Ainge made a mistake in not signing Bird to be playoff eligible

[csfansince60s]

When it was time to set the playoff roster, many on here, including myself, were strongly pushing to dump no-good Nader and sign Bird to a minimum contract.

There were two arguments people used against this;

1. We would lose a year of control over Bird if we signed him for the playoffs

and

2. He wouldn't make any difference in any series in the playoffs.

In retrospect, I strongly disagree with #2.

In Game 7, Stevens only played 7 guys...that's right, SEVEN. Larkin was out and Stevens decided to play 7 vs Cleveland's 9.

We were gassed, and that's the main reason why we lost.

Everyone talked about Cleveland being old and gassed. We may have been younger, but we were cooked.....toast. No energy in the last 6 minutes after Tatum's slam over Bron Bron.

Stevens should have played Ojeleye or even Monroe, if for no other reason than to give our Magnificent 7 a rest.

But if Bird were on the roster, he could've been the guard to replace Larkin. Jaylen, Smart and Rozier were our only guards to play..........not enough. Bird could've played with either Rozier or Smart.

That series came down to a razor's edge. Bird's presence as a serviceable 4th guard could've given our guys just a little more rest. He could've been an influence in that Game 7.

[CelticsElite]

True but we had 2 shots at beating the cavs and blew both (game 6 and 7).

Hoping we can sign bird to a long term deal before he gains interest of opposing teams

[Chief Macho]

all i know is he certainly passed yabu as a prospect.   

[Beat LA]

I'm not sure as to whether or not he would have been the difference in a game 7, but I'd like to think that he could have brought much of what Bradley had provided prior to his injury in the 2012 postseason. Ugh.

[csfansince60s]

True but we had 2 shots at beating the cavs and blew both (game 6 and 7).

Hoping we can sign bird to a long term deal before he gains interest of opposing teams

I agree.

And you’re right, we had 2 chances to beat the Cavs, but only played 3 guards in both games because Larkin was out. The Cavs played 4.....our guys were gassed.

[kraidstar]

Our guys weren't "gassed" the rest of the playoffs when we were rolling.

It was a choke-job. I find it hard to believe a rookie  who barely played in the regular season would have made much of a difference.

[CelticsElite]

The real mistake that game was not feeding Tatum the ball after his 3 and dunk over lebron. After that, we fed rozier brown and Morris who ended up shooting brick after brick

[Beat LA]

The real mistake that game was not feeding Tatum the ball after his 3 and dunk over lebron. After that, we fed rozier brown and Morris who ended up shooting brick after brick

Yes and no, imo, as while I agree that playing through Tatum was obviously costly, what really hurt us was the strict adherence to analytics vs. actually playing basketball throughout that contest, and the Rockets made the same mistake. Hmm...

[SparzWizard]

The real mistake that game was not feeding Tatum the ball after his 3 and dunk over lebron. After that, we fed rozier brown and Morris who ended up shooting brick after brick

Or if Brad Stevens didn't call that silly timeout where the Celtics were still up by double-digits. Gave the Cavs hope again and that's all she said at that point.

Still upset that the Celtics blew a 2-0 series lead for the first time in franchise history, and after winning Game 1 I thought this series was decided.

[BlastFromThePast]

The real mistake that game was not feeding Tatum the ball after his 3 and dunk over lebron. After that, we fed rozier brown and Morris who ended up shooting brick after brick

Yes and no, imo, as while I agree that playing through Tatum was obviously costly, what really hurt us was the strict adherence to analytics vs. actually playing basketball throughout that contest, and the Rockets made the same mistake. Hmm...

Astute observation and I couldn't agree more.  But, there were certain C's who tried to play BB the old fashioned (and still successful) way but weren't rewarded for their effort. 

[droopdog7]

Jabari Bird was like the 15th man.  He wouldn’t have made a difference.

[Beat LA]

The real mistake that game was not feeding Tatum the ball after his 3 and dunk over lebron. After that, we fed rozier brown and Morris who ended up shooting brick after brick

Yes and no, imo, as while I agree that playing through Tatum was obviously costly, what really hurt us was the strict adherence to analytics vs. actually playing basketball throughout that contest, and the Rockets made the same mistake. Hmm...

Astute observation and I couldn't agree more.  But, there were certain C's who tried to play BB the old fashioned (and still successful) way but weren't rewarded for their effort.

Ugh. I know. How many times was Horford being guarded by Hill right under the basket only for us to continue to jack threes? Yeesh .

[gouki88]

The real mistake that game was not feeding Tatum the ball after his 3 and dunk over lebron. After that, we fed rozier brown and Morris who ended up shooting brick after brick

Yes and no, imo, as while I agree that playing through Tatum was obviously costly, what really hurt us was the strict adherence to analytics vs. actually playing basketball throughout that contest, and the Rockets made the same mistake. Hmm...

Astute observation and I couldn't agree more.  But, there were certain C's who tried to play BB the old fashioned (and still successful) way but weren't rewarded for their effort.

Ugh. I know. How many times was Horford being guarded by Hill right under the basket only for us to continue to jack threes? Yeesh .

We really gave the ring a real workout with all the bricks we threw up, lol

[SparzWizard]

When it was time to set the playoff roster, many on here, including myself, were strongly pushing to dump no-good Nader and sign Bird to a minimum contract.

There were two arguments people used against this;

1. We would lose a year of control over Bird if we signed him for the playoffs

and

2. He wouldn't make any difference in any series in the playoffs.

In retrospect, I strongly disagree with #2.

In Game 7, Stevens only played 7 guys...that's right, SEVEN. Larkin was out and Stevens decided to play 7 vs Cleveland's 9.

We were gassed, and that's the main reason why we lost.

Everyone talked about Cleveland being old and gassed. We may have been younger, but we were cooked.....toast. No energy in the last 6 minutes after Tatum's slam over Bron Bron.

Stevens should have played Ojeleye or even Monroe, if for no other reason than to give our Magnificent 7 a rest.

But if Bird were on the roster, he could've been the guard to replace Larkin. Jaylen, Smart and Rozier were our only guards to play..........not enough. Bird could've played with either Rozier or Smart.

That series came down to a razor's edge. Bird's presence as a serviceable 4th guard could've given our guys just a little more rest. He could've been an influence in that Game 7.

I don't think they were gased. If one of Rozier/Morris/Brown hit even their usual shots consistently the Celtics win that game.

[mqtcelticsfan]

The real mistake that game was not feeding Tatum the ball after his 3 and dunk over lebron. After that, we fed rozier brown and Morris who ended up shooting brick after brick

Yes and no, imo, as while I agree that playing through Tatum was obviously costly, what really hurt us was the strict adherence to analytics vs. actually playing basketball throughout that contest, and the Rockets made the same mistake. Hmm...

Pretty sure analytics aren’t kind to missing all of your threes either.