Jackie MacMullan: Blame Kyrie? It's not that simple, Boston

[cloverleaf]

Talking about those 7 good perimeter players sounds like a subtly pointed finger from Brad to Danny--even though Brad outwardly directly says Brad can take the blame.

[Mr Loggins]

:-?

So Morris shoved Brown cuz he was being lazy after drinking all night in Miami? Thats some interesting context.

What time was the game that night? They could be up till 6am still get 8 hours sleep eat a good meal and easily make shoot around eat again and take a nap before the game?

ever been really hungover?

[The Corey's]

I want this story to go away already

[return2glory]

They all played a role in it. However, only one guy was hated by 75% of the team and coaches so........

That also goes for the Celtics TV and radio broadcasting team.

He rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.

[tombattor]

I want this story to go away already

with Kyrie.

[return2glory]

It’s not just about the 7 perimeter guys. Everyone has that many perimeter guys these days. It’s that non of our perimeter guys could get to the line.

This team needs players that can get to the line. It also needs a 2 to 3 point of ups that can get easy baskets.

[BRUNiNHO91]

Idk why people like Mac so much. I feel most **** she says is so obvious.

Everybody knows it's not just his fault. It's not his fault NOBODY besides JB and Morris could hit a shot in the Bucks series. Tatum hit two 3's in 5 games. Hayward got cooked because he was nowhere near physically ready to hang with one of the longest, fastest, and probably the most intense defensive team in the league. Horford looked a bit tired..during the season everybody except Morris and Irving played as well as they should have..people have this idea that Brown and Rozier hated Irving..I bet these dudes were ok they just hated the fact that their roles were cut shorter than anybody else..that issue could have been solved with Hayward leaving or Tatum or Smart or Morris..never had to be Kyrie. I think where Kyrie kind of slipped up was his various interviews pointing fingers at the 'young guys' as if they didn't know how to win when they had just taken LeBron to 7 games the year before..something he couldn't even dream of doing when he was their age. That was the first sign of being a terrible leader.

I don't blame Irving for the awful season or even for the Bucks series. I thought even though he shot poorly, the team was mostly trash and he did other good things..again his interviews is what kinda of killed him. Teams loses, you shoot 6 for 25 and your answer is 'who cares?'. Really?

His mouth is what lost him the points he had with the Celtics faithful. Like I said in another thread, he could have sat down with Ainge, pointed out the problems, asked for them to be solved and stayed. Danny would have traded everybody for Davis..and he could be working a sign and trade of whatever for Durant right now. Instead he just left. So bye.

[Curmudgeon]

Well sure, there is plenty of shared blame. They played bad basketball. Too much standing around, not enough ball movement, not enough people movement. But the biggest slice of blame goes to Kyrie, because they didn't play that way when he sat out games.

[return2glory]

Yeah this is a story that’s not going away.

We get it’s not 100% Irving’s fault. But most of it was. How many times can this be discussed.

Jackie might have a different angle with Brad mentioning we had 7 perimeter players and it wasn’t a good mix. But no ****. Anyone that followed this team closely saw that.

Again, it wasn’t even about having 7 perimeter players. Every team has that many these days. It’s that non of our perimeter guys we’re good at getting to the line. Like none of them.

Most people that followed this team closely easily saw or heard these 3 obvious things:

1. Team has a hard time getting to the line.
2. Team has a hard time getting easy baskets.
3. Team has poor chemistry and doesn’t get along.

Yet for some reason, some of the fan base believed Irving in that come playoff time, things would be different. Yeah right. Those type of things don’t go away in a few months.

You get rid of the player or players destroying team chemistry. Then you get players that can get to the line and also get easy baskets on s more frequent basis.

BTW, Jackie Mac needs to find more interesting things to right about. Not recycle ****.

[tombattor]

Well sure, there is plenty of shared blame. They played bad basketball. Too much standing around, not enough ball movement, not enough people movement. But the biggest slice of blame goes to Kyrie, because they didn't play that way when he sat out games.

Kyrie deserves all the blame and more... We would have been better off with injured IT than Kyrie. Get that cancer trash outta here.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

Here's a snippet from Jared Weiss' article:

“There was one telling instance when Irving boarded a hotel elevator that was empty except for one of his assistant coaches. Irving kept on his headphones and ignored the coach the entire elevator ride after seeing who it was, according to sources familiar with the non-interaction. While it’s just a small example, it reflects the unfortunate dilemma that some players only truly respect coaches with a resume to match theirs.”

What a douche.

[TommyPoints]

Here's a snippet from Jared Weiss' article:

“There was one telling instance when Irving boarded a hotel elevator that was empty except for one of his assistant coaches. Irving kept on his headphones and ignored the coach the entire elevator ride after seeing who it was, according to sources familiar with the non-interaction. While it’s just a small example, it reflects the unfortunate dilemma that some players only truly respect coaches with a resume to match theirs.”

What a douche.

So hard to like this guy. I’ve really tried to buy in, but I honestly don’t even care that he is leaving at this point. Go be a headache for another team.

[Tiny ball]

:-?

So Morris shoved Brown cuz he was being lazy after drinking all night in Miami? Thats some interesting context.

What time was the game that night? They could be up till 6am still get 8 hours sleep eat a good meal and easily make shoot around eat again and take a nap before the game?

ever been really hungover?

Yes more times than I would care to admit. But at that age it would be nothing to go eat egg mcmuffin drink some coffee and go run a ten mile race when I was not even in shape. Sure I would finish with the girls. Boss might tease me. That's first thing in morning not hours and hours after I got up. Plus there are great hang over products today. I understand with NBA basketball you must think. If team trainer's do not travel with hang over cures they are not doing their job.imho

[000078ude54]

Jackie is the best but I think she angled the narrative to have a story to write.

Of course it wasn't 100% Kyrie, yet he was the thorn in everyone's side. Blame Danny for not anticipating poor roster mix, blame Brad for not managing the egos well, blame Tatum for his sophomore slump, blame Jaylen for not rising above the fray, blame Gordon for underperforming, blame Rozier for being an entitled douche, blame Al for not laying down the law more.

But it was 99% Kyrie. He sold the organization and fans a bill of goods. He sold himself as the alpha leader, the guy who asked for and received the keys to his own team - the historic Boston Celtics, no less - with a super talented roster. He overpromised and under delivered, exposing himself as a non-superstar in the process. If he wasn't an overbearing, finger-pointing, moody, jerkoff anti-leader, this team performs much differently.

We should have been in the Finals this season.

[Mr Loggins]

:-?
What time was the game that night? They could be up till 6am still get 8 hours sleep eat a good meal and easily make shoot around eat again and take a nap before the game?

ever been really hungover?

Yes more times than I would care to admit. But at that age it would be nothing to go eat egg mcmuffin drink some coffee and go run a ten mile race when I was not even in shape. Sure I would finish with the girls. Boss might tease me. That's first thing in morning not hours and hours after I got up. Plus there are great hang over products today. I understand with NBA basketball you must think. If team trainer's do not travel with hang over cures they are not doing their job.imho

I disagree completely. On those days I was really
hungover, I’d rally to maybe be good enough to see a movie or drink again by 6-7pm, but certainly not able to play a sport (i played baseball on college), nevermind an NBA game

[greenpierce]

"During a timeout in that game, a testy exchange between Brown and veteran Marcus Morris, who was angered that Brown didn't hustle back on the defensive end, was captured on video. Morris admonished Brown to "play harder" and shoved him before Marcus Smart quickly intervened.

Reporters clamored to ask Irving about it after the game, but he had disappeared. After nearly 30 minutes, he was found shooting baskets on Miami's practice court, hoping some of his teammates who had played so poorly might join him.

None of them did."

Sounds like Kyrie really bought into LeBron's passive-aggressive style of leadership.Too bad it doesn't seem to work when you're not the best player on the planet, and simply being on the court can make a crap Lakers team seem really good.

[CeltsfanSinceBirth]

ever been really hungover?

Yes more times than I would care to admit. But at that age it would be nothing to go eat egg mcmuffin drink some coffee and go run a ten mile race when I was not even in shape. Sure I would finish with the girls. Boss might tease me. That's first thing in morning not hours and hours after I got up. Plus there are great hang over products today. I understand with NBA basketball you must think. If team trainer's do not travel with hang over cures they are not doing their job.imho

I disagree completely. On those days I was really
hungover, I’d rally to maybe be good enough to see a movie or drink again by 6-7pm, but certainly not able to play a sport (i played baseball on college), nevermind an NBA game

Yeah, I mean - when we watch teams play on the road on the 2nd game of a back-to-back, we normally assume that the team is already at a disadvantage. Adding in a night of partying doesn't really help matters here. Kyrie was fine to be pissed in this situation.

[SichtingLives]

Wait last year was a complete and utter ****show? you don't say!! i thought everything went great

[captain green]

Meh all good theories, but I put level of blame like this.
1.irving (never bought in, was never a 1, thinks his **** don't stink)
2.ainge (could have gotten veteran presence, never got a big, and didn't nip kyrie in the bud)
3. Rest of team ( once accountability was lost on kyrie team saw it and acted out)
4. Stevens(never nipped kyrie in the bud, played hayward to early to much, and played small ball to much)
And thats about it really. Its over moving on.

[tfmiii]

Who are Jackie's sources? She quotes at least two coaches. Who else do we think she got this information from?

Jackie is hands down rock solid. Stevens, assistant coaches, Ainge and Wyc are her sources.

Don’t doubt anything Jackie writes. Old school journalist that is careful about what she writes. She doesn’t even have social media.

Best columnist on Celtics and it isn’t even close.


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One of the things Jackie Mac is accomplishing with this article is putting the players who remain on notice, their role (if any) in last year's meltdown hasn't been forgotten with the departure of Kyrie.

In this respect the article does Brad and Danny a solid, they have an opportunity now to reset the locker room culture but likely do not want to simply sweep everything under the rug. Without calling out specific individuals, notice is being sent that expectations will be different in the coming year.