Cavaliers (0-2) at Celtics (1-1) Preseason Game #3 10/12/25

[Vermont Green]

Minott is the only young player that looks ready to contribute. He looks good on both ends. Haven?t been impressed with anyone else.

Hugo looks like he could be good in a couple years. Walsh and Baylor are both soon to be Europe guys.

Hard to glean much from this game but I am impressed with Hugo Gonzalez. He is 19 and already looks like he belongs. This is a developmental year for him for sure but he is looking like he will earn some real game minutes (not just garbage time).  It is still too early to know anything for sure but feels like he has some ceiling.

[Birdman]

Never like the Baylor pick and don?t know what Brad saw in him to think he an NBA player, hopefully he can?plus Walsh needs to be cut

[Neurotic Guy]

Baylor hasn?t shown anything, Garza seems like a mop up guy, Boucher will fit fine, Tillman - hard to tell if he looks better than last year, Minott looks promising, Q should be the backup, Simons looks like he?s on an island - good shooter but not looking like a team guy to me. Simons should be 6th man, Payton does a lot more - Simons may be valuable if he comes in and microwaves.

[Vermont Green]

Baylor hasn't shown anything, Garza seems like a mop up guy, Boucher will fit fine, Tillman - hard to tell if he looks better than last year, Minott looks promising, Q should be the backup, Simons looks like he's on an island - good shooter but not looking like a team guy to me. Simons should be 6th man, Payton does a lot more - Simons may be valuable if he comes in and microwaves.

Simons does appear a bit deer in the headlights so far, while Pritchard just keeps doing his thing and hitting shots.  It is like Simons is still in shock that he got traded or something.  I remember that when we traded for White, it took him a long time to settle in, to get comfortable.  I am going to reserve judgement on Simons for a bit still.  Certainly until after a decent sample of regular season games.

[slamtheking]

Baylor hasn?t shown anything, Garza seems like a mop up guy, Boucher will fit fine, Tillman - hard to tell if he looks better than last year, Minott looks promising, Q should be the backup, Simons looks like he?s on an island - good shooter but not looking like a team guy to me. Simons should be 6th man, Payton does a lot more - Simons may be valuable if he comes in and microwaves.

this is pretty close to how I'm assessing the team so far.

I think this season is really going to be an audition to see who sticks for next season.  Other than the 4 good rotation players we're returning (Brown, White, PP and Hauser), it's all about who's worth keeping and in what capacity as well as seeing who's a good trade asset (pretty much Simons right now).

[Vermont Green]

Another concern is that BOS gave up 21 ORebs.  People seem to love small ball but it leads to poor rebounding and extra possessions for the opponent.  CLE had 102 FGA to 82 for BOS.  That is 20 extra possessions (plus or minus, depending of FTA and a couple of other factors).  That BOS had more total rebounds means nothing except that CLE missed way more shots (also took way more) and so BOS had more opportunities for DRebs.  And this is against CLE bench.

This is what happens when you start Hauser at PF and Boucher at C.  I don't see how it is viable to play that small.  Rebounding is a major issue so far with this team.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

Another concern is that BOS gave up 21 ORebs.  People seem to love small ball but it leads to poor rebounding and extra possessions for the opponent.  CLE had 102 FGA to 82 for BOS.  That is 20 extra possessions (plus or minus, depending of FTA and a couple of other factors).  That BOS had more total rebounds means nothing except that CLE missed way more shots (also took way more) and so BOS had more opportunities for DRebs.  And this is against CLE bench.

This is what happens when you start Hauser at PF and Boucher at C.  I don't see how it is viable to play that small.  Rebounding is a major issue so far with this team.

It's going to be a problem, but at least part of the solution is playing fast. If other teams try to crash the boards, then it opens up fast break opportunities.

Still need better rebounding.

[Goldstar88]

Baylor hasn?t shown anything, Garza seems like a mop up guy, Boucher will fit fine, Tillman - hard to tell if he looks better than last year, Minott looks promising, Q should be the backup, Simons looks like he?s on an island - good shooter but not looking like a team guy to me. Simons should be 6th man, Payton does a lot more - Simons may be valuable if he comes in and microwaves.

Who should Q be backing up, though? He?s the only serviceable center on the team. Garza is terrible defensively in the paint.

[slamtheking]

Baylor hasn?t shown anything, Garza seems like a mop up guy, Boucher will fit fine, Tillman - hard to tell if he looks better than last year, Minott looks promising, Q should be the backup, Simons looks like he?s on an island - good shooter but not looking like a team guy to me. Simons should be 6th man, Payton does a lot more - Simons may be valuable if he comes in and microwaves.

Who should Q be backing up, though? He?s the only serviceable center on the team. Garza is terrible defensively in the paint.

Ideally he'd be backing up a legit starting-quality center going into the season but the closest thing to a real answer is he'll be backing up the center Brad gets at the trade deadline when he moves Simons.

[slamtheking]

Another concern is that BOS gave up 21 ORebs.  People seem to love small ball but it leads to poor rebounding and extra possessions for the opponent.  CLE had 102 FGA to 82 for BOS.  That is 20 extra possessions (plus or minus, depending of FTA and a couple of other factors).  That BOS had more total rebounds means nothing except that CLE missed way more shots (also took way more) and so BOS had more opportunities for DRebs.  And this is against CLE bench.

This is what happens when you start Hauser at PF and Boucher at C.  I don't see how it is viable to play that small.  Rebounding is a major issue so far with this team.

that's what I've been saying all summer as the team shed the bigs from the roster.  we have the worst front court in the league by a mile and it's going to kill us all season.  we're not a playoff or even a play-in team with this frontcourt.  Boucher is a solid player but he's not a center and wouldn't be an ideal starting PF either.  The rest is really just a wing and a prayer that Q can develop into a solid back-up center caliber of player.  Same for Garza though from what I've seen so far, he'll be lucky to be a back-up to the back-up center --> not much of a defender or rebounder though to be fair I wouldn't say it's due to a lack of effort

[Who]

Another concern is that BOS gave up 21 ORebs.  People seem to love small ball but it leads to poor rebounding and extra possessions for the opponent.  CLE had 102 FGA to 82 for BOS.  That is 20 extra possessions (plus or minus, depending of FTA and a couple of other factors).  That BOS had more total rebounds means nothing except that CLE missed way more shots (also took way more) and so BOS had more opportunities for DRebs.  And this is against CLE bench.

This is what happens when you start Hauser at PF and Boucher at C.  I don't see how it is viable to play that small.  Rebounding is a major issue so far with this team.

that's what I've been saying all summer as the team shed the bigs from the roster.  we have the worst front court in the league by a mile and it's going to kill us all season.  we're not a playoff or even a play-in team with this frontcourt.  Boucher is a solid player but he's not a center and wouldn't be an ideal starting PF either.  The rest is really just a wing and a prayer that Q can develop into a solid back-up center caliber of player.  Same for Garza though from what I've seen so far, he'll be lucky to be a back-up to the back-up center --> not much of a defender or rebounder though to be fair I wouldn't say it's due to a lack of effort

And Tatum

Tatum is the team's best rebounder. Not a big but the team's best board worker.  8.5 rebounds per game in the regular season and rises to 10.3 rebounds per game in the playoffs over last 3 seasons.

Tatum did a lot to cover the lack of rebounding from the center position (Zinger, Horford). Now he is gone. The centers are exposed. None of the other forwards rebound like Tatum. Maybe Minott can give us some of that.