Hoping to see that this team can learn from mistakes, something they have not been good at since the foundation of this current era of Celtics basketball was drafted - that core being Tatum & Brown. Those two (along with Marcus Smart) have kept repeating the same mistakes over and over, costing the team at least one title if not more.
The problem being offensive execution, especially in the 4th quarter. Tatum has improved in this area some, but both players still play with blinders on in close game situations. They get the ball on the perimeter somewhere and proceed to dribble the air out of the ball while seeking an open lane to the basket (which doesn't exist in those situations) or ending up with a heavily contested shot which sometimes hits but usually does not.
This all happens, of course, if a disastrous turnover doesn't occur first, which it often does. Forcing dribble drives into the teeth of the defense and having it stolen or dribbling off their leg out of bounds or getting so contorted in heavy traffic that they turn the ball over trying to make some impossible pass back outside or most often, jacking an iso 3 that is always contested. These two players still get into hero mode in close games, put their head down, ignore the rest of the team and attempt to win the game all by themselves. Especially this season after Brad went out and got them help on the offensive end by acquiring Porzingis and Holiday and trading away Marcus, I desperately want to see changes in their ability to execute late when the game is on the line. Are Tatum and Brown simply unable to change ?
A good part of this also falls on the coaching staff - so can Joe figure it out and coach them into effective execution on the offensive end. He needs to show them what they are doing wrong on film over and over til their collective heads hurt. Then follow up during games by stressing moving the ball and not going iso and using the talent around them to win games. I don't necessarily see them as selfish stat chasers (most of the time at least) but you have to seriously question their basketball IQ's watching them fall short the same way, season after season.
Note: I know we are 5-1 and we have had great success during the regular season as well as the playoffs to a point. But this group is overdue for a banner and the main reason for their failures was once again on full display Monday night against Minnesota.
Topic: Celtics (5-1) at 76ers (5-1) Game #7 11/8/23 (Read 18400 times)