OT: - NBA Playoffs | Page 19 | The Boneyard

OT: NBA Playoffs

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Dream Jobbed 2.0 said:
Williams can at least run and jump with Bam. Give him a shot tomorrow
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he doesn’t space the floor offensively.

but his ceiling is as a capela type. Which has value against a lot of teams. The question is which teams.
 
Kanter got burned multiple times defending Bam in the pickn'roll, if you want him on the court to counteract BAM you are at best living with 80% BAM lobs vs 60% Kanter shooting. They got bonus minutes and points out of Kanter in the first half, in the 2nd Miami was ready for it and played Kanter off the court with pick n roll where Kanter doesn't have the foot speed to cover outside & lacks both footspeed & tenacity to recover on the big. I agree though that mixing in TimeLord is a possible defensive option, but BAM is way stronger, smarter more experienced and matches Williams athleticism + then you wait & see if Williams kills you with spacing offensively. Theis is the best option but he gets into foul trouble because of all the little sneaky things he does off the ball Theis is whistled for EVERY touch foul on the ball AND often doesn't get calls on offenses (i.e. when he was whacked in the head last night). If Theis gets in foul trouble in any 2 more games the series is likely over.

The biggest problem in both series is sans Hawyard the Celtics have no bench, specifically zero bench scorers which is why they bleed points in the 3rd Q. Wanamaker has been a staunch defender and scored just enough to remain consistently playable. GWilliams has shown some signs but must be limited. One-eighth Ojeleye doesn't cut it, Romeo's cameo is over and as mentioned RWilliams is hit or miss on both ends. I wouldn't be averse to Stevens trying Tremont Waters in the 3rd Q if Hayward isn't available or is the post-injury tenative guy we've seen in the past.

In contrast the Heat played 10 guys last night and all belong out there, maybe Nunn or DJones has an off night but they are 9-10 deep vs the Celtics 6 deep.
 
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Dogdeacon said:
Kanter got burned multiple times defending Bam in the pickn'roll, if you want him on the court to counteract BAM you are at best living with 80% BAM lobs vs 60% Kanter shooting. They got bonus minutes and points out of Kanter in the first half, in the 2nd Miami was ready for it and played Kanter off the court with pick n roll where Kanter doesn't have the foot speed to cover outside & lacks both footspeed & tenacity to recover on the big. I agree though that mixing in TimeLord is a possible defensive option, but BAM is way stronger, smarter more experienced and matches Williams athleticism + then you wait & see if Williams kills you with spacing offensively. Theis is the best option but he gets into foul trouble because of all the little sneaky things he does off the ball Theis is whistled for EVERY touch foul on the ball AND often doesn't get calls on offenses (i.e. when he was whacked in the head last night). If Theis gets in foul trouble in any 2 more games the series is likely over.

The biggest problem in both series is sans Hawyard the Celtics have no bench, specifically zero bench scorers which is why they bleed points in the 3rd Q. Wanamaker has been a staunch defender and scored just enough to remain consistently playable. GWilliams has shown some signs but must be limited. One-eighth Ojeleye doesn't cut it, Romeo's cameo is over and as mentioned RWilliams is hit or miss on both ends. I wouldn't be averse to Stevens tryingers in the 3rd Q if Hayward isn't available or is the post-injury tenative guy we've seen in the past.

In contrast the Heat played 10 guys last night and all belong out there, maybe Nunn or DJones has an off night but they are 9-10 deep vs the Celtics 6 deep.
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Kanter was not on the floor for most of the Heat's third quarter comeback. The PnR problems are mostly that the Celtic guards are not getting through the screens in time, as Mark Jackson pointed out.

The Heat's perimeter can shoot, but they are not blazing fast. They have to run screens to get open because other than maybe Dragic, they are not quick enough to go by defenders. Butler basically goes through defenders rather than around them. Kanter does not need to help out a lot on defense. Adebayo will be a handful, but it isn't like Theis is locking Bam down either. Kanter is so much better offensively that the Celtics need to make this change.

The Celtics were +7 with Kanter last night. -15 with Theis.
 
The other option is Grant Williams. Celtics went small with Williams and just switched everything 1-5 at the end of the game. It actually worked pretty well, but Dragic made a couple prayers and they lost anyways.
 
nelsonmuntz said:
This is not that complicated, and it is also not about effort. It is about the stupid lineups the Celtics have on the court. Every coach in the history of basketball was not wrong for playing a Center on occasion. The Celtics got Kanter for the playoffs, so use him in the playoffs.

Stevens almost lost to a star-less Raptors team that had a mediocre offense, and now he has gotten himself down 0-2 to the Heat by playing a 6'8 rebounder and hustler at center against an all-star. I like Theis' heart, but he is not a big time player and should not be starting and playing 30 minutes in a Conference Final. Adebayo can play hero ball in the zone because he doesn't have to worry about Theis' offense at all. That takes away penetration, and enables the Heat to play more aggressive perimeter defense because they have Adebayo behind them to erase any mistakes.

If Kanter was on the court more, Adebayo would have to defend him, which would open up penetration. Kanter would also enable better ball movement because he could flash to the high post as a passing target to get the ball in the middle of the zone. Then the top of the zone defenders would have to drop back to help, leaving Smart, Brown and Tatum open from 3. A decent inside threat creates more and better 3 point opportunities.

I have lost a lot of respect for Stevens in these playoffs. This is stuff a middle school coach could figure out.
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Toronto may not have any stars in your mind but I wouldn't say Lowry is stale bread
Every team has bad matchups and Boston doesn't match up with Miami and is a younger less experienced team
The only thing I am not happy with Stevens is that he is letting Tatum try to take over games when the kid has a poor basketball IQ and allows Tatum and Kemba play two man basketball with 3 on lookers at critical times
It is recognized that you don't care for Theis but I think you short sell him plus his offensive game is better than what you portray
 
nelsonmuntz said:
This is not that complicated, and it is also not about effort. It is about the stupid lineups the Celtics have on the court. Every coach in the history of basketball was not wrong for playing a Center on occasion. The Celtics got Kanter for the playoffs, so use him in the playoffs.

Stevens almost lost to a star-less Raptors team that had a mediocre offense, and now he has gotten himself down 0-2 to the Heat by playing a 6'8 rebounder and hustler at center against an all-star. I like Theis' heart, but he is not a big time player and should not be starting and playing 30 minutes in a Conference Final. Adebayo can play hero ball in the zone because he doesn't have to worry about Theis' offense at all. That takes away penetration, and enables the Heat to play more aggressive perimeter defense because they have Adebayo behind them to erase any mistakes.

If Kanter was on the court more, Adebayo would have to defend him, which would open up penetration. Kanter would also enable better ball movement because he could flash to the high post as a passing target to get the ball in the middle of the zone. Then the top of the zone defenders would have to drop back to help, leaving Smart, Brown and Tatum open from 3. A decent inside threat creates more and better 3 point opportunities.

I have lost a lot of respect for Stevens in these playoffs. This is stuff a middle school coach could figure out.
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Agree. Would also add that having Hayward would help, too. Too much EastWest stuff going on now with Kemba and Tatum dribbling out the clock and making no decisions. Not bad decisions. No decisions. Seems Hayward would at least help with some NorthSouth action and decision making.
 
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Being a (sad) Knicks fan I want to hate this Heat team but they are a gritty bunch.
 
imno1 said:
Being a (sad) Knicks fan I want to hate this Heat team but they are a gritty bunch.
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Yeah they've got a bunch of gym rats. Real students of the game. High basketball IQs. Scrappy and deceptively athletic.
 
auror said:
Yeah they've got a bunch of gym rats. Real students of the game. High basketball IQs. Scrappy and deceptively athletic.
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I hate having to root against Dragic, dude has always been under-rated and had bad health breaks. I went to Celtics v Heat earlier this year and was extremely impressed with Butler, left thinking he was a superstar very solidly in the top 10 in the league. I was not impressed with Bam (one dimensional, whoops).
 
Ok so you went to BB game,you liked dragic and butler but didn't like bam,cool.Are you in the 4th grade?great insight thanks.Tell us what you think about happy meals
 
So now that it’s clear this clippers team was one of the most overrated of all time, can we start talking about why they were so overrated? Other than Kawhi choking when the pressure was on him the first time in his career, nothing else that transpired in that series should really have surprised us; namely, meltdowns from PG and Doc. How anyone thought this team, with mostly one-way players and no real point guard, was built to be a championship favorite, always confused me.

I think LBJ fatigue drove at least 50% of it. People were just desperate to see him lose and someone else take the mantle of best player; and watch a lot of those people start talking about an asterisk if LA wins it all.
 
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auror said:
Heat feel like the Warriors. Doesn't matter how well you're playing, they're always a couple 3s away from back in it or the lead.

And it always feels like they're going good shots.
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Yep, it seems like the Celts are killing them and the Heat are right there.

They get whatever they want and the Celtics take tougher shots which won't fall for a stretch.
 
auror said:
You certainly can't win if Tyler Herro is 6'6" Steph Curry.
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He's really good, last game he missed everything but still had like 9 rebounds and 8 assists.
 
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Great response from Celtics, can't have the the third quarter lapse again.
 
Thank God Smart hit those free throws cuz that was a ridiculous take there with that much time left on the shot clock
 
Celtics don’t have clear leadership. Wonder if Tatum stepping into the role of clear cut best player on this team this year was a bad thing, and put him into a de facto leadership role when someone like kemba really should have been leading the team at all times, especially down the stretch of these last three games. Not much faith for the rest of the series even after this win as they’ve just made the same mistakes three times in a row now.
 
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aceboon said:
Thank God Smart hit those free throws cuz that was a ridiculous take there with that much time left on the shot clock
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I kinda think he felt the contact then shot it. Might've dribbled it out without the contact.
 
UCFan1513 said:
Celtics don’t have clear leadership. Wonder if Tatum stepping into the role of clear cut best player on this team this year was a bad thing, and put him into a de facto leadership role when someone like kemba really should have been leading the team at all times, especially down the stretch of these last three games. Not much faith for the rest of the series even after this win as they’ve just made the same mistakes three times in a row now.
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They don't make the conference finals if he doesn't make the leap.

Smart and Kemba are the leaders, but yeah, Tatum takes the iso shots often. He should take way less stepbacks. The leadership is an issue sometimes because Smart leads with his medulla oblongata. Of course sometimes they need that, since that's not Kemba's style.
 
auror said:
They don't make the conference finals if he doesn't make the leap.

Smart and Kemba are the leaders, but yeah, Tatum takes the iso shots often. He should take way less stepbacks. The leadership is an issue sometimes because Smart leads with his medulla oblongata. Of course sometimes they need that, since that's not Kemba's style.
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Agree Tatum’s improvement was very important, but with it I believe there are some drawbacks due to his decision making. He’s a ball stopper late in the game, and there is no one out there controlling the tempo and flow in late game situations. With Brad being a more reserved coach there needs to be a floor general out there carrying out his will, and it’s a bit odd to see kemba off ball so often as the team flounders and fails to move and create penetration down the stretch.
 
What did Kanter do to piss off Stevens? Williams did not belong on the court in a conference finals game, and was -11 in 9 minutes in a game his team won by 11 points. That is brutal.

The Celtics are clearly the better team with Heyward healthy, and the 2-1 deficit is not a big problem. I think the Celtics are in good shape the rest of this series. They just have more talent.

Next series is a different story. With the way the Lakers are playing, the Celtics can not be playing 33 minutes of Theis + Williams and expect to win.
 
First win this series. It's not even over. The Heat know the Celts are the better team on paper.
 
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