Woj: "This locker room never got over Ime Udoka's dismissal as head coach"

[AgentGreen]

Watch on YouTube

[Bar Fight]

I mean, this was quite obvious based on comments made by the players throughout the year. JT said at All-Star break that Ime was his favorite coach ever. As we stood atop the league with his current head coach alongside him in Utah

[SuperDeluxe]

Sorry, can't agree with this. The Celtics were a wrecking machine to start the year, just a few days after the Udoka suspension. Yes, I'm sure the players weren't happy (probably weren't happy to be left in the dark either), but this debacle can't be attributed to that.

[Ben-N1ce]

Of course they weren't happy but this is the easiest take of all when we look like bums against the Heat.

[Celtic_Pride777]

Sorry, can't agree with this. The Celtics were a wrecking machine to start the year, just a few days after the Udoka suspension. Yes, I'm sure the players weren't happy (probably weren't happy to be left in the dark either), but this debacle can't be attributed to that.

They tried to make the most of the situation, plus talent alone may have propelled them to most of those wins. The playoffs are a different animal. It’s a time to make adjustments. Winning cures everything, but when the losses pile up, that’s when the cracks in the locker room start to show.

[batabatuta]

Well then, they better suck it up and move forward otherwise, go somewhere else. Udoka is never going to come back. That ship has sailed.

Imagine costing a chance at a championship because of player angst over a coach's dismissal. If that happened to MJ or Kobe, they would still play the game giving their best effort.

[Parasite]

What a bunch of pathetic whiny babies. So basically, this is par for the course for 2023.

[return2glory]

Woj said looking back, "They should have added to that coaching staff."

I've been saying the same thing for weeks since everyone starting getting on Joe due to his bad coaching performance in the playoffs.
The owners and Brad should have done that. The owners and Brad should have also added a legit big man to rest Al and be an insurance policy for Rob, who by the way is not the same player this season.

The Celtics owners and Brad should have done both those things, knowing we were a title contender this year. But like I've been saying the Celtic owners aren't about winning titles and neither is the franchise anymore. One title since the 1986 championship team.

[Marvel]

Shut up. Wehhh waaahhh

[Celtic_Pride777]

LOL @ the people in this thread ridiculing the players. Most of you guys have never stepped foot in a locker room as a professional athlete. If you feel your coach is incompetent, it can affect your play. For instance, if you haven't bought into the coach's gameplan, you might not execute it well. This is basic psychology. It has nothing to do with these men being soft.

[threrf23]

I was really hoping that our guys had been told something more on this subject by now, or had been able to speak to Ime, whose suspension ended when he was officially let go I thought. Guess not?

Anyways, this was my prime concern when Ime's suspension was announced. Regardless of what happened, our front office made things a lot worse by sending out mixed messages, IMO. (i.e. Ime deserved a one year suspension but didn't deserve to be canned, Wyc quasi-bragging to the public about how Ime was thankful that the team was keeping his behavior a secret, players being given the impression that Ime would be brought back per Marcus, etc)

Also, I don't think this is the reason we have reverted back to being front running losers. I think that simply has an awful lot to do with Joe carrying himself just like brad had carried himself as coach. Joe seems to be doing all the same things that Brad did as coach to lose the team's respect.

With the one year suspension official, I really don't know what to think about this.

If what he has done is truly worthy of a one year suspension, then I feel like he probably deserved to be outright fired, and I feel like it is a sad statement about our organization that we didn't simply cut him.

If what he did was not truly worthy of a one year suspension, then I feel like this decision risks irreparable damage to our organization.

Just a season ago our players seemed to lose respect for Brad if not our organization, Ime came in and overhauled and it was a night and day difference. Essentially, those that lost the respect of our players have scrapped Ime and have replaced them with someone from the old regime. Optics are potentially horrible unless it is clear to our players that the suspension is clearly deserved.

[JimmyFromNz]

Woj is just repackaging the already well known idea that the coaching depth was shallow - the 'never getting over Ime' part is just ESPN story telling, I don't think there's anything new here whatsoever.

[Larry_Russell]

Just a new way of saying Joe sucks

[Grahf]

What a pathetic excuse. This team rolled over and quit against GSW last year while Udoka was in charge, and a lot of these guys rolled over and quit against Milwaukee, when Kyrie was here a couple years ago. They have a track record now, and some of the current Celtics have quit in the playoffs under three different coaches.

[GWVan]

Sorry, can't agree with this. The Celtics were a wrecking machine to start the year, just a few days after the Udoka suspension. Yes, I'm sure the players weren't happy (probably weren't happy to be left in the dark either), but this debacle can't be attributed to that.

And they fell off right after Joe was named head couch around the all star break, and then got worse in the playoffs after IME got a new job. I think they still were holding out hope he was coming back.

[Red2]

We will never know if firing Ime was sn overreaction but I tend to shree with woj. The punishment did not fit the crime and in the process we desttoyec our team

[165bows]

"Ime f***** the Celtics" has a lot of meanings behind it at this point.

[jonige94]

Bunch of man childs in the locker room

[will]

Hardly a shock.

However, with that kind of talent - I would be confident with my man management skills with the squad.

Pause.

[lon3lytoaster]

I don’t know if I get being upset with the players. Marcus said much earlier in the season he expected Ime back, and was shocked when he was let go officially.

We all knew Joe was inexperienced, and they just came off a Finals run with a coach they really played for. The players know that, too.

We’ll never know the full story on Ime most likely but given the fact he hasn’t been turned into the pariah that he is with the Celtics organization seems to indicate the punishment may not have fit the crime. Either way, this was very poorly handled by Wyc and crew and almost definitely seems like it driven by emotions versus anything else.

Really piss poor job as a franchise here overall. I don’t blame the players. Like someone else said, winning cures all but when **** hits the fan and nothings working, the cracks and frustrations will show.