Post-Game Notes: BOS 113, MIA 125 (2-4)

[Ill News]

Here's something for the "Fire Brad" crowd, from Jared Weiss' latest article in The Athletic:

Remember where this year started — with ownership declaring it a bridge season. Stevens led the team to the conference finals without one of his best players for the vast majority of that postseason run. He is one of the best coaches in the NBA and has proven he can develop and empower players in a way few can. Not many coaches can foster a locker room where core players can be fighting and tossing furniture after a loss to the point it spills out publicly, only to respond by literally saying they love each other and going on to win the next game. That is the kind of culture that makes it easy to hand a coach a contract extension, which Stevens received in August after resetting the Celtics following last season’s disappointment.

He lost two of the best defensive bigs in the NBA entering this season, replaced them with a backup in Daniel Theis and still ended up with a top-five defense. Stevens has led three completely different teams to the conference finals in four years. If there is one thing he hasn’t had, it’s continuity.

I question some of his decisions, but those are mostly heat-of-the-moment things. Take a step back and you'll see how much Brad was able to accomplish during his time here, given the roster limitations and personnel turnovers he's had to work with.

This year's team was his best roster, even though it was also flawed because of its weak bench and bigs, and it was further undone by the Hayward injury in the very first game of the playoffs. He hasn't had a full playoff run with all of his main guys healthy: IT tore his hip in the 2017 ECF, Kyrie and Hayward were out in the 2018 run, and Hayward was injured for 80% of this year's playoffs. (I don't count 2019 because Kyrie submarined that season by himself). That's three years of going to the ECF with flawed and injury-riddled teams. He continually squeezes out every drop of talent and effort from his guys.

I will always be of the opinion that firing Brad Stevens will be a mistake we'll regret for a long time. Thankfully the Boston front office isn't as reactionary as some posters on this board, otherwise we would've replaced him with Ty Lue or some other mediocre coach by now. Brad will be here to stay, whether you like it or not. He's not above criticism, but learn to appreciate everything he's done for the Celtics. Most franchises would kill to have him coaching their team.

[Shak_Celts]

How many more years do Lebron and Riley make us their ****h? It all starts with Ainge. It's been far too long. He won a ring simply because we got lucky in the KG trade. It is time to move on from him. Doesn't mean he suck. On the contrary, he is one of the best GMs around. But he can only go so far as the ECF. We ain't winning a championship under his era again.

Other than our top picks, how often do we pick a guy that doesn't (on paper) fit into what CBS likes for his system? We haven't picked one player that doesn't fit the mold of a player CBS wants. We don't pick those guys up midseason or offseason that go against it either. Every player we have picked outside of the top picks play like the guys we have picked since he's been here. For a guy that loves shooters, we never hit on them in the draft, that so weird. Every guy who looks like a shooter or the potential to become one hasn't worked out for us at all outside of the top picks. It's as if the guys who have the potential as top picks figure it out and the guys who are our later picks never do. Then you have the players we pick up from trades or the offseason and they just do what they have been doing but CBS just gives them room to do it more and a longer leash (IT4, Jae, Baynes etc).

Can't write off our picks from last season but we need to find some shooters and the draft hasn't been kind in that regard, we are cash strapped so the FA may not be kind either.

[Fencer reregistered]

teams this young rarely win anything

I agree. i have said the same a few times. doesn't mean it has to let CBS off the hook either. how many times are CBS' best players going to call him out publicly before we try someone else? i know I know, "who do you want to replace him with that's better?" heh, so let's just ride with him without trying anything different as long as we make the ECF? Good coaches will never get fired if the criteria is me picking out who would be better! Plenty of good coaches get fired many times, it doesn't mean they aren't good, it just means the fit wasn't right for your team.

I don't necessarily think CBS has to be fired. I just think your entire coaching staff DOESN'T have to be as calm cool and collected as you are. bunch of nice dudes. give me one guy or girl who will let you have it when things go wrong, every now and then. CBS's entire coaching staff either sits the entire game or get up with the same demeanor as him. Looks like a love fest over there at all times. Look at Haslem for the Heat, he was all up in his guys faces at times during the series. dont even have to be mean but visible PASSION from one of them!! no, we have to rely on the guys playing to also be the coach when it comes to firing the guys up. when they show CBS talking at any time, I fall asleep! just imagine how guys feel when they have to sit through it during important times. dry and boring! ugh!!

I'm still waiting for someone to show me a coach with a demeanor of CBS who has won a championship. It hasn't happened in real life or the movies. A coach has to be willing to be outwardly impassioned at some key moments. show your players that this means a lot to you to! CBS "we have to play the right way." no ish sherlock! remind them why, tell them you are going home if you don't get your head out of your butt!!! tell them you overheard another player talking about letting you get all the open shots you want because you stink! tell them the other team is trying to punk you! part of the head coaches job is to play with your mind, find what makes you tick and push that button! SHOW ANY EMOTION!!!

Phil Jackson did approximately none of that.

[SuperDeluxe]

Here's something for the "Fire Brad" crowd, from Jared Weiss' latest article in The Athletic:

Remember where this year started — with ownership declaring it a bridge season. Stevens led the team to the conference finals without one of his best players for the vast majority of that postseason run. He is one of the best coaches in the NBA and has proven he can develop and empower players in a way few can. Not many coaches can foster a locker room where core players can be fighting and tossing furniture after a loss to the point it spills out publicly, only to respond by literally saying they love each other and going on to win the next game. That is the kind of culture that makes it easy to hand a coach a contract extension, which Stevens received in August after resetting the Celtics following last season’s disappointment.

He lost two of the best defensive bigs in the NBA entering this season, replaced them with a backup in Daniel Theis and still ended up with a top-five defense. Stevens has led three completely different teams to the conference finals in four years. If there is one thing he hasn’t had, it’s continuity.

I question some of his decisions, but those are mostly heat-of-the-moment things. Take a step back and you'll see how much Brad was able to accomplish during his time here, given the roster limitations and personnel turnovers he's had to work with.

This year's team was his best roster, even though it was also flawed because of its weak bench and bigs, and it was further undone by the Hayward injury in the very first game of the playoffs. He hasn't had a full playoff run with all of his main guys healthy: IT tore his hip in the 2017 ECF, Kyrie and Hayward were out in the 2018 run, and Hayward was injured for 80% of this year's playoffs. (I don't count 2019 because Kyrie submarined that season by himself). That's three years of going to the ECF with flawed and injury-riddled teams. He continually squeezes out every drop of talent and effort from his guys.

I will always be of the opinion that firing Brad Stevens will be a mistake we'll regret for a long time. Thankfully the Boston front office isn't as reactionary as some posters on this board, otherwise we would've replaced him with Ty Lue or some other mediocre coach by now. Brad will be here to stay, whether you like it or not. He's not above criticism, but learn to appreciate everything he's done for the Celtics. Most franchises would kill to have him coaching their team.

Impeccable post.

[Fencer reregistered]

Btw Miami won all 3 series without homecourt. I do wonder if that would have happened if this wasn't in a bubble?

Another thing I wonder is if Duncan and Herro would have shot the ball this well playing 3 games in Boston.

Perfrct storm for Miami IMO. Wouldn't surprise me at all to see them get KO'd in round 1 or 2 next year, assuming they bring back a similar group.

Enough of their talent is aged that you can't rule that out.

[Fencer reregistered]

Congrats to the Heat. They deserve to advance to the Finals as they played better when it mattered most. I just hope Herro, Robinson, Crowder and Iggy shoot well against the Lakers, and not play scared just because it's the Lakers they're facing.

That said, changes I'm hoping to see with the Celtics next season:

- better ball handling especially from our players that drive to the basket: Hayward, Tatum, Brown, Kemba. The strips from drives are the #1 cause of their turnovers if I'm not mistaken.
- better offensive sets. That can't be how the team plans on executing in close games moving forward can they? They have executed poorly in all their close games. That's on the coaching staff to figure out.
- better drafting from Danny and his scouting team. This team needs impact players, shooters, and a taller, longer defensive presence in the middle.
- CBS' stubbornness in saving his timeouts and his odd rotations.

This team still has a lot of room for improvement. I will always be behind them 101%.

Let's go Celtics!
-

Throw in some player movement on cuts, relocations, etc, and I'm on board.

Absolutely agree on improving player movement. Too many times have we seen the players without the ball just standing around ball watching. This is another improvement that is on the coaching staff to address.

Jaylen, as in so many other things, is commonly an exception.

[return2glory]

We need a bench & Brad needs to start Rob Williams from Game 1 next season. If we’re going to win in the playoffs we’ll need to be able to play with an athletic big man to match up with teams that have them. If Rob were ready to play he could’ve shut down Bam but he’s still making mistakes bc he wasn’t allowed to make them during the season when he wasn't hurt.

Theis is a bench player, not a starting center.

Theis is a bench player. But Rob Williams is not the answer. Not now and not ever. I would be surprised if he was.

He needs a lot of experience so I’m not completely written him off but I just don’t see it. He needs to really improve his shooting and his strength. His lower body in particular is weak. The Raptor guards would drive and out their body on him and he would get scored on.

He lacks so much confidence, it’s not funny. There are fans here that like him but we isn’t a basketball player to me. He is a tall guy that can jump. Very limited skills.

Also he hasn’t proven to stay healthy. I wouldn’t count on Rob Williams. Wish Grant was about 3 inches taller.

[SichtingLives]

SItting on our dicks at every deadline instead of bolstering our depth finally cost us something tangible. It was only a matter of time before it caught up with us.

[djFan71]

Btw Miami won all 3 series without homecourt. I do wonder if that would have happened if this wasn't in a bubble?

Another thing I wonder is if Duncan and Herro would have shot the ball this well playing 3 games in Boston.

Perfrct storm for Miami IMO. Wouldn't surprise me at all to see them get KO'd in round 1 or 2 next year, assuming they bring back a similar group.

Enough of their talent is aged that you can't rule that out.

Also can't rule out TOR beating us last round. <ducks>

EDIT: Realized Fencer's probably talking the next year part. Push my reply up a post and relate it to the bubble bits.

[Ill News]

We need a bench & Brad needs to start Rob Williams from Game 1 next season. If we’re going to win in the playoffs we’ll need to be able to play with an athletic big man to match up with teams that have them. If Rob were ready to play he could’ve shut down Bam but he’s still making mistakes bc he wasn’t allowed to make them during the season when he wasn't hurt.

Theis is a bench player, not a starting center.

Theis is a bench player. But Rob Williams is not the answer. Not now and not ever. I would be surprised if he was.

He needs a lot of experience so I’m not completely written him off but I just don’t see it. He needs to really improve his shooting and his strength. His lower body in particular is weak. The Raptor guards would drive and out their body on him and he would get scored on.

He lacks so much confidence, it’s not funny. There are fans here that like him but we isn’t a basketball player to me. He is a tall guy that can jump. Very limited skills.

Also he hasn’t proven to stay healthy. I wouldn’t count on Rob Williams. Wish Grant was about 3 inches taller.

Time Lord answered the call whenever he was sent out there, providing us energy, rebounding, and some easy baskets. I agree with improving his strength, but I think I'm more bullish that he can be an impactful guy for us. He missed most of the season too, so for him to show out in the playoffs just shows he's got a good head on his shoulders and can contribute to the team. As long as he stays healthy.

[Prophet_tt]

Alllsooo.....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..... Marcus "King of the North" Smart, adios amigo!! Also LOOOOOL at his flop that lead to Kembers turnover late. I've never wanted a team eliminated as much as I wanted this Celtics team GONE. Marcus makes them unwatchable for me. Love Brown though, Tatum is iight too (needs to figure out the early game stuff). I'd love to have that one two punch for years to come. Smart needs to go though.

Once again, lmao you Celtic bums, better luck next year. Thought you were going to the finals and got waxed in 6 XD

Damn, Raps got eliminated by bums, and have to pay Siakam max money.

Yikes.

Yea we did get eliminated by bums. At least we had humility and again no one would've claimed being king of Boston on our team if we won. We over achieved this season y'all undrachieved. It's all good for me. Thoroughly enjoyed seeing Boston get slapped. Happy you didn't make finals. And also you can thank me for boosting your and 1s. As far as siakam and the max.. You can't win em all XD

[return2glory]

Cant believe k olynyk and j crowder are going to the finals

This is what's depressing me the most about the end of this season.

Kelly Olynyk and Jae Crowder, former Celtics who became who they are because of Brad Stevens, will reach the Finals and possibly win a title before him. That just makes me unbelievable sad

If Danny traded for Crowder this year, we would have been going to the Finals. With Crowder here, we wouldn’t see Semi on the floor and Smart and Hayward wouldn’t be playing as much.

When Smart plays under control and focuses on defense and passing and limits his shots, we are a better team.

[Prophet_tt]

Alllsooo.....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..... Marcus "King of the North" Smart, adios amigo!! Also LOOOOOL at his flop that lead to Kembers turnover late. I've never wanted a team eliminated as much as I wanted this Celtics team GONE. Marcus makes them unwatchable for me. Love Brown though, Tatum is iight too (needs to figure out the early game stuff). I'd love to have that one two punch for years to come. Smart needs to go though.

Once again, lmao you Celtic bums, better luck next year. Thought you were going to the finals and got waxed in 6 XD

Wait a minute, didn’t you lose to these bums?

Don't care, y'all got humbled. See my post above XD. King's of the North LMFAOOOO

[Patsfan1081]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

End of thread.

It’s just amazing how bad they were in the clutch, I thought I heard someone say they had the lowest net rating for a conference finals team ever in the final five minutes. Who is to blame for this?

[Patsfan1081]

Alllsooo.....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..... Marcus "King of the North" Smart, adios amigo!! Also LOOOOOL at his flop that lead to Kembers turnover late. I've never wanted a team eliminated as much as I wanted this Celtics team GONE. Marcus makes them unwatchable for me. Love Brown though, Tatum is iight too (needs to figure out the early game stuff). I'd love to have that one two punch for years to come. Smart needs to go though.

Once again, lmao you Celtic bums, better luck next year. Thought you were going to the finals and got waxed in 6 XD

Wait a minute, didn’t you lose to these bums?

Don't care, y'all got humbled. See my post above XD. King's of the North LMFAOOOO

Sorry but anyone with Kyle Lowry on their team can’t throw shade at Smart. They are the two worst floppers in the league. But yeah, Boston needs to move on from Smart.

[Ill News]

Cant believe k olynyk and j crowder are going to the finals

This is what's depressing me the most about the end of this season.

Kelly Olynyk and Jae Crowder, former Celtics who became who they are because of Brad Stevens, will reach the Finals and possibly win a title before him. That just makes me unbelievable sad

If Danny traded for Crowder this year, we would have been going to the Finals. With Crowder here, we wouldn’t see Semi on the floor and Smart and Hayward wouldn’t be playing as much.

When Smart plays under control and focuses on defense and passing and limits his shots, we are a better team.

I don't think Crowder would've helped us that much though, but I agree with your line of thinking. We needed another more reliable vet on our bench that would've kept Brad from playing Semi. Smart and Kanter were our only consistent bench guys, with Grant and Wanamaker having their moments. The rest sucked.

[BRUNiNHO91]

Btw Miami won all 3 series without homecourt. I do wonder if that would have happened if this wasn't in a bubble?

Another thing I wonder is if Duncan and Herro would have shot the ball this well playing 3 games in Boston.

Perfrct storm for Miami IMO. Wouldn't surprise me at all to see them get KO'd in round 1 or 2 next year, assuming they bring back a similar group.

Enough of their talent is aged that you can't rule that out.

Also can't rule out TOR beating us last round. <ducks>

EDIT: Realized Fencer's probably talking the next year part. Push my reply up a post and relate it to the bubble bits.

You are right on Toronto though. But again does Miami beat Milwaukee on the road? Idk. Denver doesn't beat the Clips either and in that scenario I think Clips beat Lakers. The bubble turned everything upside down. Crazy. We probably benefitted quite a bit, but Miami made out hard.

[djFan71]

Alllsooo.....

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA..... Marcus "King of the North" Smart, adios amigo!! Also LOOOOOL at his flop that lead to Kembers turnover late. I've never wanted a team eliminated as much as I wanted this Celtics team GONE. Marcus makes them unwatchable for me. Love Brown though, Tatum is iight too (needs to figure out the early game stuff). I'd love to have that one two punch for years to come. Smart needs to go though.

Once again, lmao you Celtic bums, better luck next year. Thought you were going to the finals and got waxed in 6 XD

Wait a minute, didn’t you lose to these bums?

Don't care, y'all got humbled. See my post above XD. King's of the North LMFAOOOO

OK, you had some weird fun in thinking your team is superior for having less talent and not making it as far. We let it slide for a bit, but you can take a break now.

[nic4747]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

End of thread.

It’s just amazing how bad they were in the clutch, I thought I heard someone say they had the lowest net rating for a conference finals team ever in the final five minutes. Who is to blame for this?

Would love to see the breakdown on Boston by player.

[Tyakack]

Read on Twitter

?s=20

End of thread.

It’s just amazing how bad they were in the clutch, I thought I heard someone say they had the lowest net rating for a conference finals team ever in the final five minutes. Who is to blame for this?

Certainly not stevens. That's for sure. Poor guy is doing the best he can with the stars he has. Plus, tatum is only like 19.