Celtics News

[Kernewek]

Because we were actually 5th in the playoffs in number of drives to the basket:

(click to enlarge)

I am surprised they were 5th in drives.

So 5th in overall drives but that drops to 9th (out of 16 teams) in FGA. Comfortably middle pack. So an average team on shooting off of drives. That makes more sense. Looks like there are a few outlier teams at the top who did very well in the first round and then everyone else clumped together. LAL finished bottom trailing the rest.

Then BOS drop to 15th out of 16 teams in FTA off of drives. Only LAL got to the FT line less off their drives and they had less drives than anyone else in the league.

BOS 4th in passes off drives. OKC, POR and TOR ahead of them. Houston behind BOS. I'd love to know how many 3s BOS took out of passes off drives but the page doesn't show that info.

8th in turnovers off drives. Middle of the pack.

Personal fouls? I presume that is fouls drawn rather than offensive fouls. BOS 2nd lowest with 3.0. Only LAL is worse. Makes sense given the two teams were bottom for FTAs.

Hmm ... interesting.

Yes I was surprised too. Also as you say they weren't very successful at it, and they didn't draw the fouls that you could expect a team 5th in drives to do. I might see if I can break that down to Games 1-4 and then Games 5-7 to see if there is a meaningful change.

Imagine a world where the 76ers actually game-planned against the Celtics to take away the best shot available (shots at the rim), and imagine a world where every team in the NBA does this, because the C's philosophy (which is a league-wide philosophy) is to look for the best shot.

Now imagine a world where the C's are loaded with average-to-above-average 3-point shooters, are near the top of the league in taking wide-open threes, and are playing a team that is trying to keep them from driving to the rim.

Now, if you can stack another layer on top, imagine telling these good-to-great 3-point shooters to pass up on wide open threes because the vibes aren't right.

That is the state of the conversation around shot selection right now. People should be mad that Brown was auditioning for a career in masonry during Game 7, not that Boston was taking good shots.

[Larry for 3]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

Brad is on board with the plan, as he created the plan. Stevens built the roster to shoot 3s and has said in the past that he believes this is the best way to play.

His press conference today sounded a lot different than that. Think there has been some realization that you cannot play that way in the playoffs.

I just hope it?s not too late. This group should have multiple championships. Tatum and Brown I mean.  Now I think it?s different. Changes are coming

I think Brad knows they are not good enough as is.

I?m sure he knows? he probably knew at the start of the season, and he knew at the trade deadline, which is why he only got Vucevic and probably because he?s a $21 million expiring (expired now) and why they went through all those financial gymnastics with ten-day contracts to get under the luxury tax. I?m sure he appreciated the overachievement, but they all knew that it wasn?t sustainable because his actions were still very cautious. The role players significantly over achieved, Jaylen passed the test as a No1 option but end of day we still only had 3 shot creators on the team - the Jays and PP.

 He also knows that there?s not much he can do this off-season that will make them a serious contender next season, because they have to be under the tax another season, but the plan is to see which of these role players are going to be good enough to be extended in 2027. That?s when the wallets are gonna be opened.

By the way, a straight up Giannis for Brown trade will still allow us to be under the tax and as long as we don?t spend more than an additional 13 million using our Simons TPE or the non taxpayer MLE.

Bill Simmons and Nick Wright laid out a sensible Gannis trade, a 3 way deal with Atlanta getting JB. It made a lot of sense to me. The issue is how lottery shakes out. With this draft being what it is at the top, that might dictate if this kind of trade can work.

[slamtheking]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

agreed.

it's not an objection to taking 3 pointers in general but the ridiculous volume taken -- particularly in games when they're not making many -- and the refusal to have a Plan B to generate offense that doesn't rely on taking 3's. 
Perfect example was a play late in the last game that showed JB driving up the court with the ball and had Q ahead of him in the lane with an opportunity for a dunk/layup to get the lead but JB passes to PP for yet another bricked 3 point attempt because that's what Joe encourages.   JB stands by that play because that's what he's been trained to do with Joe whereas everyone else watching that play knows the smart move is to pass to Q to get the much higher percentage shot right at the rim.  getting the lead at that point would have changed the tone of the game and put more pressure on Philly instead of them getting the rebound and still having the lead.

Yes because in those moments, while we have the luxury of replay, JB has to make a decision in the spur of the moment. He sees PP out in the corner open, with Q down the floor with his hands up and Embiid behind him. He broke it down in his Twitch stream:


https://x.com/danield1214/status/2051109360202375424?s=20

For the record, I saw this unfold in real time, I saw Q open, I was yelling at the TV for JB to pass it to him. I didn't see Embiid behind him but even if I did I probably would have kept yelling for JB to pass to Q. But he passed it to PP, probably in because in those moments where you have to make a split second read, he saw PP wide open and PP has been a really clutch player for us.

I feel like this is an example of a play that can be dissected in hindsight and criticized simply because the shot was missed. Like if it was someone else out there in the corner? Would he have passed? Or was it because he knew PP has sunk these kind of shots his whole career?

I know JB explained why he did -- I referenced that when he said he backed up why he did it.   in a normal situation, where the team isn't horrid from distance in the game, going to PP for an open 3 isn't a bad move but when trailing and a relatively open Q by the basket the better/smarter move is to pass to Q and rely on Q to use get the ball into the hoop quickly or at worst use his body to shield Embiid from the ball as he goes up with it.  There was enough distance between Embiid and Q for him to make that pass and get the bucket.  of course if JB makes the pass and it's off the mark that's a different issue/discussion.

[slamtheking]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

Brad is on board with the plan, as he created the plan. Stevens built the roster to shoot 3s and has said in the past that he believes this is the best way to play.

His press conference today sounded a lot different than that. Think there has been some realization that you cannot play that way in the playoffs.

I just hope it?s not too late. This group should have multiple championships. Tatum and Brown I mean.  Now I think it?s different. Changes are coming

I think Brad knows they are not good enough as is.

I?m sure he knows? he probably knew at the start of the season, and he knew at the trade deadline, which is why he only got Vucevic and probably because he?s a $21 million expiring (expired now) and why they went through all those financial gymnastics with ten-day contracts to get under the luxury tax. I?m sure he appreciated the overachievement, but they all knew that it wasn?t sustainable because his actions were still very cautious. The role players significantly over achieved, Jaylen passed the test as a No1 option but end of day we still only had 3 shot creators on the team - the Jays and PP.

He also knows that there?s not much he can do this off-season that will make them a serious contender next season, because they have to be under the tax another season, but the plan is to see which of these role players are going to be good enough to be extended in 2027. That?s when the wallets are gonna be opened.

By the way, a straight up Giannis for Brown trade will still allow us to be under the tax and as long as we don?t spend more than an additional 13 million using our Simons TPE or the non taxpayer MLE.

This is what I think the philosophy will be next year - reset the repeater tax and then spend for the following seasons.  The crappy part is knowing another year of the J's prime is essentially going to waste and there being no guarantee he'll have the assets needed to bring in more talent to improve the roster after next season.  there's no real assets to move in terms of players to trade except JB and White but those are the types of players you need to be adding, not removing, and the draft capital is minimal --> they only have their own picks going forward and not all of them either. 

What I have a sinking feeling about is that we're more likely to see a sell off of our best players for youth and draft picks because Brad won't see or have an avenue to reload the roster like he was able to do for the 2024 title run.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Following a May 2026 Celtics game, Joe Mazzulla stated, "We're always going to play to the strengths of the roster that we have. I think it's the best way to be able to do that... We go out and get five big men that can post, we'll post it every single time... we'll do whatever we got to do to win".


I?ve said this many times. This is how Brad wants the team to play. He built the roster to shoot 3s. Look at the trade deadline move. Stretch 5 who is not good defensively. When Brad was coaching the team shot a lot of 3s. They did so with Ime and now with Joe. This is how Brad wants them to play and he is the one who needs to change his philosophy. If Joe wasn?t doing what Stevens wanted, he wouldn?t be here.

But again, it?s the extremes and lengths he goes to in employing this philosophy with no literal backup plan. It?s the reason he?s underachieved in 75% of his playoff runs thus far, because he?s too dogmatic and stuck in his ways to adjust. He doesn?t seem to appreciate that shot variance versus expected fg% in a seven game series is not the same as in the full regular season.

You can?t tell me that Brad is onboard with that plan. He was always a master tactician and would adjust as needed when that was what was called for.

Brad is on board with the plan, as he created the plan. Stevens built the roster to shoot 3s and has said in the past that he believes this is the best way to play.

His press conference today sounded a lot different than that. Think there has been some realization that you cannot play that way in the playoffs.

I just hope it?s not too late. This group should have multiple championships. Tatum and Brown I mean.  Now I think it?s different. Changes are coming

I think Brad knows they are not good enough as is.

I?m sure he knows? he probably knew at the start of the season, and he knew at the trade deadline, which is why he only got Vucevic and probably because he?s a $21 million expiring (expired now) and why they went through all those financial gymnastics with ten-day contracts to get under the luxury tax. I?m sure he appreciated the overachievement, but they all knew that it wasn?t sustainable because his actions were still very cautious. The role players significantly over achieved, Jaylen passed the test as a No1 option but end of day we still only had 3 shot creators on the team - the Jays and PP.

He also knows that there?s not much he can do this off-season that will make them a serious contender next season, because they have to be under the tax another season, but the plan is to see which of these role players are going to be good enough to be extended in 2027. That?s when the wallets are gonna be opened.

By the way, a straight up Giannis for Brown trade will still allow us to be under the tax and as long as we don?t spend more than an additional 13 million using our Simons TPE or the non taxpayer MLE.

This is what I think the philosophy will be next year - reset the repeater tax and then spend for the following seasons.  The crappy part is knowing another year of the J's prime is essentially going to waste and there being no guarantee he'll have the assets needed to bring in more talent to improve the roster after next season.  there's no real assets to move in terms of players to trade except JB and White but those are the types of players you need to be adding, not removing, and the draft capital is minimal --> they only have their own picks going forward and not all of them either. 

What I have a sinking feeling about is that we're more likely to see a sell off of our best players for youth and draft picks because Brad won't see or have an avenue to reload the roster like he was able to do for the 2024 title run.

Wait - you have to be out of the aprons for two seasons for them to reset?

[Celtics4ever]

Sadly, yes. two seasons

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Sadly, yes. two seasons

Do any of the penalties reset after one season?

[Roy H.]

Sadly, yes. two seasons

Do any of the penalties reset after one season?

They have all been lifted, other than (I believe) our 2031 pick being frozen and untradeable.  I'm not 100% sure on that, though.

But, we can aggregate salaries in trade, send out more salary than we receive, sign bought out players that make more than the MLE, etc.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Sadly, yes. two seasons

Do any of the penalties reset after one season?

They have all been lifted, other than (I believe) our 2031 pick being frozen and untradeable.  I'm not 100% sure on that, though.

But, we can aggregate salaries in trade, send out more salary than we receive, sign bought out players that make more than the MLE, etc.

I don't understand the two season thing then?

[Kernewek]

Sadly, yes. two seasons

Do any of the penalties reset after one season?

They have all been lifted, other than (I believe) our 2031 pick being frozen and untradeable.  I'm not 100% sure on that, though.

But, we can aggregate salaries in trade, send out more salary than we receive, sign bought out players that make more than the MLE, etc.

I don't understand the two season thing then?

It has to do with the repeater tax - which hits teams above the tax line for three of the last four seasons, current season not included.

If you're below the tax line for two years, the repeater tax 'clock' is effectively reset, if you follow. So the tax penalty is the only remaining concern, rather than the limitations around what teams can & can't do.

[Roy H.]

Sadly, yes. two seasons

Do any of the penalties reset after one season?

They have all been lifted, other than (I believe) our 2031 pick being frozen and untradeable.  I'm not 100% sure on that, though.

But, we can aggregate salaries in trade, send out more salary than we receive, sign bought out players that make more than the MLE, etc.

I don't understand the two season thing then?

I think that some people may be getting confused by the repeater tax, but even that isn't "two seasons".

A draft pick can be sent to the end of the first round (#30, soon to be #32) if they are in the second apron at the end of the year for three out of five seasons.  It's similar language with the repeater tax.  So, yes, two straight seasons below the luxury tax or second apron resets the clock (because penalties are imposed in the 4th season, after three straight non-compliance years), but the rule doesn't require it to be two consecutive seasons.