Post your non-trade ideas to fix this team

[Surferdad]

It is understandable that many of us are trying to figure out a trade to fix the C's woes.  But trades have downsides, not the least of which is giving up talent to get talent.  What if instead there's a way to fix the team during this season without giving up talent?

Last 3 games:
Blown out by LAL, who then promptly lost to an injury-decimated Memphis team.
Lost to an injury-decimated LAC team
Lost to an injury-decimated PHO team

This team has plenty of talent, so something else is going on.  I want to challenge everyone to put your thinking caps on and come up with ideas that do not include trades.  I'll start (but I'm not necessarily in favor of doing any of these):

1) Bench anyone who doesn't do what the coach says.
2) Make passing and off-ball movement a point-of-emphasis.
3) Shake up the rotation (e.g. Smart to 6th man)
4) Fire Udoka and bring in a vet coach.

Go!

[todd_days_41]

…. rubs chin, struggles to think of anything meaningful since it’s obvious the make up of this team isn’t a good starting point….

[Surferdad]

…. rubs chin, struggles to think of anything meaningful since it’s obvious the make up of this team isn’t a good starting point….

Thanks for at least giving it a chin rub, but I guess my point was missed:  This team has plenty of talent.  They should be winning.  Many of us thought they were no lower than 4th seed in the East.  The roster is fine...there is something else wrong...

[Rosco917]

It's the same old story, the soft young coach doesn't hold players accountable for the hero ball. The one thing this franchise has not tried yet, is a veteran disciplinarian coach in the driver's seat. It may be time for a little tough love on this team. The Low IQ players that can't get it...sit. Tatum included!


And unfortunately naturally Jaylen Brown is hurt. 

[todd_days_41]

…. rubs chin, struggles to think of anything meaningful since it’s obvious the make up of this team isn’t a good starting point….

Thanks for at least giving it a chin rub, but I guess my point was missed:  This team has plenty of talent.  They should be winning.  Many of us thought they were no lower than 4th seed in the East.  The roster is fine...there is something else wrong...

I just totally disagree. Talented defensive team with suspect offensive fit. Below average shooting. Bottom of the league point guard play. weak bench. Queationable leadership. Poor overall roster construction. 

[Moranis]

Without roster moves, I think it is obvious that Schroder needs to start.

So if everyone is healthy I think you have 3 solid starting lineup options

Schroder, Brown, Tatum, Horford, Rob

or

Schroder, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford

or

Schroder, Brown, Tatum, Grant, Horford

I prefer the 2nd, but I think the other 2 can work just fine as well.

[Ogaju]

Pinches goatee….. I have no idea. Other teams just seem to play better.

[wdleehi]

Bench Schroder and make him the 6th man he should be.  Until Brown is back start Richardson or Langford or Naismith.   

Keep the offensive focus movement towards the basket.   Play Grant more.

[Goldstar88]

1) change the starting rotation to: Schroder, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford. This is clearly the best offensive unit. Let Timelord play his 25 minutes Off the bench so that he doesn’t break down. A 2 big lineup is not effective against 90% of teams.

2)Stop shooting so many 3’s. Most of the players on this team cannot make them consistently and the players with the highest 3pt shooting percentages (Romeo and Grant) are getting very few attempts which doesn’t help.

3) Shorten the rotation. Starters: Schroder, Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford. Bench: Timelord, Richardson, Langford, Grant, Kanter. Send Pritchard, Nesmith, Fernando down to the G-League so that they can develop. All 3 are clearly not ready to contribute.

4) Do a better job staggering minutes. There shouldn’t be points of any close game where one of Tatum or Brown are not on the court. Ideally we’d have a combination of 2 of the following on the court at all times: Horford, Brown, Tatum. Considering Horford can play the 4/5, Brown can play the 2/3 and Tatum can play the 3/4 this should be very doable.

5) Make sure there are 3 shooter on the court at all times. Some of the lineups Ime puts out there have 1 shooter on the floor and the offense struggles. Shocking, I know... Tatum, Brown, Horford, Grant, And Romeo are the players that can spread the floor for the C’s.

Hire Mike D’Antoni as a consultant/offensive coordinator (or maybe Brad can do this?). Ime doesn’t seem to know how to run an offense. Team looks so disjointed trying to run plays. They have no confidence at all on that end Of the court. They play “my turn” basketball and it doesn’t work.

[Ogaju]

Shorten the rotation? Are you serious.

[celts55]

Without a trade, I guess I would say, get healthy. Brown has missed half the season.

Increase ball movement. Way too much iso ball for my liking.

Stop shooting soon many threes, since they shoot them at a terrible percentage.

Sit players who are not giving 100%. And yes, that includes the J’s when it’s them.

Maintain defensive intensity. They have shown they can play D, when motivated.

I could go on, but the truth is, they need to make a trade. This team is missing something, and needs a different mixture

[kraidstar]

Watching that game last night, Phoenix had so many possessions with 3, 4, 5 passes or more. And they were passes with purpose. The Suns play FAST, and as such they constantly create advantages with positioning and spacing. Those advantages get magnified by a good pass or two and then they generate a wide open shot.

The slovenly Celtics were exposed as the bumbling idiots that they are. Smart driving into the heart of the defense for a mindless TO. Tatum bringing the ball between the 3pt lines, just to jack up an ego 3  (I'm starting to think of him as Old Rasheed Wallace aka "Lil Sheed".

To their credit, the Celtics did TRY last night. Which is more than most nights. But they are lazy and have horrible offensive habits. Tatum is a ball stopper and kills all offensive flow. And the selfishness is contagious. They got embarrassed by an undermanned TEAM last night. A TEAM almost always beats a bunch of ISO players. 

Somehow IME and management need to get them to buy in.

[Kuberski33]

…. rubs chin, struggles to think of anything meaningful since it’s obvious the make up of this team isn’t a good starting point….

Thanks for at least giving it a chin rub, but I guess my point was missed:  This team has plenty of talent.  They should be winning.  Many of us thought they were no lower than 4th seed in the East.  The roster is fine...there is something else wrong...

I just totally disagree. Talented defensive team with suspect offensive fit. Below average shooting. Bottom of the league point guard play. weak bench. Queationable leadership. Poor overall roster construction.

Fans in general overrate their own team's talent.  They love to focus on the good nights against crappy teams that play no defense instead of the real signs of a decent team - ability to win on the road. Play best games vs quality opponents etc.

This team fails miserably on both of those.

[Silas]

Obviously changes are needed for this team.  It seems to me that too many games start with poor shooting and they fall behind early.  While the team occasionally gets its act together for runs, they have trouble sustaining the effort for the rest of the game.   Digging out of deep holes has become to common.  I would like to see more offense to start games and I know that defense wins games.  This team has a strong group of defenders capable of playing top 5-10 defense. So my suggestions would start with:

Schröder pg.   Best pg on the team.
Brown at sg    Best sg on the team.
Tatum at sf     Best sf on the team.
G. Williams at pf  Solid 3 and D.
Rob at c  Best c on the team.

While I like Big Al, he is more of a glue guy with solid D.  This year he sucks making shots outside of the paint.  Manage his minutes and use him to help hold leads.  Fills in for both Williams.

PP needs to play minutes to regain his shooting touch.  He should be the backup pg.  He arguably has the best 3pt shot on the team.  Play him early and if he is hot play him a lot, if he is cold focus his attention on assists.  Coaches should know how to protect him because of his D liabilities.  Remember IT.

Romeo and Josh should play 20+ minutes shifting between sg and sf.   Nessie shows up to cover injuries and blow outs.

Finally, since under this scenario Smart can't be traded, only use him for defensive purposes to help hold leads.  Coach needs to cut his 3pt shooting dramatically. 

That's my suggestion for a 10 player rotation with a focus on early offense. 

[Csfan1984]

They need Brown back also no double bigs.

 I wanted the starters and rotation beginning of the year to be
PP/Schro
Smart/Josh/Lang
JB/Nesmith
Tatum/Grant/Parker
Al/TL/Kanter

I still want that setup. Puts shooting with the Jays. If you do unit rotations you keep balance. Examples;

Schro and Grant for PP and Tatum. You keep a playmaker and floor spacer.

Nesmith and TL for JB and Al. You keep a spot shooter and a slasher/roller.

With Smart, Josh and Langford all as SG options you always have defense there who ever you put in.

I went through play style changes in another thread. But nothing matters till Brown is back.