2023-24 Celtics

[Euclis20]

I'm team this. Call the fuck out of flops. There were two tonight; it added a couple of minutes to the game. I'll take that, for trying to enforce that nonsense away.

I'd still prefer that players simply get assessed technical fouls after the game, when league officials have time to review the tape. It won't change anything immediately, but with players closing in on their 16th technical foul (and a game suspension) much quicker than in prior years, I think you'll see behavior change. I hate having to give the refs yet another thing to look for.

 

[reggiecleveland]

I couldn't disagree more on the flopping. it'll be ugly for a few weeks but if they stick with it guys will just stop flopping. the flopping is way worse to watch than technical free throws

word

 

[djbayko]

hopefully the influence on the game is only a few weeks. like when they started enforcing the kick thing when guys shoot, you don't see that anymore. it isn't like refs are calling unnatural shooting motions all the time (they do but it's rare ish now)

Agreed. I hope they stick with it instead of tailing off and having that be obvious to the players. Would post-game reviews be better? Perhaps. But this is what we've got, and if it doesn't work, I'm not confident that we'll get another permutation anytime soon.

What happened to when the league announced they were going to fine flops post-game way back when? That obviously failed.

 

[Jakarta]

I LOVED that game from JT. The added strength and post up game gives him a real weapon when teams put a smaller guy on him and try to take away his space on the perimeter. I also thought he was excellent as picking his spots to be aggressive and when to defer to others. Looked very engaged on defense. A very mature game.

 

[reggiecleveland]

I LOVED that game from JT. The added strength and post up game gives him a real weapon when teams put a smaller guy on him and try to take away his space on the perimeter. I also thought he was excellent as picking his spots to be aggressive and when to defer to others. Looked very engaged on defense. A very mature game.

I'll say it again as a score he reminds me of Bird. Too much range and skill for a big to handle and just shoots over small quick guys, usually with a turn around.
To me if they run more Jruw and Jalen can score early and Tatum and KP in the halfcourt could see all 4 guys get acceptable number of shots. They didn't rebound well enough to get out and run tonight.

 

[lovegtm]

Surprising stats from the box score, Jaylen led the team in assists with 5 and only had two turnovers (both of which happened in one mind numbingly bad minute). He also had the second best +/- at +8.

Jaylen had a great stretch in the 3rd, where he led the unit with White and got the lead to 9 going into the 4th. (I think those were big Hauser+Kornet minutes too).

He also did a good job on the ball in general at the point of attack.

The Celtics D looks monstrous overall, and that was masked by the Knicks hitting everything from three until the final 2 minutes. Still overhelping at weird times, but I'll chalk that up to early season.

It's a really long season, and it's going to take 15-30 games for them to really figure things out offensively by the looks of it. The talent is there, but the rhythm/chemistry is absolutely not.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

The biggest problem with the new flopping rules is that it gives the refs even more things to think about and more ways to mess things up.

I'd prefer the refs focus on not sucking. If they see a flop, don't fall for it. Move on.

These clowns don't need even more influence on the game. It's bad enough as it is.

The one called against the Knicks came on a play where it looked to me like a Knick put up a three, landed on a Celtic's foot and went down, and ended up getting called. Since a league point of emphasis in past years has been allowing shooters to land, this feels like it was a bad missed call compounded by the ref deciding it was a flop.

I guess the league still misses too many elbows to the head and the like for me to be confident that we're not going to see things like Tatum getting elbowed in the head (not seen) and then whistled for a flop.

Jaylen has always looked less instinctual and more mechanical than Tatum (and definitely more than Holiday or Porzingis), it makes sense that it will take him longer to adjust to the new offense than the others. We've got plenty of time.

In the preseason game thread someone asked who would be considered the 2nd best player on this team. I'm not sure who that will be, but I do know that Porzingis should be involved in every crunch time action because his mere presence creates mismatches. Him and Tatum are going to be excellent together offensively, health permitting.

This was not a good game for anyone thinking the Celtics bench depth will be fine (4 points outside of the top 6 guys, 2 of which were the closing free throws by Pritchard). If Hauser and Pritchard aren't hitting their open 3s, they are both deeply negative players. It's not that they can't provide anything else (Pritchard can run the offense a bit and Hauser is great for spacing), but when they aren't scoring, it's clear just how big of a downgrade it is going from Brogdon/Grant those two (Kornet also provided almost nothing).

I think they need 2 things:

1. Run some actual plays for Brown, esepcially early in games, to get him involved.
2. More ball movement on offense, to create more open catch and shoot looks.

I agree that the bench needs work. Whether changes in personnel, or groups that play toghether, or whatever it mostly did not do the job. White and Horford getting into early foul trouble might have messed up some of the rotations.

Horford did have a key stretch in the 3rd, when KP went out with his 4th foul and Al hit a couple of threes.

Smart play by Pritchard at the very end, when the Celtics needed to inbound the ball. Pritchard went to the backcourt to take a defender with him, but the Knicks had good coverage on the other three Celtics. Pritchard went to the ball, giving Tatum an option, and was immediately fouled.

NYK crashing for rebounds lead to more than a few OReb but also lead to several run-outs.

Someone should do a study on Oreb vs. fast break points given up and figure out whether "crashing the glass" makes sense.

At a glance, being outshot 97-77 at least suggests that the lack of defensive rebounding was a problem.

I LOVED that game from JT. The added strength and post up game gives him a real weapon when teams put a smaller guy on him and try to take away his space on the perimeter. I also thought he was excellent as picking his spots to be aggressive and when to defer to others. Looked very engaged on defense. A very mature game.

I liked parts of it. His first basket came when, in transition, a smaller guy picked him up around the free throw line and Tatum just bullied him. The rest of it looked more like Tatum from last year. (Not a bad thing by any means).

The best part of this game for me was, still, KP at both ends of the floor. I think they would have been beaten easily if not for what KP did to the Knicks in the defensive end.

 

[lovegtm]

The one called against the Knicks came on a play where it looked to me like a Knick put up a three, landed on a Celtic's foot and went down, and ended up getting called. Since a league point of emphasis in past years has been allowing shooters to land, this feels like it was a bad missed call compounded by the ref deciding it was a flop.

I guess the league still misses too many elbows to the head and the like for me to be confident that we're not going to see things like Tatum getting elbowed in the head (not seen) and then whistled for a flop.

I think they need 2 things:

1. Run some actual plays for Brown, esepcially early in games, to get him involved.
2. More ball movement on offense, to create more open catch and shoot looks.

I agree that the bench needs work. Whether changes in personnel, or groups that play toghether, or whatever it mostly did not do the job. White and Horford getting into early foul trouble might have messed up some of the rotations.

Horford did have a key stretch in the 3rd, when KP went out with his 4th foul and Al hit a couple of threes.

Smart play by Pritchard at the very end, when the Celtics needed to inbound the ball. Pritchard went to the backcourt to take a defender with him, but the Knicks had good coverage on the other three Celtics. Pritchard went to the ball, giving Tatum an option, and was immediately fouled.

At a glance, being outshot 97-77 at least suggests that the lack of defensive rebounding was a problem.

I liked parts of it. His first basket came when, in transition, a smaller guy picked him up around the free throw line and Tatum just bullied him. The rest of it looked more like Tatum from last year. (Not a bad thing by any means).

The best part of this game for me was, still, KP at both ends of the floor. I think they would have been beaten easily if not for what KP did to the Knicks in the defensive end.

Agree that KP's defense kept them in the game despite the 3-point and rebounding disparity.

To me, that shows the value of a C who is actually in position a lot as a C, and less as a weakside roamer. He doesn't get Rob's out-of-nowhere blocks, but he's also just better positioned in the action more often.

 

[CoffeeNerdness]

The one called against the Knicks came on a play where it looked to me like a Knick put up a three, landed on a Celtic's foot and went down, and ended up getting called. Since a league point of emphasis in past years has been allowing shooters to land, this feels like it was a bad missed call compounded by the ref deciding it was a flop.

Right, the more bad flop calls that occur the more gun shy they'll be to make the calls. We see across sports/leagues that points of emphasis always peak in the first x% of games and then tail off as the season goes on and I have little doubt that come March there will be plenty of flopping and very few flop calls. Post game techs + fines escalating with each infraction is what I'd like to see.

Also, the NBA needs to adopt a version of the NFL's eye in the sky so a dedicated group of officials can reduce the time it takes to assess a dude getting elbowed in the face, etc. The refs huddled around a circa '08 16" monitor for five minutes at a time is exhausting.

 

[CoffeeNerdness]

A quick look at r/NBA for flop calls yesterday:

Lu Dort:
View: https://streamable.com/bnw2td


Darius Garland:
View: https://streamable.com/9aft19


Josh Okogie fined $2k post-game so they are doing that as well:

View: https://twitter.com/NBAOfficial/status/1717284909025259896

 

[lovegtm]

Those looked like pretty good calls.

The Garland one, in particular, was egregious. He got bumped in the shoulder and immediately snapped his head back.

 

[benhogan]

Also, the NBA needs to adopt a version of the NFL's eye in the sky so a dedicated group of officials can reduce the time it takes to assess a dude getting elbowed in the face

100% agree. Add a damn monitor ref to get things moving along. Having an on-court game ref look at a TV screen on the sidelines of an arena is an inefficient use of technology. Plus you take away the obvious biases if there was an incorrect call made

Creates another job for a ref, so the Union should like that.

 

[BringBackMo]

Fwiw I enjoyed that CJM and staff seemed to manage a nice flow to the game. Overall good timeout choices, went deep into the bench, didn't let negative runs go too far.

Love the ceiling of this team at both ends. They managed set defense well for most of the night and transition defense all night. They ran a lot, very uptempo. Lots of good looks, even though Sam and PP couldn't shoot. Half court offense is a work in progress for sure. Some of that is the refs eating whistles tonight, which is great, but sets will struggle with street rules.

Nice job finishing. Big national TV game for tne Knicks, everyone there, joint jumping, still the good guys won.

We’ll said. It was a frustrating game to watch at times but the C’s pulling it out on the road against a scrappy and motivated opponent while working to integrate new players is, overall, encouraging.

 

[Red Right Ankle]

100% agree. Add a damn monitor ref to get things moving along. Having an on-court game ref look at a TV screen on the sidelines of an arena is an inefficient use of technology. Plus you take away the obvious biases if there was an incorrect call made

Creates another job for a ref, so the Union should like that.

For flop reviews with a monitor ref, is there even a reason to stop the game until the call is made and there is a stoppage? Set up 2 lights (one for the home team, one away) or something so everyone knows a T is coming (and who it is on) at the next stoppage.

 

[BaseballJones]

Those looked like pretty good calls.

The Garland one, in particular, was egregious. He got bumped in the shoulder and immediately snapped his head back.

I said years ago that if I was a ref, I'd tell the players at the start of the game that I'd T up anyone doing that head snap thing. If you got fouled, I'll call it. If you didn't, I won't. But doing THAT will only earn you a T, so don't do it.

 

[TripleOT]

The bench players not being able to make easy, open shots early, and the second unit letting Celtic Killer Quickley loose let control of this game slip away from the Celtics. On a team top heavy with talent, and a low volume scorer like Horford as the sixth man, it’s going to be important to establish a scorer for the beginning of the second quarter, whether it be a bench player, which is unlikely, or one of the Jays getting a free hand to go off. Hopefully, this isn’t an indicator of future troubles from the bench.

Kornet isn’t going to be the answer as the third big if he plays like he did in the opener. I’d like to see a higher energy big like Queta, especially if Hauser and PP are going to throw up bricks.

Boston doesn’t win this one if Randle and Brunson didn’t go a hideous 11-43 with only one made FT.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

I said years ago that if I was a ref, I'd tell the players at the start of the game that I'd T up anyone doing that head snap thing. If you got fouled, I'll call it. If you didn't, I won't. But doing THAT will only earn you a T, so don't do it.

I think the problem is that the head snap is often what draws the refs attention, even when there is legit contact.

 

[MyDaughterLovesTomGordon]

I hate the headsnap - or as I call it, the Trae Young - a lot. I’m pretty psyched they’re at least trying to get rid of it. Unfortunately, I think it’s trained into a lot of guys and they’re doing it subconsciously at this point. But, well, lol boo hoo.

 

[CreightonGubanich]

The glass half empty version of last night's game is that the ball didn't move much at all. The drive-and-kick game was non-existent, and the offense settled into ISO and mismatch basketball for most of the game. It wasn't pretty to watch, and the game felt disjointed.

The glass half full version of that is that the Celtics now have the offensive options to beat a really good defensive team without the pretty motion and ball movement offense. In the past, that game would have bogged down into running everything through Tatum, with him getting trapped repeatedly, and ended with lots of missed jumpers from Marcus Smart.

With Tatum's emerging post game, and Porzingis on the floor, and spacing much improved, they can attack a set defense in so many different ways.

If the offense continues to look like that for 25 games, I'll be concerned that they're not maximizing the sum of their parts, but they're integrating two important pieces into the starting lineup. I think they'll figure it out, just like I think Jaylen will be fine.

Defensively, they look like a monster. The ability of Jrue, White, and Tatum to guard their guy aggressively out to the three point line because Porzingis is behind them is going to make a huge difference.

 

[benhogan]

I hate the headsnap - or as I call it, the Trae Young - a lot. I’m pretty psyched they’re at least trying to get rid of it. Unfortunately, I think it’s trained into a lot of guys and they’re doing it subconsciously at this point. But, well, lol boo hoo.

It's going to hurt NBA Grifters like Trae, Harden, Austin Reaves, etc.

Inversely it will help the bigger, stronger rim runners like Bron, Giannis, Jaylen, Tatum who play through contact

 

[lovegtm]

The glass half empty version of last night's game is that the ball didn't move much at all. The drive-and-kick game was non-existent, and the offense settled into ISO and mismatch basketball for most of the game. It wasn't pretty to watch, and the game felt disjointed.

The glass half full version of that is that the Celtics now have the offensive options to beat a really good defensive team without the pretty motion and ball movement offense. In the past, that game would have bogged down into running everything through Tatum, with him getting trapped repeatedly, and ended with lots of missed jumpers from Marcus Smart.

With Tatum's emerging post game, and Porzingis on the floor, and spacing much improved, they can attack a set defense in so many different ways.

If the offense continues to look like that for 25 games, I'll be concerned that they're not maximizing the sum of their parts, but they're integrating two important pieces into the starting lineup. I think they'll figure it out, just like I think Jaylen will be fine.

Defensively, they look like a monster. The ability of Jrue, White, and Tatum to guard their guy aggressively out to the three point line because Porzingis is behind them is going to make a huge difference.

I think they'll solve it faster than this, but I'd even give them 40-50 games to really dial the offense in.

They opted for disruption over continuity, and upgraded talent a lot in the process. But that does have a cost in terms of initial chemistry.

 

[Jed Zeppelin]

We'll see how the flopping thing goes.

I would be in favor of a team technical called when the entire 5-man unit on the floor raises their hands over their head in dismay at a foul call. Ten hands over head height after a whistle = instant T. End the endless collective whining.

 

[CoffeeNerdness]

The NBA decided to go with the STEM acronym for some reason: “secondary, theatrical and exaggerated movements”

Nobody decided to mention it's already been taken.

 

[Batman Likes The Sox]

A couple thoughts last night thinking about 22-23:

-There were two or three times when Tatum got fouled driving and then immediately started his plea to the refs only to find that they were already calling the foul. In my opinion he was complaining too much in the past but also was not getting some clear calls. Is 23-24 the year of all-star level foul calling in favor of Tatum, finally?

-Celtics went down 8 late almost entirely as the result of two back-to-back very poor passes from Brown, one even worse on the inbound. But then instead of trying to save the day with tough shots, which is what I was expecting based on observations in 22-23, it seemed like Brown put his head down in a good way and defended hard and got some rebounds, helping to solidify the comeback. Was impressed.

-It’s only game one for all of these things but there seemed to be a lot more between-play cohesion on the floor. By this, I mean I saw very few examples of faces expressing frustration after talking to each other and more examples of head nodding to each other, even when the exchange shown was demonstrative in its instruction. Porzingis seemed to be a big part of this but so was Jrue in many cases. Improved team chemistry?

 

[Justthetippett]

The bench players not being able to make easy, open shots early, and the second unit letting Celtic Killer Quickley loose let control of this game slip away from the Celtics. On a team top heavy with talent, and a low volume scorer like Horford as the sixth man, it’s going to be important to establish a scorer for the beginning of the second quarter, whether it be a bench player, which is unlikely, or one of the Jays getting a free hand to go off. Hopefully, this isn’t an indicator of future troubles from the bench.

Kornet isn’t going to be the answer as the third big if he plays like he did in the opener. I’d like to see a higher energy big like Queta, especially if Hauser and PP are going to throw up bricks.

Boston doesn’t win this one if Randle and Brunson didn’t go a hideous 11-43 with only one made FT.

And the game isn't this close if the Cs shoot better from 3. I think each team had its outlier aspects.

The bench to me is the real issue. It was jarring after so many years of depth to see the difference last night. They'll need to get more out of their sub-units, and I wonder if we see more Brissett and Blanton as things move along or if Hauser continues to struggle shooting. KP also can't play 40 minutes/night.

 

[tims4wins]

As much fun as it might have been (and will be at some point soon, hopefully) seeing them rip off a 30-40 point win over one of the dregs of the league, I think going on the road against a 2nd round playoff team and not seeing shots fall and not having your bench contribute and falling behind by 6 or 8 late and then closing strong to pull out the win... that has to be a positive in the long run. I guess it might be a case of glass half full vs. glass half empty, but it seems more likely than not that they shoot better than they did last night more often than not, that they get more out of the bench than they did last night more often than not, etc. When they fell behind late I thought they were going to fold. It showed maturity and confidence to me that they buckled down and got it done. YMMV.

 

[teddykgb]

It’s a good win over a tough team. For me a few things to watch for:

1. I still don’t like the offense. We brought in a very good point guard and barely had him initiate the offense. Way too much time spent in the corner watching guys dribble. They will be at their best using the extremely talented 5 as all viable scoring options and that evaporates when they dribble out the shot clock and park guys in corners to iso. It’s a habit they really need to focus on breaking. Tatum needs to be a guy who can get a bucket against anyone at any time. Everyone else needs to be moving the ball and themselves constantly to create space and mismatches. And they need the ball going through Porzingis as much as possible. Either in his hands or with screens. From preseason and this game you can clearly see that his size and shooting puts a ton of pressure on defenses and everyone will benefit if they commit to it

2. Rebounding. They didn’t rebound well in preseason and didn’t rebound well last night. There’s a possibility of a lot of variance in this so I think it’s just something to pay attention to. It really made their life harder last night

3. Bench scoring. Obviously poor numbers. Maybe more concerning for me was that preseason Pritchard had returned to that highly dynamic defense warping player who was just moving everyone and drilling shots. The shots didn’t fall last night but he was also far more passive and struggled even when he tried to get into the lane. It’s just one game but it feels like we are expecting him to be able to create for himself and others now when he plays so he can’t just check in and play passively.

 

[kazuneko]

We'll see how the flopping thing goes.

I would be in favor of a team technical called when the entire 5-man unit on the floor raises their hands over their head in dismay at a foul call. Ten hands over head height after a whistle = instant T. End the endless collective whining.

Totally disagree.
NBA officiating sucks and probably always will. The game is just too fast-paced and the rules too ambiguous. As a result there are plenty of bad calls, which lead to plenty of upset reactions by players and fans. Too often these reactions lead to technicals, which simply compound the basic problem: mistakes by NBA refs have too much of an impact on wins and losses.
So yeah, I don’t give a crap about player whining; it’s just a natural reaction to a seemingly unfixable and frustrating aspect of the game that is only made worse by technical fouls. I mean, why should anyone but the refs themselves care about a guy throwing up his hands in frustration? And why -as a fan- should I care about the refs hurt feelings? Honestly , if they don’t like it they can find another job. These guys make a lot of money ($250-$500k a year) to work 6 months a year. If thats not a sweet enough gig for them to feel comfortable when players react emotionally to calls than I’m sure the NBA can find plenty of other candidates to replace them. Technicals should be reserved for violence and/or threatening or aggressive language; they never should be used for innocuous responses like a player “throwing up their hands”.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

-Celtics went down 8 late almost entirely as the result of two back-to-back very poor passes from Brown, one even worse on the inbound. But then instead of trying to save the day with tough shots, which is what I was expecting based on observations in 22-23, it seemed like Brown put his head down in a good way and defended hard and got some rebounds, helping to solidify the comeback. Was impressed.

I think right in the middle of this, Brown also had one of his typical mindless gaffes in the defensive zone. Randle was posting up Holiday (and Holiday was holding his own as he did most of the night) and Brown left his man, Brunson, open behind the arc to ineffectually double Randle. Randle passed it and Brunson buried the open three.

 

[nighthob]

The one called against the Knicks came on a play where it looked to me like a Knick put up a three, landed on a Celtic's foot and went down, and ended up getting called. Since a league point of emphasis in past years has been allowing shooters to land, this feels like it was a bad missed call compounded by the ref deciding it was a flop.

On the other hand Hartenstein wrapping Porzingis in a bear hug and then drawing a tech by throwing himself on the ground was equally bollixed. Put me on the “Assess flops postgame and add them to the season total techs”.

 

[bakahump]

Porzingis was interesting last night. "Complained" or rather "requested clarification" and expressed his disagreement and his agreement to disagree. Then would disarmingly smile.

Not your normal Celtics "issue with officals" reactions.

 

[luckiestman]

The one called against the Knicks came on a play where it looked to me like a Knick put up a three, landed on a Celtic's foot and went down, and ended up getting called. Since a league point of emphasis in past years has been allowing shooters to land, this feels like it was a bad missed call compounded by the ref deciding it was a flop.

It was a missed call but it was also an obvious flop or embellishment. He steps on the defender with his left foot and then jumps off his right foot like he is trying out for the US Men’s Olympic Diving Team.

 

[Auger34]

I think right in the middle of this, Brown also had one of his typical mindless gaffes in the defensive zone. Randle was posting up Holiday (and Holiday was holding his own as he did most of the night) and Brown left his man, Brunson, open behind the arc to ineffectually double Randle. Randle passed it and Brunson buried the open three.

I'm pretty sure that that's the play that was referenced (the 4 point play).

 

[Eddie Jurak]

I'm pretty sure that that's the play that was referenced (the 4 point play).

Right. Oops.

 

[Auger34]

I hate the headsnap - or as I call it, the Trae Young - a lot. I’m pretty psyched they’re at least trying to get rid of it. Unfortunately, I think it’s trained into a lot of guys and they’re doing it subconsciously at this point. But, well, lol boo hoo.

James Harden is IRATE that you won't give him any credit for his move. He's already asked to sit out the next Boston game no matter who he plays for so he doesn't have to put up with this type of negativity and hating.

(In all honesty, they both do it so frequently, I'll call it the Trames Youden)

 

[RorschachsMask]

One of the originators of the head snap was Pierce, and I loved it lol.

I love it less now.

 

[slamminsammya]

On the other hand Hartenstein wrapping Porzingis in a bear hug and then drawing a tech by throwing himself on the ground was equally bollixed. Put me on the “Assess flops postgame and add them to the season total techs”.

that play had nothing to do with flopping. it was a bad call but hartenstein did get a full force elbow to the chin.

 

[nighthob]

No, he did not. Hartenstein had him fully bearhugged, ‘Zingis couldn’t generate anything but incidental contact at that point.

 

[slamminsammya]

No, he did not. Hartenstein had him fully bearhugged, ‘Zingis couldn’t generate anything but incidental contact at that point.

you ever get an incidental elbow to the face from a guy who weighs 240?

 

[nighthob]

I mean when you have zero room to move it doesn’t really hurt (I’ve bearhugged people in brawls before, I know exactly what the victim can and can’t do).

 

[Jimbodandy]

I don't understand anyone who watched that interaction and doesn't think that Hartenstein embellished his reaction to the contact. When DiVincenzo pushed off on Porzingis at the other end with his extended elbow, the latter got a flop tech for obvious exaggeration. Both were physical contact with obvious flops. Call it or don't call it.

I'm on team nighthob that it would be better to enforce post facto.

 

[Van Everyman]

I’m just gonna say this right now as a poster who values the discussion and insights in this forum:

Health permitting, this team is likely to be exciting this year. Yes there are high expectations. And yes, there will be up’s and downs as they find their chemistry.

It would be really nice if we could actually stick to analyzing and enjoying sports again rather than having every conversation and discussion turn toxic and negative right off the bat the way it too often has in the Red Sox and Pats forums.

We all want them to win. Please show the courtesy and respect for other posters not to let your own frustrations ruin the discussion for everyone else.

Thank you.

 

[jmcc5400]

I’m just gonna say this right now as a poster who values the discussion and insights in this forum:

Health permitting, this team is likely to be exciting this year. Yes there are high expectations. And yes, there will be up’s and downs as they find their chemistry.

It would be really nice if we could actually stick to analyzing and enjoying sports again rather than having every conversation and discussion turn toxic and negative right off the bat the way it too often has in the Red Sox and Pats forums.

We all want them to win. Please show the courtesy and respect for other posters not to let your own frustrations ruin the discussion for everyone else.

Thank you.

With this request in mind, this is not intended to be a negative post. Did anyone else think subbing Pritchard for Porzingis on that last inbounds was a dubious decision? The positive, of course, was that it worked out and Pritchard got some pressure experience. But it seems to me that you want to have Porzingis in there as a safety valve if you have have trouble in-bounding, which they did. And, if anything went awry, you were left with an obvious weak link on defense in Pritchard for the Knicks to exploit.

 

[HomeRunBaker]

Players will only do what they can get away with. If the officials put forth an 82+ game commitment to eliminating flopping from the NBA game it WILL be done. It's going to take some time as these kids have developed habits over the years in trying to sell calls. Sure it's a little painful for awhile but long term, if the commitment is there.....I freakin love it! It's what is best for the game.

 

[128]

With this request in mind, this is not intended to be a negative post. Did anyone else think subbing Pritchard for Porzingis on that last inbounds was a dubious decision? The positive, of course, was that it worked out and Pritchard got some pressure experience. But it seems to me that you want to have Porzingis in there as a safety valve if you have have trouble in-bounding, which they did. And, if anything went awry, you were left with an obvious weak link on defense in Pritchard for the Knicks to exploit.

I'd love to hear Mazzulla's explanation for what was clearly an outside-the-box approach. Happily, it worked out, but it's not as if Porzingis is Poeltl at the line.

 

[Mooch]

Boston doesn’t win this one if Randle and Brunson didn’t go a hideous 11-43 with only one made FT.

Credit to Jrue and Derrick. They played excellent defense on those two most of the night and contested almost everything they put up.

 

[Eddie Jurak]

With this request in mind, this is not intended to be a negative post. Did anyone else think subbing Pritchard for Porzingis on that last inbounds was a dubious decision? The positive, of course, was that it worked out and Pritchard got some pressure experience. But it seems to me that you want to have Porzingis in there as a safety valve if you have have trouble in-bounding, which they did. And, if anything went awry, you were left with an obvious weak link on defense in Pritchard for the Knicks to exploit.

I assume Mazzulla thought that having Pritchard in was better for getting the ball inbounded successfully and then hitting free throws than Porzingis.

More interesting, after Pritchard hit the first, Mazzulla switched KP in for Brown. There was about 10 seconds left and some chance that NY would not use their time out. When NY did call their time out, Mazzulla switched Brown in for Pritchard.

 

[slamminsammya]

I assume Mazzulla thought that having Pritchard in was better for getting the ball inbounded successfully and then hitting free throws than Porzingis.

More interesting, after Pritchard hit the first, Mazzulla switched KP in for Brown. There was about 10 seconds left and some chance that NY would not use their time out. When NY did call their time out, Mazzulla switched Brown in for Pritchard.

agreed. they were out of timeouts so getting the ball in was the top priority. porzingis has the advantage of being huge but I still don't love the odds of having to toss up a jump ball to him just to get the ball in.

 

[teddykgb]

He wanted Porzingis in and with Pritchard at the line had to sub off his worst defender and live with Pritchard on the court if NY didn’t take a timeout.

I thought it was fine strategy to bring in Pritchard who is an excellent FT shooter in a situation where NY would be trapping and fouling. If you make 2 there the game is essentially over and pressure aside he’s probably the guy most likely to make both. I was surprised Doc was so surprised to be honest

 

[lovegtm]

I assume Mazzulla thought that having Pritchard in was better for getting the ball inbounded successfully and then hitting free throws than Porzingis.

More interesting, after Pritchard hit the first, Mazzulla switched KP in for Brown. There was about 10 seconds left and some chance that NY would not use their time out. When NY did call their time out, Mazzulla switched Brown in for Pritchard.

He may also think that Pritchard is a better outlet for the pass, since he's quicker. That's what ended up happening: PP was the only guy who could get open.