Boston shooting bricks pretty much the entire fourth quarter. That is no way to win a basketball game.
Turn out the lights, the party’s over. Done in again by UK players. What can you do? Miami’s pure shooters were better than Boston’s.
Boston shooting bricks pretty much the entire fourth quarter. That is no way to win a basketball game.
Celtics lack a fourth quarter closer. If only they had someone who had proven in at the highest levels...
Got to give Kentucky players their due. Anthony Davis and Bam Adebayo are scary impressive.
As for LeBron, no surprise for me, there's a reason I took him in my fantasy league.
15 points and +20.
He had been MIA but he really, really likes the Finals. Thankfully it’s not all Kentucky.
CEO Nick Arison and Shane Battier Director of Basketball Development.
https://basketball.realgm.com/nba/te...s/Current/grid
Tatum was wearing a Duke baseball hat in post game press conference
Rushed missed shots led to good scoring opportunities for the Heat.
Who stops LeBron and AD? If they can slow those two down and keep hitting a lot of outside shots, they have a chance.
I still see the Lakers winning it all.
This game turned when Bam looked at Theis and decided he was just going to take him off the dribble over and over. It felt like 4-5 straight possessions, next thing you know the heat area ahead and theis has fouled out.
Heat hot a little lucky with the 3 point shooting, especially Iguodala, but they had been unlucky the previous 3 games, and let's face it, that's just how the nba operates. Anyone can have a hot shooting night. That's why it's hard to come back from 3-1. You get "the Iguodala game" and it's hard to overcome.
Herro had 3-4 terrible turnovers but had a nice 4th quarter.
I wouldn't pick miami to beat LA but you never know. It will be very interesting to see what miami does to defend LeBron and AD.
I’d still take the Lakers over the Heat, but probably in six or seven games. Miami will make a nice showing of themselves. They have better pure shooters and as long as those guys continue to see a big rim they should do just fine against the Lakers.
I think the Celtics thought Kemba would be their closer. Instead, he had his lowest scoring output in 6 years and his lowest number of assists since he was a rookie.
On the plus side, Tatum is just 22, Brown is 23, and Smart is 26. Those three make them a perennial contender for the next 7 years and all three figure to get better over the next few seasons. Heyward and Walker combined to make $65 mil this season but there really isn't a terrible contract on the books. As Tatum and Brown figure out how to be better in the clutch, this team is gonna make the finals multiple times.
-Jason "I won't be completely shocked if Tacko Fall figures into their plans a little bit next year... can't teach that kind of size" Evans
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
I tweak this slightly to say that the game turned with Herro's two shot to cut the Boston lead from 6 to 1 and then Bam went to town. His handles are quite impressive, and he had a monster series closing game. He's extremely important for the next round because...
Miami is going to have to try and force small ball, utilize that zone and gang rebound. They have to force a half court style. I think Bam can guard AD or Lebron but when they are both on the court, they will have issues.
While I know it doesn't happen quite this way anymore, these Celtics feel like the old teams that used to fail and fail again in the playoffs before breaking through. If they lock up Brown, Tatum and Smart, they should be able to keep adding pieces. However, in the modern NBA, no team's window is too long. I'll lower Jason's 7 years to 5 just because I feel like 5 is the new 7, and maybe even 4 is the new 7.
Celtics played hard. But they are flawed. Here are the biggest issues:
1. Big men. Theis is one of those Boston players who the city of Boston loves. He's a no-name player who does the dirty work and never gets upset because he didn't get 5+ shots up. But in reality, Theis just isn't elite nor will be ever be. If Theis is your cheap option in the starting line-up, he needs to be very good at defense. Think of Battier on the Heat or Damian Jones/Bogut on the Warriors (and I get Bogut is a former All-Star but he wasn't paid much in his final years); really good defenders who won't get murdered by opposing players. And Theis got murdered by Bam (who, by the way, is just a wonderful player).
2. Coaching. I love Brad Stevens. I want him to stay and be a Celtic lifer. But in truth, I believe the best coach in the NBA is Spoeltra. This isn't recency bias; Speoltra has been elite for a while. His in-game adjustments are easily the best in the NBA. His ability to counter-punch in the fourth quarter is becoming legendary. He completely out-coached Brad Stevens this series. Also, what the hell was Stevens thinking in the 4th quarter? Just jack up crap 3s? If there is one team you don't want to trade 3 point shots with, it's the Heat. If the Celtics want to advance, Stevens needs better in-game adjustments. His game plans, especially for the first 3 quarters, are excellent. 4th quarters? Not so much.
3. Depth. If Grant Williams is your best bench player in an elimination game, you're done. Yes, the Celtics had Hayward. But he's coming off an injury and had a horrible game. The Celtics need depth, but building through the draft is just too long a process.
4. Kemba. Great leader. Great teammate. Great regular season player. But he was poor in these playoffs. He shot 44% from the floor and 31% from 3. That's unacceptable, especially when you have Tatum and Brown (and sometimes Smart) who can spread the floor for you. I like Kemba, but he had a bad playoffs.
So what do the Celtics do? Well, keep the core of Kemba/Tatum/Brown/Smart/Theis. Trade Hayward asap (and if they don't, I'll lose a lot of respect for Stevens because he's doing what's best for the player and not the team). Trade draft picks. Trade / release low-value rotation players like Kanter, Ojeleye, Edwards, and maybe Wannamaker (but he's an okay two-way player). And get in young, good players through those trades, including an upgrade at the starting 5 and 2-3 high impact bench players. With the Celtics Hayward-chip and draft picks, this should be very doable.
In all honesty, I'd like to see the Celtics pick up Harry Giles, who I think can be a good bench player. He has a horrible attitude, but if anyone can fix that, it's Stevens.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
As much as I wanted to see Tatum in the finals, I do like that Kyrie got a little bit of comeuppance after spending all season hearing the media proclaim that Kemba is better than him. I know this ship sailed long ago, but Boston could have really used Kyrie as an individual scorer and creator against Miami's zone defense. While he wouldn't have helped their defense, their offense would have had a whole different look with him on the floor as opposed to Kemba, especially in the closing minutes where each game was won or lost.
From a purely basketball perspective I am really curious to see if a zone defense can succeed at the NBA level. Very few teams use it at all, and no team to my knowledge has ever won a title using a zone defense at the rate employed by Miami. Much like Golden State's run changed the dynamics of the NBA to relying heavily on three point shooting and small ball, I think Miami winning the title with a zone D would cause other teams to copy that strategy.
I was ready to come in and start talking about how Kemba's height makes him a liability but I first checked for other guards his size and the list includes Kyle Lowry. Go to 6'1" and you get Donovan Mitchell, Chris Paul, Eric Bledsoe, Mike Conley...I don't think about those guys being too small. Kyrie's size, when combined with his insane quickness, handles, repertoire of moves and shooting is definitely a huge asset for him. I was also ready to come and say how everyone liked Kemba and what he lacked in production he made up for in team unity. But, maybe that's a hollow platitude at this point. All I know is that Kyrie has only had major team success when he had the LBJ alpha dog to run the locker room. We'll see what happens with he and KD and Nash in Crooklyn.
As for the zone, here's a recent article about Miami's use, it's re-rise after being popularized by the Mavs a decade ago, and some of the counter-intuitive reasons why it's gained popularity:
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/...g-zone-defense