What's wrong with the Celtics?

[coco]

I just want to know why Tatum isn't taking more shots.
...I mean, the team has to make an effort and get this guy more shots.  He plays extremely efficient.

[Donoghus]

- Injuries which are exploiting some depth issues & offensive woes.

- They've played a ton of games for the first two months of the season.  35.  There's some attrition there.

- They're getting a lot of teams best shots on a night in basis.  That's what happens when you're one of the best teams in the league.    It can be a wear on some teams. 

[D Dub]

Nothing. 

Win some / lose some, it’s a long season.

[Spilling Green Dye]

- Injuries which are exploiting some depth issues & offensive woes.

- They've played a ton of games for the first two months of the season.  35.  There's some attrition there.

- They're getting a lot of teams best shots on a night in basis.  That's what happens when you're one of the best teams in the league.    It can be a wear on some teams.

Agree on all of these.  I'll also add that basketball is about adjustments, and we came out this season with a strong gameplan... teams are now in the mode where they've made some good adjustments to our playbook. 

[Boris Badenov]

I just want to know why Tatum isn't taking more shots.
...I mean, the team has to make an effort and get this guy more shots.  He plays extremely efficient.

I think they’ve had close to zero practice time.

If they get a few days off here and there (hopefully before the AS break), it seems like that would be when they could really set a new role for Tatum.

The same goes for the other comment above re: adjustments. We are a young team with no experience playing together, so we can’t adjust on the fly and l/or bring in new wrinkles, the way a veteran team could. Again, some sustained practice time would probably really help.

[nostar]

We had some D-league guys out there last night for a not-insignificant amount of time. Additionally, we are really thin on the wing: starting a rookie, switching Smart in there, and then Semi/Nader isn't a recipe for long-term success.

Because of the hot start it's easy to forget how big of a role Hayward was going to play this season. I think that having him there defensively, able to switch 2-4, and as a primary ball handler an scorer makes an enormous difference.

Asking Tatum or Brown to do those things is a huge gamble, as young guys aren't consistent in what they can provide on a nightly basis. They're both really good players, they're just not the max-caliber wing that Hayward is.

To answer the original post: nothing.

We've over performed expectations, post-Hayward injury, and I'm really happy that this team is going to get a chance to experience the adversity of rough stretches. It should make us stronger.

It doesn't hurt that we can showcase the two wings that would be at the center of an AD deal either

[Chief Macho]

Their bench sucks. That is all.

[Monkhouse]

What's wrong with the Celtics?

We lost our second best player to a gruesome leg injury. We didn't lose a single game for the whole month. We had one of our best winning streaks in Celtic history, (if you extrapolate and take into account we have had 6 rookies on our roster, and one of the most craziest NBA roster turnarounds.) Our defense was predicted to fall a little bit, but its been better than advertised. We've played the most games out of any team in the league, plus we just lost our first B2B this season, and dealing with nothing but the injury bug for our team.

So yeah, not pressed... This team is actually really good, and once Hayward comes back, I can see us beating the Cavs if Hayward comes back 100%, and can still put up at least 16-18 PPG.

[cman88]

I just want to know why Tatum isn't taking more shots.
...I mean, the team has to make an effort and get this guy more shots.  He plays extremely efficient.

because when they put him with the 2nd unit, Smart/Rozier still get tunnel vision and throw up bricks.


really, I think the celtics need to recommit to defense. There is nothing we can do to fix the bench shooting until Hayward/Morris come back. But you can win with poor shooting as long as your defense is strong. and strong defense can lead to easy offense.

[Snakehead]

I just want to know why Tatum isn't taking more shots.
...I mean, the team has to make an effort and get this guy more shots.  He plays extremely efficient.

because when they put him with the 2nd unit, Smart/Rozier still get tunnel vision and throw up bricks.

He gets the ball.  It's funny so many of you guys are watching (I suppose) Tatum being effecient and not so aggressive (playing great for a rookie) and you are coming up with a storyline that he never sees the ball or there is some situation where Stevens is yelling at him to pass or preventing people from passing to him.  He's just not that aggressive yet.

[Snakehead]

The schedule is brutal, so I excuse a lot.  My real complaints and worries though, are rebounding and bench offense.  Morris helps a lot and again, as I've said many times, I hope he can be slotted in as the bench scorer when he comes back and he embraces it (maybe missing time he can realize how important that role is and how much he can bring to the team with that role).  As far as rebounding, I think some of it has been not playing Baynes as much and some of it is definitely effort in many of these games.  They were so good earlier in the year when they were rebounding.

[alley oop]

Marcus Morris would have kept Beasley in check. He had the length to do it.

[chilidawg]

A healthy Morris would be a great addition.  The Morris we saw for the last couple weeks wasn't effective at all.

[Celtics4ever]

High Expectations of the fans?

[Birdman]

High Expectations of the fans?

Exactly!! Really with Hayward going down. I felt the championship run had to wait another year...can't lose a top 20 player and expect to win a title...we got spoil with the great record in november