Pelicans (20-25) at Celtics (23-23) Game #47 3/29/21

[86MaxwellSmart]

Marcus DUMB.

[nickagneta]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

I don't blame Fournier I blame Brad forcing minutes to someone who isn't playing well and not playing players who are. Pritchard, Nesmith, and Kornet combine for 8-16 from the field in 36 minutes and Fournier was 0-10 in 33 minutes. That seems like a coaching issue to me.

You can't coach like that at this level. It's panic management and it does not work. You want players fitting into their roles and playing as good as possible in those roles. Once you start managing minutes by jerking guys in and out of lineups based on hitting a few shots or having a few turnovers and you do that every game, it's over. You will lose the locker room and be gone shortly after that.

[liam]

Marcus DUMB.

Yeah, it's no good enough to turn it on for the last four minutes of the game unless you only play in he last four minutes of the game.

[liam]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

I don't blame Fournier I blame Brad forcing minutes to someone who isn't playing well and not playing players who are. Pritchard, Nesmith, and Kornet combine for 8-16 from the field in 36 minutes and Fournier was 0-10 in 33 minutes. That seems like a coaching issue to me.

You can't coach like that at this level. It's panic management and it does not work. You want players fitting into their roles and playing as good as possible in those roles. Once you start managing minutes by jerking guys in and out of lineups based on hitting a few shots or having a few turnovers and you do that every game, it's over. You will lose the locker room and be gone shortly after that.

Fournier just got here and Smart just got off a minutes restriction. That's the John Starks move were you just ride the cold hand to the loss. Kornet played the whole 4th quarter last game, Nesmith was playing well, Pritchard was also playing well. Those are the guys that are getting jerked around. If playing time isn't merit based what's the point?

And 10 in a row isn't a few shots and Smart is taking WAAAAAAAAAAYYYY too many shots. When ever Smart takes that many shots we lose. Brad also did play the hot players in the last game that we won. He went with Kornet in that whole 4th quarter.

[Goldstar88]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

I don't blame Fournier I blame Brad forcing minutes to someone who isn't playing well and not playing players who are. Pritchard, Nesmith, and Kornet combine for 8-16 from the field in 36 minutes and Fournier was 0-10 in 33 minutes. That seems like a coaching issue to me.

You can't coach like that at this level. It's panic management and it does not work. You want players fitting into their roles and playing as good as possible in those roles. Once you start managing minutes by jerking guys in and out of lineups based on hitting a few shots or having a few turnovers and you do that every game, it's over. You will lose the locker room and be gone shortly after that.

Exactly. Couldn’t agree more.

[byennie]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

I don't blame Fournier I blame Brad forcing minutes to someone who isn't playing well and not playing players who are. Pritchard, Nesmith, and Kornet combine for 8-16 from the field in 36 minutes and Fournier was 0-10 in 33 minutes. That seems like a coaching issue to me.

You can't coach like that at this level. It's panic management and it does not work. You want players fitting into their roles and playing as good as possible in those roles. Once you start managing minutes by jerking guys in and out of lineups based on hitting a few shots or having a few turnovers and you do that every game, it's over. You will lose the locker room and be gone shortly after that.

In general, sure. I don't think anyone was going to be bothered if Fournier played 15-20 minutes on his first night, when he clearly had zero time to acclimate. Could have been the difference in this game.

[liam]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

I don't blame Fournier I blame Brad forcing minutes to someone who isn't playing well and not playing players who are. Pritchard, Nesmith, and Kornet combine for 8-16 from the field in 36 minutes and Fournier was 0-10 in 33 minutes. That seems like a coaching issue to me.

You can't coach like that at this level. It's panic management and it does not work. You want players fitting into their roles and playing as good as possible in those roles. Once you start managing minutes by jerking guys in and out of lineups based on hitting a few shots or having a few turnovers and you do that every game, it's over. You will lose the locker room and be gone shortly after that.

In general, sure. I don't think anyone was going to be bothered if Fournier played 15-20 minutes on his first night, when he clearly had zero time to acclimate. Could have been the difference in this game.

At some point it's going to be the difference between making the playoffs or not. We're in seventh place and headed in the wrong direction.

[ozgod]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

As a coach you need to manage your players over the course of the entire season. The last thing Brad wants to do is sit Fournier on his debut because he’s shooting terrible after a debut where he didn’t get to practice with the team, flew to OKC to make his debut then got pulled out due to COVID, and then came in with high expectations after being with the magic for 7 years. He wants to show his new player that he has his back, that he has confidence in him. Unfortunately the schedule forces them all to learn on the fly.

I don’t have a problem with the minutes Fournier got. Sure it contributed to us losing the game but I’d rather that than the guy lose confidence over the rest of the season because he thinks he doesn’t have his coach”s trust. There’s nothing more crushing as a player than to feel like his coach doesn’t have his back, especially if you’re new and a lot is expected of you.

I guess they were hoping he would turn it around. That’s why every coach from varsity onwards tells you, if you’re a good shooter having a bad day, to keep shooting if you’re getting good shots. (It’s only is fans that yell that at the TV when players keep bricking it  ) And he was getting good shots. He flubbed this audition but he’s too good a player to not bounce back. It happens. At least he knows there’s nowhere to go but up 

[liam]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

As a coach you need to manage your players over the course of the entire season. The last thing Brad wants to do is sit Fournier on his debut because he’s shooting terrible after a debut where he didn’t get to practice with the team, flew to OKC to make his debut then got pulled out due to COVID, and then came in with high expectations after being with the magic for 7 years. He wants to show his new player that he has his back, that he has confidence in him. Unfortunately the schedule forces them all to learn on the fly.

I don’t have a problem with the minutes Fournier got. Sure it contributed to us losing the game but I’d rather that than the guy lose confidence over the rest of the season because he thinks he doesn’t have his coach”s trust. There’s nothing more crushing as a player than to feel like his coach doesn’t have his back, especially if you’re new and a lot is expected of you. I guess they were hoping he would turn it around. He flubbed this audition but he’s too good a player to not bounce back. It happens. At least he knows there’s nowhere to go but up 

I get that but maybe Payton Pritchard who's making shots might get more than 15 minutes and 6 shots and feel like the coach has his back. Pritchard has been jerked around all year. Pritchard was 4-6 tonight. Nesmith shot 2-4 in 8 minutes. I wouldn't want anyones feelings to be hurt by winning a game when the Celtics are in seventh place with what I thought was a playoff team.

Smart played 38 minutes and was probably good in 8 of those minutes.

[nickagneta]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

As a coach you need to manage your players over the course of the entire season. The last thing Brad wants to do is sit Fournier on his debut because he’s shooting terrible after a debut where he didn’t get to practice with the team, flew to OKC to make his debut then got pulled out due to COVID, and then came in with high expectations after being with the magic for 7 years. He wants to show his new player that he has his back, that he has confidence in him. Unfortunately the schedule forces them all to learn on the fly.

I don’t have a problem with the minutes Fournier got. Sure it contributed to us losing the game but I’d rather that than the guy lose confidence over the rest of the season because he thinks he doesn’t have his coach”s trust. There’s nothing more crushing as a player than to feel like his coach doesn’t have his back, especially if you’re new and a lot is expected of you. I guess they were hoping he would turn it around. He flubbed this audition but he’s too good a player to not bounce back. It happens. At least he knows there’s nowhere to go but up 

Exactly! There is more to coaching than xs and os. Managing people is the number one priority of any coach. Brad probably told Fournier, you're going to get x minutes and you'll be playing mostly with these guys. Just play your best and know I won't jerk you around.

Fournier's role is to be a shooter. You have to let shooters shoot, even going 0-10 because he could hit his next 8 straight.

This actually happened to Jaylen earlier this year. I think his first half he went 1-9 but he kept shooting and went 9-11 in the second half with like 4 or 5 threes. Gotta let those guys work things out.

Point being, Brad has to show confidence in guys to do their jobs and fulfill their roles and that sometimes means letting his player play through the bad shooting. And doing that keeps up Stevens' players confidence up.

[nickagneta]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

As a coach you need to manage your players over the course of the entire season. The last thing Brad wants to do is sit Fournier on his debut because he’s shooting terrible after a debut where he didn’t get to practice with the team, flew to OKC to make his debut then got pulled out due to COVID, and then came in with high expectations after being with the magic for 7 years. He wants to show his new player that he has his back, that he has confidence in him. Unfortunately the schedule forces them all to learn on the fly.

I don’t have a problem with the minutes Fournier got. Sure it contributed to us losing the game but I’d rather that than the guy lose confidence over the rest of the season because he thinks he doesn’t have his coach”s trust. There’s nothing more crushing as a player than to feel like his coach doesn’t have his back, especially if you’re new and a lot is expected of you. I guess they were hoping he would turn it around. He flubbed this audition but he’s too good a player to not bounce back. It happens. At least he knows there’s nowhere to go but up 

I get that but maybe Payton Pritchard who's making shots might get more than 15 minutes and 6 shots and feel like the coach has his back. Pritchard has been jerked around all year. Pritchard was 4-6 tonight. Nesmith shot 2-4 in 8 minutes. I wouldn't want anyones feelings to be hurt by winning a game when the Celtics are in seventh place with what I thought was a playoff team.

Smart played 38 minutes and was probably good in 8 of those minutes.

Brad doesn't jerk Payton around. Stevens has pretty consistently given Pritchard a 17-23 minute role as a back up guard who is charged with helping the #1 scoring option run the offense when he is in there.

And Payton has played great in that role. Brad trusts him in that role. Payton is developing great in that role. I don't see the problem.

[liam]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

As a coach you need to manage your players over the course of the entire season. The last thing Brad wants to do is sit Fournier on his debut because he’s shooting terrible after a debut where he didn’t get to practice with the team, flew to OKC to make his debut then got pulled out due to COVID, and then came in with high expectations after being with the magic for 7 years. He wants to show his new player that he has his back, that he has confidence in him. Unfortunately the schedule forces them all to learn on the fly.

I don’t have a problem with the minutes Fournier got. Sure it contributed to us losing the game but I’d rather that than the guy lose confidence over the rest of the season because he thinks he doesn’t have his coach”s trust. There’s nothing more crushing as a player than to feel like his coach doesn’t have his back, especially if you’re new and a lot is expected of you. I guess they were hoping he would turn it around. He flubbed this audition but he’s too good a player to not bounce back. It happens. At least he knows there’s nowhere to go but up 

Exactly! There is more to coaching than xs and os. Managing people is the number one priority of any coach. Brad probably told Fournier, you're going to get x minutes and you'll be playing mostly with these guys. Just play your best and know I won't jerk you around.

Fournier's role is to be a shooter. You have to let shooters shoot, even going 0-10 because he could hit his next 8 straight.

This actually happened to Jaylen earlier this year. I think his first half he went 1-9 but he kept shooting and went 9-11 in the second half with like 4 or 5 threes. Gotta let those guys work things out.

Point being, Brad has to show confidence in guys to do their jobs and fulfill their roles and that sometimes means letting his player play through the bad shooting. And doing that keeps up Stevens' players confidence up.

I can't really see how going 0-10 is helping anyones confidence. I get your point and if Brad told Fournier he was going to play x minutes he should play him those minutes but you don't also have to play Smart, who was horrid most of his 38 minutes and only play Pritchard 15. Pritchard is actually a skilled offensive player who he can shoot and should be playing and shooting when shots aren't falling. Nesmith was playing and shooting well and got 8 minutes. Brad has been jerking players in and out of the rotation all year and some of that is because of the schedule and injuries  and I do want him to have a real rotation. That hasn't happened yet this year but sometimes you have to go with the players that are making shots. He did that last game and we won. This game he just rode with what wasn't working and we lost. I wouldn't be so bothered if it was just one game but this has happened all season and we are about to fall out of the playoffs. I guess I'm not really disagreeing with what your saying as much as I am frustrated with a massive lack of consistency from this team including the coach that I thought the trades might have fixed.

[liam]

32 minutes and 0 points for Evan Fournier? Wow so much for him being our savior.

Even Luke Kornet is outperforming him.

The question is why is Fournier getting 32 minutes when he's so off? I know Brad will say we need Fornier to win. He always says that when he force feeds minutes to someone having a horrid game. Pritchard should had 10 more shots and 15 more minutes.

It’s one game, man. He literally hasn’t had a single practice with the team and there was a very good chance that he wasn’t even going to play tonight due to contact tracing. Maybe give him a few games to acclimate?

As a coach you need to manage your players over the course of the entire season. The last thing Brad wants to do is sit Fournier on his debut because he’s shooting terrible after a debut where he didn’t get to practice with the team, flew to OKC to make his debut then got pulled out due to COVID, and then came in with high expectations after being with the magic for 7 years. He wants to show his new player that he has his back, that he has confidence in him. Unfortunately the schedule forces them all to learn on the fly.

I don’t have a problem with the minutes Fournier got. Sure it contributed to us losing the game but I’d rather that than the guy lose confidence over the rest of the season because he thinks he doesn’t have his coach”s trust. There’s nothing more crushing as a player than to feel like his coach doesn’t have his back, especially if you’re new and a lot is expected of you. I guess they were hoping he would turn it around. He flubbed this audition but he’s too good a player to not bounce back. It happens. At least he knows there’s nowhere to go but up 

I get that but maybe Payton Pritchard who's making shots might get more than 15 minutes and 6 shots and feel like the coach has his back. Pritchard has been jerked around all year. Pritchard was 4-6 tonight. Nesmith shot 2-4 in 8 minutes. I wouldn't want anyones feelings to be hurt by winning a game when the Celtics are in seventh place with what I thought was a playoff team.

Smart played 38 minutes and was probably good in 8 of those minutes.

Brad doesn't jerk Payton around. Stevens has pretty consistently given Pritchard a 17-23 minute role as a back up guard who is charged with helping the #1 scoring option run the offense when he is in there.

And Payton has played great in that role. Brad trusts him in that role. Payton is developing great in that role. I don't see the problem.

Against the Bucks last Wedesday in the loss Pritchard played 4 minutes in the win on Friday against the Bucks 20 minutes.

"Payton Pritchard says his mindset does change a little with Jeff Teague being traded. Said he knows those minutes are coming his way on nights when Kemba Walker sits out. Pritchard added he wants to be aggressive no matter what his role is." 

and

"Many of us said the Celtics needed to “play with purpose,” but what we really wanted was for more purpose to be given to them. Payton Pritchard is a first round pick that was fighting for minutes with an underachieving guard on a minimum contract. With Jeff Teague now out of the picture, Pritchard can focus on optimizing his minutes instead of worrying about whether or not he gets minutes at all. This is why roster construction is so impossibly fragile; how do you add players to the mix without taking away from the others?"

https://www.celticsblog.com/2021/3/29/22355298/recent-roster-changes-lead-consistent-roles-robert-williams-payton-pritchard-evan-fournier-celtics

Smart always gets a ton of minutes no matter how bad he plays or how uninterested he looks out there or how many times he's not covering anyone. He didn't even get taken out for throwing up a half court shot when we had a full shot clock tonight. Smart would've been screaming his head off if someone else had done that but no one holds him accountable.

[Indocelts]

Relax guys, it's Fournier's first game as a Celtics. He will learn his mistake, adjust, and rebound quickly. 

Smart, on the other hand, ....

[LilRip]

It’s the classic tale of Dr. Smart and Mr. Dumb

Mr. Dumb got a lot of run tonight