Preseason Game # 2 Reactions

[CelticsElite]

I'm floored that it only took as long as the second preseason game to see the wished-for Irving-Brown-Hayward-Tatum-Horford starting lineup. Didn't think we'd see that for a while. Morris probably starts when he's back. But maybe not, if Tatum is playing like a seasoned vet right away, rebounding like a PF, and earns it.

Smart this year is going to be a joy to behold.

The lineup won the game handedly too

[keevsnick]

Didn't think there was much of a chance that we'd see Tatum starting early in the season, but now I'm not so sure. Forget the offense, we have plenty of that on our first unit, but his rebounding we could use. I could see us playing the KI,JB,GH,JT,AH starting lineup, switching everything and rebounding by committee. We'll see, Morris will still probably start but Tatum may not be far behind.

I like brown with the starters. All he has to do is play defense and get his offense efficiently. I could see him doing that by hitting corner 3's, driving on closeouts and posting up smaller SG's. Long term I'd like to see him get a chance with the ball in his hands, but for now carve out a role.

Marcus smart looks soooo good. But I have to see it for an extended period before I believe it. He's spent three years being bad offensively, I have to see at least half a season of athletic drives and quality 3pt shooting before I buy his transformation. If it's for real, he will get paid, and it would greatly improve our upside. 

Gotta love Irving, when he gets hot there no offensive move he doesn't have. Gonna put up numbers this year. You can almost see him trying to break the old isolation habits he had in Cleveland and more the ball around. H's trying to be THE MAN, and I think it bodes well for our offense.

Baynes just brings toughness. Loved Amir, but it looks like Baynes will have a much bigger impact.

Theis could be a useful energy big. And that's all he has to be to make an impact.

Yabu and Semi haven't made a whole lot of impact, Nader has been okay. It would be nice if one of them could step up as depth. Better to keep them around and see if any develop on the cheap than to cut them and bring in a vet would probably isn't gonna give you any more than they are in limited minutes. These are guys are lottery tickets, winning the lottery meaning getting a nice rotation player.

[Tr1boy]

- Brown has to get better at making the open 3s.... 

- Hayward looks a little sluggish early in pre season

- Baynes , Morris , Theis ...just what the doctor ordered for some inside presence

- Smart and Rozier look fantastic. Both improved bodies and game

- Kyrie doing what he does best

Celtics may not have the best 5 starters in the league but make it up depth.  If CBS plays his cards right, this team can go the finals this season

[jdz101]

Missed this one too unfortunately.

Any impressions on Philly?

Offense is NBA caliber but without Embiid patrolling the paint they are a trainwreck on D.

[Beat LA]

Semi - Another poor showing. I don't see any motor from him (1 reb, 0 stl, 0 blk in 11 minutes). I also fail to see the athletic ability he had at the combine. Game hops just aren't visible.

Having missed the game I suppose that I have no alternative but to take your word for it.  That's really too bad, considering that his motor and athletic ability, along with his work ethic, were two staples of his game in college.  Sigh .

[Bucketgetter]

Smart looked like an absolute beast

Kyrie was spectacular on offense, but lost on D

Baynes was a beast

Yabu looked very active

Tatum had some great offensive moves and shots

Brown's shot was ugly

Nader got destroyed in his matchup by Justin Anderson

Larkin looks like a solid ball handler 3 string point guard

[RockinRyA]

I don't remember people saying avery was a wasted pick. The knock on Avery was that he was a 1 dimensional defensive specialist that got injured a lot. But it was well established at the very least he's good for defense. What exactly is semi good for? We could have drafted Jordan bell at semis draft position

No no no no no no. I remember well the thread that panned him without mercy. How he was a bust. How he was crap. Really. Someone can dig it up, but Bradley was written off by many Cbers.

Two pre season games and pronouncements flow forth. Patience little grasshoppers. Give the kiddies a season or two to develop.

Exactly. I believed in seeing AB develop from the start, and I very well know how much flak he received during that first year. Even AB started to have some doubts when he started, it was only when he went to the D-League that he got his confidence back.

[Celtics4ever]

On a side note, I thought the refs this game were horrible at times it looked like a playground game it got so rough.   Is the NBA trying to increase a rivalry.

[jambr380]

Missed this one too unfortunately.

Any impressions on Philly?

Offense is NBA caliber but without Embiid patrolling the paint they are a trainwreck on D.

Yeah, hard to make a real assessment with them missing their best player, as well as their newly acquired #1 pick.

There wasn't a lot of star power on the floor for Philly, but they seem to have a lot of decent players down the depth chart. This should help them a lot should they sustain some major injuries. J. Okafor actually looked like he had NBA talent which is probably encouraging for Philly fans.

[Yazfan]

My big3 observations....

Irving - hotter than heck in the 3rd BUT a bit too much isolation, hero ball in the 1st half for me. He and Hayward are not close to being in sync yet. He ghve Hayward a horrible fast break pass that led to a charge , then he tried to give Hayward am alley - oop except Hayward didn't cut to the basket, oops.  We need them to get their cheistrty,

Hayward - better than game 1. Like I said in a previous post he usually does not shoot well in Oct/Nov but he will be a huge asset on the floor. Loved the play when he took it to the hole, drew 2-3 defenders and dished to baynes for a dunk, very sweet.

Horford - Love his game, looks ready.

[SHAQATTACK]

Missed this one too unfortunately.

Any impressions on Philly?

its what you get when you ignore actually building a team and playing basketball for years .

The vet players like Amir , Bayless and Redick actually make them look like a team for moments. 

Philly reminds me of Cavs for some reason .  Its mass disorganization of basketball that wins on heavy talent and athletic ability.  Its like they went shopping for all the expensive toys and have no plan to put batteries in them or how to,use them.

[hodgy03038]

Kyrie looked a lot more comfortable in this game and his shot was on.

Hayward still looks uncomfortable and awkward out there IMO. Improved over game 1 but...

Smart, Baynes, Rozier & Horford were solid.

Jaylen's shot is not looking good. Tatum looked smooth and I worried when it seemed like he rolled his ankle.

Nader was not good in this game. Yabu seems a little grounded to me - no lift.

They had a hard time separating from the Sixers in this game even without Embid, Saric & Fultz. Philly's vets were solid: Redick, Bayless & Amir.  Philly was lights out from 3. Simmons looked real goo except at the line.

I was hoping to see Morris but obviously they are taking their time with him.

[DooVoo]

Nader - Lacks potential, limited athletic ability, and limited skills. What's the point in keeping him on the roster when he brings nothing this year and his upside is low? Bring in a vet that could help in a key moment...looking at Richard Jefferson when he's bought out.

Lead-Killer almost cost us the game.

Yabu - Very raw, but definitely has a motor on him.

Ainge swung for the fences, I think he missed.   Played better tonight but all the talk about him being the next Draymond Green needs to stop.  He adds muscle but will and should be buried in the bench once Morris comes back.

I can't disagree. I'm pretty concerned with the amount of unplayable guys (Yabu, Semi, Nader) we have on a team that wants to win. An injury or two and things get ugly fast.

I said this a few times this summer and was poo pooed. The bench after the 9 man rotation is thin of talent and inexperienced. I am just not a huge believer in Theis, Nader, Yabusele, Ojeleye and Larken. If this team has injury problems in the 9 man roatation, there will be problems.

You still deserve to be poo pooed. You are complaining about the 10-12 guys. Go around every team in the league and the 10-12 guys are usually young players learning to fit into the NBA like Yabusele and Ojeleye. Some of them already have proven themselves in the developmental league like Nader did. Or they were stars in Europe like Larkin who played in the second best league in the world and turned down $6.5 to sign with the Celtics. Or Theis who impressed for Germany in the European championships. Some of them are old players looking to hang onto a roster spot. All of them are at the end of the bench for a reason. None of them get much playing time and you hope you can develop the younger players into serviceable bench players.

And no team in the league is built to handle injuries in the 9 man rotation. The Celtics have depth beyond 5 which is more than most teams.

[hardlyyardley]

Nader is good at give and go.....give me the ball and go to hell

Larkin dribbles too much ala Phil Pressey

I love the passing abilities of the front ten

[Eddie20]

Nader - Lacks potential, limited athletic ability, and limited skills. What's the point in keeping him on the roster when he brings nothing this year and his upside is low? Bring in a vet that could help in a key moment...looking at Richard Jefferson when he's bought out.

Lead-Killer almost cost us the game.

Yabu - Very raw, but definitely has a motor on him.

Ainge swung for the fences, I think he missed.   Played better tonight but all the talk about him being the next Draymond Green needs to stop.  He adds muscle but will and should be buried in the bench once Morris comes back.

I can't disagree. I'm pretty concerned with the amount of unplayable guys (Yabu, Semi, Nader) we have on a team that wants to win. An injury or two and things get ugly fast.

I said this a few times this summer and was poo pooed. The bench after the 9 man rotation is thin of talent and inexperienced. I am just not a huge believer in Theis, Nader, Yabusele, Ojeleye and Larken. If this team has injury problems in the 9 man roatation, there will be problems.

You still deserve to be poo pooed. You are complaining about the 10-12 guys. Go around every team in the league and the 10-12 guys are usually young players learning to fit into the NBA like Yabusele and Ojeleye.

That maybe true for non-contending teams, but look at the type of veteran players title contending teams like Golden State, Cleveland, etc. have. As is, we're the 3rd youngest team in the league. So bringing in a veteran wing that could be inserted into pressure situations is a good idea. What's the point of having Nader on the squad? What will he provide THIS season? Is his upside so high that it's worth handicapping our ability to add a veteran player? The answer is obvious. Nader is not likely to contribute this season, especially during key moments, and his upside is very low.

Even though I think Semi sucks, I'd be more inclined to keep him on the squad because he's about a year younger. Cutting Nader would open up another roster spot and allow us to sign two players, a veteran big (Hawes) and a veteran swing that gets cut (Jefferson). Not great players, but they're experienced and can be trusted to make the right reads during pivotal moments.

Edit:
I'm fine with Larkin and Theis. I also don't expect much from Yabu and think this he should/will spend plenty of time in the G-League.