I miss Fournier AOS: PHI 106, BOS 96 (25-26)

[aussie_pride]

Philly tends to be a tough matchup for us. Our offense is too reliant on shooting and that makes us reliant on rhythm and it's tough to establish rhythm when you are getting pushed around by Embiid/Dwight/Simmons. Timelord has been a needed revelation, but he doesn't gives us the physical presence (nor the savvy presence) necessary to match up here.

Lose Fournier & TT & find out the whole team has prob been exposed to Covid, and we can't complain about a 10 point loss.

15 points before garbage time.

For once I'm a little concerned about Nesmith not playing. Why wasn't he slotted in as a Fournier replacement? He can do everything Fournier does except pass, and the alternatives don't pass either. He does them with rookie unreliability, of course, and there's no assurance that even as a vet he'll equal Fournier. But he's basically the same kind of player.

What bothered me more was why Pritchard did not see more game time. The guy can shoot, has a high basketball IQ and is willing to move the ball around. Surely he is worth more than six minutes a game?

What I also find funny is that people are complaining about not having Fournier. A week ago after he shot 0 from 10 people were calling him hopeless, overrated, shouldn't be given any game time etc.

[CelticsPride18]

At this point just play Langford and Nesmith a lot of minutes while Fournier is out.

[soxfan2003]

Has Stevens ever beat Rivers. Somehow I don't recall that happening. Not recently anyway. In any case, I really don't understand the genius behind doubling off someone like Kormaz or Danny Green.

Stevens was in the ECF last season. Where was Doc’s Clippers? Clippers were a more talented team.

Doc is an average coach. Only reason he has a championship is because Danny went and got Doc KG, Ray, Posey, Cassell and PJ Brown. Not to mention he got him Thibs.

I've only really seen a Rivers led team underachieve once in the playoffs and that was last year. Extenuating circumstances from the bubble and huge break in the season. For all of Rivers "blown leads", many of those he was on teams that arguably shouldn't have even gotten leads in the first place.

2010 Celtics? Lakers were better than that Celtics squad. Celtics probably still win it if Perkins didn't get hurt or refs called game 7 fairly... But Lakers were the more talented team when you figure the age of both rosters.

The best team the Celtics beat in the playoffs last year was the Raptors with Siakam shooting poorly from 3. That Raptors team didn't have Leonard.

No doubt the Clippers last year underachieved by blowing some big leads against Denver but they faced a tougher team in Denver than any team, the Celtics beat last year in the playoffs. Champion came out of the west.

Clippers had talent but they were still a flawed team playing in a tougher conference and some players were not in shape coming out of the bubble. Not enough ball handling and no real answer for Jokic.

Rivers in reality is a very good coach and I would give him a clear edge over Brad Stevens. Rivers is more willing to challenge his stars and that is sometimes needed. Any X0 advantage that Stevens has over Rivers is very minor. While Rivers himself is obviously not the best gm in the world, I do think he has a better vision than Ainge about the type of balance needed to win a championship.

I don't think Rivers would be happy paying Kemba the max when the Celtics "bigs" are Theis/Robert Williams. The Clippers under Rivers really did have some bad luck with injuries. I don't think they were ever the best/most talented team in the NBA but they could have gone further a few years if they were healthy.

[flintsky21]

At this point just play Langford and Nesmith a lot of minutes while Fournier is out.

Never happening now that Semi is back. I bet he's back to the starting 5 against the Knicks.

[Fencer reregistered]

Philly tends to be a tough matchup for us. Our offense is too reliant on shooting and that makes us reliant on rhythm and it's tough to establish rhythm when you are getting pushed around by Embiid/Dwight/Simmons. Timelord has been a needed revelation, but he doesn't gives us the physical presence (nor the savvy presence) necessary to match up here.

Lose Fournier & TT & find out the whole team has prob been exposed to Covid, and we can't complain about a 10 point loss.

15 points before garbage time.

For once I'm a little concerned about Nesmith not playing. Why wasn't he slotted in as a Fournier replacement? He can do everything Fournier does except pass, and the alternatives don't pass either. He does them with rookie unreliability, of course, and there's no assurance that even as a vet he'll equal Fournier. But he's basically the same kind of player.

What bothered me more was why Pritchard did not see more game time. The guy can shoot, has a high basketball IQ and is willing to move the ball around. Surely he is worth more than six minutes a game?

What I also find funny is that people are complaining about not having Fournier. A week ago after he shot 0 from 10 people were calling him hopeless, overrated, shouldn't be given any game time etc.

Yeah. If the top players aren't playing well or even all that vigorously, let the developmental guys have more chances.

[CelticsPride18]

At this point just play Langford and Nesmith a lot of minutes while Fournier is out.

Never happening now that Semi is back. I bet he's back to the starting 5 against the Knicks.

I tought he was good tonight. Showed some toughness and heart. He’s a solid 11th man that gets played too much. Lack of depth causes that.

[Green89]

Also I really don't get how losing to a better team deserves an ass of shame title. I mean shouldn't that title be reserved for losses against teams that are worse than the Celtics?

When you're flat out not competitive does the opponent matter? That effort was definitely AOS worthy.

I'm perplexed at Pritchard getting only 9 minutes, when Smart got 35 and absolutely sucked on both ends of the floor. 5 turnovers in the first half and Brad kept letting him bring the ball up, even when Payton was on the floor with him. It's like Brad missed he was having one of his worst games of the year.

[aussie_pride]

Has Stevens ever beat Rivers. Somehow I don't recall that happening. Not recently anyway. In any case, I really don't understand the genius behind doubling off someone like Kormaz or Danny Green.

Stevens was in the ECF last season. Where was Doc’s Clippers? Clippers were a more talented team.

Doc is an average coach. Only reason he has a championship is because Danny went and got Doc KG, Ray, Posey, Cassell and PJ Brown. Not to mention he got him Thibs.

I've only really seen a Rivers led team underachieve once in the playoffs and that was last year. Extenuating circumstances from the bubble and huge break in the season. For all of Rivers "blown leads", many of those he was on teams that arguably shouldn't have even gotten leads in the first place.

2010 Celtics? Lakers were better than that Celtics squad. Celtics probably still win it if Perkins didn't get hurt or refs called game 7 fairly... But Lakers were the more talented team when you figure the age of both rosters.

The best team the Celtics beat in the playoffs last year was the Raptors with Siakam shooting poorly from 3. That Raptors team didn't have Leonard.

No doubt the Clippers last year underachieved by blowing some big leads against Denver but they faced a tougher team in Denver than any team, the Celtics beat last year in the playoffs. Champion came out of the west.

Clippers had talent but they were still a flawed team playing in a tougher conference and some players were not in shape coming out of the bubble. Not enough ball handling and no real answer for Jokic.

Rivers in reality is a very good coach and I would give him a clear edge over Brad Stevens. Rivers is more willing to challenge his stars and that is sometimes needed. Any X0 advantage that Stevens has over Rivers is very minor. While Rivers himself is obviously not the best gm in the world, I do think he has a better vision than Ainge about the type of balance needed to win a championship.

I don't think Rivers would be happy paying Kemba the max when the Celtics "bigs" are Theis/Robert Williams. The Clippers under Rivers really did have some bad luck with injuries. I don't think they were ever the best/most talented team in the NBA but they could have gone further a few years if they were healthy.

I really like Doc Rivers as well. One of the things I really like about him is that he is a tactically shrewd coach who knows how to create a system which best suits the players he has at his disposal.

I have always felt that the Clippers are one of those teams who panics when things do not go their way or if they have a bit of bad luck. They are one of these teams that believe in this stupid "blow up" idea where if things are not working out then they need to completely gut their entire roster. I also think they were wrong to sack coach in favour of Tyronn Lue. Is he really that better a coach that Doc? I hardly think so.

You need to be careful what you wish for in changing coaches because bringing someone else in does not mean you are going to be anymore successful. In any case, it is not as if the Clippers under Doc were abysmal; they were a highly competitive playoff team that were always challenging. The other thing to consider is that there was every chance that Doc could have improved the Clippers players or come up with a different strategy to get through the Western Conference. If people want a precedent, look at all the failures that Jerry Sloan and the Utah Jazz experienced before they finally got to the NBA Finals!

[batabatuta]

Change the coach and you wont see Smart in the closing minutes again.

[Green89]

Thompson hasn't played a game in 3 1/2 weeks now. What in the world is going on? Is he ok?

[BillessuR6]

Well, they are just better and have superior length.

But we were tied at 35 or something and it all went downhill from there...way too much subbing players in and out, we lost all momentum in 2nd quarter...AOS goes to Brad, again.

[FlatearthZorro]

Brown and Smart had horrible games. Smart with 6 turnover. Brown had 0 assists and 3 turnovers. But ever lazy on offense and on defense.

We were sloppy handling the ball. We didn’t have chance to move the ball around for open shots because we kept giving the ball to the Sixers.

I wasn’t expecting a win without Fournier.

Kemba had 3 TOs, didn't look good either, tbh. The adjustment with him assisting more ain't happening.
I wanted us to tank. And we should. A top 10 pick in this year's draft could help with either a trade or to add a talented young player to the team. We aren't going anywhere this year barring a miracle.

[yeahM8]

i did not enjoy this game.

[Lester Freamon]

It's time to move on, we'll never get it done with this core. In the offseason we gotta go get KAT (Brown, Timelord and a 1st rounder or something like that) and then resign Fournier.

Starting V: Kemba, Smart, Fournier, Tatum, KAT

Bench: a bunch of crap, gotta do something about that too

Inviato dal mio Redmi 7A utilizzando Tapatalk

[Froob]

We are just too big, too talented, too skilled, and Doc is just a lot better coach than Opie Taylor.

Opie Taylor ?

[cl2117]

Philly is just the better team. Fournier would have given us an outside shot both literally and figuratively, but Philly are 100% going to win against a team playing Mo, Kornet and Tacko (a three stooges re-boot I would 100% watch by the way).

Had Fournier been around and still hot from 3, he could have negated what Danny Green gave the Sixers and kept us in it, but with Rob fouled out there was no hope regardless. Timelord has been great lately with the increased minutes, but this was a test and he failed miserably. Gotta learn from it.

I was disappointed with both our stars.

Jayson had an urgency later in the game that I feel like some young stars play with much more frequently. He was almost frantic as he was trying to claw some points back, but that kind of aggression earlier in the game could have made it more of a fight.

Jaylen is a great individual player, but it's not enough "team" basketball from him. Selfish doesn't feel like an adequate description, oblivious might be more apt. It's like he just doesn't register his teammates on the offensive end of the court until he's in trouble. There's no shine off his game that rubs off on other players who are elevated because of it. The ball sticks in his hands, his heads not up looking for teammates, there's just not a gravity to his game that impacts the rest of the court. It'll come in time hopefully. He's probably just adjusting to the current level he's leapt to and once it slows down for him as a scorer/true #2 or even #1b, he'll start being able to take the blinders off once the ball is in his hands.

They've both fallen off defensively. It could mostly be the team defense as a whole being poor which is making these two stand out, but there's no doubt there's been a drop off. Jaylen I've really noticed loves taking his time getting back on D after a no-call foul on the other end. Think they both may be feeling themselves a bit too much. Their status as all-stars is very much linked to their two-way impact and it's not been as good or consistent this year.

I'm actually fine with what Kemba did tonight. In a world with a healthy Fournier I'm comfortable with Kemba taking less shots and facilitating more. We've had enough time now to at least say Kemba isn't/shouldn't be our volume scorer this year. He's got to adapt and be king of ball movement/drive and kick and occasionally step in when he's hot or we're desperate. 15/8 on decent efficiency and keep the ball moving. He'll get picked on defensively, but if he keeps things moving on the other end it won't matter as much. I just don't know if he has that adaptation in him.

Confused why we didn't see more Pritchard tonight. Felt like he gave a spark.

Some solid stuff to pick out of the wreckage:

Brad's confidence in Romeo is encouraging. I like what he can do for ball-movement offensively because he's a cutter/slasher rather than a camper and that movement should create better flow.

I actually liked the Tacko minutes. It's not a good option, but it's interesting. If you want to force Embiid out of the paint, it seems like it works. He can pick you apart from range as well, but choosing the battlefield can sometimes be advantageous even if it's an unstoppable force like Joel. Kornet's range I also find interesting. If he can stay hot I genuinely see some value for him in some match ups as a stretch 5.

Better see some fire against the Knicks.

[Triple7]

It's time to move on, we'll never get it done with this core. In the offseason we gotta go get KAT (Brown, Timelord and a 1st rounder or something like that) and then resign Fournier.

Starting V: Kemba, Smart, Fournier, Tatum, KAT

Bench: a bunch of crap, gotta do something about that too

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If things go south this season, i’m done with Kemba and Smart. Both are one-sided players.

[bucknersrevenge]

Tatum does not see that may doubles at all! The problem with Tatum is that is he is in love with his step back and fadeaway jump shots. Teams know that these are his go to moves and defend it accordingly. It also doesn't help that he takes a lot of these shots from long range! Fadeaway and step back shots are hard enough to take when you have a bit of space let alone when they are contest and from three. He should only be really taking these shots sporadically or to catch defenders off-guard.

In terms of the supporting cast, what more could he want? Kemba is a 4 x All Star and Jaylen Brown is in the top tier of two way players in the NBA. Furthermore, Kemba has a great personality and is completely selfless in moving the ball. If anything, Kemba should probably be taking the ball out of Tatum's hands more! People on here have been mentioning Bradly Beal as a trade option. Adding him would be an unmitigated disaster as he in that category of players who is going to want and need shots or there will be locker room issues.

There is way too much to unpack here so I think I'm just gonna chalk this post up to you and I see VERY different games.

That's fine and I can accept that. But the idea that he does not have a good support cast is ludicrous!

[cloverleaf]

Yeah, Rob got schooled in terms of the fouling, but for a big man playing aggressively down low he hasn't had a problem with fouling until this entirely new experience starting against Embiid. He's a smart kid and will figure it out. And he was bothering Philly when he wasn't fouling (or turning it over).

Tacko put in a nice 9 minutes when it counted and Romeo is really easing his way into contributing nicely. My guess is that Brad will have him ramped up to major minutes fairly quickly and his D will help their interior D because the bigs won't have to move out of position to cover for the C's poor perimeter D as much once Fournier and Langford our consistently out there more.

I am much more concerned and disappointed with how the C's supposed (not really) "best 4" are continuing to play and how Brad is continuing to coach. It's as if the Jays decided they were going to lose anyway and were going back to iso-my turn ball instead of even attempting to play team basketball. The C's have all of 5 players with a TS% over the league average, and of them--Rob, Tacko, Pritchard, Brown and Fournier--only Brown gets enough shots. Three of the team's top four players in usage--Tatum, Kemba and Smart--are heading into 'Toine volume-shooter territory. With two guys who have consistently played the right way in looking to involve their teammates essentially off the court, the worst, most selfish, lackadaisical, and dull-witted habits of the too many of the other players on the team were back.

[The_Ghost_of_JB]

Also I really don't get how losing to a better team deserves an ass of shame title. I mean shouldn't that title be reserved for losses against teams that are worse than the Celtics?

When you're flat out not competitive does the opponent matter? That effort was definitely AOS worthy.

I'm perplexed at Pritchard getting only 9 minutes, when Smart got 35 and absolutely sucked on both ends of the floor. 5 turnovers in the first half and Brad kept letting him bring the ball up, even when Payton was on the floor with him. It's like Brad missed he was having one of his worst games of the year.

Maybe it was less about effort and the fact that Philly is a good defensive team and the Celtics run a 3rd grade offense which is one or two passes and a shot.

As for Smart: Brad and Danny absolutely love him so its not a mystery he lead the team in minutes and no matter how how plays he will never get pulled. As long as Danny and Stevens are here we have to live, for better or worse, with Smart getting big minutes.