Official Celtics 2021-22 Season Thread

[keevsnick1]

It does kind of matter because Tatum's struggles in the knicks game were a combination of:

a) RJ Barrett playing extremely good D on him. Barrett stuck to him like glue, played him really tight.

b) Tatum missing open shots he normally makes

I feel like it was def a combination of both, but maybe a little bit more of A.

You ask any knicks fans, they give all the credit to Barrett's D.

Since we played Tatum at the 4, it allowed the knicks to put Barrett (the guy on their team who does the best job defending tatum) on him..

I think it's a fair point and something worth keeping an eye on. Tatum had a terrible game vs knicks playing mostly the 3. he had an amazing game vs hornets playing mostly the 4..

Tatum didn’t really play that badly, he just shot badly.

I agree with Hal14 on this one it's certainly a combination of them both but I think when Tatum plays the 4 they are more faster and more spread out and that alone can help the cause

Tatum stunk the whole game, it didn't matter weather he was technically playing the 3 or the 4. He stunk regardless of who else was out there with him. That's fine, it happens. No reason to overthink it.

[sam_I_am]

Tatum didn’t really play that badly, he just shot badly.

I agree with Hal14 on this one it's certainly a combination of them both but I think when Tatum plays the 4 they are more faster and more spread out and that alone can help the cause

Tatum stunk the whole game, it didn't matter weather he was technically playing the 3 or the 4. He stunk regardless of who else was out there with him. That's fine, it happens. No reason to overthink it.

Tatum took 15 mostly open minimally contested 3s and only made 2. In 2 other games this year he shot 50% from 3 pt range. If he shot his average 38% that day he scores 42 pts and Cs win by 10 in regulation. Tatum took good shots….. I want him taking 15 3 pt shots if he is open. Just an off night.

[sam_I_am]

The mantra over the past 5 years has been that Danny Ainge has drafted poorly but GM Ainge, ie. Trader Dan, did a better job.

However, where would the team be without its drafting? Tatum, Brown, Smart, Rob, Grant are carrying this team. PP, Nesmith and Langford are not but all are still intriguing right now.

Meanwhile, it’s hard to ignore the talent drain with free agency and trading.

IT, Crowder, Colin Sexton ————>Kyrie ——————> nothing

Horford, Rozier, 2020 #16 pick ———————> Kemba ——————-> Horford (did lost 2 years cost us a finals run? Or 2?)

Hayward, Morris, Fournier, Theis —————-> nothing

[31to6]

The mantra over the past 5 years has been that Danny Ainge has drafted poorly but GM Ainge, ie. Trader Dan, did a better job.

However, where would the team be without its drafting? Tatum, Brown, Smart, Rob, Grant are carrying this team. PP, Nesmith and Langford are not but all are still intriguing right now.

Meanwhile, it’s hard to ignore the talent drain with free agency and trading.

IT, Crowder, Colin Sexton ————>Kyrie ——————> nothing

Horford, Rozier, 2020 #16 pick ———————> Kemba ——————-> Horford (did lost 2 years cost us a finals run? Or 2?)

Hayward, Morris, Fournier, Theis —————-> nothing

Good post. Re: trades/FA roster construction is a zero sum game though -- sometimes you have to let those older/more expensive/higher usage guys go -- even for nothing -- to open up usage and $$ for your younger guys that you hope develop. For example I loved Daniel Theis and still do -- do I wish we still had him? Not really. Not at $36M/4.

I agree in hindsight would've been great to move Kyrie and/or Gordon for something before they left for nothing, but few of us called either guy leaving (I know there was smoke with Kyrie) and there's probably very few (if any) realistic scenarios out there that would have led to us being in an appreciably better spot now than we are. Obviously anything involving 1sts would've helped. But we had seasons with shots at the finals going on and that would've been a huge curveball.

[BK_2020]

We got Hayward and Horford for nothing. Got IT for nothing. Got Crowder as a throw-in in the Rondo trade. Got Morris for one year of Avery Bradley who we didn't want anyway. Got Fournier for nothing (2 seconds? lol). Got Theis for nothing. Got Kemba for nothing (Rozier who was leaving). That's just how free agency works. Teams don't get to keep players forever like chattel slaves, but in turn teams get to sign players without paying.

[bisme37]

So after the first week (and even with that disaster against the Raps), the duo of Tatum and Brown leads the NBA in net rating. +27 in 77 min (120 ORTG, 93 DRTG) (Outscoring opponents 201-155).

And the trio of Tatum, Brown and Rob is also #1 as far as trios go. +25.6 in 73 min (121.2 ORTG, 95.5 DRTG) (Outscoring opponents 189-149).

And Jaylen Brown (28.3 PPG) and Jayson Tatum (27.5 PPG) are currently the only duo who are both in the top ten for scoring in the NBA.

And Rob is leading the league in blocked shots. With Horford not too far behind him.

(I just posted this same comment in the game thread but decided to put it here too in case we want to reminisce about week 1 of the season at some point.)

[Larry_Russell]

So after the first week (and even with that disaster against the Raps), the duo of Tatum and Brown lead the NBA in net rating. +27 in 77 min (120 ORTG, 93 DRTG) (Outscoring opponents 201-155).

And the trio of Tatum, Brown and Rob is also #1 as far as trios go. +25.6 in 73 min (121.2 ORTG, 95.5 DRTG) (Outscoring opponents 189-149).

And Jaylen Brown (28.3 PPG) and Jayson Tatum (27.5 PPG) are currently the only duo who are both in the top ten for scoring in the NBA.

And Rob is leading the league in blocked shots. With Horford not too far behind him.

(I just posted this same comment in the game thread but decided to put it here too in case we want to reminisce about week 1 of the season at some point.)

Smart getting healthy again will propel the team another step forward too. Imo.

[bisme37]

So after the first week (and even with that disaster against the Raps), the duo of Tatum and Brown lead the NBA in net rating. +27 in 77 min (120 ORTG, 93 DRTG) (Outscoring opponents 201-155).

And the trio of Tatum, Brown and Rob is also #1 as far as trios go. +25.6 in 73 min (121.2 ORTG, 95.5 DRTG) (Outscoring opponents 189-149).

And Jaylen Brown (28.3 PPG) and Jayson Tatum (27.5 PPG) are currently the only duo who are both in the top ten for scoring in the NBA.

And Rob is leading the league in blocked shots. With Horford not too far behind him.

(I just posted this same comment in the game thread but decided to put it here too in case we want to reminisce about week 1 of the season at some point.)

Smart getting healthy again will propel the team another step forward too. Imo.

Smartie is 5th in steals right now, since you mentioned him. And Jaylen 15th.

[bucknersrevenge]

This is not a good start. No energy right now. We're completely flat. Everyone just standing around.

[Parliament10]

This is not a good start. No energy right now. We're completely flat. Everyone just standing around.

Yeah. We're way out of sorts.
The Coaching Staff has to work on the Team Communication.

Also, I think that we should do something like the Mavericks 3-Man Leadership Council, instead of Captains.
I Believe that Smart, Tatum & Brown should be on it, for the near future.

[Fierce1]

Smartie is 5th in steals right now, since you mentioned him. And Jaylen 15th.

The problem with Smart is he gets a steal then follows that up with a bad shot.

Basically nothing happens because the opposing team just ends up getting the ball back.

Smart is just shooting 25.5% this season.
5th in steals or not, a player shooting the ball that bad shouldn't be getting more than 30 minutes per game.

[Parliament10]

Read on Twitter

[Froob]

Smartie is 5th in steals right now, since you mentioned him. And Jaylen 15th.

The problem with Smart is he gets a steal then follows that up with a bad shot.

Basically nothing happens because the opposing team just ends up getting the ball back.

Smart is just shooting 25.5% this season.
5th in steals or not, a player shooting the ball that bad shouldn't be getting more than 30 minutes per game.

I do not know why folks give Smart such a pass. Love the guy but c'mon.

[31to6]

Is Smart dealing with some sort of injury? (Someone above referenced him “getting healthy”)

Also: it’s just preseason

[Fierce1]

Is Smart dealing with some sort of injury? (Someone above referenced him “getting healthy”)

Also: it’s just preseason

Injury?

Smart has had only one season where he shot the ball 40% or better.

The guy is absolutely atrocious when it comes to shooting the ball or making shots.

In 7 out of 8 seasons you shot below 40%?

Come on!

[KumaJG]

Cs developed a lot of bad habits under Brad. Now Ime going have to fix this.

[31to6]

Is Smart dealing with some sort of injury? (Someone above referenced him “getting healthy”)

Also: it’s just preseason

Injury?

Smart has had only one season where he shot the ball 40% or better.

The guy is absolutely atrocious when it comes to shooting the ball or making shots.

In 7 out of 8 seasons you shot below 40%?

Come on!

It's an honest question on my behalf -- whether Smart is recovering from some sort of injury. I almost think I sort of remember reading something about a preseason injury but have forgotten and a quick search of the internet didn't produce anything.

I'm not trying to make an excuse for him shooting 25% from the field over a small sample size, but that *is* even lower than his own standards.

[itrsteve]

They need to ban Smart from the three unless it's absolutely necessary.

Also, did Pritchard die? Not saying he's going to save the team but some of these dead rotations are a head scratcher.

[bisme37]

Is Smart dealing with some sort of injury? (Someone above referenced him “getting healthy”)

Also: it’s just preseason

Injury?

Smart has had only one season where he shot the ball 40% or better.

The guy is absolutely atrocious when it comes to shooting the ball or making shots.

In 7 out of 8 seasons you shot below 40%?

Come on!

It's an honest question on my behalf -- whether Smart is recovering from some sort of injury. I almost think I sort of remember reading something about a preseason injury but have forgotten and a quick search of the internet didn't produce anything.

I'm not trying to make an excuse for him shooting 25% from the field over a small sample size, but that *is* even lower than his own standards.

I'm not aware of Smart being injured but the other day he had a migraine and was barfing or something. So maybe that's what the getting healthy comment was about.

[24istheLAW]

They need to ban Smart from the three unless it's absolutely necessary.

Also, did Pritchard die? Not saying he's going to save the team but some of these dead rotations are a head scratcher.

I'm very unimpressed with the way Ime has ridden his starters so far.

The team is deeper than it's been in the past, and there's a lot of NBA players on the bench. Is Enes Kanter perfect? No, but he can fill up the box with points and rebounds with the best of them. Josh Richardson has some floor game, Pritchard who is the best shooter they have...

If Smart, Brown, or Rob or whoever is playing poorly, there are options. If you want to throw a curveball at the other team with some size or pick up full court, there are options. The Celts really look like a team with a rookie coach.