NBA Eastern Conf. Finals: Gm 1 – Celtics vs Heat – 6:30PM, Tues. 09/15/20

[bisme37]

Rob and Grant have been playing Bam since college. They won't be intimidated. The is is just a foul machine

I will not stand for your Theis slander.

[Parliament10]

Wow, 200 comments, and still over 2 days left until the first game.
Looks Grrreat!

[Parliament10]

Rob and Grant have been playing Bam since college. They won't be intimidated. The is is just a foul machine

I will not stand for your Theis slander.

While Theis does draw some unnecessary fouls.
He did get us to the ECF, as our Starting Center.

[Fencer reregistered]

Would be shocked if that happened. I think hayward comes off the bench, and he should.

The lesson of Hayward being inserted into the starting lineup too soon after injury should not be neglected.

More specifically, I'd like to see him start out with offensively challenged reserve-heavy lineups where it is GOOD strategy for him to try to force things and discover what he can or can't immediately do.

I think you and anyone else who thinks that should go down to that we should have Hayward come off the bench thread and just see how dramatically better our team is with Hayward playing with the starters vs having Smart playing with them.

It's the playoffs can't handicap yourself.

That said I doubt we have Hayward at all in this series so the point is moot.

Hayward cannot conceivably outplay or even equal Smart unless he has full mobility. His excellent offense depends on that. His underratedly adequate defense depends on that. Like most players, Hayward depends upon fluid mobility to be good.

[celticfan42487]

The lesson of Hayward being inserted into the starting lineup too soon after injury should not be neglected.

More specifically, I'd like to see him start out with offensively challenged reserve-heavy lineups where it is GOOD strategy for him to try to force things and discover what he can or can't immediately do.

I think you and anyone else who thinks that should go down to that we should have Hayward come off the bench thread and just see how dramatically better our team is with Hayward playing with the starters vs having Smart playing with them.

It's the playoffs can't handicap yourself.

That said I doubt we have Hayward at all in this series so the point is moot.

Hayward cannot conceivably outplay or even equal Smart unless he has full mobility. His excellent offense depends on that. His underratedly adequate defense depends on that. Like most players, Hayward depends upon fluid mobility to be good.

I think you're only considering Hayward's ISO skills.

Hayward would have been as good or not better than Smart playing injured in the last series simply because his playmaking and floor spacing would have demolished the box and 1 that shut down Kemba.

Hayward unlocks Kemba and Tatum and Brown on offense as much as he knocks down 3 pointers.

If you want to say him playing hobbled is bad then sure, but why in the **** world would they play him hobbled? That's a straw man argument my view (not that you're coming by it dishonestly but I think that's a faulty thought process).

[celticfan42487]

You think other teams' fans disrespect Theis? You should read this forum. You'd expect people to love the guy given the centers employed by this franchise the last 35 years. Perk, Horford, Theis, and...Tony Battie?

... all 3 of those Centers were as good if not better than Theis in their time here.

Tony Battie was Theis + 3 inches of height. He banged with bigs that were strong all the time and would have been able to stand in front of Embiid.

I love Theis but you want to go back to like Vitaly Potapenko or Andrew DeClearque or Raef LaFrentz if you want to find Centers worse than this that we should be grateful for having Theis over.

It only took like five minutes for my point to be proven.

Dude you've been here 15 years like me. You've been a real Celtic enough to know just like Theis you listed 3 Centers that lead all world defenses and lead their teams to ECF at Center just like Theis did.

Those are his equals. For worse that we should be hapy not having I listed some.

We've had far worse start at Center than Theis, but Perk Horford and the Batman? Put some respect on their names.

[Bleeding Green]

Yes they are his equals, which is my point. Theis gets **** on constantly here, in every gamethread. If he's like the third or fourth best center in the franchise in like 35 years, I'd expect him to get more love.

[ConstableGeneva]

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[floyd]

Need to ball hawk the **** out of them and create some fast breaks. Pressure the ball, be physical, and body them up on the screens then jump those passes.

[steefP2]

I wish we could clone Smart for this series. He’s our best option on Butler and on Herro/Robinson. Hopefully Brown can guard Butler adequately. He’s not the best at getting through screens tho he has improved tremendously there.

[CelticsPride18]

I wish we could clone Smart for this series. He’s our best option on Butler and on Herro/Robinson. Hopefully Brown can guard Butler adequately. He’s not the best at getting through screens tho he has improved tremendously there.

I think this is a series we could use Romeo.

[steefP2]

I wish we could clone Smart for this series. He’s our best option on Butler and on Herro/Robinson. Hopefully Brown can guard Butler adequately. He’s not the best at getting through screens tho he has improved tremendously there.

I think this is a series we could use Romeo.

Hadn’t even thought of him honestly. I wouldn’t be opposed to trying him on Herro. He did a great job on Terrence Ross iirc one game.

[BillTheGOAT]

6:30 PM start confirmed, game 7 Clippers-Nuggets.

[keevsnick1]

I wish we could clone Smart for this series. He’s our best option on Butler and on Herro/Robinson. Hopefully Brown can guard Butler adequately. He’s not the best at getting through screens tho he has improved tremendously there.

I think this is a series we could use Romeo.

Honesty Brown may be better option on Butler than Smart. The one kind of player Smart struggles against are big, strong wings who can get to a spot and shoot a mid ranger over him. Jimmy MAY not be a good enough mid ranger shooter to kill Smart this way, but Jaylen being a little taller and longer is probably preferable.

[steefP2]

I wish we could clone Smart for this series. He’s our best option on Butler and on Herro/Robinson. Hopefully Brown can guard Butler adequately. He’s not the best at getting through screens tho he has improved tremendously there.

I think this is a series we could use Romeo.

Honesty Brown may be better option on Butler than Smart. The one kind of player Smart struggles against are big, strong wings who can get to a spot and shoot a mid ranger over him. Jimmy MAY not be a good enough mid ranger shooter to kill Smart this way, but Jaylen being a little taller and longer is probably preferable.

You should check the heat - bucks series. Wesley Matthew did a phenomenal job on Butler and I think Smart can deliver the same pesky things type of defense.

I’d keep Brown on him tho as the primary defender but I’ll sleep easy knowing we have the Smart nuclear option in case he gets hot

[FlatearthZorro]

I think this is a series we could use Romeo.

Honesty Brown may be better option on Butler than Smart. The one kind of player Smart struggles against are big, strong wings who can get to a spot and shoot a mid ranger over him. Jimmy MAY not be a good enough mid ranger shooter to kill Smart this way, but Jaylen being a little taller and longer is probably preferable.

You should check the heat - bucks series. Wesley Matthew did a phenomenal job on Butler and I think Smart can deliver the same pesky things type of defense.

I’d keep Brown on him tho as the primary defender but I’ll sleep easy knowing we have the Smart nuclear option in case he gets hot

Brown and Tatum will handle Butler, I ain't worried. You can keep Smart on whoever else is hot(from their 3 point shooters).

[celticfan42487]

Honesty Brown may be better option on Butler than Smart. The one kind of player Smart struggles against are big, strong wings who can get to a spot and shoot a mid ranger over him. Jimmy MAY not be a good enough mid ranger shooter to kill Smart this way, but Jaylen being a little taller and longer is probably preferable.

You should check the heat - bucks series. Wesley Matthew did a phenomenal job on Butler and I think Smart can deliver the same pesky things type of defense.

I’d keep Brown on him tho as the primary defender but I’ll sleep easy knowing we have the Smart nuclear option in case he gets hot

Brown and Tatum will handle Butler, I ain't worried. You can keep Smart on whoever else is hot(from their 3 point shooters).

I mean it's almost meaningless to still talk about this like it's the 90s and man defense is played.

This will be endless screens and hand offs. Off ball and on ball.

And assuming MIA is well coached they will just be getting Kemba in pick and rolls for Bulter as he drives to the hoop which he thrives in. He averages 9 **** FTA/g this year. James Harden esque.

[FlatearthZorro]

You should check the heat - bucks series. Wesley Matthew did a phenomenal job on Butler and I think Smart can deliver the same pesky things type of defense.

I’d keep Brown on him tho as the primary defender but I’ll sleep easy knowing we have the Smart nuclear option in case he gets hot

Brown and Tatum will handle Butler, I ain't worried. You can keep Smart on whoever else is hot(from their 3 point shooters).

I mean it's almost meaningless to still talk about this like it's the 90s and man defense is played.

This will be endless screens and hand offs. Off ball and on ball.

And assume MIA is well coached they will just be getting Kemba in pick and rolls for Bulter as he drives to the hoop which he thrives in. He averages 9 **** FTA/g this year. James Harden esque.

Hmm, well he does play a ton of ISO. That's what he did against the Bucks. So it will matter who guards him.

[keevsnick1]

I think this is a series we could use Romeo.

Honesty Brown may be better option on Butler than Smart. The one kind of player Smart struggles against are big, strong wings who can get to a spot and shoot a mid ranger over him. Jimmy MAY not be a good enough mid ranger shooter to kill Smart this way, but Jaylen being a little taller and longer is probably preferable.

You should check the heat - bucks series. Wesley Matthew did a phenomenal job on Butler and I think Smart can deliver the same pesky things type of defense.

I’d keep Brown on him tho as the primary defender but I’ll sleep easy knowing we have the Smart nuclear option in case he gets hot

I mean sure, my point is we have enough good defenders we dont need to clone Marcus Smart, he's great but I think it gets lost a little bit that he plays with a few guys who are also very good.