From 30 assists to 15 assists. Celtics inconsistencies continue

[Tr1boy]

Last night

Brad Stevens: “I thought we had moments where we had some great defensive possessions … The thing that did not carry over from last night was the ball movement.”

Post game - Raptors win

Brad Stevens said the lack of ball movement and the inconsistent defense have kept him up at night. He wants to string together a couple of weeks with plus ball movement like tonight.

- Jayson Tatum had 9 assists vs Raptors and 7 assists vs Pistons.  Very good
- Jaylen Brown had 10 assists vs Raptors and 0 assist vs Piston.  Model of inconsistency

Look I get it. Some nights the more dependable role players are not hitting shots.  But extra effort can be made to get them better looks.  This was apparent vs the Raptors

Brown was pulling in several guys towards him yesterday.  And he should have passed the ball more.  Even 3 or 4 assists could have made a difference. 

It looks like, this is not something really Brad can force these guys to do.  But show them film to identify passing opportunities.   

[GreenWarrior]

Under brad these guys constantly need to be reminded to play defense. This is nothing new, it didn't start this season.

This is however tatum and brown's 1st season as core with no one else to defer to. In their defense this is new and who else do you want to pass to on this team? The roster sucks.

And if we're expecting the ball movement to improve maybe Brad's not the guy to get that msg across as he's shown he constantly has to remind them to play defense.

Also that game last night was and is the perfect example of why brad should not be the coach of this team.

4th Qrtr we have the pistons in foul trouble and after that it's bombs away and we proceed to shoot ourselves out of the game.

Sound familiar??? It should, that's how we've been eliminated in the playoffs every season under stevens.

That tells me he doesn't see the flaw in his philosophy of everybody just shoot whenever - it's the best shot according to statistics.

We've plateaued with brad. Unfortunately this roster is putrid and that will be the reason he sticks around... Probably long after brown and Tatum's tenure here.

[Tr1boy]

Under brad these guys constantly need to be reminded to play defense. This is nothing new, it didn't start this season.

This is however tatum and brown's 1st season as core with no one else to defer to. In their defense this is new and who else do you want to pass to on this team? The roster sucks.

And if we're expecting the ball movement to improve maybe Brad's not the guy to get that msg across as he's shown he constantly has to remind them to play defense.

Also that game last night was and is the perfect example of why brad should not be the coach of this team.

4th Qrtr we have the pistons in foul trouble and after that it's bombs away and we proceed to shoot ourselves out of the game.

Sound familiar??? It should, that's how we've been eliminated in the playoffs every season under stevens.

That tells me he doesn't see the flaw in his philosophy of everybody just shoot whenever - it's the best shot according to statistics.

We've plateaued with brad. Unfortunately this roster is putrid and that will be the reason he sticks around... Probably long after brown and Tatum's tenure here.

You are not wrong on some of the points

I wouldn't say they have tuned out Brad, but they are also not listening to him

Popovich makes sure you listen

So did Phil Jackson

Maybe they have a presence about them. 

[Donoghus]

They just look tired & gassed last night. 

Back end of a back to back and 4th game in 6 days.

I'm not really taking a helluva lot out of last night's game.

[nickagneta]

They just look tired & gassed last night. 

Back end of a back to back and 4th game in 6 days.

I'm not really taking a helluva lot out of last night's game.

And let's add no Kemba, no Smart, no Timelord and Semi injured at start of the 3rd period, not to return.

Back to back. 3rd game in four days. 4th game in 6 days. Not having two of your starters and one other important rotation guy. Losing another rotation guy at halftime.

Some say those are excuses. I see them as reasons. You can't lose 40% of your starters and 35% of your 10 man rotation and expect to win under the scheduling circumstances they were in.

And this stuff is happening to every team. There are reasons that 22 out of 30 teams are at 3 wins over .500 or less including really, really good teams like Boston, Brooklyn, Indiana, Toronto, Miami, Dallas, Denver and Golden State.

Those reasons are a hectic, whacky, condensed schedule, Covid absences, little to no practice time, rest needed to players due to the schedule and perhaps injuries caused by playing too many games in to few games.

[GreenWarrior]

Under brad these guys constantly need to be reminded to play defense. This is nothing new, it didn't start this season.

This is however tatum and brown's 1st season as core with no one else to defer to. In their defense this is new and who else do you want to pass to on this team? The roster sucks.

And if we're expecting the ball movement to improve maybe Brad's not the guy to get that msg across as he's shown he constantly has to remind them to play defense.

Also that game last night was and is the perfect example of why brad should not be the coach of this team.

4th Qrtr we have the pistons in foul trouble and after that it's bombs away and we proceed to shoot ourselves out of the game.

Sound familiar??? It should, that's how we've been eliminated in the playoffs every season under stevens.

That tells me he doesn't see the flaw in his philosophy of everybody just shoot whenever - it's the best shot according to statistics.

We've plateaued with brad. Unfortunately this roster is putrid and that will be the reason he sticks around... Probably long after brown and Tatum's tenure here.

You are not wrong on some of the points

I wouldn't say they have tuned out Brad, but they are also not listening to him

Popovich makes sure you listen

So did Phil Jackson

Maybe they have a presence about them.

Oh no I'm not saying they're tuning him out.

All good teams do one thing really well that they can rely on, it's essentially the team's identity. It's usually something that the players don't need to be reminded of often. It comes naturally, it shows up when things get difficult.

Hmm, The only thing this team has that remotely resembles an identity is just start bombing away. It's the one constant, it's the only thing you can count on with this team.

Kind of tough way to win imo.