I never understood the decision to trade for Vuc, Id rather have an instant spark plug off the bench like Simons who could drop 20+ in a heartbeat and can actually get his own shot with his dribble.
But people convinced me he would be our missing piece, a pick and pop big who can shoot and rebound- exactly what we needed. Boy were they wrong..
I don't agree on this one.
Simons has been an extremely inconsistent offensive black hole his entire career, and offers practically nothing else of value if he's not scoring.
Sure he might have a couple of good offensive nights where he lifts you, but Vuc has made an impact at key moments in this series too. If your team is weak enough that you're depending on a guy like Simons to win you a first round series, then you deserve to be bounced.
I had my concerns this year - the Celtics have been strong against weak teams, but their record against winning teams has been pitiful. I was hoping that getting Tatum back might help be the difference maker to put that stat to bed. He's been great in this series, but clearly it's not enough.
The Celtics need a different gameplan. Nothing wrong with embracing the three, but you need to have another way to put points on the board when the threes aren't falling. If you're ability to win relies entirely on your ability to make threes, then you WILL inevitably lose at least 2-3 games every series and will be left trying to fight tooth and nail in a game 7 that you never should have needed.
I also don't like that Joe has changed rotations since the regular season. I know that this is a normal thing to do in the playoffs, but the strength of the second unit is a big part of what made this team so dangerous and hard to guard. Why change that if its working?
I would hate to see what would have happened in this series if we didn't get Tatum back, because he is really the only player on the team who has shown up in every game this series. Not saying he's been perfect (he's had some bad shot selections and turnovers here and there) but he has shown up every night.