Big or PG?

[Who]

In the final 3 games against the Sixers, Maxey was the best player on the floor.  He out played not only Tatum and Brown, but also Embiid.  Embiid coming back altered the series, but he did so as much for Maxey as he did himself.  Maxey just torched Boston especially when the team had a big man they had to guard in Embiid. They couldn't help on Maxey anymore.  The 3 boston wins were Maxey's 3 worst games in the series.  He was the guy that made them

Queta was +3 in the series.  His problem was staying out of foul trouble.  The team needed him to play more, not less.  White was -24, Brown -23, Hauser -17. Pritchard was +44 and Tatum was +28.  Too many negatives from too many starters, but it all starts with not being able to defend Maxey. Unless Boston figures that out, nothing else is going to matter.

Maxey was -12 for the series.  He is good, streaky, but good.  He is tough to cover for every team.  I don't endorse building my roster around stopping him, to me, that would be an overreaction to a very small sample size.  I actually thought it was Paul George who tipped the scales.  White, Brown, and Hauser needed to play better.  Hit a few more shots, have a few less turnovers and BOS wins the series easily.

Again, to me the issue was not positional, it was performative.  Hauser shouldn't be a starter on a playoff team.  Solid bench player.  And maybe not Queta either.  White was 27% from 3 for the series.  Brown had too many turnovers.

Yeah, I am more along these lines than concerned about having a POA defender.

I thought the lack of supporting scoring threats hurt BOS a lot in that series. They had Jaylen & Tatum and then 2 supporting guys in D White and Pritchard. That is fine when the 4 of them are all playing well at the same time but with D White struggling and Pritchard so-so, BOS needed to have 1-2 other scoring options they could turn to. 4 guys rarely all play well at the same time. We need 1-2 more supporting scorers around that D White / Pritchard level.

And of course the lack of a quality big man defender whenever Queta was not on the floor. That opened things up for Embiid which in turn opened up everything for everyone else on Philly.

I saw those as the 2 main issues for BOS in the series.

[slamtheking]

In the final 3 games against the Sixers, Maxey was the best player on the floor.  He out played not only Tatum and Brown, but also Embiid.  Embiid coming back altered the series, but he did so as much for Maxey as he did himself.  Maxey just torched Boston especially when the team had a big man they had to guard in Embiid. They couldn't help on Maxey anymore.  The 3 boston wins were Maxey's 3 worst games in the series.  He was the guy that made them

Queta was +3 in the series.  His problem was staying out of foul trouble.  The team needed him to play more, not less.  White was -24, Brown -23, Hauser -17. Pritchard was +44 and Tatum was +28.  Too many negatives from too many starters, but it all starts with not being able to defend Maxey. Unless Boston figures that out, nothing else is going to matter.

Maxey was -12 for the series.  He is good, streaky, but good.  He is tough to cover for every team.  I don't endorse building my roster around stopping him, to me, that would be an overreaction to a very small sample size.  I actually thought it was Paul George who tipped the scales.  White, Brown, and Hauser needed to play better.  Hit a few more shots, have a few less turnovers and BOS wins the series easily.

Again, to me the issue was not positional, it was performative.  Hauser shouldn't be a starter on a playoff team.  Solid bench player.  And maybe not Queta either.  White was 27% from 3 for the series.  Brown had too many turnovers.

Yeah, I am more along these lines than concerned about having a POA defender.

I thought the lack of supporting scoring threats hurt BOS a lot in that series. They had Jaylen & Tatum and then 2 supporting guys in D White and Pritchard. That is fine when the 4 of them are all playing well at the same time but with D White struggling and Pritchard so-so, BOS needed to have 1-2 other scoring options they could turn to. 4 guys rarely all play well at the same time. We need 1-2 more supporting scorers around that D White / Pritchard level.

And of course the lack of a quality big man defender whenever Queta was not on the floor. That opened things up for Embiid which in turn opened up everything for everyone else on Philly.

I saw those as the 2 main issues for BOS in the series.

I agree on this take.

primary issues were having too many guys having off nights (or in White's case, an off season to boot) and no quality back up for Q when he got in foul trouble. 

in the 2024 run, we had enough quality players that we could put out a line-up with enough players having a good night with rare exceptions.  Last year's abysmal showing against NY with the same players as 2024 was just inexplicable that so many players could be so cold from the floor all at once.

[Jiri Welsch]

If there really needs to be a choice between a big or a PG, I think you have to go with a big. The main reasons for me are:

1. A solid big can add variation to an offense and mitigate those horrific droughts the Celtics are prone to go on during the Jays Era.

2. A solid big can mask a lot of defensive challenges the first line of defense experiences.

[Moranis]

In the final 3 games against the Sixers, Maxey was the best player on the floor.  He out played not only Tatum and Brown, but also Embiid.  Embiid coming back altered the series, but he did so as much for Maxey as he did himself.  Maxey just torched Boston especially when the team had a big man they had to guard in Embiid. They couldn't help on Maxey anymore.  The 3 boston wins were Maxey's 3 worst games in the series.  He was the guy that made them

Queta was +3 in the series.  His problem was staying out of foul trouble.  The team needed him to play more, not less.  White was -24, Brown -23, Hauser -17. Pritchard was +44 and Tatum was +28.  Too many negatives from too many starters, but it all starts with not being able to defend Maxey. Unless Boston figures that out, nothing else is going to matter.

Maxey was -12 for the series.  He is good, streaky, but good.  He is tough to cover for every team.  I don't endorse building my roster around stopping him, to me, that would be an overreaction to a very small sample size.  I actually thought it was Paul George who tipped the scales.  White, Brown, and Hauser needed to play better.  Hit a few more shots, have a few less turnovers and BOS wins the series easily.

Again, to me the issue was not positional, it was performative.  Hauser shouldn't be a starter on a playoff team.  Solid bench player.  And maybe not Queta either.  White was 27% from 3 for the series.  Brown had too many turnovers.

Well the Sixers got crushed in game 1 and game 4.  He was -51 in those 2 games and those were his 2 lowest GmSc. So his 2 worst games, the Sixers got crushed.

[Celtics4ever]

 We do need a good point of attack defender but we do need a big as well.   I don't think getting one would be a successful off season.

Ayo Dosunmu would be a guy I would target for the guard.  He can defend the point of attack.

[Vermont Green]

In the final 3 games against the Sixers, Maxey was the best player on the floor.  He out played not only Tatum and Brown, but also Embiid.  Embiid coming back altered the series, but he did so as much for Maxey as he did himself.  Maxey just torched Boston especially when the team had a big man they had to guard in Embiid. They couldn't help on Maxey anymore.  The 3 boston wins were Maxey's 3 worst games in the series.  He was the guy that made them

Queta was +3 in the series.  His problem was staying out of foul trouble.  The team needed him to play more, not less.  White was -24, Brown -23, Hauser -17. Pritchard was +44 and Tatum was +28.  Too many negatives from too many starters, but it all starts with not being able to defend Maxey. Unless Boston figures that out, nothing else is going to matter.

Maxey was -12 for the series.  He is good, streaky, but good.  He is tough to cover for every team.  I don't endorse building my roster around stopping him, to me, that would be an overreaction to a very small sample size.  I actually thought it was Paul George who tipped the scales.  White, Brown, and Hauser needed to play better.  Hit a few more shots, have a few less turnovers and BOS wins the series easily.

Again, to me the issue was not positional, it was performative.  Hauser shouldn't be a starter on a playoff team.  Solid bench player.  And maybe not Queta either.  White was 27% from 3 for the series.  Brown had too many turnovers.

Well the Sixers got crushed in game 1 and game 4.  He was -51 in those 2 games and those were his 2 lowest GmSc. So his 2 worst games, the Sixers got crushed.

I am not sure I understand your point.  Your best player has a bad game and you lose.  You can't have it both ways.  What I mean by that is in the games he was bad, you conclude he just had a bad game, not that BOS defended him better.  But in the games he was good, it isn't that he was hot and made tough shots, it was that BOS defended him poorly.  And from that, you conclude that BOS is bad at defending him and needs to change their roster.

My observation is that overall, he was -12 for the series, so overall, they defended him pretty well.  I concede that BOS lacks speed in their guards.  White, Brown, Hauser, Scheierman, none of these guys are quick speedy guys.  Even Pritchard.  But I don't see that as a major issue.  White and Brown are very good defenders overall due to a combination of speed, length, IQ, everything.  Pritchard and Hauser are decent defenders.  A certain type of guard gives the team more trouble than other types.  But if you get a guy that is better against the quicker guards, he might not be a good at longer guards.  It would be nice to have that player, but at the expense of what else?

Take NYK for example.  The best team in the world right now.  Who is their point of attack defender?  Brunson?  They have good defenders at several positions but not exactly that type of defender.  But it hasn't stopped them from winning 13 in a row in the playoffs, including Maxey's team.

[Moranis]

I like the idea of Caruso.  He fits into the TPE, so just add 27 and then Hugo or a future 1st and get Caruso.

Caruso, White, Brown,Tatum, Queta

That is a much better team with Caruso.  Hartenstein could also work in a similar trade, but I see more issues with that.

[Moranis]

In the final 3 games against the Sixers, Maxey was the best player on the floor.  He out played not only Tatum and Brown, but also Embiid.  Embiid coming back altered the series, but he did so as much for Maxey as he did himself.  Maxey just torched Boston especially when the team had a big man they had to guard in Embiid. They couldn't help on Maxey anymore.  The 3 boston wins were Maxey's 3 worst games in the series.  He was the guy that made them

Queta was +3 in the series.  His problem was staying out of foul trouble.  The team needed him to play more, not less.  White was -24, Brown -23, Hauser -17. Pritchard was +44 and Tatum was +28.  Too many negatives from too many starters, but it all starts with not being able to defend Maxey. Unless Boston figures that out, nothing else is going to matter.

Maxey was -12 for the series.  He is good, streaky, but good.  He is tough to cover for every team.  I don't endorse building my roster around stopping him, to me, that would be an overreaction to a very small sample size.  I actually thought it was Paul George who tipped the scales.  White, Brown, and Hauser needed to play better.  Hit a few more shots, have a few less turnovers and BOS wins the series easily.

Again, to me the issue was not positional, it was performative.  Hauser shouldn't be a starter on a playoff team.  Solid bench player.  And maybe not Queta either.  White was 27% from 3 for the series.  Brown had too many turnovers.

Well the Sixers got crushed in game 1 and game 4.  He was -51 in those 2 games and those were his 2 lowest GmSc. So his 2 worst games, the Sixers got crushed.

I am not sure I understand your point.  Your best player has a bad game and you lose.  You can't have it both ways.  What I mean by that is in the games he was bad, you conclude he just had a bad game, not that BOS defended him better.  But in the games he was good, it isn't that he was hot and made tough shots, it was that BOS defended him poorly.  And from that, you conclude that BOS is bad at defending him and needs to change their roster.

My observation is that overall, he was -12 for the series, so overall, they defended him pretty well.  I concede that BOS lacks speed in their guards.  White, Brown, Hauser, Scheierman, none of these guys are quick speedy guys.  Even Pritchard.  But I don't see that as a major issue.  White and Brown are very good defenders overall due to a combination of speed, length, IQ, everything.  Pritchard and Hauser are decent defenders.  A certain type of guard gives the team more trouble than other types.  But if you get a guy that is better against the quicker guards, he might not be a good at longer guards.  It would be nice to have that player, but at the expense of what else?

Gane 1 he had 21/8/1 though shot poorly with 20 fga.  Game 4 he was 22/6/2, shot well but only 14 shots.  So his bad games he averaged 21 p and 7 a.

[johnnygreen]

In the last 2 playoff series, Boston was torched by both Brunson and Maxey.  They need someone that can defend the point of attack far more than anything else.

If you go back to when the Celtics won the title, Haliburton got hurt in game two of the ECF. Everyone of those games came down to the end, so who knows what a healthy Haliburton may have done.

To me, it's not just a guard that can defend. Didn't Derrick White just make all defensive first team? I still think they need a PG that can attack the defense like Brunson, Maxey, and Haliburton. The again, maybe our guys can do that but are limited by the offensive philosophy of the team.

White cannot guard the point of attack. He isn't fast enough.

I apologize for not phrasing what I meant correctly. I agree, even though White was first team all defense, he still couldn't slow down Maxey. Just like Brunson had his way last year in the playoffs.

[BitterJim]

If there really needs to be a choice between a big or a PG, I think you have to go with a big. The main reasons for me are:

1. A solid big can add variation to an offense and mitigate those horrific droughts the Celtics are prone to go on during the Jays Era.

2. A solid big can mask a lot of defensive challenges the first line of defense experiences.

Agreed. To add to that, a good guard defender will either be too expensive (if they're also good offensively) or only played in limited situations (if they are not good offensively, and have to compete for minutes with our other guards). A big man, though, would be competing for 2nd big minutes with guys like Garza and Williams. A lot easier than competing with Pritchard and all our young guys for guard minutes off the bench.

A quick PG defender would be nice situationally, but a better big is a need.

[Who]

Take NYK for example.  The best team in the world right now.  Who is their point of attack defender?

I would say Mikal Bridges. He has fantastic height and length and elite lateral quickness for staying with smaller perimeter players. He can defend 1-3 at an elite level.

Then they have OG Anunoby who has a different defensive skill-set. More muscle. More physicality. He does a great job on the physical forwards NY faces.

So Bridges for quick guards (D Mitchell, Maxey, etc) & OG for physical forwards (Luka, LeBron, Kawhi, etc).

[Who]

I like Goga Bitadze as a backup center. Good defender & rebounder. Basic offensive game. Slower rim runner. I like his D. Good one-on-one defender. Good help defender. Good rim protector.

Should not be expensive. I'd love to split the MLE between Bitadze and Keon Ellis. Then use the TPE for more a difference maker wherever they can get it. It could be a PG, a wing, a 6th man forward, a center. Whatever.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

Bring back Kelly Olynyk to be our point center. Kill 2 birds with one stone.