Combination Theis & Thompson

thomas1897 · Post #1 » by **thomas1897** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 1:52 pm

The Celtics needed addition strength at the four and five positions with the combination using two big men together. Theis and Thompson are not players who will re-write stat sheets but together they perform the housekeeping chores that keep teams honest on the rebounding, defense and the interior post play. These task win close ball games and can keep you in ball games when the shooting is poor. The Celtics have had players such as Paul Silas, Wayne Embry, Bailey Howell and Cedric Maxwell who did the dirty work and made critical plays that won ball games. Theis and Thompson is an example of the dynamic duo.

dans1230 · Post #2 » by **dans1230** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 1:59 pm

The era of Paul Silas didnt have 4s like Jerami Grant to cover. Its a different league than in the 60s,70s. and 80s. Unless you dirty work guys can shoot 3s and take guys off the dribble, you cant afford to have more than 1 of them on the court at a time.

Green89 · Post #3 » by **Green89** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 3:55 pm

There was an article even before last night of how our two big lineup is one of the worst in the league. I'd love to see a +/- of that lineup for the year, especially after last night's game where we definitely couldn't hold a lead with them on the floor.

Fencer reregistered · Post #4 » by **Fencer reregistered** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 4:20 pm

dans1230 wrote:The era of Paul Silas didnt have 4s like Jerami Grant to cover. Its a different league than in the 60s,70s. and 80s. Unless you dirty work guys can shoot 3s and take guys off the dribble, you cant afford to have more than 1 of them on the court at a time.

Theis is a good roll man. If he could also shoot 3s with justified confidence, that would be enough on offense.

MagicBagley18 · Post #5 » by **MagicBagley18** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 4:32 pm

When I saw the thread title I though the next 3 words in the post would be “needs to go”

BK_2020 · Post #6 » by **BK_2020** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 4:34 pm

Theis and Thompson combined into one person would be a pretty good big.

Curmudgeon · Post #7 » by **Curmudgeon** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 4:57 pm

The two big lineup worked fine in the first quarter last night. And Rob Williams played well too.

Post #8 » by **djFan71** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 4:59 pm

I think Brad's just taking his lumps with it to give it time to see if they can eventually figure it out. Against some matchups, they'll have to make this work. It's not working yet, and he's not blind to that fact. But, he's willing to give it time to see if it improves.

Without Gordon or a trade, we don't have an obvious answer. We have 2 backup 4 options in Semi/Grant. No clear cut guy that should play at the wing. We're 6-3 without Kemba in spite of this lineup.

OK, that's all I got for positives. I pretty much hate the lineup and said before the season we should trade for a 4 at the deadline after Brad does this and definitively proves they don't work together. But, I do think he's still in that stage of trying to make it work and getting reps for the few matchups where it could prove helpful.

zoyathedestroya · Post #9 » by **zoyathedestroya** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 6:32 pm

If Embiid + Horford (each of whom are better than either TT/Theis) didn't work in today's NBA, I'm not sure how we can justify thinking TT + Theis would. Horford's even more of a spacer & pop guy Theis is. Embiid is more dominant inside on both ends of the floor than Thompson could ever dream to be.

Break up these two. I feel a large part of this is wanting to get all 3 centers the playing time "they deserve" -- Theis was still our ECF center and was pretty damn good all regular season last year, Timelord's time is nigh, and Thompson is our top FA acquisition that's still young and has Finals experience -- but this combo is negating the strength of this team which is our wing scoring and their ability to thrive in space.

If the thought process is... "we might need this down the line when we face the Lakers", then I don't think I can agree. Our bigs are just so average that we won't be able to compete against a Gasol-AD-Lebron lineup. Play your best lineups and force the other team to adjust.

poopship · Post #10 » by **poopship** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 6:33 pm

'gathering data' type line up

Curmudgeon · Post #11 » by **Curmudgeon** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 6:49 pm

zoyathedestroya wrote:If Embiid + Horford (each of whom are better than either TT/Theis) didn't work in today's NBA, I'm not sure how we can justify thinking TT + Theis would. Horford's even more of a spacer & pop guy Theis is. Embiid is more dominant inside on both ends of the floor than Thompson could ever dream to be.

The difference is that Theis is quick enough to guard perimeter players. Horford isn't. And both TT and Theis are willing to run the floor. Embiid isn't because he's perpetually out of shape.

LOL, people are calling the Sixers a "juggernaut" but who have they played? They beat the Hornets (twice) the Wizards (twice) and the Knicks. They also beat Toronto, but the Raptors aren't beating anyone these days. They lost to the Cavs. Tonight they get the Nets without Durant (and of course without Dinwiddie) so that's another gift.

Later this month they've got back to backs against Miami and the Celtics, and a game against Denver. Let's see how they do against those teams.

zoyathedestroya · Post #12 » by **zoyathedestroya** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 6:52 pm

Curmudgeon wrote:
zoyathedestroya wrote:If Embiid + Horford (each of whom are better than either TT/Theis) didn't work in today's NBA, I'm not sure how we can justify thinking TT + Theis would. Horford's even more of a spacer & pop guy Theis is. Embiid is more dominant inside on both ends of the floor than Thompson could ever dream to be.

The difference is that Theis is quick enough to guard perimeter players. Horford isn't. And both TT and Theis are willing to run the floor. Embiid isn't because he's perpetually out of shape.

LOL, people are calling the Sixers a "juggernaut" but who have they played? They beat the Hornets (twice) the Wizards (twice) and the Knicks. They also beat Toronto, but the Raptors aren't beating anyone these days. They lost to the Cavs. Tonight they get the Nets without Durant (and of course without Dinwiddie) so that's another gift.

Later this month they've got back to backs against Miami and the Celtics, and a game against Denver. Let's see how they do against those teams.

Sixers problem with their double-big lineups was offense, not defense. It's a problem for us on both ends. Our half-court offense has been a drag and our transition defense sucks with those two on the floor together.

And I didn't even bring up the Sixers this season. But I do know they're a more balanced team now even if talent level has dropped.

sam_I_am · Post #13 » by **sam_I_am** » Thu Jan 7, 2021 6:53 pm

Curmudgeon wrote:
zoyathedestroya wrote:If Embiid + Horford (each of whom are better than either TT/Theis) didn't work in today's NBA, I'm not sure how we can justify thinking TT + Theis would. Horford's even more of a spacer & pop guy Theis is. Embiid is more dominant inside on both ends of the floor than Thompson could ever dream to be.

The difference is that Theis is quick enough to guard perimeter players. Horford isn't. And both TT and Theis are willing to run the floor. Embiid isn't because he's perpetually out of shape.

LOL, people are calling the Sixers a "juggernaut" but who have they played? They beat the Hornets (twice) the Wizards (twice) and the Knicks. They also beat Toronto, but the Raptors aren't beating anyone these days. They lost to the Cavs. Tonight they get the Nets without Durant (and of course without Dinwiddie) so that's another gift.

Later this month they've got back to backs against Miami and the Celtics, and a game against Denver. Let's see how they do against those teams.

If it weren’t for 2 last minute collapses on the road in DET and IND we would be 7-1 too.

thomas1897 · Post #14 » by **thomas1897** » Fri Jan 8, 2021 2:01 pm

At the end of the day we have a simple solution that is winning and the Boston Celtics are winning.

cl2117 · Post #15 » by **cl2117** » Fri Jan 8, 2021 4:03 pm

If Theis could better stretch the floor this duo could really do some damage. I think Brad is going to continue to give him the green light in the hopes that he can bring that versatility.

If he can't, I think they get exposed eventually in the playoffs when teams will dare Theis/Thompson to beat them on offense while focusing all their efforts on JT/JB/Kemba. And speaking of Kemba, when he returns I think his ability to create/facilitate (especially in the pick and roll) will help elevate our lineups featuring these two. Maybe that will be enough to keep teams from taking advantage of them.

My overly optimistic dream is that Nesmith will get his feet before the end of the season and we can use TT/Theis in setting some mega screens that Aaron can use to launch 3's a la Herro/Robinson in Miami. Nesmith is supposed to be a real threat shooting the deep ball off screens and with this kind of size on the floor we should be able to give him the kind of room a knockdown shooter can use to go off with. Probably overly ambitious, but I'll still hold out hope.

Triple7 · Post #16 » by **Triple7** » Sat Jan 9, 2021 10:19 am

BK_2020 wrote:Theis and Thompson combined into one person would be a pretty good big.

Well not really! That player would still be an awful offensive player, little to none rim protection, and would still be abused by most legit bigs out there.

BK_2020 · Post #17 » by **BK_2020** » Sat Jan 9, 2021 4:25 pm

Triple7 wrote:
BK_2020 wrote:Theis and Thompson combined into one person would be a pretty good big.

Well not really! That player would still be an awful offensive player, little to none rim protection, and would still be abused by most legit bigs out there.

He’d be almost 14 feet tall.....

Post #18 » by **Bleeding Green** » Sun Jan 10, 2021 2:33 am

Triple7 wrote:
BK_2020 wrote:Theis and Thompson combined into one person would be a pretty good big.

Well not really! That player would still be an awful offensive player, little to none rim protection, and would still be abused by most legit bigs out there.

Why would you take the worst qualities of each player lmao

SMTBSI · Post #19 » by **SMTBSI** » Sun Jan 10, 2021 4:44 am

Just ahead of combination toothpaste and orange juice, and just behind Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell.

Triple7 · Post #20 » by **Triple7** » Sun Jan 10, 2021 5:19 am

Bleeding Green wrote:
Triple7 wrote:
BK_2020 wrote:Theis and Thompson combined into one person would be a pretty good big.

Well not really! That player would still be an awful offensive player, little to none rim protection, and would still be abused by most legit bigs out there.

Why would you take the worst qualities of each player lmao

Those are the qualities we needed for a big man sadly!
Rebounding, rim protection and at least some decent inside scoring, which both of them don’t have.