You don't hire a new GM and coach and then replace them one year later unless the team seriously implodes and massively underperforms. So, unless the Celtics finish the season with a locker room in chaos and a record that puts them deep into the lottery, there is no hot seat this year. And this team has too much talent to finish any worse than .500. Their February and March schedule is unbelievably easier than the upcoming 6 week December/January run. A 12-12 record over the next 24 games probably puts this team with a record near 47-50 wins
Yes it would be the ultimate in overreacting. Especially if you consider that fact that we threw away 6 games where we were in winning positions in (vs NY in 2OT, vs Was in 2OT, vs Chi where we led by 25+ but collapsed in the 4th, vs Dallas where we got Doncic'd, vs Cle where the Cavs won with 2 last second free throws, and vs Spurs where we fell behind by 26, fought back to lead by 7 then were outscored by 15 to lose). It's a game of if, but if we had withstood those opposition runs when we were in winning positions we could easily be 17-4 and heading the EC right now. Those losses were not because we got blown away and outplayed for the whole game but where we squandered winning positions and lost key moments in the games.
Obviously we didn't deserve to win them but it's a different story when you lose key moments vs where you were never in the game to begin with. The former speaks to mental issues, the latter to talent or composition issues. Their inconsistency on the court is why they are where they are, which to me is less to do with Ime and more to do with the players applying themselves for the full 48 minutes.
All that said, I'm not totally sold on Ime yet. But he deserves a much longer rope than a lot of fans, with our instant gratification mentality today, are willing to give.
I think you captured the situation pretty well - TP
Or it is in fact coaching that leads to the mental issues and breakdown of focus.
... in which case, again, you give Ime time to figure things out.
There's so much that goes into getting to "a winning team" than just swapping a coach 2 months in.
I realise some orgs look like they're trying harder by hiring Kyrie, Harden and Durant ... but look how far that's getting them.
Also realise what message you're sending by trading/ditching players/staff after giving them less-than-minimal amount of time to do their jobs.
You'd basically be saying "we don't trust our own judgement". You're saying "you're all replaceable"/"don't get comfortable".
Not a great line to throw at a league full of players that are deciding their own futures.
Canning a coach without giving him a chance to grow into their role, especially a brand new one, is silly. Expecting everything to magically work out from day 1, is silly. Ignoring the progress made over the last few months, is silly.
I'm taking this 20 games at a time.