Celtics 2025-26, Season Thread

[ThePigeon]

So why didn't Anfernee want to play defense in Portland? Did Chauncey tell him not to bother?

I guess they were going nowhere so why bother

[Fierce1]

Doncic is one of the worst defenders in the NBA and he's the anointed savior of the Lakers.

Simons' poor defense and Portland being a losing team are what made Simons look bad.

Now that Simons is on a winning team, we will see how great or how horrible Simons is, as an NBA player.

[Gant]

Read on Twitter

Most notable thing for me today is this focus on playing fast and intense.

Rick Pitino was way ahead of his time!

That's a great observation. This was the biggest story. Many players talked about speed, and Joe Mazzulla kept alluding to trends in the league, which I took to mean the high pace the Pacers and Thunder play at. I think it was Mazzulla that specifically mentioned those two teams.

This way predates Pitino. I've been waiting since Tommy was coaching Havlicek for the return of a true running game.

If Joe sinks his teeth into something, he'll do it like no one else.

adding to this...

Jordan Walsh yesterday (quote from Adam Himmelsbach): “I feel like in the past it’s been a lot of, swing the ball, stand still, watch [Tatum] iso, watch [Jaylen Brown] iso, and set a ball screen to iso,” Walsh said. “I think that what Joe wants is it to be more of a five-in, five-out type of rotation, where we’re all going super-hard for four or five minutes and switch out and come in with a new five and fight, fight, fight for four or five minutes.”

SPEED was alluded to by others from many different angles.

Last season super-fast OKC and Indiana went extremely deep into the bench. Even their highest minutes guys weren't that high. I believe this is what we're going to see with the Celtics this season- faster, deeper into the bench every night, mass substitutions, less predictable rotations, with no one playing really long minutes. Maybe two guys will be over 30mpg.

Mazzulla will add his own wrinkles, but the hallmark will be that the ball won't stick anymore. This is the only way this smaller, speedier, less experienced team can put the opposition on their heels.

[itrsteve]

Last season super-fast OKC and Indiana went extremely deep into the bench.

The crazy part is that Indiana was clearly gassing OKC, the whistle was providing critical breathers but you could see the hit even a young and stacked team like OKC was taking.

I'm glad Joe recognizes the trend and we're setup with the opportunity with young/hungry players to see if we can play to that style.

[jmr07019]

So why didn't Anfernee want to play defense in Portland? Did Chauncey tell him not to bother?

This is why tanking is so dangerous. I'm sure Chauncey did not physically say the words "defense doesn't matter" but players aren't stupid. They understand when an organization isn't trying to win. People generally perform up to expectations. When the expectations are to lose, players will ask themselves why put in effort on defense? Defense doesn't really get you paid, not the way offense does, and its already been established that winning isn't important. That all changed the moment he got traded.

You should listen to Brad speak on Simons if you haven't already. They brought this kid here to score. That was clear from Brad's comments. He didn't mention defense at all. The Celtics are of course going to try and get Simons to become a better defensive player but if you are expecting him to be a defensive role player you will be disappointed. He's a scorer and his role on this team is to score the ball.

[Fierce1]

Only reason why Joe didn't utilize a deep bench last season is he let the players go after their personal goals.

Whether it be stats or number of minutes, it would be hard to convince the star players and the former All-Stars to give way to guys like Walsh and Baylor.

That's the downside to having multiple star players.

Jrue for example, he already sacrificed his stats, so at least give him the heavy minutes.

We'll see a deeper rotation now that the Cs have fewer star players.

[Fierce1]

So why didn't Anfernee want to play defense in Portland? Did Chauncey tell him not to bother?

This is why tanking is so dangerous. I'm sure Chauncey did not physically say the words "defense doesn't matter" but players aren't stupid. They understand when an organization isn't trying to win. People generally perform up to expectations. When the expectations are to lose, players will ask themselves why put in effort on defense? Defense doesn't really get you paid, not the way offense does, and its already been established that winning isn't important. That all changed the moment he got traded.

You should listen to Brad speak on Simons if you haven't already. They brought this kid here to score. That was clear from Brad's comments. He didn't mention defense at all. The Celtics are of course going to try and get Simons to become a better defensive player but if you are expecting him to be a defensive role player you will be disappointed. He's a scorer and his role on this team is to score the ball.

Bingo!

I keep saying it, the Cs are missing JT's 27 ppg.

Simons can cover most of that 27 ppg.

[Parliament10]

[Gant]

More uptempo talk, this time from Jaylen Brown.

The four-time NBA All-Star had offseason knee surgery after he played through a partially torn meniscus during the 2024-25 season. The procedure has allowed Brown to tap back into his athleticism this offseason. Brown, who said he's feeling a little lighter, is closing in on 100 percent fully healthy.

That's especially a good thing given Brown wants to play with more pace this season.

"For me, I wanna play fast," said Brown, noting he's had that conversation with head coach Joe Mazzulla. "I've been saying that for a few years now. Some of the teams we saw play in the Finals, they play fast. Indiana plays fast. OKC plays fast. More and more teams play with that pace. That's the pace that I've always wanted to play at.

"Our personnel hasn't always been able to suit that, but I think we'll be able to play a little faster this year, so I'm excited about that," Brown said.

https://www.nbcsportsboston.com/nba/boston-celtics/jaylen-brown-playmaking-jayson-tatum-absence/735148

[tfribs45]

Only reason why Joe didn't utilize a deep bench last season is he let the players go after their personal goals.

Whether it be stats or number of minutes, it would be hard to convince the star players and the former All-Stars to give way to guys like Walsh and Baylor.

That's the downside to having multiple star players.

Jrue for example, he already sacrificed his stats, so at least give him the heavy minutes.

We'll see a deeper rotation now that the Cs have fewer star players.

easy with the "deep bench" comment....... cmon man, our bench is a summer league team lol!

[fallguy]

After we got eliminated against the Knicks, Brad talked about his desire to play faster.

Clearly, everybody got the message.

[Curmudgeon]

So why didn't Anfernee want to play defense in Portland? Did Chauncey tell him not to bother?

This is why tanking is so dangerous. I'm sure Chauncey did not physically say the words "defense doesn't matter" but players aren't stupid. They understand when an organization isn't trying to win. People generally perform up to expectations. When the expectations are to lose, players will ask themselves why put in effort on defense? Defense doesn't really get you paid, not the way offense does, and its already been established that winning isn't important. That all changed the moment he got traded.

You should listen to Brad speak on Simons if you haven't already. They brought this kid here to score. That was clear from Brad's comments. He didn't mention defense at all. The Celtics are of course going to try and get Simons to become a better defensive player but if you are expecting him to be a defensive role player you will be disappointed. He's a scorer and his role on this team is to score the ball.

The goal is to win, not to score per se. No critical stops in close games, no wins in close games. It's that simple.
It's as though you are making excuses for him ahead of time. Defense requires very little skill, only effort, and coasting on defense is not an easy habit to break.

[djFan71]

Read on Twitter

Most notable thing for me today is this focus on playing fast and intense.

Rick Pitino was way ahead of his time!

That's a great observation. This was the biggest story. Many players talked about speed, and Joe Mazzulla kept alluding to trends in the league, which I took to mean the high pace the Pacers and Thunder play at. I think it was Mazzulla that specifically mentioned those two teams.

This way predates Pitino. I've been waiting since Tommy was coaching Havlicek for the return of a true running game.

If Joe sinks his teeth into something, he'll do it like no one else.

adding to this...

Jordan Walsh yesterday (quote from Adam Himmelsbach): “I feel like in the past it’s been a lot of, swing the ball, stand still, watch [Tatum] iso, watch [Jaylen Brown] iso, and set a ball screen to iso,” Walsh said. “I think that what Joe wants is it to be more of a five-in, five-out type of rotation, where we’re all going super-hard for four or five minutes and switch out and come in with a new five and fight, fight, fight for four or five minutes.”

SPEED was alluded to by others from many different angles.

Last season super-fast OKC and Indiana went extremely deep into the bench. Even their highest minutes guys weren't that high. I believe this is what we're going to see with the Celtics this season- faster, deeper into the bench every night, mass substitutions, less predictable rotations, with no one playing really long minutes. Maybe two guys will be over 30mpg.

Mazzulla will add his own wrinkles, but the hallmark will be that the ball won't stick anymore. This is the only way this smaller, speedier, less experienced team can put the opposition on their heels.

This is all the stuff a lot of us have been wanting for years. It will be very cool if it actually happens.

[bucknersrevenge]

So why didn't Anfernee want to play defense in Portland? Did Chauncey tell him not to bother?

I guess they were going nowhere so why bother

More likely because he was their primary playmaker on a team with no shooting and no passing around him. They probably told him to save his energy for offense because they had defenders who couldn't do much else without him spoonfeeding them.

[Dogen]

That's a great observation. This was the biggest story. Many players talked about speed, and Joe Mazzulla kept alluding to trends in the league, which I took to mean the high pace the Pacers and Thunder play at. I think it was Mazzulla that specifically mentioned those two teams.

This way predates Pitino. I've been waiting since Tommy was coaching Havlicek for the return of a true running game.

If Joe sinks his teeth into something, he'll do it like no one else.

adding to this...

Jordan Walsh yesterday (quote from Adam Himmelsbach): “I feel like in the past it’s been a lot of, swing the ball, stand still, watch [Tatum] iso, watch [Jaylen Brown] iso, and set a ball screen to iso,” Walsh said. “I think that what Joe wants is it to be more of a five-in, five-out type of rotation, where we’re all going super-hard for four or five minutes and switch out and come in with a new five and fight, fight, fight for four or five minutes.”

SPEED was alluded to by others from many different angles.

Last season super-fast OKC and Indiana went extremely deep into the bench. Even their highest minutes guys weren't that high. I believe this is what we're going to see with the Celtics this season- faster, deeper into the bench every night, mass substitutions, less predictable rotations, with no one playing really long minutes. Maybe two guys will be over 30mpg.

Mazzulla will add his own wrinkles, but the hallmark will be that the ball won't stick anymore. This is the only way this smaller, speedier, less experienced team can put the opposition on their heels.

This is all the stuff a lot of us have been wanting for years. It will be very cool if it actually happens.

Joe, about a minute in: "I'm not gonna lie to you, Jordan just said that to mess with you, we're not doing that".

Watch on YouTube

[Hal14]

lol now I don't know if I can trust anything an NBA player/coach/front office exec says. Anything they say, they could just be messing with the media.

And I'm not saying that just because of this one clip. There's been many of other clips over the years where we find out that the guy was just messing with the media..

Read on Twitter

Can't read too deeply into play/coach/exec quotes or what the media says.

Actions mean more than words.

[Fierce1]

Only reason why Joe didn't utilize a deep bench last season is he let the players go after their personal goals.

Whether it be stats or number of minutes, it would be hard to convince the star players and the former All-Stars to give way to guys like Walsh and Baylor.

That's the downside to having multiple star players.

Jrue for example, he already sacrificed his stats, so at least give him the heavy minutes.

We'll see a deeper rotation now that the Cs have fewer star players.

easy with the "deep bench" comment....... cmon man, our bench is a summer league team lol!

I'm not saying we have a deep bench.

What I mean by deeper rotation is Joe using more players instead of just 8 or 9 men.

[bucknersrevenge]

Inject right into my veins...

Read on Twitter

[djFan71]

adding to this...

Jordan Walsh yesterday (quote from Adam Himmelsbach): “I feel like in the past it’s been a lot of, swing the ball, stand still, watch [Tatum] iso, watch [Jaylen Brown] iso, and set a ball screen to iso,” Walsh said. “I think that what Joe wants is it to be more of a five-in, five-out type of rotation, where we’re all going super-hard for four or five minutes and switch out and come in with a new five and fight, fight, fight for four or five minutes.”

SPEED was alluded to by others from many different angles.

Last season super-fast OKC and Indiana went extremely deep into the bench. Even their highest minutes guys weren't that high. I believe this is what we're going to see with the Celtics this season- faster, deeper into the bench every night, mass substitutions, less predictable rotations, with no one playing really long minutes. Maybe two guys will be over 30mpg.

Mazzulla will add his own wrinkles, but the hallmark will be that the ball won't stick anymore. This is the only way this smaller, speedier, less experienced team can put the opposition on their heels.

This is all the stuff a lot of us have been wanting for years. It will be very cool if it actually happens.

Joe, about a minute in: "I'm not gonna lie to you, Jordan just said that to mess with you, we're not doing that".

Watch on YouTube

lol, luckily the spirit remains, not the actual hockey shift thing.

[Parliament10]

Read on Twitter

Perk back on the Celtics Wagon?

Read on Twitter

Watch on YouTube

Sounds like Tillman still has knee problems (aka "flare up").