Wizards (2-1) at Celtics (2-2) Game #5 10/27/21

[jbpats]

I'm not one to complain about the refs often but last night was a screw job and the refs killed any momentum we had down the stretch.

1) Push on Tatum - no call
2) Horford clear clean rejection called a foul
3) Jaylen OOB call when he was inbounds.

For each one of these calls we were within 4-6 points with under 5 minutes to go and the calls made it a 8-12 point game. It was nonsense.

That being said it's been a tough year for us, every game has been a grind win or lose.

I also like what Washington did this offseason, they made that team very tough by adding a bunch of physical role players.

[jambr380]

The two bigs don't work.

I like Smart & Schroeder starting in backcourt alongside the Jays and one big. That gives us the most ball-handling & passing & team speed (offensively & defensively).

What you miss though is a shooter to open up the court. Often that offball-player who's left open tends to be Smart and that's not really helping us.

True, but why isn't that shooter Schroder?  He's looked real good shooting the 3.

Two of them sat on the bench the whole game....Payton and Nessie!

Shooting an amazing 4-26 combined this year.

Eh, small sample size. It's not like we haven't seen these guys ball. Hoping Payton can get the mask removed soon so that he can feel normal again. I get that we are deep, but these guys were getting playing time last year and at least showed a lot of effort and determination. Our problems don't lie with them.

I do hope Ime can figure it out. I always loved Brad. He may not have been the most emotional coach out there, but the was a genius with the x's and o's and he had a reputation of holding guys accountable behind the scenes (last year notwithstanding) . I've never been a fan of player coaches, but I guess we did win a title with Doc. Let's give it time and see what happens. I think the majority of us would love to see a big splash.

[johnnygreen]

I'm glad I just saw Celtics4ever mention something that has been bothering me. With all the added depth that Brad brought to this team in the off-season, why does it feel like Ime is using a playoff rotation so early in the season?

I was expecting the Celtics to attack teams in waves with their depth, with guys giving max effort. Instead, we're seeing the same "playoff rotation" of guys, who are constantly taking plays off to preserve energy.

[W8ting2McHale]

I'm glad I just saw Celtics4ever mention something that has been bothering me. With all the added depth that Brad brought to this team in the off-season, why does it feel like Ime is using a playoff rotation so early in the season?

I was expecting the Celtics to attack teams in waves with their depth, with guys giving max effort. Instead, we're seeing the same "playoff rotation" of guys, who are constantly taking plays off to preserve energy.

Sounds like Ime is more Thibodeau and less Pop.

[Ogaju]

I'm not one to complain about the refs often but last night was a screw job and the refs killed any momentum we had down the stretch.

1) Push on Tatum - no call
2) Horford clear clean rejection called a foul
3) Jaylen OOB call when he was inbounds.

For each one of these calls we were within 4-6 points with under 5 minutes to go and the calls made it a 8-12 point game. It was nonsense.

That being said it's been a tough year for us, every game has been a grind win or lose.

I also like what Washington did this offseason, they made that team very tough by adding a bunch of physical role players.

Physical role players, just what the Cs need.

[Atzar]

I'm going in on the Jays for a second.

Seems like a simple way to get a good shot against our defense is to force a switch of Al or Rob out to the perimeter (which we almost always allow) and then attack the paint behind them.  Our other guys are then required to help out inside. 

Smart accepts that fight, and he routinely blows up these plays when bigger players realize that they can't move him.  The Jays - both of them - do not.  They don't seem to like having to play physical defense down there, and I've been continually frustrated by the number of times I've seen them just stand around watching while the opponent crashes the glass for an easy putback.  Last year, I was struck by the fact that Nesmith was our only wing who seemed to have any interest in putting his body on the line on interior help defense.  Nothing much has changed in that regard. 

Kemba and Thompson were scapegoated for our poor defense last year.  They're gone, yet the poor defense remains. 

[johnnygreen]

I'm not one to complain about the refs often but last night was a screw job and the refs killed any momentum we had down the stretch.

1) Push on Tatum - no call
2) Horford clear clean rejection called a foul
3) Jaylen OOB call when he was inbounds.

For each one of these calls we were within 4-6 points with under 5 minutes to go and the calls made it a 8-12 point game. It was nonsense.

That being said it's been a tough year for us, every game has been a grind win or lose.

I also like what Washington did this offseason, they made that team very tough by adding a bunch of physical role players.

1.   Push on Tatum – I could not believe Scal was so adamant about that non-call. It was clearly not a push. I think some people see so much NBA basketball that if a defender touches an offensive player at all, it’s viewed as a push.
2.   Horford block – Cleary missed by the refs. However, I blame Ime for this, as there was no reason to waste a review on that Schroder charge. That was clearly a foul on Schroder, and the call was never going to be over-turned.
3.   Jaylen OOB – I had the impression the ref was looking at Horford’s feet, and thought both guys touched the ball at the same time. Again, a review would have helped, but it was already wasted.

If Brad did get physical role players, Ime would just have them riding the bench. For instance, Hernagomez was a DNP, and has played a whopping 8 minutes total so far this season.

[johnnygreen]

I’m sure someone must have brought this up by now. Why is Jaylen so inconsistent this year?
NY Knicks – 46p, 9r, 6a
Toronto – 9p, 4r, 0a
Houston - DNP
Charlotte – 30p, 9r, 3a
Washington -13p, 4r, 1a

I’m sorry, but COVID has zero to do with it. He seems to play really well against playoff caliber teams, but doesn’t even seem to be engaged against bad teams, and the results clearly show it.

[Celtics2021]

I’m sure someone must have brought this up by now. Why is Jaylen so inconsistent this year?
NY Knicks – 46p, 9r, 6a
Toronto – 9p, 4r, 0a
Houston - DNP
Charlotte – 30p, 9r, 3a
Washington -13p, 4r, 1a

I’m sorry, but COVID has zero to do with it. He seems to play really well against playoff caliber teams, but doesn’t even seem to be engaged against bad teams, and the results clearly show it.

Mostly his knee.  46 minutes vs. the Knicks after having been locked in his house for 10 days was more than his knee could handle, which led to a poor performance vs. Toronto and rest vs. Houston.  Then against Charlotte he played well, but again an overtime game, probably giving him some soreness that was exacerbated by the collision he had with Gafford in the first half.

I look to him to rebound on Saturday with an extra day off between games.