Celtics (0-2) at Heat (2-0) ECF Game #3 5/21/23

[tenn_smoothie]

I’m starting to question brad if he keeps this guy

Brad needs to go too.
He's like the team - pretty good but soft.

[ozgod]

Washburn:

Jaylen Brown is biting his tongue from telling his truth. You can tell he has a lot on his mind. There's some real issues in that locker room.

That's going to be the focus of Washburn's article tonight, the fact that Joe has lost the team and there's poop going on in the locker room and it's all coming out now under adversity. Every question he's asked tonight of Joe, Al and Jaylen has been about that.

Washburn's article is out. Some snippets:

The Celtics had their souls taken on live television. They were Roberto Duran in New Orleans, taking constant jabs to the chin from Sugar Ray Leonard before walking away and giving up. The Miami Heat are the better team in the Eastern Conference finals. They have more heart. They have more desire. They have more dignity.

The Celtics never wanted to finish unfinished business. They never truly wanted to pay that price. Despite the playoffs being laid out to their advantage, they continued to cheat the game en route to this series.

And finally, the Heat revealed all of their weaknesses and vulnerabilities, not only tactically but internally. The Celtics are not the model organization in the NBA. They don’t work hard enough. They are not willing to sacrifice everything for victory. On Sunday at Kaseya Center, they looked like a bunch of green-clad frauds.

They were humiliated with their season at stake. Game 3 was nothing more than a stage for the world to see how broken the Celtics are. They played hard for about the first eight minutes, then allowed a wave of Miami runs and finally figuratively uttered “No Mas” in the third quarter.

The 128-102 loss to the Heat was their most embarrassing performance in decades, considering the circumstances, importance of the game, and stage. This series was lost in Boston, when the Celtics realized the Heat had an answer for everything.

The naming of Joe Mazzulla as the permanent coach in February is looking more like a premature decision as playoff losses and excuses mount. He’s completely clueless in how to beat the Heat and that was evident Sunday.

“I didn’t have them ready to play, that’s on me,” Mazzulla said. “I just didn’t have them ready to play. I just didn’t execute the proper game plan. I didn’t put them in the right mentality to be ready, and it’s my job to make sure that they’re connected and that they’re ready to play, and I didn’t do that.”

Meanwhile, the Celtics’ two All-NBA players combined to miss 23 of 35 shots and 13 3-pointers. Jaylen Brown could become the NBA’s highest-paid player in several weeks if the Celtics decide to sign him to a maximum extension, but his performance this series has been abysmal.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Brown said. “An obvious letdown. I feel like we let our fan base, organization down, we let ourselves down, and it was collective. We could point fingers, but in reality, it was just embarrassing.”

Jayson Tatum arrived at Kaseya Center looking like Rico Tubbs from “Miami Vice” in an all-white suit, making his performance look even more fraudulent. As usual, he got caught up in the officiating, couldn’t hit open shots, or finish at the rim.

The Miami bench, a group of undrafted players who have been seasoned in the Heat’s system, embarrassed the Celtics with their 3-point shooting and hustle. The Heat knew the Celtics were ready to break and the moment Miami didn’t relent in the opening minutes, the Celtics started crying.

The team’s disintegration occurred far before they arrived in Miami. They haven’t been the same team for months. Mazzulla’s stubbornness didn’t help. And management not adding to the coaching staff after the departures of Ime Udoka, Will Hardy, and Damon Stoudemire was downright negligent and absurd.

Mazzulla was asked whether he’s lost the team, but it’s pretty obvious he has. He finally acknowledged all is not well and no scheme adjustment over the next 48 hours will fix that.

“That’s where I have to be better, figure out what this team needs to make sure that they’re connected, they’re physical, and they’re together by the time we step on the floor.”

They had to win this game and instead they played with no passion or fortitude, as if they were ready for this charade to end. The players won’t say that. Professional athletes will never publicly say they’ve quit. They’ll just show it in their actions.

The Celtics have made their point. They’re ready for a vacation. They’re ready for a break. But there’s one more game to play, one more 48-minute, nationally televised chance to embarrass themselves and the once pristine reputation of the franchise. Oh joy.

This is more than offensive spacing or trouble with zone defense or the inability to stop Jimmy Butler. This is completely mental. The Celtics quit on their coach and themselves and they’ve lost faith because they don’t believe their coach is equipped to lead them past this challenge.

“(The Heat) were coming out, they were together, they were physical, they set the tone, and we didn’t match the energy,” Brown said. “It was a complete letdown, to be frank.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/22/sports/first-joe-mazzulla-lost-his-team-now-celtics-are-verge-losing-series-embarrassing-fashion/

Shame he didn't tell us more about the "locker room issues". Curious minds want to know.

[tenn_smoothie]

Eddie House saying that the Cs look like a team that has quit on their coach and that aren’t all in. Maybe they’re trying to get him fired…

I love him

*sippin*

I love Eddie too.

I will never forget his 17' jumper off the right wing @ LA that capped the historical Game 4 comeback in 2008.

[jpotter33]

Washburn:

Jaylen Brown is biting his tongue from telling his truth. You can tell he has a lot on his mind. There's some real issues in that locker room.

That's going to be the focus of Washburn's article tonight, the fact that Joe has lost the team and there's poop going on in the locker room and it's all coming out now under adversity. Every question he's asked tonight of Joe, Al and Jaylen has been about that.

Washburn's article is out. Some snippets:

The Celtics had their souls taken on live television. They were Roberto Duran in New Orleans, taking constant jabs to the chin from Sugar Ray Leonard before walking away and giving up. The Miami Heat are the better team in the Eastern Conference finals. They have more heart. They have more desire. They have more dignity.

The Celtics never wanted to finish unfinished business. They never truly wanted to pay that price. Despite the playoffs being laid out to their advantage, they continued to cheat the game en route to this series.

And finally, the Heat revealed all of their weaknesses and vulnerabilities, not only tactically but internally. The Celtics are not the model organization in the NBA. They don’t work hard enough. They are not willing to sacrifice everything for victory. On Sunday at Kaseya Center, they looked like a bunch of green-clad frauds.

They were humiliated with their season at stake. Game 3 was nothing more than a stage for the world to see how broken the Celtics are. They played hard for about the first eight minutes, then allowed a wave of Miami runs and finally figuratively uttered “No Mas” in the third quarter.

The 128-102 loss to the Heat was their most embarrassing performance in decades, considering the circumstances, importance of the game, and stage. This series was lost in Boston, when the Celtics realized the Heat had an answer for everything.

The naming of Joe Mazzulla as the permanent coach in February is looking more like a premature decision as playoff losses and excuses mount. He’s completely clueless in how to beat the Heat and that was evident Sunday.

“I didn’t have them ready to play, that’s on me,” Mazzulla said. “I just didn’t have them ready to play. I just didn’t execute the proper game plan. I didn’t put them in the right mentality to be ready, and it’s my job to make sure that they’re connected and that they’re ready to play, and I didn’t do that.”

Meanwhile, the Celtics’ two All-NBA players combined to miss 23 of 35 shots and 13 3-pointers. Jaylen Brown could become the NBA’s highest-paid player in several weeks if the Celtics decide to sign him to a maximum extension, but his performance this series has been abysmal.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Brown said. “An obvious letdown. I feel like we let our fan base, organization down, we let ourselves down, and it was collective. We could point fingers, but in reality, it was just embarrassing.”

Jayson Tatum arrived at Kaseya Center looking like Rico Tubbs from “Miami Vice” in an all-white suit, making his performance look even more fraudulent. As usual, he got caught up in the officiating, couldn’t hit open shots, or finish at the rim.

The Miami bench, a group of undrafted players who have been seasoned in the Heat’s system, embarrassed the Celtics with their 3-point shooting and hustle. The Heat knew the Celtics were ready to break and the moment Miami didn’t relent in the opening minutes, the Celtics started crying.

The team’s disintegration occurred far before they arrived in Miami. They haven’t been the same team for months. Mazzulla’s stubbornness didn’t help. And management not adding to the coaching staff after the departures of Ime Udoka, Will Hardy, and Damon Stoudemire was downright negligent and absurd.

Mazzulla was asked whether he’s lost the team, but it’s pretty obvious he has. He finally acknowledged all is not well and no scheme adjustment over the next 48 hours will fix that.

“That’s where I have to be better, figure out what this team needs to make sure that they’re connected, they’re physical, and they’re together by the time we step on the floor.”

They had to win this game and instead they played with no passion or fortitude, as if they were ready for this charade to end. The players won’t say that. Professional athletes will never publicly say they’ve quit. They’ll just show it in their actions.

The Celtics have made their point. They’re ready for a vacation. They’re ready for a break. But there’s one more game to play, one more 48-minute, nationally televised chance to embarrass themselves and the once pristine reputation of the franchise. Oh joy.

This is more than offensive spacing or trouble with zone defense or the inability to stop Jimmy Butler. This is completely mental. The Celtics quit on their coach and themselves and they’ve lost faith because they don’t believe their coach is equipped to lead them past this challenge.

“(The Heat) were coming out, they were together, they were physical, they set the tone, and we didn’t match the energy,” Brown said. “It was a complete letdown, to be frank.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/22/sports/first-joe-mazzulla-lost-his-team-now-celtics-are-verge-losing-series-embarrassing-fashion/

Shame he didn't tell us more about the "locker room issues". Curious minds want to know.

Geeze. That's as pointed of criticism as I've seen, and Washburn as regularly been critical of Joe this year. Crazy stuff. Just don't see any way Joe is retained after this, let alone if there's another stinker this bad on Tuesday.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Washburn:

Jaylen Brown is biting his tongue from telling his truth. You can tell he has a lot on his mind. There's some real issues in that locker room.

That's going to be the focus of Washburn's article tonight, the fact that Joe has lost the team and there's poop going on in the locker room and it's all coming out now under adversity. Every question he's asked tonight of Joe, Al and Jaylen has been about that.

Washburn's article is out. Some snippets:

The Celtics had their souls taken on live television. They were Roberto Duran in New Orleans, taking constant jabs to the chin from Sugar Ray Leonard before walking away and giving up. The Miami Heat are the better team in the Eastern Conference finals. They have more heart. They have more desire. They have more dignity.

The Celtics never wanted to finish unfinished business. They never truly wanted to pay that price. Despite the playoffs being laid out to their advantage, they continued to cheat the game en route to this series.

And finally, the Heat revealed all of their weaknesses and vulnerabilities, not only tactically but internally. The Celtics are not the model organization in the NBA. They don’t work hard enough. They are not willing to sacrifice everything for victory. On Sunday at Kaseya Center, they looked like a bunch of green-clad frauds.

They were humiliated with their season at stake. Game 3 was nothing more than a stage for the world to see how broken the Celtics are. They played hard for about the first eight minutes, then allowed a wave of Miami runs and finally figuratively uttered “No Mas” in the third quarter.

The 128-102 loss to the Heat was their most embarrassing performance in decades, considering the circumstances, importance of the game, and stage. This series was lost in Boston, when the Celtics realized the Heat had an answer for everything.

The naming of Joe Mazzulla as the permanent coach in February is looking more like a premature decision as playoff losses and excuses mount. He’s completely clueless in how to beat the Heat and that was evident Sunday.

“I didn’t have them ready to play, that’s on me,” Mazzulla said. “I just didn’t have them ready to play. I just didn’t execute the proper game plan. I didn’t put them in the right mentality to be ready, and it’s my job to make sure that they’re connected and that they’re ready to play, and I didn’t do that.”

Meanwhile, the Celtics’ two All-NBA players combined to miss 23 of 35 shots and 13 3-pointers. Jaylen Brown could become the NBA’s highest-paid player in several weeks if the Celtics decide to sign him to a maximum extension, but his performance this series has been abysmal.

“I don’t even know where to start,” Brown said. “An obvious letdown. I feel like we let our fan base, organization down, we let ourselves down, and it was collective. We could point fingers, but in reality, it was just embarrassing.”

Jayson Tatum arrived at Kaseya Center looking like Rico Tubbs from “Miami Vice” in an all-white suit, making his performance look even more fraudulent. As usual, he got caught up in the officiating, couldn’t hit open shots, or finish at the rim.

The Miami bench, a group of undrafted players who have been seasoned in the Heat’s system, embarrassed the Celtics with their 3-point shooting and hustle. The Heat knew the Celtics were ready to break and the moment Miami didn’t relent in the opening minutes, the Celtics started crying.

The team’s disintegration occurred far before they arrived in Miami. They haven’t been the same team for months. Mazzulla’s stubbornness didn’t help. And management not adding to the coaching staff after the departures of Ime Udoka, Will Hardy, and Damon Stoudemire was downright negligent and absurd.

Mazzulla was asked whether he’s lost the team, but it’s pretty obvious he has. He finally acknowledged all is not well and no scheme adjustment over the next 48 hours will fix that.

“That’s where I have to be better, figure out what this team needs to make sure that they’re connected, they’re physical, and they’re together by the time we step on the floor.”

They had to win this game and instead they played with no passion or fortitude, as if they were ready for this charade to end. The players won’t say that. Professional athletes will never publicly say they’ve quit. They’ll just show it in their actions.

The Celtics have made their point. They’re ready for a vacation. They’re ready for a break. But there’s one more game to play, one more 48-minute, nationally televised chance to embarrass themselves and the once pristine reputation of the franchise. Oh joy.

This is more than offensive spacing or trouble with zone defense or the inability to stop Jimmy Butler. This is completely mental. The Celtics quit on their coach and themselves and they’ve lost faith because they don’t believe their coach is equipped to lead them past this challenge.

“(The Heat) were coming out, they were together, they were physical, they set the tone, and we didn’t match the energy,” Brown said. “It was a complete letdown, to be frank.”

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/05/22/sports/first-joe-mazzulla-lost-his-team-now-celtics-are-verge-losing-series-embarrassing-fashion/

Shame he didn't tell us more about the "locker room issues". Curious minds want to know.

Yeah, I'd love to hear more. TP for sharing all of that. Going by everything we know or can see right now, this team/organization looks like an utter failure.

[SHAQATTACK]

Tatum and Brown don’t act like leaders and don’t want the job ,  that is usually your best players  on a team .  Udoka stepped in and became that total leader for them …taking the role as the bad guy calling people out .  Tatum and Brown are too close and won’t get on each other , and the rest of the lower level players look around as what do we do . No leadership , nobody sitting example .  Joe doesn’t have their attention and respect they had fro Udoka .  So now , they are just a captainless ship adrift at sea with everybody standing around …like it’s cool …..we ll play better next time.   What the hell Brad ?    ….you fired Udoka ….DO something!

[Who]

Earvin Magic Johnson
@MagicJohnson

In my 44 years of being associated with the NBA I never thought I’d see a Boston Celtics team, a franchise with 17 Championships, quit. I know Celtics fans all over the world must be disgusted and devastated. The Miami Heat blew them out 128-102 in Game 3.

Last edited
4:14 am · 22 May 2023
·
753.7K
 Views

[tenn_smoothie]

Earvin Magic Johnson
@MagicJohnson

In my 44 years of being associated with the NBA I never thought I’d see a Boston Celtics team, a franchise with 17 Championships, quit. I know Celtics fans all over the world must be disgusted and devastated. The Miami Heat blew them out 128-102 in Game 3.

Last edited
4:14 am · 22 May 2023
·
753.7K
 Views

Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline. !!!!!!  Unbelievable ........... and right on target.

[BASS_THUMPER]

Eddie House saying that the Cs look like a team that has quit on their coach and that aren’t all in. Maybe they’re trying to get him fired…

I love him

*sippin*

I love Eddie too.

I will never forget his 17' jumper off the right wing @ LA that capped the historical Game 4 comeback in 2008.

TP!

[libermaniac]

Earvin Magic Johnson
@MagicJohnson

In my 44 years of being associated with the NBA I never thought I’d see a Boston Celtics team, a franchise with 17 Championships, quit. I know Celtics fans all over the world must be disgusted and devastated. The Miami Heat blew them out 128-102 in Game 3.

Last edited
4:14 am · 22 May 2023
·
753.7K
 Views

I guess he didn’t watch Kyrie’s last game.

[ozgod]

Earvin Magic Johnson
@MagicJohnson

In my 44 years of being associated with the NBA I never thought I’d see a Boston Celtics team, a franchise with 17 Championships, quit. I know Celtics fans all over the world must be disgusted and devastated. The Miami Heat blew them out 128-102 in Game 3.

Last edited
4:14 am · 22 May 2023
·
753.7K
 Views

I guess he didn’t watch Kyrie’s last game.

Given he wants Cryrie in LA next season he's probably blocked it from his memory 

[Birdman]

Embarrassing

[Kernewek]

Washburn:

Jaylen Brown is biting his tongue from telling his truth. You can tell he has a lot on his mind. There's some real issues in that locker room.

That's going to be the focus of Washburn's article tonight, the fact that Joe has lost the team and there's poop going on in the locker room and it's all coming out now under adversity. Every question he's asked tonight of Joe, Al and Jaylen has been about that.

Not that I expect very much from Washburn but the fact that someone watching a press conference can figure it out is pretty telling. Sportswriting is so boring sometimes.

[ozgod]

Steve Buckley's take in the Athletic about whether the Cs should just fire Joe or blow it up. He brought up the locker room discord too but again it's all smoke and no fire. Can't post the whole article as I don't want to be in violation of forum rules but here's the relevant part of his article. The full article is linked below for those who have a sub.

If there’s a Pro Joe lobby out there that believes the 32-year-old rookie coach is doing a crackerjack job, it should probably fire its public relations firm. What matters is that Joe Mazzulla doesn’t like the job Joe Mazzulla is doing, and that’s that … except that Al Horford audibly grimaced when his coach’s remarks were repeated for him.

“No,” Horford said. “Coach is saying that? He’s being generous. At the end of the day, that falls on each player. We know what we have to do. We knew the magnitude of this game.”

But Horford is being generous as well. It’s a nice arrangement: Mazzulla takes all the blame, and then the players take all the blame — Brown called it “embarrassing” — and then everyone gets to go to bed believing they manned up and took some responsibility.

But blame was being assessed all over the world.  The great Magic Johnson, for one, took to Twitter to put the Celtics on blast: “In my 44 years of being associated with the NBA I never thought I’d see a Boston Celtics team, a franchise with 17 Championships, quit. I know Celtics fans all over the world must be disgusted and devastated.”

This is a man who had Steel Cage matches with the Celtics throughout the 1980s. Yet such was his respect for the Celtics that not only did he show up at the old Garden for Larry Bird Night but he also had the joint roaring when he opened up his Lakers warmup jacket to reveal a Celtics T-shirt underneath.

Here now is that man, Magic Johnson, calling the Celtics quitters. Mercy.

Ultimately, though, the only blame assessment that matters will come from ownership and president of basketball operations Brad Stevens. Removing Mazzulla would be as easy as throwing raw meat at hungry lions, but in the long term the Celtics will need to decide if it’s worth the many millions it’ll take to keep this core group together. And by core group, we’re talking about Tatum and Brown, naturally.

For the sake of argument, let’s allow Mazzulla to blame this mess on himself. If so, it begs the obvious next question: If Tatum and Brown truly are elite NBA players, players you hold onto, build around, promote and celebrate, then shouldn’t they be above wilting and quitting just because their young coach might be getting blinded by the postseason lights?

People keep asking questions about some kind of locker room discord. That question was posed directly to Tatum late Sunday night. He was also briefed on the American Bandstand of heavy hitters who are saying the Celtics flat-out quit Sunday night.

“I deleted Twitter from my phone to start the playoffs,” he said. “I honestly haven’t seen anything good, bad or indifferent since Game 1 against the Hawks. I’m certain after every game you win, you’re the best player and the best team, and when you lose, you’re not the star and the team is not good enough.

“I’m certain there will be some of that, but out of sight, out of mind,” he continued. “You don’t see it, because that’s not what’s important. What’s important is the guys in the locker room, teammates, coaches, and we’re all in this together just trying to figure it out.”

But are they … all in this together? Are they really? The manner in which they conducted their affairs Sunday night, especially in the third quarter when they started to close the gap and then, well, quit, does not have the ring of all-in.

Tatum looked good in the first quarter but wound up scoring 14 points in his 33 1/2 minutes. Brown scored just 12 points in a little under 28 minutes, and his defense was troublingly indifferent at times.

The second biggest question facing management this offseason is determining how much of this postseason collapse is Mazzulla’s fault.

Depending on where management comes down on that, the biggest question, one of the biggest in the history of the franchise, will be if they can afford to invest in a Tatum-Brown future.

If this is the part where you want to counter that it took Paul Pierce 10 seasons to win a championship, that’s because it took that long to assemble a winning team around him.

I was under the impression that led by Tatum and Brown, this year’s Celtics were another of those teams.

https://theathletic.com/4540309/2023/05/22/boston-celtics-miami-heat-nba-playoffs-2/

[Kernewek]

If this is the part where you want to counter that it took Paul Pierce 10 seasons to win a championship, that’s because it took that long to assemble a winning team around him.

Now this is interesting because of the tangent it brings up - is there a universe where the Tatum & Brown duo is just Antoine & Pierce all over again? There's some similarities, and some differences (namely that the Jays have already been much, much more successful).