WE all know our record with and without OG. His presence is elite regarding outcome.
Boston still has big bodies to throw at KAT and they simply played him well.
He goes to the rim with a reckless abandon. Its inspiring. The efforts are there.
So is the complaining after each shot, and I pray our guy does not get hurt.
sweep5 wrote:Philc1 wrote:GustavBahler wrote:Philc1 wrote:MaTT4281 wrote:Precious can't even stay on his feet tonight. Throw in the flag.
Precious got seriously exposed tonight. This game is exhibit A, B and C why we need Mitch and OG healthy in the playoffs.
I don’t know about that. Precious is a sub, and he started against the world champs. The whole team was flat.
The Celtics were able to do whatever they wanted in the paint because we had no rim protection or rebounding. There are residual effects on offense that occur when you know have no shot at stopping the other team defensively. I’m not saying we win the game with Mitch and OG but at the very least it would have been competitive
Yes..competitive..respectable, but not enough to beat this team.
All we had to do was trade KP for Jaylen Brown and a 1st 6 years ago.
LivingLegend wrote:MaTT4281 wrote:LivingLegend wrote:fitzfarm wrote:Tatum killed us at the end of the 3rd but it’s still todays NBA, we’ll get it back to single digits
Bridges 3 got us to down 3.
Next possession Kat allows Tatum to waltz in for layup, then fouls him on drive and after that there were another 13 straight points or so.
That foul call on Deuce vs White was a complete momentum killer. Still dumbfounded that we didn't challenge.
YES - classic call.
1st Deuce should not be that close and 2nd ref drooling at chance to blow whistle there --- why no challenge?
That was a laughably bad foul call.
ToddTT wrote:I can’t wait until Mitch gets back. I really enjoy watching him lumber up and down the court, gasp for air, and brick free throws like someone who has never touched a basketball in their entire life.His free throws look like someone who is intentionally trying to miss near the end of regulation, in hopes of throwing up a desperation shot.
The feeling of dread coupled with knots in my stomach when he is on the floor in the last few minutes is always exciting.
I also enjoy how he is an offensive force… as long as he is zero feet from the rim.
Oooooh I’m gonna go check Instagram and TikTok to see if he has posted any more riveting updates! 
I'm kind of with you 100% Todd --- I mean Mitch can/does alter shots at the rim - often opposing players just change their plan when he's around BUT yes he's a horrid basketball player otherwise.
I hope and pray that he will spark us defensively just with size, length and rim protection but clearly if Kat continues to not give max effort defensively we are going to be cooked. Kat was basically a chair last night - zero D and zero D effort.
I remember everyone losing it when Mitch 1st got hurt last year BUT all that did is show us how much better we were with I-Hart (a player that could walk and chew gum at same time on offense) and a player who could defend the high screen action aggressively.
I don't know - Mitch I like the kid but he is a brutal basketball player --- I here people lawd the offensive rebounding but Jesus all the guy does is stand at the basket - he better get some boards. I also worry we will get to a Cleveland series and everyone will be talking about how Mitch dominated 3 years ago and the Cavs bigs will shove it down our throat.
Lastly I'm hoping for the best with Mitch -- we sucked so bad last night it was disgusting. Guys like Kat, Hart and Brunson are getting torched defensively -- not sure Mitch can make up for all 3 of those guys.
I dont think its a talent issue, but there is a strategy issue when we play Boston. They hunt 3s and want to put up between 40-50 per game and we cant let that happen. But we have to be switchable and not send double help our your going to keep giving their shooters enough time. They dont hesitate. If they have any space they let if fly
On our side we pass on moderately open 3s to try and find better shots and our shooters hesitate. If we cant get as many attempts we cant keep up with their barrage. 3 pt game was a 20 pt game in a couple of minutes.
They switch everything and last night they gave Achiuwa, Bridges and Hart the paint. Kornet and Quera cleaned up. Bridges was missing all those middies he usually hits and Achiuwa was virtually useless. This is why Achiuwa is not a starter in the NBA as he can be exploited in this way so easily.
But scheme aside, the effort and focus from KAT was so bad. He keeps getting exploited
GustavBahler wrote:WP76 wrote:This is embarrassing and a complete exposure of how far we have to go.
I think it says more about the importance of OG and Mitch. That’s 2 of our 3 best defensive players. We get them back, I’m guessing the net result is that we will be one of the best offensive and defensive teams in the league. Availability being the big question mark.
I think there is something else in addition...we simply can't have KAT as our Center against upper echelon teams that play solid defense and solid offense. Kat gives us great offense much of the time (even against pretty good teams like Denver) but he actually becomes a liability vs certain teams with higher athleticism. We may have still lost with Mitch in Kat's place last night - but we would have played more competitively. Too many times Tatum faked and drove for uncontested dunks right down the center of the lane. Our defense is predicated on rim protection and it simply breaks down time and time again. Yes Tatum is very good! Kat's footwork seems clumsy IMO much of the time and his reactions to a crossover seem like he is the old man playing high schoolers at the YMCA. We have to either switch our defensive approach to account for Kat's limited mobility when switching, or wait for Mitch and start him alongside Kat, or find a time machine to go back to sign IHart correctly.
I'm accepting that this team just isn't that 'good' that we can realistically talk about championships. This is their peak - a 2 or 3 finish in the east when all is said and done.
We're all in, and that's all they have.
franco12 wrote:I'm accepting that this team just isn't that 'good' that we can realistically talk about championships. This is their peak - a 2 or 3 finish in the east when all is said and done.We're all in, and that's all they have.
thats been my hope for this year since day one. Don't need a beat down from Boston to change my trajectory hope.
My hope is the bench gets rounded out over time.
I"ll reiterate what Windhorst and others said after the Kat trade that we needed a few "Cycles" to do this. Our bench was in need for the get go. The price for Mikal too high? Seems that way but then many trades are like that these days.
Fans discount Davis perhaps for injuries and hope he is not out too long but he is a top 75 of all time future HOF still in his prime. Can't grade trades for real unil you get a few seasons removed in my opinion.
As for the game last night, Boston might be our worst matchup doing forward as they seem to have an athletic formula we cannot match.
Yet. I think they discussed games between the all star break an Trade deadline are often awful for some teams.
Tatum and Brown are in prime stars with great athletic ability. Tatum and Brunson are also but have great fundamentals vs raw athletic prowess. Tatum was impressive last night. We missed OG. Key ingredient. Perhaps Josh needs some time to deal with is bumps and bruises. He looked a step off.
Mitch is the great unknown.
KAT may have been hurt coming into the game last night, hut he needs to decide whether he wants to be a championship player because he did not have the focus or effort required of the matchup.
Give Brunson credit, he may be limited as a defender, but the Celtics were attacking him with Tatum and Brown and Brunson was holding up and doing his best to get in their face and put up 36 pts on the other end. 2nd half Brunson is official activated.
LivingLegend wrote:ToddTT wrote:I can’t wait until Mitch gets back. I really enjoy watching him lumber up and down the court, gasp for air, and brick free throws like someone who has never touched a basketball in their entire life.His free throws look like someone who is intentionally trying to miss near the end of regulation, in hopes of throwing up a desperation shot.
The feeling of dread coupled with knots in my stomach when he is on the floor in the last few minutes is always exciting.
I also enjoy how he is an offensive force… as long as he is zero feet from the rim.
Oooooh I’m gonna go check Instagram and TikTok to see if he has posted any more riveting updates!
I'm kind of with you 100% Todd --- I mean Mitch can/does alter shots at the rim - often opposing players just change their plan when he's around BUT yes he's a horrid basketball player otherwise.
I hope and pray that he will spark us defensively just with size, length and rim protection but clearly if Kat continues to not give max effort defensively we are going to be cooked. Kat was basically a chair last night - zero D and zero D effort.
I remember everyone losing it when Mitch 1st got hurt last year BUT all that did is show us how much better we were with I-Hart (a player that could walk and chew gum at same time on offense) and a player who could defend the high screen action aggressively.
I don't know - Mitch I like the kid but he is a brutal basketball player --- I here people lawd the offensive rebounding but Jesus all the guy does is stand at the basket - he better get some boards. I also worry we will get to a Cleveland series and everyone will be talking about how Mitch dominated 3 years ago and the Cavs bigs will shove it down our throat.
Lastly I'm hoping for the best with Mitch -- we sucked so bad last night it was disgusting. Guys like Kat, Hart and Brunson are getting torched defensively -- not sure Mitch can make up for all 3 of those guys.
If your knee is gimpy you would be too.....he is saving himself for straight-line drives to the rim....
This team is very frustrating. We might not have the best or the deepest team, right, but losses like this one leave a very ugly impression in terms of effort. This team is alarmingly inconsistent. Some nights, they look poised and focused. Others, like this one, you wonder why they seem to not care. I don't understand.
This team is just good. Good enough for a decent position in the playoffs and one or hopefully two series wins if we are lucky and healthy. But we have consistently failed to meet up the toughest challenges this season, and it just won’t magically change once the playoffs start. This defense continues to be a problem.
At least we clearly know what they are so we don’t get our hopes too high this postseason.
Knicksfan wrote:This team is very frustrating. We might not have the best or the deepest team, right, but losses like this one leave a very ugly impression in terms of effort. This team is alarmingly inconsistent. Some nights, they look poised and focused. Others, like this one, you wonder why they seem to not care. I don't understand.This team is just good. Good enough for a decent position in the playoffs and one or hopefully two series wins if we are lucky and healthy. But we have consistently failed to meet up the toughest challenges this season, and it just won’t magically change once the playoffs start. This defense continues to be a problem.
At least we clearly know what they are so we don’t get our hopes too high this postseason.
Agree to point. The difference between this season and last season is that team is very limited in what moves it can make. The only real improvements to be made are internal. Yes I believe the team will play better next season. But will that be enough to close the holes that exist. I mean, I'm at the point where I'm counting on TJ Warren to help the bench. Next season is when Rose and Aller will earn their money IMHO.
KAT is swinging between having 3 fouls in the first quarter doing dumb fouls, and staying out of foul trouble by not defending at all...... he needs to find the sweet spot between defending and not doing stupid fouls.
We just don't match up well with Boston until we are all healthy. OG and Big Mitch will fix a lot of our problems. Josh was just too short to bother Tatum on those switches.
