Official Celtics 2020-21 Regular Season Thread

[playa-hater]

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[playa-hater]

Am I the only one who thinks Kemba missing a month or so can be a HUGE blessing in disguise??

Forces Boston to play Nesmith and our other rookie PP more. Allows the youngsters to get their feel and confidence up, while allowing Stevens to better analyze their game and development.

Not that I expect Stevens to start Smart - Nesmith - Brown -Tatum (any of the 3 at center)
But that really is Boston's best and most versatile defensive lineup while still maintaining good spacing..

Nope, you're not alone. Sign me up for that lineup.

Nesmith Starting? I wonder if the Kid can handle that.

perhaps not at first, but throwing him in there and speeding up the learning curve is a benefit that will pay off by season's end IMO. Besides, he won't be pressured to create anything. Just shoot when open or pass the JJs the ball. keep it simple..

[Parliament10]

Nope, you're not alone. Sign me up for that lineup.

Nesmith Starting? I wonder if the Kid can handle that.

perhaps not at first, but throwing him in there and speeding up the learning curve is a benefit that will pay off by season's end IMO. Besides, he won't e pressured to create anything. Just shoot when open or pass the JJs the all. keep it simple..

You may be right. We're gonna see, soon enough.

[playa-hater]

IDk if Grant Williams is ready to Start. But I definitely see us going with a 2 Bigs Lineup.

I consider myself "old school" in many ways. I still think this way can be successful in today's NBA. But Stevens and most/every NBA team thinks differently.

If G.Williams were more experienced and prove, I would say Start him at the 4. Because he has shown to be a flexible switcher.

whether it be Grant Williams or Nesmith, I think Boston can "hide" one youngster with the starter well enough. 4 others are already veterans.

[Parliament10]

I consider myself "old school" in many ways. I still think this way can be successful in today's NBA. But Stevens and most/every NBA team thinks differently.

If G.Williams were more experienced and prove, I would say Start him at the 4. Because he has shown to be a flexible switcher.

whether it be Grant Williams or Nesmith, I think Boston can "hide" one youngster with the starter well enough. 4 others are already veterans.

What, something like this?:

Smart - Brown - Tatum - G.Williams - Theis

[KGboss]

ALRIGHT HEAR ME OUT

Ainge should bring in Napier and reunite the Uconn boys

Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk

[djFan71]

Nesmith Starting? I wonder if the Kid can handle that.

perhaps not at first, but throwing him in there and speeding up the learning curve is a benefit that will pay off by season's end IMO. Besides, he won't e pressured to create anything. Just shoot when open or pass the JJs the all. keep it simple..

You may be right. We're gonna see, soon enough.

I really doubt Brad does it. But, it puts Aaron in a great spot to succeed and keeps another good player to help the bench unit.

[keevsnick1]

So I really doubt we seen Thompson and Theis starting together. Maybe the Cs experiment with it in spot situations, its a long regular season after all, but I kind of think if we see a lot of it its more a sign that things have gone horribly wrong then an actual strategy. Its not just the lack of shooting that has the potential to kill spacing if Theis doesn't revert to his 18-19 percentages, its the perimeter defense. There's a big difference between being able to occasionally switch out on guys an hold up okay which Thompson and Theis do very well and being asked to consistently guard wings or even guards as a modern day 4. Those guys have each been 95% plus Center minutes their last two seasons, and Brad has rarely went with two big lineups and pretty much never went with two bigs who can't shoot.

[playa-hater]

If G.Williams were more experienced and prove, I would say Start him at the 4. Because he has shown to be a flexible switcher.

whether it be Grant Williams or Nesmith, I think Boston can "hide" one youngster with the starter well enough. 4 others are already veterans.

What, something like this?:

Smart - Brown - Tatum - G.Williams - Theis

THIS WILL HAPPEN for at least a game or 2..

[Triple7]

What's the Lineup, going into the Regular Season?


Start of Season Lineup:
Starters: Smart - Brown - Tatum - Theis - Thompson
Rotation: Teague - Pritchard - Nesmith - G.Williams - R.Williams
Reserve: Edwards - Green - Ojeleye
Two-Ways: Waters - Fall


Main Lineup (Regular Season):
Starters: Kemba - Brown - Tatum - Theis - Thompson
Rotation: Teague - Smart - Nesmith - G.Williams - R.Williams
Reserve: Pritchard - Edwards - Langford - Green - Ojeleye
Two-Ways: Waters - Fall

I would want to start
Teague - nesmith - brown - tatum - thompson

To finish
Teague, smart, brown, tatum, thompson

Teague is a better shooter, playmaker than smart, and him in the starting lineup, would get players more involved. Plus he has a decent outshide shot, and can also take it inside. Either for a layup, or a lob to TT, or a pass to nesmith and brown to either corner, which Smart should have been doing, instead of taking ill-advised shot early in the clock.

[Triple7]

So I really doubt we seen Thompson and Theis starting together. Maybe the Cs experiment with it in spot situations, its a long regular season after all, but I kind of think if we see a lot of it its more a sign that things have gone horribly wrong then an actual strategy. Its not just the lack of shooting that has the potential to kill spacing if Theis doesn't revert to his 18-19 percentages, its the perimeter defense. There's a big difference between being able to occasionally switch out on guys an hold up okay which Thompson and Theis do very well and being asked to consistently guard wings or even guards as a modern day 4. Those guys have each been 95% plus Center minutes their last two seasons, and Brad has rarely went with two big lineups and pretty much never went with two bigs who can't shoot.

I agree. Thompson and Theis would be horrible offensively. Two guys that can’t create their own shot plus smart lol. That can be an option against bigger opponents though.

[Shak_Celts]

Time to let it go, DA pretty much said Smart is going to start. I think we have to see it to retain Smart. I'm sure he's at the point of "start me or lose me!" He can start for a few teams who will pay him. I'm not sure who could pay him but the Knicks would likely throw a bag at him.

[ParticleMan]

Time to let it go, DA pretty much said Smart is going to start. I think we have to see it to retain Smart. I'm sure he's at the point of "start me or lose me!" He can start for a few teams who will pay him. I'm not sure who could pay him but the Knicks would likely throw a bag at him.

this.

there's really no reason not to start marcus. he's part of our best 5. that lineup was successful last year. he brings energy and defense to the starters who often come out lackadaisical. the previous argument was that we have no vets on the bench but now we do plus our kids are a year older. not only would it be a slap in the face to marcus but it just doesn't make sense basketball wise.

i expect grant, teague, and thompson (who are our "vets") to get heavy minutes tho. or theis if TT starts. the rest is more fluid and we'll have to see who earns it. nesmith has a great chance because he brings a much needed skill, but he's got to translate that to the nba. pritchard's goal will be to beat out teague this year... shouldn't be a high bar. plus rwill needs to keep improving.

basically, we're like 11 deep with solid players and that doesn't even include future finals mvp semi.

[flintsky21]

Start Pritchard and Nesmith. Give them the Nunn and Robinson treatment. Smart to lead the second unit.

Thompson-Tatum-Brown-Nesmith-Pritchard
Theis-Grant-Smart-Teague
Timelord-Semi-Edwards

[Triple7]

Time to let it go, DA pretty much said Smart is going to start. I think we have to see it to retain Smart. I'm sure he's at the point of "start me or lose me!" He can start for a few teams who will pay him. I'm not sure who could pay him but the Knicks would likely throw a bag at him.

this.

there's really no reason not to start marcus. he's part of our best 5. that lineup was successful last year. he brings energy and defense to the starters who often come out lackadaisical. the previous argument was that we have no vets on the bench but now we do plus our kids are a year older. not only would it be a slap in the face to marcus but it just doesn't make sense basketball wise.

i expect grant, teague, and thompson (who are our "vets") to get heavy minutes tho. or theis if TT starts. the rest is more fluid and we'll have to see who earns it. nesmith has a great chance because he brings a much needed skill, but he's got to translate that to the nba. pritchard's goal will be to beat out teague this year... shouldn't be a high bar. plus rwill needs to keep improving.

basically, we're like 11 deep with solid players and that doesn't even include future finals mvp semi.

I have no problem smart starting, as long as he plays the point. That way he focuses on playmaking and defense. The problem with him playinh the 2 next to Kemba, he turns into a chucker. Well maybe he learned a lot this past playoffs hopefully. Plus a lot of teams would want him, but it’s a career suicide to leave the celtics now.
Smart/teague
Nesmith
Brown
Tatum
Thompson

[ConstableGeneva]

Ainge: (paraphrased) "This is our roster for now. We can make upgrades later, if need be. We want to see what the young guys can do."

Then Coach Brad goes on and plays Teague & Thompson 30 mpg, Semi 20 mpg, Timelord & Nesmith 8 mpg, and Pritchard DNP.

[darrendaye]

Time to let it go, DA pretty much said Smart is going to start. I think we have to see it to retain Smart. I'm sure he's at the point of "start me or lose me!" He can start for a few teams who will pay him. I'm not sure who could pay him but the Knicks would likely throw a bag at him.

With Kemba out, I concur it should be Smart starting, no doubt. I'm not onboard with him starting at SG when Kemba comes back. Just too many mouths to feed. With Kemba back, it should be Tatum and Kemba as lightning rod 1 and lightning rod 2.

Marcus as 6th man allows him to be offensively satiated in that he can take a larger ballhandling role. For me, ideally the 2nd unit is Smart, Brown, Nesmith, Grant, Rob, where you can emphasize more of a pick and roll strategy with Smart and Timelord with shooters around the perimeter. Then Smart stays in when Tatum and Kemba return and he serves as a safety valve shooter as he is already in a rhythm. He's going to get his 30 minutes regardless.

[keevsnick1]

This thought just occurred to me.

Celtics lose a play making wing in Hayward which will give Brown a lot more on ball opportunities this year. Brown is a 6'6 wing who needs to work on his passing to reach that All-NBA level and maximize teem success. Evan Turner meanwhile was a 6'6 wing who averaged 4.7 assists per 36 minutes in his career and was just hired as as an assistant coach to work on player development. Probably not a coincidence.

Same thing applies to Tatum, even Nesmith/Romeo to some degree.

[BK_2020]

Teague is not a better shooter than Smart. Smart is starting without a question. He has started 80% of his games the last two seasons. Can't believe people seriously suggest starting Teague.

[MagicBagley18]

This thought just occurred to me.

Celtics lose a play making wing in Hayward which will give Brown a lot more on ball opportunities this year. Brown is a 6'6 wing who needs to work on his passing to reach that All-NBA level and maximize teem success. Evan Turner meanwhile was a 6'6 wing who averaged 4.7 assists per 36 minutes in his career and was just hired as as an assistant coach to work on player development. Probably not a coincidence.

Same thing applies to Tatum, even Nesmith/Romeo to some degree.

Let’s hope we get the leap to all star level first before all nba