The 2017/2018 Boston Celtics Regular season thread

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benhogan

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Nov 2, 2007
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Theis will miss game #1 of the back to back to re-set his broken nose. Any word if he will play in the Knicks game?

Makes us really thin up front.

Semi/Yabu will see plenty of minutes, offensive sink holes.
 

Devizier

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This team (Kyrie excepted) seems to have lost any semblance of ability to penetrate even the most perfunctory defenses.

Obviously a lot of this is talent but I think other teams have turned something up in scouting.
 

DJnVa

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Dec 16, 2010
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Or they've played more games than any other team while also dealing with the loss, at various times for a game or two or 5 of: Hayward, Morris, Horford, Irving, Brown.

Dudes *are* stepping up, but a packed schedule and injuries major and minor are hitting them. Get through til January and the schedule gets much more favorable.
 

lexrageorge

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Jul 31, 2007
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No Morris, Brown, or Larkin last night on the 2nd night of a back-to-back. And, of course, Hayward. Makes the team a lot easier to defend.
 

DJnVa

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That said, I'm sure there's some scouting effect. With so many new players it would take teams some time to work out what they were doing. And now Stevens will adjust.
 

Montana Fan

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Yep, my feel is the last three games would have been solid victories had they occurred in mid-November. The team looks a little tired and the upcoming schedule is quite busy as well. I'm not pleased that the consequences of scheduling a game in London are a condensed first half schedule. Whose dumbass idea was it to play in London and what payoff did Wyc receive to allow it?
 

DJnVa

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Yeah, it seems odd that they understand teams traveling to London need some extra rest, but the solution is front-loading a schedule which gives them....LESS REST.
 

Gash Prex

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Its insane they have played 35 games in the exact same number of days the Raptors have played 30 - the Bucks have only played 29.
 

The Social Chair

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They play Christmas day, at the Hornets on Wednesday, and then the Rockets on national TV the day after.

This schedule is insane.
 

lexrageorge

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Yeah, it seems odd that they understand teams traveling to London need some extra rest, but the solution is front-loading a schedule which gives them....LESS REST.
The flight back from London to Boston or Philly is only about 45 minutes longer than the flight from the East Coast of the US to the West Coast. As for jet lag, 5 hours does take some time to adjust, but it's not terrible either. They could have had the London game on the 10th, and have both the Celtics and 76'ers return to action on their home courts on the 14th.
 

The Needler

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The extra time is not just about jet lag. For the NBA, this trip is more like an all-star weekend, with charity events and community outreach, fan experience crap surrounding the game, and then they like to give the teams the opportunity to experience the city on their own. They probably overdid it with an extra day or two this year, but it is what it is.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

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The reality is that even if you set aside the tough schedule, the team has been depleted in spots. It's safe to assume that guys like Tatum, Ojeleye and Theis are going to struggle in spots as rookies and especially during demanding parts of the season.

I suspect that even with a fully healthy Hayward, the Celtics could use another veteran scorer and even another big to truly contend.

It remains to be seen what, if anything, they get if/when Hayward returns so it will be interesting to see what sort of player Danny targets in the coming weeks. However it's clear they need more firepower and they need it now.
 

Reverend

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Ten minutes into the season, who’d a’ thunk we’d be looking for reasons as to why they lost a couple games, eh?
 

Fishy1

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Nov 10, 2006
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There's been a lot of talk in various places about the team finding Tatum more shots, but it seems like he's actually got the ball in his hands a lot, especially with the second unit, and has the freedom to take shots he wants to take.

I actually think the bigger problem right now is that he doesn't seem comfortable loosing more than 3 or 4 threes a game. He's passing up far too many open, or semi open threes, for a guy who's shooting 49% on them, and at times settling for fall away mid-range shots that are just as tough, if not tougher. Marcus has taken 40 more threes at this point this season, and yes, some of that is in the coach and some of it is on Marcus, but Tatum has gotta shoot the ball.

Jaylen, too, needs to be pushing the envelope a little when he's open. This team has three guys in the starting lineup shooting 40% or better on above the break threes on decent volume. We should be finding those guys, and burying other teams with them.

I think the simplest explanation as to this teams offensive struggles is just that: guys who can't shoot shooting because guys who can pass up the occasional tough shot, or god forbid, an open one.
 

RetractableRoof

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That said, I'm sure there's some scouting effect. With so many new players it would take teams some time to work out what they were doing. And now Stevens will adjust.
They are facing quite a bit more zone lately. Scal talked about it during one of the last couple of games.
 

mt8thsw9th

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Jul 17, 2005
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While they’ve had a crazy schedule, teams traveling to London don’t need a ton of extra rest prior. They DO, however, need a few days off after they return unless they are only playing afternoon games, and they do (and they have a bunch of days off prior). No idea what the concern is with that. They really should be playing a day earlier and an afternoon game after, but healthy adults’ circadian rhythms can handle that one week adjustment.
 

Lazy vs Crazy

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Injury update:

Jaylen is doubtful with a knee injury, which is way less bad than it could have been if it was his achilles flaring up, hopefully.

Morris is out for "knee rehab" which makes you wonder if the new training staff has any idea at all what is going on with him. If he still needs to miss games to rehab he probably shouldn't have played yesterday.
 

The Needler

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Dec 7, 2016
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Injury update:

Jaylen is doubtful with a knee injury, which is way less bad than it could have been if it was his achilles flaring up, hopefully.

Morris is out for "knee rehab" which makes you wonder if the new training staff has any idea at all what is going on with him. If he still needs to miss games to rehab he probably shouldn't have played yesterday.
Or maybe they actually do have more of an idea than you. The injury report does not include a narrative. Missing the game because the rehab plan calls for not playing consecutive games initially doesn't seem like too crazy of an idea.

While Morris will return to action for the first time since Dec. 8, coach Brad Stevens said he'll keep Morris' minutes down in an effort to avoid aggravating the knee issue that's plagued him for the last few months. As a result, Morris is best avoided in DFS contests, and that will continue to be the case until the restriction is lifted. Stevens also noted that it's yet to be determined whether Morris will be cleared to play in consecutive games.
 

lovegtm

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Or maybe they actually do have more of an idea than you. The injury report does not include a narrative. Missing the game because the rehab plan calls for not playing consecutive games initially doesn't seem like too crazy of an idea.
Hoisting up bricks out of the flow of the offense to prove something to your twin brother is also a critical component of recovery, something that good trainers everywhere know.
 

Marbleheader

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Megathreads are not necessary, we have an entire forum. Broke out some of the discussions to new threads or the appropriate existing threads.
 
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