Looks like this is going to be a process

[mr. dee]

Yeah, it's preseason, but I still find it kinda sad and depressing that the Cs lost to a LeBron-less Cavs team, even if Kyrie was out. Another poor 3pt-shooting performance.

2011 Celts also lost to Lebron-less Cavs just after they dismantled the new Heat Big 3 in the opening night.

This is kinda concerning but the season is long and there are lots of room for improvement.

[iadera]

Trust The Process

I say, Trust Stevens!

[Somebody]

Maybe playing Hayward as the sixth man can both help us shore up our defense and let him come back slowly?

[greece66]

Didn't we know that Hayward won't be at 100% in October?

I remember many of us thought he would be coming from the bench for the first months.

[Green-18]

It's going to be a long process for Hayward to shake off the rust and regain his confidence.  Aside from that I have zero concern about a slow start.  Let's not forgot that this is a roster of super competitive players and personalities.  The urgency will show itself once the games count for real.   


 

[Moranis]

Irving didn't play and a bunch of guys that won't be on the team did.

It was also the Cavs first game and there is always a bit more energy in the first game, then the 3rd game. 

[Donoghus]

It's preseason basketball.  Stay healthy.  That's all.

R-E-L-A-X.

[Kuberski33]

Didn't we know that Hayward won't be at 100% in October?

I remember many of us thought he would be coming from the bench for the first months.

Based on what I've seen so far, I think it's going to be awhile before he's really back.  He looks to me like he's moving tentatively, doesn't have his lift or reflexes yet, timing is off etc. Totally understandable.  I'd be looking more towards January, but we'll see.  Even at 75% he'll still contribute.

[DefenseWinsChamps]

This is absolutely normal for a Stevens team. They always run basic sets in pre-season and for the first month of the regular season. Stevens is experimenting to see what players work well together. He is teaching them to patiently trust the offensive sets.

This builds a foundation for the other sets Stevens runs. But it means that defenses are pretty in tune with what the Celtics are running, because they are so basic.

As per usual, the offense will stall a bit, but with as much talent as we have, I don't think it will be too bad.

[CF033]

Last night in the second half I really wanted them to continue playing the starters, they really need more game time I think. At least more shaking the shooting rust off at game speed. The defensive woes was just a lack of effort.

Of course efforts tend to go up quite a bit when the regular season rolls around, we'll see if the defensive intensity jumps up a bit when the real games start up. Also, I think Cleveland actually wanted to beat us so they clearly put in a much harder effort than us.

[SHAQATTACK]

Hayward has double work,  to get back in his form and become a fit i to the CBS scheme .

So ...don't expect all star performance from him for a good while as he rebuilds his basketball game in Boston.   It may be early 2019 bedore he plays at his best level.

[CF033]

I agree about Hayward, I'm not expecting him to be fully back until the second half of the season.

[gift]

The team has barely practiced. I expect a big difference in the week in between the preseason and regular season, and then continuing over the first 10 games or so.

[BitterJim]

This is absolutely normal for a Stevens team. They always run basic sets in pre-season and for the first month of the regular season. Stevens is experimenting to see what players work well together. He is teaching them to patiently trust the offensive sets.

This builds a foundation for the other sets Stevens runs. But it means that defenses are pretty in tune with what the Celtics are running, because they are so basic.

As per usual, the offense will stall a bit, but with as much talent as we have, I don't think it will be too bad.

I'm already bracing myself for the inevitable "maybe Brad is only a good coach when he has a good, but not elite, team" posts that will pop up in the October/November time frame before Brad inevitably ties down the rotations and the team gets going.

There'll also be plenty of complaining about the rotations, even though he does this every year

[smokeablount]

I'm preparing to get laughed at for this, but my predictions on this Blog for the past year and a half have been pretty darn good, so I'm prepared to take an L on this long shot:

I'm not advocating for this (yet), as I think it's remote, but within the realm of possibility that the C's starters could be better overall with a big, impactful center like Baynes.

Starting Baynes wouldn't maximize the talent on the court at the beginning of games, but it might maximize the talent that plays on both units and allow for a better blend of O and D.

Hayward has looked rusty, but still, the starters haven't looked good.  Brown and Irving have played well but Tatum and Hayward haven't and we need to see how they co-exist. 

We know that last year's starters with Baynes was great defensively and ok offensively.  I also think Robert Williams looks better than Theis did last year, and should be in the rotation.

So if Baynes started, who'd sit?

Right now, Hayward looks rusty, and last year's starters looked good, so he's an option.

But I think the nuanced choice is Tatum as 6th man.  When Hayward returns to form he should be better and more versatile than Tatum for a year or two, so he deserves to start.  IMO Smart and Rozier can be the 2 ballhandlers on BWA (Smart a playmaker, Rozier mainly a scorer). 

Hayward's playmaking is needed with the starters, where he & Kyrie are the 2 ballhandlers (GH a playmaker + scorer, Kyrie mainly a scorer).  GH should be able to score at least as well as Tatum when he's back to form, but this way both units would have 2 true ballhandlers.  Also, both units get a legit rebounding and defensive center in Baynes + Williams, and a dynamic scoring 2 way wing in Hayward and Tatum.  As 6th man, Tatum could still play plenty with the starters and with BWA he'd be the main man on offense, flanked by Rozier and Morris.  They'd all look to score.  Smart could focus on playing D and getting Tatum and Williams the ball.

So is KI-JB-JT-GH-Al more talented than KI-JB-GH-Al-AB?  Yeah.  But does #1 + Rozier / Smart / Morris / Theis / Baynes beat #2 + Rozier / Smart / Tatum / Morris / Williams?

I mean, it probably does.  Having the most talent start is probably best.  But I don't think we know for sure.  I don't think Brad knows for sure.  The team has played very poorly in preseason and the starters have been the worst.  Last year, our starters were our best asset and we had Baynes in there anchoring the D.  The roster balance of #2 could be really key.