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

[BigTrade92]

Ainge just needs to go.

Let Zarren take a stab at the things.

17 years and only 1 title. Enough is enough.

The Celtics in that time period have been outperformed by the Lakers, Warriors, Spurs, Cavs, Heat ... and who else?

And by the way, 3 of those 5 teams had a clear geographical advantage (Cleveland solely because of its appeal to one guy who was born in Akron). 4 of the 5 benefitted from having Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, or Lebron James.

The Warriors are the exception who had no better access to players than Ainge. Yes, drafting Curry is a great opportunity, but Ainge had the chance to draft Giannis, who definitely is comparable, and Tatum, who may yet turn out to be.

These are great excuses, but you don’t get a participation trophy for being the sixth most successful team in a 17 year span. Heck even Toronto has had an equal, if not better run, than we’ve had.

Danny Ainge needs to go if he can’t win a title next season. This isn’t a cute little story any more and it’s certainly not a rebuilding team. Results are what matter now and we just squandered the best opportunity possible.

Imagine working in a performance based job for close to two full decades and only being on top one of those years...guarantee any other team, heck any other job in general, wouldn’t put up with that type of mediocrity for that long from the guy who should be leading the charge to victory.

The Ainge apologists need to pack it up. He’s done a commendable job here, that goes without saying, but he’s been unable to get the ultimate goal accomplished for a decade now and it’s about high time for new blood to takeover in Boston.

This offseason is make or break. Time for Ainge to sh*t or get off the pot.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Here is what makes this series loss tough:

Game 1-Had a 15 point lead-Loses by 3
Game 2 Had a 17 point lead-Lost by 5
Game 3-Won by 9
Game 4 lost by 3
Game 5-Won by 13
Game 6-Had a 6 point lead(I know that isn't much) and after a timeout by the heat they go one like a 26-4 run and the team ends up getting blown out.

I have never seen anything like this before where a team is constantly blowing leads, and has almost 0% chance of winning close games. Once and a while losses like this happen but it is EVERY GAME with this team.

[ParticleMan]

meh, the fire ainge/fire brad folks understand team building NOT AT ALL. the only thing our leadership has done wrong is have a faster rebuild than people expected and got people's hopes too far up this year. you played yourself if you ever thought this was a championship caliber team. very few people anywhere thought this was even an ECF team.

tatum/JB are our future. they are our leaders who need to grow into that role, but they aren't there yet. brad needs to grow as well.
everyone else is transitional, except whichever of the kids rise up like the williams bros, and maybe smart. this rebuild is far from done, we're in the middle of it not the end. we are going for multiple championships. we are going for a dynasty, not trying to catch lightning in a bottle. anyone not willing to see this thru can feel free to go walking out through that door.

False narrative.

Faster rebuild than expected? You are aware that danny was tearing this team down while miami was in the middle of their 4 back to back title appearances, no first round picks or picking at the end of the first and absolutely no cap right?

And yet, here we are with them having a better team than us 7 years later despite starting at such a huge disadvantage.

Why are we continuing to give out hall passes? This was a unequivocal disasterous result and everyone knows it.

The next time 2 guys like prime Lebron and prime Bosh want to come to the Celtics, let me know. You're living a fantasy land where everything goes 100% right and then looking to blame anyone but your favorite players when things go wrong. Meanwhile I see KD diss us, GH come and break his ankle in the first game, IT bust a hip, we get piss-poor lotto and coin flip luck, and on and on. Look around the L, a ton of teams have had a lot better supposed foundation than us, and look where they are now, eg Philly.

The fact is Tatum is not ready for being a prime time leader. That's not even unexpected, it's his first not even full season he's been in the superstar convo. He will get there, probably sooner than later. But the experience and poise difference was so glaring in this series. And frankly the last one too, but we overcame it with sheer talent. I think that would have been a lot different with a healthy Hayward, who really settles this team down. Ainge and Brad are playing the long game, the more these young guys take their lumps and see what the bar is, the faster they will develop. But being a true contender is a whole 'nother level.

[CalL]

False narrative.

Faster rebuild than expected? You are aware that danny was tearing this team down while miami was in the middle of their 4 back to back title appearances, no first round picks or picking at the end of the first and absolutely no cap right?

And yet, here we are with them having a better team than us 7 years later despite starting at such a huge disadvantage.

Why are we continuing to give out hall passes? This was a unequivocal disasterous result and everyone knows it.

The Heat have a better team, but not the better players. I am not sure how much of it actually is on the management.

I completely agree on that one. There aren't many coaches out there tho. The only two I'd change Stevens for right now is yours truly Jim Carrey and Popovich. There aren't that many good coaches out there.

I wasn't only talking about coaching, although i would prefer Popovich, Nurse, Spoelstra or maybe even guys like Carlisle/Malone/Kerr. I am not sure how predictable it was that Hayward would become a non-factor or that Walker would disappoint in the playoffs. Maybe you shouldn't have gone for a guy with previous injuries (Hayward) or a guy who hasn't shown that he can make the difference at that level (Walker), but what other options did you have and how many harm did it actually do (when you keep in mind that Hayward will be gone soon anyways)? I think all the guys on the team have to ask themselves how guys like Adebayo or Herro were able to outperform them. At some point you also have to hold the individual players accountable. If you want to win titles, you have to step up at some point instead of just waiting for someone else to do it for you. Tatum and Brown are young enough to get there, so i give them a pass for now, but the guys who are paid to take that role (Hayward, Walker) haven't done it, so those are the guys that need to be looked at the hardest.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Also we have to start looking at Ainge. Ainge has had 27 picks the past 7 years and out of the picks here is who he hit on:

Brown
Tatum
Rozier (no longer with the team)
Smart

TBD
Langfornd
G Williams
Williams
Waters

The other 19 picks are either scrubs, no longer in the league, or never played in the NBA. To me that is a major problem. Ainge being a good drafter is a bit overstated.

[BRUNiNHO91]

This one hurts more today than it did yesterday.

[CalL]

To the how long does it take stevens to bear a zone crowd?.....you don’t think they had a game plan to beat this? yes they did. The players have to execute it. Look at game 6- we came out in the beginning and did the complete opposite of what won us game 5. We didn’t attack at all and shot way too many threes to start the game.

You don’t think the coaching staff- particularly stevens beat it into the players heads to attack attack attack or get in the paint and kick it outside? That that was what worked? you can give the players the game plan but they have to execute it.

There’s def ammo to criticize stevens- but the zone stuff isn’t all on him, the players need to implement the game plan too.

Do you know what exactly he told them? I don't. Maybe he gave them the perfect plan to beat the zone or maybe he didn't. In the end i don't really see how that is relevant. Either he didn't have a plan to beat the zone or he didn't get true to the players. What are the options? You can either trade all the players for players who listen to him or you can change the coach. One of those options seems more reasonable to me.

[philing00]

Finally we play a game where we shred Miami’s zone and we couldn’t get any stops. And what the hell happened in the last 6 minutes of the game? we have absolutely no composure in the clutch.
As much as I hate the Lakers, if Miami win the championship it’s gonna suck more I think.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

This one hurts more today than it did yesterday.

Yeah. I feel you. I couldn't sleep. I woke up at 4 AM this morning. This year seemed like a perfect storm for us to get to the Finals. No Ben Simmons, followed by no homecourt for Toronto, and Milwaukee not waiting for us in the Conference Finals. This team had the talent but failed to execute when it mattered. Ouch.

Not trying to take away anything from Miami, but I feel like we just shot ourselves in the foot during every loss, especially in the first 2 games.

[MagicBagley18]

To the how long does it take stevens to bear a zone crowd?.....you don’t think they had a game plan to beat this? yes they did. The players have to execute it. Look at game 6- we came out in the beginning and did the complete opposite of what won us game 5. We didn’t attack at all and shot way too many threes to start the game.

You don’t think the coaching staff- particularly stevens beat it into the players heads to attack attack attack or get in the paint and kick it outside? That that was what worked? you can give the players the game plan but they have to execute it.

There’s def ammo to criticize stevens- but the zone stuff isn’t all on him, the players need to implement the game plan too.

Do you know what exactly he told them? I don't. Maybe he gave them the perfect plan to beat the zone or maybe he didn't. In the end i don't really see how that is relevant. Either he didn't have a plan to beat the zone or he didn't get true to the players. What are the options? You can either trade all the players for players who listen to him or you can change the coach. One of those options seems more reasonable to me.

Except they did beat the zone in stretches and actually started to have success against it when the players attacked it. I’m not even sure what you’re talking about? trading the players. I was talking to People here who I’ve had dialogue with all season/post season especially recently ab this

[will]

OOF. This is tough. Argue this is one of the better games played against the Heat.

Gotta stay the course here. Of course, the feelings are fresh after the defeat...but gotdamn a few tweaks and adjustments will go a long way than scrapping what has been accomplished and put in place.

A healthy Gordon goes a long way. If Ainge and Brad can convince Kemba to go the 6th man route....it balances out the team a whole lot more.

Finding a 5 or a big man that can be a threat to score or at least shoot the ball will go a long. Again easier said that done. None of us have the answers as this is beyond many of our pay grades.

Damn great season. Stay the course. It's proven.

[will]

Gotta credit Miami though. Friggin' old man Iggy comes through again.

Bam just running ish from the 5 spot. Herro again.

Miami just played with more composure and executed consistently.

[Fantaxp7]

I have no idea why Brad put back in Theis...and proceeded to leave him in after getting scorched even once...Then once we went ice cold and jacked up and miss three after three and did nothing...like it's potentially (and actually) the last quarter of the season. That is where you use your time outs.

Grant and Rob were so much more effective in that game it just hurts thinking about how they were under utilized.

I have to think if we were outside of the bubble there is a great chance we beat the Heat. At the same time it's very possible we don't even end up in the ECF.

[celticfan42487]

Ainge just needs to go.

Let Zarren take a stab at the things.

17 years and only 1 title. Enough is enough.

The Celtics in that time period have been outperformed by the Lakers, Warriors, Spurs, Cavs, Heat ... and who else?

And by the way, 3 of those 5 teams had a clear geographical advantage (Cleveland solely because of its appeal to one guy who was born in Akron). 4 of the 5 benefitted from having Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, or Lebron James.

The Warriors are the exception who had no better access to players than Ainge. Yes, drafting Curry is a great opportunity, but Ainge had the chance to draft Giannis, who definitely is comparable, and Tatum, who may yet turn out to be.

These are great excuses, but you don’t get a participation trophy for being the sixth most successful team in a 17 year span. Heck even Toronto has had an equal, if not better run, than we’ve had.

Danny Ainge needs to go if he can’t win a title next season. This isn’t a cute little story any more and it’s certainly not a rebuilding team. Results are what matter now and we just squandered the best opportunity possible.

Imagine working in a performance based job for close to two full decades and only being on top one of those years...guarantee any other team, heck any other job in general, wouldn’t put up with that type of mediocrity for that long from the guy who should be leading the charge to victory.

The Ainge apologists need to pack it up. He’s done a commendable job here, that goes without saying, but he’s been unable to get the ultimate goal accomplished for a decade now and it’s about high time for new blood to takeover in Boston.

This offseason is make or break. Time for Ainge to sh*t or get off the pot.

I agree. What complete roster turnovers and still making the ECF in 3/4 years.

Let's get a real GM in here so we can be the Detroit Pistons.

[celticfan42487]

Here is what makes this series loss tough:

Game 1-Had a 15 point lead-Loses by 3
Game 2 Had a 17 point lead-Lost by 5
Game 3-Won by 9
Game 4 lost by 3
Game 5-Won by 13
Game 6-Had a 6 point lead(I know that isn't much) and after a timeout by the heat they go one like a 26-4 run and the team ends up getting blown out.

I have never seen anything like this before where a team is constantly blowing leads, and has almost 0% chance of winning close games. Once and a while losses like this happen but it is EVERY GAME with this team.

It is the least clutch performance by a team ever.

We pissed our pants over and over again in the 4th quarter and blew 3 should be wins in Games 1/2/6.

That said, before the series started on the Ringer someone picked the Heat saying if you look at the NBA historically teams with their best players under like 25 don't make the Finals. So just statistically he's picking the Heat on a 50/50 series based off that. And that Tatum Brown are no young Durant and Westbrook, and even if they were there's no Harden on the bench on top of that.

[Brett43]

The Celtics choked last night.

There were in the 4th Quarter with a 96 - 90 lead, and then the heat went on a 25 - 7 run. That's not how you go to the NBA finals.

What I saw in this series:

1) lack of poise down the stretch in all the close games
2) too much reliance on 3's down the stretch
3) a surprisingly good Miami center, who won one game on the last play
4) a surprisingly good Miami rookie, who was picked one spot before Langford

It is frustrating. The Celtics could have won that series. They did not get blown out except for the few minutes of last night's game.

[BigTrade92]

The Celtics in that time period have been outperformed by the Lakers, Warriors, Spurs, Cavs, Heat ... and who else?

And by the way, 3 of those 5 teams had a clear geographical advantage (Cleveland solely because of its appeal to one guy who was born in Akron). 4 of the 5 benefitted from having Tim Duncan, Kobe Bryant, or Lebron James.

The Warriors are the exception who had no better access to players than Ainge. Yes, drafting Curry is a great opportunity, but Ainge had the chance to draft Giannis, who definitely is comparable, and Tatum, who may yet turn out to be.

These are great excuses, but you don’t get a participation trophy for being the sixth most successful team in a 17 year span. Heck even Toronto has had an equal, if not better run, than we’ve had.

Danny Ainge needs to go if he can’t win a title next season. This isn’t a cute little story any more and it’s certainly not a rebuilding team. Results are what matter now and we just squandered the best opportunity possible.

Imagine working in a performance based job for close to two full decades and only being on top one of those years...guarantee any other team, heck any other job in general, wouldn’t put up with that type of mediocrity for that long from the guy who should be leading the charge to victory.

The Ainge apologists need to pack it up. He’s done a commendable job here, that goes without saying, but he’s been unable to get the ultimate goal accomplished for a decade now and it’s about high time for new blood to takeover in Boston.

This offseason is make or break. Time for Ainge to sh*t or get off the pot.

I agree. What complete roster turnovers and still making the ECF in 3/4 years.

Let's get a real GM in here so we can be the Detroit Pistons.

Or a GM that hasn’t lost his balls and goes all in to win a title like Ujiri. Let’s keep hoarding picks though.....Oh wait, we can’t anymore, because this is the last year we have extra picks and Danny’s “rebuild” has finally reached its climax...

Thank god though we’re still miles ahead of the Lakers, Heat and Raptors...they’ll never win a title before Trader Danny...

Death, taxes and Celtics fans twisting themselves into pretzels to try and defend dictator Ainge are the three sure things in life.

17 years and only 1 title. Keep trying to defend him. Maybe next year we’ll lose in Game 7 of the ECF, that’ll be quite the improvement over losing in 6!

[FeedReed]

they need a big man if that wasn’t obvious. you can’t play theis in the ecf and expect him to be any match for who he goes up against. i give hayward credit for trying, but he was still hobbled and shouldn’t have been out there. i don’t believe tatum has the makeup of a winner. i’m not nearly as in to him as most of this fanbase. he’s not efficient and throws up garbage shots constantly, and his D isn’t very good . smart i like because he plays so hard, but like tatum, he gets away with way too much on offense and should be put on a leash. brown and kemba needed more opportunities in the series. brown is the most efficient and best offensive player on this team.

[GrandTheftRondo]

To the how long does it take stevens to bear a zone crowd?.....you don’t think they had a game plan to beat this? yes they did. The players have to execute it. Look at game 6- we came out in the beginning and did the complete opposite of what won us game 5. We didn’t attack at all and shot way too many threes to start the game.

You don’t think the coaching staff- particularly stevens beat it into the players heads to attack attack attack or get in the paint and kick it outside? That that was what worked? you can give the players the game plan but they have to execute it.

There’s def ammo to criticize stevens- but the zone stuff isn’t all on him, the players need to implement the game plan too.

Do you know what exactly he told them? I don't. Maybe he gave them the perfect plan to beat the zone or maybe he didn't. In the end i don't really see how that is relevant. Either he didn't have a plan to beat the zone or he didn't get true to the players. What are the options? You can either trade all the players for players who listen to him or you can change the coach. One of those options seems more reasonable to me.

Man you make it sound like a basketball zone requires some sort of genius to crack.

It simply speaks to the Boston players that it gave them fits. Beating a zone is not complicated. Anyone who has played basketball will know good shots can be found by cutting and moving. They showed at times they could crack the zone with ease by attacking the middle via screens as normal, players flashing high and making the extra pass to the corner. They simply didn’t execute it.

They hesitated on open threes giving Miami time to recover, they missed open players, they lost the ball at the first sight of a bit of defensive pressure. You cannot blame Stevens for any of this.

Again. Beating a zone is not hard. It shouldn’t be hard for a pro basketball team. It rarely gets used by NBA teams because it’s very easy to get open shots with and in the era of 3s this will kill a team. Boston simply played dumb offence. In the second half of game 5 they played assertive, moved the ball and hit shots. Miami looked hopeless.

[GrandTheftRondo]

These are great excuses, but you don’t get a participation trophy for being the sixth most successful team in a 17 year span. Heck even Toronto has had an equal, if not better run, than we’ve had.

Danny Ainge needs to go if he can’t win a title next season. This isn’t a cute little story any more and it’s certainly not a rebuilding team. Results are what matter now and we just squandered the best opportunity possible.

Imagine working in a performance based job for close to two full decades and only being on top one of those years...guarantee any other team, heck any other job in general, wouldn’t put up with that type of mediocrity for that long from the guy who should be leading the charge to victory.

The Ainge apologists need to pack it up. He’s done a commendable job here, that goes without saying, but he’s been unable to get the ultimate goal accomplished for a decade now and it’s about high time for new blood to takeover in Boston.

This offseason is make or break. Time for Ainge to sh*t or get off the pot.

I agree. What complete roster turnovers and still making the ECF in 3/4 years.

Let's get a real GM in here so we can be the Detroit Pistons.

Or a GM that hasn’t lost his balls and goes all in to win a title like Ujiri. Let’s keep hoarding picks though.....Oh wait, we can’t anymore, because this is the last year we have extra picks and Danny’s “rebuild” has finally reached its climax...

Thank god though we’re still miles ahead of the Lakers, Heat and Raptors...they’ll never win a title before Trader Danny...

Death, taxes and Celtics fans twisting themselves into pretzels to try and defend dictator Ainge are the three sure things in life.

17 years and only 1 title. Keep trying to defend him. Maybe next year we’ll lose in Game 7 of the ECF, that’ll be quite the improvement over losing in 6!

By your logic we would have traded Tatum away for a rental.

The level of entitlement by some of you is ridiculous. It is incredibly hard to win an NBA title these days.