Jackie Mac: ‘Nobody is blameless’

[SHAQATTACK]

stuck on the treadmill and frustration   because the Lakers rebuild every year from a relentless recruitment of the best stars dying to live in CA.   Building a team from a young core might work once every 25-50 years with a lucky draft.   

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

I miss Brad Wannamaker and Jonas Jerebko 

[Goldstar88]

I honestly don’t even understand what is wrong with this team so I don’t know who to blame. I think we can chalk it up a perfect storm of injuries, covid and one of the shortest offseasons in the nba. If they are the same next year I am ready to hold brad and ainge accountable

Many teams have had to deal with players missing time due to injury and Covid. The C's have the worst group of bench players in the League. Guys like Grant, Semi, Edwards, Kornet, Waters, and Tacko wouldn't make most NBA teams, IMO. Thats a huge portion of the roster. Then we have Parker and Langford who were healthy scratches yesterday.... it’s really bad.

[Moranis]

I feel like Danny needs to get the most blame for this season.  Team lacks size, experience, and talent outside of the starting lineup. Average age of the C’s starters is 25. Average age of the bench is 24.No depth at all...

As a comparison, the Heat starters: Butler(31) Bam(23)Ariza(35) Robinson(27) Oladipo(28)

Rotation players: Dragic(34)Iguadala(37)Nunn(25) Herro(21), Dedmon(35)

Need a roster balanced with vets and younger players. With the way the bench is constructed, you’d think the C’s were going through a rebuild vs a team that made it to the ECF last year.

Danny is responsible...

He did add Fournier and Thompson to the roster. Two very solid vets. And we were in the ECF last year. I feel like a lot of this criticism is in hindsight. How much do you want Ainge rocking the boat on what looked to be a team on the rise?

I don’t think it’s hindsight.  Our bench was a problem last season, and it still is.  Essentially we have replaced Theis with Thompson (downgrade) and Hayward with Fournier (downgrade).  On one hand, Danny’s hands are tied by being limited to the MLE and vet minimums, while wanting to operate under the luxury tax.  On the other, Danny created this roster crunch and cap situation, and there were cheap options available that he passed on.

The bench has been a problem for years and the team keeps replacing better players with worse ones.  Walker and Fournier were basically the only replacements for Irving, Horford, and Hayward.  That isn't going to cut it.  Then you start talking about the rotation players like Rozier, Morris, and Theis and the replacements for them are basically Thompson, R. Williams, and Nesmith.  That just doesn't get it done.  Walker was a terrible fit with Tatum and Brown and never should have been signed.  The team doesn't have a real PF on the roster and hasn't in a couple of seasons.  The team is an ill fitting conglomeration of asset accumulation and with no semblance of team building.  Ainge's inability to pick a direction and a path and stick to it, has created the bloated salary, poorly constructed mess.  Tatum is a potential monster and Brown is very good, but outside of that, there are problems every where and the GM is 100% to blame for this mess of a roster.

[Goldstar88]

I feel like Danny needs to get the most blame for this season.  Team lacks size, experience, and talent outside of the starting lineup. Average age of the C’s starters is 25. Average age of the bench is 24.No depth at all...

As a comparison, the Heat starters: Butler(31) Bam(23)Ariza(35) Robinson(27) Oladipo(28)

Rotation players: Dragic(34)Iguadala(37)Nunn(25) Herro(21), Dedmon(35)

Need a roster balanced with vets and younger players. With the way the bench is constructed, you’d think the C’s were going through a rebuild vs a team that made it to the ECF last year.

Danny is responsible...

He did add Fournier and Thompson to the roster. Two very solid vets. And we were in the ECF last year. I feel like a lot of this criticism is in hindsight. How much do you want Ainge rocking the boat on what looked to be a team on the rise?

I don’t think it’s hindsight.  Our bench was a problem last season, and it still is.  Essentially we have replaced Theis with Thompson (downgrade) and Hayward with Fournier (downgrade).  On one hand, Danny’s hands are tied by being limited to the MLE and vet minimums, while wanting to operate under the luxury tax.  On the other, Danny created this roster crunch and cap situation, and there were cheap options available that he passed on.

The bench has been a problem for years and the team keeps replacing better players with worse ones.  Walker and Fournier were basically the only replacements for Irving, Horford, and Hayward.  That isn't going to cut it.  Then you start talking about the rotation players like Rozier, Morris, and Theis and the replacements for them are basically Thompson, R. Williams, and Nesmith.  That just doesn't get it done.  Walker was a terrible fit with Tatum and Brown and never should have been signed.  The team doesn't have a real PF on the roster and hasn't in a couple of seasons.  The team is an ill fitting conglomeration of asset accumulation and with no semblance of team building.  Ainge's inability to pick a direction and a path and stick to it, has created the bloated salary, poorly constructed mess.  Tatum is a potential monster and Brown is very good, but outside of that, there are problems every where and the GM is 100% to blame for this mess of a roster.

Couldn’t have said it better. Spot on.

[Celtics4ever]

Walker was a terrible fit with Tatum and Brown and never should have been signed

It was a panic move.  Agree 100%  TP

[GreenEnvy]

I feel like Danny needs to get the most blame for this season.  Team lacks size, experience, and talent outside of the starting lineup. Average age of the C’s starters is 25. Average age of the bench is 24.No depth at all...

As a comparison, the Heat starters: Butler(31) Bam(23)Ariza(35) Robinson(27) Oladipo(28)

Rotation players: Dragic(34)Iguadala(37)Nunn(25) Herro(21), Dedmon(35)

Need a roster balanced with vets and younger players. With the way the bench is constructed, you’d think the C’s were going through a rebuild vs a team that made it to the ECF last year.

Danny is responsible...

He did add Fournier and Thompson to the roster. Two very solid vets. And we were in the ECF last year. I feel like a lot of this criticism is in hindsight. How much do you want Ainge rocking the boat on what looked to be a team on the rise?

I don’t think it’s hindsight.  Our bench was a problem last season, and it still is.  Essentially we have replaced Theis with Thompson (downgrade) and Hayward with Fournier (downgrade).  On one hand, Danny’s hands are tied by being limited to the MLE and vet minimums, while wanting to operate under the luxury tax.  On the other, Danny created this roster crunch and cap situation, and there were cheap options available that he passed on.

The bench has been a problem for years and the team keeps replacing better players with worse ones.  Walker and Fournier were basically the only replacements for Irving, Horford, and Hayward.  That isn't going to cut it.  Then you start talking about the rotation players like Rozier, Morris, and Theis and the replacements for them are basically Thompson, R. Williams, and Nesmith.  That just doesn't get it done.  Walker was a terrible fit with Tatum and Brown and never should have been signed.  The team doesn't have a real PF on the roster and hasn't in a couple of seasons.  The team is an ill fitting conglomeration of asset accumulation and with no semblance of team building.  Ainge's inability to pick a direction and a path and stick to it, has created the bloated salary, poorly constructed mess.  Tatum is a potential monster and Brown is very good, but outside of that, there are problems every where and the GM is 100% to blame for this mess of a roster.

I’m not sure there was anything Ainge could have done differently. He assembled a championship-caliber roster in 2017. Irving-Brown-Hayward-Tatum-Horford with Rozier/Smart/Morris/Theis off the bench was most definitely a contender.

We all know the injury (and subsequent fallout) changed the course of that group. From there, you had Horford chase money and Kyrie unhappy. Horford shouldn’t have been matched, that was the right move by Ainge. Kyrie is Kyrie. Seldom are his words/actions rational, so I don’t believe anyone could have convinced him to stay (nor do I directly fault Ainge or Stevens for his unhappiness). Pivoting to Kemba, in hindsight, appears to be a mistake. Would we have been better with Rozier? Or doing nothing? Perhaps, but that doesn’t get us significantly closer to contending, IMO.

The only other question Mark was the Hayward debacle. It’s hard to know what exactly Indy offered, and whether the Charlotte offer would have been matched (or would it even need to be) by them. If Ainge doesn’t like Turner, I don’t blame him for not pulling the trigger (whilst helping a conference rival in the process).

All in all, his draft record is pretty solid so I won’t get on him too much for Langford or Nesmith, as they have both shown flashes of being impact players.

Simply put, I don’t really know what Ainge could do other than going through a complete overhaul/rebuild after losing 3 max  players in 2 seasons.

[kraidstar]

I feel like Danny needs to get the most blame for this season.  Team lacks size, experience, and talent outside of the starting lineup. Average age of the C’s starters is 25. Average age of the bench is 24.No depth at all...

As a comparison, the Heat starters: Butler(31) Bam(23)Ariza(35) Robinson(27) Oladipo(28)

Rotation players: Dragic(34)Iguadala(37)Nunn(25) Herro(21), Dedmon(35)

Need a roster balanced with vets and younger players. With the way the bench is constructed, you’d think the C’s were going through a rebuild vs a team that made it to the ECF last year.

Danny is responsible...

He did add Fournier and Thompson to the roster. Two very solid vets. And we were in the ECF last year. I feel like a lot of this criticism is in hindsight. How much do you want Ainge rocking the boat on what looked to be a team on the rise?

I don’t think it’s hindsight.  Our bench was a problem last season, and it still is.  Essentially we have replaced Theis with Thompson (downgrade) and Hayward with Fournier (downgrade).  On one hand, Danny’s hands are tied by being limited to the MLE and vet minimums, while wanting to operate under the luxury tax.  On the other, Danny created this roster crunch and cap situation, and there were cheap options available that he passed on.

The bench has been a problem for years and the team keeps replacing better players with worse ones.  Walker and Fournier were basically the only replacements for Irving, Horford, and Hayward.  That isn't going to cut it.  Then you start talking about the rotation players like Rozier, Morris, and Theis and the replacements for them are basically Thompson, R. Williams, and Nesmith.  That just doesn't get it done.  Walker was a terrible fit with Tatum and Brown and never should have been signed.  The team doesn't have a real PF on the roster and hasn't in a couple of seasons.  The team is an ill fitting conglomeration of asset accumulation and with no semblance of team building.  Ainge's inability to pick a direction and a path and stick to it, has created the bloated salary, poorly constructed mess.  Tatum is a potential monster and Brown is very good, but outside of that, there are problems every where and the GM is 100% to blame for this mess of a roster.

That "conglomerate" of parts looked very good in two of the last three postseasons - postseasons in which Kyrie and Hayward were either gone or hurt. The cohesiveness and effort were good regardless of who was on the court.

The question is why the team is so toxic and dysfunctional THIS year.

Something is going on behind the scenes.  It's one thing to say that we're not yet good enough to compete for a championship. It's another To blame this epic dysfunction on a roster that is very similar to last year's. We are losing home games to ACTUAL conglomerates of trash like the Thunder. There is something foul afoot that we don't know about.

[Celtics4ever]

That "conglomerate" of parts looked very good in two of the last three postseasons - postseasons in which Kyrie and Hayward were either gone or hurt. The cohesiveness and effort were good regardless of who was on the court.

The question is why the team is so toxic and dysfunctional THIS year.

Something is going on behind the scenes.  It's one thing to say that we're not yet good enough to compete for a championship. It's another To blame this epic dysfunction on a roster that is very similar to last year's. We are losing home games to ACTUAL conglomerates of trash like the Thunder. There is something foul afoot that we don't know about.

I would like to point out the following.


Grant playing more hurts us most definitely.  Rarely does it lead to good results

Losing Theis hurts us.

Hayward's talent was not replaced until Fournier.

Wannamaker was a solid back up PG

Kanter was a better back up than Luke Kornett.

Are we really that similar?

[BruceBanner18]

Had anyone else seen the chart of games missed to covid protocol? With the Celtics at top by a far margin.

Would it be fair to extrapolate that the Celtics as an organization had a failure to get their guys to buy-in to safety protocols and sacrifices off the court? Could this be an indication of poor organizational culture? Could this be another symptom of the larger problem?

[johnnygreen]

Had anyone else seen the chart of games missed to covid protocol? With the Celtics at top by a far margin.

Would it be fair to extrapolate that the Celtics as an organization had a failure to get their guys to buy-in to safety protocols and sacrifices off the court? Could this be an indication of poor organizational culture? Could this be another symptom of the larger problem?

I've wondered the same thing too. Is there a lack of respect or accountability towards one another?

I also question why this team was basically not competitive in the first half of day games. Are the players too concerned about their night life, and can't get to bed by a decent hour?

[johnnygreen]

This will obviously be a critical off-season for the team, which starts with revamping this roster, especially the bench. However, the most important change may be correcting the offensive philosophy of the team. The offense now is basically a different player going one on one each time down the floor. An offense like that can have a negative effect on the defensive side too, as players could become less interested/engaged. As much as everyone around here loves them, Tatum and Brown are the worst culprits. Whatever happened to Brad’s offensive philosophy from his first few years in the league, where the ball always swung around, and the man taking the shot was usually wide open.

[Celtics2021]

Had anyone else seen the chart of games missed to covid protocol? With the Celtics at top by a far margin.

Would it be fair to extrapolate that the Celtics as an organization had a failure to get their guys to buy-in to safety protocols and sacrifices off the court? Could this be an indication of poor organizational culture? Could this be another symptom of the larger problem?

Could be.  Could also be that during the Celtics primary outbreak, Massachusetts had one of the worst, if not the worst, Covid rates, so it was very much throughout the community.  Further, many other teams had plenty of players catch it in the offseason, which meant that these players were far less likely to catch it again during the early part of the season, whereas the Celtics had no one.  This meant that the number of players who could either bring it into the team and or catch it from a teammate were higher, increasing the potential of an outbreak.  Additionally, MA was slower than many states in making shots available for the general population.  Some teams began receiving their shots around the All-Star break, whereas most Celtics had to wait until late April.

[BruceBanner18]

Agreed. Lots of factors but the chart is shocking from a Celtics stand point. Here it is for those interested:

https://public.tableau.com/views/NBACOVID-19Dashboard/NBACOVID-19?:language=en&:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link&:showVizHome=no

[footey]

Agreed. Lots of factors but the chart is shocking from a Celtics stand point. Here it is for those interested:

https://public.tableau.com/views/NBACOVID-19Dashboard/NBACOVID-19?:language=en&:display_count=y&:origin=viz_share_link&:showVizHome=no

I find this an excuse for our general disfunctional play this season.