Analysis of Celtics Games, '21-'22 Season
- Thread starter Imbricus
- Start date
Starters crushing it of late, but it's really a 7 man team right now. Bench scorer would be nice. Can we fit Fournier in the Fournier TPE?
Net ratings for the starters in January are crazy lol, I’ll post the net ratings when they sit for added fun.
Smart +22.6/+0.9 when he sits
Rob +15.1/+3.1 when he sits
Tatum +15.1/-2.9 when he sits
Al +9.1/+9.2 when he sits
Jaylen +8.7/+10 when he sits
I think it was just 2 or 3 games that drag down Al and Jaylen there, otherwise they’d be right there with the other three. It’s been just flat out domination by the starters all month.
Smart +22.6/+0.9 when he sits
Rob +15.1/+3.1 when he sits
Tatum +15.1/-2.9 when he sits
Al +9.1/+9.2 when he sits
Jaylen +8.7/+10 when he sits
I think it was just 2 or 3 games that drag down Al and Jaylen there, otherwise they’d be right there with the other three. It’s been just flat out domination by the starters all month.
Save for his early shooting woes, Marcus Smart is having a very good season and some metrics have it as his best (defense and playmaking carrying most of the weight). January has been his best month shooting from distance - .381 and that was before the 4-7 vs the Heat.
Side note/ interesting thing to me is that Smart's FG% and 2P% are identical to last year despite his 3P% being down but its because - and you amongst others have highlighted it - he has altered his offense in favor of 2PA. Perhaps he reverts back to taking more 3PA if his shot starts to fall going forward but he should get credit for the adjustments he has made to his game.
From Forsberg, Cs currently have better chance to be in and win Finals than GSW! Nothing like a couple of blow-outs against short-handed teams to juice up the algorithms!
View: https://twitter.com/ChrisForsberg_/status/1488347194235179012
View: https://twitter.com/ChrisForsberg_/status/1488347194235179012
The 538 projections also have a big blinds pot on the Warriors because they project Wiseman to return, play 21 mpg in the playoffs, and be catastrophically bad. It’s certainly possibly he could either play those minutes or be that bad (the latter being a safer bet) but there is no universe where both are happening in the playoffs this year. The projection is also down on Klay and he currently is displacing players their model views as better. That seems right from a modeling perspective but is probably wrong. You shouldn’t expect a player coming back from a 2+ year absence to be good, but that doesn’t mean we should expect Klay to be bad. All that is to say, there are obvious reasons 538 is getting the Warriors wrong, reasons that have virtually nothing to do with the model’s belief that Boston is better than its record would indicate.
Didn't know that so thanks for pointing out. I just thought it was pretty funny.
Ime's maximizing the rotation at the moment, now that everyone's healthy. He's staying away from the Schroder-Smart pairing, which has worked well. Smart is secure in the primary facilitator role, while they look to get Jayson Tatum the ball in the middle of the floor, where he's spraying quick passes all over. It's starting to look like a functional offense. When Smart, Brown, Tatum, Horford and Rob share the floor, each player is a good defender, and offensively, each player is either a plus passer (Smart, Williams, Horford) or a primary scoring option (Brown Tatum). When they swap out a big for Richardson, it's the same story, and I like Richardson in the "connector" playmaker role.
On the other hand...it's February 1st and Udoka has essentially gone to an 8-man rotation. The lack of depth and/or confidence in the young guys is concerning.
On the other hand...it's February 1st and Udoka has essentially gone to an 8-man rotation. The lack of depth and/or confidence in the young guys is concerning.
I think also a big part of it is that GS is in the West which is more top heavy with the Suns/Jazz/Nuggets as 3 of the top 4 teams.
He doesn't do the first bolded enough, and the second bolded is at least in part an effective response to all the zone the C's have faced lately. We'll need to see more, but I agree the recent signs are encouraging so far.
So January was interesting. Yes we played mostly either bad or injured teams, but there were some encouraging trends (and some bad ones) that I think help us take stock with a week plus to the deadline:
Positives:
Since coming back in mid-January Marcus Smart is playing arguably his best basketball ever, minimizing bad shots, aggressively setting up others, great D.
Is AL's shooting quietly turning a corner? Second half of the month, Al went 10/26 from 3. Could well be a mirage, but an Al who shoots anything over 35% from 3 is suddenly a real asset again.
Ime has started phasing out Enes
Ime (mostly) has gone away from Schroder/Smart minutes
Romeo has developed a pretty consistent defensive game (especially on-ball)
Negatives:
Schroder and Marcus don't work at all, and Schroder w/ bench units has fallen off as well (in part because zone kills him)
Ime still has basically 7 guys in the rotation and minutes game to game seem to have no relation to performance in previous games
Nesmith is broken
PP has not shown the ability to be the backup PG on either end (admittedly in limited minutes).
ROmeo's offense is non-existent outside catch ad shoot 3s, and guys aren't finding him (he did hit 40% in January, and has broken 40% in 3 of 4 months).
Moving Forward:
I think the priorities at the deadline have to be:
1. Get under the tax
2. Move off Schroder.
3. Dig around for a bench PG who has some combination of (league average or better passing, 35%+ from 3 for career, not unplayable on D).
4. Dig around for a stretch big
Positives:
Since coming back in mid-January Marcus Smart is playing arguably his best basketball ever, minimizing bad shots, aggressively setting up others, great D.
Is AL's shooting quietly turning a corner? Second half of the month, Al went 10/26 from 3. Could well be a mirage, but an Al who shoots anything over 35% from 3 is suddenly a real asset again.
Ime has started phasing out Enes
Ime (mostly) has gone away from Schroder/Smart minutes
Romeo has developed a pretty consistent defensive game (especially on-ball)
Negatives:
Schroder and Marcus don't work at all, and Schroder w/ bench units has fallen off as well (in part because zone kills him)
Ime still has basically 7 guys in the rotation and minutes game to game seem to have no relation to performance in previous games
Nesmith is broken
PP has not shown the ability to be the backup PG on either end (admittedly in limited minutes).
ROmeo's offense is non-existent outside catch ad shoot 3s, and guys aren't finding him (he did hit 40% in January, and has broken 40% in 3 of 4 months).
Moving Forward:
I think the priorities at the deadline have to be:
1. Get under the tax
2. Move off Schroder.
3. Dig around for a bench PG who has some combination of (league average or better passing, 35%+ from 3 for career, not unplayable on D).
4. Dig around for a stretch big
I’ve been really disappointed with how Schroder and Smert don’t complement each other but Ime’s hands are kinda tied unless he plays (god no) more Nesmith or pairs Schroder with Pritchard, another probable bad idea. We’ll see what the deadline brings and/or removes.
He could get those minutes out of Langford and at least play competent defense as a team.
So you want less offense, which has been an issue all year, to improve a defense that is already one of the better in the league? Whose minutes do you want him replacing he be taking, Smart? That would be more rotational checkers which is bad enough with the two bigz.
PP is by far from a perfect player, so sure. But, I'm not sure they are going to easily find a PG who can shoot as well as he does, for a reasonable cost, that is demonstrably better than he is at the things he is not good at. His play, as of late, has certainly not been good. But, I also feel like his usage has been all over the place - and I don't think that's a good thing for any player, young or old.
I'm not sure Romeo hurts the offense of that pairing that much.
Last 15 games... Smart/Schroder pairing has an offensive rating of 89.9.
Last 3 months, Smart/Schroder is a net +3.8, 108.4 on offense, 104.6 on D.
Last 3 months Smart/Romeo is a net +4.7, 107.6 on offense, 103.0 on D.
And that includes December which was Romeo's worst month.
Maybe you could have made the case before teams started spamming us with zone, but Smart/Schroder together is the lineup getting MURDERED by zone D.
This years deadline is probably going to be similar to last years. Very few sellers. With the play in games a thing now, I'd say only OKC, Houston, Detroit, Orlando and maybe Indiana are clear sellers. Luckily, there are a few useful players there.
I'd be trying to move Horford at the deadline, but if the Celtics stay small they might be able to knock 1, 2 and 3 off the list in one move.
Would Detroit take Schroder(really the draft comp they'd get for moving him to a 3rd team) for Cory Joseph? Probably not quite the shooter you're looking for, but a solid vet who's a better fit than Schroder.
That move would slide them just under the tax assuming Jaylen doesn't make the all star team. Or they could pay someone to take Bol Bol so they'd be sure they'd be under.
I'm pretty sure Schroder ends up getting eaten for a 2nd at this point, probably by CLE.
I just don't see a Horford deal that makes sense. I wouldn't bother for Barnes for example, I think you're rather keep him and trade him as a flexible expiring in the summer (fits a lot of deals considering he can be a $14.5M or 28M expiring).
This is why I'd want to do it now. Count him as 27M going out, while the team receiving him can get out for 14.5M in the summer if they want. Since most trades would involve him going to a rebuilder, I'd imagine they'd find that discount valuable.
The issue is more... what is the player we want, that costs over $20M and whose team will trade him now? There will be a lot more of those guys coming available in the summer, plus guys who are FAs and may choose to sign here for a S&T (Beal, LaVine, Sexton, Brunson).
I think he's gone with a short bench because he finally has his 7-8 best players healthy at the same time and wants to get *them* consistently playing the way they have to/he wants them to. I think that he might start giving others time soon to get those others onto that page.
Problem is that he really doesn't do two of the things that a PG is supposed to do. He can't get past his guy generally, and he's really no good at getting other guys good looks. So even while a guy like Schroder (or Kemba for that matter) isn't setting guys up, he can at least get to the rim regularly.
PP is a smurf shooting guard with good handle, no first step, and average to worse vision. He's the guy that we thought Edwards was (at first). That guy has value, but you don't want him running your offense full time.
Jerami Grant, Eric Gordon. A combo including Kelly Olynyk and Cory Joseph.
Then if those better players do come available in the summer, rather than have Horford as matching salary going out I could have Jerami Grant, Eric Gordon, a combo including Kelly Olynyk and Cory Joseph, as more desirable matching salary.
I agree with this view.
I would also add that while there have been questions and complaints about the run that the guys down the bench get, there is very little support that any players are being held back. At present, it feels very appropriate just given overall production. Its absolutely possible that one of the limiting factors for some of these players is the lack of playing time. However I tend to trust Udoka to understand what it takes to earn NBA minutes given his background as a player.
Ja is crazy lol. The Tatum number isn’t surprising though.
View: https://twitter.com/The_BBall_Index/status/1488565309887836161?s=20&t=9vM0wBgyDwMxB_OUnWFs8w
View: https://twitter.com/The_BBall_Index/status/1488565309887836161?s=20&t=9vM0wBgyDwMxB_OUnWFs8w
Just to provide additional context:
View: https://twitter.com/The_BBall_Index/status/1488576354543144963?s=20&t=pADKBtceUvIFC9GKKvNCLA
View: https://twitter.com/The_BBall_Index/status/1488576354543144963?s=20&t=pADKBtceUvIFC9GKKvNCLA
Jerami Grant will be expensive, and you have to be willing to give him his 4/100 extension (which makes his trade value dubious).
I have no idea why you would WANT a Olynyk/Joseph combo, Olynyk is worse than Al, Joseph is fine, but not a difference maker rest of season, and you don't have the flexibility in offseason trades (since now you only have Olynyk's 12M and Joseph is going to be a UFA).
Eric Gordon... they've turned down offers including 1sts already, not sure I think Gordon is an upgrade worth spending a bunch on. And while he might have more value in a contender trade than Al, he's less flexible or useful in a trade to a rebuilder given that he has a full 24M guaranteed next year.
Basically, I think none of those are good trades in themselves, since I wouldn't want any of those players long term, and they are probably all less useful in the summer than Al's contract. (and don't give you the option to just walk away from the slot by cutting him for $14M).
I guess I'm not sure I need PP to 'run the offense'. The Celtics play a lot through their wings, particularly through Tatum, of course. What we need is somebody who can hit an open 3 to create some spacing. I think the Celtics would probably be just fine with 12-18 minutes of PP on the floor when Smart takes a breather.
I don't have to give Jerami Grant anything. I'd have him for the rest of this season, and if I can't agree on an extension with him he's flippable for similar value as I'd be trading for him. Or I can let him play out the 2022-23 season.
I'd want Olynyk/Joseph, because Olynyk can actually shoot, which is what I want around a Tatum/Jaylen/Smart/Rob core, and Joseph gives me a backup point guard to take Schroders place, who'd be moving in a separate deal. Also in that Olynyk/Joseph deal you don't like without even knowing the particulars of it, I'd have the Celtics taking back Josh Jacksons expiring to make salaries work. Olynyk, Joseph and Jackson would all fit into current Celtics trade exceptions, giving the Celtics a new 27M Horford trade exception.
Eric Gordon, same as Olynyk, can actually shoot.
I don't love any of these players. But I much prefer their fit on this team than I do Horford.
Trade returns for Al Horford are going to be underwhelming, because he's Al Horford. The guy was only one mid first round pick difference in value from Kemba Walker, who was paid 53M dollars to not play for OKC.
The whole point to trading Horford now, is because he his contract has more value now than in the summer because the acquiring team is getting that more flexible contract.
I don't really think that's true at all. In the summer the team getting him is getting an expiring, and the option to buy him out for less if they're taking him at the higher number. A team now isn't really any more flexible because a team trading for him now doesn't likely have much interest in flipping him in the summer, they're rebuilding. They'd rather just take an actual expiring this year.
Like Detroit.... why would they want Horford? Why wouldn't they rather have real expirings or young players from someone else in a Grant deal? Or... even just keeping Olynyk so they save money? Why does HOU want Horford instead of expirings?
Horford has less value going out now than in the summer, because other teams can give actual expirings, and you have to pay to make up that difference.
The Horford moves you have on the table now are things that involve you taking on BAD money next year. In that case, yeah they wouldn't mind Horford because they can cut him for $15M and save some money, but Grant/Bledsoe aren't those deals. Even Olynyk doesn't even save them money it costs them money.
Edit- Outside of Grant where we don't really have the goods unless you want to trade a whole bunch of picks (and have him be unhappy since he wants a big role and an extension) these all seem like moves based on the idea of "I need to trade Horford" instead of "these are good trades for the Celtics long-term", why would you give up assets to make a trade that doesn't do anything for the team long term, and may or may not improve it a small amount this year? The only one that MIGHT not cost assets is Olynyk, but... Olynyk has always been a much worse player than Al, and considering Kelly is coming off an injury and not shooting any better than Al... I don't get why you would want that?
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Ordinarily I would agree with "let a forward run the offense for a bit." But while Brown has the right instincts, his ballhandling gets in the way; and while Tatum can make passes, I honestly dont think he sees the whole floor all that well. That still might be better than PP, but I think that playing through Tatum will gum things up.
It really feels like people need to scale their expectations back about what sort of upgrades are incoming. They are likely to be incremental at best. Think Holiday and Joseph versus an actual star. And again, this isn't a bad thing. Tatum/Brown/TL/Smart/+league average shooter is a pretty tough line-up assuming the slotted player isn't completely worthless on defense. And in thinking about that player, its worth considering that it could be any sort of player including another big.
That’s only a pairing though. The other three players on the floor play an enormous factor especially in regards to Romeo who isn’t much more offensively than a 3-and-D guy.
I don't really think it makes a huge difference, but:
5 man units the last 3 months.
Schroder/Smart most used:
Horford/TL/Tatum = -22.1 with a 91.5 offensive rating. Those same 3 with Romeo... have not played a single minute. I don't know that Ime needed to trot out that apocalyptic bad lineup 11 times at an average of 9 minutes per stint before trying it with Romeo, good case it literally could not be worse
There are units with Romeo and Smart that don't work (anything with Enes), Romeo in place of Horford in the starting 5 is pretty bad (97.4 Ortg), but still better than Schroder (95.0)
But there are units with Romeo and Smart that have worked very well like Romeo, Smart, Richardson, Tatum, Horford (121.4 Ortg), has played well, but it doesn't get enough minutes.
The point is.. Smart and Schroder are usually bad together, there is no reason to set up your rotation to give them a bunch of minutes in bad lineups when you have other players you can use to create better lineups.
He hasn’t been setting up his lineup to play them together. Smart has been starting and Schroder has been primarily with the second unit except when quick 1’s are on the floor for him to matchup against. Other factors come into play……foul trouble, opponents using 3-4 guards, etc. We know our roster is very imperfect so he’s going to be forced into matchups that he really can’t control. Of course, Schroder has played like shit mostly of late which is always going to hurt since his skillset is so important to the team and when he isn’t performing it will be more noticeable than a frontcourt player not performing. These are all such ridiculously small samples I don’t know how you matchup Romeo only with certain others when there are so many variables occuring during the course of the game many which are out of Ime’s control.
I guess my feeling is... you know certain Smart/Schroder lineups just don't work. There is no way you should go to that 5 man I mentioned upthread 12 different games for over100 minutes, have it consistently get obliterated, and never even TRY anyone else. Those 4 guys (Smart/Tatum/Horford/TL) have played 312 minutes together. 209 with Brown as the starting 5... and 103 with Schroder as a disaster.
That terrible lineup is the 2nd most used of all 5 man units for the Celtics this year.... WHY?
If you take him at the higher number in the summer, you have to guarantee the money.
You can't take him in as a 26.5M matching salary in the summer and buy him out for 14.5M. That's my whole point of why his contract is more valued now than in the summer.
Detroit/Houston wouldn't want Horford anymore than Orlando wanted Gary Harris in the Gordon trade last year or Boston wanted the Gerald Wallace/Kris Humphries/Keith Bogans pupu platter in the KG/Pierce trade.
You usually have to take back some trash salary to recoup some assets as a rebuilder. Getting Horford at only half damage with his salary, rather than full damage in the summer, seems like it would be an enticement.
Of course those teams would rather have an expiring back than Horford. Who are the teams that have an expiring, and picks to trade? We've been through this before. A bunch of the teams that would be buyers don't have picks, at least ones available soon, to trade. Many of those teams will be able to trade a pick this summer, another reason to act now. There are less buyers.
You know something certain based on 103 minutes of +/-? Especially when a player who is typically an aggressive scorer with the ball in his hands so much is so high variance. I mean it obv hasn’t worked well in those 103 min but what is the magic number that it “just doesn’t work?” 1k? 500? 103? 60? If it’s 103 then Ime did nothing wrong…..if it’s 250 he still hasn’t……but you’ve been saying this for awhile now which suggests 103 is much higher than your number and Ime should be using inferior players in those minutes based on what I’d consider well beyond a small sample.
I don’t even like the player that much……I recognize how badly we need the skillset on this roster and when he’s engaged and playing well we’ve seen the impact. Like much of this season the inconsistencies are maddening for all of us.
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[Q\
If you make something your 2nd most used lineup on the season and it is massively negative, and at no point do you even TRY anything else... yeah you're doing something wrong. The NBA is a small sample league when it comes to 5 man units, you can't run lineups time after time if they aren't working. Beyond that, you can't run 8 man rotations all year, you just can't, it isn't a sustainable path, and to do it while ALSO running out a lineup that basically all the people watching and covering the team agree aren't working, and the best data we have says isn't working is even worse. Riding the 2 bigz starting lineup... hey, it's a major positive, sure, why not. But if it was a massive negative, would we need to give it more time?
Edit- I'll also say, Schroder's skillset is basically useless when paired with Smart and TL if the opponent is going to play zone. I don't need a big sample to know that having 3 guys that opponents have zero respect for their shot on the floor isn't gonna cut it against a zone.
I'm not saying Schroder needs zero minutes until he is inevitably traded, I'm saying that going to lineups time and again that aren't working just to give Schroder minutes is bad coaching. There are lineups with Schroder that are good, they mostly don't involve Smart.
I think that if we need multiple seasons of something not working to say the sample is sufficient then there is no such thing as a bad decision. Fuck it play Bruno/Enes/PP/Hauser and Thomas.
If you make something your 2nd most used lineup on the season and it is massively negative, and at no point do you even TRY anything else... yeah you're doing something wrong. The NBA is a small sample league when it comes to 5 man units, you can't run lineups time after time if they aren't working. Beyond that, you can't run 8 man rotations all year, you just can't, it isn't a sustainable path, and to do it while ALSO running out a lineup that basically all the people watching and covering the team agree aren't working, and the best data we have says isn't working is even worse. Riding the 2 bigz starting lineup... hey, it's a major positive, sure, why not. But if it was a massive negative, would we need to give it more time?
Edit- I'll also say, Schroder's skillset is basically useless when paired with Smart and TL if the opponent is going to play zone. I don't need a big sample to know that having 3 guys that opponents have zero respect for their shot on the floor isn't gonna cut it against a zone.
I'm not saying Schroder needs zero minutes until he is inevitably traded, I'm saying that going to lineups time and again that aren't working just to give Schroder minutes is bad coaching. There are lineups with Schroder that are good, they mostly don't involve Smart.
The 3rd and 4th most used lineups also include both Schroder and Smart, and both have been pretty good.
I've looked at the lineup numbers a few times and the only thing I can really get out of it is that the 2Bigz starting lineup is really pretty good. All the rest just looks like noise to me. To Ime's credit he's really cut back on the Schroder/Smart pairing now that he's got a healthy team.
This was a weird one. Celtics jumped out to 10+ point leads in the second and third quarters, but Toronto narrowed the lead each time. Ugly offensive 4th quarter, but the Celtics hung on behind defense and a few timely baskets. This is the typw of game they have a strong tendency to lose, but they won.
Jayson and Jaylen had large stretches of being off their game, but the Celtics bench led by Richardson's 23 pumped in 41 points.
Ime went with an 8 man rotation and there was only a tiny amount of Smart-Schroder time (2 minutes) during which time the Celtics did OK.
Celtics as a team shot well from three (led by 6-8 from Richardson and 3-6 by Grant) and got a lot of assists (31), but also a ton of turnovers (18, led by 7 from Brown).
Tatum had a bad shooting night (6-16, 1-7 from three) but salvaged it with 6-6 from the line including some key 4th quarter free throws. Brown had a poor shooting night (7-15, 0-3 from 3, 1-2 from the line) but he hit a couple of key 4th quarter baskets - one after an offensive rebound.
Rob had one of those Rob lines: 10 points (5-6 shooting), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals. The third block was of a shot that would have been a go ahead 3 coming out of a Charlotte time out with under 30 seconds left in the 4th.
Marcus was able to get to the basket and hit some crazy layups as well as getting fouled. 7-11 from the field, including perfect from 2 and 2-6 from three, plus another 6-6 at the line. He was the Celtics second leading scorer, with 22. He was taking advantage of Jayson and Jaylen spreading out the floor and drawing attention. "Only" a +5 though.
Jayson and Jaylen had large stretches of being off their game, but the Celtics bench led by Richardson's 23 pumped in 41 points.
Ime went with an 8 man rotation and there was only a tiny amount of Smart-Schroder time (2 minutes) during which time the Celtics did OK.
Celtics as a team shot well from three (led by 6-8 from Richardson and 3-6 by Grant) and got a lot of assists (31), but also a ton of turnovers (18, led by 7 from Brown).
Tatum had a bad shooting night (6-16, 1-7 from three) but salvaged it with 6-6 from the line including some key 4th quarter free throws. Brown had a poor shooting night (7-15, 0-3 from 3, 1-2 from the line) but he hit a couple of key 4th quarter baskets - one after an offensive rebound.
Rob had one of those Rob lines: 10 points (5-6 shooting), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 blocks, 2 steals. The third block was of a shot that would have been a go ahead 3 coming out of a Charlotte time out with under 30 seconds left in the 4th.
Marcus was able to get to the basket and hit some crazy layups as well as getting fouled. 7-11 from the field, including perfect from 2 and 2-6 from three, plus another 6-6 at the line. He was the Celtics second leading scorer, with 22. He was taking advantage of Jayson and Jaylen spreading out the floor and drawing attention. "Only" a +5 though.
Richardson really bailed them out with his 6-8 from 3. Smart had a very solid game, I'd say. While he did have a big bucket late, I feel like Jaylen's 15 points were not that impactful and his -4 +/- was worse than it seemed.
It wasn't too often, but the Celtics seemed sort of out of sorts on offense. There were times it seemed like the ball would be passed to two guys who were standing right next to each other.
Rozier had the big 3 a little bit later, but I felt like his 3 point attempt against Rob Williams from 5' past the arc was a rather dumb shot at a key moment (I think it was around the 2 minute mark).
It wasn't too often, but the Celtics seemed sort of out of sorts on offense. There were times it seemed like the ball would be passed to two guys who were standing right next to each other.
Rozier had the big 3 a little bit later, but I felt like his 3 point attempt against Rob Williams from 5' past the arc was a rather dumb shot at a key moment (I think it was around the 2 minute mark).
Sixers lose to the Wiz at home, Cavs lose to the Rockets. Things are getting tight in the East. Go Kings.
Darius Garland makes that team go. Without him they are mediocre at best. I was a year behind his developmental curve……he’s an All-Star right now and the sky is still the limit.
Does everyone look at single game +/- now? They don't even register when I look at a box score.
A couple of other things about this game. Marcus Smart is a Rob fan:
https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2022/02/02/bsj-game-report-boston-celtics-113-charlotte-hornets-107---celtics-go-off-script-win-a-close-game-after-squandering-lead
Here's Rob's game saving block:
View: https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1489069237540777984?s=20&t=BF5US7TvLf20oEwSzDMuOA
As bad as Brown's game was, he made some key plays in the 4th. With 5 minutes left and the Celtics up 9, Brown rebounded a Smart missed three and put it back to extend the lead to 11. A minute later he drew a charge. The Celtics screwed up that chance to put the game away, and with 2:10 left, and a 5 point lead, things almost fell apart. Marcus Smart made a bad pass that led to a turnover and a Tatum foul, with Tatum losing his shit and getting t'd up. LaMelo hits 3 free throws to cut the lead to 2. On the ensuing possession, the Celtics go to Brown on an iso, he gets his man backing into the paint and then hits a 16-foot jumper over him, extending Celtics' lead back to 5.
https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2022/02/02/bsj-game-report-boston-celtics-113-charlotte-hornets-107---celtics-go-off-script-win-a-close-game-after-squandering-lead
The guy who did all the damage for Charlotte was LaMelo, who scored a career high 38 (12 of 24, 4 of 10 from three, 10 of 13 from the line) along with 9 assists and 6 rebounds. At one point late in the 4th, LaMelo had a perimeter iso against Rob and could do nothing with it - just tried a couple of moves and then passed it.
Here's Rob's game saving block:
View: https://twitter.com/celtics/status/1489069237540777984?s=20&t=BF5US7TvLf20oEwSzDMuOA
As bad as Brown's game was, he made some key plays in the 4th. With 5 minutes left and the Celtics up 9, Brown rebounded a Smart missed three and put it back to extend the lead to 11. A minute later he drew a charge. The Celtics screwed up that chance to put the game away, and with 2:10 left, and a 5 point lead, things almost fell apart. Marcus Smart made a bad pass that led to a turnover and a Tatum foul, with Tatum losing his shit and getting t'd up. LaMelo hits 3 free throws to cut the lead to 2. On the ensuing possession, the Celtics go to Brown on an iso, he gets his man backing into the paint and then hits a 16-foot jumper over him, extending Celtics' lead back to 5.
I don't know about the rest of y'all but even if they had lost this game, I would have thought that it was progress. They got some decent shots down the stretch that didn't fall and CHA hit some really tough 3Ps (and then didn't, which was good). Yes, JT turned the ball over twice but one he was probably pushed (the one that lead to the T) and they kept trying to attack, which resulted in the 3 trips to the FT line that allowed them to stay ahead.
On defense, the group with JRich are pretty cohesive and even if LaMelo was torching them, his last bucket was with 8:26 left in the 4Q.