I only fear the Middleton.I don’t fear the deer. I really don’t fear the deer without Middleton.
When does it end?I'll be glad when Ramadan ends so he can actually stay properly hydrated.
Think he could come back at some point during it.Middleton is definitely out for the 2nd round, right?
I guess we were all hoping for a blowout win but outside of game 1 I didn't sweat any games against the Nets. Particularly games 3 and 4 were far more comfortable than the final scores indicated as the Cs nearly led wire to wire and pushed the lead to double digits for long stretches. The Nets are full of experienced pros so they weren't going to fold, but they were very overmatched.Reasons for concern:
The Bucks have the best player in the series, obviously. But after Giannis, Middleton - who will miss some, and Holliday they are all basically role players. I think the Celtics stack up pretty well against them from a depth perspective.
- Jaylen's hamstring. Probably not a major cause for concern, as the sweep in Brooklyn gives Brown extra time to recover/rehab. But not a great thing to see happen in the playoffs.
- Rob's timing was way off, leading to Ime playing him many fewer minutes (14) than planned (24) in game 4. This isn't unexpected, but it is something that needs to be fixed for the Celtics to be at their best. He has played only 2 games in the past month and doesn't have that much regular practice time with the team either.
- It would have been nice to just easily put the Nets away at least once.
In all likelihood the Celtics get Milwaukee next. They need to be better than they were against Brooklyn to win that series.
Reasons for optimism:
Reasons for concern:
- Tatum showed he could step up and lead the team in the playoffs. Brown, Horford, Smart all did their part, too.
- Rob is healthy, and they need him to play their best defense. But watch the lob he scored on from game 4 - he doesn't look to have any physical limitations whatsoever.
- They did not always play their best 4th quarter basketball against the Nets, but other than a blip after Tatum fouled out in game 4, they closed out the games down the stretch - a perceived weakness going into the series.
- Good work by each of their three bench players, thugh Grant was the most consistent of them.
The Bucks have the best player in the series, obviously. But after Giannis, Middleton - who will miss some, and Holliday they are all basically role players. I think the Celtics stack up pretty well against them from a depth perspective.
- Jaylen's hamstring. Probably not a major cause for concern, as the sweep in Brooklyn gives Brown extra time to recover/rehab. But not a great thing to see happen in the playoffs.
- Rob's timing was way off, leading to Ime playing him many fewer minutes (14) than planned (24) in game 4. This isn't unexpected, but it is something that needs to be fixed for the Celtics to be at their best. He has played only 2 games in the past month and doesn't have that much regular practice time with the team either.
- It would have been nice to just easily put the Nets away at least once.
I think that closing out all of the close games trumps not blowing out one of the games. As noted in the game thread, the Celts were 11-18 in the regular season in games decided by < X points (I forget the number), then went 4-0 this series. That has to help build their confidence. And doing it last night without JT, even moreso.I guess we were all hoping for a blowout win but outside of game 1 I didn't sweat any games against the Nets. Particularly games 3 and 4 were far more comfortable than the final scores indicated as the Cs nearly led wire to wire and pushed the lead to double digits for long stretches. The Nets are full of experienced pros so they weren't going to fold, but they were very overmatched.
Brown should have time to rest and hydrate. Rob wasn't great last night but as you say that's to be expected.
As you note the bench was great -- I think that was the biggest question coming into the playoffs but everyone has stepped up and performed well in their roles. I think we win in 5.
I don’t agree with this this at all. The Bucks are not a 70-win juggernaut, and they’ll be missing their second best player for probably at least 3-4 games. The Nets role players played probably as well as they could have hoped for, but the Celtics clamped down on two of the best offensive players in the league—two Hall of Famers in their prime—and swept them. While getting basically nothing from Robert Williams, which is almost certain to improve.In all likelihood the Celtics get Milwaukee next. They need to be better than they were against Brooklyn to win that series.
Are we sure he's not, though? NBC Sports Boston seemed to hint that he wasn't being strict about the holiday:I'll be glad when Ramadan ends so he can actually stay properly hydrated.
Irving would be far from first athlete who has fasted during the NBA season. Hall of Famer Hakeem Olajuwon fasted during Ramadan throughout his NBA career and even won NBA Player of the Month for a month in which he fasted, while Celtics star Jaylen Brown has observed Ramadan in the past as well.
"Ramadan is something special,” Brown said last week. “It’s something that’s saved my life in a lot of ways. So shoutout to all the people who are participating and shoutout to everybody who shows respect because, in reality, some things are bigger than basketball."
I don’t think the Bucks are very deep. Giannis will get his. You need to stop Holiday from getting easy buckets on penetration. Their bench of Portis / Connaughton / Allen / Ibaka / Mathews is not scary. The Celtics exterior defense can handle this team — it’ll just be a matter of KD-ing Giannis as best they can and not letting their shooters get easy looks.
Celtics in 5.
I don’t agree with this this at all. The Bucks are not a 70-win juggernaut, and they’ll be missing their second best player for probably at least 3-4 games. The Nets role players played probably as well as they could have hoped for, but the Celtics clamped down on two of the best offensive players in the league—two Hall of Famers in their prime—and swept them. While getting basically nothing from Robert Williams, which is almost certain to improve.
If the Celtics play at the level they just did and Williams regains form, the question becomes who can stop them. You can make a real argument that the Celtics starting lineup contains four of the ten best defenders in the entire league. When’s the last time we saw that?
He was talking about Jaylen, not Kyrie, unless I'm missing something in that article?Are we sure he's not, though? NBC Sports Boston seemed to hint that he wasn't being strict about the holiday:
From what I've seen, Giannis seems perfectly content letting Grayson Allen shoot open 3s all day. Allen will have to guard someone, but he's just one example of more-willing distribution than KI or KD were used to or willing to.Just my 2 cents...
A big part of the Cs round 1 success/strategy was the disfunction they caused when they paid significant attention to Durant and KI. Forcing Durant into quick decisions that he's not often had to his whole career. Banking on KI not consistently distributing to punish the double teams and trying to go mano-o-mano. The result was 2 games where Durant/KI fought the defense and still lost, 1 game where Durant decided to be a facilitator and still lost, and 1 game where Durant put it all together (with a bit of protection from the ref's whistle), and still lost because KI didn't have a significant/complementary impact.
The difference between MIL and BRK beyond the obvious differences in talent (and availability) is that MIL has had all season to play as a team, and do play as a team. I don't think the Celtics can pay the same kind of attention to Giannis as they did to Durant and not get burned by the team play (finding cutters off the double, etc.). That is not to say they can't win by using a similar defensive approach as they did during the late season rampage through the league, but it's not going to be as simple as applying the same round 1 Nets formula against Giannis.
Right, but the article said "Celtics star Jaylen Brown has observed Ramadan in the past as well". If he was observing Ramadan now, wouldn't the writer just say that rather than framing it as something he did in the past?He was talking about Jaylen, not Kyrie, unless I'm missing something in that article?
My hope is that Jaylen's hammy issue is cramping from lack of food/water this month. Ramadan will be over after Game 1 of this series. It could be all that this is.
Phoenix was the favorite in the west until Booker got hurt. They are legit if he is healthy. I think Memphis is still a year away.So casual fan here - who’s left that’s scary scary: Milwaukee, Miami, Golden State…. Are Memphis or Phoenix legit?
It was mentioned during Game 4 (or maybe Game 3) that Jaylen was observing it as well as Kyrie. The difference is that you don’t have Jaylen making a show of it.Right, but the article said "Celtics star Jaylen Brown has observed Ramadan in the past as well". If he was observing Ramadan now, wouldn't the writer just say that rather than framing it as something he did in the past?
Good luck against Marcus Smart, Grayson.Grayson Allen has been disturbingly effective in the last 2 games of this Bulls series.
That's an interesting way to frame it, because it sort of mirrors what Ime has been demanding from the offense: quicker decisions. That's where Tatum has really shined as the year went on. He thinks the game much faster and is more decisive in his decision making.A big part of the Cs round 1 success/strategy was the disfunction they caused when they paid significant attention to Durant and KI. Forcing Durant into quick decisions that he's not often had to his whole career. Banking on KI not consistently distributing to punish the double teams and trying to go mano-o-mano. The result was 2 games where Durant/KI fought the defense and still lost, 1 game where Durant decided to be a facilitator and still lost, and 1 game where Durant put it all together (with a bit of protection from the ref's whistle), and still lost because KI didn't have a significant/complementary impact.
I think part of that is he is prepared and has a plan based on what he reads. You can tell, for example, when he goes into the lane that as soon as help takes a step toward him that the pass fired Grant in his corner office was pre-ordained - that is, that Tatum was baiting that defensive reaction because the open corner three was his desired outcome. Of course, he also processes the game quickly enough that if the help doesn't come, he can usually still find a good shot for himself or someone else.That's an interesting way to frame it, because it sort of mirrors what Ime has been demanding from the offense: quicker decisions. That's where Tatum has really shined as the year went on. He thinks the game much faster and is more decisive in his decision making.
Yeah, if this piece is legit (and there's no reason to think it's not *if* TL regains form), they're the 04 Pistons with an MVP caliber offensive player.I don’t agree with this this at all. The Bucks are not a 70-win juggernaut, and they’ll be missing their second best player for probably at least 3-4 games. The Nets role players played probably as well as they could have hoped for, but the Celtics clamped down on two of the best offensive players in the league—two Hall of Famers in their prime—and swept them. While getting basically nothing from Robert Williams, which is almost certain to improve.
If the Celtics play at the level they just did and Williams regains form, the question becomes who can stop them. You can make a real argument that the Celtics starting lineup contains four of the ten best defenders in the entire league. When’s the last time we saw that?
I think you might be reading too much into it. The quote from Jaylen at the end of the article was from April 14th of this year (a week before the article was published). It''s been reported everywhere that Jaylen was observing Ramadan this season too, this author just wrote it poorly:Right, but the article said "Celtics star Jaylen Brown has observed Ramadan in the past as well". If he was observing Ramadan now, wouldn't the writer just say that rather than framing it as something he did in the past?
Milwaukee's roster around Giannis and Jrue, with Middleton out, is pretty meh.Just my 2 cents...
A big part of the Cs round 1 success/strategy was the disfunction they caused when they paid significant attention to Durant and KI. Forcing Durant into quick decisions that he's not often had to his whole career. Banking on KI not consistently distributing to punish the double teams and trying to go mano-o-mano. The result was 2 games where Durant/KI fought the defense and still lost, 1 game where Durant decided to be a facilitator and still lost, and 1 game where Durant put it all together (with a bit of protection from the ref's whistle), and still lost because KI didn't have a significant/complementary impact.
The difference between MIL and BRK beyond the obvious differences in talent (and availability) is that MIL has had all season to play as a team, and do play as a team. I don't think the Celtics can pay the same kind of attention to Giannis as they did to Durant and not get burned by the team play (finding cutters off the double, etc.). That is not to say they can't win by using a similar defensive approach as they did during the late season rampage through the league, but it's not going to be as simple as applying the same round 1 Nets formula against Giannis.
It’s great going into a series knowing who to develop an irrational dislike for already…the Bucks roster seems pretty anodyne in that sense, with the exception of Allen and maybe Lopez.Grayson Allen has been disturbingly effective in the last 2 games of this Bulls series.
With respect to the bolded, while the Giannis/Tatum comparisons will dominate the headlines but the really interesting one to me is to compare how Marcus and Holiday will play since they are similar players and I suspect that Holiday will be extra motivated because of Smart's DPOY.There are fewer players to hate in the next series, presuming MIL, and I especially like Holiday. I will enjoy hating Allen.
It's hard to overestimate how remarkable the Celtics have been in round one and in the second half. I think this might be the best defensive team in the NBA in many years. The Bucks are better than (and have their shit together more than) the Nets. But it's not a tremendous difference and I think they will also need Giannis to dominate in any game they win. I don't think he can do it against this defense.
Celtics in 4.