2023-24 Celtics

[Eddie Jurak]

I guess only rose colored glasses are welcome here now?

A post that points out both positive and negative things, such as this, needs to have the positive comments ignored and the negative ones attacked?

OK, if those are the rules.

But since I am on my way out of here I will just note this: There have been so many posts here that, rather than criticizing things I posted (completely fair game), feel the need to make it about me. That's something I try not to do to others and at least never insigate because I think whole series of posts attacking someone else for wrongthink are far worse than differing opinions about the team. But that is just me and clearly I'm on a different page from all of you, so have at it.

Farewell.

 

[Euclis20]

Man you’re posts are miserable sometimes

edit: because as we all know this team is exactly the same as last year’s

edit2: I guess until they win a championship you’ll always be ‘right’

That's the fun part about being negative, it's like betting on the house in Vegas. You either end up right or happy.

 

[Red Averages]

They beat a red hot playoff team, on the road, on a 2nd night of a back to back, by 17, with 2 starters combining for just 30 minutes due to injuries and foul trouble. On the other hand, they lost the 3rd quarter by 6 points. Hard to feel good about it.

It’s actually infuriating we even need to focus on a discussion about this. We can’t even enjoy the success because one person overwhelms the board with negativity on a consistent basis.

 

[lovegtm]

I guess only rose colored glasses are welcome here now?

A post that points out both positive and negative things, such as this, needs to have the positive comments ignored and the negative ones attacked?

OK, if those are the rules.

But since I am on my way out of here I will just note this: There have been so many posts here that, rather than criticizing things I posted (completely fair game), feel the need to make it about me. That's something I try not to do to others and at least never insigate because I think whole series of posts attacking someone else for wrongthink are far worse than differing opinions about the team. But that is just me and clearly I'm on a different page from all of you, so have at it.

Farewell.

Some people have maybe been too harsh on you for not being rosey.

For me, I'm plenty negative about the Celtics---I just want the negativity to be about the right things, since I enjoy basketball more when I'm following closely.

I don't think that the 3rd quarter last night was particularly bad, and there were worse stretches of the game for the Cs that were masked by good shooting and problems on Indy's end.

 

[lovegtm]

It’s actually infuriating we even need to focus on a discussion about this. We can’t even enjoy the success because one person overwhelms the board with negativity on a consistent basis.

Maybe go "ignore" for a week? I read EJ's posts, but I've done temporary breaks before, and it does mellow the vibe.

 

[Red Averages]

Maybe go "ignore" for a week? I read EJ's posts, but I've done temporary breaks before, and it does mellow the vibe.

It doesn’t work becuase too many people respond and the discussion shifts towards it anyway. It’s why I generally don’t post in here. Which to be clear is fine, I don’t have any particular insight worth sharing and mostly just listen anyway.

negativity is fine when it makes sense. We’ve all been negative before. Complaining to complain and rushing to SoSH to immediately proclaim the end as soon as something bad occurs gets old fast. And that’s been happening for years. I don’t even understand why EJ watches if it brings him as much angst and anger as it appears from his posts. And we haven’t even dipped into playoff stress levels yet!!

 

[Dahabenzapple2]

I don’t even want to visit this thread any longer. One guess why??

We should be savoring the team’s play. Sure some criticism is welcome but this shit has been going on now forever. Guaranteed if they do win it all this year, it will come back same as it ever was.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Tatum and White had to sit most of the third with 4 fouls.. the C’s weren’t soft.. they were down three starters…and Hauser had 4 fouls as well. They were doing their best just to hold on. Sometimes context matters.

Having some concerns about Hauser of late. There was good reason for him having 4 fouls....he's been getting beaten badly quite a bit these last couple of games. Aside from that the only concern I have is health and in particular KP as the rest of our lineup has history of durability.

 

[lars10]

It’s actually infuriating we even need to focus on a discussion about this. We can’t even enjoy the success because one person overwhelms the board with negativity on a consistent basis.

I mean.. it takes a lot to continue trying to shoe horn a ‘soft’ narrative onto a team that is winning 80% of its games while load managing and playing the toughest schedule in the league.

 

[DavidTai]

Having some concerns about Hauser of late. There was good reason for him having 4 fouls....he's been getting beaten badly quite a bit these last couple of games. Aside from that the only concern I have is health and in particular KP as the rest of our lineup has history of durability.

I noticed some concerns, but I tend to think the guys who got switched onto him (SGA, Haliburton) would be torching all but the best defenders.

Is there a specific match-up other than the aforementioned two that has you thinking slippage?

 

[lovegtm]

Having some concerns about Hauser of late. There was good reason for him having 4 fouls....he's been getting beaten badly quite a bit these last couple of games. Aside from that the only concern I have is health and in particular KP as the rest of our lineup has history of durability.

Joe seems to be having some concerns too, and incrementally shifting those minutes to PP and Brissett.

Not sure what Hauser needs to get right, because he's shown ability to defend before. But it's not great right now.

 

[SteveF]

Hauser doesn't navigate screens well and let his guy get middle a few times, though one of those was a miscommunication if Scal is right. He let Toppin in behind him on that transition 'oop too. He was also fouling a ton, too, which seems to be a point of emphasis for Joe. The team is first in the league in FT/FGA on defense.

If I'm Hauser, screen navigation is the thing I'd be working on the most. That's the one thing that could limit his playoff minutes. The fact that he's mostly limited on offense to catch and shoot 3s really isn't an issue on this team.

 

[benhogan]

Having some concerns about Hauser of late. There was good reason for him having 4 fouls....he's been getting beaten badly quite a bit these last couple of games. Aside from that the only concern I have is health and in particular KP as the rest of our lineup has history of durability.

Hauser had a rough patch last year around the same time. His stroke is mustard & he's still somewhat staying in front of his man (TH torched him but according to Scal it was a Jrue mistake).

The fouls/whistle last night was a Marc Davis NBA special, did his best to keep the game close in the first half.

Agreed KP's health is the #1 concern every night. He is such a weapon in late/tight. Basically can score efficiently from the post, draw fouls, or kick for a step-in 3. Defensively he erases 3-4 baskets/game.

ALSO the ad hominem attacks on posters is silly. Everyone watches a ton of C's/hoops around here, we're all a bunch of sports nerds. If someone has a concern about a lead deflating because of TOs, def intensity, FT%, Tatum ISOs, shitty officiating, or whatever they should be able to come here and express it without getting we won, what's your problem

 

[InstaFace]

Most satisfying victory of the season.

That's certainly debatable. Tough to top pantsing the Lakers in their house on Christmas Day. And the game we played against the Clippers two days prior might have been one of our most complete efforts of the year. Any victory against the Miami Heat gets an extra-wide grin from me, as well. The Pacers? Meh. Like most teams in the league, any team can catch fire on any given night and maybe even beat us, but they're not who I'm measuring the season by.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

I noticed some concerns, but I tend to think the guys who got switched onto him (SGA, Haliburton) would be torching all but the best defenders.

Is there a specific match-up other than the aforementioned two that has you thinking slippage?

Mathurin ran circles around a couple times too. He doesn't seem to be moving laterally as he was earlier in the year. Maybe a lull, maybe an injury, maybe being worn down by the season and travel? With Hauser's physical limitations there is a fine line between him being a perfectly good backup wing in our rotation to the guy who you spot minutes matchup specific.

 

[InstaFace]

This team is a monster and imo the only thing we need to discuss is health. That will be a discussion too because it may mean that at some point, Mazzulla has to punt some games in the interest of resting players but that's a bridge we can battle across when we get there.

If we gave Jrue Holiday the next week to ten days off right now, I wouldn't hate it.

Porzingis may be due for a vacation as well. It wasn't the eye scratch that got him out last night, it was having his legs collapsed from behind on what looked like a dragon kick.

 

[DavidTai]

Mathurin ran circles around a couple times too. He doesn't seem to be moving laterally as he was earlier in the year. Maybe a lull, maybe an injury, maybe being worn down by the season and travel? With Hauser's physical limitations there is a fine line between him being a perfectly good backup wing in our rotation to the guy who you spot minutes matchup specific.

Maybe he stinks on B2Bs? His shooting seems to be a bit off too, which probably relates to tired legs? Feels like this year he's been playing more minutes than ever, so maybe his conditioning isn't there for it.

Honestly, I think I have more concerns with Jrue Holiday, who hasn't seemed quite right over the same amount of time either, but I have to remind myself he's been facing SGA and Haliburton so he probably has less on his offense.

 

[RorschachsMask]

View: https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1744074683459178521

 

[kazuneko]

Is Nesmith like that in every game or does he save it for BOS? I get the chip on the shoulder thing to an extent but the guy was given plenty of chances here, couldn't buy a shot or play D without fouling and got traded into a perfect situation where he's now flourishing. Why is he so angry at BOS?

He’s was a total jerk last night. And while he was high energy in Boston he has become a flaming asshole in Indy - with a particular grudge against Boston for "not giving him a chance" (I guess). That was one of best parts of the victory last night: he sucked. Nesmith was 3-for-13 from the field, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range and scored just eight points, all while getting in the face of Holliday after fouling him and for some unexplained reason getting pissed at the refs after poking Porzingis in the eye. I mean, if he keeps on playing like this someone is going to get seriously hurt. But he lost and he sucked so it's all good.
To increase the Schadenfreude, Neismith then got petty after the game, posting his only highlight of the game, a breakaway dunk early in the game on his instagram.
Nesmith gets petty

 

[Red Averages]

Maybe he stinks on B2Bs? His shooting seems to be a bit off too, which probably relates to tired legs? Feels like this year he's been playing more minutes than ever, so maybe his conditioning isn't there for it.

Honestly, I think I have more concerns with Jrue Holiday, who hasn't seemed quite right over the same amount of time either, but I have to remind myself he's been facing SGA and Haliburton so he probably has less on his offense.

Hauser is also out 2+ hours before every game shooting, working on moves. Wouldn’t shock me if that ain’t sustainable on B2Bs

 

[DavidTai]

View: https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1744074683459178521

This alleviates my concern somewhat about Holiday - that's a crazy amount of defensive responsibility he has so I can see why he doesn't quite have as much for offense. Giving him breaks might be more beneficial down the road for the playoffs.

 

[kazuneko]

That's certainly debatable. Tough to top pantsing the Lakers in their house on Christmas Day. And the game we played against the Clippers two days prior might have been one of our most complete efforts of the year. Any victory against the Miami Heat gets an extra-wide grin from me, as well. The Pacers? Meh. Like most teams in the league, any team can catch fire on any given night and maybe even beat us, but they're not who I'm measuring the season by.

Yeah, I get that but the game itself was very satisfying. Obviously it was a revenge game after they eliminated the Cs in the in-season tournament, but also because one thing after another made the game tougher than it should have been.They lost Porzingis six minutes in and it came because of an obnoxious Nesmith playing out of control, angrily barking at the refs even as Porzingis was rolling on the ground in pain. This took away the Cs biggest post-up threat against a team, the Pacers, who have no ability to guard the paint. Meanwhile, the refs seemed to swallow their whistles every time the the Cs were on offense, with one non-call after another on that side of the ball. At the same time, the Cs got into quick foul trouble as the Pacers got one call after another on the other side of the court. Then, in the 3rd when they finally got some calls go their way they went 4-12 from the line. What was great to see was the resilience, as they just kept fighting through each obstacle, finally ending the game with a dominant - and for the Pacers- demoralizing 4th quarter.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

He’s was a total jerk last night. And while he was high energy in Boston he has become a flaming asshole in Indy - with a particular grudge against Boston for "not giving him a chance" (I guess). That was one of best parts of the victory last night: he sucked. Neismith was 3-for-13 from the field, including 0-for-7 from 3-point range and scored just eight points, all while getting in the face of Holliday after fouling him and for some unexplained reason getting pissed at the refs after poking Porzingis in the eye. I mean, if he keeps on playing like this and someone is going to get seriously hurt. But he lost and he sucked so it's all good.
To increase the Schadenfreude, Neismith then got petty after the game, posting his only highlight of the game, a breakaway dunk early in the game on his instagram.
Nesmith gets petty

Yet he was all smiles on the court after the game hugging it out with his former teammates and even exchanging jerseys with Jaylen. I think you are confusing "being a jerk" with competing his ass off and being motivated (over motivated?) to play his former team. I was never a fan of his in Boston but what he's done in Indiana to find a niche in this league is pretty impressive.

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

I guess only rose colored glasses are welcome here now?

A post that points out both positive and negative things, such as this, needs to have the positive comments ignored and the negative ones attacked?

OK, if those are the rules.

But since I am on my way out of here I will just note this: There have been so many posts here that, rather than criticizing things I posted (completely fair game), feel the need to make it about me. That's something I try not to do to others and at least never insigate because I think whole series of posts attacking someone else for wrongthink are far worse than differing opinions about the team. But that is just me and clearly I'm on a different page from all of you, so have at it.

Farewell.

I don't know if you're reading this but if you do, I have one suggestions and one comment for you.

Suggestion: a little bit of rewording could help a lot. For example, if you had simply said, "What could have been a frustrating loss" as opposed to "well on its way to a frustrating loss" probably conveys the same message but has (IMO) a more accurate tone. Maybe you understandably are a little traumatized from the fact that the Cs have played more playoff games without winning a championship in the last seven years than any other team in NBA history, and that's fine. But just toning things down a notch or two could lead to a lot fewer responses IMO.

Comment: as another example of this, in your original post you mention the Cs 3Q problems. You may be over-sensitive to this given previous years and previous games this year but this is just another example how maybe the way you're seeing games is a bit slanted. According to NBA.com, over the last 10 games (this was mentioned on one of the recent broadcast), the Cs have the #1 3Q ORtg (137.2) and the #3 NRtg (22.1). Over the last 15 games, they are #1 in ORtg (134.7) and #2 in NRtg (+17.2). (Note that OKC is #1 in 3Q NRtg over both the last 10 games and 15 games).

We'll see if BOS can keep up this 3Q statistics (obviously OKC was the one bad game). If they didn't miss a gazillion FTs against IND - which is statistical fluke IMO since BOS is #8 in the league in FT% (interesting, from our perspective, OKC is #1 in that statistic as well at 84.1% and since I'm looking, OKC is also the #1 3P shooting team in the NBA at 39.4%) - the game would have been a complete blow-out.

 

[slamminsammya]

I get that this is mostly ad hominem, but: their lead fell from 16 late in the second quarter to 1 late in the third, with 2 starters and one of our bench regulars in foul trouble, and the team shooting below 50% on fucking free throws. If you watched the game and didn't see it slipping away, maybe you weren't paying attention?

lol

I think it's perfectly ok to question your emotionally influenced characterization of the game flow. no idea how you're taking that as ad hominem.

 

[SteveF]

I think Scal had it right. It was more of a 1-2-2 zone than a 2-3 or a 3-2. 2-3 zones don't really work well at the nba level because of the defensive 3 seconds rule. And you wouldn't play a typical 3-2 because of NBA shooting.

It was nice to see them practice something new. I'm not sure how well it actually worked though, to be honest.

 

[PedroKsBambino]

View: https://twitter.com/C2_Cooper/status/1744074683459178521

Derrick White was on JJ Reddick's podcast and alluded to a variety of things that Celts/CJM were doing that no one else was---the use of Holiday surely is one of them.

That video illustrates a benefit of these kinds of schemes----Indiana spent most of the shot clock trying to move the ball to figure out what the hell the opportunity was and ended up with nothing. Celtics having switchabilty and (often at least) five really good defensive players out there is pretty unique

This came up a bit in discussion of zone in offseason---I do not think there is ANY silver bullet in NBA - teams and players are smart, and there's so much talent. But I do tihnk that being able to do multiple different things, both based on matchups and just to change things up and confuse, is of real value. I don't think anyone who follows Miami closely would really try to dispute that. So, being comfortable and having the personnel to throw different, non-awful looks at offenses is valuable in my view, even if "hard man to man" is the single most effective setup at scale.

 

[PJ Martinez]

View: https://twitter.com/MikeDSykes/status/1744100926917312783


What's really cool about this is it feels kinda similar to the 1-3-1 scheme West Virginia used back in 2010 to beat Kentucky. Who anchored the defense at center, guarded Demarcus Cousins and disrupted things in the paint? Joe Mazzulla.

 

[SteveF]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQR9jnEvTJM

 

[wade boggs chicken dinner]

View: https://twitter.com/MikeDSykes/status/1744100926917312783


What's really cool about this is it feels kinda similar to the 1-3-1 scheme West Virginia used back in 2010 to beat Kentucky. Who anchored the defense at center, guarded Demarcus Cousins and disrupted things in the paint? Joe Mazzulla.

Long article on the game (with a smattering of video) here: https://biffssportsalmanac.com/bob-huggins-2010-elite-8-vs-kentucky/

 

[InstaFace]

View: https://twitter.com/MikeDSykes/status/1744100926917312783


What's really cool about this is it feels kinda similar to the 1-3-1 scheme West Virginia used back in 2010 to beat Kentucky. Who anchored the defense at center, guarded Demarcus Cousins and disrupted things in the paint? Joe Mazzulla.

Or perhaps just the 2-minute highlights package, which features plenty of our boy's "shining moment":

View: https://youtu.be/PXFxQZOKlIU


If you pixelated a few things, you could convince me that was Jaylen Brown driving the lane on the transition.

 

[kazuneko]

Yet he was all smiles on the court after the game hugging it out with his former teammates and even exchanging jerseys with Jaylen. I think you are confusing "being a jerk" with competing his ass off and being motivated (over motivated?) to play his former team. I was never a fan of his in Boston but what he's done in Indiana to find a niche in this league is pretty impressive.

Yeah, I don't know. You'd almost hope he has some anger connected to being traded because if he plays like that every night he is going to seriously hurt someone. I mean, he might be cool with Jaylen but I don't know what he thought he was doing against Porzingis and Holliday. Look at these two plays:
* Nesmith celebrates after injuring Porzingis with a hard foul
* Nesmith taunts Holliday after a hard foul
In the first one he gets blocked and then slaps Porzingis in the face after he flails out of control in the aftermath of the block. Porzingis immediately grabs his eye and starts writhing in pain. Nesmith walks past, sees Porzingis rolling on the ground and points to the sky. He then high fives the player he's walking towards. Never seen a guy celebrate getting blocked, so I think you have to assume he's excited about the hard foul. At the very least, it's pretty clear he saw Porzingis was in a lot of pain and despite that thought it was a good time to point to the sky and give a high five. So yeah, for a guy who isn't an asshole you certainly wouldn't know it from that play.
The next video shows another hard foul, this time against Jrue, and this time, after running him over he pokes the three-time teammate of the year in the chest, saying something.as he stands over him. Jrue immediately complains, asking the refs to call Newsmith for a taunt. Drew and Scal are mystified - and for good reason. After all, who has ever heard of someone taunting after a foul? Well, to be fair I had never seen anyone celebrate after hurting someone either, but apparently Nesmith has a thing for innovating dick moves.

 

[the moops]

I think you are reading way too much into those two plays

 

[HomeRunBaker]

I think you are reading way too much into those two plays

Like way way way too much lol.

Nesmith has ramped up his Draymond-like intensity all season, his body looks like it never has (good midwestern vitamins?), and he's shooting 45% from 3. Whatever he's doing is working for him. He never would have had the confidence to step over Jrue like that two years ago....feeling it is a good thing for a basketball player.

 

[RorschachsMask]

Scal said it during the game, nba players will use anything they can as fuel. If he wants to use the Celtics trading him against them, so be it. He plays like that against everyone though, he’s insane lol.

The Celtics players clearly love him.

 

[benhogan]

Scal said it during the game, nba players will use anything they can as fuel. If he wants to use the Celtics trading him against them, so be it. He plays like that against everyone though, he’s insane lol.

The Celtics players clearly love him.

Nesmith is even more physical with Giannis.

He's a loose canon on the floor, hence the "crash" label he received his rookie year (he was nutz in the Nets playoff series).

If Boston wants to set a tone with him have Brissett or Stevens get all up in his business, when Aaron camps out in the corner.
OR have one of those two put Haliburton on the floor if a message is really necessary.

Nothing new, it's all part of being a title favorite. The C's will get everyone's best shot and plenty of physical play.

 

[TomRicardo]

Look at these two plays:
* Nesmith celebrates after injuring Porzingis with a hard foul

Where is the celebration? He just called out he made the foul. Players do this when they think there may be confusion on the who on an obvious foul.

 

[RSN Diaspora]

It’s actually infuriating we even need to focus on a discussion about this. We can’t even enjoy the success because one person overwhelms the board with negativity on a consistent basis.

Is there really no room for discussing areas with need for improvement? Things may continue to go great for the Celtics all season long, but they also might not. If they do hit a rough patch, which is absolutely plausible in an 82-game season, it wouldn't be the worst thing to have an idea as to what led to that.

 

[m0ckduck]

Is there really no room for discussing areas with need for improvement?

I don't believe anyone is opposed to discussing areas for improvement. The other forums on this site demonstrate a track record of generally being able to maintain a healthy balance of half-empty with half-full analysis.

The issue with the poster in question is the sheer volume and predictability of skeptical takes. When all inputs seem to produce the same output, it doesn't come across as discussion, it comes across as schtick.

Perhaps dopes want to move discussion of forum conduct into a separate thread (or squelch it entirely, I dunno).

 

[Red Averages]

Is there really no room for discussing areas with need for improvement? Things may continue to go great for the Celtics all season long, but they also might not. If they do hit a rough patch, which is absolutely plausible in an 82-game season, it wouldn't be the worst thing to have an idea as to what led to that.

When did I ever say that we can't discuss areas of improvement? We should. That's what a discussion is. The problem is EJ has great analysis, I like reading most of it. But the constant wet blanket is different than bringing up negative aspects on occasion, when warranted. The Celtics never trailed after beating a good team on the road, on a back-back, in January, and the take away was negative. The Celtics lost to the same team a month before and were "embarrassed" by them. because the Pacers couldn't miss a shot and the Celtics, who were tied with 2 min left, lost. When called out on this ridiculous take, he double, triple, and quadrupled down on it. That's not "discussing areas that need improvement". It did suck up an entire page worth of a thread and divert from the actual discussion though. I'm all for balance. That includes celebrating positives and talking through negative aspects. When we lose balance, because one poster is excessively celebrating, or another is excessively complaining, panicking, steering the conversation in a negative path with their tail views, we lose balance. This is why I haven't been in a game thread in two years, there is no balance it's all behavioral reactions.

Edit - I agree with @m0ckduck above. I responded before I read his.

 

[CoffeeNerdness]

In: Porzingis
Out: Tatum, Hauser

 

[DavidTai]

Mathurin ran circles around a couple times too. He doesn't seem to be moving laterally as he was earlier in the year. Maybe a lull, maybe an injury, maybe being worn down by the season and travel? With Hauser's physical limitations there is a fine line between him being a perfectly good backup wing in our rotation to the guy who you spot minutes matchup specific.

Hauser's out today due to shoulder, so there's your injury guess.

 

[the moops]

Mathurin ran circles around a couple times too. He doesn't seem to be moving laterally as he was earlier in the year. Maybe a lull, maybe an injury, maybe being worn down by the season and travel? With Hauser's physical limitations there is a fine line between him being a perfectly good backup wing in our rotation to the guy who you spot minutes matchup specific.

Here are Mathurin's 7 made baskets. Zero of them were against Hauser LINK

Here are Mathurin's 2 assists. Neither of them involved Hauser LINK

Mathurin was 0-3 from three - none of the shots occurred with Hauser on the floor. LINK

There were two misses where Hauser was on Mathurin, but I wouldn't exactly call them running circles around him

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Here are Mathurin's 7 made baskets. Zero of them were against Hauser LINK

Here are Mathurin's 2 assists. Neither of them involved Hauser LINK

Mathurin was 0-3 from three - none of the shots occurred with Hauser on the floor. LINK

There were two misses where Hauser was on Mathurin, but I wouldn't exactly call them running circles around him

Am I seeing things where Mathurin beat him to spots on the floor or was it someone else doing it? I recall him being out of position due to being out quicked and slow to rotate several times in that quarter.

 

[kazuneko]

Where is the celebration? He just called out he made the foul. Players do this when they think there may be confusion on the who on an obvious foul.

Okay, sure, that's possible. I'm used to seeing them raise their hands like they are in class, so this looked more like a fist pump. Still not a huge fan of his level of excitement after walking over a writhing-in-pain Porzingis.

Nesmith has ramped up his Draymond-like intensity all season, his body looks like it never has (good midwestern vitamins?), and he's shooting 45% from 3. Whatever he's doing is working for him. He never would have had the confidence to step over Jrue like that two years ago....feeling it is a good thing for a basketball player.

I can't think of a single other player in the league - other than Draymond- who I could imagine taunting a guy after leveling him with an out-of-control foul, especially when that guy is as universally well-liked as Holliday. That's not "feeling it" that's being an asshole. Guys like Smart and White play hard and they are also usually the first guys offering their hands to an opponent after they are knocked to the ground.

 

[Spelunker]

I can't think of a single other player in the league - other than Draymond- who I could imagine taunting a guy after leveling him with an out-of-control foul; Forget someone as universally well-liked as Holliday. That's not "feeling it" that's being an asshole. Guys like Smart and White play hard and they are also usually the first guys offering their hands to an opponent after they are knocked to the ground.

Obligatory

(to be fair, it was very in-control)

 

[lovegtm]

Am I seeing things where Mathurin beat him to spots on the floor or was it someone else doing it? I recall him being out of position due to being out quicked and slow to rotate several times in that quarter.

Yes, you are seeing things. Hauser was only on the floor for one of Mathurin's makes, and he wasn't that involved with that play.

(I think Hauser has had a lot of bad defensive possessions lately, but the Mathurin thing is pure hallucination. We're all getting old, so no worries )

 

[DavidTai]

Am I seeing things where Mathurin beat him to spots on the floor or was it someone else doing it? I recall him being out of position due to being out quicked and slow to rotate several times in that quarter.

I dunno, other than Haliburton, I really don't recall anything that seems unexplainable (like being screened by someone in his direct path), and Haliburton is, well, Haliburton.

The Celtics Blog linked a defense clip that showed Hauser switching three guys and jumping at the guy who had an open shot and he didn't seem really out of position for most of it, aside from running at the open guy, but that seemed more like a function where Jrue should have gone over to the open man because he was closer to that guy than Hauser was. I'm not sure if -that- was what you were thinking of, but that feels more like "Eh... tip your hat to the Pacers for getting that guy open' than a Hauser miscue.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Yes, you are seeing things. Hauser was only on the floor for one of Mathurin's makes, and he wasn't that involved with that play.

(I think Hauser has had a lot of bad defensive possessions lately, but the Mathurin thing is pure hallucination. We're all getting old, so no worries )

Ha! Yeah was watching multiple games I just recall seeing Hauser late on everything for an extended period. Maybe it was Halliburton but it was on switches not involving him too.

 

[Euclis20]

Obligatory

(to be fair, it was very in-control)

Yup, Smart was 100% in control. Embiid knocked Smart over with a hard elbow, Smart got up and shoved Embiid. No pretense on the foul, that was the start of a fight:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gM7gfe-B30


My favorite part is that Smart's shove sent Embiid from the paint all the way beyond the 3 point line, and then Embiid got up like he actually wanted to fight. Dude wanted nothing to do with Marcus Smart.