Fire Joe! ... or critique Joe ... or defend Joe... or worry about Joe's coaching

[jpotter33]

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2024/04/jayson-tatum-wants-celtics-to-get-creative-after-heat-game-2-upset.html

“I think we’ve gotta be more creative,” Tatum said. “The playoffs are about making adjustments game to game, and they did that. They’re not just going to let us catch the ball, they’re not just going to let us throw it to KP easy. They’re supposed to try to mess things a little up, and make it a little bit tougher. So it’s our job to react in real time, as well as make our adjustments going from game to game.”

“I think they’re well-coached,” Brown said. “I think that’s a credit to the coaching staff and organization. They put together a good game plan for them, and they feel confident and they come out and execute. I think that’s what they do. Tonight was an example of that. I just thought they made a lot of shots that we normally feel comfortable with. But it’s the playoffs. It is what it is. We gotta adjust and we gotta play ball, so you gotta respond.”

There’s some “reading between the lines” one can do here with these two quotes from the Jays.

[kraidstar]

I’m coming to this thread after the Heat series to collect some receipts.  Oh heavens, they lost a game!

The Celtics are folding under pressure yet again and you're not alarmed?  We just lost a home game to what is, by far, the least talented roster in the playoffs.

Did I expect them to go 16-0 in the playoffs?  No.

Are they trailing in this series?  No.

Am I alarmed?  No.

You should be. It's unlikely we win a championship playing with such poor composure. When we encounter a Curry or a Jokic or a Spoelstra we will lose. Guys who feast on weak-minded teams. It's only a matter of time unless someone steps up and provides some leadership.

Feel free to blow me up come June if they're not in the Finals.

Until then, I recommend enjoying the rollercoaster ride. 

I will lol.  But if we get bounced early this place is gonna be a bigger cesspool than Patriots Reddit. I don't envy the mods in that scenario. 

[kraidstar]

I don't think it's necessary to be "alarmed" right now.

But, I am concerned.  It's not that we lost.  It's that we have every reason to believe that Joe is going to be a hurdle to overcome, rather than an aid.  He's too rigid of a thinker.

 Joe doesn't take accountability and adjust on the fly because he is wound too tightly.  It's exactly what this team does not need.

[Roy H.]

I don't think it's necessary to be "alarmed" right now.

But, I am concerned.  It's not that we lost.  It's that we have every reason to believe that Joe is going to be a hurdle to overcome, rather than an aid.  He's too rigid of a thinker.

 Joe doesn't take accountability and adjust on the fly because he is wound too tightly.  It's exactly what this team does not need.

Yeah, Joe's an odd guy.  Time for him to go in for another recreational choke session, I think:

“Once you get in a chokehold,” said Alex Costa, Mazzulla’s jiu-jitsu trainer, “your mind goes cuckoo.”

Mazzulla wants this. The physical exercise. The mental challenge. And yes, the probability of getting his ass kicked. He is at Costa’s gym, Gracie Barra Boston, to ready himself for the tests ahead. The situations Mazzulla sees here on the mat might leave him with one or two appropriate solutions. Any other response, any mistake, will lead him into an even worse problem than his current predicament.

“The general idea is that once you get in a position, a submission, (with a threat) on your body, you’re going to have to make very rapid decisions,” Costa told The Athletic.

“The first thing we teach students is how to stay focused and control the panic that would be, like, very close to happening essentially under a real stressful, life-threatening situation. Basically, what we do here is maintain the balance and make sure that we keep (your mind firing) to find technical solutions for your case.”

The application to basketball is obvious. On the sideline, every coach is faced with endless decisions. Lineups. Play calls. The messages to deliver at halftime and in timeout huddles. Broken down to the most basic function, coaching is nothing more than a constant search to find the right solution under duress. Moment after moment, day after day, season after season, Mazzulla must find his way out of a chokehold.

(Obviously it explains why he choked the woman in college, as well.  He was just trying to get her to make better decisions under pressure.)

I digress, but I'd rather have Rick Pitino coaching.  Maybe M.L. Carr.

[DrinkinCelticKool-Aid]

Maybe if we choke in the playoffs, heads will roll including
Joe's. So even if we were to lose, we win. 

[Atzar]

Not sure what to think of last night.  On one hand, it had several indicators of being a fluke game.  54% from three on high volume, poor-to-mediocre shooters launching and hitting a ton of those shots, and even then, it took several of our guys having uncharacteristically poor games (KP, Jrue, and PP all sucked and White was invisible for most of the game) to steal it. 

With all of that said, I watched Miami do that same crap to us three times in seven games last year (and shot 46% in one of the other games besides).  For whatever reason, the term "unsustainable shooting" doesn't apply to them when they play us or Milwaukee in the playoffs.  At some point, "the math says this will eventually even out" can't be a valid strategy.  This team has way too much talent at both ends of the court to be that complacent. 

[Goldstar88]

I’m coming to this thread after the Heat series to collect some receipts.  Oh heavens, they lost a game!

The Celtics are folding under pressure yet again and you're not alarmed?  We just lost a home game to what is, by far, the least talented roster in the playoffs.

Did I expect them to go 16-0 in the playoffs?  No.

Are they trailing in this series?  No.

Am I alarmed?  No.

Good perspective. TP

[Who]

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2024/04/jayson-tatum-wants-celtics-to-get-creative-after-heat-game-2-upset.html

“I think we’ve gotta be more creative,” Tatum said. “The playoffs are about making adjustments game to game, and they did that. They’re not just going to let us catch the ball, they’re not just going to let us throw it to KP easy. They’re supposed to try to mess things a little up, and make it a little bit tougher. So it’s our job to react in real time, as well as make our adjustments going from game to game.”

“I think they’re well-coached,” Brown said. “I think that’s a credit to the coaching staff and organization. They put together a good game plan for them, and they feel confident and they come out and execute. I think that’s what they do. Tonight was an example of that. I just thought they made a lot of shots that we normally feel comfortable with. But it’s the playoffs. It is what it is. We gotta adjust and we gotta play ball, so you gotta respond.”

There’s some “reading between the lines” one can do here with these two quotes from the Jays.

I feel like present day players are too reliant on coaching adjustments.

They want Plan B, Plan C, Plan D. Just be better at your Plan A. You are far more talented this Miami team. You don't need trickery to beat them. Just hoop.

[Who]

https://x.com/billsimmons/status/1783517033008930925?s=46&t=lGU0TGXtwjkuVuoin6WTNw

KP had a bad Game 2. If Miami does that again, he’ll torch them. 

The real prob: Boston’s D strategy was awful. They have Jrue/White/JB + didn’t pressure/hound a team w/ zero PG’s? Mia got whatever the F they wanted. It wasn’t “welp they made 3s.” They were WAY too comfortable.

Yeah.  They let Tyler Herro sit back and get 14 assists.  How does that even happen?

Career high 14 assists. How great is that for Herro.

He had 5 career games of 10-11 assists. Never as high as 14 and he does it in a playoff game with his team under-manned and out-talented ... kudos to Herro.

[Who]

For what it's worth, the Celtics gave up the most 3PM, 3PA and the highest percentage in the regular season.

3PM   3PA  3P%
16.5   42.5   38.8

Those stats are Boston's own three point shooting.

Their opponents shot 12.9 3PM on 36.7 3PTA for 35.2% accuracy. The number of makes ranks 16th in the league, attempts rank 8th (so opponents took a lot of 3s against them), and accuracy ranks 27th (excellent defense, near best in league).

[Indocelts]

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2024/04/jayson-tatum-wants-celtics-to-get-creative-after-heat-game-2-upset.html

“I think we’ve gotta be more creative,” Tatum said. “The playoffs are about making adjustments game to game, and they did that. They’re not just going to let us catch the ball, they’re not just going to let us throw it to KP easy. They’re supposed to try to mess things a little up, and make it a little bit tougher. So it’s our job to react in real time, as well as make our adjustments going from game to game.”

“I think they’re well-coached,” Brown said. “I think that’s a credit to the coaching staff and organization. They put together a good game plan for them, and they feel confident and they come out and execute. I think that’s what they do. Tonight was an example of that. I just thought they made a lot of shots that we normally feel comfortable with. But it’s the playoffs. It is what it is. We gotta adjust and we gotta play ball, so you gotta respond.”

There’s some “reading between the lines” one can do here with these two quotes from the Jays.

I felt the same after i listened to Brown's interview.
Joe let some shooters open with the knowledge that wouldn't be making the shots, based on the stats.

But those stats are the whole season stats. In the playoff you just shouldn't rely only on stats since the whole situation  is different.

The same way that he sticked to shooting 3 pt shots when our players weren't making it, he also sticked to this priciple that opposing players were not going to make the 3pt shots while they were.

He is a stats manager but not a game manager,

[Phantom255x]

https://www.masslive.com/celtics/2024/04/jayson-tatum-wants-celtics-to-get-creative-after-heat-game-2-upset.html

“I think we’ve gotta be more creative,” Tatum said. “The playoffs are about making adjustments game to game, and they did that. They’re not just going to let us catch the ball, they’re not just going to let us throw it to KP easy. They’re supposed to try to mess things a little up, and make it a little bit tougher. So it’s our job to react in real time, as well as make our adjustments going from game to game.”

“I think they’re well-coached,” Brown said. “I think that’s a credit to the coaching staff and organization. They put together a good game plan for them, and they feel confident and they come out and execute. I think that’s what they do. Tonight was an example of that. I just thought they made a lot of shots that we normally feel comfortable with. But it’s the playoffs. It is what it is. We gotta adjust and we gotta play ball, so you gotta respond.”

There’s some “reading between the lines” one can do here with these two quotes from the Jays.

I've been hearing the same quotes from these two for many years now 

Two things can be true IMO. Mazzulla is likely not the guy for this job and it'll be proven if they can't go on a deep run here. But also, the Jays and these players need to quit whining and actually go out there and win it. Again, it's like they are entitled and act like they've already won before when they haven't

[Moranis]

3 scores in the 16 possessions Tatum was on the bench.  You can whine about defense all you want, but the team did not function at all offensively without Tatum in the game and that was the difference.

[Stig]

Many think it’s a fluke game last night, but last year they shoot 43% from 3 against us, without their best shooter Herro. That team is just so confident playing us.

[mr. dee]

Many think it’s a fluke game last night, but last year they shoot 43% from 3 against us, without their best shooter Herro. That team is just so confident playing us.

Exactly. It can't be a fluke when you are allowing them to shoot wide open 3s constantly. This is the problem with the analytics. They don't consider the human factor like physical and mental aspects of the game.