Celtics 2025-2026 Discussion

[Kdo5]

Impressive run for the Celtics. Definitely didn’t see them in the tanking range but nor to the top of the conference.

 

[ausbacker]

Impressive run for the Celtics. Definitely didn’t see them in the tanking range but nor to the top of the conference.

I've been a detractor but it's hard to fault Mazzulla's coaching and player development this season.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I've been a detractor but it's hard to fault Mazzulla's coaching and player development this season.

Anybody who still feels Mazz is a ****ty coach knows nothing about basketball....and I'm not a big fan of his offensive philosophy.

The guy simply knows how to develop talent and get the most out of the roster.

 

[Kdo5]

Anybody who still feels Mazz is a ****ty coach knows nothing about basketball....and I'm not a big fan of his offensive philosophy.

The guy simply knows how to develop talent and get the most out of the roster.

I see the logic behind his offensive philosophy, he has just taken it too far at times when he didn’t need to. Otherwise I think he is quite a good coach, the type I want to build a scrappy, hard-playing team.

A lot of credit should be given to Brad for identifying players like Walsh, Queta, Gonzalez, Minott and believing in their development.

And of course none of this is possible w/o Brown and White stepping up.

 

[RobertWeathers]

I see the logic behind his offensive philosophy, he has just taken it too far at times when he didn’t need to. Otherwise I think he is quite a good coach, the type I want to build a scrappy, hard-playing team.

A lot of credit should be given to Brad for identifying players like Walsh, Queta, Gonzalez, Minott and believing in their development.

And of course none of this is possible w/o Brown and White stepping up.

Yep. They win the offensive system. I'm just not a fan of the style.

Yep. Its an organizational mindset. Brad absolutely gets some credit here but kudos to Mazz for executing against it successfully.

 

[bresna]

These guys are performing at a much higher level than I expected. I still think the lack of multiple bigs is eventually going to bite them in the ass. "Small ball" seems to be working though.

My interpretation of the season versus my expectations:
↑
Jaylen Brown - Yes, I expected he would step up, but not this much. He has carried the team in pretty much every game. If the MVP award actually went to the most valuable player on one team, Brown would certainly be in the conversation. No Brown, no 15-9.
Jordan Walsh - Top defender on this team. Needs to clean up his game a bit (2.9 fouls/game). This "up" rating is based on his latest work, so clearly a mid-term grade.
Neemias Queta - Numbers up across the board and seems to be cleaning up his game. He still fouls too much (3.1/game) but he hasn't fouled out (I think?). He's banging the boards. Love the improvement.
Josh Minott - Yes, he's not getting tons of prime minutes but when he's out there, he hustles and seems able to hit the open 3. He's "up" because I thought he might be a fixture in Maine this year.
Hugo González - I definitely thought this kid would start the season in Maine. He's only 19. He hustles and seems to be a ball magnet.
↔
Peyton Pritchard - Wait before you jump on me!! I was expecting Pritchard to really shine this year. His early season numbers were way down and he is turning the ball over more than he ever has. He seems to be playing better lately. I still worry about his size. Teams work their offense to get him switched onto a bigger player and it works almost every time.
Derek White - As with Pritchard, I was expecting White to step up a bit. He's doing what he always does. This year, he's added some clutch plays (he was always clutch) but his 3 point shooting has been erratic. He might move up as the season progresses if he keeps hitting his shots like he has lately.
Anfernee Simons - He's doing about what I expected he'd do. I did think he might take over a few games here & there but he hasn't done it like I thought he would. I'm surprised he's stuck to the 6th man role. I somewhat expected him to outplay Pritchard and force Pritch back to his traditional spot off the bench.
Xavier Tillman - Same role as last year. Mostly garbage time.
↓
Sam Hauser - I blew it on Hauser. I thought he'd take up the slack on Tatum's points but he has actually regressed in that regard. That said, he is defending & rebounding better and his assists are up. I still wonder if he's not trade bait. The back belt he's always wearing on the bench is troublesome. I have one of those that I wear to shovel snow. Back problems are a *****.
Luka Garza - I guess I shouldn't have expected so much from him before the season started. The first few games, he looked like he might be a good fit but he seemed to fall off a cliff, picking up 4 DNPs in the last 9 games. I still wonder if he's hurt and they're keeping it quiet. It does seem weird that they leak the story about his scary abdominal surgery right as he starts to sit. Maybe it's bothering him?
Baylor Scheierman - I was expecting... maybe that's the wrong word... I was hoping Scheierman would step into Pritchard's 6th man spot but I'm not seeing that. His defense was always based on his quickness but this year, it seems like players are blowing by him.

I still can't figure out why they signed Chris Boucher. DNP in 16 of the last 20 games? $3.3 Million for that? He's another player that you wonder about an injury. He played in the first 4 games and then pretty much disappeared.

 

[jimnance]

I didn't renew my NBA League Pass this year,considering.
But now I'm  re-considering.
Seen em play several times and thyre way beyond my expectations. Love the hustle and grit.
I've always believed Mazzula to be a very good coach, though like many others, not crazy about the # of 3's they jacked up.
I think Joe could take a lesson from Alex Cora on how you blend analytics with real basketball. All analytics in every sport need you be taken with a grain of salt and always put into proper context for any given situation.
Great mid-range games have always contributed to winning more than 3's.
That will never change. Anyone who ever played hoops knows this.
The more complete all your players are at all levels- paint, midrange and 3- the better your team will be.
Pritchard has really stepped up his midrange game and Browns is even better than it already was.
Love Gonzalez and Walsh. Great to Queta emerging.
Got hope for next season.

 

[captain stone]

No Bigs = Nowhere in the POs. Fact.

The Brad & his gun-(& ****-)slinging HC brought this on themselves. So when the Munchkins exit the 1st round, you know whom to blame...

 

[rochrist]

No Bigs = Nowhere in the POs. Fact.

The Brad & his gun-(& ****-)slinging HC brought this on themselves. So when the Munchkins exit the 1st round, you know whom to blame...

Queta is 7 feet, 250 lbs. How big do you have to be? He's averaging 10 pts and 8.5 boards and shooting 73 percent.

 

[bresna]

Queta is 7 feet, 250 lbs. How big do you have to be? He's averaging 10 pts and 8.5 boards and shooting 73 percent.

Queta is only averaging 24 mins/gm & he is it for bigs who are worthy of putting out there. Garza (6'10") hasn't been playing much lately and Tillman, who is only 6'8", has played even less. They brought up Amari Williams (6'11") when Queta sat with a twisted ankle but he's not ready from the looks of him. I would guess he's going back to Maine soon.

If Queta goes down for any extended period, be it injury, rest or foul trouble. The game plan seems to be smallball & I agree that come playoff time, that might not cut it.

But I've been wrong before.

 

[Kdo5]

No Bigs = Nowhere in the POs. Fact.

The Brad & his gun-(& ****-)slinging HC brought this on themselves. So when the Munchkins exit the 1st round, you know whom to blame...

That’s assuming they make no move at the trade deadline at that position. Brad has pushed the right buttons throughout his tenure as GM, gotta trust his judgment.

 

[bresna]

So last night was a perfect example why trying to win by almost exclusively heaving up 3s is not always the right approach. 55.6% (49/88) of their shots were from behind the arc. The entire team shot horribly - taking 49 3s and only hitting 14 of them - for a whopping 29%. Hauser was the worst, missing on all 9 of his 3 point attempts and missing his lone 2 point shot.

BTW - this was a very beatable Bucs team, especially with Giannis still out, going 2-10 in their last 12 games.

 

[bresna]

These last two nights were a pretty good barometer of the season so far. The win last night bumped them into sole ownership of 3rd place in the East.

As The Who would say, "The kids are alright". Hugo Gonzalez is looking like a steal. He's not Cooper Flagg (who could be?) but he's playing high quality minutes. Last night's stats: 10 pts/10 rebounds/2 steals/1 block and a =/- of +37 in 28 minutes of play. And that was on the heels of 10 pts/8 rebounds/2 steals/1 block and a =/- of +22 in 29 minutes of play the night before. I love the energy he shows out there.

 

[ViperGTS]

These last two nights were a pretty good barometer of the season so far. The win last night bumped them into sole ownership of 3rd place in the East.

As The Who would say, "The kids are alright". Hugo Gonzalez is looking like a steal. He's not Cooper Flagg (who could be?) but he's playing high quality minutes. Last night's stats: 10 pts/10 rebounds/2 steals/1 block and a =/- of +37 in 28 minutes of play. And that was on the heels of 10 pts/8 rebounds/2 steals/1 block and a =/- of +22 in 29 minutes of play the night before. I love the energy he shows out there.

Yeah he's only 19 and still getting acclimated. I dunno, he seems like a legit steal and could blossom into superstar.

 

[RobertWeathers]

This is a playoff team.

 

[Kdo5]

This is a playoff team.

They are better than “just” a playoff team. The question is how far will they go if and when Tatum comes back. Wont be surprised to see them in the ECF. The east is weak.

Celtics are really good, doing it with weak center depth too.

 

[RobertWeathers]

They are better than “just” a playoff team. The question is how far will they go if and when Tatum comes back. Wont be surprised to see them in the ECF. The east is weak.

Celtics are really good, doing it with weak center depth too.

Agree. Currently constituted they are a 3-5 seed.

 

[bresna]

Another impressive game by the Celtics bench, highlighted by Gonzalez, who ended up with 11 rebounds, 2 blocks & 1 steal along with 6 points & a +/- of +21. In those 6 points was a beautiful drive to the hoop seen at the start of this:


The bench brought them back from 20 points down.

 

[JoeSixPat]

Latest road win against the Jazz makes for a nice way to close out the year.

Gotta hand it to Mazzulla and Brown - both had questions about their leadership and abilities without Tatum and both have answered those questions, with Mazzulla. While most of us were just hoping to make the playoffs, they've got the Celts as a Top 3 seed in the East - and this without Tatum and without a true C.

Of course the other guys have all stepped up - despite some effective cold streaks - with Pritchard making the most of his opportunity and White working his way back to top form. Queta and Garza are doing what they can but they're not the board bangers we'd need to actually contend.

Not every free agent move was a success - heck, they had to let 4 key players go though and we all knew most of those moves were salary dumps. But the development of some of the young guys has been a part of this success, relying on fresh legs to exhaust opponents.

But Stevens might yet figure out a way to trade Simons (who can still put up 20 in a night) and maybe pick up a rebounding C to possibly complement a return of Tatum for the playoffs. There's a few guys out there who might be one year rentals they can get with less than Simons salary, making ownership happy to save a little more luxury tax $ while adding rebounding in prep for the return of Tatum.

We shall see - but this is a lot better than tanking!

 

[bresna]

I am still of the opinion that trading Hauser is the right move, not Simons. Simons is anchoring the second unit and his +/- is pretty incredible. If they move Simons, they need to get his 13 pts/gm from another bench player & I just don't see that player sitting there. That player certainly isn't Hauser, who is not even matching last year's numbers.