Pacers (2-1) at Celtics (3-0) Game #4 11/1/23

[Silas]

I want to lay one of these whipping on Lakers

We will!

[celticinorlando]

Last year’s team would not maintain this intensity. Idk if it’s mostly the talent upgrade or no Marcus, but the dynamics have shifted.

*whispers* it's the no Marcus factor.

A lot of fans gave him the title of being the heart & soul of the team, then turned around and questioned the team's heart. The math never made sense to me.

Couldn’t agree with you more. He was vastly overrated by Celtic nation.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Last year’s team would not maintain this intensity. Idk if it’s mostly the talent upgrade or no Marcus, but the dynamics have shifted.

*whispers* it's the no Marcus factor.

A lot of fans gave him the title of being the heart & soul of the team, then turned around and questioned the team's heart. The math never made sense to me.

This. Always was my thinking too.

[liam]

This team is something special...


WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

[celticinorlando]

Man the Heat are not impressive. I’m not sure that little Heat culture that could is going to make a difference this season

[Atzar]

Eddie in postgame talking about what a few of you have mentioned here:  Tatum is getting his 30s and it looks so easy for him right now because he's seeing a lot of one-on-ones with space to work.  We have so many threats that teams can't afford to load up their entire defense on him. 

[jpotter33]

Last year’s team would not maintain this intensity. Idk if it’s mostly the talent upgrade or no Marcus, but the dynamics have shifted.

*whispers* it's the no Marcus factor.

A lot of fans gave him the title of being the heart & soul of the team, then turned around and questioned the team's heart. The math never made sense to me.

Eh, Marcus would fit well on this team - even if off the bench.

The biggest thing is the talent upgrade, particularly the addition of the third star-level offensive guy. As good as the Jays are, they aren't good enough/don't fit well enough as a duo to lead a team to contention all by themselves. We had a great, deep team last year, but I think we're really seeing how much easier it is for everyone when you can't just load up on Tatum and have other legit threats on the floor to worry about.

And, hell, with the way White is playing now, too, it's literally like 5 legit scoring threats out there.

[Celtics Mike]

I think just like Porzingis these guys are all having funplaying together. This season double teaming Tatum wont work because any of the 5 starters are capable of posting 30 points. Derrick White has been a revelation without having to defer to Marcus Smart.

[Celtics2021]

Missed the game tonight, but coming here so I can catch up on what Joe did wrong.

[blink]

at the same time Bucks lose to Toronto by 19 w/ Giannis and Lillard combining for 31 points

[Atzar]

Missed the game tonight, but coming here so I can catch up on what Joe did wrong.

He did okay I guess.  A real coach would have had us put up 156 tbh.

[RPGenerate]

Most importantly, I hope this game sets Hauser and Pritchard right again. We need their production for the bench, and how they've been playing before this game certainly wasn't good enough.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Last year’s team would not maintain this intensity. Idk if it’s mostly the talent upgrade or no Marcus, but the dynamics have shifted.

*whispers* it's the no Marcus factor.

A lot of fans gave him the title of being the heart & soul of the team, then turned around and questioned the team's heart. The math never made sense to me.

Eh, Marcus would fit well on this team - even if off the bench.

The biggest thing is the talent upgrade, particularly the addition of the third star-level offensive guy. As good as the Jays are, they aren't good enough/don't fit well enough as a duo to lead a team to contention all by themselves. We had a great, deep team last year, but I think we're really seeing how much easier it is for everyone when you can't just load up on Tatum and have other legit threats on the floor to worry about.

And, hell, with the way White is playing now, too, it's literally like 5 legit scoring threats out there.

The problem was Smart's personality. He wasn't a bad guy, but there wasn't enough room for his "leadership" anymore.

I'd also add that part of the problem with Smart was always how long he held the ball. On this team, the ball is popping around unless Tatum or Brown has a mismatch.

[jpotter33]

Missed the game tonight, but coming here so I can catch up on what Joe did wrong.

He did okay I guess.  A real coach would have had us put up 156 tbh.

On a serious note, you can already tell the benefits of Cassell. Tatum is so much better finishing at the basket and on post-ups thus far.

[RJ87]

Last year’s team would not maintain this intensity. Idk if it’s mostly the talent upgrade or no Marcus, but the dynamics have shifted.

*whispers* it's the no Marcus factor.

A lot of fans gave him the title of being the heart & soul of the team, then turned around and questioned the team's heart. The math never made sense to me.

Eh, Marcus would fit well on this team - even if off the bench.

The biggest thing is the talent upgrade, particularly the addition of the third star-level offensive guy. As good as the Jays are, they aren't good enough/don't fit well enough as a duo to lead a team to contention all by themselves. We had a great, deep team last year, but I think we're really seeing how much easier it is for everyone when you can't just load up on Tatum and have other legit threats on the floor to worry about.

And, hell, with the way White is playing now, too, it's literally like 5 legit scoring threats out there.

I agree with you often JP, but I disagree here. Mindset matters a lot. If Kristaps was focused on getting his right now, this wouldn't work as well as we've seen it so far. Jrue doesn't seem to care what his ending stat line is or if he gets highlights on ESPN and that matters. I think if we still had Marcus, we would've had moments in this game where we got unnecessarily flashy passes that led to turnovers and ill-advised shots. I want to be clear that I'm not saying that everything was Marcus' fault, but I do think he got sloppy when we went up big and his teammates followed that lead. Whether or not it was fair to cast him in a leadership role without more team success is a debate for another thread. But you can have the best duo in the game for a season ala Shaq and Kobe, but you probably don't win as much if you don't put Derek Fisher and Robert Horry with them.

I like Marcus' game in the right context. I was one of the posters that didn't go nuts when we drafted him over Randle. I don't think he's found that context yet. I hope he does.