Post-Game Notes: BOS 134, NYK 138 (OT, 0-1)

[Curmudgeon]

We don't need a third scorer. We need Tatum to make shots and play better defense.

Since when did Tatum become "he who shall not be named?" If you read the Globe this morning and hadn't watched the game, you would think Tatum had played well. It wasn't just the mnissed shots. It was the turnovers, the bad passes, all of it.

[gocelts]

I actually am pretty disappointed in Ime.

Our defense collapsed in the second half. The Knicks went big and we went smaller. He couldn't figure out how to defend Randle. I didn't notice any orders for Tatum to stop shooting and drive to the basket more.

Ime isnt a "new" coach. He's played and been on coaching staffs for years. I just didnt see anything different from last year EXCEPT the aggressive defense in the first half.

He looked overwhelmed last night. We should have won that game.


And YES Tatum sucked ass. Take away all the missed shots, he didnt do anything else. He was horrible.

[Feed Your Head]

Why is this always Jayson Tatum vs Jaylen Brown in this forum? Just be thankful and appreciated both for what they bring to the game. Celtics are lucky they have both. Nice job by Ainge not wasting high draft picks.

I think almost everyone has been guilty of it at points, myself included lol. But all I care about is Jaylen showing he can be a legitimate #2, because if he does that…building this team becomes infinitely easier. If you have a top 10 player in Tatum and a top 20 guy in Jaylen, that’s exciting stuff.

Balled the **** out last night offensively.

[Celts17Pride]

Why is this always Jayson Tatum vs Jaylen Brown in this forum? Just be thankful and appreciated both for what they bring to the game. Celtics are lucky they have both. Nice job by Ainge not wasting high draft picks.

I think almost everyone has been guilty of it at points, myself included lol. But all I care about is Jaylen showing he can be a legitimate #2, because if he does that…building this team becomes infinitely easier. If you have a top 10 player in Tatum and a top 20 guy in Jaylen, that’s exciting stuff.

Balled the **** out last night offensively.

Celtics need more. Will be interesting to see how they go about getting it. Right now if Tatum is a Top 10 and Brown is a Top 20 then all Celtics fans should be excited.

If Tatum is the Celtics (Bird) and Brown is the Celtics (McHale) what is wrong with that? Kevin McHale couldn't do the things that Bird could do but everything seemed to work out OK. Celtics fans should concern themselves less about Tatum and Brown and figure out a way to add to them in my opinion.

[Feed Your Head]

Why is this always Jayson Tatum vs Jaylen Brown in this forum? Just be thankful and appreciated both for what they bring to the game. Celtics are lucky they have both. Nice job by Ainge not wasting high draft picks.

I think almost everyone has been guilty of it at points, myself included lol. But all I care about is Jaylen showing he can be a legitimate #2, because if he does that…building this team becomes infinitely easier. If you have a top 10 player in Tatum and a top 20 guy in Jaylen, that’s exciting stuff.

Balled the **** out last night offensively.

Celtics need more. Will be interesting to see how they go about getting it. Right now if Tatum is a Top 10 and Brown is a Top 20 then all Celtics fans should be excited.

If Tatum is the Celtics (Bird) and Brown is the Celtics (McHale) what is wrong with that? Kevin McHale couldn't do the things that Bird could do but everything seemed to work out OK. Celtics fans should concern themselves less about Tatum and Brown and figure out a way to add to them in my opinion.

You are correct, as you usually are lol.

I just mean that if you have those two pieces and they become that level….building the rest of the team is much easier.

[playa-hater]

Grant made some Big 3s but for crying out loud, he was unplayable on defense. RW shut down Randle except for one play. This Loss is all on freakin Tatum, but I already see RED Flags if IME plays so many Non shooters in crunch time. Schroder playing crunch time is so DUMB, sorry Schroder fans. the all will be in Tatum's and brown's hands, Basically negating what Schroder does well. any of PP-Romeo or Nesmith need to be given those open looks Schroder will get if he keeps playing late in games.

Agree on the non shooters. Tatum couldn't buy a basket and playing Smart and Schroder together in crunch time was scary bad.
Our best shooter was Fournier. Now it's probably Pritchard but I don't expect him to shoot well until that mask comes off.

I don't trust Nesmith as a shooter yet. For a guy who is known for shooting he missed some shots really bad. That's not a sign of a good shooter. I'm hoping he becomes a good shooter because this team could use that.

His shots missed long, because he tends to get to hyped, but once he calms down, he has already proven himself quite a bit. Just looking back at last year's stretch and playoffs prove once he relaxes he will be fine. Our best player Tatum couldn't buy a 3, yet no one is saying he can't shoot. PP, mask or not the same. Romeo was shooting well that game. Any of the 3 should have been in late yesterday. and I would have trusted them more than DS..

[Celts17Pride]

I think almost everyone has been guilty of it at points, myself included lol. But all I care about is Jaylen showing he can be a legitimate #2, because if he does that…building this team becomes infinitely easier. If you have a top 10 player in Tatum and a top 20 guy in Jaylen, that’s exciting stuff.

Balled the **** out last night offensively.

Celtics need more. Will be interesting to see how they go about getting it. Right now if Tatum is a Top 10 and Brown is a Top 20 then all Celtics fans should be excited.

If Tatum is the Celtics (Bird) and Brown is the Celtics (McHale) what is wrong with that? Kevin McHale couldn't do the things that Bird could do but everything seemed to work out OK. Celtics fans should concern themselves less about Tatum and Brown and figure out a way to add to them in my opinion.

You are correct, as you usually are lol.

Well I'm not always right LOL! I was a bit too emotional last night in my after game comments

[Feed Your Head]

Celtics need more. Will be interesting to see how they go about getting it. Right now if Tatum is a Top 10 and Brown is a Top 20 then all Celtics fans should be excited.

If Tatum is the Celtics (Bird) and Brown is the Celtics (McHale) what is wrong with that? Kevin McHale couldn't do the things that Bird could do but everything seemed to work out OK. Celtics fans should concern themselves less about Tatum and Brown and figure out a way to add to them in my opinion.

You are correct, as you usually are lol.

Well I'm not always right LOL! I was a bit too emotional last night in my after game comments

Game threads and post games threads are a safe space for overreactions lol.

[ddb]

Why is this always Jayson Tatum vs Jaylen Brown in this forum? Just be thankful and appreciated both for what they bring to the game. Celtics are lucky they have both. Nice job by Ainge not wasting high draft picks.

Exactly. Celts have 2 special young players. This should never be about JT VS JB. It should be about can these guys lead the Celts to Banner 18. Period.
For anyone criticizing JT for an off night, I'd love to go back and see what you had to say after his 60+pt game....or one of his 50pt games...or his 50pt playoff game against Durant. the fact of the matter is, in many ways the NBA is a make or miss league. These guys have off nights. All the greats do too.

[Hal14]

I actually am pretty disappointed in Ime.

Our defense collapsed in the second half. The Knicks went big and we went smaller. He couldn't figure out how to defend Randle. I didn't notice any orders for Tatum to stop shooting and drive to the basket more.

Ime isnt a "new" coach. He's played and been on coaching staffs for years. I just didnt see anything different from last year EXCEPT the aggressive defense in the first half.

He looked overwhelmed last night. We should have won that game.


And YES Tatum sucked ass. Take away all the missed shots, he didnt do anything else. He was horrible.

This one is not on Ime. We lost because:

a) Knicks played with increased level of energy/focus/confidence playing in front of their rocking home crowd. it was like a playoff atmosphere. There's a reason why they call it "home court advantage". Last night it was like a playoff game in front of a home crowd. That gave the knicks an edge
b) schroder missed layup, Brown missed dunk and smart missed floater inside in 2nd OT
c) we were missing Horford and Jrich. Yes, the Knicks were missing noel and gibson but clearly horford/jrich mean more to us than gibson/noel
d) Tatum with an off game shooting the ball, and clearly there were times when he should have taken it to the rim or passed instead of settling for outside shots

Those are the 4 biggest reasons we lost IMO.

I don't think you put this on Ime. Especially given the fact that it was literally the dude's first ever game as an NBA head coach. He's brand new to the celtics organization and coaching a team with a bunch of new players - only had a 3 week training camp..

You say "He couldn't figure out how to defend Randle." Um, that was a major adjustment that Ime made which worked very well for us! Once he put Rob on Randle, Randle was MUCH less effective scoring the basketball. Obviously it would have been a different game if Rob was guarding Randle all game - but at least Ime made the adjustment. With that being said, Rob probably wouldn't have been able to handle as many minutes as he did if he was guarding Randle all game. Again, the 4 reasons outlined above were much bigger factors. Randle is a hell of a player - he had a good game - Grant really didn't do that bad defensively on him - but obviously Rob did a better job defensively than Grant did..

[playa-hater]

Anybody noticed that Tatum`s shot release looks a bit wierd at times and different than last year? I noticed that in preseason and it carried into the first game...

I was going to write this response a month ago when photo's of a bulked up Tatum came out. when I was in my 20s and I started lifting heavy. bulked up my shoulders/chest area quite a bit. but I was still balling all over the place. My shooting suffered during stretches I was at my biggest. My arms were stiffer and heavier and always causing my shot to tilt a bit left usually.

My point is I was concerned that Tatum may have this issue. Tatum being off yesterday and in preseason isn't proof enough yet. But It is something I would be concerned about.

On a side note, almost/all the great shooters in NBA history have Non muscular arms/shoulders. From Bird. J West, Reggie Miller, Ray Allen, Steph, Nash, KD and whomever I am forgetting.

[ballup]

I want to put a little context on Grant. He's a backup big, probably 4th/5th in a good rotation. Now, for him to match up against an all star who is not only similar sized, but is faster and stronger, Grant had no chance. There's no advantage to be had. Similar to Sullinger, he can be in the right spots on defense, but he doesn't affect shots. I don't know if that can be corrected. I do think he is reaching the point of serviceable.

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[playa-hater]

Tatum playing bad is clearly the number 1 reason we lost. Missing Horford number 2. But I don't think IME coached well with quite a few things. But after only 1 game I want to see what adjustments IME makes if any.

There are 2 type of adjustments coaches make, pre-game and In-game. Let's see how he handles these going forward.

[greenroom31]

People seriously discussing trading Tatum after 1 off game is something I wasn't prepared for.

I guess Golden State should also trade Steph (5-21 against the Lakers) and that Portland should trade Dame (8-24 against the Kings)?

It's a long season folks... suggest some of you take a deep breath.

[tfribs45]

solid game all around with a playoff atmosphere. I can't remember an opening night game being so intense. Stevin A and the NY world are crowning the Knicks after a game 1 Win LMAO. Brown was amazing, G League Williams shocked the heck out of me and was a pleasant surprise, Cobra ran the point well and hit the clutch 3 to go into OT, def a strong showing even though the TYPICAL Cobra haters always like to chime in smh, JT was bad, Dennis was a huge disappointment and the rest of the bench contributed well. All in all a solid start just didn't have enough legs in OT to finish it!!

[Tatumfor2]

I wish we won.

[jfs1000d]

Why is this always Jayson Tatum vs Jaylen Brown in this forum? Just be thankful and appreciated both for what they bring to the game. Celtics are lucky they have both. Nice job by Ainge not wasting high draft picks.

Exactly. Celts have 2 special young players. This should never be about JT VS JB. It should be about can these guys lead the Celts to Banner 18. Period.
For anyone criticizing JT for an off night, I'd love to go back and see what you had to say after his 60+pt game....or one of his 50pt games...or his 50pt playoff game against Durant. the fact of the matter is, in many ways the NBA is a make or miss league. These guys have off nights. All the greats do too.

How many of JTs shots were ones you don't want him taking? of 30, maybe 2? He played well except for the missed shots. Made passes, moved the ball.

Guy had a bad shooting night. Yes, we want him diving to the basket more, but the jumpers he took are all in his wheelhouse.

[MagicBagley18]

Just when I think this place couldn’t get any dumber or expose it’s basketball ineptitude anymore.....voila trade Tatum posts come up.

[Hal14]

Why is this always Jayson Tatum vs Jaylen Brown in this forum? Just be thankful and appreciated both for what they bring to the game. Celtics are lucky they have both. Nice job by Ainge not wasting high draft picks.

Exactly. Celts have 2 special young players. This should never be about JT VS JB. It should be about can these guys lead the Celts to Banner 18. Period.
For anyone criticizing JT for an off night, I'd love to go back and see what you had to say after his 60+pt game....or one of his 50pt games...or his 50pt playoff game against Durant. the fact of the matter is, in many ways the NBA is a make or miss league. These guys have off nights. All the greats do too.

How many of JTs shots were ones you don't want him taking? of 30, maybe 2? He played well except for the missed shots. Made passes, moved the ball.

Guy had a bad shooting night. Yes, we want him diving to the basket more, but the jumpers he took are all in his wheelhouse.

I'd say probably about 4 or 5 (maybe 6) of the shots he took were ill advised shots where he should have either taken it to the rim or passed it.

Some of them were situations where he settled for the outside shot instead of trying to get a better look (either for himself or a teammate) and some were good clean looks but in some situations even if it's a clean look you need to use your brain and understand that if you're having an off night and your shots aren't falling then in those situations you need to either attack the basket or find the open man.

[Jaqua92]

What a way to start the season.

Three guys whose play I liked tonight: Jaylen, Grant, and Langford. The former doesn't need any comment, but he has carried some of his reaching habits. Grant was horribly overmatched so he should be given some slack and I thought his defense was still sound for the most part. Making his threes are a big plus. Langford continues to show up coming from the preseason. The Jays were great in their playmaking imo.

Now the bad.

The Knicks had energy and jumped on their fast breaks. Not only were the Celtics sloppy turning it over, their transition defense was terrible. Tatum may be on a slump. He needs to get it together as the defacto leader. Both him and Bob were getting their poo stuffed left and right. Speaking of Bob, he has a pretty stat line. Didn't like his general play as he was getting outhustled and a lot of the meat was missing in his play. There was a lot of easy gimmes he fumbled and I get the sense he's still somewhat lost. Same with Schroeder, but did we expect much different? Damn that guy has some low IQ moments and some major breakdowns defensively. Pritchard and Nesmith need to come back from summer league. Smart is the drug we all love to take, but hate the hangover. We'll never figure out to keep the high running, but damn does the crash make life so exciting. I'll excuse Ime as it's his first season, but he got punked by not subbing in some energy in any of the OTs. It's that old school coach thinking that if you don't have your best five at the end, you're going to lose.

The Knicks are on the same tier as the Celtics. This result shouldn't be surprising with Randle being a legit all star, guys like Barrett/Toppin rising, and their team having a real identity. They aren't the joke we've been seeing for almost a decade anymore. Best wishes for Kemba and Fournier. Crazy sequence leading into OT and the rest of the game.

Great post.

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