The Celtics are going Nowhere...

[SparzWizard]

Somebody needs to get traded because it's been like over 30 games and the consistency hasn't been fixed yet.

[Celtics4ever]

I think we need a roleplayer that can board and we will be fine.

I think we did ok, last night considering we did not have our first and second centers and our third best player this year in Morris.   So I for one still have some hope.

[IDreamCeltics]

I've complained plenty, myself.

I expected them to be fun and exciting to watch on a nightly basis. I thought they'd be really good.

I'm disappointed that they are clearly much more of a work in progress than anticipated.

But the sky isn't falling, yet, in terms of the Celts being set up to contend for a title in the near future.

I am concerned that the core group of Kyrie, Jaylen, Tatum, and Hayward have not been good together.  Maybe when Hayward is healthy that will change.

Jayson Tatum (the scorer the team desperately needs) being Stevens whipping boy is not a great thing for the team.  He was yanked several times last night for playing Kobe ball - but if Morris or Marcus Smart had done the same thing would they have been given the rookie treatment? 

I don't like that a shooter of Tatum's quality has decided he wants to focus on iso's and midrange fadeaways either...

According to Ainge and the team's medical staff Hayward's been healthy for months...   

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/celtics-ainge-declares-kyrie-irving-gordon-hayward-fully-healthy-and-ready-for-training-camp/

He weirdly seems like he's losing athleticism as the season goes on to me.

[jambr380]

I've complained plenty, myself.

I expected them to be fun and exciting to watch on a nightly basis. I thought they'd be really good.

I'm disappointed that they are clearly much more of a work in progress than anticipated.

But the sky isn't falling, yet, in terms of the Celts being set up to contend for a title in the near future.

I am concerned that the core group of Kyrie, Jaylen, Tatum, and Hayward have not been good together.  Maybe when Hayward is healthy that will change.

Jayson Tatum (the scorer the team desperately needs) being Stevens whipping boy is not a great thing for the team.  He was yanked several times last night for playing Kobe ball - but if Morris or Marcus Smart had done the same thing would they have been given the rookie treatment? 

I don't like that a shooter of Tatum's quality has decided he wants to focus on iso's and midrange fadeaways either...

According to Ainge and the team's medical staff Hayward's been healthy for months...   

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/celtics-ainge-declares-kyrie-irving-gordon-hayward-fully-healthy-and-ready-for-training-camp/

He weirdly seems like he's losing athleticism as the season goes on to me.

I kind-of thought the same thing. We are 30 games into the season so he should have an understanding of the speed of the game, but I wish they would give him like a month off to go seriously work on his jumping and explosiveness.

So many people around here so sure that Hayward had turned the corner after his 30 point game - berating those who wanted to see more before making such a proclamation. I have been critical of Hayward - maybe unfairly so - because I am holding him to the standard of a $32M/yr player. His signing, after years of Ainge working his trade/FA/draft magic, was supposed to be what catapulted us to the next level (then came the Kyrie trade); instead, the team is faltering terribly in games in which they should be playing much better. And, - unfair or not - Hayward is the guy many are looking at for what is wrong with the team (Rozier and to a lesser extent, Brown, are also iffy, but they make WAY less money)

I don't blame them for losing to an on-fire Milwaukee team without their top 3 front line players, but for a team that prides itself on defense, it is a bit concerning to see what happened after they were up 10-1 last night.

[mctyson]

I've complained plenty, myself.

I expected them to be fun and exciting to watch on a nightly basis. I thought they'd be really good.

I'm disappointed that they are clearly much more of a work in progress than anticipated.

But the sky isn't falling, yet, in terms of the Celts being set up to contend for a title in the near future.

I am concerned that the core group of Kyrie, Jaylen, Tatum, and Hayward have not been good together.  Maybe when Hayward is healthy that will change.

Jayson Tatum (the scorer the team desperately needs) being Stevens whipping boy is not a great thing for the team.  He was yanked several times last night for playing Kobe ball - but if Morris or Marcus Smart had done the same thing would they have been given the rookie treatment? 

I don't like that a shooter of Tatum's quality has decided he wants to focus on iso's and midrange fadeaways either...

According to Ainge and the team's medical staff Hayward's been healthy for months...   

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/celtics-ainge-declares-kyrie-irving-gordon-hayward-fully-healthy-and-ready-for-training-camp/

He weirdly seems like he's losing athleticism as the season goes on to me.

Is it possible that he got pulled because of defense?

[PhoSita]

Healthy to play is not the same thing as all the way back to where he was physically before the injury.

Its hard for me to believe that any reasonable person would have trouble grasping that distinction.  But I suppose some people like the tidiness of the narrative if Hayward is a major problem / mistake.

I don't listen to Boston talk radio but I'm guessing he's been a favorite punching bag of those folks this year.

[Spicoli]

Another badly coached game from Stevens. His obsession with small ball is killing this team. Starts the game with no big on the floor. Only plays Williams in garbage time while allowing Milwaukee no resistance at the rim. He sits Tatum until 6 minutes left in the 4th and plays Rozier and Hayward for far too long. This guy's coaching flat out stinks right now.

The same coach that started Horford+Baynes and Horford+Amir? Our bigs are injured, didnt you know that? Williams is a rookie, leaving Theis as our only reliable big. He tried going with Ojeleye since we cannot go big anyway. We had a good start despite that.

We need chemistry, but we cannot build that with so many guys on and off the lineup. Doesnt help that our bench guys have been terrible.

The injuries to Horford and Baynes are just a convenient excuse for Stevens to stay small. Even even Baynes is healthy he only plays like 19 minutes. There should be a big guy on the floor at all times or as close to all the time as possible. NBA players are too good at getting to the rim and finishing when there is no big on the floor. Even if Williams is a rookie he should have been out there for longer than a few garbage time minutes.

[blink]

I've complained plenty, myself.

I expected them to be fun and exciting to watch on a nightly basis. I thought they'd be really good.

I'm disappointed that they are clearly much more of a work in progress than anticipated.

But the sky isn't falling, yet, in terms of the Celts being set up to contend for a title in the near future.

I am concerned that the core group of Kyrie, Jaylen, Tatum, and Hayward have not been good together.  Maybe when Hayward is healthy that will change.

Jayson Tatum (the scorer the team desperately needs) being Stevens whipping boy is not a great thing for the team.  He was yanked several times last night for playing Kobe ball - but if Morris or Marcus Smart had done the same thing would they have been given the rookie treatment? 

I don't like that a shooter of Tatum's quality has decided he wants to focus on iso's and midrange fadeaways either...

According to Ainge and the team's medical staff Hayward's been healthy for months...   

https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/celtics-ainge-declares-kyrie-irving-gordon-hayward-fully-healthy-and-ready-for-training-camp/

He weirdly seems like he's losing athleticism as the season goes on to me.

Is it possible that he got pulled because of defense?

Do you mean Jason or Gordon?  They both were pretty bad on def last night. 

GH just doesn’t look like he has his lateral quickness back.  There was one play last night where Brogdon just made him look silly.  I have seen other plays where it seems his quickness is still really lacking.  If that is the case it, it is more of a he knows how and where to be but he can’t get his body to do that yet.  The alternates are he just isn’t fitting into our def scheme or that he won’t get the athleticism back ever.  I don’t really believe the last two options, at least I hope they aren’t true.

With Tatum, he just in general appears to have regressed on def (almost kind of like Brown has on offense).  Tatum bites on so many head and shot fakes.  He needs to use his brain and his length better on def.  Tatum was better on def last year, and he needs to get back to that level of intensity.

We don’t really have an identity as a ream this year.  I wish we would get back to a more def mentality, we have started to do that a bit with smart in the staring lineup.  But everyone needs to buy in.  With our shooting woes we need to figure out other ways to win games.

[Spicoli]

Another badly coached game from Stevens. His obsession with small ball is killing this team. Starts the game with no big on the floor. Only plays Williams in garbage time while allowing Milwaukee no resistance at the rim. He sits Tatum until 6 minutes left in the 4th and plays Rozier and Hayward for far too long. This guy's coaching flat out stinks right now.

This is true, plus we had a rotation that was working and he messed it up by starting Hayward.

Also, Williams is better than Theis, Ojeleye, or Yabu. He just needs playing time.

Totally agree. Even with Williams' mistakes he's still better than Theis, Ojeleye, and Yabusele.