This loss is on Wonder Boy Stevens

[littleteapot]

And it's Stevens' fault that the Celtics couldn't hit a shot in the last 4 minutes? Seriously, do you read the crap you write before you hit post or do you just ragepost everything?

It is his fault that we had no plays to get good shots in the last 4 minutes.

You guys are giving him credit for keeping us in a game where the Cavs just committed a bunch of unforced errors (and actually shot much worse than us throughout the game) but not blaming him for having nothing prepared to give our team an easy shot at the end of the game?

[rollie mass]

 lebron james quote -thats a well coached team--did you free agents here that
THATS A WELL COACHED TEAM

[Granath]

And it's Stevens' fault that the Celtics couldn't hit a shot in the last 4 minutes? Seriously, do you read the crap you write before you hit post or do you just ragepost everything?

It is his fault that we had no plays to get good shots in the last 4 minutes.

You guys are giving him credit for keeping us in a game where the Cavs just committed a bunch of unforced errors (and actually shot much worse than us throughout the game) but not blaming him for having nothing prepared to give our team an easy shot at the end of the game?

I saw plenty of open looks - for instance Jerebko had a great look for 3 with about 3 minutes to go and missed a wide open shot. I also saw Celtics players rushing shots, ET turning the all over and the team not executing very well. That's not just on Stevens, that's just young players against a better team on the road.

Simply put, the Cavs are more talented than the Celtics are. That's indisputable. They have far more leeway to screw up and still get the win. If you (or anyone else) can't realize that it's not a level playing field and all that entails, you're just deluding yourself.

For the Cs to win a game, they're going to have to hang around for 3 quarters and then get hot at the end of the game. It didn't happen. Stop with the blame and realize that it's going to take a bit of luck for the Celtics to win a game in this series because they're over-matched at virtually every single position.

[littleteapot]

I saw plenty of open looks - for instance Jerebko had a great look for 3 with about 3 minutes to go and missed a wide open shot. I also saw Celtics players rushing shots, ET turning the all over and the team not executing very well. That's not just on Stevens, that's just young players against a better team on the road.

Simply put, the Cavs are more talented than the Celtics are. That's indisputable. They have far more leeway to screw up and still get the win. If you (or anyone else) can't realize that it's not a level playing field and all that entails, you're just deluding yourself.

For the Cs to win a game, they're going to have to hang around for 3 quarters and then get hot at the end of the game. It didn't happen. Stop with the blame and realize that it's going to take a bit of luck for the Celtics to win a game in this series because they're over-matched at virtually every single position.

For the Celtics to win a game, they have to capitalize on the Cavs turning the ball over and missing a bunch of shots. At the end of the game, the coach has to realize that that VAST majority of our half-court possessions throughout the game and particularly at the end of the game resulted in bad shots, and should simplify things and go after the horrible defenders on the other team in isolation or PNR when his offense isn't working.

[fairweatherfan]

The loss isn't Wonder Boy's fault, it's just that Young Nasty Man LeBron has powers comparable to Wonder Boy. 

[Alleyoopster]

Couldn't agree with most of you about the shoot around. Oftentimes you shoot better when you have time off. 

I think a bigger concern might be something I believe Tommy said.  And, that was about the lack of rebounding from Bass.  My feeling is he has something to prove out there.  He's going to have to go out with a vengeance and tear down more rebounds even if it's just for the couple minutes he's out there.

Playing well is not going to be good enough for him to get minutes.  He needs to punish players who mess with him.  That's not his style, but it has to change. 

 

[Celtics4ever]

For the Celtics to win a game, they have to capitalize on the Cavs turning the ball over and missing a bunch of shots.

This means we rely on the other team to not do well.  Which is not all on Stevens.

has to realize that that VAST majority of our half-court possessions throughout the game and particularly at the end of the game resulted in bad shots

Again, did he take the shots?   Nope.  When guys are less talented they will freeze up or rush a shot in an attempt to get it off.

should simplify things and go after the horrible defenders on the other team in isolation or PNR when his offense isn't working.

 

I think we should target Love but he does not play all the time.   They also have some good weak side defenders,  LeBron reacts well in these situations,  Mosgov is not too bad either.  Some of their bench guys are pesky.

You can scheme all you want but at the end of the day, we are a team of role-players and they have three all stars.   All the planning, grit and hustle can't always make that up.  I think now we can honestly say that some of our last season wins were due to other teams resting as they had made the playoffs.

[Fafnir]

Is there any evidence that shootarounds improve performance? I honestly have no idea.

Their primary purpose in the regular season is to make players get to bed so they can get some sleep and have to show up somewhere before the game time at 6:30 or 7:30 local time. That's from multiple NBA beat writers and former coaches.

I'm sure some players absolutely benefit from the routine of it, but I doubt in aggregate their is any evidence that it changes performance.

[littleteapot]

For the Celtics to win a game, they have to capitalize on the Cavs turning the ball over and missing a bunch of shots.

This means we rely on the other team to not do well.  Which is not all on Stevens.

has to realize that that VAST majority of our half-court possessions throughout the game and particularly at the end of the game resulted in bad shots

Again, did he take the shots?   Nope.  When guys are less talented they will freeze up or rush a shot in an attempt to get it off.

should simplify things and go after the horrible defenders on the other team in isolation or PNR when his offense isn't working.

 

I think we should target Love but he does not play all the time.   They also have some good weak side defenders,  LeBron reacts well in these situations,  Mosgov is not too bad either.  Some of their bench guys are pesky.

You can scheme all you want but at the end of the day, we are a team of role-players and they have three all stars.   All the planning, grit and hustle can't always make that up.  I think now we can honestly say that some of our last season wins were due to other teams resting as they had made the playoffs.

What I'm saying is that this was a game where the Cavs played poorly and we need to capitalize on games like this if we want to steal a game.

The C's were in the position at the end of the game where we obviously don't have a go-to scorer, we weren't getting fast break opportunities, and our halfcourt wasn't working. When that happens, you go after the weakest defender on the opposing team. If Love is out, go after Kyrie. Obviously I'd rather just have Lebron and not have to worry about this, but this is the position we are in.

I agree that we're undermatched. I don't think Stevens maximized our chances however.

[Fafnir]

We don't have a team that can really attack Irving. They're putting him on Bradley/Smart from what I've seen. Leaving others to guard Thomas, do you really want to attack Irving with those guys?

I'm sure they do try to force him to rotate but we don't exactly have a team that can just pick on one weak defender like the KG Celtics could.

[littleteapot]

We don't have a team that can really attack Irving. They're putting him on Bradley/Smart from what I've seen. Leaving others to guard Thomas, do you really want to attack Irving with those guys?

I'm sure they do try to force him to rotate but we don't exactly have a team that can just pick on one weak defender like the KG Celtics could.

First of all I'd try posting him up with both of those guys. But even taking him off the dribble is much better than that stupid weave play which has never worked for us all year.

[Jesus Shuttlesworth #20]

A negative thread created by a Celtics fan, I for one am shocked, usually there is nothing but positivity on this blog. Again I have to say I am thunderstruck by the negative thread creation but at least now I know how shootarounds effect the game because I definitely think bloggers know more about coaching than the 4th rated coach in the league. Many thanks for this awesome thread, I was going to have a good day but now I know I should be having a bad day and will make sure to be depressed all day, thank you thread creator!

[Fafnir]

We don't have a team that can really attack Irving. They're putting him on Bradley/Smart from what I've seen. Leaving others to guard Thomas, do you really want to attack Irving with those guys?

I'm sure they do try to force him to rotate but we don't exactly have a team that can just pick on one weak defender like the KG Celtics could.

First of all I'd try posting him up with both of those guys. But even taking him off the dribble is much better than that stupid weave play which has never worked for us all year.

You think isolation post ups from Bradley/Smart are going to lead to good shots? Why?

Neither Smart/Bradley are accomplished isolation off the dribble type players. You can't put players in a position like that and expect success, especially in crunch time.

BTW that weave play has worked and worked frequently this season.

[littleteapot]

You think isolation post ups from Bradley/Smart are going to lead to good shots? Why?

Because Irving makes mediocre guards into good ISO players.

[Granath]

You think isolation post ups from Bradley/Smart are going to lead to good shots? Why?

Because Irving makes mediocre guards into good ISO players.

Er, no. He's better than that. Neither Bradley or Smart have the handle or the moves at this stage of their careers to drive on Irving on an iso play. Not to mention that the Celtics weren't shooting well enough - the defense could easily cheat off their man to assist Iriving if he had any problem.

As I said before, the Cs are going to have to get a little lucky and just get hot from outside at the end of a game.