Porzingis injury updates (Update: Dislocated Tendon)

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

I mean, he scored a couple baskets on him, but, like, isn't that a win for us? If he's going to try and score on Tatum, that's a net positive for us in the grand scheme of things.

How's that a net positive?

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

I mean, he scored a couple baskets on him, but, like, isn't that a win for us? If he's going to try and score on Tatum, that's a net positive for us in the grand scheme of things.

Tatum didn?t put up much resistance on those shots, but I think with a little more emphasis on picking up Gafford a little earlier and keeping him a couple feet further from the basket when he catches the ball it could still work.  He also picked up Lively a couple of times and that worked fine.  I think he wasn?t quite ready for Gafford?s effort Sunday, which did lead to easy buckets for him that Luka was happy to dish, but Tatum is capable of better.  And he knows it. In his post-game on-court interview he quickly brought up there were some mistakes they made on defense (as players, not scheme) that they need to clean up, and that was likely one.

Tatum shouldn't have been guarding Gafford in the first place. Maybe I'm missing something scheme wise that would benefit us from having Tatum guarding him, but it should have been Big Al on him, not Tatum. We had Big Al guarding someone in the corner 3 area in these possessions mostly.

[Fafnir]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

I mean, he scored a couple baskets on him, but, like, isn't that a win for us? If he's going to try and score on Tatum, that's a net positive for us in the grand scheme of things.

Tatum didn?t put up much resistance on those shots, but I think with a little more emphasis on picking up Gafford a little earlier and keeping him a couple feet further from the basket when he catches the ball it could still work.  He also picked up Lively a couple of times and that worked fine.  I think he wasn?t quite ready for Gafford?s effort Sunday, which did lead to easy buckets for him that Luka was happy to dish, but Tatum is capable of better.  And he knows it. In his post-game on-court interview he quickly brought up there were some mistakes they made on defense (as players, not scheme) that they need to clean up, and that was likely one.

Tatum shouldn't have been guarding Gafford in the first place. Maybe I'm missing something scheme wise that would benefit us from having Tatum guarding him, but it should have been Big Al on him, not Tatum. We had Big Al guarding someone in the corner 3 area in these possessions mostly.

Huh?

Tatum's primary matchup has been whomever the Mavericks are playing at Center the entire series, whether its Gafford/Lively/Kleber. That's been the Celtics core gameplan for every minute Tatum has played. Its so they can just switch any PnR rolls. Its worked wonders and they've crushed the Mavs offense with it.

Tatum had a rough quarter of individual defense, he bounced back just fine the rest of the game.

[LilRip]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

I mean, he scored a couple baskets on him, but, like, isn't that a win for us? If he's going to try and score on Tatum, that's a net positive for us in the grand scheme of things.

Tatum didn?t put up much resistance on those shots, but I think with a little more emphasis on picking up Gafford a little earlier and keeping him a couple feet further from the basket when he catches the ball it could still work.  He also picked up Lively a couple of times and that worked fine.  I think he wasn?t quite ready for Gafford?s effort Sunday, which did lead to easy buckets for him that Luka was happy to dish, but Tatum is capable of better.  And he knows it. In his post-game on-court interview he quickly brought up there were some mistakes they made on defense (as players, not scheme) that they need to clean up, and that was likely one.

Tatum shouldn't have been guarding Gafford in the first place. Maybe I'm missing something scheme wise that would benefit us from having Tatum guarding him, but it should have been Big Al on him, not Tatum. We had Big Al guarding someone in the corner 3 area in these possessions mostly.

Yes you are missing something scheme wise. Tatum on Gafford is the key to C?s defense and it?s what has stagnated the Mavs offense. It buries Kyrie in the corner, it puts Jones/Washington above the break (where they?re not as prolific of a shooter), it takes away the lob threat. The only thing it hasn?t stopped (nor is it designed to stop) is Luka iso

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

I mean, he scored a couple baskets on him, but, like, isn't that a win for us? If he's going to try and score on Tatum, that's a net positive for us in the grand scheme of things.

Tatum didn?t put up much resistance on those shots, but I think with a little more emphasis on picking up Gafford a little earlier and keeping him a couple feet further from the basket when he catches the ball it could still work.  He also picked up Lively a couple of times and that worked fine.  I think he wasn?t quite ready for Gafford?s effort Sunday, which did lead to easy buckets for him that Luka was happy to dish, but Tatum is capable of better.  And he knows it. In his post-game on-court interview he quickly brought up there were some mistakes they made on defense (as players, not scheme) that they need to clean up, and that was likely one.

Tatum shouldn't have been guarding Gafford in the first place. Maybe I'm missing something scheme wise that would benefit us from having Tatum guarding him, but it should have been Big Al on him, not Tatum. We had Big Al guarding someone in the corner 3 area in these possessions mostly.

Huh?

Tatum's primary matchup has been whomever the Mavericks are playing at Center the entire series, whether its Gafford/Lively/Kleber. That's been the Celtics core gameplan for every minute Tatum has played. Its so they can just switch any PnR rolls. Its worked wonders and they've crushed the Mavs offense with it.

Tatum had a rough quarter of individual defense, he bounced back just fine the rest of the game.

Guess I only noticed that particular when he was on Gafford in the 2nd half and Gafford having his way when they fed him the ball. Don't recall Tatum being on him that often until then, I'll start paying more attention to that.

[mef730]

1. I?m not a doctor. I know nothing. But I?ve spent 10 years and thousands of posts on this forum, so I reserve the right to make ignorant guesses. This injury sounds kinda bad for KP?s efficacy.

2. There is absolutely no reason we can?t beat the Mavs in 2 of the next 5 games without KP. Assuming that everyone else is healthy, if we lose this series, it will range somewhere between ?total collapse? and ?epic collapse.?

Mike

[ozgod]

I worked in orthopedics and fracture management (in sales and marketing, not clinically) in a previous life 20 years ago and never heard of such an injury, that's how rare it is. CBS mentioned there's only 32 documented worst-case scenarios (where the posterior tibialis is dislocated) in the English language.

Roy might have posted something from Dr Jeffries eariler, but here's a graphic of what it is and how it affects the foot:



Basically my read of it is: the tear of the flexor retinaculum itself isn't the issue, it's the fact that the tear can cause the posterior tibialis tendon to dislocate as a worst case scenario. Even in a non-worst case scenario it could cause pain and instability that could impede his performance. The posterior tibialis tendon is one of the most important tendons of the foot, it connects the calf muscle to the bones in the foot to provide stability in locomotion, particularly as the foot and ankle flexes and articulates.

That's why he's walking around without pain or issue, it in and of itself isn't that bad, it's what can happen to more important tendons when it is torn which becomes the issue. This isn't the best analogy, but it's the best I could think of - it's kind of like a torn seatbelt in a car in a way...a seatbelt keeps you in place while driving. If it's torn you can still drive, but if you get into an accident or have to brake suddenly you could hit the steering column or dashboard, or at worst case go through the windshield. That would be the "dislocation of the posterior tibialis tendon" which could have more serious repercussions for KT.

Now the chances of that happening? What are the chances of a car accident happening when you're not wearing your seatbelt? As mentioned earlier there's only been 32 documented cases (so there could be more undocumented) of a posterior tibialis dislocation occurring as a result of a flexor retinaculum tear in English medical literature. What's the chance KP becomes the 31st? Now add to that the fact that you're driving high speed in a really bumpy road where you are getting jolted back and forth without your seatbelt on, can you handle being jolted back and forth? Is it affecting your ability to drive?

So in terms of his being able to play, the question is really a) if he has pain (which he probably doesn't) can he play through it; b) will there be loss of motion or articulation of his ankle or foot which could affect his production or mobility on the court; and c) what would be the risk that it aggravates and damages other parts of his foot.

The Cs have to weigh up all the above and decide if it's worth taking a shot with him, see how he is moving, see if he can hold his own or perform at a level that he wouldn't be a net negative on court, or would the team be better served having someone else on the team (Kornet, Tillman, etc) replace him. Put it this way - if he looked like he did in the 6th minute of the 4th quarter when he suffered the injury, he's not going to be on the court for very long.

[scaryjerry]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

Tatums been arguably our worst defender in this series on anyone.
To be fair that speaks volumes about our other guys.

What are you talking about? Tatum has been awesome defensively.

He?s been our 4th maybe even 5th best defender and is being hunted by the mavs?but ok

[cman88]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

Tatums been arguably our worst defender in this series on anyone.
To be fair that speaks volumes about our other guys.

What are you talking about? Tatum has been awesome defensively.

He?s been our 4th maybe even 5th best defender and is being hunted by the mavs?but ok

what are you talking about? sometimes i swear you just make up stuff to be purposely negative. Tatum has not been poor defensively.

[Celtics2021]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

I mean, he scored a couple baskets on him, but, like, isn't that a win for us? If he's going to try and score on Tatum, that's a net positive for us in the grand scheme of things.

Tatum didn?t put up much resistance on those shots, but I think with a little more emphasis on picking up Gafford a little earlier and keeping him a couple feet further from the basket when he catches the ball it could still work.  He also picked up Lively a couple of times and that worked fine.  I think he wasn?t quite ready for Gafford?s effort Sunday, which did lead to easy buckets for him that Luka was happy to dish, but Tatum is capable of better.  And he knows it. In his post-game on-court interview he quickly brought up there were some mistakes they made on defense (as players, not scheme) that they need to clean up, and that was likely one.

Tatum shouldn't have been guarding Gafford in the first place. Maybe I'm missing something scheme wise that would benefit us from having Tatum guarding him, but it should have been Big Al on him, not Tatum. We had Big Al guarding someone in the corner 3 area in these possessions mostly.

Huh?

Tatum's primary matchup has been whomever the Mavericks are playing at Center the entire series, whether its Gafford/Lively/Kleber. That's been the Celtics core gameplan for every minute Tatum has played. Its so they can just switch any PnR rolls. Its worked wonders and they've crushed the Mavs offense with it.

Tatum had a rough quarter of individual defense, he bounced back just fine the rest of the game.

I would note that was the scheme when Horford was in the lineup with Tatum, but with KP they went to a drop coverage with KP matched up on the Mavs big, which was also successful.  That still leaves open the question of what to do if KP can?t go ? do you play Kornet and have him defend in drop coverage like KP, or do you play Tillman or Brissett and keep Tatum on the center for switches? I think you go with Kornet, because drop coverage does a good job at preventing the lobfest that carried the Mavs through the early rounds, and Tillman or Brissett let Luka off the hook on defense.

[scaryjerry]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

Tatums been arguably our worst defender in this series on anyone.
To be fair that speaks volumes about our other guys.

What are you talking about? Tatum has been awesome defensively.

He?s been our 4th maybe even 5th best defender and is being hunted by the mavs?but ok

what are you talking about? sometimes i swear you just make up stuff to be purposely negative. Tatum has not been poor defensively.

The mavs are collectively shooting 60% when defended by Tatum and they?re hunting him.
Again, he?s been at best our 4th best defender and is shooting 30 something percent from the field.

[celticinorlando]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

Tatums been arguably our worst defender in this series on anyone.
To be fair that speaks volumes about our other guys.

What are you talking about? Tatum has been awesome defensively.

He?s been our 4th maybe even 5th best defender and is being hunted by the mavs?but ok

what are you talking about? sometimes i swear you just make up stuff to be purposely negative. Tatum has not been poor defensively.

The mavs are collectively shooting 60% when defended by Tatum and they?re hunting him.
Again, he?s been at best our 4th best defender and is shooting 30 something percent from the field.

They should bench him. Maybe send him back to Boston. Suspend him also. Trade him mid series. Just exile him overseas.

My guess is if JT doesn?t shoot 95 percent, 80 percent from three and average 45, 15, 15 and 15 a game you won?t be satisfied.

I mean he is doing nothing to impact winning I guess. Did JT run over your dog or something because it seems all season you?ve been beyond negative towards him even when he played well.

[scaryjerry]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

Tatums been arguably our worst defender in this series on anyone.
To be fair that speaks volumes about our other guys.

What are you talking about? Tatum has been awesome defensively.

He?s been our 4th maybe even 5th best defender and is being hunted by the mavs?but ok

what are you talking about? sometimes i swear you just make up stuff to be purposely negative. Tatum has not been poor defensively.

The mavs are collectively shooting 60% when defended by Tatum and they?re hunting him.
Again, he?s been at best our 4th best defender and is shooting 30 something percent from the field.

They should bench him. Maybe send him back to Boston. Suspend him also. Trade him mid series. Just exile him overseas.

My guess is if JT doesn?t shoot 95 percent, 80 percent from three and average 45, 15, 15 and 15 a game you won?t be satisfied.

I mean he is doing nothing to impact winning I guess.

I?ve actually been quite happy with his impact on these games without being able to score, it?d be nice if he could put it all together though.
Sorry for stating facts. He hasn?t been great and I?m sorry for the Tatum centric Celtics fans for that.

[celticinorlando]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

Tatums been arguably our worst defender in this series on anyone.
To be fair that speaks volumes about our other guys.

What are you talking about? Tatum has been awesome defensively.

He?s been our 4th maybe even 5th best defender and is being hunted by the mavs?but ok

what are you talking about? sometimes i swear you just make up stuff to be purposely negative. Tatum has not been poor defensively.

The mavs are collectively shooting 60% when defended by Tatum and they?re hunting him.
Again, he?s been at best our 4th best defender and is shooting 30 something percent from the field.

They should bench him. Maybe send him back to Boston. Suspend him also. Trade him mid series. Just exile him overseas.

My guess is if JT doesn?t shoot 95 percent, 80 percent from three and average 45, 15, 15 and 15 a game you won?t be satisfied.

I mean he is doing nothing to impact winning I guess.

I?ve actually been quite happy with his impact on these games without being able to score, it?d be nice if he could put it all together though.
Sorry for stating facts. He hasn?t been great and I?m sorry for the Tatum centric Celtics fans for that.

The one big thing he needs to do better is make more 3s. But the majority of these playoffs he is the focal point of other teams on defense and he?s doing a good job when they take collapse on him.

I mean Luka scores a lot on a lot of shots but is an absolute traffic cone on defense. Everyone seems to overlook this.

Do I want Tatum to score more? Sure. But this might be a series where he has to do other things in the game to facilitate winning.

Plenty of time for him to get hot. Hopefully tonight.

[Kernewek]

I think a strategy could be to play Brissett some minutes while having Tatum or even Holiday play at the 5 for some minutes. One knock on Kornet is the belief that Gafford/Lively might out-physical him and be more effective grabbing boards, but Brissett is a hustle guy who can also grab boards and Tatum is more than capable of playing the 5. And playing small might not be a bad thing for a Dallas team that's poor and a bit slow defensively largely due to Luka.

Or they could also just let Kornet/Tillman combine for maybe 6-10 minutes depending on rotations.

I think Tillman is playable in this series. Yeah we might compromise offense a little but he's a great defender and very capable on switches. For just 6-8 minutes, it's not bad especially if it's timed for when Doncic is out of the game.

Gafford ate up Tatum in the post. You don't want Tatum on him.

Tatums been arguably our worst defender in this series on anyone.
To be fair that speaks volumes about our other guys.

What are you talking about? Tatum has been awesome defensively.

He?s been our 4th maybe even 5th best defender and is being hunted by the mavs?but ok

what are you talking about? sometimes i swear you just make up stuff to be purposely negative. Tatum has not been poor defensively.

The mavs are collectively shooting 60% when defended by Tatum and they?re hunting him.
Again, he?s been at best our 4th best defender and is shooting 30 something percent from the field.

This feels insubstantial, considering they're two games behind and collectively shooting 48% eFG for the series. If they're hunting Tatum, it doesn't seem to be working very well.