Post-Game Notes: UTA 117, BOS 109 (20-19)

[Spin Move]

So I missed this game, but generally if the other team made 9 more 3's and got 19 more free throws and it was close that means you played really well in other areas of the game. How we have 2 all stars on the team and only get 4 ft's in an entier game (tatum alone is averaging almost 5 ft attempts a game) tells me there was likely some bad officiation and some cold shooting on our part. Jazz are a good team, our best players need time to gel they have not played much together yet, be patient.

[zoyathedestroya]

When I say it isn't about our role players but about our stars, I mean this...

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Imagine having Dame instead or Kemba lol. He's 16-6 in those games. Even Tatum is not on this level yet. They were still winning without 3 of their top rotation players.

[BillessuR6]

Kemba is useless if he is not hitting the 3 at 40 %.

On defense he got abused in the second half, UTA just switched and scored on him or we had to double team and they got an open shot.

We were suprisingly close if you look at 3 point and FT disparity...great game by Jason and Jalen but we need a third star...

[Fencer reregistered]

We have 6-7 actual NBA players on this roster

Tatum, Brown, Kemba, Smart, Timelord, Theis, Pritchard. TT sometimes. I'm being generous here too

Yep. Drafting aside, Danny had a terrible offseason.

[Fencer reregistered]

I just checked the box scores. UTA has a 27-pt advantage from three and 19-pt advantage from the FT line. How was this not a blowout??

Our guys without TT crushed Rudy Gobert's team on the offensive glass.

[zoyathedestroya]

I just checked the box scores. UTA has a 27-pt advantage from three and 19-pt advantage from the FT line. How was this not a blowout??

Our guys without TT crushed Rudy Gobert's team on the offensive glass.

TT's rebounding is overrated and that's pretty much all he offers. Theis spacing the floor without another big and popping for jumpers was valuable against Gobert.

[Fencer reregistered]

I just checked the box scores. UTA has a 27-pt advantage from three and 19-pt advantage from the FT line. How was this not a blowout??

Our guys without TT crushed Rudy Gobert's team on the offensive glass.

TT's rebounding is overrated and that's pretty much all he offers. Theis spacing the floor without another big and popping for jumpers was valuable against Gobert.

Agreed re TT. Dumping Kanter for him was probably a mistake even without considering costs (salary, pick).

[greenroom31]

On the one hand the players played pretty well last night. Good ball movement, lots of hustle and effort, stayed positive, etc.

On the other hand, the same problems we’ve seen all season showed up again:
- Too many tough mid-range jumpers
- Guys got lost on switches too many times
- Even with Tristan out Brad played 10 guys at least 10 minutes each (including Grant and Teague)
- Too many unforced turnovers
- Too many missed shots down the stretch (tonight it was Smart)

You can blame the personnel if this happens every once in a while, but this is pretty much every game. Brad needs to tighten the rotation, hold guys accountable for dumb TOs and bad defense, and direct an offensive system/gameplan with more 3 pointers.

Do we need more talent? Sure. But I’m not convinced that’s why we’re basically a .500 team.

[Crash2k18]

The issues are obvious. One, the 30 million dollar guard doesn’t play close to good enough. If Kemba played like he did during the early part of last year, they would have several more wins. Two, there is no consistent offense off the bench. Mitchell can have a poor shooting game and the Jazz still win because they have a guy like Clarkson off the bench. The C’s don’t have that to help Tatum or Brown.

You can make a trade for the bench, but if Kemba doesn’t play consistently like an all star it won’t matter.

[Fencer reregistered]

This clip is hilarious. Theis spends multiple seconds haranguing Pritchard to move to the opposite side of the court. When Pritchard finally does what he's told, a nice and successful action unfolds.

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[cl2117]

It's pretty simple. You can't be 6 deep against good teams. Not unless your top 3 guys are BKN level good and ours aren't.

Semi, Grant, Teague, PP played 58 minutes and took 4 shots. You can't win with that. You need support from the roleplayers in some way. Their combined stat line was: 58 minutes, 2 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers.

That's 58 minutes of nothing.

I want to be encouraged by the fact that we shot WAY less 3's and FT's and were still in it until the end, but it also pisses me off that we are so willing to take 2's and not get to the rack enough.

4 free throws is unacceptable. And you can't just blame the refs on that, it's been a problem with this team for a long time and needs to be addressed by the coach and the players. Brad needs to emphasize taking higher quality/value shots and getting to the line more frequently. The players need to make it a priority as well.

What really grinds my gears is that Ainge has drafted guys to fill those roles with both Langford and Nesmith and neither have been able to contribute. Obviously there is nothing you can do about Romeo, but I'm about ready to start banging the Nesmith drum again. I have no problem shutting up when the team is winning with the roleplayers Brad is keen to lean on, but after games like this I don't know how you justify keeping Grant and Semi and Teague in the rotation over Nesmith. I would rather see the lotto pick struggle than watch 2 guys who won't be on the team next year and Grant f'n Williams put up 4 shots.

Not trying to say he'd be the solution, but we adjustments need to be made both in between games and in game to help us win. I'm not seeing enough of them.

You can't win with a 10 man rotation when 4 of the guys are ghosts.

[zoyathedestroya]

It's pretty simple. You can't be 6 deep against good teams. Not unless your top 3 guys are BKN level good and ours aren't.

Semi, Grant, Teague, PP played 58 minutes and took 4 shots. You can't win with that. You need support from the roleplayers in some way. Their combined stat line was: 58 minutes, 2 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists, 2 blocks and 2 turnovers.

That's 58 minutes of nothing.

I want to be encouraged by the fact that we shot WAY less 3's and FT's and were still in it until the end, but it also pisses me off that we are so willing to take 2's and not get to the rack enough.

4 free throws is unacceptable. And you can't just blame the refs on that, it's been a problem with this team for a long time and needs to be addressed by the coach and the players. Brad needs to emphasize taking higher quality/value shots and getting to the line more frequently. The players need to make it a priority as well.

What really grinds my gears is that Ainge has drafted guys to fill those roles with both Langford and Nesmith and neither have been able to contribute. Obviously there is nothing you can do about Romeo, but I'm about ready to start banging the Nesmith drum again. I have no problem shutting up when the team is winning with the roleplayers Brad is keen to lean on, but after games like this I don't know how you justify keeping Grant and Semi and Teague in the rotation over Nesmith. I would rather see the lotto pick struggle than watch 2 guys who won't be on the team next year and Grant f'n Williams put up 4 shots.

Not trying to say he'd be the solution, but we adjustments need to be made both in between games and in game to help us win. I'm not seeing enough of them.

You can't win with a 10 man rotation when 4 of the guys are ghosts.

Agree with most of this post.

Still doesn't address one of our biggest issues since last season -- our inability to execute in close games. Same issue will prop up in the playoffs regardless of bench upgrade. Unless people think our stars are fatigued by end of games even though they're getting appropriate in-game rest. It actually seems in most of these games they have more energy trying to catch up. Just poor decision-making on offense and inconsistency on defense in end of games. 11-16 now in clutch games. This is a starters/closers/coaching issue.

[Wes-J]

Where did Brad leave PP's nuts?

He's just not the same anymore basically just a stationary player waiting his turn to get open. I hate this ****.

[philing00]

It’s a shame that the open 3s at the end of game were all from Smart who was having a cold shooting night. He’s on the court at the end because he’s basically the best floor general we have. He should be making the plays, not standing at the corner waiting for a shot.
I still don’t trust the Js to make the right pass when they get swarmed in the clutch.
When in doubt, run pnr with Timelord. He can finish pretty much anything lobbed up to him.

[gocelts]

Its an all around issue. Coaching and Players. When your system lets guys like Grant and Smart launch 3s...then get some better three point shooters. Converting Thies into a 3 point shooter is okay, but he's still mediocre at it and if you're going to shoot 33% from 3 you better NOT give up 100 points a game.

For this reason...I really don't think adding someone like Barnes will make any difference. This team just doesn't play a good game. Keep Stevens and get players that will hit the open 3s, play GREAT (not okay/good) D, and have high BBIQ (like know how to beat a high school zone) or simply put we need a better coach that will implement a better offense for this group. The problem is there arent too many coaches better than Brad Stevens out there.....

[BK_2020]

Its an all around issue. Coaching and Players. When your system lets guys like Grant and Smart launch 3s...then get some better three point shooters. Converting Thies into a 3 point shooter is okay, but he's still mediocre at it

Grant Williams is shooting .415 from the 3 this season. Theis is shooting .367 from the 3. We don't know if these numbers represent their true abilities, but it's not correct to say Grant's three-point shooting has been a negative for the team and that Theis has been mediocre at shooting the three (for a big).

[FlatearthZorro]

We have 6-7 actual NBA players on this roster

Tatum, Brown, Kemba, Smart, Timelord, Theis, Pritchard. TT sometimes. I'm being generous here too

Said that 10 times. And it's true. I don't think there's a team in the league with worse 7-10 outside of maybe Minny.

[JHTruth]

Kemba just needs to be better. At this stage maybe he can't be, but it's our only hope.

The biggest problem with this team is simply this. We're paying for a Big Three, and on most nights we're getting a Big One or a Big Two.

Need to move Kemba and get someone far more efficient and consistent offensively

[pac213up]

The incompetence of the bench continues to rear it's ugly head.

[JHTruth]

The worst part is were not going to make any roster moves now or this summer, Ainge isnt going anywhere and neither is Stevens. Were literally going to keep doing the exact same thing and get baffled why the results arent changing.

Oh come on. That's nonsense and you know it.

131 committed with 11 guys. What do you expect us to do? Were virtually in the tax once will add the rest of the bodies. Not a lot of flexibility.

It's tough, but Danny will definitely be active this summer. I expect Kemba to be shopped heavily and there will be suitors. I expect them to add a Collins/Gordon type player.

Timelord will become a full-time starter. They will get better this offseason