2022-2023 General Celtics thread

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
SoSH Member
Jan 15, 2004
30,096
There's a ginormous difference between aches and pains and an injured shooting shoulder. Especially when you're the amazing rubber band man.
Yes that’s my point. He wasn’t “banged up” from overuse. He suffered an injury.
 

Jimbodandy

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2006
11,405
around the way
Thought that Hauser had a rough night defensively against Luka, and they were successfully targeting Brogdon with Wood. Effort was good though, but I think that Hauser only won once and maybe twice for Brogdon. Luckily Dallas wasn't about to play any defense for any length of time.

FWIW, thought that it was fascinating that Dallas was leaving Brown and Tatum manned up by one guy for long stretches, until the Cs worked a switch and got Luka matched up. Then it was instant double, and even then Tatum beat the Luka side of the double twice. He's so bad defensively.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Thought that Hauser had a rough night defensively against Luka, and they were successfully targeting Brogdon with Wood. Effort was good though, but I think that Hauser only won once and maybe twice for Brogdon. Luckily Dallas wasn't about to play any defense for any length of time.

FWIW, thought that it was fascinating that Dallas was leaving Brown and Tatum manned up by one guy for long stretches, until the Cs worked a switch and got Luka matched up. Then it was instant double, and even then Tatum beat the Luka side of the double twice. He's so bad defensively.
Luka was also on kind of a heater from the midrange. He's great, so he'll make a lot of those, but not 70-80% of them.

Tatum is so far ahead of him on the defensive end that it's not even funny. Different zip code.

The Mavs isoball didn't work well at all, even with Luka and Wood hitting shots. The only time they got it going in the 3rd, the ball was moving around better. Celtics are just a much, much better team, not a ton more to the story.
 

Eddie Jurak

canderson-lite
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2002
44,475
Melrose, MA
Thought that Hauser had a rough night defensively against Luka, and they were successfully targeting Brogdon with Wood. Effort was good though, but I think that Hauser only won once and maybe twice for Brogdon. Luckily Dallas wasn't about to play any defense for any length of time.
It was interesting actually. For the first 3-4 possessions Hauser was on Luka, he held up pretty well. I don't think Luka scored and it didn't look like Luka was having an easy time of it. After that point it was like a switch had been flipped and Luke was scoring on Hauser at will without looking like he needed to break a sweat - the worst I've been Hauser look on D this season. Of course, it was Luka.
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
Thought that Hauser had a rough night defensively against Luka, and they were successfully targeting Brogdon with Wood. Effort was good though, but I think that Hauser only won once and maybe twice for Brogdon. Luckily Dallas wasn't about to play any defense for any length of time.

FWIW, thought that it was fascinating that Dallas was leaving Brown and Tatum manned up by one guy for long stretches, until the Cs worked a switch and got Luka matched up. Then it was instant double, and even then Tatum beat the Luka side of the double twice. He's so bad defensively.
Luka pretty much scored on anybody covering him yesterday. He was 10-13 from 10'-20' on challenged fadeaway mid-range shots in the halfcourt. Tip of the hat. That's the exact shot you want to yield as a defense. Tatum did a decent job on him forcing a travel and a block at the rim. Otherwise, he bullied White or passed Horford a few times. As Ed noted, Hauser had 3-4 good early outcomes vs. Luka, but then LD decided not to miss for several quarters. Bird-like
 

RorschachsMask

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2011
5,203
Lynn
Mavs were the first team this year that’s aggressively trapped Tatum on a high percentage of possessions, and they got shredded. Doris pointed it out multiple times, but Tatum almost immediately passed out of them unless he had the angle, the rest of the team basically got to play 4 on 3.

He’s way too quick of a decision maker for that defense now, don’t know why Kidd thought it was a good idea.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Mavs were the first team this year that’s aggressively trapped Tatum on a high percentage of possessions, and they got shredded. Doris pointed it out multiple times, but Tatum almost immediately passed out of them unless he had the angle, the rest of the team basically got to play 4 on 3.

He’s way too quick of a decision maker for that defense now, don’t know why Kidd thought it was a good idea.
He was taking it to the rim a ton early, so I think Dallas figured they had to try something different?
 

RorschachsMask

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2011
5,203
Lynn
He was taking it to the rim a ton early, so I think Dallas figured they had to try something different?
That’s probably it, I just don’t think it’s a viable scheme against Tatum and the Celtics anymore. Too many quick decision makers and way too much shooting.
 

DannyDarwinism

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 7, 2007
4,883
If complaining about Tatum's minutes vis a vis Giannis, it should be noted that Giannis is very much the exception when it comes to young superstars, such that it's been a point of criticism of Budenholzer. Lebron has led the league in mpg and his career average is higher than Tatum's current season. Durant's career average is half a minute less than what Tatum's playing this year. Kobe and Jordan in their primes were over 40 mpg guys. It's really the Popovich coaching tree guys that ascribe to the "save it for the playoffs" minute-managing. I think any benefit for guys in their mid 20s would likely come from the very slightly reduced chance of real injury that comes with less minutes rather than general "wear and tear".
 

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
SoSH Member
Jan 15, 2004
30,096
He was taking it to the rim a ton early, so I think Dallas figured they had to try something different?
My old college coach used to implement more aggressive defensive schemes on our road games to keep everyone energized and engaged in a setting where it’s easy to go through the motions without energy. Don’t know what Kidd’s motivations were but wanted to share.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
My old college coach used to implement more aggressive defensive schemes on our road games to keep everyone energized and engaged in a setting where it’s easy to go through the motions without energy. Don’t know what Kidd’s motivations were but wanted to share.
mmm, makes sense
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
Hunted Hauser watch:
SAM enters at 5:54 Q1 Celtics up 17-13

Luka hunts SAM the first four possessions (obviously part of the game plan)
#1 Luka drives to rim, Sam stops him, Luka passes, Mav misses shot, Sam rebound
#2 Luka attacks, Sam challenges, Luka misses
#3 Sam guards Luka full court, Luka drives, Sam cuts off the lane to the basket and Luka passes out.
#4 Luka drives on Sam, cut off from the hoop. Marcus helps, Luka passes out to the perimeter

3:49 Q1 Celtics up 26-14 Mavericks timeout

after TO Luka doesn't immediately hunt Hauser until

#5 2:33 Luka bullies Hauser down to the block. Hits a 10' step-back fade-away banker
#6 :36 Luka dribbles into the lane against Hauser and hits a 8' fadeaway from the middle.

Celtics end Q1 up 34-23

Q2
#7 Dinwiddie hunts SAM, Hauser stops him from getting into the lane. Passes out
#8 Dinwiddie gets the ball on Hauser at the 3pt line. Tries to shake him, doesn't bother driving. Passes the ball to Wood
#9 Dinwiddie drives hard on Hauser, stopped at the rim, with Al's help. SD passes out for a bricked 3 from Wood
#10 (after a TO, designed play) Dinwiddie gets the inbound drives right into Sam's body, gets the whistle and hits the 8'
#11 Dinwiddie has the ball 1-1 on Hauser at the top. Tries to shake. Nothing. Passes to Wood

Sam leaves the floor at 7:35 of Q2 Celtics up 50-33

Luka hunted Hauser 6X in Q1 when the game was somewhat tight. LD came away with 4pts in a 6-minute span.
Dinwiddie came away with 2pts on Hauser when he had him 5X

Q3
Hauser enters 5:21
#12 Luka immediately hunts Hauser. Drives. Sam fouls him on the floor.
#13 Luka bullies Hauser down to the block. Passes it out for a Corner3
#14 Finney Smith catches the ball out high w.a little momentum and easily goes by Hauser for a lay up
#15 Luka bullies him into the lane. Luka charged and ran over Sam, he falls to the ground. Luka misses shot
#16 Luka works Sam into the lane, tries several pump fakes, hits a 10' fade-away

Luka gets 2pts on hunting Hauser 4X in the 2nd half

Hauser doesn't play again until garbage time

Hauser got hunted by Luka 10X. Luka was 3-5 & scored 6pts on SAM.
Luka is the most dominant offensive player in the NBA. Hauser held his own against a red-hot Luka that scored 42pts yesterday.

Over 20% into the season and see no evidence that Sam Hauser will get played off the floor.
 

TripleOT

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 4, 2007
7,758
Good stuff, BH. Thanks. It looked to me that the Mavericks insistence to hunt Sam took the entire team out of any kind of rhythm. I can see why teams do it, because when they run their pick based sets against the Celtics sans Sam, the Celtics just switch everything and there’s no advantage usually for the offense. Celtics players do more than just talk about “guarding their yard.”

If anyone wanted to start a blog about the Celtics defense, a good name would be Ridiculous Switchability. I don’t remember seeing any other NBA team that has almost every single rotation piece with the ability to guard at least two positions, and so many who can guard four. Brogdon was a great addition. That guy is strong and determined. The Celtics are a defensive cheat code, and if Robert Williams gets back 100 percent, good luck to any team that is going to try to beat them in the playoffs.
 

TripleOT

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 4, 2007
7,758
Getting back to the Tatum’s minutes, it seems to me that his minutes last year were harsher, because he had to carry the team on his back or offensively for a lot of those minutes. This season, much of the time I have to think “Is Tatum out there,” because this activity on the ball and he’s off ball on the other side of the court. That seldom happened the last season.

Defensively, he’s not being asked to guard smaller, quicker players as much, which is draining. Playing the lurker role has allowed him to conserve energy on the defensive end.

I certainly can understand why any coach would want a Jayson Tatum in the game for all but 10 or 11 minutes of it, especially in interim coach, but I don’t think it’s going to be as big a deal as it might have been last year, where he was playing basketball nonstop for an entire calendar year plus. I would think that once Robert Williams comes back and they had another quality player at the front of the rotation, they can back off a few minutes of the Jays.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,205
From The Athletic

The rest of the Celtics ran the floor as Jaylen Brown buried a 3 within six seconds. But Tatum was strutting the sideline in front of the Celtics bench, screaming an, “I told you so” as Dončić trotted away.

“I told him I had to block it because I didn’t want him to dunk on me,” Tatum said. “He looked at me and was like, ‘You thought I was going to dunk it?'”

Dončić entered Wednesday as the betting favorite for MVP, with Tatum just behind. But Tatum thought better of himself. He’s leading the best team in the league in every facet of the game. He wants that MVP title.

It’s why he dropped 37 points in a game for which he was questionable entering the day with to a minor ankle injury. But Brown knew there was no way Tatum wasn’t stepping on the floor.

“He knew who he was matched up with. He had that game circled, don’t let him fool y’all,” Brown said. “He was playing the whole time.”
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
Good stuff, BH. Thanks. It looked to me that the Mavericks insistence to hunt Sam took the entire team out of any kind of rhythm. I can see why teams do it, because when they run their pick based sets against the Celtics sans Sam, the Celtics just switch everything and there’s no advantage usually for the offense. Celtics players do more than just talk about “guarding their yard.”

If anyone wanted to start a blog about the Celtics defense, a good name would be Ridiculous Switchability. I don’t remember seeing any other NBA team that has almost every single rotation piece with the ability to guard at least two positions, and so many who can guard four. Brogdon was a great addition. That guy is strong and determined. The Celtics are a defensive cheat code, and if Robert Williams gets back 100 percent, good luck to any team that is going to try to beat them in the playoffs.
Yea, opponents have to hunt SAM, it's not like he will strip you or block your FGA (like the rest of the C's can)

He did try to draw a charge on Luka one time and didn't get the whistle. SAM moves his feet well & is smart enough to get to the spot first/draw (which will slow down bull rushes on him). I think that's the next step in his development. Obviously, playing next to TimeLord would also be very helpful for guys that like to back SAM down.
 

Eddie Jurak

canderson-lite
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2002
44,475
Melrose, MA
If complaining about Tatum's minutes vis a vis Giannis, it should be noted that Giannis is very much the exception when it comes to young superstars, such that it's been a point of criticism of Budenholzer. Lebron has led the league in mpg and his career average is higher than Tatum's current season. Durant's career average is half a minute less than what Tatum's playing this year. Kobe and Jordan in their primes were over 40 mpg guys. It's really the Popovich coaching tree guys that ascribe to the "save it for the playoffs" minute-managing. I think any benefit for guys in their mid 20s would likely come from the very slightly reduced chance of real injury that comes with less minutes rather than general "wear and tear".
Your other points are well taken, but LeBron is a one-of-a-kind in NBA history when it comes to durability. I don't think he's a reasonable yardstick on which to judge other star players.
 

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
SoSH Member
Jan 15, 2004
30,096
Yea, opponents have to hunt SAM, it's not like he will strip you or block your FGA (like the rest of the C's can)

He did try to draw a charge on Luka one time and didn't get the whistle. SAM moves his feet well & is smart enough to get to the spot first/draw (which will slow down bull rushes on him). I think that's the next step in his development. Obviously, playing next to TimeLord would also be very helpful for guys that like to back SAM down.
The key is to not overexpose Hauser in this type of matchup. Once Doncic figured Hauser out he could pretty much do what he wanted……which he does against most anyone. Overall, Hauser did a more than admirable job.
 

128

Member
SoSH Member
May 4, 2019
10,016
He did try to draw a charge on Luka one time and didn't get the whistle. SAM moves his feet well & is smart enough to get to the spot first/draw (which will slow down bull rushes on him). I think that's the next step in his development.
That was an egregious non-call. Luka ran over Hauser, who was in excellent position.
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
That was an egregious non-call. Luka ran over Hauser, who was in excellent position.
Agreed, SAM just doesn't have the reputation to get THAT call on Luka yet. Smart and White in REF-ball World get that whistle. SAM has received a few phantom calls over the last few games, it's just the way the NBA operates.

If SAM does it consistently every game he'll start earning those 50/50 charge calls.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Agreed, SAM just doesn't have the reputation to get THAT call on Luka yet. Smart and White in REF-ball World get that whistle. SAM has received a few phantom calls over the last few games, it's just the way the NBA operates.

If SAM does it consistently every game he'll start earning those 50/50 charge calls.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!
Most of the calls on him seem legit. He gets his hand caught down low sometimes, and they call him consistently for those handchecks. When he keeps his hands back, he doesn't get called for those, but he sometimes has trouble contesting the shot then.

Happy Thanksgiving!
 

DannyDarwinism

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 7, 2007
4,883
Your other points are well taken, but LeBron is a one-of-a-kind in NBA history when it comes to durability. I don't think he's a reasonable yardstick on which to judge other star players.
As it applies to the course of his career, sure, but in that he was once a young superstar playing heavy minutes while competing for a championship, he was very much part of the rule, not the exception like Giannis. There's only so many 24 year old superstars competing to win it all, but Iverson was at 42 per in the Sixers' Finals run (though certainly Larry Brown was at the far end of this particular curve) while Wade, Dirk, Harden and KG all played over 38 mpg at that age on contending teams. I'm probably missing other guys, but Curry (under Kerr, but not Mark Jackson), Kawhi, and Giannis are the outliers. Hell, even' Duncan under Pop averaged nearly 41 mpg in their 2002 chip when he was Tatum's age.
 

oumbi

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 15, 2006
4,167
Hunted Hauser watch:
SAM enters at 5:54 Q1 Celtics up 17-13

Luka hunts SAM the first four possessions (obviously part of the game plan)
#1 Luka drives to rim, Sam stops him, Luka passes, Mav misses shot, Sam rebound
#2 Luka attacks, Sam challenges, Luka misses
#3 Sam guards Luka full court, Luka drives, Sam cuts off the lane to the basket and Luka passes out.
#4 Luka drives on Sam, cut off from the hoop. Marcus helps, Luka passes out to the perimeter

3:49 Q1 Celtics up 26-14 Mavericks timeout

after TO Luka doesn't immediately hunt Hauser until

#5 2:33 Luka bullies Hauser down to the block. Hits a 10' step-back fade-away banker
#6 :36 Luka dribbles into the lane against Hauser and hits a 8' fadeaway from the middle.

Celtics end Q1 up 34-23

Q2
#7 Dinwiddie hunts SAM, Hauser stops him from getting into the lane. Passes out
#8 Dinwiddie gets the ball on Hauser at the 3pt line. Tries to shake him, doesn't bother driving. Passes the ball to Wood
#9 Dinwiddie drives hard on Hauser, stopped at the rim, with Al's help. SD passes out for a bricked 3 from Wood
#10 (after a TO, designed play) Dinwiddie gets the inbound drives right into Sam's body, gets the whistle and hits the 8'
#11 Dinwiddie has the ball 1-1 on Hauser at the top. Tries to shake. Nothing. Passes to Wood

Sam leaves the floor at 7:35 of Q2 Celtics up 50-33

Luka hunted Hauser 6X in Q1 when the game was somewhat tight. LD came away with 4pts in a 6-minute span.
Dinwiddie came away with 2pts on Hauser when he had him 5X

Q3
Hauser enters 5:21
#12 Luka immediately hunts Hauser. Drives. Sam fouls him on the floor.
#13 Luka bullies Hauser down to the block. Passes it out for a Corner3
#14 Finney Smith catches the ball out high w.a little momentum and easily goes by Hauser for a lay up
#15 Luka bullies him into the lane. Luka charged and ran over Sam, he falls to the ground. Luka misses shot
#16 Luka works Sam into the lane, tries several pump fakes, hits a 10' fade-away

Luka gets 2pts on hunting Hauser 4X in the 2nd half

Hauser doesn't play again until garbage time

Hauser got hunted by Luka 10X. Luka was 3-5 & scored 6pts on SAM.
Luka is the most dominant offensive player in the NBA. Hauser held his own against a red-hot Luka that scored 42pts yesterday.


Over 20% into the season and see no evidence that Sam Hauser will get played off the floor.
A really good post and set of observations. Thanks for all the hard work that went into this.
 

Jimbodandy

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2006
11,405
around the way
Hunted Hauser watch:
SAM enters at 5:54 Q1 Celtics up 17-13

Luka hunts SAM the first four possessions (obviously part of the game plan)
#1 Luka drives to rim, Sam stops him, Luka passes, Mav misses shot, Sam rebound
#2 Luka attacks, Sam challenges, Luka misses
#3 Sam guards Luka full court, Luka drives, Sam cuts off the lane to the basket and Luka passes out.
#4 Luka drives on Sam, cut off from the hoop. Marcus helps, Luka passes out to the perimeter

3:49 Q1 Celtics up 26-14 Mavericks timeout

after TO Luka doesn't immediately hunt Hauser until

#5 2:33 Luka bullies Hauser down to the block. Hits a 10' step-back fade-away banker
#6 :36 Luka dribbles into the lane against Hauser and hits a 8' fadeaway from the middle.

Celtics end Q1 up 34-23

Q2
#7 Dinwiddie hunts SAM, Hauser stops him from getting into the lane. Passes out
#8 Dinwiddie gets the ball on Hauser at the 3pt line. Tries to shake him, doesn't bother driving. Passes the ball to Wood
#9 Dinwiddie drives hard on Hauser, stopped at the rim, with Al's help. SD passes out for a bricked 3 from Wood
#10 (after a TO, designed play) Dinwiddie gets the inbound drives right into Sam's body, gets the whistle and hits the 8'
#11 Dinwiddie has the ball 1-1 on Hauser at the top. Tries to shake. Nothing. Passes to Wood

Sam leaves the floor at 7:35 of Q2 Celtics up 50-33

Luka hunted Hauser 6X in Q1 when the game was somewhat tight. LD came away with 4pts in a 6-minute span.
Dinwiddie came away with 2pts on Hauser when he had him 5X

Q3
Hauser enters 5:21
#12 Luka immediately hunts Hauser. Drives. Sam fouls him on the floor.
#13 Luka bullies Hauser down to the block. Passes it out for a Corner3
#14 Finney Smith catches the ball out high w.a little momentum and easily goes by Hauser for a lay up
#15 Luka bullies him into the lane. Luka charged and ran over Sam, he falls to the ground. Luka misses shot
#16 Luka works Sam into the lane, tries several pump fakes, hits a 10' fade-away

Luka gets 2pts on hunting Hauser 4X in the 2nd half

Hauser doesn't play again until garbage time

Hauser got hunted by Luka 10X. Luka was 3-5 & scored 6pts on SAM.
Luka is the most dominant offensive player in the NBA. Hauser held his own against a red-hot Luka that scored 42pts yesterday.

Over 20% into the season and see no evidence that Sam Hauser will get played off the floor.
Fantastic work. Good to see it in detail to refute the eye memory. I still think that it was about as tough a defensive game as he has had, and it was still pretty fvcking good.

Good stuff, BH. Thanks. It looked to me that the Mavericks insistence to hunt Sam took the entire team out of any kind of rhythm.
This too. It seemed to kill the offense for a while.

The key is to not overexpose Hauser in this type of matchup. Once Doncic figured Hauser out he could pretty much do what he wanted……which he does against most anyone. Overall, Hauser did a more than admirable job.
He did more than enough. Of course Luka figured him out. Guy is a savant. But Sam did just fine.
 

Jimbodandy

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2006
11,405
around the way
I'm not even sure ANYONE could handle that one-legged fadeaway midrange- you want Doncic taking those tough shots, but he sunk a LOT of those.
Oh absolutely. Can't really stop those.

It's that drive where he spins off and/or backs you down. Guess wrong, and he walks in for a layup or draws the foul and gets an easy and-1. There were a couple of those, but not an onslaught.

If he's taking fallaways outside of 8 feet, you did your job.
 

Euclis20

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2004
8,017
Imaginationland
Here was Luka's shot chart:

58097

Luka was 10-13 on 2 point jump shots from more than 10 feet out. That's what you want him taking, sometimes they just keep going in.
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
More like a different time zone.
Jayson Tatum when defended by Luka Doncic: 15 PTS, 5-8 FG, 1:57 matchup time

Luka when defended by Tatum: 2 PTS, 1-2 FG, 2 TO, 1 BLK, 1:12

Defensive data is imperfect. But NBA tracking had Celtics scoring 31 points on 12-19 FG vs Luka.

Tatum allowed 6 points on 3-5 FG, 2 BLK
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Jayson Tatum when defended by Luka Doncic: 15 PTS, 5-8 FG, 1:57 matchup time

Luka when defended by Tatum: 2 PTS, 1-2 FG, 2 TO, 1 BLK, 1:12

Defensive data is imperfect. But NBA tracking had Celtics scoring 31 points on 12-19 FG vs Luka.

Tatum allowed 6 points on 3-5 FG, 2 BLK
The real MVP of the NBA? Anyone who gets Luka switched on to him.
 

wade boggs chicken dinner

Member
SoSH Member
Mar 26, 2005
30,494
Here was Luka's shot chart:



Luka was 10-13 on 2 point jump shots from more than 10 feet out. That's what you want him taking, sometimes they just keep going in.
I think the Cs were more than happy to let Luka shoot as many 2Ps as he could from more than 10+'. The Cs made 45 baskets and DAL made 44. But as the math goes, DAL is going to have to make a lot more baskets when the Cs are hitting 3Ps and FTs while Luka is making 2Ps.

Plus it seems like the more energy Luka has to spend on offense, the less he does on defense.

Math is fun!
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
That deserves at least an Oscar nomination for best short subject documentary.
I had to laugh at the tone of his voice, at first I thought it had to be a PO'd Mavs fan. BUT he's done it for a bunch of NBA teams. Some of his criticism was really picky, he'd fit in well in the Cellar

Hoping for a similar Celtics performance against another top Western Conf team today

Oh no I had to look... he ripped into the Celtics :eek: after the Bulls game

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDOUnq0O9BY
 

Imbricus

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 26, 2017
4,810
I had to laugh at the tone of his voice, at first I thought it had to be a PO'd Mavs fan.
The tone of voice is great. Sounds like he's being made to suffer innumerable idiocies. It was interesting that, in the Celtics clip, he only picked on Hauser twice I think (though Sam doesn't play as much, true). Once he was criticizing Hauser because DeRozan backed him up a little, then took a three-pointer, but that felt a bit off base to me. For one, DeRozan isn't generally a great three-point shooter, and also if you're Sam Hauser, your bigger concern there is DeRozan blowing by you.
 

Jimbodandy

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2006
11,405
around the way
This reminds me of the videos I used to make before I started "actually doing real stuff" instead of sitting on my computer making highlight videos lol.
I enjoyed your videos immensely fwiw.

I had to laugh at the tone of his voice, at first I thought it had to be a PO'd Mavs fan. BUT he's done it for a bunch of NBA teams. Some of his criticism was really picky, he'd fit in well in the Cellar

Hoping for a similar Celtics performance against another top Western Conf team today

Oh no I had to look... he ripped into the Celtics :eek: after the Bulls game

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDOUnq0O9BY
If he shat on the Cs defense after the Bulls game, that's more credibility. That performance was embarrassing.
 

TripleOT

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 4, 2007
7,758
The tone of voice is great. Sounds like he's being made to suffer innumerable idiocies. It was interesting that, in the Celtics clip, he only picked on Hauser twice I think (though Sam doesn't play as much, true). Once he was criticizing Hauser because DeRozan backed him up a little, then took a three-pointer, but that felt a bit off base to me. For one, DeRozan isn't generally a great three-point shooter, and also if you're Sam Hauser, your bigger concern there is DeRozan blowing by you.
He reminds me of an exasperated coach in a video session. This is great stuff though. If you’re more than a casual fan and you want to understand the specifics on how to defend NBA sets, this guy would be a good person to check out.
 

Jimbodandy

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2006
11,405
around the way
He reminds me of an exasperated coach in a video session. This is great stuff though. If you’re more than a casual fan and you want to understand the specifics on how to defend NBA sets, this guy would be a good person to check out.
I'm old enough and did play at a high enough level to endure a video walkthrough. But I'm quite certain that all of the coaches that I ever had would have sounded exasperated in film sessions. They were exasperated most of the time.

Regarding tonight's game, it's awesome that this team can play a decent opponent and only try on defense for 2.5 quarters and still enjoy some garbage time minutes. Fun game.
 

Jakarta

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 18, 2020
241
It feels like PP has played himself into a regular role. I would like to see him getting 10-12 minutes a night, as he seems to have figured out how to positively impact the game even when his shot isn’t falling by getting offensive rebounds, deflections, and pushing the ball at every opportunity. Where those minutes come from is the issue.

Was also surprised Kornet didn’t get a chance earlier in the game. The Kings had 26 points on the paint in the second quarter and I believe most of those came when the Celtics played Grant and JT as the big guys. CJM may have worried about the Kings speed against Kornet, so perhaps defensible as an initial strategy, but once it became a layup line I thought Kornet could’ve come in to help sort that out.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
It feels like PP has played himself into a regular role. I would like to see him getting 10-12 minutes a night, as he seems to have figured out how to positively impact the game even when his shot isn’t falling by getting offensive rebounds, deflections, and pushing the ball at every opportunity. Where those minutes come from is the issue.

Was also surprised Kornet didn’t get a chance earlier in the game. The Kings had 26 points on the paint in the second quarter and I believe most of those came when the Celtics played Grant and JT as the big guys. CJM may have worried about the Kings speed against Kornet, so perhaps defensible as an initial strategy, but once it became a layup line I thought Kornet could’ve come in to help sort that out.
Ha, you hit exactly the points I wanted to.

Wrt PP: regular season defense is all about energy and attention to detail. He does both. He also has quick feet and pressures the ball, which negate "just shoot over him" for all but the best players. His perimeter defense is legitimately solid.

Where do his minutes come from? Joe may have found something with Brogdon+Smart+PP, where Smart can easily play up as a wing, and you play Horford or Kornet for interior size.

I really disliked the Grant/Tatum at C lineup. I understand the theory (no Sabonis = no real C for Sac), but you have to play full intensity perimeter D in that case...and, well, lol.

Kornet at C lets you play with regular season focus and not have a parade to the rim. Joe M has forgotten more about basketball than I'll ever know, so I doubt this will be lost on him.
 

Imbricus

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 26, 2017
4,810
I just watched the first half and highlights. Most dispiriting was when the Celtics got beaten by cutters and then just stood around staring at each other, like "Whose man was that?" It was a bad look. I know Jaylen got burned at least twice when he wasn't paying enough attention.

It sounds like Pritch and Kornet gave the team a real shot in the arm in the second half. I was kind of laughing about Brad's excessive fondness for Kornet earlier in the season, but no more. No one will ever accuse Kornet of being graceful exactly, but he has shown some good instincts on offense and his shot blocking is a lot better than I expected.

If I were Brad, I would still be looking for a big man, to replace Vonleh or Griffin, but there's no urgency at the moment.
 

Eddie Jurak

canderson-lite
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2002
44,475
Melrose, MA
That was a crazy game - in fact, it was pretty much three different games in one. The Kings came in at 10-7, having just had a 7-game win streak snapped by the Hawks on Wednesday. As much of a laughingstock as the KIngs usually are, this game looked like a dangerous one for the C's, coming against an improved opponent who might be eager tog et a new win streak going.

The Celtics came out in the first quarter firing on all cylinders and basically ran the Kings off the court. After one the score was 36-22, behind balanced scoring: Tatum, Brown, and White each had 8 and Al had 6. The Celtics played with pace and their defense forced 10 Kings turnovers. The game began with a terrible shooting display by both teams but the Celtics finished the quarter at nearly 50% from the field while the KIngs shooting remained awful. The officiating in this game was not great, and the first example of that came in the first quarter and favored the Celtics. With D'Aaron Fox pushing the ball, Derrick White tried to catch him from behind and go for a steal. But he tripped Fox in the process and the refs missed it. While the Kings bitched about the non-call Marcus Smart picked up the loose ball and lobbed it down the court to White who had an easy layup. The officials compounded their error by calling technicals on Fox and the Kings coach.

Having gotten themselves ahead by 14, it was time for the "second game." The Celtics noticeably relaxed, their defensive intesity and focus wavered, and though they shot it well (nearly 50% again), it was the Kings who ran them off the court, outscoring the Celtics 40-28 and going into halftime down by just two. The refs were making marginal calls, and the Celtics let it distract them. After a marginal call on Grant (or a missed call) in the Celtics offensive end, Grant, he spent the whole trip back down the court bitching at one of the officials about the call. He was so focused on his bitching that at mid court he collied with a Kings player and both fell down, after which Grant got back up and resumed his bitching at the ref like nothing had happened. I was suprised he wasn't whistled for a foul. Despite his focus on the ref, Grant does get himself into defensive position, blocks a shot out of bounds, and then he stares/gestures at the ref who calls a tech. In Karalis' post-game podcast he said he saw Derrick White talking to the ref after this call, and he lip-read the ref saying "the whole trip back," which seemed like a reference to Grant's bitching.

Also worth noting, Mazzulla used an 8-man rotation in the first half, with only Grant, Hauser, and Brogdon coming off the bench. He did the same thing against Dallas, after not playing Kornet in the second half of the Chicago loss.

For most of the third quarter, the Celtics cleaned up their defensive act a bit but were still overly focused on the officiating and not really on their game. The Kings took the lead, and with 4 minutes left they were up by 6, 84-78, and looked reasonably in control of the game. At the same time, the Celtics were in foul trouble. Brown, who had 3 fouls in the first half, picked up his 4th early in the third and only played 2:29 in the quarter. Smart also picked up his 4th. And with 3:50 left, Celtics down 84-78, Jayson Tatum was called for an offensive foul, his 4th. This looked like it was going to be a kind of repeat of an early season loss to CHicago or Cleveland where the Celtics raced out to a big first quarter lead and then fell apart and lost.

But at 3:12, Tatum is fouled and hits both free throws to cut the lead to 4. More importantly, Mazzulla inserts Payton Prltchard and Luke Kornet into the game at this point, their first action of the night. The Celtics went with a unit of Tatum, Brogdon, Hauser, Pritchard, and Kornet. Whether Mazzulla went with this unit because Brown, Smart, and Tatum were all in foul trouble or because he wanted to see some energy on the floor, it was as if an immediate switch had been flipped. Pritchard got an ovation from the crowd just for checking in (I assume they weren't cheering for Kornet), and the Celtics went on an amazing tear, closing out the final 3:12 of the quarter with a 16-0 run that put them up by 10 headed into the fourth. Tatum had 7 points, Pritchard 5, and Brogdon and Kornet each had 2.

The fourth quarter was more of the same for the Celtics, as they ultimately pushed their lead up to 27 points before Sacramento waved the white flag and the benches were emptied by both coaches. Marcus Smart closed out a 39-6 run with a pair of free throws that put the Celtics up 117-90. Protchard finished with 9 points and a rebound in 15 minutes including garbage time, Kornet had 4 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks in about 13 minutes. Those aren't huge numbers but what a shift their entry into the game triggered. Not sure I have seen anything quite like it.

Tatum scored 30 points to lead the team, all in the first 3 quarters (he played only 2 minutes in the fourth). He added 8 rebounds, 4 assists, 1 block against 3 turnovers. Brown scored 25 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals vs 1 turnover. White had 16 points and 3 steals, Al had 13 points, 5 assists, 2 blocks.

Marcus Smart had a forgettable game. He scored 4 points, all from the line. He did have 4 rebounds and 5 assists, but he also had 4 turnovers. He was in a zone for the few games before his injury, but was very much out of that zone tonight.Grant also had a rough game: 2 points, both from the line, 1 rebound, 2 assists, and the aforementioned block. He very much needs to lean how to shut his fucking piehole and focus on the game instead of the officials. He is much improved as a basketball player this year, but his theatrics are detrimental.

Brogdon and Hauser were OK. Brogdon had 8 points, 4 assists, 2 steals and a block, though his shot was not falling on drives (3 of 9, 1 of 6 from 2). He was one the floor for the big run. Hauser was too. He shot 3 of 6, all from three, and added 3 rebounds and an assist.

But the major bench contributions were from Kornet and Pritchard.

There were also Jackson, Vonleh, and JD sightings at the end.
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
One upside: Grant's incessant & embarrassing bitchin' to the Refs probably turns Tatum off from doing it. JT has cooled it a bit with his arm-flapping after rim run misses.

Also maybe somebody whispered in Jayson's ear and told him T's are costing him MVP votes
 
Last edited:

Jakarta

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 18, 2020
241
Ha, you hit exactly the points I wanted to.

Wrt PP: regular season defense is all about energy and attention to detail. He does both. He also has quick feet and pressures the ball, which negate "just shoot over him" for all but the best players. His perimeter defense is legitimately solid.

Where do his minutes come from? Joe may have found something with Brogdon+Smart+PP, where Smart can easily play up as a wing, and you play Horford or Kornet for interior size.
Agree on PP being less of an issue defensively because of his ball pressure and hustle.

I think his minutes can come from a combination of JT, JB, Smart, and Grant (2-3 minutes from each), plus hopefully a bit more regular garbage time opportunities. I think PP really benefits from playing with JT (everyone does but PP gets a lot of catch and shoot opportunists from JT) so I think I would want those 2 on the court together. I bet we see more of that Kornet/JT/Hauser/Brogdon/PP lineup.