Playoffs thread

[bleedspeed]

Celtics are in a tough spot. They have a stacked roster that is going to start getting expensive to keep together. So much depth. I felt like last year they couldn't make the trades they wanted and had to draft guys with the hope of stashing them because they didn't have roster spots. I think this is the year they make a play for someone like Jimmy Butler.

[AbeVigodaLive]

A few thoughts about the Celtics... piggybacking of what some have written:

1. The Celtics bench had 48 points (17 - 26 fg). Washington's bench had 5 points (1 - 5 fg). It was their achilles heal all season. With starters playing so many minutes in the playoffs... benches usually don't matter as much. Last night? They mattered.

2. I've been calling Dunn's potential as Marcus Smart v2.0 like... I think he's a bit smaller. But that bulldog mentality is needed. Smart is an incredible defender.

3. Brad Stevens is a very good coach. And he's going to be around for a long time. His sets out of timeouts are beautiful. Even in Game 6 at the very end. ALL the action was spaced in the backcourt and midcourt for the usual suspects... meanwhile the play was designed for Olynyk matched with the smaller Oubre on him right at the rim. It worked perfectly, only Oubre committed a smart foul (they had one to give).

4. Isaiah Thomas is a problem. I love his game. But where do you hide him? The Celtics tried to hide him on Beal and Porter. Nope. Wall? Nope. Where does he hide vs. the Cavs? JR Smith and Kyle Korver? What about vs. GSW (not gonna happen). And what about moving forward?

5. Brandon Jennings is an embarrassing NBA player. Why is he playing playoff minutes? 3 - 17 fg in this series... and 7 assists in 86 minutes? What is he giving them? (7.5 ppg / 4.8 apg per 36 for the playoffs. Terrible.) He's a 3rd string PG for a bad team at best at this point. I hope Rubio trash talks him next year if Jennings is still in the L.

6. Al Horford shot 68% fg for the series. 61% on three pointers. 5.1 assists per game. At first glance, people didn't think he was worthy of a max deal. But look at the difference he makes vs. the guys who got $17M deals last summer. Sure, it's about $10M more... but he actually plays and makes a difference compared to Biyombo or Mozgov. Heck, Jeff Green made $15M this year! As noted, Horford does so many things. Passing. Shooting. Spacing. Defense at the rim or in space. Setting great picks. Stabilizing. Et al. There's no way he does THIS well next round. Which is gonna lead to...

7. ... a Cleveland sweep. Maybe the Celtics steal one.

8. Still a very successful season for the Celtics. And with a top pick (THE top pick?) arriving tonight... yikes.

[AbeVigodaLive]

Celtics are in a tough spot. They have a stacked roster that is going to start getting expensive to keep together. So much depth. I felt like last year they couldn't make the trades they wanted and had to draft guys with the hope of stashing them because they didn't have roster spots. I think this is the year they make a play for someone like Jimmy Butler.

A tough spot. But a very enviable one.

As noted above... I think the team's biggest problem is actually its best player overachieving. Kinda crazy? Ironic?

But Thomas is going to (1) get the max. (2) Needs the ball in his hands. (3) Will ALWAYS be a huge negative defensively, especially in the playoffs. Those are three legit issues moving forward that could ultimately limit the Celtics ceiling.

But how do they not reward Thomas after the season he just had... and how beloved he is in Boston?

[bleedspeed]

A tough spot. But a very enviable one.

Yep - I would almost still say the best thing they have going for them is Brad Stevens as coach. As crazy as that sounds.

[AbeVigodaLive]

A tough spot. But a very enviable one.

Yep - I would almost still say the best thing they have going for them is Brad Stevens as coach. As crazy as that sounds.

Meh. Take away IT and Bradley and Horford and replace them with Shelvin Mack, Matt Howard and even a good player like Gordon Hayward and they aren't going anywhere.



Oh.

Wait.

[thedoper]

I think the Celtics could have a great ceiling even with IT. Their problem is not having the other go to star who creates off the dribble. Adding that piece can put them in contention for that next level. The most enviable aspect of the Celtics is they have their talent, coach, and a top pick for a couple of years. They could trade their 2017 pick for a star and still have the top pick in 2018. It is insane.

[Monster]

A few thoughts about the Celtics... piggybacking of what some have written:

1. The Celtics bench had 48 points (17 - 26 fg). Washington's bench had 5 points (1 - 5 fg). It was their achilles heal all season. With starters playing so many minutes in the playoffs... benches usually don't matter as much. Last night? They mattered.

2. I've been calling Dunn's potential as Marcus Smart v2.0 like... I think he's a bit smaller. But that bulldog mentality is needed. Smart is an incredible defender.

3. Brad Stevens is a very good coach. And he's going to be around for a long time. His sets out of timeouts are beautiful. Even in Game 6 at the very end. ALL the action was spaced in the backcourt and midcourt for the usual suspects... meanwhile the play was designed for Olynyk matched with the smaller Oubre on him right at the rim. It worked perfectly, only Oubre committed a smart foul (they had one to give).

4. Isaiah Thomas is a problem. I love his game. But where do you hide him? The Celtics tried to hide him on Beal and Porter. Nope. Wall? Nope. Where does he hide vs. the Cavs? JR Smith and Kyle Korver? What about vs. GSW (not gonna happen). And what about moving forward?

5. Brandon Jennings is an embarrassing NBA player. Why is he playing playoff minutes? 3 - 17 fg in this series... and 7 assists in 86 minutes? What is he giving them? (7.5 ppg / 4.8 apg per 36 for the playoffs. Terrible.) He's a 3rd string PG for a bad team at best at this point. I hope Rubio trash talks him next year if Jennings is still in the L.

6. Al Horford shot 68% fg for the series. 61% on three pointers. 5.1 assists per game. At first glance, people didn't think he was worthy of a max deal. But look at the difference he makes vs. the guys who got $17M deals last summer. Sure, it's about $10M more... but he actually plays and makes a difference compared to Biyombo or Mozgov. Heck, Jeff Green made $15M this year! As noted, Horford does so many things. Passing. Shooting. Spacing. Defense at the rim or in space. Setting great picks. Stabilizing. Et al. There's no way he does THIS well next round. Which is gonna lead to...

7. ... a Cleveland sweep. Maybe the Celtics steal one.

8. Still a very successful season for the Celtics. And with a top pick (THE top pick?) arriving tonight... yikes.

On Brandon Jennings...

How bad is Trey Burke or what did he deserve to be stuck behind Jennings? The guy was putting up some nice numbers in a career year before they adding Jennings who was sought after on the waiver market.

Ok so I saw Jennings FG% in the regular season a number of games after he went to the Wizards and was wondering the same thing I said above. Then I looked at his per 36mins stats and he was dishing out assists at a crazy rate so it made sense he was getting minutes based off just that i supose. Playoffs? I don't know why he plays. Maybe defense? Yeah I can't figure it out either.

I'm not a fan of Jennings game but I've given the guy credit for being a legit NBA player. He looks healthy but he had a ruptured Achilles in 2015. He has been mostly terrible since then. Another cautionary tale of guys trying to come back from that injury? Yeah I think so. I'd be interested if someone came up with NBA players that came back from that injury and played well.

[AbeVigodaLive]

A few thoughts about the Celtics... piggybacking of what some have written:

1. The Celtics bench had 48 points (17 - 26 fg). Washington's bench had 5 points (1 - 5 fg). It was their achilles heal all season. With starters playing so many minutes in the playoffs... benches usually don't matter as much. Last night? They mattered.

2. I've been calling Dunn's potential as Marcus Smart v2.0 like... I think he's a bit smaller. But that bulldog mentality is needed. Smart is an incredible defender.

3. Brad Stevens is a very good coach. And he's going to be around for a long time. His sets out of timeouts are beautiful. Even in Game 6 at the very end. ALL the action was spaced in the backcourt and midcourt for the usual suspects... meanwhile the play was designed for Olynyk matched with the smaller Oubre on him right at the rim. It worked perfectly, only Oubre committed a smart foul (they had one to give).

4. Isaiah Thomas is a problem. I love his game. But where do you hide him? The Celtics tried to hide him on Beal and Porter. Nope. Wall? Nope. Where does he hide vs. the Cavs? JR Smith and Kyle Korver? What about vs. GSW (not gonna happen). And what about moving forward?

5. Brandon Jennings is an embarrassing NBA player. Why is he playing playoff minutes? 3 - 17 fg in this series... and 7 assists in 86 minutes? What is he giving them? (7.5 ppg / 4.8 apg per 36 for the playoffs. Terrible.) He's a 3rd string PG for a bad team at best at this point. I hope Rubio trash talks him next year if Jennings is still in the L.

6. Al Horford shot 68% fg for the series. 61% on three pointers. 5.1 assists per game. At first glance, people didn't think he was worthy of a max deal. But look at the difference he makes vs. the guys who got $17M deals last summer. Sure, it's about $10M more... but he actually plays and makes a difference compared to Biyombo or Mozgov. Heck, Jeff Green made $15M this year! As noted, Horford does so many things. Passing. Shooting. Spacing. Defense at the rim or in space. Setting great picks. Stabilizing. Et al. There's no way he does THIS well next round. Which is gonna lead to...

7. ... a Cleveland sweep. Maybe the Celtics steal one.

8. Still a very successful season for the Celtics. And with a top pick (THE top pick?) arriving tonight... yikes.

On Brandon Jennings...

How bad is Trey Burke or what did he deserve to be stuck behind Jennings? The guy was putting up some nice numbers in a career year before they adding Jennings who was sought after on the waiver market.

Ok so I saw Jennings FG% in the regular season a number of games after he went to the Wizards and was wondering the same thing I said above. Then I looked at his per 36mins stats and he was dishing out assists at a crazy rate so it made sense he was getting minutes based off just that i supose. Playoffs? I don't know why he plays. Maybe defense? Yeah I can't figure it out either.

I'm not a fan of Jennings game but I've given the guy credit for being a legit NBA player. He looks healthy but he had a ruptured Achilles in 2015. He has been mostly terrible since then. Another cautionary tale of guys trying to come back from that injury? Yeah I think so. I'd be interested if someone came up with NBA players that came back from that injury and played well.

Dominique Wilkins.

I don't know of any others. And with Jennings being a diminutive PG relying on speed...

[Q12543 [enjin:6621299]]

The Celtics have a flawed go-to guy in IT that gets exposed regularly on defense (to the point where they actually sat him in crunch time defensive possessions in Game 6) and a backup PG key to their success in Marcus Smart that shoots 36% from the field, yet here they are in the Eastern Conference Finals.

While I won't deny Rubio's flaws, I call B.S. to anyone that suggests his shooting woes is the major reason we can't win a playoff series (or even get there with him). Is it an issue? Yes. But all but perhaps the top 2 or 3 (Golden State, Cleveland, and a healthy Spurs team) teams have major flaws they need to hide or play through with key players. We have far bigger issues to worry about.

I do think the Celtics are about to hit the end of the line, and partially due to the flawed players I just mentioned, but I wouldn't be surprised if they take Cleveland to six games. They came out of that series with Washington fairly unscathed.

[AbeVigodaLive]

The Celtics have a flawed go-to guy in IT that gets exposed regularly on defense (to the point where they actually sat him in crunch time defensive possessions in Game 6) and a backup PG key to their success in Marcus Smart that shoots 36% from the field, yet here they are in the Eastern Conference Finals.

While I won't deny Rubio's flaws, I call B.S. to anyone that suggests his shooting woes is the major reason we can't win a playoff series (or even get there with him). Is it an issue? Yes. But all but perhaps the top 2 or 3 (Golden State, Cleveland, and a healthy Spurs team) teams have major flaws they need to hide or play through with key players. We have far bigger issues to worry about.

I do think the Celtics are about to hit the end of the line, and partially due to the flawed players I just mentioned, but I wouldn't be surprised if they take Cleveland to six games. They came out of that series with Washington fairly unscathed.

Maybe. Maybe not.

I know I'm not alone in my thoughts about Rubio's shooting in a playoff series that builds in familiarity and adjustments as it proceeds. But as you note... the team has far bigger issues RIGHT NOW. Lose fewer than 50 games first. Win 1/2 the games next. Make the playoffs after that.

THEN, we can start debating the merits of Rubio's inconsistent shooting. But right now, I agree with you about there being other more significant problems.