Interesting take from Gabe Vincent on the Celtics in the ECF

[Roy H.]

All of that is well and good but in reality I think the C's lost becasue they shot 30.3% from three and the Heat shot 43.% from three.

It really does not need to be more complicated than that. This is again one of those dumb things people do where they have to read in feelings, motivation, intangibles, chemistry ect to a situation where another team just played better at one of the more important on court factors, shooting.

At the same time, motivation, chemistry, focus, a smarter rotation and defense all affect shooting.

[keevsnick]

All of that is well and good but in reality I think the C's lost becasue they shot 30.3% from three and the Heat shot 43.% from three.

It really does not need to be more complicated than that. This is again one of those dumb things people do where they have to read in feelings, motivation, intangibles, chemistry ect to a situation where another team just played better at one of the more important on court factors, shooting.

At the same time, motivation, chemistry, focus, a smarter rotation and defense all affect shooting.

A smarter rotation MIGHT. Defense does to what is maybe a SMALL degree, the rest I either very seriously doubt in general or doubt it was the Celtics problem in the Heat series. I didn't see much evidence that motivation was a problem, I certainly don't see anyway to prove it was other than to guess.

[Celtics4ever]

At the same time, motivation, chemistry, focus, a smarter rotation and defense all affect shooting.

I don't think this stuff affect's one shooting skill that much, the chemistry does, but the rest of the stuff only if a guy is fragile or lack confidence.  These guys put in tons of reps , when I played on an Army team we practiced four hours a day and my shot was locked in.  I am sure the pros do much more
 
The chemistry thing can affect  shooting but it not in ways  you think.  Here is how it affects it most.  When you don't have chemistry you can  get bad passes, in bad spots, that don't maximize your touches and preferences, it can definitely affect shooting.

As for defense, good players play it all the time as much as they are capable when games matter.    This team could not make it's mind whether than wanted to go home or advance in the post season.  Lots of guys in the NBA dog it and don't play until the end of the game

I don't think some of our players,  have not  been right, since they heard Tristan Thompson and Kyrie told them the regular season does not matter. 

[A Future of Stevens]

When's the last time a roll player talked about the psychology of the team they lost to in the playoffs? He belongs in LA

[celticsclay]

Gabe feels like a role player that got hot at the right time and is now overpaid.

[hpantazo]

Gabe feels like a role player that got hot at the right time and is now overpaid.

11 million a year for a role player nowadays is about right. I mean, Grant Williams got 13 million a year.

[Celtics2021]

Gabe feels like a role player that got hot at the right time and is now overpaid.

11 million a year for a role player nowadays is about right. I mean, Grant Williams got 13 million a year.

I think the argument is that he’s not even as good as Grant, and but for about a 10-game stretch this post-season, that feels like a pretty defensible argument.  $11 million doesn’t break the bank these days, but entering the playoffs he was probably looking at something closer to half of that.

[hpantazo]

Gabe feels like a role player that got hot at the right time and is now overpaid.

11 million a year for a role player nowadays is about right. I mean, Grant Williams got 13 million a year.

I think the argument is that he’s not even as good as Grant, and but for about a 10-game stretch this post-season, that feels like a pretty defensible argument.  $11 million doesn’t break the bank these days, but entering the playoffs he was probably looking at something closer to half of that.

Well Grant couldn't even get off the bench for most of the playoffs. When he did, he cost us a game for instigating Butler. What exactly has he accomplished?

[wiley]

When's the last time a roll player talked about the psychology of the team they lost to in the playoffs? He belongs in LA

Trashy post by you.  Hey out there, don't talk unless you got a max contract...

[obnoxiousmime]

Dismissing the ECF result due to "hot 3 pt. shooting" from the Heat sounds like an excuse to me. Not only did the Heat have confidence from their coaching staff, the gameplan, and their star players, but the Celtics also assisted them by playing so poorly and predictably. If you don't seem connected on defense, wouldn't that give them an extra boost of confidence? If you're only pretending to contest and not actually running hard like the Heat always did, isn't that a confidence builder? People often say shooting is all about confidence. Throughout the series, the Heat players just seemed supremely confident that they knew they had a pathway to victory if they did X, Y, and Z. The Celtics, if anything, showed overconfidence in not coming out to play the first three games.

I mean come on, they had to have the dreaded "players-only meeting" in the middle of the series! You're in the ECF and you're still sorting stuff out? That's not a championship team.

[Big333223]

Gabe didn't say anything that we haven't all been talking about all summer. There was something wrong with that Celtic team in the playoffs and it wasn't talent.

Marcus and Grant were two of the bigger personalities last season. I'm really interested to see what the personality of the team looks like without them.

[tenn_smoothie]

The Celtics shot a low percentage because Mazzulla's offensive scheme encourages bad shot selection.
Along with that is the fact that the coach himself encourages bad shot selection due to his idiotic theory that the team that attempts the most 3's will win more often than a team taking less. Mazzulla turned his back on the most important facet of the 2022 Celtic team: defense. He took a team built to play a very active, aggressive, switch-heavy man defense and pushed for a style of middling defense and finesse, perimeter-oriented offense.

Successful coaches tend to excel at either tailoring a playing style to best fit the talent on hand or, with the help of management, building a team by acquiring players that fit a scheme the coach is very successful at executing with his type of players. Jumpin' Joe spent last season doing the opposite of each.

[wiley]

The Celtics shot a low percentage because Mazzulla's offensive scheme encourages bad shot selection.
Along with that is the fact that the coach himself encourages bad shot selection due to his idiotic theory that the team that attempts the most 3's will win more often than a team taking less. Mazzulla turned his back on the most important facet of the 2022 Celtic team: defense. He took a team built to play a very active, aggressive, switch-heavy man defense and pushed for a style of middling defense and finesse, perimeter-oriented offense.

Successful coaches tend to excel at either tailoring a playing style to best fit the talent on hand or, with the help of management, building a team by acquiring players that fit a scheme the coach is very successful at executing with his type of players. Jumpin' Joe spent last season doing the opposite of each.

Yeah, the C's will not finesse their way back to a title.  It takes work, which usually means effort on defense and good decision making on offense.  It's easy to shoot a contested three or go iso instead of putting the mental effort to create good looks.

[wiley]

Dismissing the ECF result due to "hot 3 pt. shooting" from the Heat sounds like an excuse to me. Not only did the Heat have confidence from their coaching staff, the gameplan, and their star players, but the Celtics also assisted them by playing so poorly and predictably. If you don't seem connected on defense, wouldn't that give them an extra boost of confidence? If you're only pretending to contest and not actually running hard like the Heat always did, isn't that a confidence builder? People often say shooting is all about confidence. Throughout the series, the Heat players just seemed supremely confident that they knew they had a pathway to victory if they did X, Y, and Z. The Celtics, if anything, showed overconfidence in not coming out to play the first three games.

I mean come on, they had to have the dreaded "players-only meeting" in the middle of the series! You're in the ECF and you're still sorting stuff out? That's not a championship team.

great post!  TP

Bolded the big issue on offense...

There is almost a lazy arrogance regarding the C's offense.  We're going to play this way and you have to stop us... we'll keep playing this way all the time and one day we'll win the title and say I told ya so...

being a little harsh and bitter I know..   

[LilRip]

One rolled ankle away from this comment not mattering.

One of us is misremembering that game.  I didn't see anything that made me think we'd win, even with a healthy Tatum.

Disagree on this. Tatum generally shows up to the biggest games. If anything, it showed us how this team would look if JB was our main guy. He’s an allstar and one of the best 1v1 scorers in the league but he can’t carry the load Tatum does. The handles, vision, and decision-making do him in

We got blown out, though, and Tatum still played.  A healthy Tatum turns a 19 point loss into a win?  To me, that's pretty hard to envision.

Well, C’s lost by 26 in game 3 and won by 17 in game 4. 19 points is a lot but we’re not talking about one missed basket or one missed call here. We’re talking about 47 minutes of basketball where things could’ve gone differently.

When your best perimeter defender becomes your worst perimeter defender, it’s a pretty big deal. And how many TOs did JB have? 8? That wouldn’t happen if JT could actually move and carry the load.