Who's available that we can get at C

[Fierce1]

Big guys combine for 18 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 6 blocks.

Celtics strong forum "Why don't we have a superstar at every position!"

Stats don't tell the whole story.

Like when Kanter is in the pick and roll, he gives up a lot of points because he keeps leaving opposing guards open for a shot.

Something like that will not show on the stat sheet.

That's the reason why Kanter is not even averaging 20 minutes per game.

[greg683x]

Look at team rebounding numbers Were not in the bottom of the league, were right in the middle.  Average.

Points in the paint allowed per game were in the Top 5.

Blocked shots per game, were in the top 6.

Could our bigs be better?  Yes.  But theyre not bad.  We have All Star caliber players literally playing every other starting 5 position.  Our backup center would start on a lot of teams

In a vacuum, Kanter is our best Center though. Only reason Theis starts is cause he's a better fit next to Kemba-Brown-Hayward-Tatum.

Would Theis be starting ''on a lot of teams''? I don't think he would.

Fair Enough, we need scoring off the bench, so Kanter fits better there.  We still have an NBA caliber starting center on the team logging minutes at the position

The point is though, we dont have scrubs at the Center position.  We have league average players, which is more than adequate considering the players we have surrounding them.

its like some folks are trying find a way to construct an All Star team

The C's are a great regular season team. No one is arguing against that. Thing is, the whole conversation has nothing to do with regular season success. Our biggest rivals in the East are the Bucks and the Sixers. They are both very strong at the PF-C positions. As things stand right now, we have no one to defend Giannis-BroLo and/or Horford-Embiid. Assuming the C's are trying to contend this season, we need someone to slow down these guys. Giannis and Embiid would tear us apart. I'm not even sure we can handle Sabonis-Turner for that matter. If Dipo comes back healthy, Indy might be a force to be reckoned with. Griffin-Drummond aren't half bad either, but I couldn't care less for Detroit to be honest.

Do you trust Theis to slow down Giannis/Embiid? At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

I think we saw a preview of that last season when Theis only played in 7 playoff games, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.7 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.

The point is Theis wasn't used much in the playoffs last season.

Why is that?

Well, we had Horford and Baynes last season, but yeah, I see your point. CBS himself is on the record saying that Theis isn't a good matchup for Embiid. Not that we needed CBS to say it. I mean, it's rather obvious. Theis is 6'8'' and Embiid is 7'00''. The same goes for Giannis.

Btw, Horford and Baynes got killed by Giannis last season. Imagine what he would do Theis.

Semi is going to be spending a lot of time guarding Giannis.  So you dont have to worry about Theis.  Semi has shown he is more than adequate to give Giannis a hard enough time to give us a chance to win

I think Semi on Giannis worked in 2018, but not in 2019.

Last season Semi only averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 4 playoff games against the Bucks.

he played 20 minutes and did a great job on him in our VICTORY over the Bucks, THIS season

Celts did not have Kanter and Jaylen in that game.

I doubt Semi would have gotten 20 minutes if both Kanter and JB played.

You might be right.

But wait.  This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?

No doubt the Celts are a great regular season team this season.

It's the playoffs where you have to beat one team 4 times that will become a problem.

In the Nets game in Brooklyn, Theis was so horrible against Jarrett Allen, Brad only played him 7 minutes.

I truly believe the Celts can advance to the Finals this season.
Ainge just needs to upgrade the Center position.

Except the celtics were playing the Nets twice in a row. In the second game, Theis got banged up and only played 7 minutes. In the first game, he got 14 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks. I know that doesn't fit the carefully crafted narrative you've built, but them be the facts.

[greg683x]

Look at team rebounding numbers Were not in the bottom of the league, were right in the middle.  Average.

Points in the paint allowed per game were in the Top 5.

Blocked shots per game, were in the top 6.

Could our bigs be better?  Yes.  But theyre not bad.  We have All Star caliber players literally playing every other starting 5 position.  Our backup center would start on a lot of teams

In a vacuum, Kanter is our best Center though. Only reason Theis starts is cause he's a better fit next to Kemba-Brown-Hayward-Tatum.

Would Theis be starting ''on a lot of teams''? I don't think he would.

Fair Enough, we need scoring off the bench, so Kanter fits better there.  We still have an NBA caliber starting center on the team logging minutes at the position

The point is though, we dont have scrubs at the Center position.  We have league average players, which is more than adequate considering the players we have surrounding them.

its like some folks are trying find a way to construct an All Star team

The C's are a great regular season team. No one is arguing against that. Thing is, the whole conversation has nothing to do with regular season success. Our biggest rivals in the East are the Bucks and the Sixers. They are both very strong at the PF-C positions. As things stand right now, we have no one to defend Giannis-BroLo and/or Horford-Embiid. Assuming the C's are trying to contend this season, we need someone to slow down these guys. Giannis and Embiid would tear us apart. I'm not even sure we can handle Sabonis-Turner for that matter. If Dipo comes back healthy, Indy might be a force to be reckoned with. Griffin-Drummond aren't half bad either, but I couldn't care less for Detroit to be honest.

Do you trust Theis to slow down Giannis/Embiid? At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

I think we saw a preview of that last season when Theis only played in 7 playoff games, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.7 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.

The point is Theis wasn't used much in the playoffs last season.

Why is that?

Well, we had Horford and Baynes last season, but yeah, I see your point. CBS himself is on the record saying that Theis isn't a good matchup for Embiid. Not that we needed CBS to say it. I mean, it's rather obvious. Theis is 6'8'' and Embiid is 7'00''. The same goes for Giannis.

Btw, Horford and Baynes got killed by Giannis last season. Imagine what he would do Theis.

Semi is going to be spending a lot of time guarding Giannis.  So you dont have to worry about Theis.  Semi has shown he is more than adequate to give Giannis a hard enough time to give us a chance to win

I think Semi on Giannis worked in 2018, but not in 2019.

Last season Semi only averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 4 playoff games against the Bucks.

he played 20 minutes and did a great job on him in our VICTORY over the Bucks, THIS season

Celts did not have Kanter and Jaylen in that game.

I doubt Semi would have gotten 20 minutes if both Kanter and JB played.

You might be right.

But wait.  This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?

No doubt the Celts are a great regular season team this season.

It's the playoffs where you have to beat one team 4 times that will become a problem.

In the Nets game in Brooklyn, Theis was so horrible against Jarrett Allen, Brad only played him 7 minutes.

I truly believe the Celts can advance to the Finals this season.
Ainge just needs to upgrade the Center position.

You keep calling this team just a good regular season team.

Thats all youve seen them play in dude.  This team HAS NOT played in the playoffs yet.  They beat the Bucks in their only meeting against them this year. Yes, Philly could be a problem but I dont think theyre unbeatable the way were currently constructed

A different team lost to Milwaulkee last year.  That same team minus Kyrie, beat the Bucks the year before that.

That team and all the problems it had has no business being compared to this team

[Fierce1]

Look at team rebounding numbers Were not in the bottom of the league, were right in the middle.  Average.

Points in the paint allowed per game were in the Top 5.

Blocked shots per game, were in the top 6.

Could our bigs be better?  Yes.  But theyre not bad.  We have All Star caliber players literally playing every other starting 5 position.  Our backup center would start on a lot of teams

In a vacuum, Kanter is our best Center though. Only reason Theis starts is cause he's a better fit next to Kemba-Brown-Hayward-Tatum.

Would Theis be starting ''on a lot of teams''? I don't think he would.

Fair Enough, we need scoring off the bench, so Kanter fits better there.  We still have an NBA caliber starting center on the team logging minutes at the position

The point is though, we dont have scrubs at the Center position.  We have league average players, which is more than adequate considering the players we have surrounding them.

its like some folks are trying find a way to construct an All Star team

The C's are a great regular season team. No one is arguing against that. Thing is, the whole conversation has nothing to do with regular season success. Our biggest rivals in the East are the Bucks and the Sixers. They are both very strong at the PF-C positions. As things stand right now, we have no one to defend Giannis-BroLo and/or Horford-Embiid. Assuming the C's are trying to contend this season, we need someone to slow down these guys. Giannis and Embiid would tear us apart. I'm not even sure we can handle Sabonis-Turner for that matter. If Dipo comes back healthy, Indy might be a force to be reckoned with. Griffin-Drummond aren't half bad either, but I couldn't care less for Detroit to be honest.

Do you trust Theis to slow down Giannis/Embiid? At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

I think we saw a preview of that last season when Theis only played in 7 playoff games, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.7 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.

The point is Theis wasn't used much in the playoffs last season.

Why is that?

Well, we had Horford and Baynes last season, but yeah, I see your point. CBS himself is on the record saying that Theis isn't a good matchup for Embiid. Not that we needed CBS to say it. I mean, it's rather obvious. Theis is 6'8'' and Embiid is 7'00''. The same goes for Giannis.

Btw, Horford and Baynes got killed by Giannis last season. Imagine what he would do Theis.

Semi is going to be spending a lot of time guarding Giannis.  So you dont have to worry about Theis.  Semi has shown he is more than adequate to give Giannis a hard enough time to give us a chance to win

I think Semi on Giannis worked in 2018, but not in 2019.

Last season Semi only averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 4 playoff games against the Bucks.

he played 20 minutes and did a great job on him in our VICTORY over the Bucks, THIS season

Celts did not have Kanter and Jaylen in that game.

I doubt Semi would have gotten 20 minutes if both Kanter and JB played.

You might be right.

But wait.  This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?

No doubt the Celts are a great regular season team this season.

It's the playoffs where you have to beat one team 4 times that will become a problem.

In the Nets game in Brooklyn, Theis was so horrible against Jarrett Allen, Brad only played him 7 minutes.

I truly believe the Celts can advance to the Finals this season.
Ainge just needs to upgrade the Center position.

You keep calling this team just a good regular season team.

Thats all youve seen them play in dude.  This team HAS NOT played in the playoffs yet

A different team lost to Milwaulkee last year.  That same team minus Kyrie, beat the Bucks the year before that.

That team and all the problems it had has no business being compared to this team

Reason why Toronto won a championship last season was because their GM was thinking ahead.

Raptors didn't know what would happen in the playoffs because it was Kawhi's first year with the Raps.

But at the trade deadline last season, the Raps traded their young Center, Valanciunas, for an old Marc Gasol.

Gasol could defend the likes of Embiid and Giannis.

The gamble paid off as Gasol was doing what was expected of him in the playoffs.

Right now the Celts have the assets to upgrade.
This is the perfect time to cash in.

Celts don't even have to trade any of the core 5.

[greg683x]

Look at team rebounding numbers Were not in the bottom of the league, were right in the middle.  Average.

Points in the paint allowed per game were in the Top 5.

Blocked shots per game, were in the top 6.

Could our bigs be better?  Yes.  But theyre not bad.  We have All Star caliber players literally playing every other starting 5 position.  Our backup center would start on a lot of teams

In a vacuum, Kanter is our best Center though. Only reason Theis starts is cause he's a better fit next to Kemba-Brown-Hayward-Tatum.

Would Theis be starting ''on a lot of teams''? I don't think he would.

Fair Enough, we need scoring off the bench, so Kanter fits better there.  We still have an NBA caliber starting center on the team logging minutes at the position

The point is though, we dont have scrubs at the Center position.  We have league average players, which is more than adequate considering the players we have surrounding them.

its like some folks are trying find a way to construct an All Star team

The C's are a great regular season team. No one is arguing against that. Thing is, the whole conversation has nothing to do with regular season success. Our biggest rivals in the East are the Bucks and the Sixers. They are both very strong at the PF-C positions. As things stand right now, we have no one to defend Giannis-BroLo and/or Horford-Embiid. Assuming the C's are trying to contend this season, we need someone to slow down these guys. Giannis and Embiid would tear us apart. I'm not even sure we can handle Sabonis-Turner for that matter. If Dipo comes back healthy, Indy might be a force to be reckoned with. Griffin-Drummond aren't half bad either, but I couldn't care less for Detroit to be honest.

Do you trust Theis to slow down Giannis/Embiid? At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

I think we saw a preview of that last season when Theis only played in 7 playoff games, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.7 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.

The point is Theis wasn't used much in the playoffs last season.

Why is that?

Well, we had Horford and Baynes last season, but yeah, I see your point. CBS himself is on the record saying that Theis isn't a good matchup for Embiid. Not that we needed CBS to say it. I mean, it's rather obvious. Theis is 6'8'' and Embiid is 7'00''. The same goes for Giannis.

Btw, Horford and Baynes got killed by Giannis last season. Imagine what he would do Theis.

Semi is going to be spending a lot of time guarding Giannis.  So you dont have to worry about Theis.  Semi has shown he is more than adequate to give Giannis a hard enough time to give us a chance to win

I think Semi on Giannis worked in 2018, but not in 2019.

Last season Semi only averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 4 playoff games against the Bucks.

he played 20 minutes and did a great job on him in our VICTORY over the Bucks, THIS season

Celts did not have Kanter and Jaylen in that game.

I doubt Semi would have gotten 20 minutes if both Kanter and JB played.

You might be right.

But wait.  This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?

No doubt the Celts are a great regular season team this season.

It's the playoffs where you have to beat one team 4 times that will become a problem.

In the Nets game in Brooklyn, Theis was so horrible against Jarrett Allen, Brad only played him 7 minutes.

I truly believe the Celts can advance to the Finals this season.
Ainge just needs to upgrade the Center position.

You keep calling this team just a good regular season team.

Thats all youve seen them play in dude.  This team HAS NOT played in the playoffs yet

A different team lost to Milwaulkee last year.  That same team minus Kyrie, beat the Bucks the year before that.

That team and all the problems it had has no business being compared to this team

Reason why Toronto won a championship last season was because their GM was thinking ahead.

Raptors didn't know what would happen in the playoffs because it was Kawhi's first year with the Raps.

But at the trade deadline last season, the Raps traded their young Center, Valanciunas, for an old Marc Gasol.

Gasol could defend the likes of Embiid and Giannis.

The gamble paid off as Gasol was doing what was expected of him in the playoffs.

Right now the Celts have the assets to upgrade.
This is the perfect time to cash in.

Celts don't even have to trade any of the core 5.

So wait now.  Marc Gasol stopped Giannis?  Kawhi had nothing to do with it?

Im waiting to hear these names we can get without giving up a core players.  If the rest of the blog doesnt like them thats fine, I just want to hear your ideas

[Jvalin]

Big guys combine for 18 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 6 blocks.

Celtics strong forum "Why don't we have a superstar at every position!"

Fwiw, I don't want us to have 5 alphas in the starting line up. There won't be enough shots for everybody and we'll end up a dysfunctional team, like we were last season. I do believe however that we should upgrade the Center position. Imo, we need a defensive Center who's happy to play off the ball on offense. Either a stretch 5 or a pick n roll big man like Theis, only better than Theis.

This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?  Havent you gone to great length to say we cant beat him the way this team is built?

Of course we can beat them. Would we be the favorites to beat them in a best-of-seven series? I don't think we would.

Would we be the favorites if we had a guy like Myles Turner? Can't tell for sure, but I believe that we would have a better chance.

Btw, you really think a 6'6'' guy is the answer to Giannis?

[greg683x]

Starting in Game 3, Leonard has taken on the bulk of the assigment. After guarding him just 13% of the time over the first two games of the series, drawing the assignment fewer times than both Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka, Leonard has been the primary defender guarding Antetokounmpo on 47% of possessions.

https://ca.nba.com/news/nba-playoffs-2019-kawhi-leonards-defense-on-giannis-antetokounmpo-has-changed-the-series-eastern-conference-finals/yjy605u7nlai1ie63rx33qthz

Kawhi guarding him on 47% of possesions changed the series.  With Siakim and Ibaka following.

But this guy will have us trading Marcus Smart because Marc Gasol will stop Giannis.  Marc would help us against Embiid but this is laughable

[Fierce1]

Look at team rebounding numbers Were not in the bottom of the league, were right in the middle.  Average.

Points in the paint allowed per game were in the Top 5.

Blocked shots per game, were in the top 6.

Could our bigs be better?  Yes.  But theyre not bad.  We have All Star caliber players literally playing every other starting 5 position.  Our backup center would start on a lot of teams

In a vacuum, Kanter is our best Center though. Only reason Theis starts is cause he's a better fit next to Kemba-Brown-Hayward-Tatum.

Would Theis be starting ''on a lot of teams''? I don't think he would.

Fair Enough, we need scoring off the bench, so Kanter fits better there.  We still have an NBA caliber starting center on the team logging minutes at the position

The point is though, we dont have scrubs at the Center position.  We have league average players, which is more than adequate considering the players we have surrounding them.

its like some folks are trying find a way to construct an All Star team

The C's are a great regular season team. No one is arguing against that. Thing is, the whole conversation has nothing to do with regular season success. Our biggest rivals in the East are the Bucks and the Sixers. They are both very strong at the PF-C positions. As things stand right now, we have no one to defend Giannis-BroLo and/or Horford-Embiid. Assuming the C's are trying to contend this season, we need someone to slow down these guys. Giannis and Embiid would tear us apart. I'm not even sure we can handle Sabonis-Turner for that matter. If Dipo comes back healthy, Indy might be a force to be reckoned with. Griffin-Drummond aren't half bad either, but I couldn't care less for Detroit to be honest.

Do you trust Theis to slow down Giannis/Embiid? At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

I think we saw a preview of that last season when Theis only played in 7 playoff games, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.7 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.

The point is Theis wasn't used much in the playoffs last season.

Why is that?

Well, we had Horford and Baynes last season, but yeah, I see your point. CBS himself is on the record saying that Theis isn't a good matchup for Embiid. Not that we needed CBS to say it. I mean, it's rather obvious. Theis is 6'8'' and Embiid is 7'00''. The same goes for Giannis.

Btw, Horford and Baynes got killed by Giannis last season. Imagine what he would do Theis.

Semi is going to be spending a lot of time guarding Giannis.  So you dont have to worry about Theis.  Semi has shown he is more than adequate to give Giannis a hard enough time to give us a chance to win

I think Semi on Giannis worked in 2018, but not in 2019.

Last season Semi only averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 4 playoff games against the Bucks.

he played 20 minutes and did a great job on him in our VICTORY over the Bucks, THIS season

Celts did not have Kanter and Jaylen in that game.

I doubt Semi would have gotten 20 minutes if both Kanter and JB played.

You might be right.

But wait.  This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?

No doubt the Celts are a great regular season team this season.

It's the playoffs where you have to beat one team 4 times that will become a problem.

In the Nets game in Brooklyn, Theis was so horrible against Jarrett Allen, Brad only played him 7 minutes.

I truly believe the Celts can advance to the Finals this season.
Ainge just needs to upgrade the Center position.

You keep calling this team just a good regular season team.

Thats all youve seen them play in dude.  This team HAS NOT played in the playoffs yet

A different team lost to Milwaulkee last year.  That same team minus Kyrie, beat the Bucks the year before that.

That team and all the problems it had has no business being compared to this team

Reason why Toronto won a championship last season was because their GM was thinking ahead.

Raptors didn't know what would happen in the playoffs because it was Kawhi's first year with the Raps.

But at the trade deadline last season, the Raps traded their young Center, Valanciunas, for an old Marc Gasol.

Gasol could defend the likes of Embiid and Giannis.

The gamble paid off as Gasol was doing what was expected of him in the playoffs.

Right now the Celts have the assets to upgrade.
This is the perfect time to cash in.

Celts don't even have to trade any of the core 5.

So wait now.  Marc Gasol stopped Giannis?  Kawhi had nothing to do with it?

Im waiting to hear these names we can get without giving up a core players.  If the rest of the blog doesnt like them thats fine, I just want to hear your ideas

Check Game 5 and Game 6 of the east finals last season.

Every time Giannis got past his initial defender, Kawhi or not, Gasol was waiting for him at the rim.
Gasol raised both arms and Giannis couldn't dunk it over Gasol.
That was in contrast to what Giannis was doing against the Celts.
Giannis kept dunking on the Celts after Game 1 of the east semis.

My ideas for upgrading the team is Tristan Thompson if the Celts want a significant upgrade.
But that would cost the Celts both Theis and Kanter to make salaries match.

If the Celts want a minor upgrade, they can offer a draft pick and Poirier for guys like Noel, WCS, and Poeltl.

Ainge will give us the final answer in a few weeks.

But one thing's for sure, Ainge cannot let this Celtics go into the playoffs without upgrading.

[greg683x]

Big guys combine for 18 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 6 blocks.

Celtics strong forum "Why don't we have a superstar at every position!"

Fwiw, I don't want us to have 5 alphas in the starting line up. There won't be enough shots for everybody and we'll end up a dysfunctional team, like we were last season. I do believe however that we should upgrade the Center position. Imo, we need a defensive Center who's happy to play off the ball on offense. Either a stretch 5 or a pick n roll big man like Theis, only better than Theis.

This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?  Havent you gone to great length to say we cant beat him the way this team is built?

Of course we can beat them. Would we be the favorites to beat them in a best-of-seven series? I don't think we would.

Would we be the favorites if we had a guy like Myles Turner? Can't tell for sure, but I believe that we would have a better chance.

Btw, you really think a 6'6'' guy is the answer to Giannis?

are you referring to Semi guarding Giannis?  I think Semi, along with good team defense can do a good enough job to give us a chance to win.  Will Giannis still be the best player in the series.  Sure.  But he wont overwhelm us.

And no ones saying we would be the favorite in a 7 game series against the Bucks.  Im saying we would have a better chance than people are giving us credit for

[Fierce1]

Starting in Game 3, Leonard has taken on the bulk of the assigment. After guarding him just 13% of the time over the first two games of the series, drawing the assignment fewer times than both Pascal Siakam and Serge Ibaka, Leonard has been the primary defender guarding Antetokounmpo on 47% of possessions.

https://ca.nba.com/news/nba-playoffs-2019-kawhi-leonards-defense-on-giannis-antetokounmpo-has-changed-the-series-eastern-conference-finals/yjy605u7nlai1ie63rx33qthz

Kawhi guarding him on 47% of possesions changed the series.  With Siakim and Ibaka following.

But this guy will have us trading Marcus Smart because Marc Gasol will stop Giannis.  Marc would help us against Embiid but this is laughable

Who said anything about trading Smart or trading for Gasol?

I just gave an example of how the Raptors GM was thinking ahead.

Yeah, Kawhi was the initial defender on Giannis, but what happened when Giannis got past his initial defender?

Gasol was right there, both arms raised, and Giannis couldn't dunk over Gasol.

[Fierce1]

Big guys combine for 18 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 6 blocks.

Celtics strong forum "Why don't we have a superstar at every position!"

Fwiw, I don't want us to have 5 alphas in the starting line up. There won't be enough shots for everybody and we'll end up a dysfunctional team, like we were last season. I do believe however that we should upgrade the Center position. Imo, we need a defensive Center who's happy to play off the ball on offense. Either a stretch 5 or a pick n roll big man like Theis, only better than Theis.

This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?  Havent you gone to great length to say we cant beat him the way this team is built?

Of course we can beat them. Would we be the favorites to beat them in a best-of-seven series? I don't think we would.

Would we be the favorites if we had a guy like Myles Turner? Can't tell for sure, but I believe that we would have a better chance.

Btw, you really think a 6'6'' guy is the answer to Giannis?

are you referring to Semi guarding Giannis?  I think Semi, along with good team defense can do a good enough job to give us a chance to win.  Will Giannis still be the best player in the series.  Sure.  But he wont overwhelm us.

And no ones saying we would be the favorite in a 7 game series against the Bucks.  Im saying we would have a better chance than people are giving us credit for

Why risk it?

Teams like the Sixers, Bucks, and Raptors all made upgrades last season even when they were already very good.

A puncher's chance is a wasted opportunity.

Celts have the assets to improve, so why not do it?

[greg683x]

Look at team rebounding numbers Were not in the bottom of the league, were right in the middle.  Average.

Points in the paint allowed per game were in the Top 5.

Blocked shots per game, were in the top 6.

Could our bigs be better?  Yes.  But theyre not bad.  We have All Star caliber players literally playing every other starting 5 position.  Our backup center would start on a lot of teams

In a vacuum, Kanter is our best Center though. Only reason Theis starts is cause he's a better fit next to Kemba-Brown-Hayward-Tatum.

Would Theis be starting ''on a lot of teams''? I don't think he would.

Fair Enough, we need scoring off the bench, so Kanter fits better there.  We still have an NBA caliber starting center on the team logging minutes at the position

The point is though, we dont have scrubs at the Center position.  We have league average players, which is more than adequate considering the players we have surrounding them.

its like some folks are trying find a way to construct an All Star team

The C's are a great regular season team. No one is arguing against that. Thing is, the whole conversation has nothing to do with regular season success. Our biggest rivals in the East are the Bucks and the Sixers. They are both very strong at the PF-C positions. As things stand right now, we have no one to defend Giannis-BroLo and/or Horford-Embiid. Assuming the C's are trying to contend this season, we need someone to slow down these guys. Giannis and Embiid would tear us apart. I'm not even sure we can handle Sabonis-Turner for that matter. If Dipo comes back healthy, Indy might be a force to be reckoned with. Griffin-Drummond aren't half bad either, but I couldn't care less for Detroit to be honest.

Do you trust Theis to slow down Giannis/Embiid? At the end of the day, that's all that matters.

I think we saw a preview of that last season when Theis only played in 7 playoff games, averaging 6 minutes per game, 1.7 points per game and 1.4 rebounds per game.

The point is Theis wasn't used much in the playoffs last season.

Why is that?

Well, we had Horford and Baynes last season, but yeah, I see your point. CBS himself is on the record saying that Theis isn't a good matchup for Embiid. Not that we needed CBS to say it. I mean, it's rather obvious. Theis is 6'8'' and Embiid is 7'00''. The same goes for Giannis.

Btw, Horford and Baynes got killed by Giannis last season. Imagine what he would do Theis.

Semi is going to be spending a lot of time guarding Giannis.  So you dont have to worry about Theis.  Semi has shown he is more than adequate to give Giannis a hard enough time to give us a chance to win

I think Semi on Giannis worked in 2018, but not in 2019.

Last season Semi only averaged 8.5 minutes per game in 4 playoff games against the Bucks.

he played 20 minutes and did a great job on him in our VICTORY over the Bucks, THIS season

Celts did not have Kanter and Jaylen in that game.

I doubt Semi would have gotten 20 minutes if both Kanter and JB played.

You might be right.

But wait.  This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?

No doubt the Celts are a great regular season team this season.

It's the playoffs where you have to beat one team 4 times that will become a problem.

In the Nets game in Brooklyn, Theis was so horrible against Jarrett Allen, Brad only played him 7 minutes.

I truly believe the Celts can advance to the Finals this season.
Ainge just needs to upgrade the Center position.

You keep calling this team just a good regular season team.

Thats all youve seen them play in dude.  This team HAS NOT played in the playoffs yet

A different team lost to Milwaulkee last year.  That same team minus Kyrie, beat the Bucks the year before that.

That team and all the problems it had has no business being compared to this team

Reason why Toronto won a championship last season was because their GM was thinking ahead.

Raptors didn't know what would happen in the playoffs because it was Kawhi's first year with the Raps.

But at the trade deadline last season, the Raps traded their young Center, Valanciunas, for an old Marc Gasol.

Gasol could defend the likes of Embiid and Giannis.

The gamble paid off as Gasol was doing what was expected of him in the playoffs.

Right now the Celts have the assets to upgrade.
This is the perfect time to cash in.

Celts don't even have to trade any of the core 5.

So wait now.  Marc Gasol stopped Giannis?  Kawhi had nothing to do with it?

Im waiting to hear these names we can get without giving up a core players.  If the rest of the blog doesnt like them thats fine, I just want to hear your ideas

Check Game 5 and Game 6 of the east finals last season.

Every time Giannis got past his initial defender, Kawhi or not, Gasol was waiting for him at the rim.
Gasol raised both arms and Giannis couldn't dunk it over Gasol.
That was in contrast to what Giannis was doing against the Celts.
Giannis kept dunking on the Celts after Game 1 of the east semis.

My ideas for upgrading the team is Tristan Thompson if the Celts want a significant upgrade.
But that would cost the Celts both Theis and Kanter to make salaries match.

If the Celts want a minor upgrade, they can offer a draft pick and Poirier for guys like Noel, WCS, and Poeltl.

Ainge will give us the final answer in a few weeks.

But one thing's for sure, Ainge cannot let this Celtics go into the playoffs without upgrading.

We'll see at the deadline.  I think youre going to be disappointed.

None of those players you listed stop Embiid in a 7 game series.  Thompson would help, marginally in my opinion, but that trade makes us WAY to thin in the front court.

Completely disagree about Gasol on Giannis.  Im sorry dude thats laughable.  Fine he played good help defense.  Hes not the reason Toronto stopped the Giannis.  Thats delusional

[greg683x]

Big guys combine for 18 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 6 blocks.

Celtics strong forum "Why don't we have a superstar at every position!"

Fwiw, I don't want us to have 5 alphas in the starting line up. There won't be enough shots for everybody and we'll end up a dysfunctional team, like we were last season. I do believe however that we should upgrade the Center position. Imo, we need a defensive Center who's happy to play off the ball on offense. Either a stretch 5 or a pick n roll big man like Theis, only better than Theis.

This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?  Havent you gone to great length to say we cant beat him the way this team is built?

Of course we can beat them. Would we be the favorites to beat them in a best-of-seven series? I don't think we would.

Would we be the favorites if we had a guy like Myles Turner? Can't tell for sure, but I believe that we would have a better chance.

Btw, you really think a 6'6'' guy is the answer to Giannis?

are you referring to Semi guarding Giannis?  I think Semi, along with good team defense can do a good enough job to give us a chance to win.  Will Giannis still be the best player in the series.  Sure.  But he wont overwhelm us.

And no ones saying we would be the favorite in a 7 game series against the Bucks.  Im saying we would have a better chance than people are giving us credit for

Why risk it?

Teams like the Sixers, Bucks, and Raptors all made upgrades last season even when they were already very good.

A puncher's chance is a wasted opportunity.

Celts have the assets to improve, so why not do it?

for the 50 millionth time, Im not saying we shouldnt try to improve our chances.

Im saying the players arent out there that would provide enough improvement without having to move one of our core players

[Fierce1]

After winning a championship in 2008, Celtic fans were so confident the Celts would repeat.

Then KG got hurt.

The rest is history.


Ainge and the Celts can't be gun-shy when the Celts have the potential to win it all.

Thinking that the Celts can win it all next season is being a defeatist.
What if Kemba gets hurt next season and will be out for the season?

If the team has the potential to win it all then go all in.

Celts don't need draft picks anymore.
Right now the Celts are ready to contend.

Take the case of the Lakers.
Just for another shot at a championship, the Lakers sacrificed the future for the present.
The Lakers gave up a lot of picks and young players for just a 2-year window with Lebron and AD.

In today's NBA, one championship is very hard to get.

What a tragedy if the Celts reach the east finals and end up losing in 6 or 7 games because the Celts didn't have a big man better than Theis and Kanter.

[Fierce1]

Big guys combine for 18 points, 20 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, and 6 blocks.

Celtics strong forum "Why don't we have a superstar at every position!"

Fwiw, I don't want us to have 5 alphas in the starting line up. There won't be enough shots for everybody and we'll end up a dysfunctional team, like we were last season. I do believe however that we should upgrade the Center position. Imo, we need a defensive Center who's happy to play off the ball on offense. Either a stretch 5 or a pick n roll big man like Theis, only better than Theis.

This poorly constructed team at Center beat Giannis shorthanded?  Havent you gone to great length to say we cant beat him the way this team is built?

Of course we can beat them. Would we be the favorites to beat them in a best-of-seven series? I don't think we would.

Would we be the favorites if we had a guy like Myles Turner? Can't tell for sure, but I believe that we would have a better chance.

Btw, you really think a 6'6'' guy is the answer to Giannis?

are you referring to Semi guarding Giannis?  I think Semi, along with good team defense can do a good enough job to give us a chance to win.  Will Giannis still be the best player in the series.  Sure.  But he wont overwhelm us.

And no ones saying we would be the favorite in a 7 game series against the Bucks.  Im saying we would have a better chance than people are giving us credit for

Why risk it?

Teams like the Sixers, Bucks, and Raptors all made upgrades last season even when they were already very good.

A puncher's chance is a wasted opportunity.

Celts have the assets to improve, so why not do it?

for the 50 millionth time, Im not saying we shouldnt try to improve our chances.

Im saying the players arent out there that would provide enough improvement without having to move one of our core players

Not true.

Celts have the picks and the players to get a player worth 18m.

Tristan Thompson can be had if the Celts offer a pick or picks and a combination of players to make salaries match.

Thompson is better than both Theis and Kanter.

That's just one example of a big man who's better than both Theis and Kanter.