Heads up: Brad Stevens Press Conference today

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

It's a real downer to be done for the season and especially to have lost to the Knicks.  Not that long ago I thought we had a very good chance to have a dynasty.  Now, with the new owners, all the talk about needing to dump salaries, it feels like crap.  I am not feeling good about a future without Al, with KP, with JB, without Jrue, without JT for a year...

I hear you. When I boil down this era ('13 Nets trade to now) to "12 years, 1 title," it's a bit of a bummer. I was hoping for better. The ratio of "waiting" to "payoff" seems very high. And now, because of Tatum's injury, Boston really has no shot at winning a title next year, so next season kinda becomes a "throwaway" year as far as title hopes are concerned. Makes me question a little the whole "slow build for long-term success" approach, and wonder if the "go all in for one or two seasons" (? la the Raptors in 2019) is just as effective.

I understand that some teams (and fans) prefer to give themselves a pretty good chance year after year, even if that never results in a title?some fans prefer to watch a good team every year, as opposed to a great team for a year or two, then a bad team for several years?and to each his own, as far as that goes.

But to have a team be among the best for an extended period and get only one title out of it is pretty disappointing.

[radiohead]

I?m glad he acknowledged that we simply blew games 1 and 2 and that eventually cost us the series. He may have not said anything of substance with regards to how the team will look next season, but i still think Brad will come up with a few surprises. I also like the idea of KP playing for Latvia. That could be a good gauge for his value, wether we decide to keep him or not.

[Vermont Green]

I?m glad he acknowledged that we simply blew games 1 and 2 and that eventually cost us the series. He may have not said anything of substance with regards to how the team will look next season, but i still think Brad will come up with a few surprises. I also like the idea of KP playing for Latvia. That could be a good gauge for his value, whether we decide to keep him or not.

This is what it came down to.  You think about the rest of the series, we split games 3 and 4 in NYC, so we should have been up 3-1 at that point.  Then we win game 5 at home.  If we had split the first 2 games, we probably lose game 6 even with Tatum, the way NYK played, but chances are we win game 7.

I think NYK is better than they are getting credit for, but those first two home games are on BOS. Players, coaches, everyone.

[Roy H.]

6.  Seemed not to enjoy how physical playoffs were.  Joked that teams need "linebackers"

7.  Teams should look at whether it makes sense to use more players in rotation.

I thought this part was interesting.  It wasn't really a fully fleshed out thought, but Brad mentioned that some teams actually increase their rotation in the playoffs.  If I recall, it wasn't in direct response to a question. 

It makes me wonder if there was some level of disagreement with Joe's rotations.  Brad did acknowledge that the guys who are in the playoff rotation are generally the guys that belong out there, but linking it to the physicality there was at least a hint that guys need more breaks.

[Vermont Green]

6.  Seemed not to enjoy how physical playoffs were.  Joked that teams need "linebackers"

7.  Teams should look at whether it makes sense to use more players in rotation.

I thought this part was interesting.  It wasn't really a fully fleshed out thought, but Brad mentioned that some teams actually increase their rotation in the playoffs.  If I recall, it wasn't in direct response to a question. 

It makes me wonder if there was some level of disagreement with Joe's rotations.  Brad did acknowledge that the guys who are in the playoff rotation are generally the guys that belong out there, but linking it to the physicality there was at least a hint that guys need more breaks.

That there is even a discussion of this is a surprise to me.  For the entire time that I have been watching playoff basketball (and that is a long time), teams have played with shorter rotations than they do in the regular season.  Even this season, pretty much every team plays 8.  There is no doubt in my mind that if the Celtics had gone deeper, and played say Queta or Craig for any meaningful minutes, that these players would have been exposed and exploited.  If you have 9 or 10 actual playoff caliber players, then you can play them, but the Celtics and most every other team do not.

One of the things that Aaron Gordon said was that it was the travel that was especially hard.  The playoffs have no back to back games but they do have more travel in between games in a 2-2-1-1-1 format series.  That is a lot of travel.  Travel would be reduced if you went to a 2-3-2 format.  But I don't think this has anything to do with whether you play 8 guys or 9 guys.

And the Celtics actually did play 9 deep.  Hauser, Pritchard, Kornet, and Porzingis were the bench for most of the playoffs.  All played in at least 8 of 11 games and had at least 13 min per game when they played.  Hauser was the least at 13.5 min/gm in 8 games.  The main problem was that Brown, Holiday, Porzingis, and Hauser all went into the playoffs with injuries and were not 100%, were more vulnerable to getting worn down.

[radiohead]

6.  Seemed not to enjoy how physical playoffs were.  Joked that teams need "linebackers"

7.  Teams should look at whether it makes sense to use more players in rotation.

I thought this part was interesting.  It wasn't really a fully fleshed out thought, but Brad mentioned that some teams actually increase their rotation in the playoffs.  If I recall, it wasn't in direct response to a question. 

It makes me wonder if there was some level of disagreement with Joe's rotations.  Brad did acknowledge that the guys who are in the playoff rotation are generally the guys that belong out there, but linking it to the physicality there was at least a hint that guys need more breaks.

I honestly think Q could have made a meaningful contribution by clogging the lane and getting rebounds.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

6.  Seemed not to enjoy how physical playoffs were.  Joked that teams need "linebackers"

7.  Teams should look at whether it makes sense to use more players in rotation.

I thought this part was interesting.  It wasn't really a fully fleshed out thought, but Brad mentioned that some teams actually increase their rotation in the playoffs.  If I recall, it wasn't in direct response to a question. 

It makes me wonder if there was some level of disagreement with Joe's rotations.  Brad did acknowledge that the guys who are in the playoff rotation are generally the guys that belong out there, but linking it to the physicality there was at least a hint that guys need more breaks.

I honestly think Q could have made a meaningful contribution by clogging the lane and getting rebounds.

yes he woulda provided something.

[Kuberski33]

6.  Seemed not to enjoy how physical playoffs were.  Joked that teams need "linebackers"

7.  Teams should look at whether it makes sense to use more players in rotation.

I thought this part was interesting.  It wasn't really a fully fleshed out thought, but Brad mentioned that some teams actually increase their rotation in the playoffs.  If I recall, it wasn't in direct response to a question. 

It makes me wonder if there was some level of disagreement with Joe's rotations.  Brad did acknowledge that the guys who are in the playoff rotation are generally the guys that belong out there, but linking it to the physicality there was at least a hint that guys need more breaks.

I do think these are key points. The team as currently constituted is not equipped to deal with the type of physicality we've seen in the playoffs - least of all Porzingis even when healthy.  I think this may be something Brad looks to address this off season. Joe should have been playing Queta.

He also reminded everyone that the team still has a lot of good players. I think they'll come back with a core of Jaylen/White and PP and then look to construct a team that can contend in 26-27. I do think they'll look to improve from within - hence, maybe that rotation comment.

[tazzmaniac]

6.  Seemed not to enjoy how physical playoffs were.  Joked that teams need "linebackers"

7.  Teams should look at whether it makes sense to use more players in rotation.

8.  "Joe's great".  We're lucky we have him.

9.  Don't read into combine interviews.  They only interview guys that won't work out for them.

10.  No major "fireworks" expected through draft, but could move up, down.  Have #28 and #32 "right now"

He really wouldn't have liked the 80s and 90s playoffs.  The league is soft.