Heat (0-0) at Celtics (0-0) ECF Game #1 5/17/23

[BringToughnessBack]

Here's how you blow a game, in the course of about 90 seconds:

10:01   Marcus Smart misses 24-foot three point jumper

9:34      Al Horford misses 27-foot three point jumper

8:31      Marcus Smart misses 27-foot three point jumper

Those were our only three shots during that time period, in which the lead went from 10 down to a tie.

There was a moment that came shortly after Marcus hit his last 3 pointer that I swear Marcus flipped a switch and believed he'd become the love child of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.   He was suddenly  the #1 option and the first big sign was his behind the back pass to Horford.  He then went to the Rob well once too often and began hoisting 3s to the detriment of the team.   When Marcus is going well it's hard not to get caught up in it, but you KNOW he doesn't know how to pull himself back.  He doesn't realize that even when he's playing well he still needs to defer to others who are better.   You get away with a low percentage fancy pass once, you need to be happy it worked and then get back to high percentage plays rather than try again (multiple times).  Same with threes -- you hit 2 in a row...rejoice!  You're unlikely to hit the next one, so stop.

It was horrible and a day later, I still cannot believe what I saw with that and the entire second half. It is not rocket science, run the offense through our best player, Tatum. Him barely touching the ball the entire second half was a disgrace. Smart forgot what worked so well in the first half as well. This team is really depressing me sometimes. I know one thing though, all great teams who win multiple titles know how to run the game through their main superstar for 4 quarters. A great coach makes sure of this. If you go hero ball as a secondary player, you should be benched. If you blow a big lead and are getting destroyed, you should call a timeout. Rocket science it is not but apparently we cannot figure this out consistently. Brad must be losing his mind watching some games.

[Roy H.]

Here's how you blow a game, in the course of about 90 seconds:

10:01   Marcus Smart misses 24-foot three point jumper

9:34      Al Horford misses 27-foot three point jumper

8:31      Marcus Smart misses 27-foot three point jumper

Those were our only three shots during that time period, in which the lead went from 10 down to a tie.

There was a moment that came shortly after Marcus hit his last 3 pointer that I swear Marcus flipped a switch and believed he'd become the love child of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.   He was suddenly  the #1 option and the first big sign was his behind the back pass to Horford.  He then went to the Rob well once too often and began hoisting 3s to the detriment of the team.   When Marcus is going well it's hard not to get caught up in it, but you KNOW he doesn't know how to pull himself back.  He doesn't realize that even when he's playing well he still needs to defer to others who are better.   You get away with a low percentage fancy pass once, you need to be happy it worked and then get back to high percentage plays rather than try again (multiple times).  Same with threes -- you hit 2 in a row...rejoice!  You're unlikely to hit the next one, so stop.

It was horrible and a day later, I still cannot believe what I saw with that and the entire second half. It is not rocket science, run the offense through our best player, Tatum. Him barely touching the ball the entire second half was a disgrace. Smart forgot what worked so well in the first half as well. This team is really depressing me sometimes. I know one thing though, all great teams who win multiple titles know how to run the game through their main superstar for 4 quarters. A great coach makes sure of this. If you go hero ball as a secondary player, you should be benched. If you blow a big lead and are getting destroyed, you should call a timeout. Rocket science it is not but apparently we cannot figure this out consistently. Brad must be losing his mind watching some games.

Can you imagine if the Bulls had come out and run the offense through B.J. Armstrong?

It's what's so infuriating about Smart, though.  Much like Tony Allen, there's "good Marcus" and "bad Marcus", and he can switch personalities half to half.  Our team is *never* good when Marcus plays hero ball.

[keevsnick]

This team really isn't fun to watch a good majority of the time. Complete opposite team from last year that was very easy to root for. Just dumb basketball from the head coach on down.

Yeah, I was just going to ask if anybody actually enjoys watching this team play anymore. Sure, they have their high moments, but they constantly disappoint and underachieve.

I wish I could become a game on in the background while I do other stuff during the regular season kind of guy. And just not watch the postseason at all. Only one team can win it all and it seems we are stuck with the early 90s Buffalo Bills.

I do. It's a basketball game, there's ups and downs. It's meant to be entertainment. I much prefer it when they win, but nothing about my daily life changes when they lose. I really just don't get the "I hate watching this team" and "this team sucks" talk. If I felt that much dislike or hatred for something, I wouldn't partake in it. It's okay to disengage from things you don't find enjoyment in.

I have to agree with this sentiment. I enjoy watching the team as well. Its full of guys I like, it scores a lot of points which is fun, it has two of the best 20 players in the league in Tatum/Brown who are capable of individually great games and crazy highlights, it has enough roster flexibility to be strategically interesting from a matchup/tactical perspective and most importantly it's really good! The team is in the ECF, they are one of the final four teams in the league for a second straight year!

[celticinorlando]

I told my buddy who is a Heat fan at the half the Celtics would come out in the 3rd as volume 3 point shooters and shoot Miami back in the game.

Exactly what happened. Once I saw the 2 3's from Smart and the one from Horford I knew this game was tilting.

[keevsnick]

I told my buddy who is a Heat fan at the half the Celtics would come out in the 3rd as volume 3 point shooters and shoot Miami back in the game.

Exactly what happened. Once I saw the 2 3's from Smart and the one from Horford I knew this game was tilting.

This is a funny post considering that the c's shot a grand total of 8 three pointers that entire quarter, made a decent amount of them going 3-8 but got smoked by Miami from three who went 6-9.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I told my buddy who is a Heat fan at the half the Celtics would come out in the 3rd as volume 3 point shooters and shoot Miami back in the game.

Exactly what happened. Once I saw the 2 3's from Smart and the one from Horford I knew this game was tilting.

how we get away from what is working is maddening. we owned the paint early on. do not force threes. make them stop u inside first

[jpotter33]

Woke up still ticked off this morning. Just can never make it easy for ourselves.

[Phantom255x]

It's honestly hard to support Mazzulla. And I want to root for him to succeed. But this guy snaps at everyone after a loss and according to him nothing is his fault. The adjustments, timeouts, etc. Everything he does is smart and if it doesn't work it's because of other factors. Only time I've heard him accountable is the day after Game 4 against Philly saying he messed up a few times, but that was after he spent the hours after Game 4 justifying everything he did.

Mazzulla only called one timeout in the 3rd when MIA already went on a big run to tie it 78-78.

Meanwhile, C's start the 4th on a 7-0 run to make it 103-98. Then again later in the quarter to make it 114-109. Spo called a quick TO both times.

It doesn't even seem like the team believes in him. We obviously heard Smart's comments last round about the "double big adjustment" and how Mazzulla was "rightfully" getting criticized lol. But remember, Brogdon + Brown after Game 1 last round also seemed to call out the coaching when talking about confusion with doubling Harden, switches, drop coverage, etc. Maybe the players also need to play better and execute, sure, but the coach is doing nothing to help and I'd argue he's also costing us games. We can only win in blowouts it seems, but rarely the close games down the wire. Snyder, Doc, now Spo are outcoaching him, we're just managing to get by so far due to talent.

[RMO]

It's honestly hard to support Mazzulla. And I want to root for him to succeed. But this guy snaps at everyone after a loss and according to him nothing is his fault. The adjustments, timeouts, etc. Everything he does is smart and if it doesn't work it's because of other factors. Only time I've heard him accountable is the day after Game 4 against Philly saying he messed up a few times, but that was after he spent the hours after Game 4 justifying everything he did.

Mazzulla only called one timeout in the 3rd when MIA already went on a big run to tie it 78-78.

Meanwhile, C's start the 4th on a 7-0 run to make it 103-98. Then again later in the quarter to make it 114-109. Spo called a quick TO both times.

It doesn't even seem like the team believes in him. We obviously heard Smart's comments last round about the "double big adjustment" and how Mazzulla was "rightfully" getting criticized lol. But remember, Brogdon + Brown after Game 1 last round also seemed to call out the coaching when talking about confusion with doubling Harden, switches, drop coverage, etc. Maybe the players also need to play better and execute, sure, but the coach is doing nothing to help and I'd argue he's also costing us games. We can only win in blowouts it seems, but rarely the close games down the wire. Snyder, Doc, now Spo are outcoaching him, we're just managing to get by so far due to talent.

What's even more frustrating is he didn't even call that timeout.  It's was an automatic TV timeout that was charged to the Celtics.  46 points in a quarter.  That's all star game kind of stuff and he didn't call a single timeout through any of it.

[BringToughnessBack]

Here's how you blow a game, in the course of about 90 seconds:

10:01   Marcus Smart misses 24-foot three point jumper

9:34      Al Horford misses 27-foot three point jumper

8:31      Marcus Smart misses 27-foot three point jumper

Those were our only three shots during that time period, in which the lead went from 10 down to a tie.

There was a moment that came shortly after Marcus hit his last 3 pointer that I swear Marcus flipped a switch and believed he'd become the love child of Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.   He was suddenly  the #1 option and the first big sign was his behind the back pass to Horford.  He then went to the Rob well once too often and began hoisting 3s to the detriment of the team.   When Marcus is going well it's hard not to get caught up in it, but you KNOW he doesn't know how to pull himself back.  He doesn't realize that even when he's playing well he still needs to defer to others who are better.   You get away with a low percentage fancy pass once, you need to be happy it worked and then get back to high percentage plays rather than try again (multiple times).  Same with threes -- you hit 2 in a row...rejoice!  You're unlikely to hit the next one, so stop.

It was horrible and a day later, I still cannot believe what I saw with that and the entire second half. It is not rocket science, run the offense through our best player, Tatum. Him barely touching the ball the entire second half was a disgrace. Smart forgot what worked so well in the first half as well. This team is really depressing me sometimes. I know one thing though, all great teams who win multiple titles know how to run the game through their main superstar for 4 quarters. A great coach makes sure of this. If you go hero ball as a secondary player, you should be benched. If you blow a big lead and are getting destroyed, you should call a timeout. Rocket science it is not but apparently we cannot figure this out consistently. Brad must be losing his mind watching some games.

Can you imagine if the Bulls had come out and run the offense through B.J. Armstrong?

It's what's so infuriating about Smart, though.  Much like Tony Allen, there's "good Marcus" and "bad Marcus", and he can switch personalities half to half.  Our team is *never* good when Marcus plays hero ball.

Yeah, it is mind boggling. This truly falls on our coach too.

[RJ87]

It's honestly hard to support Mazzulla.

I know Joe has his flaws, but I have to remember that the season started with a massive scandal that could've thrown our locker room into a tailspin. For the most part, he's gotten guys to stay on track.

[Phantom255x]

It's honestly hard to support Mazzulla.

I know Joe has his flaws, but I have to remember that the season started with a massive scandal that could've thrown our locker room into a tailspin. For the most part, he's gotten guys to stay on track.

Yeah I guess. It was a difficult situation for sure. And truth be told we had letdowns even with Ime last season

I still get super annoyed with his timeout strategies though. Not just when the other team is making a big run, but late in games when it's a close game, he seems to pick and choose when to call timeouts or let them play it out. No set strategy

[Roy H.]

It's honestly hard to support Mazzulla.

I know Joe has his flaws, but I have to remember that the season started with a massive scandal that could've thrown our locker room into a tailspin. For the most part, he's gotten guys to stay on track.

Yeah I guess. It was a difficult situation for sure. And truth be told we had letdowns even with Ime last season

I still get super annoyed with his timeout strategies though. Not just when the other team is making a big run, but late in games when it's a close game, he seems to pick and choose when to call timeouts or let them play it out. No set strategy

Coaches need to do more than just manage a locker room.  If that's all it took, teams would hire therapists and actors as coaches.  The in-game stuff matters.

[jpotter33]

It's honestly hard to support Mazzulla.

I know Joe has his flaws, but I have to remember that the season started with a massive scandal that could've thrown our locker room into a tailspin. For the most part, he's gotten guys to stay on track.

Yeah I guess. It was a difficult situation for sure. And truth be told we had letdowns even with Ime last season

I still get super annoyed with his timeout strategies though. Not just when the other team is making a big run, but late in games when it's a close game, he seems to pick and choose when to call timeouts or let them play it out. No set strategy

Coaches need to do more than just manage a locker room.  If that's all it took, teams would hire therapists and actors as coaches.  The in-game stuff matters.

Yep.

I’m becoming more and more frustrated with Brad throughout this, too. I generally think he’s been great as GM, but to not surround Joe with more experienced assistants given Joe’s limited experience is such a major failure, and it’s showing in the playoffs. Even after Stoudamire left we did nothing. I know it was later in the season, but the circumstances really should’ve been a pass to add another quality assistant.

Not to take blame away from Joe, because if you’re going to take this prestigious position and money you have to be able to competently do the job and take the criticism. But we certainly didn’t maximize his chances of success.

I’m also fairly confident that we promoted the wrong guy. Stoudamire seems like he’d be such a better fit for this group abd more like Ime in holding them accountable. Seemingly just as green as Joe, but at least he was a player and better emulated the style that Ime had success with.

[RJ87]

It's honestly hard to support Mazzulla.

I know Joe has his flaws, but I have to remember that the season started with a massive scandal that could've thrown our locker room into a tailspin. For the most part, he's gotten guys to stay on track.

Yeah I guess. It was a difficult situation for sure. And truth be told we had letdowns even with Ime last season

I still get super annoyed with his timeout strategies though. Not just when the other team is making a big run, but late in games when it's a close game, he seems to pick and choose when to call timeouts or let them play it out. No set strategy

Coaches need to do more than just manage a locker room.  If that's all it took, teams would hire therapists and actors as coaches.  The in-game stuff matters.

I never said that's all that coaches need to do, but it is a part of their job.

I've been around the forums awhile, and no matter what, people complain about the coach. People complained about Doc. People complained about Brad. People complained about Ime. Now people are complaining about Joe. And it's usually the same people. If y'all think you can do better, throw your resume in the ring.