Pistons (14-27) at Celtics (27-11) Game #39 1/15/20

[SHAQATTACK]

Team has issues. Even without Tatum, they should have won, easily.  No hope tomorrow in Milwaukee

kinda bleak for sure   

[Ogaju]

was Smart bounced?

Yep he got his 2nd T and was ejected

still do not understand why the Cs are playing so many back to backs.

[ozgod]

Heat, Sixers, Raptors and Pacers all won  at least we're still clinging to 3rd spot half a game behind Miami

[footey]

Defense was weak but Detroit was on fire all night.

Not sure we win even with Tatum. Kemba has a rare off night.

[footey]

I thought we would nab Dombouya, who projected to go top 10. I know it’s just a game but he has a poor man Siakam vibe to him. Nice stroke from 3 for a young guy.

[gouki88]

Smart, once again when one of our key 4 offensive players is out, mysteriously assumes that it's on him to fill that gap, and shoots terribly.

Reign him in Brad! Feel like I'm writing this every 2nd game

[tenn_smoothie]

Hayward never saw the ball in the 4th after scoring 25 pts thru 3 quarters on 11-15 shooting. Instead we had Kemba and Marcus bricking it

this is what concerns me about kemba. he’s not the game manager or floor general this team needs with three wings who can light it up. kemba should control the offense and ensure we feed the current hot hand. consequently, when kemba isn’t shooting well, he’s a liability. he also hasn’t shown the defensive intensity we witnessed earlier in the season.

this team lacks a clear alpha leader who holds them accountable when they play uninspired ball, which has happened quite a bit lately. and marcus provided more evidence tonight that he’s not it.

Interesting thoughts. I said at the end of last season that we should replace Irving with a playmaker-deluxe style point guard and not spend another max-type contract on a Kyrie-clone (with a far superior team attitude thankfully) in Kemba Walker. Spend that extra money on bolstering the interior.

Walker has done some things to change my mind, but maybe in the end, I wasn't far off after all. Would this team be better with a playmaking point guard and more talented (defensively & offensively)  post players ?

[SparzWizard]

This has looked like a pretty tough stretch for the Celtics post-Christmas/New Years. I thought their schedule was easier, but guess not.

[ozgod]

Hayward never saw the ball in the 4th after scoring 25 pts thru 3 quarters on 11-15 shooting. Instead we had Kemba and Marcus bricking it

this is what concerns me about kemba. he’s not the game manager or floor general this team needs with three wings who can light it up. kemba should control the offense and ensure we feed the current hot hand. consequently, when kemba isn’t shooting well, he’s a liability. he also hasn’t shown the defensive intensity we witnessed earlier in the season.

this team lacks a clear alpha leader who holds them accountable when they play uninspired ball, which has happened quite a bit lately. and marcus provided more evidence tonight that he’s not it.

Interesting thoughts. I said at the end of last season that we should replace Irving with a playmaker-deluxe style point guard and not spend another max-type contract on a Kyrie-clone (with a far superior team attitude thankfully) in Kemba Walker. Spend that extra money on bolstering the interior.

Walker has done some things to change my mind, but maybe in the end, I wasn't far off after all. Would this team be better with a playmaking point guard and more talented (defensively & offensively)  post players ?

The real game manager on this team is Gordon Hayward. He's the guy who has the vision to make the right reads and the ability to get the ball moving to the right person. Plus he's unselfish and doesn't care if he doesn't score as long as other people do. I don't understand why we're not utilizing him more in that role given he's the least selfish of our top 5. Good things were happening tonight when he was running the offense, then he went to the bench before the end of the 3rd and the offense devolved into iso and hero ball.

[hpantazo]

Marcus Smart 1-9 from the field with a team worst -18 tonight, along with an ejection. He was long overdue for one of his self-destruct games. Glad he got it out of the way before we face the Bucks and Lakers.

[liam]

Hayward never saw the ball in the 4th after scoring 25 pts thru 3 quarters on 11-15 shooting. Instead we had Kemba and Marcus bricking it

this is what concerns me about kemba. he’s not the game manager or floor general this team needs with three wings who can light it up. kemba should control the offense and ensure we feed the current hot hand. consequently, when kemba isn’t shooting well, he’s a liability. he also hasn’t shown the defensive intensity we witnessed earlier in the season.

this team lacks a clear alpha leader who holds them accountable when they play uninspired ball, which has happened quite a bit lately. and marcus provided more evidence tonight that he’s not it.

Interesting thoughts. I said at the end of last season that we should replace Irving with a playmaker-deluxe style point guard and not spend another max-type contract on a Kyrie-clone (with a far superior team attitude thankfully) in Kemba Walker. Spend that extra money on bolstering the interior.

Walker has done some things to change my mind, but maybe in the end, I wasn't far off after all. Would this team be better with a playmaking point guard and more talented (defensively & offensively)  post players ?

The real game manager on this team is Gordon Hayward. He's the guy who has the vision to make the right reads and the ability to get the ball moving to the right person. Plus he's unselfish and doesn't care if he doesn't score as long as other people do. I don't understand why we're not utilizing him more in that role given he's the least selfish of our top 5. Good things were happening tonight when he was running the offense, then he went to the bench before the end of the 3rd and the offense devolved into iso and hero ball.

I very much agree with this. The Offense should be flowing through Hayward when he's on the court.

[hpantazo]

Hayward never saw the ball in the 4th after scoring 25 pts thru 3 quarters on 11-15 shooting. Instead we had Kemba and Marcus bricking it

this is what concerns me about kemba. he’s not the game manager or floor general this team needs with three wings who can light it up. kemba should control the offense and ensure we feed the current hot hand. consequently, when kemba isn’t shooting well, he’s a liability. he also hasn’t shown the defensive intensity we witnessed earlier in the season.

this team lacks a clear alpha leader who holds them accountable when they play uninspired ball, which has happened quite a bit lately. and marcus provided more evidence tonight that he’s not it.

Interesting thoughts. I said at the end of last season that we should replace Irving with a playmaker-deluxe style point guard and not spend another max-type contract on a Kyrie-clone (with a far superior team attitude thankfully) in Kemba Walker. Spend that extra money on bolstering the interior.

Walker has done some things to change my mind, but maybe in the end, I wasn't far off after all. Would this team be better with a playmaking point guard and more talented (defensively & offensively)  post players ?

The real game manager on this team is Gordon Hayward. He's the guy who has the vision to make the right reads and the ability to get the ball moving to the right person. Plus he's unselfish and doesn't care if he doesn't score as long as other people do. I don't understand why we're not utilizing him more in that role given he's the least selfish of our top 5. Good things were happening tonight when he was running the offense, then he went to the bench before the end of the 3rd and the offense devolved into iso and hero ball.

I very much agree with this. The Offense should be flowing through Hayward when he's on the court.

I can buy the argument that the offense should flow through Hayward, or Tatum, or Kemba, or even Jaylen at times, but how the heck does the offense always end up flowing through Smart in key moments in virtually every game?

[gouki88]

Hayward never saw the ball in the 4th after scoring 25 pts thru 3 quarters on 11-15 shooting. Instead we had Kemba and Marcus bricking it

this is what concerns me about kemba. he’s not the game manager or floor general this team needs with three wings who can light it up. kemba should control the offense and ensure we feed the current hot hand. consequently, when kemba isn’t shooting well, he’s a liability. he also hasn’t shown the defensive intensity we witnessed earlier in the season.

this team lacks a clear alpha leader who holds them accountable when they play uninspired ball, which has happened quite a bit lately. and marcus provided more evidence tonight that he’s not it.

Interesting thoughts. I said at the end of last season that we should replace Irving with a playmaker-deluxe style point guard and not spend another max-type contract on a Kyrie-clone (with a far superior team attitude thankfully) in Kemba Walker. Spend that extra money on bolstering the interior.

Walker has done some things to change my mind, but maybe in the end, I wasn't far off after all. Would this team be better with a playmaking point guard and more talented (defensively & offensively)  post players ?

The real game manager on this team is Gordon Hayward. He's the guy who has the vision to make the right reads and the ability to get the ball moving to the right person. Plus he's unselfish and doesn't care if he doesn't score as long as other people do. I don't understand why we're not utilizing him more in that role given he's the least selfish of our top 5. Good things were happening tonight when he was running the offense, then he went to the bench before the end of the 3rd and the offense devolved into iso and hero ball.

I very much agree with this. The Offense should be flowing through Hayward when he's on the court.

Who wants to let Brad know? Because for some reason it flows through Smart, which is ironically moronic.

[tenn_smoothie]

Goes back to Stevens' in-game coaching. Yes, he draws up some cool plays, but what about player rotations, motivation and directing the team towards their most effective strategy from game to game, offensive & defensive adjustments and chewing some ass as needed (players & officials). These skills seem maddeningly lacking too often.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Hayward never saw the ball in the 4th after scoring 25 pts thru 3 quarters on 11-15 shooting. Instead we had Kemba and Marcus bricking it

this is what concerns me about kemba. he’s not the game manager or floor general this team needs with three wings who can light it up. kemba should control the offense and ensure we feed the current hot hand. consequently, when kemba isn’t shooting well, he’s a liability. he also hasn’t shown the defensive intensity we witnessed earlier in the season.

this team lacks a clear alpha leader who holds them accountable when they play uninspired ball, which has happened quite a bit lately. and marcus provided more evidence tonight that he’s not it.

Interesting thoughts. I said at the end of last season that we should replace Irving with a playmaker-deluxe style point guard and not spend another max-type contract on a Kyrie-clone (with a far superior team attitude thankfully) in Kemba Walker. Spend that extra money on bolstering the interior.

Walker has done some things to change my mind, but maybe in the end, I wasn't far off after all. Would this team be better with a playmaking point guard and more talented (defensively & offensively)  post players ?

The real game manager on this team is Gordon Hayward. He's the guy who has the vision to make the right reads and the ability to get the ball moving to the right person. Plus he's unselfish and doesn't care if he doesn't score as long as other people do. I don't understand why we're not utilizing him more in that role given he's the least selfish of our top 5. Good things were happening tonight when he was running the offense, then he went to the bench before the end of the 3rd and the offense devolved into iso and hero ball.

I very much agree with this. The Offense should be flowing through Hayward when he's on the court.

I can buy the argument that the offense should flow through Hayward, or Tatum, or Kemba, or even Jaylen at times, but how the heck does the offense always end up flowing through Smart in key moments in virtually every game?

Preach. I lost count last season of how many times Smart took bad shots that people defended by saying "he had the ball with the shot clock winding down; he HAD to shoot." ... Well why the crap does he always have the ball when the shot clock's winding down? He's not a shot creator! There are four guys on this team who are more capable at handling those kinds of situations.