Celtics Regular Season Thread 2026-27

[Jiri Welsch]

Robinson played only 11 minutes tonight. I think they're trying to play him into game shape, because he probably shouldn't be playing in back-to-backs.

I know people are disappointed with him thus far. Maybe my expectations were too low, but I'm not really expecting much from him besides defending talented offensive big men like Embiid and Wemby.

Mitchell Robinson is playing 1 less minute per game this season than he did last year and is averaging 3 less rebounds. That is not good.

Yeah, no doubt. I saw some folks note that the Celtics' offense asks Robinson to be further away from the rim compared to his time with the Knicks. So maybe that plays a small role in the discrepancy?

I'm hopeful by the end of the year he'll look more comfortable and fluid.

[RMO]

Was just looking at the schedule.  Brutal stretch the weekend before Thanksgiving.  Back to back against Sacramento and Golden State on Saturday and Sunday.  Then fly across the country for a Tuesday night game in Washington.

Not the competition obviously but a back to back on the west coast followed by a road game on the east coast.

[Vermont Green]

Robinson played only 11 minutes tonight. I think they're trying to play him into game shape, because he probably shouldn't be playing in back-to-backs.

I know people are disappointed with him thus far. Maybe my expectations were too low, but I'm not really expecting much from him besides defending talented offensive big men like Embiid and Wemby.

Mitchell Robinson is playing 1 less minute per game this season than he did last year and is averaging 3 less rebounds. That is not good.

Yeah, no doubt. I saw some folks note that the Celtics' offense asks Robinson to be further away from the rim compared to his time with the Knicks. So maybe that plays a small role in the discrepancy?

I'm hopeful by the end of the year he'll look more comfortable and fluid.

Robinson continues to have the team's worst +/-, right now at -21 for the season.  It was worse than that a week or so ago, so he is trending in the right direction, but he remains one of the few negative players on the team.  All the other negative players (Harper, Cenac, Conley, and Mitchell) are garbage time players.  There are 11 players playing regular minutes (between 150-375 minutes), Robinson is the only negative player of the regulars.

This is 12 games in now (Mitchell has played 11).  It is not like the offense is running through him.  All he is asked to do is screen and dunk.  It doesn't seem like it should be that hard, even if he is asked to be further out from the hoop (which I am not sure I buy).  I think it is more likely that he is out of shape and that is throwing off his timing.  There is no excuse for him to not be in shape at this point.  I have not given up on him, but I admit that I am losing patience to some degree.  He may lose minutes to Garza, which is a pretty bad indicator.

[Silas]

Robinson played only 11 minutes tonight. I think they're trying to play him into game shape, because he probably shouldn't be playing in back-to-backs.

I know people are disappointed with him thus far. Maybe my expectations were too low, but I'm not really expecting much from him besides defending talented offensive big men like Embiid and Wemby.

Mitchell Robinson is playing 1 less minute per game this season than he did last year and is averaging 3 less rebounds. That is not good.

Yeah, no doubt. I saw some folks note that the Celtics' offense asks Robinson to be further away from the rim compared to his time with the Knicks. So maybe that plays a small role in the discrepancy?

I'm hopeful by the end of the year he'll look more comfortable and fluid.

Robinson continues to have the team's worst +/-, right now at -21 for the season.  It was worse than that a week or so ago, so he is trending in the right direction, but he remains one of the few negative players on the team.  All the other negative players (Harper, Cenac, Conley, and Mitchell) are garbage time players.  There are 11 players playing regular minutes (between 150-375 minutes), Robinson is the only negative player of the regulars.

This is 12 games in now (Mitchell has played 11).  It is not like the offense is running through him.  All he is asked to do is screen and dunk.  It doesn't seem like it should be that hard, even if he is asked to be further out from the hoop (which I am not sure I buy).  I think it is more likely that he is out of shape and that is throwing off his timing.  There is no excuse for him to not be in shape at this point.  I have not given up on him, but I admit that I am losing patience to some degree.  He may lose minutes to Garza, which is a pretty bad indicator.

I'm not too concerned....yet.  Robinson is clearly out of shape and is learning to play a different style with different players.  Let's give it another 10 games or so and revisit. 

[Silas]

Sunday should be fun...Dallas will be on the 2nd game of a B2B, and its third game in four nights.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

For whatever reason, JB running the team last season, then getting shipped out for picks has got me remembering that period immediately after KG and the Truth got shipped off to Brooklyn, when Rondo and Jeff Green were given the keys to the team, only for both to be shipped off in successive trade deadlines.

[slamtheking]

Robinson played only 11 minutes tonight. I think they're trying to play him into game shape, because he probably shouldn't be playing in back-to-backs.

I know people are disappointed with him thus far. Maybe my expectations were too low, but I'm not really expecting much from him besides defending talented offensive big men like Embiid and Wemby.

Mitchell Robinson is playing 1 less minute per game this season than he did last year and is averaging 3 less rebounds. That is not good.

Yeah, no doubt. I saw some folks note that the Celtics' offense asks Robinson to be further away from the rim compared to his time with the Knicks. So maybe that plays a small role in the discrepancy?

I'm hopeful by the end of the year he'll look more comfortable and fluid.

Robinson continues to have the team's worst +/-, right now at -21 for the season.  It was worse than that a week or so ago, so he is trending in the right direction, but he remains one of the few negative players on the team.  All the other negative players (Harper, Cenac, Conley, and Mitchell) are garbage time players.  There are 11 players playing regular minutes (between 150-375 minutes), Robinson is the only negative player of the regulars.

This is 12 games in now (Mitchell has played 11).  It is not like the offense is running through him.  All he is asked to do is screen and dunk.  It doesn't seem like it should be that hard, even if he is asked to be further out from the hoop (which I am not sure I buy).  I think it is more likely that he is out of shape and that is throwing off his timing.  There is no excuse for him to not be in shape at this point.  I have not given up on him, but I admit that I am losing patience to some degree.  He may lose minutes to Garza, which is a pretty bad indicator.

I'm not too concerned....yet.  Robinson is clearly out of shape and is learning to play a different style with different players.  Let's give it another 10 games or so and revisit.

I agree it may be a bit early to get really concerned but it does raise some general concerns:
1. his lack of offseason conditioning is a real red flag that should have been known or at least looked into before signing him.  He makes a lot of money to be unprepared to start the season and need a quarter of the season (or more) to get into playing shape.
2. Brad went against his player skill preference in signing Robinson --> a player with very limited offensive skill that cannot be on the floor at the end of games and presents no real threat on the offensive end of the floor except as a rebounder.

I'm not sure what Joe will do to make use of Robinson's skills to get him better integrated into the team's plays but he's got to figure out something as well as getting on Robinson to get into game condition so he can be of more use to the team.