Victory Cigar!!! BOS 98, CLE 92 (7-7)

[Larry_Russell]

Smarty pants. He’s learning the starting pg role on the fly, so there’s some pain, but I like the way he’s been trending lately.

He realpy took control of team at times last night on joth ends

[Larry_Russell]

Horford still playing best ball when lining up as a center

Tatum still playing best when lined up as a pf


Ime actually ran with that last night and the offense clicked.

Hopefully he is starting to learn this incredibly simple and all too obvious fact

[robbie84]

Our defense is awesome. The Cavs hit soooo many huge threes in both games to stay in each game. Like seriously lol.

If we can get the old Tatum back AND Jaylen Brown I'm looking forward to something like a 15 and 10 record after 25 games.

[TheMartian]

Didn't like the defense the first few games, but they did a complete 180° and are now holding teams well below 100.

JB needs to come back.

JT too.

[celticfan42487]

This team is just painful to watch.

Can't wait for Jaylen to come back and hopefully with a smaller lineup to add speed to the lineup. Just put Tatum at PF and work around it.

We have Josh Richardson and Pritchard who can pick up the minutes Grant Williams would lose from that move and what would you know they're both worlds more talented in PG skills and being able to score at all 3 levels than Grant (Richards better attacking the rim, Pritchard at 3s and being a PG but it all adds up to being able to be effective floor spacers and off ball movement).

Just play modern basketball in modern times and make things easier for everyone. We don't have Tim Duncan and the Admiral on this team. And for **** sake stop handcuffing Tatum with little floor spacing and off ball movement making life as hard as possible for him in games.

[AKFO]

Horford still playing best ball when lining up as a center

Tatum still playing best when lined up as a pf


Ime actually ran with that last night and the offense clicked.

Hopefully he is starting to learn this incredibly simple and all too obvious fact

Yessir. Rob also plays much better at the 5 imo where he can continually be used in pick and roll actions.

I actually like Tatum at the '3' if we can get a big-wing type in there at the 4. But I do think the offense is much better when we feature one big offensively.

We can start small and even upsize off the bench for a few minutes at a time.

I also don't like this post-up offense all the time. In theory it's allowing us to get a foot in the paint and forcing rotations. But it's clearly not showing in our scoring numbers.

Get more shooters on the floor, run more pick and roll, and let Al+Rob show their strengths.

[celticfan42487]

Horford still playing best ball when lining up as a center

Tatum still playing best when lined up as a pf


Ime actually ran with that last night and the offense clicked.

Hopefully he is starting to learn this incredibly simple and all too obvious fact

Yessir. Rob also plays much better at the 5 imo where he can continually be used in pick and roll actions.

I actually like Tatum at the '3' if we can get a big-wing type in there at the 4. But I do think the offense is much better when we feature one big offensively.

We can start small and even upsize off the bench for a few minutes at a time.

I also don't like this post-up offense all the time. In theory it's allowing us to get a foot in the paint and forcing rotations. But it's clearly not showing in our scoring numbers.

Get more shooters on the floor, run more pick and roll, and let Al+Rob show their strengths.

I'm not going to lie, Horford is playing as well as he ever has at the 5 and yet somehow Rob makes me think we can't bench him with how well he's playing.

But yeah we have to do what's best for the team even if both are playing like good starting Centers right now.

Horford is reminding me of like a 37 year old baseball player that's dominating because they have 7 different pitches and know exactly the right pitch to play when and it's heartwarming. Whereas Rob is just a young flamethrower like Randy Johnson with two different fastballs but nobody can hit them so he's just as good at Center (or it's hard to pick one over the other).

[ParticleMan]

The thing is neither Horford nor Rob should be playing more than 24 per anyways. We need to save Horford for when it counts and Rob can’t play more hurting himself. They can play in spots together but mostly just alternate and keep Tatum at the 4 where he belongs.

[Half-Full]

Al smokes it. He has been very steady, and that is something we need. Now if only we can get a streak going... Some thoughts...

While Tatum has been playing better, he always seems lacking in intensity. It's like he's cruising with the dial set at 7. I'd like to see it cranked up to 9 or 10 (is 11 out of the question?). You know, Montrezl level of intensity is what would be nice.

In football, the QB position is key. Teams do not get far in the playoffs (or even make the playoffs) if they don't have a good QB. In basketball, the QB counterpart is the PG, and a good PG makes all the difference. That is what we need to take it to the next level. Lonzo would have been a nice fit. Is there a PG out there that might help? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Kanter finally sees some playing time, and guess what? He did OK! Ime could have (should have) let him play a bit more. Clearly, if he was getting abused, take him out. But if not, let him get some rebounds and score a few points. Al and Rob could benefit from the rest.

Tatum and Schroder still rely too much on Hero ball. Good things happen when the ball is moving. Not so good when they get swallowed up in the paint, and turnover the ball.

[return2glory]

The thing is neither Horford nor Rob should be playing more than 24 per anyways. We need to save Horford for when it counts and Rob can’t play more hurting himself. They can play in spots together but mostly just alternate and keep Tatum at the 4 where he belongs.

Agree with this. Maybe 28 minutes. Hopefully Ime can figure out Kanter is a beast and get him about 20-24 minutes a game. Kanter adds a lot of value. He is our best rebounder, low post scorer and sets great screens and adds much needed toughness to the team. That's all being wasted with him just sitting on the bench. He was great last season in Portland when he was starting. He put up about 15 and 13 as their center for about 30-40 games.

[Half-Full]

The thing is neither Horford nor Rob should be playing more than 24 per anyways. We need to save Horford for when it counts and Rob can’t play more hurting himself. They can play in spots together but mostly just alternate and keep Tatum at the 4 where he belongs.

Agree with this. Maybe 28 minutes. Hopefully Ime can figure out Kanter is a beast and get him about 20-24 minutes a game. Kanter adds a lot of value. He is our best rebounder, low post scorer and sets great screens and adds much needed toughness to the team. That's all being wasted with him just sitting on the bench. He was great last season in Portland when he was starting. He put up about 15 and 13 as their center for about 30-40 games.

Kanter has a lengthy track record. Over his career thus far (12 seasons), he has averaged 22 minutes/game, 8 rebounds, and 11 points. While he can be a defensive liability, his rebounding and scoring usually offset that, particularly if he is playing with others who have good defensive skills. If this were not the case, he would not have averaged 22 minutes of playing time. I get it that situationally there may be a need to limit his minutes, or keep him on the bench, but so far he has only appeared in 3 games, and only for an average of 6 minutes. This does not seem like good usage to me. Play him.