Author Topic: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's  (Read 3274 times)

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Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #15 on: April 19, 2017, 02:40:09 PM »

Offline Ilikesports17

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IT gets it way too easy on here. He's just as big of a reason why we're losing as anything. When you can't stop the first point of attack and allow Rondo to run wild offensively, then you're setting our defense up to fail.

He's not solely responsible for our defensive deficiencies, but he's a major part of it.

Bradley and Crowder haven't been good on D as well. Lopez has been open most of the series? Yet IT is a major part of it?!?!?

IT has not been great defenisvely, but he is only part of the problem, not a major part. And Smart has played well on offense, but I've watched him get burned as well.

Remember when you thought we were one rim protector away and a Jimmy Butler from competing with Cleveland? Those were the days. Eh, I was wrong about Rozier this year so nobody is perfect.
you were wrong about Rozier, but after Marcus Smart he might have been our best player last night.

IT is a major part of the problem. Rondo is completely dominating him. He catches the ball wherever he wants and every time the Bulls run pick and roll and IT they get whatever they want. Couple this with Chicago's ability to really limit Thomas on offense and he was a huge negative last night.

I think a lot of it has to do with his mental state so Im not gonna jump down the guys throat, but he is a big reason we lost last night.

So a part of that in my opinion is caused by Brad Stevens. We're covering Rondo tightly when we should make him shoot off a pick honestly. Like go under the screen. Also, the help has been terrible. You can say Rondo was dominating, but so were Butler, Wade, and Lopez. I don't see How IT should be blamed for the majority when all those players played so well. Not to mention that 6'9 Euro player that came out of nowhere. I don't know his name and I have never seen him play basketball before either.
Lol, Zipser. I thought Wade and butler made some big shots, but Isaiah allowed Rondo to control the entire game.

that said, you are correct. Other guys deserve blame. Obviously this would be easier to fix if we didnt have miserable bigs getting owned by Robin Lopez. Brad deserves blame too.

I just think Isaiah's defense last night was the single biggest problem last night. Hard to blame the guy given what he is going through, but he was awful on that side of the ball.

What about Game 1? I saw pretty much the same thing in Game 2 that I saw Game 1.

Lopez killing the team, their front court manhandling ours, and many of the C's missing open looks (even layups).

IT's defense wasn't great yesterday, but that wasn't the single biggest problem. Besides Smart, who exactly was playing defense yesterday anyways?
game 1, rebounding was a bigger issue and Isaiah was good enough offensively to overcome his bad defense.

In game 2, Chicago neutralized him and Rondo victimized him.

We dont have much of a choice because we are doomed without his scoring.
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Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #16 on: April 19, 2017, 02:42:28 PM »

Offline jpotter33

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IT gets it way too easy on here. He's just as big of a reason why we're losing as anything. When you can't stop the first point of attack and allow Rondo to run wild offensively, then you're setting our defense up to fail.

He's not solely responsible for our defensive deficiencies, but he's a major part of it.

Bradley and Crowder haven't been good on D as well. Lopez has been open most of the series? Yet IT is a major part of it?!?!?

IT has not been great defenisvely, but he is only part of the problem, not a major part. And Smart has played well on offense, but I've watched him get burned as well.

Remember when you thought we were one rim protector away and a Jimmy Butler from competing with Cleveland? Those were the days. Eh, I was wrong about Rozier this year so nobody is perfect.
you were wrong about Rozier, but after Marcus Smart he might have been our best player last night.

IT is a major part of the problem. Rondo is completely dominating him. He catches the ball wherever he wants and every time the Bulls run pick and roll and IT they get whatever they want. Couple this with Chicago's ability to really limit Thomas on offense and he was a huge negative last night.

I think a lot of it has to do with his mental state so Im not gonna jump down the guys throat, but he is a big reason we lost last night.

So a part of that in my opinion is caused by Brad Stevens. We're covering Rondo tightly when we should make him shoot off a pick honestly. Like go under the screen. Also, the help has been terrible. You can say Rondo was dominating, but so were Butler, Wade, and Lopez. I don't see How IT should be blamed for the majority when all those players played so well. Not to mention that 6'9 Euro player that came out of nowhere. I don't know his name and I have never seen him play basketball before either.

Huh? You want to know why those other players played so well - it's because their defenders had to come off them and help on Rondo after he got past IT, which is why Rondo tied the Bulls playoff record with assists last night. That's Rondo entire game - get past IT, force the help, and kick it out to others to score.

IT has been completely dominated by Rondo so far this series. Now that's not to say others have been great either. Jae, AB, and every single one of our bigs has also been atrocious defensively, which makes the lack of JJ seeing time even that much more ridiculous.

Smart and Rozier in his short amount of time have been the only ones to play solid, consistent D all series long.

Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #17 on: April 19, 2017, 02:49:06 PM »

Offline jpotter33

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IT gets it way too easy on here. He's just as big of a reason why we're losing as anything. When you can't stop the first point of attack and allow Rondo to run wild offensively, then you're setting our defense up to fail.

He's not solely responsible for our defensive deficiencies, but he's a major part of it.

Bradley and Crowder haven't been good on D as well. Lopez has been open most of the series? Yet IT is a major part of it?!?!?

IT has not been great defenisvely, but he is only part of the problem, not a major part. And Smart has played well on offense, but I've watched him get burned as well.

Remember when you thought we were one rim protector away and a Jimmy Butler from competing with Cleveland? Those were the days. Eh, I was wrong about Rozier this year so nobody is perfect.
you were wrong about Rozier, but after Marcus Smart he might have been our best player last night.

IT is a major part of the problem. Rondo is completely dominating him. He catches the ball wherever he wants and every time the Bulls run pick and roll and IT they get whatever they want. Couple this with Chicago's ability to really limit Thomas on offense and he was a huge negative last night.

I think a lot of it has to do with his mental state so Im not gonna jump down the guys throat, but he is a big reason we lost last night.

So a part of that in my opinion is caused by Brad Stevens. We're covering Rondo tightly when we should make him shoot off a pick honestly. Like go under the screen. Also, the help has been terrible. You can say Rondo was dominating, but so were Butler, Wade, and Lopez. I don't see How IT should be blamed for the majority when all those players played so well. Not to mention that 6'9 Euro player that came out of nowhere. I don't know his name and I have never seen him play basketball before either.
Lol, Zipser. I thought Wade and butler made some big shots, but Isaiah allowed Rondo to control the entire game.

that said, you are correct. Other guys deserve blame. Obviously this would be easier to fix if we didnt have miserable bigs getting owned by Robin Lopez. Brad deserves blame too.

I just think Isaiah's defense last night was the single biggest problem last night. Hard to blame the guy given what he is going through, but he was awful on that side of the ball.

What about Game 1? I saw pretty much the same thing in Game 2 that I saw Game 1.

Lopez killing the team, their front court manhandling ours, and many of the C's missing open looks (even layups).

IT's defense wasn't great yesterday, but that wasn't the single biggest problem. Besides Smart, who exactly was playing defense yesterday anyways?
game 1, rebounding was a bigger issue and Isaiah was good enough offensively to overcome his bad defense.

In game 2, Chicago neutralized him and Rondo victimized him.

We dont have much of a choice because we are doomed without his scoring.

Pretty much this, and that's just a microcosm of the entire season. Most of the time, IT's offense can make up for his putrid defense. But when teams start playing harder and game planning for you, IT's offense can be stymied, and that makes him a major negative on the floor due to his size.

And I honestly feel bad for criticizing IT right now. Not because of his sister (which I think has been blown out of proportion and used as a crutch for him), but because he's at least doing SOMETHING out there - scoring.

Honestly, it's the same old story that we've seen all season long: we're completely lost without IT offensively, and we're completely lost without Smart's defense and intensity on the court.

IT's D deserves a lot of blame, but the overall play of Al, AB, Jae, Brown, and KO has also been blameworthy and hasn't helped at all either.

Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #18 on: April 19, 2017, 03:00:09 PM »

Offline Ogaju

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well, SAS is a loudmouth idiot.  that seems to be a common thought though.

for the other stuff:
- as I've mentioned in many other threads, this team lives and dies by the jumper.  they've been dying the first 2 games.  Other than IT driving and occasionally going to Horford down low, they have no other offensive schemes besides shooting 3's for the most part.  If this team was making half the open shots they missed, they'd be up 2-0 in the series and no one would be complaining or posting doom-and-gloom forecasts.
- Horford needs help up front.  he's not getting much from Amir and pretty much nothing out of KO.  Zeller provided some help starting off the second half in game 2 and the C's started bouncing back.  no real coincidence there.  A definite need that has to be addressed this offseason but for the playoffs, we're in trouble.
- I can't pile on IT because he's dealing with some serious personal issues so kudos to him for pushing through it but only Smart is playing with any real urgency in this series.  Brown and Rozier are trying but they're not making an impact.  Everyone else is just lost out there, including Horford to an extent.  (Al's been productive on offense when they've focussed on him but they don't do it nearly enough).
- Stevens can only work with what he has at his disposal.  I've said it many times and been lambasted for it but this is a team of role players.  Other than Horford, in a perfect world every other starter we have would be coming off the bench, including IT.  That'll get me smoked here again but I still believe we need better players at all positions.  They really overachieved this year (or more likely, other teams in the East really underperformed -- particularly Toronto and Cleveland).  Stevens' rotations have been questionable at times but when no one's hitting shots and no one's rebounding, everything looks bad.
- the future does look bright --> 2 more top picks coming from the Nets, Brown looks like a good prospect, Smart comes to play every night and even when his shot is off he still contributes in many ways.  Good cap flexibility to add better players.  Current players under decent contracts that can be used for trades. 
- I don't see a sweep.  They've been kicked in the teeth pretty hard though.  We should get a good look into their mental make-up with how they come out for game 3 (should have seen it in game 2 but trying to be optimistic).  If they don't come out with the fire to win, there's got to be some serious changes this offseason.  If they come out playing to win, I think they could end up taking the game and bounce back in the series.

The point I don't see them making is Rondo.  This is what I had mentioned in many other posts -- particularly ones concerning IT's future with this team.  I'm not in love with IT's game (I hate score-first PGs) and don't see him as a particularly good facilitator on offense.  He's a phenomenal scorer - one that would be best served coming off the bench behind a starting unit that's better balanced with scorers.  I had cautioned those who thought IT would carry this team that for each of the past 2 playoff series, the opposing PGs feasted on IT by taking him in the post or just plain going over him for shots/passes.  Rondo is doing exactly that to the point where he's looking like Playoff Rondo from years past.  If Rondo had a decent outside shot, he could average over 20 points against IT with 10 assists easily.  I'll still get crucified for this comment but when the same thing happens 3 consecutive years in the playoffs against 3 different PGs, it's not an aberration but the norm.

in the end, I think they can bounce back and take this series but only if they start hitting those open shots (all of them -- AB, Crowder, Amir, KO and whoever else comes off the bench) and gang-rebound.  They have more overall talent but Chicago has the guys who have won titles in Wade and Rondo (so they know what's needed to win) and the best player in Butler.  They're going to have to fight and claw their way to wins at this point.

Agreed with most of your post, I disagree strongly with your assertion that the Cs have overall better talent.

Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #19 on: April 19, 2017, 03:01:46 PM »

Offline Ogaju

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Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #20 on: April 19, 2017, 03:03:51 PM »

Offline Ilikesports17

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IT gets it way too easy on here. He's just as big of a reason why we're losing as anything. When you can't stop the first point of attack and allow Rondo to run wild offensively, then you're setting our defense up to fail.

He's not solely responsible for our defensive deficiencies, but he's a major part of it.

Bradley and Crowder haven't been good on D as well. Lopez has been open most of the series? Yet IT is a major part of it?!?!?

IT has not been great defenisvely, but he is only part of the problem, not a major part. And Smart has played well on offense, but I've watched him get burned as well.

Remember when you thought we were one rim protector away and a Jimmy Butler from competing with Cleveland? Those were the days. Eh, I was wrong about Rozier this year so nobody is perfect.
you were wrong about Rozier, but after Marcus Smart he might have been our best player last night.

IT is a major part of the problem. Rondo is completely dominating him. He catches the ball wherever he wants and every time the Bulls run pick and roll and IT they get whatever they want. Couple this with Chicago's ability to really limit Thomas on offense and he was a huge negative last night.

I think a lot of it has to do with his mental state so Im not gonna jump down the guys throat, but he is a big reason we lost last night.

So a part of that in my opinion is caused by Brad Stevens. We're covering Rondo tightly when we should make him shoot off a pick honestly. Like go under the screen. Also, the help has been terrible. You can say Rondo was dominating, but so were Butler, Wade, and Lopez. I don't see How IT should be blamed for the majority when all those players played so well. Not to mention that 6'9 Euro player that came out of nowhere. I don't know his name and I have never seen him play basketball before either.
Lol, Zipser. I thought Wade and butler made some big shots, but Isaiah allowed Rondo to control the entire game.

that said, you are correct. Other guys deserve blame. Obviously this would be easier to fix if we didnt have miserable bigs getting owned by Robin Lopez. Brad deserves blame too.

I just think Isaiah's defense last night was the single biggest problem last night. Hard to blame the guy given what he is going through, but he was awful on that side of the ball.

What about Game 1? I saw pretty much the same thing in Game 2 that I saw Game 1.

Lopez killing the team, their front court manhandling ours, and many of the C's missing open looks (even layups).

IT's defense wasn't great yesterday, but that wasn't the single biggest problem. Besides Smart, who exactly was playing defense yesterday anyways?
game 1, rebounding was a bigger issue and Isaiah was good enough offensively to overcome his bad defense.

In game 2, Chicago neutralized him and Rondo victimized him.

We dont have much of a choice because we are doomed without his scoring.

Pretty much this, and that's just a microcosm of the entire season. Most of the time, IT's offense can make up for his putrid defense. But when teams start playing harder and game planning for you, IT's offense can be stymied, and that makes him a major negative on the floor due to his size.

And I honestly feel bad for criticizing IT right now. Not because of his sister (which I think has been blown out of proportion and used as a crutch for him), but because he's at least doing SOMETHING out there - scoring.

Honestly, it's the same old story that we've seen all season long: we're completely lost without IT offensively, and we're completely lost without Smart's defense and intensity on the court.

IT's D deserves a lot of blame, but the overall play of Al, AB, Jae, Brown, and KO has also been blameworthy and hasn't helped at all either.
to me, even moreso than AL or Amir or Olynyk, the two most dissapointing performances have come from Jae Crowder and Avery Bradley.
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Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #21 on: April 19, 2017, 03:11:25 PM »

Offline tankcity!

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IT gets it way too easy on here. He's just as big of a reason why we're losing as anything. When you can't stop the first point of attack and allow Rondo to run wild offensively, then you're setting our defense up to fail.

He's not solely responsible for our defensive deficiencies, but he's a major part of it.

Bradley and Crowder haven't been good on D as well. Lopez has been open most of the series? Yet IT is a major part of it?!?!?

IT has not been great defenisvely, but he is only part of the problem, not a major part. And Smart has played well on offense, but I've watched him get burned as well.

Remember when you thought we were one rim protector away and a Jimmy Butler from competing with Cleveland? Those were the days. Eh, I was wrong about Rozier this year so nobody is perfect.
you were wrong about Rozier, but after Marcus Smart he might have been our best player last night.

IT is a major part of the problem. Rondo is completely dominating him. He catches the ball wherever he wants and every time the Bulls run pick and roll and IT they get whatever they want. Couple this with Chicago's ability to really limit Thomas on offense and he was a huge negative last night.

I think a lot of it has to do with his mental state so Im not gonna jump down the guys throat, but he is a big reason we lost last night.

So a part of that in my opinion is caused by Brad Stevens. We're covering Rondo tightly when we should make him shoot off a pick honestly. Like go under the screen. Also, the help has been terrible. You can say Rondo was dominating, but so were Butler, Wade, and Lopez. I don't see How IT should be blamed for the majority when all those players played so well. Not to mention that 6'9 Euro player that came out of nowhere. I don't know his name and I have never seen him play basketball before either.

Huh? You want to know why those other players played so well - it's because their defenders had to come off them and help on Rondo after he got past IT, which is why Rondo tied the Bulls playoff record with assists last night. That's Rondo entire game - get past IT, force the help, and kick it out to others to score.

IT has been completely dominated by Rondo so far this series. Now that's not to say others have been great either. Jae, AB, and every single one of our bigs has also been atrocious defensively, which makes the lack of JJ seeing time even that much more ridiculous.

Smart and Rozier in his short amount of time have been the only ones to play solid, consistent D all series long.

I disagree. Sure Rondo broke down the defense at times, but I saw a lot of transition assists from Rondo as well. I literally watched AB get burned by Butler numerous times. I saw that when someone would help on Lopez, the third celtic play wouldn't rotate over to help on defense. I also didn't see people going over the screens to make Rondo take the jumpshot instead of helping on defense.

You can blame IT all you want, but if you took him out of this game, it would've been ugly early on. One player can't be blamed for the entire defense collapsing. It doesn't make sense.

And again, you overrated this team this year clearly. You were whining to Ainge to make trades when it was obvious we weren't close to contending. If Ainge had made a move, it would've been a mistake since it is clear that we can't stop elite players from scoring. Funny, this was never an issue with KG's team when we had Tony Allen who could guard Butler. I mean isn't it time Stevens put Smart on Butler? I think the reason why is because Butler has faired well against Smart this series.

It feels like you're just blaming IT because you had higher expectations for the team. It's time to come to the realization this team is a bunch of role players and a DH. Nothing more. I hope people don't put us in the same sentence as Cleveland again unless we are truly legit contenders.
« Last Edit: April 19, 2017, 03:16:50 PM by tankcity! »

Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #22 on: April 19, 2017, 03:30:23 PM »

Offline jpotter33

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IT gets it way too easy on here. He's just as big of a reason why we're losing as anything. When you can't stop the first point of attack and allow Rondo to run wild offensively, then you're setting our defense up to fail.

He's not solely responsible for our defensive deficiencies, but he's a major part of it.

Bradley and Crowder haven't been good on D as well. Lopez has been open most of the series? Yet IT is a major part of it?!?!?

IT has not been great defenisvely, but he is only part of the problem, not a major part. And Smart has played well on offense, but I've watched him get burned as well.

Remember when you thought we were one rim protector away and a Jimmy Butler from competing with Cleveland? Those were the days. Eh, I was wrong about Rozier this year so nobody is perfect.
you were wrong about Rozier, but after Marcus Smart he might have been our best player last night.

IT is a major part of the problem. Rondo is completely dominating him. He catches the ball wherever he wants and every time the Bulls run pick and roll and IT they get whatever they want. Couple this with Chicago's ability to really limit Thomas on offense and he was a huge negative last night.

I think a lot of it has to do with his mental state so Im not gonna jump down the guys throat, but he is a big reason we lost last night.

So a part of that in my opinion is caused by Brad Stevens. We're covering Rondo tightly when we should make him shoot off a pick honestly. Like go under the screen. Also, the help has been terrible. You can say Rondo was dominating, but so were Butler, Wade, and Lopez. I don't see How IT should be blamed for the majority when all those players played so well. Not to mention that 6'9 Euro player that came out of nowhere. I don't know his name and I have never seen him play basketball before either.

Huh? You want to know why those other players played so well - it's because their defenders had to come off them and help on Rondo after he got past IT, which is why Rondo tied the Bulls playoff record with assists last night. That's Rondo entire game - get past IT, force the help, and kick it out to others to score.

IT has been completely dominated by Rondo so far this series. Now that's not to say others have been great either. Jae, AB, and every single one of our bigs has also been atrocious defensively, which makes the lack of JJ seeing time even that much more ridiculous.

Smart and Rozier in his short amount of time have been the only ones to play solid, consistent D all series long.

I disagree. Sure Rondo broke down the defense at times, but I saw a lot of transition assists from Rondo as well. I literally watched AB get burned by Butler numerous times. I saw that when someone would help on Lopez, the third celtic play wouldn't rotate over to help on defense. I also didn't see people going over the screens to make Rondo take the jumpshot instead of helping on defense.

You can blame IT all you want, but if you took him out of this game, it would've been ugly early on. One player can't be blamed for the entire defense collapsing. It doesn't make sense.

And again, you overrated this team this year clearly. You were whining to Ainge to make trades when it was obvious we weren't close to contending. If Ainge had made a move, it would've been a mistake since it is clear that we can't stop elite players from scoring. Funny, this was never an issue with KG's team when we had Tony Allen who could guard Butler. I mean isn't it time Stevens put Smart on Butler? I think the reason why is because Butler has faired well against Smart this series.

It feels like you're just blaming IT because you had higher expectations for the team. It's time to come to the realization this team is a bunch of role players and a DH. Nothing more. I hope people don't put us in the same sentence as Cleveland again unless we are truly legit contenders.

Yep, it's obviously just me overrating this team when virtually the rest of the board saw the exact same thing with IT last night.

And, yes, I was whining for Ainge to make a trade for a freaking big, and this series has done nothing but justify that whining with how terribly our bigs have played. I'm not saying to trade the Brooklyn picks for a big; I was even on record saying I'm glad we didn't overpay for one of Butler or George at the deadline. But when Noel, Tucker, and Ibaka all go for pennies on the dollar, yet that's still too rich for Danny's blood because he wants to keep open "flexibility" for this summer and not spend those "assets," you know there's a problem. Do you really think we'd be having these problems to this extent if we had traded for one of Noel or Ibaka at the deadline?

I'm glad that we kept the Clippers pick, Memphis pick, all of the 2nd rounders we have, Rozier, and potential cap space this summer so that free agents can scoff at joining a number one seed that just got swept out of the playoffs by an eight seed. That's really good management, Danny. Having assets and cap space doesn't matter if you're going to handicap the team enough where nobody is going to want to join us or trade for our players!

Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #23 on: April 19, 2017, 03:37:27 PM »

Offline MBunge

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But when Noel, Tucker, and Ibaka all go for pennies on the dollar, yet that's still too rich for Danny's blood because he wants to keep open "flexibility" for this summer and not spend those "assets," you know there's a problem. Do you really think we'd be having these problems to this extent if we had traded for one of Noel or Ibaka at the deadline?

Yes.  Because no one player is going to fix a problem that's as much by design as anything else.  Sully was a pretty good rebounder and we still sucked when we had him.

Furthermore, what should you give up just to have a slightly better change of beating the #8 seed in the East when resigning ANY of the guys you mention would either immediately take Boston out of the max free agent market or require us to trade other players away because we can't afford to keep them?

Mike

Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #24 on: April 19, 2017, 03:49:51 PM »

Offline jpotter33

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But when Noel, Tucker, and Ibaka all go for pennies on the dollar, yet that's still too rich for Danny's blood because he wants to keep open "flexibility" for this summer and not spend those "assets," you know there's a problem. Do you really think we'd be having these problems to this extent if we had traded for one of Noel or Ibaka at the deadline?

Yes.  Because no one player is going to fix a problem that's as much by design as anything else.  Sully was a pretty good rebounder and we still sucked when we had him.

Furthermore, what should you give up just to have a slightly better change of beating the #8 seed in the East when resigning ANY of the guys you mention would either immediately take Boston out of the max free agent market or require us to trade other players away because we can't afford to keep them?

Mike

Catch-22: no free agent is going to come here anyways if we get swept in the first round as a one seed. So the cap space argument doesn't make sense anyways.

And I disagree that Noel or Ibaka wouldn't have significantly helped us. Our bigs rotation has been a significant problem all year long for us, along with our D. Both of them would've helped us significantly.

Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #25 on: April 19, 2017, 03:57:10 PM »

Offline littleteapot

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It's still a debate whether trading for someone like Ibaka would have been worth it, but there's no way the Celtics are the worst rebounding team by design.

Danny said he isn't going to sign a rebounder who is deficient in other ways (and speicifcally kills your offense) but that argument doesn't really apply to Ibaka. Even if you think he can do nothing else on offense (which I don't), you can still stick him in the corner and have him shoot 3s and he still helps you on defensive rebounding.
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Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #26 on: April 19, 2017, 03:58:28 PM »

Offline tstorey_97

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Points that we are all familiar with. The rest of the series is interesting to me for this reason, can they face the adversity as a team, not just the usual suspects and, get it going. Throughout the season, this team wasn't about "comebacks." I don't know what that means other than they take and hit a lot of 3's and aren't playing from behind that much. Usually the Celtics did to other teams what the Bulls are doing to them. Get out by 14, let the opponent get back, then get up by 7.

Our system is IT + 3's. The playoffs are here and the adjustment is needed, but, what? Here at the blog there is a lot of name calling and finger pointing which is what we fans do, but, this current gig? This is a team thing. The chips are way down and someone will rise. Smart has always set an example on the court, but, this is a team that will eventually start to play for each other.

For whatever reason, they aren't doing that now. They just aren't a good enough collection of talents to be carried by "one" star player. All of the wins this season they got their rhythm going as a team and blew the other guys up.

Before game one it was all about how bad the Bulls are and how the Celtics are the 1 seed. Well, the Bulls aren't bad and they will now take the pressure.

The Bulls are up two zero, have homecourt and all the momentum in the world...the Bulls now actually have something to lose.

As soon as the Celtics figure this one out?

They can finally start playing like they have "nothing to lose."


Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #27 on: April 19, 2017, 04:01:30 PM »

Offline tankcity!

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IT gets it way too easy on here. He's just as big of a reason why we're losing as anything. When you can't stop the first point of attack and allow Rondo to run wild offensively, then you're setting our defense up to fail.

He's not solely responsible for our defensive deficiencies, but he's a major part of it.

Bradley and Crowder haven't been good on D as well. Lopez has been open most of the series? Yet IT is a major part of it?!?!?

IT has not been great defenisvely, but he is only part of the problem, not a major part. And Smart has played well on offense, but I've watched him get burned as well.

Remember when you thought we were one rim protector away and a Jimmy Butler from competing with Cleveland? Those were the days. Eh, I was wrong about Rozier this year so nobody is perfect.
you were wrong about Rozier, but after Marcus Smart he might have been our best player last night.

IT is a major part of the problem. Rondo is completely dominating him. He catches the ball wherever he wants and every time the Bulls run pick and roll and IT they get whatever they want. Couple this with Chicago's ability to really limit Thomas on offense and he was a huge negative last night.

I think a lot of it has to do with his mental state so Im not gonna jump down the guys throat, but he is a big reason we lost last night.

So a part of that in my opinion is caused by Brad Stevens. We're covering Rondo tightly when we should make him shoot off a pick honestly. Like go under the screen. Also, the help has been terrible. You can say Rondo was dominating, but so were Butler, Wade, and Lopez. I don't see How IT should be blamed for the majority when all those players played so well. Not to mention that 6'9 Euro player that came out of nowhere. I don't know his name and I have never seen him play basketball before either.

Huh? You want to know why those other players played so well - it's because their defenders had to come off them and help on Rondo after he got past IT, which is why Rondo tied the Bulls playoff record with assists last night. That's Rondo entire game - get past IT, force the help, and kick it out to others to score.

IT has been completely dominated by Rondo so far this series. Now that's not to say others have been great either. Jae, AB, and every single one of our bigs has also been atrocious defensively, which makes the lack of JJ seeing time even that much more ridiculous.

Smart and Rozier in his short amount of time have been the only ones to play solid, consistent D all series long.

I disagree. Sure Rondo broke down the defense at times, but I saw a lot of transition assists from Rondo as well. I literally watched AB get burned by Butler numerous times. I saw that when someone would help on Lopez, the third celtic play wouldn't rotate over to help on defense. I also didn't see people going over the screens to make Rondo take the jumpshot instead of helping on defense.

You can blame IT all you want, but if you took him out of this game, it would've been ugly early on. One player can't be blamed for the entire defense collapsing. It doesn't make sense.

And again, you overrated this team this year clearly. You were whining to Ainge to make trades when it was obvious we weren't close to contending. If Ainge had made a move, it would've been a mistake since it is clear that we can't stop elite players from scoring. Funny, this was never an issue with KG's team when we had Tony Allen who could guard Butler. I mean isn't it time Stevens put Smart on Butler? I think the reason why is because Butler has faired well against Smart this series.

It feels like you're just blaming IT because you had higher expectations for the team. It's time to come to the realization this team is a bunch of role players and a DH. Nothing more. I hope people don't put us in the same sentence as Cleveland again unless we are truly legit contenders.

Yep, it's obviously just me overrating this team when virtually the rest of the board saw the exact same thing with IT last night.

And, yes, I was whining for Ainge to make a trade for a freaking big, and this series has done nothing but justify that whining with how terribly our bigs have played. I'm not saying to trade the Brooklyn picks for a big; I was even on record saying I'm glad we didn't overpay for one of Butler or George at the deadline. But when Noel, Tucker, and Ibaka all go for pennies on the dollar, yet that's still too rich for Danny's blood because he wants to keep open "flexibility" for this summer and not spend those "assets," you know there's a problem. Do you really think we'd be having these problems to this extent if we had traded for one of Noel or Ibaka at the deadline?

I'm glad that we kept the Clippers pick, Memphis pick, all of the 2nd rounders we have, Rozier, and potential cap space this summer so that free agents can scoff at joining a number one seed that just got swept out of the playoffs by an eight seed. That's really good management, Danny. Having assets and cap space doesn't matter if you're going to handicap the team enough where nobody is going to want to join us or trade for our players!

Lol seriously on this? Dude who cares if we got past the Bulls. What does Noel have anything to do with stopping Butler, Wade, and rondo. We're supposed to be deep at guard. They're getting burned. I don't understand how you don't see Bradley getting burned by Butler in the 4th.

Second, we're not handicapped. We lost to Atlanta last year and Horford signed with us. We can still trade for whoever we want, and in fact have learned that trading Crowder or Bradley wouldn't hurt as much as we thought it would...

And I don't care what the majority of the board says. Let's see what happens in this series. I'm betting IT will blow up for a few games and everyone on this board will pipe down. It's so absurd to blame IT when he is hands above the best player on this team, and the only person drawing attention for the open buckets your boys the role players kept missing. I think you should read Kevin O'Connor's article today. He breaks it down for you and he knows more than anyone on this board.

Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #28 on: April 19, 2017, 06:09:17 PM »

Offline mctyson

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Saying that the Celtics "not making shots" is "SPOT ON" analysis for their loss is like one saying eating too much is a spot on analysis for being fat.

Re: First Take Is SPOT ON About C's
« Reply #29 on: April 19, 2017, 06:10:24 PM »

Offline celtics2030

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Saying that the Celtics "not making shots" is "SPOT ON" analysis for their loss is like one saying eating too much is a spot on analysis for being fat.

lol truth.....I don't need to listen to these bafoons to tell me what is happening. I'm not a 10 year old excited fan. These guys are usueless and people will realize this as they get older. For the most part they are idiots.