Stevens this game is on you

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Getting this injured broken team to the ECF game 7 is also on Stevens

Exactly. A lot of ungrateful Celtics fans around these parts.

Very grateful for the run and the future, but it make losing in a big old choke job any more excusable.  Maybe a little easier to get over.  The two are not mutually exclusive.

i will say this much. we need some kind of a title soon. we need to beat lebron in playoffs soon to help all these nightmares from the ECF in 2012, 2017 and 2018 go away. we need the east next year and a finals appearance. with a healthy team we have a shot. only after facing the warriors we will see what tweaking we need to do. i think we can take the rockets next year if they make it. my concern is that team in oakland. but we will worry about that when we get there. lets get there next year. make it happen.

[seancally]

I think a lot of posters can't fathom the possibility that this team, that showed such resilience and has stepped up in big moments all year, went ice cold and missed a bunch of very good, very make-able shots. The coach is not going to tell the guys, Hey - stop shooting. Nor do I expect him to. We got good looks and missed and that's about the long and short of it.

[PhoSita]

I think a lot of posters can't fathom the possibility that this team, that showed such resilience and has stepped up in big moments all year, went ice cold and missed a bunch of very good, very make-able shots. The coach is not going to tell the guys, Hey - stop shooting. Nor do I expect him to. We got good looks and missed and that's about the long and short of it.

I can totally fathom that it went down that way, it was just very painful to watch and disappointing.

As I said in another post, it's ironic that the Celts got to Game 7 of the ECF by playing nothing like what they were -- a young, inexperienced team without any proven lead scorers available to play -- but then in Game 7 they finally played like you'd expect that kind of team to play. 

The last few minutes of that game are gonna stay with me -- in a bad way -- for a long time.  Just like the fourth quarter of the 2010 Finals and the fourth quarter of the 2016 Finals. 

[kozlodoev]

I think a lot of posters can't fathom the possibility that this team, that showed such resilience and has stepped up in big moments all year, went ice cold and missed a bunch of very good, very make-able shots. The coach is not going to tell the guys, Hey - stop shooting. Nor do I expect him to. We got good looks and missed and that's about the long and short of it.

But they didn't. They missed a bunch of easy-out shots that they took gliding down the path of least resistance. Too tough to work the defense? Here, let's settle for that long-range jumper, even though I missed the last nine.

The coach isn't expected to tell guys to stop shooting. The coach is supposed to draw plays that lead to good shots. Are you saying that the great Brad Stevens was unable to call anything better than a bunch of contested jumpers?

[ScoobyDoo]

Respectfully do disagree. We should be heading to the finals and Stevens inability or perhaps unwillingness to make changes, along with a number of other factors are the reasons why we are not. I think it's Ok to identify where the failures were, both players and coaching, that 's part of getting better. Key reasons we lost from my perspective watching the game:

1. We choked, big time - couldn't make an outside shot. We should have adjusted how many outside shots we continued to take with more attacking the rim head long. Put the onus on the refs, get offensive fouls mowing guys over going head long to the rim, I don't care. You "have" to attack if it's clear you're outside shooting is failing you miserably - and you have to be relentless about it

2. When were up 15 or so in the second quarter (?) we started walking the ball up and got incredibly passive, complacent. Pace was like molasses. Time outs were needed. We needed to step on them and we probably wouldn't have looked back - guys would have loosened up and shots may have started falling a bit easier. We choked it and didn't recover.

3. We walked the ball up most of the game. Massive mistake against LeBron.  I don't care what kind of athletic freak he is, we needed to make him run "hard" every minute of the game to make. Every time we crawled the ball up the court we gave him opportunities to rest. Huge mistake...

4. We did not make it very difficult on LeBron either. We should have denied him the ball 94 feet for 48 minutes, make him bust his backside just to get the ball. The play redirection possum defense with him if he got it - make him change directions passively up the court. When Morris guarded him 3/4 court James didn't like it, he had to work a bit more to get the ball over half court and/or he gave it up. He gives it up, you immediately go into epically aggressive ball denial with him. Hold him, shove him, bang, use a few fouls just aggravating him - push the limits with what you can get away with. If the refs have a tight whistle pull it back a bit bit but still deny, hard.

5. Never should have let Rozier and/or Smart get beat up "relentlessly on the pick and switch by James and Thompson. That should have been shut down immediately by going with a Brown/Tatum lineup. Never used that lineup? So what, what clearly wasn't working  was the Rozier/ Smart experiment.

These all seemed like basketball 101 things to me.  You don't let yourself get pushed around.                 

[Tr1boy]

The more I think about it... CBS definitely has his share of the blame for the loss. He needed to be the "Best" player on the Celtics team for game 6 and 7. 

CBS is still kind of stuck in "college coach" mentality

In college players can still develop things (especially in stressful situations).  Once at the NBA level, it is very difficult to suddenly be a good FT shooter with 3 min left.   Be able to hit that crucial 3 point shot with 3 min left.

For this, CBS should have identified that nobody else in the lineup had this "clutch" (at the highest level) capability than Tatum.   So keep feeding it to him with less than 5 min should have been the plan. Set double screens, have him bring up the ball from full court etc.

Also on defense, Lue had Lebron on Smart.  What a joke.  He was not even working hard. 

In turn, CBS should have made it a priority to not have Tatum on Lebron.   Even on a switch

All the makeable shots missed, especially early is not CBS fault but overlooking on the fine detail, may have cost the team the game.  CBS is philosophical, has this "you can do anything" attitude (which explains Smart who is a bad 3 pt shooter, still allowed to "chuck" 3s). When it comes time to get serious, place limits, make players accountable....he is very bad at this.  Like Mike D'antoni

At the end of the day,  he needs to have great players on the team to be able to have a chance to reach the next level and win a championship (luckily for him Kyrie, Hayward will be back next season).   I have CBS slightly better than D'antoni but below Kerr,  Popovich, Jackson. Below Lue as well, until he makes it out of the east and wins a championship

[KGBirdBias]

I wouldn't want any other coach but Stevens made some colossal mistakes in the game as mentioned above. Once Tatum got the dunk and 3, he should've called iso for him 2-3 more times. He's a scorer so he would've taken ball to basket or got to his spot. We did nothing after that one point lead.

Next year he must breakthrough.

[Celtics4ever]

It's on young players who exceeded the wildest expectations but I am very proud of this time and this year.   CBS could have done better but he is a great coach.

GO CELTICS!!!!!!!!!!!


Can't wait for next year, I think we had a great year BTW.   Why can't the sour grapes let us reflect on it's glory for a few days.

[ScoobyDoo]

I agree it was an incredible year and I'm super proud of the players, Stevens and the management. I think we have a real shot at the finals next year given health and perhaps even better, with Brown and Tatum in the fold we probably have a pretty bright next 10 years or so.

Also think it's perfectly fine to express, and talk about, the frustration of what transpired Sunday
 when the finals were there for the taking. That was brutal to watch. It was like watching a train wreck in slow motion, knowing there are certain things that would likely prevent it but not being permitted to change it...     

[KGBirdBias]

The reason why you have to look at it critically is because these chances are far from the norm. Who knows what happens next year. I thought we'd have 3 titles with KGs Celtics and we kept having major injuries.

Its enjoyable but now I'm having basketball withdrawals because we should be playing Thursday. We were 10-0 at home and lost to a lottery team with a HOFer.

[green_bballers13]

The reason why you have to look at it critically is because these chances are far from the norm. Who knows what happens next year. I thought we'd have 3 titles with KGs Celtics and we kept having major injuries.

Its enjoyable but now I'm having basketball withdrawals because we should be playing Thursday. We were 10-0 at home and lost to a lottery team with a HOFer.

Definitely a skewed perspective. CLE is a team of role players with a hall of famer.

[mutineer33]

First I want to say congratulations to CBS having a great year and coaching the hell out of these guys.  I don't believe in scapegoating people but if anyone deserves to own this game 7, it is Rozier, and I say that with full appreciation of how much Rozier contributed and developed this year.

As to CBS, great job the entire season, but he got exposed a bit in the Cavs series. While some may rightfully criticize the constant switching, I am more bothered by other things.

1) Get off your hands and support your players.  The officiating in this series was awful.  The Cavs played very physical and turned Boston into a dribble and shoot team, rather than than a ball movement through penetration team. Tatum was mugged the entire series ... and could not buy a call.  He received the rookie call treatment all series.  Horford was also consistently hacked without any calls. EARN A TECHNICAL  Brad. I get the feeling he thinks it is impolite to get on a ref who has lost the plot.

2) I also would like to have seen more of Monroe. I don't care about his pick and roll deficiencies on defense.  When you are getting out rebounded AND simply cannot buy a shot, stabilize things by going old school with a low post offense for a while. Slow things down a bit via made baskets.  Monroe guarding the P&R cannot be worse than watching Rozier trying to guard Leon,  as happened so many times in our switching defense.

[mctyson]

Sometimes the ball does not go through the hoop.  Ask the Rockets.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I think a lot of posters can't fathom the possibility that this team, that showed such resilience and has stepped up in big moments all year, went ice cold and missed a bunch of very good, very make-able shots. The coach is not going to tell the guys, Hey - stop shooting. Nor do I expect him to. We got good looks and missed and that's about the long and short of it.

But they didn't. They missed a bunch of easy-out shots that they took gliding down the path of least resistance. Too tough to work the defense? Here, let's settle for that long-range jumper, even though I missed the last nine.

The coach isn't expected to tell guys to stop shooting. The coach is supposed to draw plays that lead to good shots. Are you saying that the great Brad Stevens was unable to call anything better than a bunch of contested jumpers?

agreed. you and I always agree on that. lol

[rondofan1255]

An off night, just bad timing... Rockets imploded the same way, so...