Celtics 2017/2018 Thread

captain stone said:

And as soon as The Best GM in the League And It's Not Even Close gets rid of those three brick-layers, plus Larkin & Nader, in exchange for players who actually have, you know, NBA-calibre shots, the better-off this team will be in the long run.

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??? The team is looking great in the long term. To say get rid of Brown is absolutely insane given his progression. Obviously he still has work to do on his shooting (although it looks a little better), handles, and especially FT shooting. But he needs time like almost every other young player.

Not every player is going to be like Tatum and come in looking like a vet. Talk to me after next year and let's see where Jaylen is and how he has improved on his weak spots offensively. Defensively he is great.

Rozier and Smart are both good players off the bench and key to keeping up the intensity once the starters are off the floor. Both need to work on shooting, especially Smart who I am losing faith in where that is concerned.

So the only thing I can come close to agreeing with you on here is Smart. I prefer to have him because he brings a lot to the table. The question is giving him a pay day. Its hard to justify that with his terrible shooting.

If the choice is between Smart and Rozier, I lean toward keeping Terry. Then again I feel this way more so after watching Smart nearly piss away the game with bad shots and stupid selection. He can be a benefit offensively in other ways but when he pulls up for the shot I groan.

Ainge has put together a damn good club that is built for the future. With Gordon Hayward, this team is competitive in the NBA finals. Without him they still might make the NBA finals and they are very young.

Trying too hard to be pessimistic here, captain.

It's as if national NBA media types cruise football fan sites seeking eternal sources of hoops wisdom. I bow with humility.

Marcus Smart is the NBA's worst shooter, so why is he so crucial to the Celtics' offense?

It's his job!

Cannot wait for this game tonight ... a great test for the team.

It's only 1 game as Belichick likes to say but let's face it - you want to play the best to get better.

Hahahahahahaha!!!!!!

Jaylen Brown was the Man tonight. Put them on his back in the third quarter. 22 points, 7 board, 2 steals 2 blocks.

Jaylen was inspired - lost his friend to suicide last night RIP Trevin Steede..

Also - up your ass Felger you f'n Celtics troll ****head.

Incredible night, feels like we just won a major playoff game. This team is something special.

Jaylen Brown had the best game of his young career at the best time. He brought incredible intensity and is the reason the Celtics climbed back into the game.

One of the few Celtics games have watched wire to wire, must say was a tad skeptical when they were down 17 points.. but should know better by now that these guys have more fight than I can remember of any Celtics teams.. Do not care for Marcus Smart's shot selection, too many crap shots.. but every game he seems to have a good + rating.

This team is also one of the youngest teams in the league, 5th... but all of those 5 are remarkably close in age. Maybe they do not know any better...

Jaylen Brown had a similar game when he turned 21 a couple of weeks ago.. really like that Stevens has enough confidence in all the youngsters and letting them play in pressure situations..

How long can this team rely on the intensity of their defense to pull out wins? Back in the 80's, Rick Pitino came into the NBA as the coach of the Knicks....deploying collegiate tactics which included playing full court press for 48 minutes....and his detractors argued that NBA athletes could not maintain the intensity of the course of an 82 game season....nor would they want to.
The good news: the roster is full of young legs and big hearts trying to make their mark
The bad news: the every-other-night game schedule through April is brutal.
The good news: every team has a brutal schedule
The glass half empty part of me is starting to see the ramifications of having 3 max contracts on one roster....the ability to buy/build a quality bench.....a bench that might contain a quality NBA scorer. Just in the past two games, Brad has shortened his bench to claw back into games. In other words, he's lost some confidence in that group.....a group that has been brutal this past week.

Complaint session over....14 wins...amazing. I can't get enough of the C's right now....and this new NBA schedule is great for fans who get their Celtics fix every other night. Brown was possessed, his shot blocking was the turning point of the game...energizing his teammates who responded with like effort.

Atlanta next

the intensity wavers......they've had the tendency to coast against some of the weaker teams they've faced

32.1 minutes per game is the most anyone plays........that's pretty low.....bodes well for 48 minutes of hell

Tatum looked like a rookie last night and that's expected to happen

One of these days, Brown is going to hit his head on the scoreboard

the C's are designed to match up against the GSW and smallball in general

Even though Smart struggles to hit the backboard these days he was still a +15 so whatever it is, it's ugly and effective.....I loved watching him defend Durant

Incredible win. I should learn more about basketball since the players appear to be very quick.

Love this gritty team:
- Best coach in the league not named Popovich or Kerr, in Brad Stevens
- 14 in a row. Real character to win 3 games when down 18 points
- Team hit big on Jaylen (next Jimmy Butler) and Tatum (phenom playing like a vet while starting)
- Irving isn't putting up more stats than he did in Cleveland, but provides a go-to 4th quarter scorer
- Heart and soul of this team is Al Horford. Love this guy. Pure winner. Excellent two way player
- Team has excellent role players in Smart, Rozier
- They still have, what, 4 lottery picks the next few years? Love everything about this team.


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Hindsight is 20/20 but we could have had Schroder instead of Olynyk .... damn ... i like Schroder.

15! Kyrie with 30, Jaylen with 27.

DropKickFlutie said:

- Irving isn't putting up more stats than he did in Cleveland, but provides a go-to 4th quarter scorer
- Team has excellent role players in Smart, Rozier
- They still have, what, 4 lottery picks the next few years? Love everything about this team.

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- Irving has become Boston's closer. Last night, Stevens didn't put him onto the the court in the 4th until the 6 minute mark....and Boston went +12 to win by 11.
-Rozier has taken a step or two backwards in the past week or two. His offense has become Smartish
-I was checking out their remaining draft pick haul just the other day.
My ....After 1/5 of the Season Draft Pick take:
I just don't see the Lakers pick fitting into the 2-5 slot in 2018....and I expect the Sixers to continue improving, therefore Boston will likely be drafting from Sacramento' #1 protected slot in 2019...Potentially great position to be in given Sacramento's quality.
The Clippers' top 14 protected pick in 2019 won't get used in '19...IMO. I just don't believe in the Clippers and I go against the grain and don't buy into the Legend of Doc Rivers.
Same top 14 protection for applies in 2020 if Clippers pick isn't activated.
The Grizzlies top 8 protected 2019 pick will likely become Boston's...mid round.
Plus...Boston still owns its own 1st round picks every year going forward.

I expect Boston to cling to the LA/Philly/Sacramento pick given its top 5 prospect.
I expect Boston will consider trading off their own pick for a legit vet before the trade deadline given the salary exemption they received because of Hayward. Most likely Ainge will be looking at players in their final contract year. I expect such a move every year going forward
I expect the Memphis pick will stay in Danny's back pocket for awhile

Next 10 games: Being a pessimist...a say 8-2

Nov 20 @DAL 8:30 PM
Nov 22 @MIA 7:30 PM
Nov 24 ORL 7:30 PM
Nov 25 @IND 8:00 PM
Nov 27 DET 7:30 PM
Nov 30 PHI 7:30 PM
Dec 2 PHO 1:00 PM
Dec 4 MIL 7:30 PM
Dec 6 DAL 7:30 PM
Dec 8 @SA 9:30 PM

16! Irving and Brown combine for 69 (47 for Kyrie)! Send for Gronk!

rochrist said:

16! Irving and Brown combine for 69 (47 for Kyrie)! Send for Gronk!

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Rick Carlisle looked a bit ashen in that last minute.

Kyrie is scoring better playing the 1 ...
I didn't really like him playing the 2 early in the season.

IcyPatriot said:

Rick Carlisle looked a bit ashen in that last minute.

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That was prime Clutch Kyrie.