Preseason’s Over: Your Takeaways?

[Somebody]

1. They are not any better than they were last year
2. They came out the gate with the same flaws they had last year. (Lack of bench, no playmaking, no real big, too many bad 3’s)
3. They lack playmaking and Kemba is not the answer
4. The young guys are still valueless
5. Tatum is overrated
6. Teague is the only decent bench player we have
7. We are less talented than we have been the past few years
8. They lack discipline STILL


This team showed no development whatsoever. The main gripe is everyone is waiting for Kemba to come back as if Brown and Tatum wasn’t supposed to be “superstars”. Why would they need Kemba back so bad if all he offers is just 20 more points? Kemba isn’t fixing this, Tatum and Brown have not developed this coming season and anyone who denies that are in straight denial.

As matter a fact not 1 current C’s player has improved from the bubble and I can argue they didn’t play that well in there either.

And there are people who will say this is an overreaction because it’s the preseason...Kyrie and Durant didn’t even play in the bubble and they look great. Tatum and Brown didn’t look good at all... this isn’t an overreaction the Celtics aren’t a top 3 team in the east right now...

I have:
Nets
Bucks
Heat
Philly

After that it’s just who is going to be the 5th best team:

Raptors
Wizards
Celtics

This is reality not an overreaction.

I was reading Kemba is not the answer and my mind went two different ways:

(1) I don't think Kemba gets enough credit for how he improves the offense with ball-handling, speed, dribble penetration, playmaking and overall passing. How he impacts opponents defenses and forces help defensive actions creating space and opportunities for others.

(2) That this brings me back to a strong thought / feeling that I was having last season in how we were lacking big man passing. A big man who can help organize the halfcourt offense and distribute the ball to our wing scorers. Someone who can help our PG out so all the pressure / responsibility is not on our PG's shoulders.

That yes, Kemba alone is not the solution. He is just part of the solution. And that need for more passing elsewhere in lineup (particularly big man passing) will be even more plain to see this season with Gordon Hayward leaving - and leaving a big hole at that in terms of secondary playmaking from the wing.

Whatever about a big man that can shoot, a big man that can pass is what we really need.

Horford fits in our TPE

[Who]

Need 2 more pre season games to fine tune

- Celts as of now are behind 76ers, Heat and Nets. Maybe Bucks, but they have looked bad in the pre season also
- Brad has to stop starting Green
- NBA 3 pt line has been difficult to digest for many of the younger players

What do you mean maybe Bucks? Cs are fifth in talent in the east for sure.

Yeah, I reckon that is the case. Cs are 5th best in East.

[PAOBoston]

My take is the team probably needs like 2 more games of preseason.

Also, team will tough time early on in the season as they await the return of TT and Kemba.

[greenhead85]

The real Celtics did not show up in the preseason. They treated it like a warm up - I am biased, of course.

The two games unwrapped the strengths of the two teams. We've been notified loud and clear.

PP and Nesmith will get some (significant?) playing time. JTeague might be our starting PG. Please, no Smart at PG. Waters is a good playmaker.

Tatum would be dominant when he plays the 3 which I think is his natural position.

Durant would be a big problem to all teams.

First 10 games of the season is the biggest test for BS.

[Birdman]

Bench still horrible..need another big to help out Thompson and Theis.. both Williams are not the answer

[keevsnick]

I was actually somewhat encouraged by Tatum an Browns passing. Brown ha a couple really good ones tonight. 4 assist an 1 turnover, if he averages that it would be pretty good this year. Their shots will fall, I'm not worried about that.

But what worries me is the rest of the depth. Some of it is just not gonna see the floor like Green, Edwards, Waters, Fall and thats fine because those are like 13-17 on your depth chart. But guys like Pritchard an Nesmith are rookies and so  expecting a consistent positive impact may simply be too much. The williams pair may both be best at center an thats tough when thompson/theis get most those minutes. Langford is hurt. The return of walker/thompson will help a lot but I worry about Kemba's health long term.

its just kind of a mess, all the guys they have are all too young, one way players (offense OR defense), undersized ect. There's no theory to how the second unit should work. 

[GreenBoomer]

Need 2 more pre season games to fine tune

- Celts as of now are behind 76ers, Heat and Nets. Maybe Bucks, but they have looked bad in the pre season also
- Brad has to stop starting Green
- NBA 3 pt line has been difficult to digest for many of the younger players

What do you mean maybe Bucks? Cs are fifth in talent in the east for sure.

Yeah, I reckon that is the case. Cs are 5th best in East.

Probably behind Raptors too

[A Future of Stevens]

As has been echoed here, without Kemba's playmaking we definitely take a step back. It would be wishful thinking to assume our young wings could make up for that lack of creation. It is going to be an interesting start to the season.

I also think the Celtics need to look at having someone over 6'10 that isn't a stiff (sorry Tacko, love ya buddy.) Kanter was useless defending against modern offenses, but he was atleast a different physical look to throw at the few remaining dominant bigs. I am excited about TT, and I think he and Theis are a good rotation, but we do give up inches. Expecting TT to bang with the Embiids of the world is just asking a lot.

[knuckleballer]

My biggest takeaway is that we should sign Korver, Ilyasova, or someone else I’m not thinking of and cut Edwards.  Or sign two vets and cut Edwards and Green or Ojeleye.  We need more veteran experience for the bench.  I also hope Ainge can find a solid player to use the TPE on this season rather than wait until the offseason.

[Tr1boy]

My biggest takeaway is that we should sign Korver, Ilyasova, or someone else I’m not thinking of and cut Edwards.  Or sign two vets and cut Edwards and Green or Ojeleye.  We need more veteran experience for the bench.  I also hope Ainge can find a solid player to use the TPE on this season rather than wait until the offseason.

Would the team be penalized (luxury tax)then?

I feel like Danny and Wyc want to avoid repeated tax

[coco]

Too many negatives and so I am just going to stick with the positives (which are not many):

1. Aaron Nesmith has a better motor that I expected - I think he will help more than Payton.
2. Jeff Teague will help - when BS stops experimenting with lineups
3. I suppose TT will be a positive addition.  Need his "know-how" and skills.


...as I said.  Not too many positives.  Lack of chemistry and tons of lineup experimentation left me wondering.  And to be clear, I am hoping it was experimentation - I can't imagine wasting Jeff Teague talent with that second unit.  Either start him, or clean-up the second unit,.

I'll leave it like that for now....

[OhioGreen]

Our current team, objectively, has limited talent.  JT potential superstar, and no he's not there yet.  His only problem is he's a clone of Kobe, with lesser results (so far, I think he'll get there!).  He's a complete ball stopper, as Kobe was.  That's the catch.  He and JB know we have no offensive firepower, so they try to do it all. 
I love DTheis, but at 6'8" he's a liability at Center.  RW is coming but still too many errors of inexperience. (TT at some pt is a +).
Marcus is a great 6th man, but due to injuries and roster limitations, he can't be used that way.
Semi, GWilliams, JGreen, Tacko, Waters, and CarsenE shouldn't be on our roster.  They're all terrible.  I'd waive all of them and sign six currently unsigned free agents (Ilyasova, O'Quinn, Henson, Dedmon, CDiallo, others) for vet mins, that would immediately improve our team at minimal cost.
As Pritchard, Nesmith and hopefully someday Langford improve they'll help us too.
And there's always a chance Kemba returns sometime this season.
A real mixed bag, that has NO CHANCE of competing for a title and maybe too good to get in lottery.  Depressing.
Need Danny too pull one out of left field to save this mess!

[knuckleballer]

My biggest takeaway is that we should sign Korver, Ilyasova, or someone else I’m not thinking of and cut Edwards.  Or sign two vets and cut Edwards and Green or Ojeleye.  We need more veteran experience for the bench.  I also hope Ainge can find a solid player to use the TPE on this season rather than wait until the offseason.

Would the team be penalized (luxury tax)then?

I feel like Danny and Wyc want to avoid repeated tax

I assume Korver and/or Ilyasova would sign for the vet minimum.  How much below the luxury tax are we? I’ve lost track now.  I think it’s around $20 million ish.

[GreenWarrior]

We play the worst kind of offense you could play and it starts with the coach. We have 2 players that can get to the basket and they're relegated to just being shooters. This team looks the same during the stevens tenure despite the change in rosters over this time.

If things aren't fixed by the coach then it's not a question of "if" we should trade for harden it's "why haven't we done so yet"?

If this is what we're going to do on offense then we need to trade for a guy that is better than anyone currently on the roster at doing this.

It's horrible basketball to watch, it's rarely successful and if tatum and brown are "the guys" then our coach is wasting their careers.

[Kuberski33]

1. Jaylen & Tatum weren't engaged in either game
2. Jaylen looks like he hasn't practiced much since the playoffs ended

Neither of the above are anything to be concerned about.
More worrisome are the following:

3. At least one and possibly 2 members of their early season rotation have no record of success in the league.
4. Seeing no evidence that Hayward's ball movement has been replaced
5. When the 3's aren't falling there aren't a lot of other options available to generate offense
6. Too much NBA deadwood on the roster - still.
8. Bench scoring after Teague - no idea where it's coming from
7. Team looks like it's still figuring out how it wants to play

Positives-
8. Teague looks like a good signing
9. Pritchard and Nesmith look like they'll be NBA players eventually
10. What we're seeing isn't surprising given the circumstances.  It's pre season and after a deep run in the playoffs which ended only 2 months ago, it's going to take time to get back in gear.