Raptors (1-2) at Celtics (2-1) Round 2 Game 4 9/5/20

[apc]

We’re not a real contender until we get a stronger bench.
We don’t have anyone on the bench who can make up for a starter on a bad day. Our offense is 3 guys.

[celts55]

We’re not a real contender until we get a stronger bench.
We don’t have anyone on the bench who can make up for a starter on a bad day. Our offense is 3 guys.

Agreed. Haywood would look great off the bench, if he ever returns. Personally, I would give Langford a shot. Good defender, who maybe can score a little. He’s got to be better than Semi.

Also, shooting better as a team, and not giving up so many second chance points wouldn’t hurt either.

[hpantazo]

Predictable iso garbage... for Kemba or Tatum or Brown

High screen and blitz. Or quick collapse close to the basket

How about letting the bench shoot a little more?? 

Gwill please score the buckets yourself sometimes. Wide open. Stop passing way back ... back to the high screen.

It would be nice if half our bench wasn't unplayable or at least Brad thinks so.

I'd agree that outside of Wanamaker and Robert Williams, our current bench is unplayable.  Grant Williams is ok in limited minutes, but we were already weak as a bench before Hayward went down. That took Smart out of our bench group. Langford's not ready and also has a torn ligament in his shooting hand. Kanter, we saw what happened when he plays in the last game. Semi is awful, I cringe whenever he gets the ball. That's basically it. Guys like Waters and Edwards and Taco should not be in consideration to see the floor in a playoff series.

How about giving Javonte Green some minutes instead of Ojeleye?

I believe he's injured.

The problem with Semi is he's indecisive offensively...unless he's wide open he hesitates about what he's going to do. He's really just a wide open spot up shooter. So if he's not open or if someone is closing out on him he will pump fake and then he holds the ball for a number of seconds which then kills our flow. Gotta be decisive in what you do, whatever that is.

Yeah, sadly Javonte had surgery and is not active.

[Birdman]

If we had a bench, we could actually win it all..we need some vets on the bench, not bunch of d-leaguers

[Roy H.]

If we had a bench, we could actually win it all..we need some vets on the bench, not bunch of d-leaguers

I agree.  We need some guys who can give us 8 to 10 points off the bench consistently.

[Neurotic Guy]

I think with .5 seconds on the clock in Game 3, the Cs were a contender.   

They still are.  In the first 6 games and for 47 minutes and 59.5 seconds in their 7th playoff game, the starters basically did what they needed to do and the bench did what it needed to do.  Celtics seemed destined for the ECF and would probably have been considered favorites v. Miami.   Virtually every poster here would have picked the C’s to beat Miami.

A miracle shot that was actually impossible to make within .5 seconds changed everything - especially when followed by a thoroughly disappointing Game 4.

But have Lakers, Clippers, Raptors, Nuggets, Bucks, Rockets fans been disappointed in these playoffs?  Of course they have.  Do you think Toronto fans were thinking Finals after Game 2?   It might be that the only fans with big grins right now are Heat fans. 

If JT, JB and Kemba play strong tomorrow, the bench will be far less relevant.  And that should be the expectation.

[wiley]

KEYS TO GET BACK ON TRACK:

1.  Do not look so dejected while trying to play a sport.  Life is mostly good.  Smile and kick butt.

2.  Do not sulk after turnovers or linger after non calls.

3.  Do not take a high dribble through the teeth of one of the best NBA defenses as if it's a cakewalk.

4.  Keep it up with the mostly excellent defense. 

5.  Shoot the ball more like Kemba.  Just let it fly without measuring so hard. 

6.  Brown-get your nice step back turnaround j's flowing again to get your offense back on track.

7.  Tatum- take care of each possession.  Less turnovers = more shots.  Also work to
     set guys up to get yourself into a good flow.  Start the game with your inner Gordon Hayward
     flowing, then gradually you can shift to your inner MJ/Kobe once the flow is there and the shots
     are falling.  Don't start the game with a high level of difficulty MJ/Kobe vibe. 

8.  Brown and Tatum-lead with your energy and don't think about anything else.

9.  Give the other team their due for being extremely good.  That's an easy mental shortcut to avoid
     feeling entitled to a victory rather than slogging and suffering for it.
   

Not to be reductive but:

1. Hit shots;

2. See #1.

hehe yes.  Hitting shots not only wins the game but erases all the background micro observations...
that's why #5...shoot like you mean it (and race back on defense...)

[wiley]

Well I missed watching this game live...maybe that's why I'm a bit more calm than everyone else 

At the risk of being the happy face guy I think it's too premature to be slitting wrists and giving up the season as lost. I know the overreaction is part and parcel of the emotions at the end of a must-win game but if at the start of the season we had been told we would be 2-2 with the defending champions in the ECSF we would have all taken it I think. We have to respect the fact that Toronto was going to come back, they have pride and they have heart, they're the defending champions. They didn't want to get swept and so they came out firing and we didn't.

This was easily the worst game for the team in the bubble and they failed to rise to the occasion. The team shot poorly, they were only 7-35 on 3s and 5-22 of those were uncontested, meaning the team got a shooter a good look and they just failed to execute. For JB in particular it was apparent that he probably spent the last 2 days dwelling on the breakdown that left Anunoby open for that game winning with 0.5 to go, because he couldn't hit the side of a barn door and his body language was negative as well. Sometimes I feel he puts too much pressure on himself, he probably decided to carry a cross after the Anunoby fail and it wore on him as the game went on and as he kept missing. He plays best when he's "just hooping" and not thinking about anything.

Brad Stevens needs to take responsibility for failing to prepare the team mentally, his main job (other than making in game adjustments) is to make sure the team is prepared with the right mindset before taking the floor. The team that took the floor last night was hesitant and unsure of itself and so it didn't make shots it usually made, didn't make open shots it would usually drain. When multiple players say that they didn't play hard enough and that the other team played harder, in a quasi-must-win playoff game, that's a failure in preparation. But the other way of looking at that is that they created 22 open shots from the perimeter, and they were still in with an outside chance despite playing bad.

My view is playoffs, like life in general, are about encountering adversity and responding, we can play the coulda shoulda woulda game and say if only someone had guarded Anunoby it would have been 3-0 and instead of slitting wrists we'd be getting ready to break out the champagne. But end of day we're still in with a great chance, best of 3 moves on. We have to make adjustments, just like Toronto did. Now we see what these kids are made of. These are all experiences that will either make them better or break them. Sweeping Philly might have given us all a false sense of security with respect to how good they actually are at this point...now someone has climbed off the mat and hit them in the mouth after nearly being counted out. It will be exciting to see how they respond. Shooting better than 7-35 would be a start. But if it's any consolation, the Raptors shot 25% from 3 in Game 1 and here they are 2-2. Whoever makes their shots, wins. I still think they can do it. Nobody said the road to Everest was easy. 

Agree!  Even if we go down 3-2....we can come back and take 2. 

I don't like when posters trash our guys to pieces for being imperfect.  But hey...venters gotta vent I guess..

[MickaelPietrus]

Someone has to hold Brad Stevens accountable. Come on, don't forget last year's fiasco, and right now we are headed towards another one

[BE-Celtic]

If we had a bench, we could actually win it all..we need some vets on the bench, not bunch of d-leaguers

I agree.  We need some guys who can give us 8 to 10 points off the bench consistently.

Yep. I made a topic in the trade section about it. It's the big area where we need improvement. And I don't think it's the hardest one to make

[hpantazo]

If we had a bench, we could actually win it all..we need some vets on the bench, not bunch of d-leaguers

I agree.  We need some guys who can give us 8 to 10 points off the bench consistently.

Yep. I made a topic in the trade section about it. It's the big area where we need improvement. And I don't think it's the hardest one to make

We lucked out too. If we had drafted Herro like Ainge wanted, we'd be all set off the bench.

[Ogaju]

I think with .5 seconds on the clock in Game 3, the Cs were a contender.   

They still are.  In the first 6 games and for 47 minutes and 59.5 seconds in their 7th playoff game, the starters basically did what they needed to do and the bench did what it needed to do.  Celtics seemed destined for the ECF and would probably have been considered favorites v. Miami.   Virtually every poster here would have picked the C’s to beat Miami.

A miracle shot that was actually impossible to make within .5 seconds changed everything - especially when followed by a thoroughly disappointing Game 4.

But have Lakers, Clippers, Raptors, Nuggets, Bucks, Rockets fans been disappointed in these playoffs?  Of course they have.  Do you think Toronto fans were thinking Finals after Game 2?   It might be that the only fans with big grins right now are Heat fans. 

If JT, JB and Kemba play strong tomorrow, the bench will be far less relevant.  And that should be the expectation.

Will people stop tallking abut the Lakers as a good team. They are not. If they win this championship it will a serious meltdown by many teams.

NG, we cannot keep relying on just three players to carry this team. The bench must play well. Brad should have developed that bench over the season instead of giving up on them. Is Waters even on the squad. Start him so Smart can come off the bench.  Hey that may be a bad idea, but that is why Cs pay others to make these decisions. 

[wiley]

If Romeo is healthy enough he should be getting minutes....he is a decisive defender who irritates the other team...

[Neurotic Guy]

I think with .5 seconds on the clock in Game 3, the Cs were a contender.   

They still are.  In the first 6 games and for 47 minutes and 59.5 seconds in their 7th playoff game, the starters basically did what they needed to do and the bench did what it needed to do.  Celtics seemed destined for the ECF and would probably have been considered favorites v. Miami.   Virtually every poster here would have picked the C’s to beat Miami.

A miracle shot that was actually impossible to make within .5 seconds changed everything - especially when followed by a thoroughly disappointing Game 4.

But have Lakers, Clippers, Raptors, Nuggets, Bucks, Rockets fans been disappointed in these playoffs?  Of course they have.  Do you think Toronto fans were thinking Finals after Game 2?   It might be that the only fans with big grins right now are Heat fans. 

If JT, JB and Kemba play strong tomorrow, the bench will be far less relevant.  And that should be the expectation.

Will people stop tallking abut the Lakers as a good team. They are not. If they win this championship it will a serious meltdown by many teams.

NG, we cannot keep relying on just three players to carry this team. The bench must play well. Brad should have developed that bench over the season instead of giving up on them. Is Waters even on the squad. Start him so Smart can come off the bench.  Hey that may be a bad idea, but that is why Cs pay others to make these decisions.

I hear you about it can’t just be the 3.  My thought is the when tge Jays, Kemba and Smart are playing well, contributions of others come a little easier. We do have guys who make contributions off the bench but we don’t have a guy who can consistently lift us when things aren’t going well.  C’s will have that if they get healthy Gordon back. That said, Rob and Grant and Brad W have provided occasion lifts.  And, dare I say it, Semi and Kanter have as well.  I also am a supporter of getting Romeo some time on tge court. 

[blink]

If we had a bench, we could actually win it all..we need some vets on the bench, not bunch of d-leaguers

I agree.  We need some guys who can give us 8 to 10 points off the bench consistently.

I also agree I wish we had better scoring off the bench, but that is primarily because we have Hayward out with injury.  You put Smarts points back to the bench and we likely have an advantage over with bench points for the series.

Overall I have been surprised we have gotten as much as we have from our bench players.  I expected worse from them.  Right now they are holding their own with the Raps bench as far as point production.  It may not seem like it during the games, but we are pretty close right now.  Ibaka's 3 pointers make it seem like our bench is getting wiped off the map.  I think Timelord needs more minutes, he has had an impact on this series.

Through the 4 games so far:
        G1     G2    G3     G4
Tor - 34     21     10     23     22ppg average
Bos- 22     13      20     24    20ppg average