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

[celticinorlando]

Coach asleep at the switch

Team is soft

They are just a maddening team. All of this is preventable and they just cannot stop doing it.

Tatum...no shots in the 4th quarter. Max Strus being able to guard him? Same with Caleb Martin? Give me a break.

Brown turning it over at will

White has gone missing in action.

I just have accept this is who they are. None of this is fun anymore. Been watching the Celtics since 1981 and this without a doubt is a core that just is hard to cheer for because they do not play hard and make the same mistakes over and over.

Where is Grant? I mean what has happened from this guy being a main cog to not even getting in the game. Grant plays Bam well. Has been doing so for years. Why in the world is he not getting time when you need to rest a big? What is going on?

[Redz]

Coach asleep at the switch

Team is soft

They are just a maddening team. All of this is preventable and they just cannot stop doing it.

Tatum...no shots in the 4th quarter. Max Strus being able to guard him? Same with Caleb Martin? Give me a break.

Brown turning it over at will

I just have accept this is who they are. None of this is fun anymore. Been watching the Celtics since 1981 and this without a doubt is a core that just is hard to cheer for because they do not play hard and make the same mistakes over and over.

Where is Grant? I mean what has happened from this guy being a main cog to not even getting in the game. Grant plays Bam well. Has been doing so for years. Why in the world is he not getting time when you need to rest a big? What is going on?

The last part is weird.  I’m ok with him giving Pritchard some minutes, but use him for what he’s good at while he’s out there.  It looked his main role was to be a defensive stopper on Butler.  And Butler flicked him off like a bug. 

[Roy H.]

We spent 9 minutes all game with two bigs on the floor at the same time.

We played small for 39 minutes.

Weird that our defense suffered.  It's not like we saw that against Atlanta or Philly.

[celticinorlando]

We spent 9 minutes all game with two bigs on the floor at the same time.

We played small for 39 minutes.

Weird that our defense suffered.  It's not like we saw that against Atlanta or Philly.

That decision made Spo very happy. Joe just handed him the hammer when he stopped playing the bigs together. Guy is just underwater.

C's also from the jump in the 3rd quarter stopped going to the rim. Long 3's, Wannabe hero Brown trying to be Kobe with turn around fade away shots. They just stopped doing everything they did in the first half. Played too slow. Hold the ball for 21 seconds and throw up a shot. No ball movement at all. Turnovers.

And defensively they just did not guard anyone. Butler is being praised but Boston did zero to make things tough on him. Or Strus. Or Martin. Or whatever else g leaguer that was wide open.

Celtics were down 5 in the 4th and got 4 straight stops. Did not score any points. Turned it over several times. What a dumb team.

[Vermont Green]

The third quarter decided this game.  That is clear.  I have questions about Mazzulla too but I don't think it mattered whether Pritchard or Grant played for 12 minutes or how many time outs were called.  I sense that this is where Smart is coming from with his comments.  He is not blaming this on a time out or not.

MIA was 17 for 26 (65.4%) including 6 for 9 from 3 in the 3rd, on the way to outscoring us by 21 points.  The Celtics were 45%/37.5% in the 3rd, not horrible, and 4 TO.  I don't know, it is easy to say our defense was bad or that there was not enough effort, but I did not see this as an issue of effort.  Butler controlled the game, everything went through him, and all the undrafted or old journeymen hit nearly all their shots.

I'll be honest, if Lowry and Vincent and Strus and Martin all keep playing like this, we are in trouble.  Butler is going to continue to play, Adebayo too, but their supporting cast beat our supporting cast last night.  That is not supposed to happen.  I would say that Butler/Adebayo outplayed Tatum/Brown and Spoelstra out prepared Mazzulla but what it really came down to is the supporting cast.  I am not sure if the MIA supporting cast can keep that up, but they were really good last night.

[Vermont Green]

We spent 9 minutes all game with two bigs on the floor at the same time.

We played small for 39 minutes.

Weird that our defense suffered.  It's not like we saw that against Atlanta or Philly.

This is more nuanced than that.  In the crucial 3rd period, we played for 4 min with Horford and RWill and were a net -9.  We were a net -12 for the other 8 min of the 3rd, still not good, but not as bad as the 2-big portion.  Pritchard played for 2.5 min and we were -5 in that time.  So  I guess you could argue that we should have played Grant for those 2.5 min that Pritchard played, which for the record, I agree, playing Pritchard made no sense, but this did not have much impact on the game or the crucial 3rd period.  Otherwise, the rotations in the 3rd were pretty much the players that are going to play.

As I said above, if Vincent and Strus and Martin and Lowry are going to out play Smart and White and Brogdon, we are in trouble.  Even Kevin Love outplayed Horford.  It was a combination of Butler doing more to make these guys better and these guys just being better.

I am not sure what scheme we need to adjust to rein in Butler.  It all went through him.  If we make it tougher on him, it will then be tougher on the supporting cast.  RWill does not have the same impact on Butler.  Butler is more mid range, RWill is not going to bother that.  I don't think 2 vs 1 big is the core issue.  We need to make it harder for Butler to get the ball in the first place, like MIA was able to do with Tatum.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I mean…I just can’t anymore

Jaylen Brown: "We came out too cool. It was almost like we were playing a regular season game."

Marcus Smart: "We get tired of doing the little things sometimes."

wait...................what??? 

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Fire Joe 

ABSOLUTELY

AFTER WE WIN IT ALL 

No…..Brad needs to come out of the stands, sit Joe and  coach until he can  fix the pile of crap he and owners started firing our coach .

i agree and said the same but we know that is NOT happening. they will let joe commit HAREI KAREI first and ruin our season.

[Roy H.]

We gave up 46 points in one quarter.  I don't even have words for it.  That's unfathomable.

For perspective:  the two teams in the NBA All-Star game scored 46 points each in the first quarter of that exhibition.  Team Lebron also scored 46 in the second quarter.

In other words, our defense was about as resistant as the shootaround, passive, no-defense atmosphere of All-Stars goofing off.

[RJ87]

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.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

posted this in the fire joe thread

and the dumbness of this team has never been fixed. that falls on the coaches and management I refuse to believe our players  cannot be taught or fixed. bad trend. If not why do we still keep them? we need players with high BBIQ. obviously they are ok with the talent and potential tradeoff versus BBIQ and making the same mistakes year after year. whatever.

if we feel coaches and managers cannot educate this dumb team then end the experiment and try to trade them for equal value. yes i know it is not easy but i am just throwing that out as a possible solution since our GM's and coaches suck so bad dating back to brad watching this crew do the same stupid stuff ad infinitum and it never being fixed.

[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.

[Neurotic Guy]

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.

So true!   Of course I enjoy watching this team.  Games 6 and 7 in the Philly series were riveting -- and that 3rd quarter of G7 was spectacular -- I was about as excited as I get watching sports.    No question that a game like last night (and there were a few in the Philly and Atlanta series') leaves me frustrated and disappointed.  But here we are in the Final 4 once again -- 4 wins from a return to the Finals.     Not bad for a team that some here want to call garbage and stupid.   Most importantly, like RJ - if I wasn't entertained, I wouldn't watch.  It's not really a tough call.   I tend to not watch things that don't entertain me.  I haven't watched a pitch of baseball and didn't see more than a minute of hockey despite the Bs success during the regular season.  What doesn't entertain me, I don't watch.  C's entertain me.  Still love 'em.  And in case people have forgotten, they are one of 4 teams still playing.

[Neurotic Guy]

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.

[hpantazo]

posted this in the fire joe thread

and the dumbness of this team has never been fixed. that falls on the coaches and management I refuse to believe our players  cannot be taught or fixed. bad trend. If not why do we still keep them? we need players with high BBIQ. obviously they are ok with the talent and potential tradeoff versus BBIQ and making the same mistakes year after year. whatever.

if we feel coaches and managers cannot educate this dumb team then end the experiment and try to trade them for equal value. yes i know it is not easy but i am just throwing that out as a possible solution since our GM's and coaches suck so bad dating back to brad watching this crew do the same stupid stuff ad infinitum and it never being fixed.

I think a part of it is that our core players have been deep in the playoffs every year of their career and take it for granted. Despite what some vets and coaches tell them, they must feel pretty confident about being able to get to the conference finals regularly and when that happens, you don't have the desperation factor that other teams have.