Jazz (28-10) at Celtics (20-18) Game #39 3/16/21

[liam]

Semi and Pritchard a combined 0-0 shooting. You don't see that ever day. Only Kemba and Smart didn't shoot well but they both took a lot of shots 9-26. I'd like to trade them both for Lowry.

Kemba and Smart? The money does not work, does it?

Nope. Can we get Lowry and Van Vleet?

[Ogaju]

Semi and Pritchard a combined 0-0 shooting. You don't see that ever day. Only Kemba and Smart didn't shoot well but they both took a lot of shots 9-26. I'd like to trade them both for Lowry.

Kemba and Smart? The money does not work, does it?

Nope. Can we get Lowry and Van Vleet?

First get some compromising pictures of Ujiri. See how that works?

[liam]

Semi and Pritchard a combined 0-0 shooting. You don't see that ever day. Only Kemba and Smart didn't shoot well but they both took a lot of shots 9-26. I'd like to trade them both for Lowry.

Kemba and Smart? The money does not work, does it?

Nope. Can we get Lowry and Van Vleet?

First get some compromising pictures of Ujiri. See how that works?

I'm on it.

[liam]

This is the first year since he was drafted that I'd rather have Randle than Smart.

 

[Ogaju]

This is the first year since he was drafted that I'd rather have Randle than Smart.

 

Smart just needs a strong coach.

[liam]

This is the first year since he was drafted that I'd rather have Randle than Smart.

 

Smart just needs a strong coach.

Maybe so....

[liam]

Semi and Pritchard a combined 0-0 shooting. You don't see that ever day. Only Kemba and Smart didn't shoot well but they both took a lot of shots 9-26. I'd like to trade them both for Lowry.

Kemba and Smart? The money does not work, does it?

Nope. Can we get Lowry and Van Vleet?

First get some compromising pictures of Ujiri. See how that works?

Maybe Ball and Bledsoe for Kemba and Smart? A swap of frustrating players.

[Somebody]

This is not a Tatum vs Brown debate, but I think we can get more out of our crunch time offence by sprinkling in possessions where Jaylen picks up a full head of steam (or at least some speed) from bringing the ball up like he did in the final few possessions of the game: he's very difficult to stop when he puts his shoulder down after a change of direction/speed and his improved handle prevents him from turning the ball over to help defenders digging in while his newfound passing ability allows him to punish defences who collapse around him (eg. that whip pass kickout to Kemba for a three at the end of the game). He also has enough counters in his bag to reliably manufacture these looks with moves like his pullup jumpshot, a variety of finishes at the rim, dribble combinations to shake his defender, etc.

I'm not saying that we should go to Jaylen every time in crunch time, but it's certainly better than having Tatum slow down the game to a snail's pace and slowly operate in the pick and roll to painfully carve out looks for himself and his teammates against a set defence every possession IMO.

[Somebody]

Thought we played our asses off and just got beaten by a team that is better than us.  Props to Utah... they’re tough.

There is a reason they are better...roles are defined..great coaching.

The reason they're better is because the roster is built around their best players. You have an elite guard in Mitchell and an elite big in Rudy. They're pick & roll game is effective. How do you maximize that? Put elite shooters around them, add in a couple of guys that can create their own shots or play off ball in Conley and Clarkson and go to work.

If anything, they're a masterclass in roster building without a Top 5 player.

They do have a top 10-15 player in Gobert, a top 15-25 one in Conley and a top 30 player in Mitchell though, so it's not like they're lacking in star power. Add in an excellent supporting cast and you have a title contender.

[gouki88]

This is not a Tatum vs Brown debate, but I think we can get more out of our crunch time offence by sprinkling in possessions where Jaylen picks up a full head of steam (or at least some speed) from bringing the ball up like he did in the final few possessions of the game: he's very difficult to stop when he puts his shoulder down after a change of direction/speed and his improved handle prevents him from turning the ball over to help defenders digging in while his newfound passing ability allows him to punish defences who collapse around him (eg. that whip pass kickout to Kemba for a three at the end of the game). He also has enough counters in his bag to reliably manufacture these looks with moves like his pullup jumpshot, a variety of finishes at the rim, dribble combinations to shake his defender, etc.

I'm not saying that we should go to Jaylen every time in crunch time, but it's certainly better than having Tatum slow down the game to a snail's pace and slowly operate in the pick and roll to painfully carve out looks for himself and his teammates against a set defence every possession IMO.

Felt like the end of this game was the Kemba and Marcus show, which was annoying. Would like to see the ball flow through the Jays, with Timelord spacing vertically and Kemba out there too.

[Somebody]

This is not a Tatum vs Brown debate, but I think we can get more out of our crunch time offence by sprinkling in possessions where Jaylen picks up a full head of steam (or at least some speed) from bringing the ball up like he did in the final few possessions of the game: he's very difficult to stop when he puts his shoulder down after a change of direction/speed and his improved handle prevents him from turning the ball over to help defenders digging in while his newfound passing ability allows him to punish defences who collapse around him (eg. that whip pass kickout to Kemba for a three at the end of the game). He also has enough counters in his bag to reliably manufacture these looks with moves like his pullup jumpshot, a variety of finishes at the rim, dribble combinations to shake his defender, etc.

I'm not saying that we should go to Jaylen every time in crunch time, but it's certainly better than having Tatum slow down the game to a snail's pace and slowly operate in the pick and roll to painfully carve out looks for himself and his teammates against a set defence every possession IMO.

Felt like the end of this game was the Kemba and Marcus show, which was annoying. Would like to see the ball flow through the Jays, with Timelord spacing vertically and Kemba out there too.

Kemba got a few touches, but Smart's shots were created by Tatum - he simply received the ball and shot it. I felt that it was mostly Tatumball where he just grinded out possessions with his methodical approach (both of those Smart threes were created by Tatum iirc), then we realised that we had two other All-Stars when the game was basically over

[Rikibellevie]

Watched this game now. Our game and intentions were very good entering in the game and at the end. We put a lot energy and it is sad we lost this one.

Utah scored only 10 point the first 10 minutes and lost so much balls. Then our bench entered; Teague did Teague stuf, Semi did Semi etc.. After some hope at the begining of the season (for Semi at least) we see now how much this bench is bad, superbad. Building a bench isn't the hardest thing, especially as we nee to find just a good PG and Swing. Don't get if Danny deosn't do anything.

For the end of the match first Utah is very hot at 3 (basically Niang who isn't better than Semi killed us). We lack so much of confidence and they have so much. Again some iso Tatum, some hero Smart... And bye bye. Again with our players Brad can do better to fix our defense (we were so ggod at defending outside!) and for finishing the games (we are so much previsible).

For Utah, I ask to wait. One year ago who would said that Clarckson would become unstopable, O Neale a great ? defensor ? Even Mitchell-Gobert-Conley being the best big  of the league ? Almost noone. So I will wait the PO, the performance of Clarckson and even Mitchell when hard PO games will come... I don't bet my hand they are true contenders. Even Denver if they put everything good can beat them in PO in my opinion. Time will tell.

And for us, we don't exploit at all our potential, even with good momentum, but when it counts (bench unit impact, end of games) we don't execute well. Because of the roster construction, the lack of maturity and confidence of some AND because of Brad

[Phantom255x]

Celtics now 0-8 against the current Top-5 teams in the league (PHI, PHO, LAL, UTAH, BKN).

Unfortunately that pretty much sums it up. This team is just mediocre. Feels like they'll win a first round series against a favorable opponent, but then get smacked in the 2nd round to either PHI/MIL/BKN.

To me it's not just the losses themselves, but how we look against these other elite teams. Does anyone ever feel like the C's can really win a game against these kind of teams? Because idk, a lot of these games it seems the other team just outplays us and outhustles us, including in crunch time. It's a stark contrast. Not championship-caliber from the C's. It's not just last night, but in general. They'll beat up on bad teams but struggle against good ones. Not a good recipe.

[LilRip]

Just caught up with the game. Ugly rotations by CBS and embarrassingly bad shooting night from Smart. I’ll chalk this up to rust after being out for so long.

I don’t understand the hate for Tatum. He was hands down our best player tonight and once again, the team plays better when he’s on the floor. He has something that no one else on the team has: gravity. It makes guys around him better, whether he has the ball or he’s playing off it.

Tough loss but the Jazz just executed better. The better team won

[Somebody]

Watched this game now. Our game and intentions were very good entering in the game and at the end. We put a lot energy and it is sad we lost this one.

Utah scored only 10 point the first 10 minutes and lost so much balls. Then our bench entered; Teague did Teague stuf, Semi did Semi etc.. After some hope at the begining of the season (for Semi at least) we see now how much this bench is bad, superbad. Building a bench isn't the hardest thing, especially as we nee to find just a good PG and Swing. Don't get if Danny deosn't do anything.

For the end of the match first Utah is very hot at 3 (basically Niang who isn't better than Semi killed us). We lack so much of confidence and they have so much. Again some iso Tatum, some hero Smart... And bye bye. Again with our players Brad can do better to fix our defense (we were so ggod at defending outside!) and for finishing the games (we are so much previsible).

For Utah, I ask to wait. One year ago who would said that Clarckson would become unstopable, O Neale a great ? defensor? Even Mitchell-Gobert-Conley being the best big 3 of the league ? Almost noone. So I will wait the PO, the performance of Clarckson and even Mitchell when hard PO games will come... I don't bet my hand they are true contenders. Even Denver if they put everything good can beat them in PO in my opinion. Time will tell.

And for us, we don't exploit at all our potential, even with good momentum, but when it counts (bench unit impact, end of games) we don't execute well. Because of the roster construction, the lack of maturity and confidence of some AND because of Brad

Okay a few things about your post:
1. Yeah our bench wouldn't look too off from a tanking team vying for Cade, it is absolutely rubbish for a team with playoff aspirations.

2. Utah did get hot from three, but this wasn't them having the shooting night of their lives. They're currently averaging 39.7% from three this season, good for third in the league. Btw Georges Niang is a shooting specialist - he's been averaging 39.5% from three on 2.8 attempts per game since the 2018-2019 season.

3. You're severely underrating Utah's players. Clarkson has been putting up per possession box stats similar to his current campaign since the 2018-2019 season as a valuable microwave scorer off the bench and Royce O'Neale was one of the better 3 and D wings last year. You do have a point about Gobert/Mitchell/Conley, but they were projected to be a fantastic trio when the Jazz first traded for Conley a year or two ago: Gobert is a perennial All-NBA calibre big while Conley and Mitchell were mid-low end All-Stars who gave the Jazz some much-needed offensive punch. Sure they can lose in the second round (or even the first round if they get an unlucky draw in the loaded West), but that's not an indictment on them as a team - the West just has most of the very good teams in the league.