has never lost and are clearly overlooking the quality of this Cavs team. Which was my point before, this is by far and away his worst team in 7 years. Even with LeBron in his prime going off this team can lose and even lose big. It's like you are overlook how this team played this year and how they played against the Pacers. You're just looking at the Raptors series and it's LeBron. This isn't a very talented or even a very good Cavs team. Yea LeBron is good enough to win games, but stop acting like this is some super team. They needed miracle type plays to beat the Pacers. Yet our talking about the 86 Celtics and Jordan, wow. Yeap. 86 Celtics versus the Michael. LeBron is different and it takes unwordly talent to beat him in the playoffs, especially with his drive to always go to the finals and try to win. LeBron James has made it to what 7 or 8 NBA Finals in a row? He's a different animal in the playoffs. I don't care how little he has around him. The Celtics are HUGE underdogs here. The Celtics had to beat Milwaukee in 7 games too (the lesser team between them and the Pacers, mind you). They beat Philly in 5 games in a series that could have gone either way in 3 of these games. Meanwhile the Cavs beat the Pacers in 7 games like you mentioned, but they *sweep and destroy* the number one seed in Toronto and made them look horrible. I've seen LeBron put up the best game I have ever seen in my life in game 6 of the 2012 playoffs against the Celtics when he was facing Pierce, Allen, and Garnett. He went for 45 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists. These 3 were HOF players, and LeBron dominated them. I'm done doubting the guy until he gets to the finals at least. Golden State is one of the few teams that has figured out how to beat LeBron with all their supreme talent, so I got to give it to them. They also have a team full of HOF type players. Yeah I clearly am looking past the Cavs talent level. Yeap I clearly am looking at LeBron only. It's not just some small thing, it's the biggest hurdle any team has had to face in the Eastern conference for a half decade plus. Yea you are that 2012 Heat team had a peak Wade and Bosh to go along with LeBron and that wasn't a dominant Celtics team. What it was a year later Danny broke it up? Go look at the talent of the Pacers and the Bucks and tell me they are really a lesser team. They had injuries all year and finally got healthy. It wasn't even the Greek Freak that really made it hard. It was the fact they had him and Middleton who just went off. The guy just made hard shot after hard shot all series. They had the two best players in the series and a rather deep and talented team. More talent on that team than the Pacers and it's not even close really. The Pacers were just a good scrapy team that played good D and limited the Cavs shooters. We are just like the Pacers, just more talented and better defensively. The Raptors choked, just like they always do and didn't match up well against the Cavs. The Raptors biggest strength is their size, so Cavs went small ball. The Raptors can't play small ball, they just don't have a bunch of talented wing players. Nevermind two of those games the Raptors should have won frankly. Cavs shot over 41% from deep, with Korver at 56% and Smith at 77%. I can guarantee you Korver and Smith won't shoot anywhere near that level against us in this series. So LeBron has proven if you give him talent to play with he'll get to the finals every year. Guess what? He doesn't have an Irving, Wade, or Bosh this year. The best he has is Kevin Love and he's just not the same player he once was. If you shutdown the Cavs 3 point shooting, they struggle to score even if LeBron goes off. As much as LeBron scares me, the Cavs as a team don't scare me at all. Not a great team, a ton of newer players that didn't Gel and a coach that just isn't that good. It's why they went back to Korver, Smith and Thompson because they had more experience playing with LeBron. That lineup just won't work against us. The Raptors didn't have the players to punish Korver on D, the Celtics do. So they are going to be forced to play the newer guys like Nance Jr. and Hood who just refused to enter a game. Like I said before matchups are going to be key in this series. |
|
|
|
Post by umassgrad2005 on May 11, 2018 9:45:48 GMT -5
Can the Celtics win? Sure it’s possible, but it’s more likely they don’t even with home court. We beat the Sixers in 5, but 3 of the wins came down to final minute and execution. LeBron wins those games, he’s basically impossible to stop so you need to dominate the rest of the game and I think you’re under-rating the Cavs season. They were 19-10 with a.655 winning percentage after their trades. That’s impressive integrating a whole new lineup and we all know a team like that is different in the playoffs than regular season. They basically benched everyone they traded for in the playoffs outside of Hill. Hood and Nance hardly played and Clarkson played limited minutes. They didn't gel at all, so they benched them and played Korver and Thompson again. |
|
|
|
Post by umassgrad2005 on May 11, 2018 9:52:25 GMT -5
Also the fact they went 7 vs the Pacers isn’t as bad as us going 7 vs the Bucks. How do you figure that? The Bucks have more talent than the Pacers. I'd bet a good amount the Bucks would have won against the Pacers. Just remember the Bucks had a lot of injuries this year. |
|
|
|
Post by rjp313jr on May 11, 2018 10:03:30 GMT -5
Can the Celtics win? Sure it’s possible, but it’s more likely they don’t even with home court. We beat the Sixers in 5, but 3 of the wins came down to final minute and execution. LeBron wins those games, he’s basically impossible to stop so you need to dominate the rest of the game and I think you’re under-rating the Cavs season. They were 19-10 with a.655 winning percentage after their trades. That’s impressive integrating a whole new lineup and we all know a team like that is different in the playoffs than regular season. They basically benched everyone they traded for in the playoffs outside of Hill. Hood and Nance hardly played and Clarkson played limited minutes. They didn't gel at all, so they benched them and played Korver and Thompson again. So what? The fact is they played better. Perhaps it was addition by subtraction. Who knows, but it’s irrelevant they changed their team drastically and were way better off for it, simple as that. |
|
|
|
Post by rjp313jr on May 11, 2018 10:05:19 GMT -5
Also the fact they went 7 vs the Pacers isn’t as bad as us going 7 vs the Bucks. How do you figure that? The Bucks have more talent than the Pacers. I'd bet a good amount the Bucks would have won against the Pacers. Just remember the Bucks had a lot of injuries this year. I’m not going to quibble over the differences between the Pacers and Bucks - I know how these discussions go. 3 pages later we will be at the same point. Let’s just agree they are similar teams and move on. Therefore, we can’t point to the Pacers taking the Cavs to 7 is evidence of why the Celtics will beat them. |
|
|
