Rollercoaster Celts Grind to a Halt :( ECF Game 7 Loss vs MIA 5/29 (MIA wins 4-3)

[bucknersrevenge]

Will Hardy, Ime’s lieutenant, was a big loss. Love how they play in Utah. This really is on Brad. He handpicked Joe and prematurely gave him an extension when removing the interim tag would’ve sufficed. Maybe he’s the Spo to his Riley but we don’t have Lebron and fans are getting impatient. 16 titles in first 40 years. 1 in last 37 years. Angst from fandom wouldn’t be this high had the KG/PP era gotten a couple more titles hehe. In a sense, Jays/Smart are victims of their own early success. Other fanbases would kill to have their team be in 4 conference finals and a finals appearance in last 6 years but I do feel this core has hit its ceiling now with a worse coach than the previous two.

Realistically, I think they sign JB to the supermax and run this back for two more seasons max unless they’re blown away by an offer this summer.

This is certainly the most likely option and probably my least favorite. Signing JB doesn't mean a title window of 5-7 years like people said all last offseason. I feel pretty confident right now is Tatum signing his deal but if I'm Wyc, I'm running out of time and patience given the changes that will most definitely have to come with the new CBA. The new restrictions will absolutely DECIMATE tax paying teams now and unless you're balancing that with real title contention every year, I just don't see how Wyc will justify the expenditures. Already I think one of Smart/White/Brogdon has to be traded this offseason in prep for JB's extension. We're gonna have to start playing our less expensive talent and developing those 2nd rnd picks into players that can see the floor.

[chrisab123]

Robert Williams played well in just 14 minutes, but he went to the locker room twice in the first half. He finished with eight points and six rebounds in his limited minutes.

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-celtics/2023/05/30/celtics-season-abrupt-painful-end-takeaways-game-7-heat/

Everyone on the roster needs to be able to shoot 3s. Rob doesn't so he's a waste. Just doesn't make any sense.

[BRUNiNHO91]

I took this loss better than probably any other big sports loss in my life. Alot of reasons why.

One, other than a few of these guys, *Rob, white, Tatum* I don't feel sorry for any of them. Said it a bunch and I'll say it once more, most unlikable championship contender I've ever rooted for.

Also, I was beyond convinced whoever won this was getting smashed by Denver. We were basically playing for the right to lose in the finals.

Even if we weren't so stupid, we are clearly too exhausted and hurt to win the whole thing at this point. This year was never the year and other than very early in the season I never thought it was.


I think it's beyond obvious this core doesn't have what it takes to get the job done. They can and will win alot of games, and if that is all you care about, then don't change anything. If you wanna actually win the whole thing, you gotta break this core up.

You could argue they have had multiple years where the odds were stacked in their favor just about as good as you could ever realistically expect... And they still lost.

The BBIQ on this team is just way too low and it's not getting better with time. You can't keep running back the same core, getting the exact same results, and keep wondering why they never win.

This team needs a new makeup and identity if they are ever gonna get banner 18. This core ain't it.

This core gets a bad rep because they got too far too quickly. Tatum and Brown have been hitting the ECF since Tatum was a rookie. There’s a lot of stars that never got as far as them in a season and they do it basically every year. Give them a real head coach and reload the roster should be the obvious answer here.

[CelticsPride18]

I took this loss better than probably any other big sports loss in my life. Alot of reasons why.

One, other than a few of these guys, *Rob, white, Tatum* I don't feel sorry for any of them. Said it a bunch and I'll say it once more, most unlikable championship contender I've ever rooted for.

Also, I was beyond convinced whoever won this was getting smashed by Denver. We were basically playing for the right to lose in the finals.

Even if we weren't so stupid, we are clearly too exhausted and hurt to win the whole thing at this point. This year was never the year and other than very early in the season I never thought it was.


I think it's beyond obvious this core doesn't have what it takes to get the job done. They can and will win alot of games, and if that is all you care about, then don't change anything. If you wanna actually win the whole thing, you gotta break this core up.

You could argue they have had multiple years where the odds were stacked in their favor just about as good as you could ever realistically expect... And they still lost.

The BBIQ on this team is just way too low and it's not getting better with time. You can't keep running back the same core, getting the exact same results, and keep wondering why they never win.

This team needs a new makeup and identity if they are ever gonna get banner 18. This core ain't it.

This core gets a bad rep because they got too far too quickly. Tatum and Brown have been hitting the ECF since Tatum was a rookie. There’s a lot of stars that never got as far as them in a season and they do it basically every year. Give them a real head coach and reload the roster should be the obvious answer here.

3 different head coaches and a lot of different role players and they still don’t know how to close games. At some point they have to break up the core and the most likely options are Brown or Smart. It probably won’t be this season but I don’t think this core will ever learn to close games

[philing00]

If we are going to keep JB, he needs to play offball. He needs to learn to stop dragging his feet around.
If we are going to stick with point TAtum, at least get a starting big that can set a decent screen. I’m sick of Al setting slip/ ghost screens that do jack all but waste clock.
We need more high bbIQ, composed, gritty players eg White.
I wouldn’t mind bringing Grant and PP back for the right price.
Muscala is expandable because we have Galo to try. He’s a revolving door on D anyway.
Trade Brog for another big. He’s the guard that plays the weakest D.
Main move would be to get rid of Joe or get a veteran assistant. Cant have it all the same after this debacle. We need some new ideas if we are bringing the same core back. Can’t have the coaching team with less experience than our players.
We need to bring back the defence next year

[philing00]

Dwight would have been better than Kornet for sure.

But LOL at thinking Mazzula would have gotten anything out of Martin. Dude would have been on the JD Davison seat.

Martin was good with the Hornets. So that coach got something out of him too. Herro being out gave Martin a chance to play a bigger role, including more shot opportunities. He is a player than isn't scared to take big shots unlike Tatum and Brown.

As far as Dwight, he is the reason the Lakers beat the Heat for the championship in the bubble year. What did Dwight do that was so important? He played hard and physical on Bam. He literally knocked Bam out of the series when he injured Bam. It wasn't a dirty play, it was just a hard hit to the shoulder area.

Been saying to get Dwight since before the lakers got him in the bubble season. Unguaranteed deal should be a no brainer. But, guys here were also too stupid to get the big picture. Dwight is a cancer, he will disrupt chemistry, dwight is a clown and is washed etc etc. he is definitely much better than kornet. He could be useful for around 10-15mins or even more depending on the matchup. Definitely could block all those layups that Al and Rob couldn’t. I tell you, Butler wouldn’t dare to shoot against dwight inside like he’s done with horford. Plus no one’s gonna get those rebounds inside.

Nothing to lose. Playing in Taiwan might make him a more rounded player. Who knows??

[BRUNiNHO91]

I took this loss better than probably any other big sports loss in my life. Alot of reasons why.

One, other than a few of these guys, *Rob, white, Tatum* I don't feel sorry for any of them. Said it a bunch and I'll say it once more, most unlikable championship contender I've ever rooted for.

Also, I was beyond convinced whoever won this was getting smashed by Denver. We were basically playing for the right to lose in the finals.

Even if we weren't so stupid, we are clearly too exhausted and hurt to win the whole thing at this point. This year was never the year and other than very early in the season I never thought it was.


I think it's beyond obvious this core doesn't have what it takes to get the job done. They can and will win alot of games, and if that is all you care about, then don't change anything. If you wanna actually win the whole thing, you gotta break this core up.

You could argue they have had multiple years where the odds were stacked in their favor just about as good as you could ever realistically expect... And they still lost.

The BBIQ on this team is just way too low and it's not getting better with time. You can't keep running back the same core, getting the exact same results, and keep wondering why they never win.

This team needs a new makeup and identity if they are ever gonna get banner 18. This core ain't it.

This core gets a bad rep because they got too far too quickly. Tatum and Brown have been hitting the ECF since Tatum was a rookie. There’s a lot of stars that never got as far as them in a season and they do it basically every year. Give them a real head coach and reload the roster should be the obvious answer here.

3 different head coaches and a lot of different role players and they still don’t know how to close games. At some point they have to break up the core and the most likely options are Brown or Smart. It probably won’t be this season but I don’t think this core will ever learn to close games

It’s not like they max out at round 1 as a 6th seed. It’s easier to bring in people that can help them get over the hump over trading guys that due to contract situations, will never get us equal value back. They also had 2 rookie coaches the past 2 years..Udoka looked pretty overwhelmed against Kerr and Joe was basically gang banged by all 3 coaches we played against. Brad IMO never lost a series to a team with inferior talent, but obviously got tuned out by these guys for whatever reason.

This team could do with a guy like Mike Conley also. Steady veteran that’s going to control the game a bit.

[Tyakack]

I took this loss better than probably any other big sports loss in my life. Alot of reasons why.

One, other than a few of these guys, *Rob, white, Tatum* I don't feel sorry for any of them. Said it a bunch and I'll say it once more, most unlikable championship contender I've ever rooted for.

Also, I was beyond convinced whoever won this was getting smashed by Denver. We were basically playing for the right to lose in the finals.

Even if we weren't so stupid, we are clearly too exhausted and hurt to win the whole thing at this point. This year was never the year and other than very early in the season I never thought it was.


I think it's beyond obvious this core doesn't have what it takes to get the job done. They can and will win alot of games, and if that is all you care about, then don't change anything. If you wanna actually win the whole thing, you gotta break this core up.

You could argue they have had multiple years where the odds were stacked in their favor just about as good as you could ever realistically expect... And they still lost.

The BBIQ on this team is just way too low and it's not getting better with time. You can't keep running back the same core, getting the exact same results, and keep wondering why they never win.

This team needs a new makeup and identity if they are ever gonna get banner 18. This core ain't it.

This core gets a bad rep because they got too far too quickly. Tatum and Brown have been hitting the ECF since Tatum was a rookie. There’s a lot of stars that never got as far as them in a season and they do it basically every year. Give them a real head coach and reload the roster should be the obvious answer here.

Nobody blames them for losing early on when they were rookies. Those days are over. That excuse is over and done with. When talking about the failures of this core, nobody ever brings up those years.

The, "Other stars/teams fail alot too" is not a good reason to not make changes. Unless, again, the goal is to just win alot of games and a championship is optional.

I personally feel like the goal should be to maximize Tatum's prime years. I think that starts with giving him more reliable sidekicks that play the game the right way more consistently.. And also, the right coach.

If you think this core has what it takes to win it all then yes what you said is the obvious answer. I don't think they do and I don't think another year or 2 of experience is gonna change it. I don't think brown is a good enough second option period.

[CelticsPride18]

This core gets a bad rep because they got too far too quickly. Tatum and Brown have been hitting the ECF since Tatum was a rookie. There’s a lot of stars that never got as far as them in a season and they do it basically every year. Give them a real head coach and reload the roster should be the obvious answer here.

3 different head coaches and a lot of different role players and they still don’t know how to close games. At some point they have to break up the core and the most likely options are Brown or Smart. It probably won’t be this season but I don’t think this core will ever learn to close games

It’s not like they max out at round 1 as a 6th seed. It’s easier to bring in people that can help them get over the hump over trading guys that due to contract situations, will never get us equal value back. They also had 2 rookie coaches the past 2 years..Udoka looked pretty overwhelmed against Kerr and Joe was basically gang banged by all 3 coaches we played against. Brad IMO never lost a series to a team with inferior talent, but obviously got tuned out by these guys for whatever reason.

This team could do with a guy like Mike Conley also. Steady veteran that’s going to control the game a bit.

They aren’t rookies anymore with all that playoffs experience they should know what it takes to win.

[zoyathedestroya]

Read on Twitter

The Comedian, me, and others have had the same stance since the beginning. He shouldn’t have the ball all that much. Not all his fault since Tatum got injured, but last night his usage was 34.8%. Next highest was White at 22.4%. High usage JB was never the answer esp against tougher, smarter defenses. JB has had more freedom under Joe to do whatever. Brogdon, who was supposed to take on some of the playmaking burden, being injured also didn’t help our cause.

[chrisab123]

I'm sick of seeing the same players every year. With Mazzulla as the coach I'd definitely put the Bucks Heat and maybe Philly over this team next year. Unless they change how its presently constructed that is.

Its sad how the Bucks have a better coach than the Celtics, yet the guy has never coached a game as a Head Coach in the league.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Same **** that got us beat in last year’s Finals. Turnovers and dumb offense.

Read on Twitter

Nothing learned. Team needs change. Please.

So five of those turnovers was because he can't dribble, and the other three you could argue for because of his low basketball IQ.

[Larry_Russell]

This team needs a penetrating guard.

A Garland, Fox, Morant, Brunson type of guard that forces defenses to collapse.

Honestly, no one this team can do that, and no one has been able to since Kyrie. And I know Kyrie went crazy, but that first season he was here he was a KEY part in this team that went to game 7 in the ECFs.


That is what is needed, penetration.

Tatum is ok
White is ok
Smart is OK
Brogdon is ok

Brown is horrible

Horford cant


That is the #1 problem outside of coaching being D2 level.


We need THAT GUY.

[zoyathedestroya]

I still can’t get over the fact that a team who had a waived two-way guy from two years ago as their best player beat us in the ECF. We have been consistently told that top talent wins in the NBA.

[CelticsPride18]

I still can’t get over the fact that a team who had a waived two-way guy from two years ago as their best player beat us in the ECF. We have been consistently told that top talent wins in the NBA.

Champaigne 2025 ECF will be special

[Froob]

I still can’t get over the fact that a team who had a waived two-way guy from two years ago as their best player beat us in the ECF. We have been consistently told that top talent wins in the NBA.

Lol I was mad we were going to keep Struss over Tacko.

I'll always believe we win if Tatum doesn't get injured, doesn't even have to be true. Hopefully Panthers and Heat both have crushing Final losses.

[lon3lytoaster]

I still can’t get over the fact that a team who had a waived two-way guy from two years ago as their best player beat us in the ECF. We have been consistently told that top talent wins in the NBA.

Lol I was mad we were going to keep Struss over Tacko.

I'll always believe we win if Tatum doesn't get injured, doesn't even have to be true. Hopefully Panthers and Heat both have crushing Final losses.

I think they honestly came out pretty well, the first few minutes. They just could not survive Tatum being so passive and uninvolved and letting Jaylen and Marcus try to make plays after a few minutes.

Shame. He clearly didn’t want to be out there on that ankle and just vanished for large parts of the game.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

I know I was emotional last night saying this team needs to move on from Brown and they're not going to win anything with him.(which I still believe)

I'm not sure Boston has much choice but to pay him unless they want to be the seventh seed every year. I'm sure the organization would rather be in the contention conversation with brown than without him.

[The Corey's]

How the hell is it possible to out choke the Bruins? How?

Bruins was worse for sure lol. They were up with like ten seconds to go in game 7 and ended up in OT.

The Bruins were worse because they were more competitive?

The bruins got their ass kicked in that game and battles back in the third which is way more than you can say about the Celtics.

Not to mention hockey is a different breed, a hot goalie goes a long way and it happens every playoff regardless of seeding.

Celtics went down 3-0 to the worst offense in the NBA....

[BRUNiNHO91]

I took this loss better than probably any other big sports loss in my life. Alot of reasons why.

One, other than a few of these guys, *Rob, white, Tatum* I don't feel sorry for any of them. Said it a bunch and I'll say it once more, most unlikable championship contender I've ever rooted for.

Also, I was beyond convinced whoever won this was getting smashed by Denver. We were basically playing for the right to lose in the finals.

Even if we weren't so stupid, we are clearly too exhausted and hurt to win the whole thing at this point. This year was never the year and other than very early in the season I never thought it was.


I think it's beyond obvious this core doesn't have what it takes to get the job done. They can and will win alot of games, and if that is all you care about, then don't change anything. If you wanna actually win the whole thing, you gotta break this core up.

You could argue they have had multiple years where the odds were stacked in their favor just about as good as you could ever realistically expect... And they still lost.

The BBIQ on this team is just way too low and it's not getting better with time. You can't keep running back the same core, getting the exact same results, and keep wondering why they never win.

This team needs a new makeup and identity if they are ever gonna get banner 18. This core ain't it.

This core gets a bad rep because they got too far too quickly. Tatum and Brown have been hitting the ECF since Tatum was a rookie. There’s a lot of stars that never got as far as them in a season and they do it basically every year. Give them a real head coach and reload the roster should be the obvious answer here.

Nobody blames them for losing early on when they were rookies. Those days are over. That excuse is over and done with. When talking about the failures of this core, nobody ever brings up those years.

The, "Other stars/teams fail alot too" is not a good reason to not make changes. Unless, again, the goal is to just win alot of games and a championship is optional.

I personally feel like the goal should be to maximize Tatum's prime years. I think that starts with giving him more reliable sidekicks that play the game the right way more consistently.. And also, the right coach.

If you think this core has what it takes to win it all then yes what you said is the obvious answer. I don't think they do and I don't think another year or 2 of experience is gonna change it. I don't think brown is a good enough second option period.

By all means..if a better 2nd option is available for Jaylen go for it. If you can get Lillard for JB..sign me up. Is Durant back in play? Go for it. Beal? Im down.

But guys here are asking for Lauri Maurkannen and draft picks. Lol come on now. The trade isn’t there to be made for a better number 2. You can probably trade the number 2 for a better number 4 and a better number 8. Im sure that will maximize Tatum quite a bit.

And yes if Boston had never made the playoffs in the Tatum era until last year nobody would want to trade the core. People want to trade because they have been here so many times and lost so many times, when in reality this is the first time they probably lost when they shouldn’t have.

The issues are there, drawn out for us to see. You can’t flat out fix them but you can hide/minimize a lot of it and that’s on Brad. The obvious start is to get rid of Mazzula.