Celtics (1-2) at Pacers (3-0) Game #4 12/29/20

[radiohead]

Great comeback win! The bench is slowly developing, can’t wait to get Langford back. If only we could figure out these 3rd quarter collapses. Congrats all!

[liam]

I also have to say, I didn’t really notice the refs this game. The sign of good refs.

[blink]

On a more negative note  I absolutely hate the TT/Theis starting front court. I realize IND has a ton of size up front - and so do MIL and BKN to an extent - but I'd love to just start one of them and maybe even give FPP some run. His ability to penetrate opens things up quite a bit and it's not like our defense is super-stellar or anything.

so PP - MS - JB - JT - TT
with Theis - Jeff T - Timelord - Grant W - Green or Semi pickem
until Kemba gets back?

[Ogaju]

good win by the Cs.

[tstorey_97]

Comebacks are good!!

[tenn_smoothie]

On a more negative note  I absolutely hate the TT/Theis starting front court. I realize IND has a ton of size up front - and so do MIL and BKN to an extent - but I'd love to just start one of them and maybe even give FPP some run. His ability to penetrate opens things up quite a bit and it's not like our defense is super-stellar or anything with that duo.

That's ironic. Seems I often agree with your comments, but I love that Stevens is putting some size on the floor.
I haven't watched the Indy games though, so I can't say for sure - I would have thought those two together would improve our interior defense.
Are they not ?

[footey]

I thought Brad did a really good job coaching tonight. He road guys longer who were playing well rather than stick with a set amount of minutes.  My one criticism was that he seemed to leave Theis in too long when he was getting scorched in 3rd quarter and missed some bunnies. But otherwise solid coaching tonight.

[tenn_smoothie]

Also, why does Rob Williams only get 11 minutes ?
He scores 8 on 4-4 shooting and has 5 rebounds in that short amount of court time. I don't understand Stevens a lot of the time.

[jambr380]

On a more negative note  I absolutely hate the TT/Theis starting front court. I realize IND has a ton of size up front - and so do MIL and BKN to an extent - but I'd love to just start one of them and maybe even give FPP some run. His ability to penetrate opens things up quite a bit and it's not like our defense is super-stellar or anything.

so PP - MS - JB - JT - TT
with Theis - Jeff T - Timelord - Grant W - Green or Semi pickem
until Kemba gets back?

Yeah, similar to our playoff line-up, but with Pritchard instead of Kemba and I guess you're going with TT over Theis (which is totally fair given Theis' early season struggles).

Not awesome guard depth if we're going small; but Teague, Brown, and even Green can slide into one of the guard spots. I'd also love TL to get more minutes, but going to be tough with my self-imposed one-big line-ups.

[Celtics Mike]

I don't complain much about CBS rotations, mostly because I think he is smarter than I am.

I really do not understand why he played Theis so many minutes in the second half tonight. He wasn't good. He wasn't a threat offensively. He played ok positionally on defense, but got scored on many, many times. I didn't think he was particularly effective against Sabonis. I didn't think he defended the three point line well against Turner. I didn't think he defended the rim well.

While Rob Williams was definitely erratic and a bit frenetic tonight, I thought he was still a net positive on the court. I don't understand what CBS saw that made him keep give Theis so many minutes and bench Williams.

The only possibility that I can think of is that CBS felt like playing Theis and Thompson would force the Pacers to play Sabonis and Turner, which would mean Pritchard and Tatum would be able to get them in the pick-and-roll on the perimeter and create easier looks.

Sometimes, I'd just love to sit in the coaches meetings, or get a one-on-one session with CBS and just ask him what he saw that helped him make the decision to play Theis there, because there was nothing in the box score or from my eye test that would suggest it was a good decision.

I think it's Timelord's erratic defence that limits his minutes. I really hope he steps up this season because he is definitely a keeper and should not be released or traded

[LilRip]

On a more negative note  I absolutely hate the TT/Theis starting front court. I realize IND has a ton of size up front - and so do MIL and BKN to an extent - but I'd love to just start one of them and maybe even give FPP some run. His ability to penetrate opens things up quite a bit and it's not like our defense is super-stellar or anything with that duo.

That's ironic. Seems I often agree with your comments, but I love that Stevens is putting some size on the floor.
I haven't watched the Indy games though, so I can't say for sure - I would have thought those two together would improve our interior defense.
Are they not ?

I don’t have stats but from the eye test, they do not. Once they get pulled out on the perimeter on PnR action, there’s not a lot of paint protection happening.

[nickagneta]

Loved almost everything the Jay's did tonight, well, except I would much rather Jaylen had gone 8-10 from the line rather than 5-10, but he will fix that. They can definitely carry this team a very, very long way just by themselves.

[jambr380]

On a more negative note  I absolutely hate the TT/Theis starting front court. I realize IND has a ton of size up front - and so do MIL and BKN to an extent - but I'd love to just start one of them and maybe even give FPP some run. His ability to penetrate opens things up quite a bit and it's not like our defense is super-stellar or anything with that duo.

That's ironic. Seems I often agree with your comments, but I love that Stevens is putting some size on the floor.
I haven't watched the Indy games though, so I can't say for sure - I would have thought those two together would improve our interior defense.
Are they not ?

In theory, I am all for it, but I think one of the bigs needs to be skilled like we had with Al. Theis isn't enough of a floor-spacer so they really just bog down the offense (in my opinion) when they are out there together.

There was a stat before the game saying the Cs are essentially the worst team in the league so far as far defensive FG% goes. Obviously a small sample size, but it's not like that duo is striking fear in the hearts of their opponents. Still lots of time to figure it out, though, and Theis is learning on the fly how to be more perimeter oriented.

[slamtheking]

I also have to say, I didn’t really notice the refs this game. The sign of good refs.

one of the rare games where I think the C's got the benefit of the whistle.

[footey]

Pritchard and Rob Williams should play more minutes together.  PP really knows how to set him up for easy hoops.  He is such a good penetrator and facilitator, it needs to be exploited more.

Rob was a little hyper in the first half but settled down and gave us good minutes in 2nd half.  TT was solid which is why Rob's minutes were more limited tonight. Daniel's minutes will probably be cut down as the season goes on.