Game Thread: Kings (16-24) @ Celtics (20-20) – 7:30PM, Fri. 03-19-21

[jmr07019]

Hey guys look on the bright side. If we keep playing like this we’ll be in position to draft the next Romeo Langford or Aaron Nesmith

[Asian Celtic]

NBA tv just showed the Celtics-Kings game last year where they won by a point off a Smart last shot floater that missed.

Hope the guys don't put us in the same situation today.

Hey, they doubled down from 1 to 11! Fantastic!

[Gomes3PC]

Zero edge. Zero resilience. Folded like a tent. Story of this team all year. Bunch of nice guys who curl up in a ball when a bully shoves them.

[moonie_mcgee]

I'd rather read the post game notes than finish the 2nd half. Helluva team meeting. Night.

[Dogen]

Is Brad trying to lose this game???

In all fairness, I doubt he gave the green light to Smart to chuck up garbage.

All things considered, this Kings team is entertaining. Reminds me of the good times.

I like the Kings. They are building something nice.

But Stevens just seems to have lost this team, and the players are looking like strangers to each other at times.

[1st banana]

It in no reason was why we lost or have been losing but how the **** do we keep out scoring teams in the paint and putting up more shots and still getting crushed in ft attempts?

How many single digit ft games have we had this year? Even that stat the other day against Utah no fts in the first half only happened 4 times all year in the nba and 2 were to us.

[Koji21]

The Jays have talent, but zero basketball IQ. Celtics defense is F****** ugly!, 3 pts galore for the opposing teams. Celtics offense is F****** ugly!, too much dribbling,no cutting,movement only happens at the top of the key, too much one on one, too much force shots...

[Dogen]

Zero edge. Zero resilience. Folded like a tent. Story of this team all year. Bunch of nice guys who curl up in a ball when a bully shoves them.

If this team was a tent, I wouldn't sleep in it.

[Dogen]

The Jays have talent, but zero basketball IQ. Celtics defense is F****** ugly!, 3 pts galore for the opposing teams. Celtics offense is F****** ugly!, too much dribbling,no cutting,movement only happens at the top of the key, too much one on one, too much force shots...

Welcome to the board. Sorry that you're first post needed so many asterisks, but I agree with the overall analysis. ****!

[Sactowndog]

The Kings are playing better now that Marvin is out. They are a team that shares the ball and Marvin stops it. You can see the Kings probably have less talent but they do a better job of moving the ball.

The J’s have to do a better job of passing. I think Fox was the best player on the floor tonight.

[itrsteve]

Is Brad trying to lose this game???

In all fairness, I doubt he gave the green light to Smart to chuck up garbage.

All things considered, this Kings team is entertaining. Reminds me of the good times.

I like the Kings. They are building something nice.

But Stevens just seems to have lost this team, and the players are looking like strangers to each other at times.

True and True

Also, those ECF appearances are a damn curse. The core players lost that hunger (which you see from PP and RW3), it’s full talent entitlement.

To be honest, I hope the losing keeps happening, even if it takes missing the playoffs. There needs to be a full wake up call.

We know what these guys are made of, and that’s the root of our disappointment.

[gocelts]

Start with Kemba and go from there. Ainge bet on this team to limp through this year without help after Hayward left and it blew up in his face. He needs to either get significant help or dump Kemba.

[Infinite Llamas]

I wonder what this team would look like if we picked Fox instead of Tatum. Fox might end up the better player in the end.

We’d look worse.

Possibly, but he looks the part of a star closer...and we are lacking in that department.

[Infinite Llamas]

The Kings are playing better now that Marvin is out. They are a team that shares the ball and Marvin stops it. You can see the Kings probably have less talent but they do a better job of moving the ball.

The J’s have to do a better job of passing. I think Fox was the best player on the floor tonight.

Fox was the best player by a mile. He’s so clutch it’s crazy.

[Feed Your Head]

I wonder what this team would look like if we picked Fox instead of Tatum. Fox might end up the better player in the end.

We’d look worse.

Possibly, but he looks the part of a star closer...and we are lacking in that department.

Here are their TS’s in the last 5 minutes of close games (within 5 points), and the last 3 minutes.

Fox 56%/55%
Tatum 60%/62%

[SmartWentCrazy]

I wonder what this team would look like if we picked Fox instead of Tatum. Fox might end up the better player in the end.

We’d look worse.

Possibly, but he looks the part of a star closer...and we are lacking in that department.

Kemba was guarding him, its not really a shock that a 30 year old PG with a bum knee got eaten alive by the fastest PG in the league

[Gomes3PC]

Tatum played like an empty body today. Just listless. Kemba played scared. Jaylen had some good stretches but was still inefficient.

The chemistry is just wrong. In retrospect it's a minor miracle this was even a game when you consider the big 3 went 20/54 with 3 FTs. Fact is none of them are playing well and the supporting cast was built presuming 2 of those 3 would be playing well every night.

[Infinite Llamas]

We’d look worse.

Possibly, but he looks the part of a star closer...and we are lacking in that department.

Here are their TS’s in the last 5 minutes of close games (within 5 points), and the last 3 minutes.

Fox 56%/55%
Tatum 60%/62%

And yet Tatum tends to vanish in crunch time and we settle with an open Smart three or a Kemba clank. Tatum has to be more assertive and not let these inferior players eat up so many fourth quarter possessions.

[aussie_pride]

The Kings are playing better now that Marvin is out. They are a team that shares the ball and Marvin stops it. You can see the Kings probably have less talent but they do a better job of moving the ball.

The J’s have to do a better job of passing. I think Fox was the best player on the floor tonight.

I think you are right with your statement about the J's needing to facilitate more. It seems to me that they are too focused on creating their own shots, many of which end up being bad ones. I actually like the way that Tatum played in his rookie year. Even though he was not as statistically impressive as he is now, he made correct basketball plays and made better use of his team mates. Kobe's influence on Tatum was not a good thing as that style is very risky and has the potential to cause locker room issues. I also think that when you have players who are focused predominantly on iso-ball and creating their own shots it makes a lot of players on the court anxious as they feel need to contribute and justify their contracts. Kemba Walker is a classic example of this. He is on a big contract and if he become maligned as a result of Tatum's constant desire to shoot then he is instinctively going to feel the need to rush shot in order to contribute.

A lot of people criticised Gordon Hayward's output when he was at Boston but you can clearly see his value now that he is gone - his high basketball IQ meant that he made good plays and those around him benefitted.

Fox had a really good game but we gave him too many easy shots. There were too many bad defensive errors in the way we covered him, especially coming off screens. When he knocking down shots in the fourth, that was the time to get tighter on him.

[Sactowndog]

We’d look worse.

Possibly, but he looks the part of a star closer...and we are lacking in that department.

Kemba was guarding him, its not really a shock that a 30 year old PG with a bum knee got eaten alive by the fastest PG in the league

Fox is a bad match up for you all. He is too quick for smart who really is better on wings. C’s don’t have a defensive match up for Fox.