Official Celtics 2022 Off-Season Thread

24istheLAW · Post #1301 » by **24istheLAW** » Sun Mar 13, 2022 4:06 pm

Not sure where to post this, since there's no off-topic thread here. But it's damn funny.

Last night I dreamt I was watching the 2021-2022 Celtics play. They lost. Anyway, the relevant detail: at one point, a Latino-looking forward came off the bench with fat dreads and a white headband. He was wearing #27 and the name on his jersey was ZOYA. And I thought Oh so that's where that dude on RealGM's strange user name comes from. End of story.

Post #1302 » by **Feed Your Head** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 1:48 am

Doncic leads the NBA while being double-teamed an average of 18.4 times per game (or 31.3 percent of his total possessions), according to the NBA’s CourtOptix tracking data. The Mavericks average 1.16 points per possession in those instances.

Tatum is tied for 10th this season while being double teamed 14.2 times per game (or 30.4 percent of his offensive touches). The Celtics average the same 1.16 points per possession as the Mavericks do with Doncic.

Among the most double-teamed players in the league, only a handful are better than Tatum and Doncic at making opponents pay. Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo -- with all the shooting around him in Milwaukee -- averages 1.24 points per double-teamed possession. Among the top 20 -- the only data that the NBA makes publicly available at the moment -- only Bradley Beal (1.25) had a better mark.

https://www.nbcsports.com/boston/celtics/celtics-need-make-teams-pay-jayson-tatum-attention

zoyathedestroya · Post #1303 » by **zoyathedestroya** » Wed Mar 16, 2022 2:10 am

24istheLAW wrote:Not sure where to post this, since there's no off-topic thread here. But it's damn funny.

Last night I dreamt I was watching the 2021-2022 Celtics play. They lost. Anyway, the relevant detail: at one point, a Latino-looking forward came off the bench with fat dreads and a white headband. He was wearing #27 and the name on his jersey was ZOYA. And I thought Oh so that's where that dude on RealGM's strange user name comes from. End of story.

Celtics have yet to win since this dream of yours so sincere thanks to your subconscious from all of us here.

zoyathedestroya · Post #1304 » by **zoyathedestroya** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 6:56 am

Read on Twitter

Post #1305 » by **Parliament10** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 7:54 pm

It ain't easy being Green.
But there's a Pot of Gold, at the End of the Rainbow!!!

Post #1306 » by **Feed Your Head** » Thu Mar 17, 2022 9:47 pm

Here’s the teams net rating differentials for the rotation players.

Tatum +13.1
Smart +6.7
Jaylen +6.1
Al +5.4
Rob +4.9

White +2.1
Grant -7.7
Pritchard -9.4

Pritchard and especially Grant’s numbers are skewed by the starters being so insanely dominant.

Some fun lineup data.

Smart/Jaylen on court, other starters off. Net rating is +31.12, in 51 minutes. But Jaylen without any other starter is -31.60, in 54 minutes. Both tiny samples, but Smart and Jaylen have played really well together this season.

Smart on the court without any other starter, the team has a net rating of -7.18, in only 18 minutes. Obviously nothing to take out of that, way too small a sample.

Two that surprised me, when Tatum and Rob are out there without any other starters, the team has a -7.52 net rating, in 109 minutes. When Smart, Jaylen, and Rob are in without Tatum/Al, the team has a net rating of -8.80, in 136 minutes.

Then the bonkers one, Tatum in there without any other starter, the team has a net rating of +17.90, in 171 minutes.

Cleaning the glass probably has slightly different numbers, but nothing overt.

Post #1307 » by **Parliament10** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 1:36 pm

Big Three -- 2022, Version.

Post #1308 » by **Feed Your Head** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 1:43 pm

Parliament10 wrote:

Big Three -- 2022, Version.

Post #1309 » by **Parliament10** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 1:55 pm

The Comedian wrote:
Parliament10 wrote:

Big Three -- 2022, Version.

He can Tag along, too.
Smart, is the Heart & Soul.

8 years, and counting . . .

zoyathedestroya · Post #1310 » by **zoyathedestroya** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 3:24 pm

The league-leading Celtics defense really needs its own thread, but I'll just leave it here:

Read on Twitter

2. The humongous Boston Celtics defense

Boston has snatched the top spot in points allowed per possession, and it's No. 1 since December by a laughable margin. The Celtics have gotten a bit lucky with icy opponent jump-shooting, but they'd probably still be No. 1 if you averaged that out.

They've allowed the ninth-fewest 3s and second-fewest shots at the rim since the calendar flipped to 2022. They've stopped over-fouling. There are nights when their defense feels impenetrable -- when the opponent loses its will to keep grinding, keep passing, when all they see are arms and Robert Williams III jumping and Marcus Smart screaming at them. Their shoulders sag. Players scrap the game plan and try to go it alone. They wilt.

As I detailed last month, Boston's season turned when coach Ime Udoka gambled on an unconventional adjustment: sticking Williams on wings, having Al Horford defend centers, and switching almost everything. There are ways to puncture that scheme -- none of which have worked all that well -- but the simplest is your best ball handler drawing Horford on switches and attacking. It seems so obvious. Why invite it?

This is why:

Payton Pritchard is the only "small" player left in Boston's rotation, and he's the eighth man. Everyone else is long, smart, and fast. When the Celtics move together, they cover an enormous amount of space. They rarely make mistakes. By the time you've spotted an opening, they've already closed it.

That's one wager baked into their defense: Go waste time trying to roast Horford. We'll shade everyone else that way. Get by him, and we'll close off every pass but the least dangerous. When that's in midair, we'll reset. Enjoy!

I am curious how Boston's shooting holds up. Derrick White is shooting 30% from deep. Marcus Smart is at his usual 33%. Grant Williams has been scorching all season, but he has never shot anything like this in terms of accuracy or volume. Horford is inconsistent.

When it matters, Boston may have to downsize and play Tatum and Brown at the two forward spots -- with only one of Grant Williams, Robert Williams III, and Horford. They should be fine on defense regardless, but holding up on the glass might be more challenging.

Post #1311 » by **bisme37** » Fri Mar 18, 2022 4:57 pm

Read on Twitter

zoyathedestroya · Post #1312 » by **zoyathedestroya** » Sat Mar 19, 2022 6:31 am

Read on Twitter

That 2020 bubble team was underrated. We were hitting our stride too when Hayward injured his ankle.

zoyathedestroya · Post #1313 » by **zoyathedestroya** » Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:08 am

Celtics are 19th in offensive rating at this point of the season (01/28/2022).

zoyathedestroya wrote:
zoyathedestroya wrote:Here is my oversimplification on how our offense will surge into top 10 status... THE FOUR T's.

Tatum: needs to be more consistent game-to-game
Transition: we've been **** at this first 2+ months
Threes: self-explanatory. 'Sup, Horf??
Timelord: he opens up so much for our O

Make it FIVE Ts. 5th is Trade.

Schroder OUT, vet wing shooter / ball-mover IN.

Since the post above...

TATUM: 28.4 ppg on 48/37/88 splits, 61.0 TS%, 21.5 AST%, 120.3 ORTG, only 5 of 22 games with a BBRef game score less than 15 (four of those were the only losses of the team in that span)
TRANSITION: 8th in offensive efficiency after live turnover (23rd prior); 12th in offensive efficiency after defensive rebound (22nd prior)
THREES: 18th in 3FG% (21st prior), 9th since trade deadline; Tatum/Smart/Horf/PP have improved but we lost JRich, gained White, and Brown's % dipped
TIMELORD: Only two missed games from 01/28. Though it turns out he's more impactful for our defense.
TRADE: Schroder & JRich OUT, Pritchard IN (more PT and opportunity), White IN (more ball movement and flow)

Celtics are 8th in offensive rating in that span. Still some room to improve in terms of offball movement & shooting

steefP2 · Post #1314 » by **steefP2** » Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:42 am

zoyathedestroya wrote:Celtics are 19th in offensive rating at this point of the season (01/28/2022).
zoyathedestroya wrote:
zoyathedestroya wrote:Here is my oversimplification on how our offense will surge into top 10 status... THE FOUR T's.

Tatum: needs to be more consistent game-to-game
Transition: we've been **** at this first 2+ months
Threes: self-explanatory. 'Sup, Horf??
Timelord: he opens up so much for our O

Make it FIVE Ts. 5th is Trade.

Schroder OUT, vet wing shooter / ball-mover IN.

Since the post above...

TATUM: 28.4 ppg on 48/37/88 splits, 61.0 TS%, 21.5 AST%, 120.3 ORTG, only 5 of 22 games with a BBRef game score less than 15 (four of those were the only losses of the team in that span)
TRANSITION: 8th in offensive efficiency after live turnover (23rd prior); 12th in offensive efficiency after defensive rebound (22nd prior)
THREES: 18th in 3FG% (21st prior), 9th since trade deadline; Tatum/Smart/Horf/PP have improved but we lost JRich, gained White, and Brown's % dipped
TIMELORD: Only two missed games from 01/28. Though it turns out he's more impactful for our defense.
TRADE: Schroder & JRich OUT, Pritchard IN (more PT and opportunity), White IN (more ball movement and flow)

Celtics are 8th in offensive rating in that span. Still some room to improve in terms of offball movement & shooting

To add to this; our shot location based efg% has gone from 19th for the season to 11th since 2022; due to increases in rim attempts and 3point attempts. We’ve been getting better shots due to the increased ball movement and weaponizing Tatum’s scoring gravity. Just more stats to confirm the eye test

steefP2 · Post #1315 » by **steefP2** » Sun Mar 20, 2022 3:13 pm

Remember when this team used to give minutes to juancho, enes freedom and Jabari Parker….

I wish I didn’t

Post #1316 » by **Feed Your Head** » Sun Mar 20, 2022 3:29 pm

steefP2 wrote:Remember when this team used to give minutes to juancho, enes freedom and Jabari Parker….

I wish I didn’t

Feels like a lifetime ago, I don’t even remember Schroder being here. Maybe because I tried to erase every stunt of his from my mind.

Mr_Mojo_Risin · Post #1317 » by **Mr_Mojo_Risin** » Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:07 pm

steefP2 wrote:Remember when this team used to give minutes to juancho, enes freedom and Jabari Parker….

I wish I didn’t

Remember when people were complaining they weren’t getting more minutes?

Joshyjess · Post #1318 » by **Joshyjess** » Sun Mar 20, 2022 11:35 pm

steefP2 wrote:Remember when this team used to give minutes to juancho, enes freedom and Jabari Parker….

I wish I didn’t

Wait, Jabari Parker played for the Celtics????

sam_I_am · Post #1319 » by **sam_I_am** » Mon Mar 21, 2022 3:10 am

Joshyjess wrote:
steefP2 wrote:Remember when this team used to give minutes to juancho, enes freedom and Jabari Parker….

I wish I didn’t

Wait, Jabari Parker played for the Celtics????

Remember when the Jays couldn’t play together even though they have been to Playoffs all 4 years together and to ECF twice? Remember the last time the Jays played on a team that had no weak links on defense and smashed Giannis and Embiid in playoffs before bowing out to defending champion Cavs? It’s time to believe!

DarkAzcura · Post #1320 » by **DarkAzcura** » Mon Mar 21, 2022 3:41 am

Random, but I have a lot of confidence in Stevens’ GM ability rn. The two other players we were really rumored in wanting at the deadline were Malik Beasley and Jalen Smith. Jalen Smith has been doing really well with his new team, and Beasley is shooting 47% from 3 over his last 20 games on 8 attempts per game from there. Really good targets from Brad tbh. Sad we couldn’t pull one of them.

I would have never traded Smart for Beasley, but I just like who we have been targeting, White included. Horford included, etc, etc.