Celtics (10-15) at Magic (10-20) Game #23 12/23/14

[greece66]

In a way we got lucky. Had we played like this against the Cavs or Golden State, final score would have been 130-65...

[tazzmaniac]

Nine minutes for Sully... any guesses as to why?

Fat...lazy....

You win most unintelligent guess of the night.

Say what? He played fat and lazy in the first half. Why do you think he is on the bench?

People on this forum were screaming that he was fat and lazy when he was averaging 16/8/3. Just seems like a talking point to me with no real evidence to back it up.

He looks fat. Maybe he's not. But standing aroung the 3 point line on most possessions, is a bit lazy. Stevens must have noticed too.

Sully shoots almost double the percentage of his total FGAs at rim as he does behind the 3PT line. As BBallTim said earlier, anyone complaining about Sully's three-point obsession while simultaneously calling him lazy because of those shots lacks an understanding of NBA basketball. This isn't playground ball where guys just what they want. In all likelihood Sully hangs around the perimeter because his coaches were telling him to. Before he went into this freezing cold shooting streak, it was working.

So I'm unintelligent and lack an understanding of basketball. Nice. I will leave you to yourself.

Sorry, just get a little tired of posters who continually bash Sully for doing what CBS wants him to do and then salivate over Rondo who is known to mail games in if he's not motivated.

You are intelligent and understand the game of basketball clearly. Your individual observations here, though, make me frustrated.

We have different opinions. Not a big deal. TP for your passion.

TP for your patience. Let's hope there's an explanation and we hear about it soon.

There could be a lot of reasons for Sully's poor play recently.  Even the greatest players go through slumps.  The question is how good of a player can he become.  Some people were saying he can be an All Star.  I just don't see it.  I'm not sure he's even a starter caliber.  I think he'll top out as a good bench player like Bass.   

[TheFlex]

Nine minutes for Sully... any guesses as to why?

Fat...lazy....

You win most unintelligent guess of the night.

Say what? He played fat and lazy in the first half. Why do you think he is on the bench?

People on this forum were screaming that he was fat and lazy when he was averaging 16/8/3. Just seems like a talking point to me with no real evidence to back it up.

He looks fat. Maybe he's not. But standing aroung the 3 point line on most possessions, is a bit lazy. Stevens must have noticed too.

Sully shoots almost double the percentage of his total FGAs at rim as he does behind the 3PT line. As BBallTim said earlier, anyone complaining about Sully's three-point obsession while simultaneously calling him lazy because of those shots lacks an understanding of NBA basketball. This isn't playground ball where guys just what they want. In all likelihood Sully hangs around the perimeter because his coaches were telling him to. Before he went into this freezing cold shooting streak, it was working.

So I'm unintelligent and lack an understanding of basketball. Nice. I will leave you to yourself.

Sorry, just get a little tired of posters who continually bash Sully for doing what CBS wants him to do and then salivate over Rondo who is known to mail games in if he's not motivated.

You are intelligent and understand the game of basketball clearly. Your individual observations here, though, make me frustrated.

We have different opinions. Not a big deal. TP for your passion.

TP for your patience. Let's hope there's an explanation and we hear about it soon.

There could be a lot of reasons for Sully's poor play recently.  Even the greatest players go through slumps.  The question is how good of a player can he become.  Some people were saying he can be an All Star.  I just don't see it.  I'm not sure he's even a starter caliber.  I think he'll top out as a good bench player like Bass.   

Slumps, sure, but a starter, even a slumping one, playing nine minutes is fishy. Just seems like there's more to it than a typical basketball stinkfest. Maybe I'm being optimistic because I am a big fan of Sully.

[GreenGoggles]

Nine minutes for Sully... any guesses as to why?

Fat...lazy....

You win most unintelligent guess of the night.

Say what? He played fat and lazy in the first half. Why do you think he is on the bench?

People on this forum were screaming that he was fat and lazy when he was averaging 16/8/3. Just seems like a talking point to me with no real evidence to back it up.

He looks fat. Maybe he's not. But standing aroung the 3 point line on most possessions, is a bit lazy. Stevens must have noticed too.

Sully shoots almost double the percentage of his total FGAs at rim as he does behind the 3PT line. As BBallTim said earlier, anyone complaining about Sully's three-point obsession while simultaneously calling him lazy because of those shots lacks an understanding of NBA basketball. This isn't playground ball where guys just what they want. In all likelihood Sully hangs around the perimeter because his coaches were telling him to. Before he went into this freezing cold shooting streak, it was working.

So I'm unintelligent and lack an understanding of basketball. Nice. I will leave you to yourself.

Sorry, just get a little tired of posters who continually bash Sully for doing what CBS wants him to do and then salivate over Rondo who is known to mail games in if he's not motivated.

You are intelligent and understand the game of basketball clearly. Your individual observations here, though, make me frustrated.

We have different opinions. Not a big deal. TP for your passion.

TP for your patience. Let's hope there's an explanation and we hear about it soon.

There could be a lot of reasons for Sully's poor play recently.  Even the greatest players go through slumps.  The question is how good of a player can he become.  Some people were saying he can be an All Star.  I just don't see it.  I'm not sure he's even a starter caliber.  I think he'll top out as a good bench player like Bass.   

Slumps, sure, but a starter, even a slumping one, playing nine minutes is fishy. Just seems like there's more to it than a typical basketball stinkfest. Maybe I'm being optimistic because I am a big fan of Sully.

I wouldn't try to read into Steven's rotations until after the trade deadline. Something tells me they will be constantly changing game to game.

[hwangjini_1]

What on earth was Nelson thinking in the last possession? Pounding the ball for 10 secs and then shoot a three under pressure...

dont worry, he wont be with the celtics all that long. why do you think dallas was willing to trade him for rondo?

[Chief]

Nine minutes for Sully... any guesses as to why?

Fat...lazy....

You win most unintelligent guess of the night.

Say what? He played fat and lazy in the first half. Why do you think he is on the bench?

People on this forum were screaming that he was fat and lazy when he was averaging 16/8/3. Just seems like a talking point to me with no real evidence to back it up.

He looks fat. Maybe he's not. But standing aroung the 3 point line on most possessions, is a bit lazy. Stevens must have noticed too.

Sully shoots almost double the percentage of his total FGAs at rim as he does behind the 3PT line. As BBallTim said earlier, anyone complaining about Sully's three-point obsession while simultaneously calling him lazy because of those shots lacks an understanding of NBA basketball. This isn't playground ball where guys just what they want. In all likelihood Sully hangs around the perimeter because his coaches were telling him to. Before he went into this freezing cold shooting streak, it was working.

So I'm unintelligent and lack an understanding of basketball. Nice. I will leave you to yourself.

Sorry, just get a little tired of posters who continually bash Sully for doing what CBS wants him to do and then salivate over Rondo who is known to mail games in if he's not motivated.

You are intelligent and understand the game of basketball clearly. Your individual observations here, though, make me frustrated.

We have different opinions. Not a big deal. TP for your passion.

TP for your patience. Let's hope there's an explanation and we hear about it soon.

There could be a lot of reasons for Sully's poor play recently.  Even the greatest players go through slumps.  The question is how good of a player can he become.  Some people were saying he can be an All Star.  I just don't see it.  I'm not sure he's even a starter caliber.  I think he'll top out as a good bench player like Bass.   

I think he needs to focus on rebounding and team defense. I've seen him be great at both. He can ignite the fast break with both. Especially if he continues to work on the outlet pass.

[Who]

Nine minutes for Sully... any guesses as to why?

Fat...lazy....

You win most unintelligent guess of the night.

Say what? He played fat and lazy in the first half. Why do you think he is on the bench?

People on this forum were screaming that he was fat and lazy when he was averaging 16/8/3. Just seems like a talking point to me with no real evidence to back it up.

He looks fat. Maybe he's not. But standing aroung the 3 point line on most possessions, is a bit lazy. Stevens must have noticed too.

Sully shoots almost double the percentage of his total FGAs at rim as he does behind the 3PT line. As BBallTim said earlier, anyone complaining about Sully's three-point obsession while simultaneously calling him lazy because of those shots lacks an understanding of NBA basketball. This isn't playground ball where guys just what they want. In all likelihood Sully hangs around the perimeter because his coaches were telling him to. Before he went into this freezing cold shooting streak, it was working.

So I'm unintelligent and lack an understanding of basketball. Nice. I will leave you to yourself.

Sorry, just get a little tired of posters who continually bash Sully for doing what CBS wants him to do and then salivate over Rondo who is known to mail games in if he's not motivated.

You are intelligent and understand the game of basketball clearly. Your individual observations here, though, make me frustrated.

We have different opinions. Not a big deal. TP for your passion.

TP for your patience. Let's hope there's an explanation and we hear about it soon.

There could be a lot of reasons for Sully's poor play recently.  Even the greatest players go through slumps.  The question is how good of a player can he become.  Some people were saying he can be an All Star.  I just don't see it.  I'm not sure he's even a starter caliber.  I think he'll top out as a good bench player like Bass.   

Slumps, sure, but a starter, even a slumping one, playing nine minutes is fishy. Just seems like there's more to it than a typical basketball stinkfest. Maybe I'm being optimistic because I am a big fan of Sully.

I think it is more than just a slump too.

A slump is one thing. Everyone goes through patches where they struggle with their shot and have a few bad offensive nights. But this ... this is way worse than that ... Sully's effort + focus in some of these games recently has been absolutely deplorable. He is playing some of the worst defense of his career (aside from first 2 months of rookie season). He is just going through the motions out there.

I think he has either checked out mentally or he has some type of injury.

[greece66]

What is our away record?

Was wondering about this one too.
Could not find the data collected at one place, so did the arithmetic by myself. I'm quite sleepy, but I double checked 
11 games away. 3 wins. 2 of them against Philly, the other against Chicago.
Which suggests there is a big difference in how we play at home and away.
7/15 (0.46) in TD Garden and 3/11 (0.27) away.
http://espn.go.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/bos/boston-celtics

[tazzmaniac]

Nine minutes for Sully... any guesses as to why?

Fat...lazy....

You win most unintelligent guess of the night.

Say what? He played fat and lazy in the first half. Why do you think he is on the bench?

People on this forum were screaming that he was fat and lazy when he was averaging 16/8/3. Just seems like a talking point to me with no real evidence to back it up.

He looks fat. Maybe he's not. But standing aroung the 3 point line on most possessions, is a bit lazy. Stevens must have noticed too.

Sully shoots almost double the percentage of his total FGAs at rim as he does behind the 3PT line. As BBallTim said earlier, anyone complaining about Sully's three-point obsession while simultaneously calling him lazy because of those shots lacks an understanding of NBA basketball. This isn't playground ball where guys just what they want. In all likelihood Sully hangs around the perimeter because his coaches were telling him to. Before he went into this freezing cold shooting streak, it was working.

So I'm unintelligent and lack an understanding of basketball. Nice. I will leave you to yourself.

Sorry, just get a little tired of posters who continually bash Sully for doing what CBS wants him to do and then salivate over Rondo who is known to mail games in if he's not motivated.

You are intelligent and understand the game of basketball clearly. Your individual observations here, though, make me frustrated.

We have different opinions. Not a big deal. TP for your passion.

TP for your patience. Let's hope there's an explanation and we hear about it soon.

There could be a lot of reasons for Sully's poor play recently.  Even the greatest players go through slumps.  The question is how good of a player can he become.  Some people were saying he can be an All Star.  I just don't see it.  I'm not sure he's even a starter caliber.  I think he'll top out as a good bench player like Bass.   

Slumps, sure, but a starter, even a slumping one, playing nine minutes is fishy. Just seems like there's more to it than a typical basketball stinkfest. Maybe I'm being optimistic because I am a big fan of Sully.

If he was hurt, I don't think he would be playing at all.  Stevens seems to allocate playing time to whoever happens to be playing best on a particular night.  That sounds good in theory and may work at the college level but I don't think it works in the pros.  He needs to establish consistent rotations and playing time so players know their roles.  If a player is not putting out effort or is consistently making poor decisions pulling them makes sense but if they are just in a slump he should keep them on the court and have them play through it. 

[Chief]

What is our away record?

Was wondering about this one too.
Could not find the data collected at one place, so did the arithmetic by myself. I'm quite sleepy, but I double checked 
11 games away. 3 wins. 2 of them against Philly, the other against Chicago.
Which suggests there is a big difference in how we play at home and away.
7/15 (0.46) in TD Garden and 3/11 (0.27) away.
http://espn.go.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/bos/boston-celtics

Tp

[tazzmaniac]

What is our away record?

Was wondering about this one too.
Could not find the data collected at one place, so did the arithmetic by myself. I'm quite sleepy, but I double checked 
11 games away. 3 wins. 2 of them against Philly, the other against Chicago.
Which suggests there is a big difference in how we play at home and away.
7/15 (0.46) in TD Garden and 3/11 (0.27) away.
http://espn.go.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/bos/boston-celtics

We've played some tough teams on the road.  Other than the last two games, the only win you might have expected would have been against Charlotte but they are not a good matchup with their slow half court pace and limited turnovers.   

[Celtics4ever]

. Sully's effort + focus in some of these games recently has been absolutely deplorable. He is playing some of the worst defense of his career (aside from first 2 months of rookie season). He is just going through the motions out there.

He is mailing it in, and I think you nailed it.    That first quarter effort from him was horrible.   Glad Stevens noticed and benched the pouting pile of laziness.   We came back fine without him.

[greece66]

What is our away record?

Was wondering about this one too.
Could not find the data collected at one place, so did the arithmetic by myself. I'm quite sleepy, but I double checked 
11 games away. 3 wins. 2 of them against Philly, the other against Chicago.
Which suggests there is a big difference in how we play at home and away.
7/15 (0.46) in TD Garden and 3/11 (0.27) away.
http://espn.go.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/bos/boston-celtics

We've played some tough teams on the road.  Other than the last two games, the only win you might have expected would have been against Charlotte but they are not a good matchup with their slow half court pace and limited turnovers.

That's very true. Dallas, Houston, Memphis. But we also played the League's worst team twice.
Having watched most of our games, I think we actually play more confidently in TD. This is hardly surprising for a young team. I expect the disparity in our home-away record to continue throughout the season.

[Tr1boy]

couldn't catch some parts of the game. How did Wright look?

He had a nice block before he was pulled

[tazzmaniac]

Nine minutes for Sully... any guesses as to why?

Fat...lazy....

You win most unintelligent guess of the night.

Say what? He played fat and lazy in the first half. Why do you think he is on the bench?

People on this forum were screaming that he was fat and lazy when he was averaging 16/8/3. Just seems like a talking point to me with no real evidence to back it up.

He looks fat. Maybe he's not. But standing aroung the 3 point line on most possessions, is a bit lazy. Stevens must have noticed too.

Sully shoots almost double the percentage of his total FGAs at rim as he does behind the 3PT line. As BBallTim said earlier, anyone complaining about Sully's three-point obsession while simultaneously calling him lazy because of those shots lacks an understanding of NBA basketball. This isn't playground ball where guys just what they want. In all likelihood Sully hangs around the perimeter because his coaches were telling him to. Before he went into this freezing cold shooting streak, it was working.

So I'm unintelligent and lack an understanding of basketball. Nice. I will leave you to yourself.

Sorry, just get a little tired of posters who continually bash Sully for doing what CBS wants him to do and then salivate over Rondo who is known to mail games in if he's not motivated.

You are intelligent and understand the game of basketball clearly. Your individual observations here, though, make me frustrated.

We have different opinions. Not a big deal. TP for your passion.

TP for your patience. Let's hope there's an explanation and we hear about it soon.

There could be a lot of reasons for Sully's poor play recently.  Even the greatest players go through slumps.  The question is how good of a player can he become.  Some people were saying he can be an All Star.  I just don't see it.  I'm not sure he's even a starter caliber.  I think he'll top out as a good bench player like Bass.   

I think he needs to focus on rebounding and team defense. I've seen him be great at both. He can ignite the fast break with both. Especially if he continues to work on the outlet pass.

He can play good defense against slower, less athletic bigs where he can bang on them but he just can't move well enough to handle athletic bigs.  I agree that he should focus on rebounding and his inside game in general.  Just bang on people, draw fouls and try to become a player other players hate to play against.