For all you guys blaming Joe…

[TheReaLPuba]

…this team only goes as far as JB and JT take them.

These two are making the same stupid turnovers and forced shots like last playoffs.

And make an open jumper will you guys?

We arguably have the two best players in this series but they aren’t playing like it.

Gotta step it up especially in the 4th. 

[KG Living Legend]

 We don't have the two best players in the series.  Currently it's.

#1 Jimmy
#2 Tatum
#3 Bam
#4 Martin
#5 Brown

 Jalen needs to move up that list fast or we are finished.

[SparzWizard]

#JTJB

Just Trade Jaylen Brown.

And Smart. And Horford. And Mazzulla. Out with the old and in with the new. Need some new blood and real toughness on this team.

[LilRip]

While this is true (and I’m hopeful pure talent will win the series still), the blame on Joe is also well deserved. There are things that even we, as fans and non-coaches, scratch our heads over:

1) Tatum constantly gets doubled. Joe needs to call a play to get his best player some type of easy look
2) Heat go on a run and Joe is late to call timeouts (tho he did do better in G2)
3) Heat are outrebounding the C’s. He should probably play TL more
4) Butler is on fire and getting what he wants out of iso. He should probably send a double and force another player to beat us

These aren’t crazy things to ask for. Spo rightfully called zone, especially during Tatum-less minutes and it worked. When Tatum was in the game, Spo threw double teams at him, essentially saying “let’s see if anyone else on the C’s can beat us” and it worked. C’s we’re on a run and Spo made an ATO play to get Butler free for a mid range jumper off of action and it worked.

Small stuff add up to big stuff. C’s still could’ve won but they didn’t. And it’s small stuff that can mean the difference between wins and losses in the playoffs

[Roy H.]

Yeah, this stat is unbelievable:

Chris Forsberg
Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
about 3 hours ago
Celtics in crunch-time vs. Heat in East Finals: 8 PTS 1-9 FG 0-6 3PT 6-7 FT 5 TO -13

That's just choking.

[SHAQATTACK]

Grant Williams poking the bear ( Butler) , giving him extra fuel is ridiculous stupidity . 

Not sure as a player I could forgive him , in such an important game.

Grant is not an star and has no business messing with an Alpha opponent star period , much less in a critical game.

Too many dummies on this team .

[cman88]

To be fair, celtics have been doing this through 3 coaches now.

because we made the finals last year I see ALOT of revisionist history. people forget we traded blowouts with the bucks and went down 3-2 before we needed tatum heroics to pull that out in 7.

we traded blowouts with Miami in the conference finals too! Blew a double digit lead in a closeout game, and nearly blew a double digit lead in game 7! which was saved by Butler missing a 3. then lost 3 straight to the warriors turning the ball over the same way they are here.

so, this is an ongoing issue that has not been fixed. Brad stepped down because they stopped listening to him, took Ime half a season to get them to listen to him and then they tuned him out in the playoffs basically for half the games. Now its the same thing.

For a team that has been to the conference finals as much as the Celtics. they act like a team thats never been here before. act scared in a close game and give the ball away and take bad shots. This is a player issue, and i'm not sure how you fix it.

even assuming we bring the same team back next year with gallinari. its still one of the most talented teams in the league. but they lack some sort of mental ability to play like it.

Miami is the opposite. they lack the talent. But they just play disciplined and dont get nervous.

[green_bballers13]

Yeah, this stat is unbelievable:

Chris Forsberg
Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
about 3 hours ago
Celtics in crunch-time vs. Heat in East Finals: 8 PTS 1-9 FG 0-6 3PT 6-7 FT 5 TO -13

That's just choking.

Total choke job.

Think they choke at the end 2 more times? I'm guessing they come back, as they proved over the first two series and last year when they were down.

Butler and his team have been great. The Celtics have to be better, and they are capable.

[Dchuck]

To be fair, celtics have been doing this through 3 coaches now.

because we made the finals last year I see ALOT of revisionist history. people forget we traded blowouts with the bucks and went down 3-2 before we needed tatum heroics to pull that out in 7.

we traded blowouts with Miami in the conference finals too! Blew a double digit lead in a closeout game, and nearly blew a double digit lead in game 7! which was saved by Butler missing a 3. then lost 3 straight to the warriors turning the ball over the same way they are here.

so, this is an ongoing issue that has not been fixed. Brad stepped down because they stopped listening to him, took Ime half a season to get them to listen to him and then they tuned him out in the playoffs basically for half the games. Now its the same thing.

For a team that has been to the conference finals as much as the Celtics. they act like a team thats never been here before. act scared in a close game and give the ball away and take bad shots. This is a player issue, and i'm not sure how you fix it.

even assuming we bring the same team back next year with gallinari. its still one of the most talented teams in the league. but they lack some sort of mental ability to play like it.

Miami is the opposite. they lack the talent. But they just play disciplined and dont get nervous.

On paper, we should sweep them.  But that's why you play the game.  After all these years, they are what they are.  No one on this team has that "Jimmy Butler Dawg" in them.  The players should take most of the blame.

However, Joe deserves a lot as well.  He's just not ready for this, not necessary his fault.  Someone rightly called him "Second Row Joe", he wasn't even on the main bench last year.  Think about that. 

Brad needs to take some heat.  He put Joe in this position. AND....I could not understand why he would extend Joe at the All star break.  Why not let the season play out to make that decision?

[No Nickname]

To be fair, celtics have been doing this through 3 coaches now.

because we made the finals last year I see ALOT of revisionist history. people forget we traded blowouts with the bucks and went down 3-2 before we needed tatum heroics to pull that out in 7.

we traded blowouts with Miami in the conference finals too! Blew a double digit lead in a closeout game, and nearly blew a double digit lead in game 7! which was saved by Butler missing a 3. then lost 3 straight to the warriors turning the ball over the same way they are here.

so, this is an ongoing issue that has not been fixed. Brad stepped down because they stopped listening to him, took Ime half a season to get them to listen to him and then they tuned him out in the playoffs basically for half the games. Now its the same thing.

For a team that has been to the conference finals as much as the Celtics. they act like a team thats never been here before. act scared in a close game and give the ball away and take bad shots. This is a player issue, and i'm not sure how you fix it.

even assuming we bring the same team back next year with gallinari. its still one of the most talented teams in the league. but they lack some sort of mental ability to play like it.

Miami is the opposite. they lack the talent. But they just play disciplined and dont get nervous.

On paper, we should sweep them.  But that's why you play the game.  After all these years, they are what they are.  No one on this team has that "Jimmy Butler Dawg" in them.  The players should take most of the blame.

However, Joe deserves a lot as well.  He's just not ready for this, not necessary his fault.  Someone rightly called him "Second Row Joe", he wasn't even on the main bench last year.  Think about that. 

Brad needs to take some heat.  He put Joe in this position. AND....I could not understand why he would extend Joe at the All star break.  Why not let the season play out to make that decision?

Well said.  I'd love to get Budenholzer next year.  Yes, he has his faults.  He didn't make the right call when Butler scored the winning bucket against them on that inbounds pass from midcourt.

But he's a smart coach.  Did really well with the Hawks.  And won a 'ship with the Bucks.

I hope he doesn't get hired before we beat the Nuggets in the Finals.

[Mahk E Mahk]

Yeah, this stat is unbelievable:

Chris Forsberg
Chris Forsberg @ChrisForsberg_
about 3 hours ago
Celtics in crunch-time vs. Heat in East Finals: 8 PTS 1-9 FG 0-6 3PT 6-7 FT 5 TO -13

That's just choking.

wow, that’s unbelievable and very disconcerting. TP, thanks for sharing.

i’d be willing to bet this type of inefficiency is common with the C’s in crunch time and not unique to this series. even in wins, how many times have we seen the C’s carry a sizable lead into 4Q crunch time, only to allow the opposing team back into the game?

three things seem to consistently contribute to this choking phenomenon:

1) tatum begins playing PG and slowly brings the ball up the court to start the offense, killing momentum and fast breaks, leading to inefficient, low shot clock heaves and turnovers. when tatum runs point, there’s A LOT of standing around and very little ball movement.

2) opposing defenses make an easy adjustment to get the ball out of tatum’s hands via double and triple teams immediately as he crosses mid-court. again, lots of standing around and very little off-ball movement by tatum to get the ball back in favorable shooting positions. other than the one high pick by our center, the fact that the C’s don’t run multiple screens to free up tatum is bush league.

3) immaturely thinking the game is in hand and the other team will quit, the defense goes into cruise control.

lather, rinse, repeat.

[Mahk E Mahk]

allow me to add, the easy way to beat this is NOT a high pick by our big to free tatum, it’s high post action with a big (both al and rob are excellent passers), or even marcus. it worked against philly (even though we mysteriously abandoned it) because marcus was abusing philly’s guards in the paint with drives, mid-range shots (marcus’ wheelhouse), and lobs to rob.

this is simple X’s and O’s, but the C’s can’t seem to master it.

[Phantom255x]

After sleeping on it, I do think blaming Joe primarily is a mistake. I'm guilty of it too in the moment. A lot of the core players we have have been here for 5+ years now and they did the same stuff even with Brad Stevens and Ime Udoka last year. At some point the players need to execute.

Not to absolve Joe at all, I'm not a fan of him either. His timeout usage (or lack thereof) is unacceptable

[Chef Parish]

Well said.  I'd love to get Budenholzer next year.  Yes, he has his faults.  He didn't make the right call when Butler scored the winning bucket against them on that inbounds pass from midcourt.

But he's a smart coach.  Did really well with the Hawks.  And won a 'ship with the Bucks.

I hope he doesn't get hired before we beat the Nuggets in the Finals.

The Celtics will fire Joe if he wins the Finals this year?

[green_bballers13]

Well said.  I'd love to get Budenholzer next year.  Yes, he has his faults.  He didn't make the right call when Butler scored the winning bucket against them on that inbounds pass from midcourt.

But he's a smart coach.  Did really well with the Hawks.  And won a 'ship with the Bucks.

I hope he doesn't get hired before we beat the Nuggets in the Finals.

The Celtics will fire Joe if he wins the Finals this year?

I'm not sure if they will, but they should. This has been the best opportunity to win a championship so far and the C's have underperformed. There's no reason for it to continue into next year.