Celtics (0-0) vs Sixers (0-0) Preseason Game #1 10/4/16

[Kuberski33]

The most interesting thing to me is that Brad is basically allowing any of the starters to bring the ball up. As soon as they gain possession, they just go and get up court looking to attack.

[bello_man09]

knicks are getting beat 90-68 with their starters in there.

[max215]

The most interesting thing to me is that Brad is basically allowing any of the starters to bring the ball up. As soon as they gain possession, they just go and get up court looking to attack.

I love that. We'll get so many easy points in transition. Our pace is going to be crazy as well. Plodding centers will be run off the court, then Al will have a huge size advantage when other teams go small.

[SHAQATTACK]

Sum n makes me think we gonna need Brown before the year is over.

We need somebody other than IT ....who can GO GET a bucket

[slamtheking]

takeaways:
Good stuff:
- Horford looks every bit as good as hoped.
- starters were solid to start.  hated seeing the over reliance on the 3 ball though. 
- Brown, Smart and Rozier were ok off the bench.
- Young showed signs of life.
- perimeter/guard D was top notch

Bad stuff:
- too many 3's attempted.
- Hunter, Mickey, Zeller and Jackson looked bad. 
- KO is needed as the 3rd big more than we should need him.  Mickey and Zeller don't look like they'll get it done as the 4th and 5th bigs.  there's going to be a lot of small ball out of necessity for this team. 

[LarBrd33]

Did Noel play good ?

Should we trade for him?

he looked fine.  His team won.

Really though philly would be forgiven for not having any lineup clarity or cohesion at this point.  They are still very much in experiment mode.   When people say they want Noel it's usually not based on what he's done in philly but rather what he could do with clear direction on a team like Boston.

[LarBrd33]

It's been pointed out to me in a PM that Embiid's per 36 numbers of 18 points 12 rebounds and 6 blocks are the best ever preseason debut for a #3 pick who missed his first two seasons to injury.  Amazing.

[Surferdad]

Takeaways from the game:

- Starters looked magnificent.  Specifically Horford, Bradley and Crowder. High hopes for them.
- Bench was concerning
- Saw some good signs from the young Celtics (Smart, Brown, Rozier) against very questionable competition (bad in the first half - good against the d-leaguers).   
- Very impressed by Embiid's debut considering he was going up against the starting lineup of what projects as the best defensive team in the league.  Looked good considering he hasn't played competitive ball in 3 years.  Needs to work on handling double-teams.
- Likewise, pretty impressed with Dario Saric who also got a lot of burn against our starters.  Looked better than I expected early. 
- Boston shouldn't lose that game.  They are one of the deepest teams in the league.  I know it's pre-season, but it's a very bad sign to lose against the worst team in the league that's missing 3 of their best players (Bayless, Okafor, Simmons) and has another on a 12 minute restriction (Embiid).   Not good.  We should have won this game by 30.

Looking forward to seeing some progress as the preseason continues.

As I speculated earlier in the thread when the starters brought them back, maybe they aren't as deep as we have been thinking.

No KO or Green. Not sure how "deep" they are but I think they are good 6-10+

Right, true. They would have displaced Zeller and Hunter.

slamtheking is right that Zeller and Mickey as 4th and 5th big is not good enough.

[LarBrd33]

Takeaways from the game:

- Starters looked magnificent.  Specifically Horford, Bradley and Crowder. High hopes for them.
- Bench was concerning
- Saw some good signs from the young Celtics (Smart, Brown, Rozier) against very questionable competition (bad in the first half - good against the d-leaguers).   
- Very impressed by Embiid's debut considering he was going up against the starting lineup of what projects as the best defensive team in the league.  Looked good considering he hasn't played competitive ball in 3 years.  Needs to work on handling double-teams.
- Likewise, pretty impressed with Dario Saric who also got a lot of burn against our starters.  Looked better than I expected early. 
- Boston shouldn't lose that game.  They are one of the deepest teams in the league.  I know it's pre-season, but it's a very bad sign to lose against the worst team in the league that's missing 3 of their best players (Bayless, Okafor, Simmons) and has another on a 12 minute restriction (Embiid).   Not good.  We should have won this game by 30.

Looking forward to seeing some progress as the preseason continues.

As I speculated earlier in the thread when the starters brought them back, maybe they aren't as deep as we have been thinking.

No KO or Green. Not sure how "deep" they are but I think they are good 6-10+

Right, true. They would have displaced Zeller and Hunter.

slamtheking is right that Zeller and Mickey as 4th and 5th big is not good enough.

missing Olynyk and green hurts.  Turner was a big part of this team last year.  Hopefully our bench is stronger with those guys in the fold.

[BlackCeltic]

We need to see more high pick & roll with Jaylen on that 2nd unit. The sixers had no answer for it. Rosier over dribbling is not going to make that unit flow. I can't wait until GG and KO are back. Jerebco plays hard but he just doesn't fit the bill for what we are trying to do, same can be said for Zeller.

[LarBrd33]

Dario saric is a sneaky late round target for fantasy leagues.  When he came out in 2014 he was seen as a tier 2 prospect just like Marcus smart.   He looked solid in his debut.  With Simmons out, there's an opportunity for him to carve out minutes on that philly roster.   He looked like he might be able to play SF.

[trickybilly]

It's been pointed out to me in a PM that Embiid's per 36 numbers of 18 points 12 rebounds and 6 blocks are the best ever preseason debut for a #3 pick who missed his first two seasons to injury.  Amazing.

Hahaha! That's brilliant. TP-in-spirit to whoever came up with that gem!

[Vox_Populi]

I never know what to draw from the preseason. History indicates almost nothing can be extrapolated from it. Ah well, who cares if it's pointless, NBA basketball is back.

[jpotter33]

takeaways:
Good stuff:
- Horford looks every bit as good as hoped.
- starters were solid to start.  hated seeing the over reliance on the 3 ball though. 
- Brown, Smart and Rozier were ok off the bench.
- Young showed signs of life.
- perimeter/guard D was top notch

Bad stuff:
- too many 3's attempted.
- Hunter, Mickey, Zeller and Jackson looked bad. 
- KO is needed as the 3rd big more than we should need him.  Mickey and Zeller don't look like they'll get it done as the 4th and 5th bigs.  there's going to be a lot of small ball out of necessity for this team.

Unfortunately, JJ has looked pretty terrible so far, too. Granted, he's been playing next to Zeller, who makes it harder for everyone out there with less spacing and horrible D.

[clover]

takeaways:
Good stuff:
- Horford looks every bit as good as hoped.
- starters were solid to start.  hated seeing the over reliance on the 3 ball though. 
- Brown, Smart and Rozier were ok off the bench.
- Young showed signs of life.
- perimeter/guard D was top notch

Bad stuff:
- too many 3's attempted.
- Hunter, Mickey, Zeller and Jackson looked bad. 
- KO is needed as the 3rd big more than we should need him.  Mickey and Zeller don't look like they'll get it done as the 4th and 5th bigs.  there's going to be a lot of small ball out of necessity for this team.

Unfortunately, JJ has looked pretty terrible so far, too. Granted, he's been playing next to Zeller, who makes it harder for everyone out there with less spacing and horrible D.

JJ looked good with AJ in the playoffs, and once KO is fully back I could see AJ as the 3rd big, JJ the 4th, and then TZ and Mickey after that. But yeah, they won't win it all until they upgrade the frontcourt.