Jackie MacMullen Article on the Celtics Season

[cltc5]

Brad and Danny have this year to right the ship by getting the players to buy in and commit.  The excuses are fine.  If they don’t make it to at least game 7 of the second round, Ainge and Stevens both need to be fired!  Chemistry and all this bs that’s the problem directly has to do with management.  Celtics fans need only look at the patriots and see how that properly works.

[Atzar]

The kids need to grow up. 

I don't care to talk about Kyrie anymore.  He's gone, end of chapter, moving on.  But most of the younger guys are still here, and their apparent lack of maturity, focus, and drive is potentially a serious issue for the franchise if unchecked.  They haven't won squat.  They haven't earned squat.  We don't hang banners for gutsy ECF runs.  Those last five wins are the hardest ones to get, and I don't know if some of our guys understand that.  The sense of entitlement confuses me.

[RJ87]

The kids need to grow up. 

I don't care to talk about Kyrie anymore.  He's gone, end of chapter, moving on.  But most of the younger guys are still here, and their apparent lack of maturity, focus, and drive is potentially a serious issue for the franchise if unchecked.  They haven't won squat.  They haven't earned squat.  We don't hang banners for gutsy ECF runs.  Those last five wins are the hardest ones to get, and I don't know if some of our guys understand that.  The sense of entitlement confuses me.

This is why I think Danny is going after Kemba instead of bringing in a young PG like DLo and turning it over to the kids.

[playdream]

Kyrie didn't fail by himself.

But I'll keep saying this:


Kyrie wanted the mantle.

He wanted the spotlight.

He wanted to have a franchise to call his own.



He got all of that.

He wasted it.


He asked for the responsibility to be the leader and be the guy whose job it was to get all the younger guys -- who looked up to him -- to buy in.

He not only failed at doing that, he actually seemed to avoid that responsibility, at least by the second half of this season.



If you don't want to be blamed when team chemistry is a shambles, don't hold yourself out as the main man.

He never said he wanted those, stop putting up strawman out of blind hatred

He pretty explicitly did.

In your delusion?

[Atzar]

The kids need to grow up. 

I don't care to talk about Kyrie anymore.  He's gone, end of chapter, moving on.  But most of the younger guys are still here, and their apparent lack of maturity, focus, and drive is potentially a serious issue for the franchise if unchecked.  They haven't won squat.  They haven't earned squat.  We don't hang banners for gutsy ECF runs.  Those last five wins are the hardest ones to get, and I don't know if some of our guys understand that.  The sense of entitlement confuses me.

This is why I think Danny is going after Kemba instead of bringing in a young PG like DLo and turning it over to the kids.

You're probably right, especially since DLo has had maturity issues of his own. 

[playdream]

Look its not ideal that guys are going out late during the playoffs.

But as Celtics fans we revere Larry Bird who broke his hand in a BAR FIGHT during the playoffs. As NBA fans we love Jordan who was in casinos constantly during regular season and playoffs.

We only care when our team doesn't win, then we suddenly "discover" how these guys aren't hermetic warrior monks who only play basketball.

That's exactly what Kyrie is talking about, our young guys doesn't know what it takes to win a champ, he was proved to be right, so Brown and Rozier(and Tatum for that matter) think they are Bird or MJ?

If i'm Kyrie i will call their axx out in public too, because that's what they asked for and what they deserved

Then you have to do the same to Kyrie...who flat out quit vs the Bucks in the playoffs. He also did not even try to play defense the entire season. Kyrie had problems with just about everyone on the Celtics...justified or not.

When Kyrie does not get his way he pouts and turns on everyone...did the same thing in Cleveland during the playoffs. Refused to talk to the coaches or players. His pattern of behavior stretches far and wide.

This is flat out wrong. You could argue that he was top 5 on the team on D in that stretch early in the season where everybody sucked.

Yeah , Kyrie played his ass off on both ends of the floor all year before he choked in the Bucks series

[SparzWizard]

I think if the Celtics didn't have an overachieving season in 2017-2018 the guys would have a different time.

Game 7...9 points shy of an NBA finals appearance and suddenly Rozier, Tatum, and Brown are all that. Better thank the state of the weak eastern conference.

[libermaniac]

These guys don’t need to report for work till like 4pm so being out at 2 am, in and of itself, means nothing. If they are drinking heavily, then that’s a different story. It’s kind of hard to come down from all the adrenaline flowing through their bodies at 10pm to sound asleep by midnight.

I'm sure they're only having meaningful conversations in the clubs on Miami Beach until 5am.

Btw, they weren't out until 2am. That's when the team got into town and guys still went out.

I know that but go to bed by 5am, wake up by 1pm. It’s enough sleep. I’m just saying guys generally go out to dinner after a game. They are probably never home till 2am. Staying up a bit later doesn’t mean they aren’t serious about winning.

[bdm860]

On the not-signing-the-charity-balls issue, I'll take a contrarian view and maybe that's not as bad as it sounds.

Let's be real, when companies do things like that, it's often less about doing things for charity and more about grandstanding.

Those signed balls might be featured at some fancy gala's raffle events to raise money for charity, but the gala event costs $50k and raffle/donations only bring in $10k.  Maybe Wyc's niece is now head of Shamrock Foundation with a very generous salary, etc.  Not trying to disparage the Shamrock Foundation here, I know nothing about them, but a lot of charities are wasteful with high executive salaries and little actual charity.  Maybe Kyrie thinks they're one of them, or maybe flat earth conspiracy theorist Kyrie read one of the many articles or watched one of the many documentaries that reveal the "dark side" of charitable organizations, and is now skeptical of all charities.

Maybe Kyrie is sick of seeing those balls end up on eBay.

All this to say, these things get framed like "Kyrie didn't do this for charity" when in reality it's more like "Kyrie didn't do his employer a favor" or "Kyrie's not letting someone profit off of his name," etc.  I don't do everything you ask just because you say it's for charity.  What does the word government mean to you?

[SparzWizard]

I wonder if the Celtics are gonna do a video tribute of Kyrie next season when he returns as a visiting opponent lol

[jpotter33]

Look its not ideal that guys are going out late during the playoffs.

But as Celtics fans we revere Larry Bird who broke his hand in a BAR FIGHT during the playoffs. As NBA fans we love Jordan who was in casinos constantly during regular season and playoffs.

We only care when our team doesn't win, then we suddenly "discover" how these guys aren't hermetic warrior monks who only play basketball.

That's exactly what Kyrie is talking about, our young guys doesn't know what it takes to win a champ, he was proved to be right, so Brown and Rozier(and Tatum for that matter) think they are Bird or MJ?

If i'm Kyrie i will call their axx out in public too, because that's what they asked for and what they deserved

Then you have to do the same to Kyrie...who flat out quit vs the Bucks in the playoffs. He also did not even try to play defense the entire season. Kyrie had problems with just about everyone on the Celtics...justified or not.

When Kyrie does not get his way he pouts and turns on everyone...did the same thing in Cleveland during the playoffs. Refused to talk to the coaches or players. His pattern of behavior stretches far and wide.

This is flat out wrong. You could argue that he was top 5 on the team on D in that stretch early in the season where everybody sucked.

Yeah , Kyrie played his ass off on both ends of the floor all year before he choked in the Bucks series

That’s complete bs. For the first quarter to half of the season, yes, he absolutely did put in the effort defensively.

However, as the season wore on it absolutely declined to the point that he was as bad as ever by the end of the season. And this notion that he was somehow a “good” defender during that stretch is a bit far-fetched. He wasn’t the sieve he was in the past, but he was hardly more than an average defender at that point.

[jpotter33]

Kyrie didn't fail by himself.

But I'll keep saying this:


Kyrie wanted the mantle.

He wanted the spotlight.

He wanted to have a franchise to call his own.



He got all of that.

He wasted it.


He asked for the responsibility to be the leader and be the guy whose job it was to get all the younger guys -- who looked up to him -- to buy in.

He not only failed at doing that, he actually seemed to avoid that responsibility, at least by the second half of this season.



If you don't want to be blamed when team chemistry is a shambles, don't hold yourself out as the main man.

He never said he wanted those, stop putting up strawman out of blind hatred

He pretty explicitly did.

In your delusion?

I mean, he absolutely did say this on multiple occasions, especially it being regarded as his team and him being the “leader” and best player on the team. It is also widely known that this is one of the main reasons he wanted out of Lebron’s shadow.

Strange argument to make against such a well-know fact.

[Chef Parish]

Then there's this by Jackie MacMullen

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27071612/kyrie-takes-candy-from-a-baby

[Bobshot]

I see Jackie is now ESPN.

Just keep in mind that ESPN is NY, and I've never seen a positive article about a Boston team from them.

The one exception is Mike Reiss of ESPN Boston, who writes very objectively about the Patriots. Excellent writer.

But the NY bunch. Forget it.

Not that Jackie isn't right about her observations.

[Mr October]

Good article, providing good perspective on what happened last season.  Kyrie was well intentioned, we seem to lose sight of that.  But this team should be better off when he goes, provided the young guys mature.

TP. I can't put the majority of blame on Kyrie for this reason as well. I also believe he was well intentioned with his leadership. And the young guys smelled success to soon and took it for granted, thinking that they were ready to be the man with 1 on 1 iso plays.

And Stevens is right, the team had too many talented perimeter guys who thought the ball should be in their hands. Its time to strip out Morris and Rozier. And next season its time for Tatum and Brown to put up or shut up. If they want to be stars then they need to evolve their games and go to the hole, move the ball and play smart team basketball on both ends of the court.

Brown looked like he was getting it as the season went on. I'm a big fan. Hopefully Tatum with step it up too.