12/1 - vs Philly - Joel Embiid has a fraudulent MVP trophy
- Thread starter mikeford
- Start date
I was astonished that he survived the offseason. The start to this season has muted that a bit, but it’s not a good feeling right now.
His in-game strategy drives me insane half the time, but you can’t argue with his numbers.
Weirdo December NBA game but 15-4 is 15-4. Can we fast forward to April? I’ve already seen enough of the regular season.
I don't care who's playing - tough to get a win when the other team shoots 45% from three. I'll take it.
The highest regular season winning percentage of all time of anyone who has coached at least 82 games
Glass half-full
Tatum has been off the last 10 days maybe the ejection will shake him out of his funk
Tatum has been off the last 10 days maybe the ejection will shake him out of his funk
Hard to tell. They win a fucktonne of games. But they’re mega-talented. Hard to know if or how he’s adding value but that would be true of most coaches I think.
I don’t think they’d be better served with a Thibs-level hardass but I do get the sense CJM is someone they can and will walk over.
Did I read that this is the highest winning percentage in NBA history?
I think on the whole you have to be pleased. Jrue and Pritchard were great down the stretch and Horford has looked excellent the past two weeks. The things you might have been concerned about at the start of the season -- Pritchard, Horford's age -- have turned out about as well as you could reasonably expect.
Tatum has been kinda bad by his standards for about 2-3 weeks. Something might be going on with him. He doesn't seem to be 100% mentally there all the time.
Tatum has been kinda bad by his standards for about 2-3 weeks. Something might be going on with him. He doesn't seem to be 100% mentally there all the time.
I do think that Kristaps truly brought a new dimension to both the offense and the defense, and played a consistent role until last week. He’s a big presence and I think adjusting to his absence is a thing. Doesn’t explain everything that looks wobbly right now, but I think it’s part of it. He’s a steadying influence.
Pritch really did play some solid minutes tonight:
View: https://twitter.com/SeanGrandePBP/status/1730779928273019077?s=20
View: https://twitter.com/SeanGrandePBP/status/1730779928273019077?s=20
Like, was Phil Jackson good? I have no idea, he was always coaching no doubt historic all-time greats. NBA coaching is weird.
That late possession that ended with the Pritchard layup would never have happened like that in the Marcus Smart era. That was perfect team basketball.
At the same time have to give him credit for playing Pritchard over Hauser down the stretch. I think Joe has been a lot better than last year so at least he's showing improvement. Would I rather have someone like Nurse? Probably, but like @Jed Zeppelin says they're so talented it's hard to say if it matters.
NBA rule book: Vibrate the rim, net or backboard so as to cause the ball to make an unnatural bounce, or bend or move the rim to an off-center position when the ball is touching the ring or passing through.
Perhaps it was called more back in the day but I’m guessing the technology has improved enough where it’s no longer an issue? I know the breakaway rims were introduced in the early 1980s and I’ve never seen it called in the 2000s.
Mazzulla 71.2 percent
Phil Jackson 70.4
Billy Cunningham 69.8
Larry Bird 68.7
KC Jones 67.4
PP is much better setting up offense this season. He and Hauser have a great connection. I’m sure they spend a lot of time outside of official practice, working together, like a quarterback and a wide receiver. Sam is much less stationary this season.
Bird was smart. Hire a good offensive coach and defensive coach, in Rick Carlisle and Dick Harter, and use your unmatched gravitas to get the players to buy in.
He looked to me like he wasn't moving great, a little dinged up maybe.
JB was rough for much of the game but had a big bucket and a couple of free throws at the end. Jrue similarly had 2 big FTs and the pass to PP on a great late game possession.
Great 4th from PP, who has quietly had a great season imo. Not shooting great, although it's coming around, but his playmaking has been far better than I expected and he seems more competitive defensively.
I’m never going to be objective about Joe Mazzulla, since he’s my friend’s son and was the protege of another friend who I used to train, but he stepped into a very messy situation last season. I think he has shown improvement. Most of this season, crunch time has gone in the Celtics’ favor, with Minny and Charlotte as outliers.
The Celtics brain trust are not idiots. They obviously see something in this young coach to keep him on with the tremendous squad they put together. Playing Horford and Kornet (with Tatum disqualified) to counter Reed and Bamba certainly wasn’t coaching malpractice, especially the way Philly was hitting the offensive glass. Almost every rebound the Celtics got in the fourth quarter was some kind of crazy tip drill
Terrible game for most of it, but they gutted it out at the end without Tatum and Porizingis. Offensive execution down the stretch was actually quite good.
