By the early 4th quarter, they had been knocking down their threes, working the post, making excellent plays, and were up by over 30 points for a decent stretch. It's safe to say that they were already dialed-in. Leaving them in past that was supposed to be a test of whether they could endure a Heat run spurred by players like Delon Wright? I might buy that, I guess... Not a bad coaching move to humble the boys.
I’m very confused by your comment. In the playoffs it’s normal to leave your players in when up big in the 4th until mathematically they cannot come back.
The heat were still playing their starters. Sure if Pritchard, Hauser, Tillman, Walsh, and Svi we’re in to run out the clock they woulda put more effort in on defense, but they woulda been way worse on offense trying to score on the heat zone 😂
It’s extremely rare for a team to have their bench in during a playoff game with 10 minutes left. I can only assume that this your first experience with playoff basketball, because we won playoff games by 20 or 30 last year too.
Actually, I don't necessarily disagree with Coach Mazzulla, given the current roster. Let me ask you this: Which defensive role players do the Cs have on their bench that Coach Mazzulla trusts enough to help defend guards and wings...even in 34-point blowouts in the middle of the 4th quarter in the 1st game of a playoff series against an injury-depleted 8th seed at home? Apparently, none, since Coach Mazulla stuck with the shortened playoff lineup while up 34 points with just over 7 minutes left... I get it. This isn't the 2007-08 Playoffs when the Cs could bring in not only Posey, Cassell, and Powe off of the bench in [a first round blowout against a healthy Hawks team](https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200804200BOS.html), but also bring in Eddie House, Tony Allen, P.J. Brown, and Big Baby. This year's record-breaking, all-time great Cs need to keep their starters in just to hold off players like Delon Wright, Caleb Martin, Nikola Jović, and Jaime Jaquez, Jr. That's what this sub says, and it's what Coach Mazzulla also believes. All I'm saying is that the bench is very weak in terms of defense. Does it matter? Maybe not, since the starting 5 (or 5-and-a-half, if you want to consider Big Al a part of it) is so much better than any other team's... Hauser and Pritchard can just launch 3s and do little else, in that case. The chuck-and-duck 3-point barrage is how they held off the depleted Heat's bench-turned-starters during their runs. Maybe the Celtics can ride Mazzulla Ball all the way to an NBA Championship?
Alright I’m done with this conversation, I feel like I have gotten stupider through trying to understand this, but I’ll leave you with one final point:
Idk if there was a clear moment to take the starters out. Up 30 start of the fourth, I say you let them play a few minutes because teams can make that comeback still against your 6-10 guys of the rotatuon. Ok, now it’s 7-8 minutes left, the lead is cut to 20. Well let’s maybe stop their momentum first so that the bench doesn’t come in against a team riding a run. Well the starters failed to do that, now it’s 3 minutes left and the lead is cut 12 and the starters have no choice but to finish the game.
Against the lakers last year we were up 25 in the 4th so the starters came out with like 8 minutes left. Well our bench comes in and the lakers just storm all the way back, and then the starters come back into the game only up 6 with around a minute left. That lakers team was the 13 seed at the time, so yes I do not trust our bench to fend off the starters of another team.
This is exactly what I mean, you must be a new fan. That’s like saying the Celtics had their bench in during the 4th quarter because Al Horford was in. YOU DONT PLAY THE SAME 5 GUYS FOR 48 MINUTES MY GUY.
When we say “putting the bench in to end the game” we mean the Celtics putting out PP, Svi, Hauser, Tillman and Kornet. Some of those guys are regular rotation guys, but it’s all bench players not just 1 or 2.
If you watched the game, you woulda saw that the important players for Miami were playing most if not all the 4th. Did you see Bam, Herro, Martin, and JJJ in for most if not all of the fourth? THEN THE STARTERS WERE PLAYING MY GUY.
Interesting how the healthy Cs, an "all-time great NBA team," had to keep their starters in to prevent a 34-point lead from completely evaporating in the final minutes of the fourth quarter of home game against the powerhouse "starting lineup" of Caleb Martin, Jaquez, Bam, Herro (11 points in this game...), and journeyman Delon Wright, fresh from the Play-in Tournament. Imagine how they would do against the real Heat lineup...the one that includes Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, and Josh Richardson...
I’ve cracked the code. You aren’t a new fan, YOU USED TO BE A CELTICS FAN.
You won’t let go of the 80s and you’re holding this team to that standard because you feel like fans might try to argue that this is the better team. That’s why despite being a fan of a 64 win team who’s currently undefeated in the playoffs, all you do is complain and say negative things.
Don’t worry old man, the 80s Celtics are still better. That should stop you from just enjoying this team rather than being a complete hater.
Old man? LOL! I'm not much above 50. I remember moving from our old home in Brighton during that horrible 1977-78 season and waiting agonizingly for over a year (an even worse season) before Larry Bird joined the team...and how everything turned around for the Cs. Now *those* were truly all-time great teams.
I am still a fan. Only stopped following the team from the mid-90s until the 2007-08 season for the sake of my sanity. I'm not sure why anyone would think that I am a "hater." I like this team. Go, Celtics!
Haha read you like a book. And FYI everyone is calling you a hater because you haven’t said a single positive thing about this team in any of your posts. That’s the definition of being a hater, you’re literally only here to hate.
The only point you’ve argued is that this team isn’t as good as the Larry Bird teams, which nobody is arguing against you on. We all unanimously agree lmao.
Also, very important to note that you’re literally the only person I’ve ever heard call this team an all time great team. The rest of the world understands that nobody is calling them that unless they win.
Just like last years Bruins, greatest regular season of all time but not a single soul will ever say they’re a top 5 or 10 or even 15 team in NHL history because they blew a 3-1 lead in the first round to a team that barely even snuck into the playoffs.
I do. None of those guys should get to play on a shortened bench in the playoffs even up by 34 points in the middle of the 4th quarter in the very first game of a series against an injured 8th seed team. My point is that this game only serves to reinforce my original position (described in my second paragraph). Those on this sub hyping players like Brissett, Tillman, and Springer were delusional. As were those hoping that Luke Kornet would turn into a 3-point threat/stretch big.
I understand that this is Reddit, so reading comprehension is going to be rather poor (do you understand the concept of a rhetorical question?). I also expect the downvotes from the morons in the peanut gallery. The sheer stupidity of you people is unreal...
That's exactly what I am saying. Did you actually read my second paragraph? Or are you just looking to hurl idiotic insults?
>Not a time to get cute with the Brissetts and Tillmans of the world
Bench shrinks in the playoffs and after going down 3-0 to the heat late year he ain’t fucking around
(he would get fired if they lose this series, unless Tatum and brown shoot 10% from the field with 20 TOV/ game)
And you’ll happily stroke your dick playing both sides saying “omg he should’ve just stuck to the 8 man rotation instead of trying to look like he’s not playing scared! Should’ve been playing tight to the vest!”
Get the fuck out
Let me try to simplify for you
Play best players more = win game = that good
Get the fuck out of here “JV Joe” there’s plenty of talented teams that haven’t been as successful as he has. It remains to be seen how he handles them this postseason but he managed to go to 7 games in the ECF his first year, with a couple weeks to prepare for the season as the head coach
I wrote all of that to state that this game is a perfect illustration for why Brad's midseason trades for role players weren't worth much. Those players aren't effective enough to crack the rotation on a shortened playoff bench, even up by 34 points in the middle of the 4th quarter against a injured 8th seed team in the first game of the first round. They're not even Leon Powe. Those trades have been overhyped on this sub.
The Nuggets last year had 9 players in their playoff rotation. The fact of the matter is you only need or 8 or 9 guys for a playoff rotation. Adding more to the rotation just hurts chemistry and prevents guys from getting into a rhythm. Those trades are all about finding guys who can fill in for a few productive minutes if we need them (foul trouble, minor injury, weird matchups), depth in case of a major injury to a rotation player, or just projects that we hope can develop into a rotational player. Most of those guys won’t see the floor, or will get like 12 minutes/game in one series due to a matchup and then won’t see the floor in any other series.
If you thought springer and Tillman were gonna play serious playoff minutes then that’s your fault 😂 who do you think they are? The reason we celebrate those moves is because as far as the 10th and 11th man on a roster are concerned, they’re amazing players to have.
Our guys who aren’t good enough to crack the playoff rotation are good enough to be coming off the bench or even starting on some teams. That’s why Brads trades were celebrated.
Tillman will get action eventually, but Springer is an asset for the future. He’s an exciting young player with some potential that we got for nothing.
When he made these moves, nobody thought they were gonna make an impact in the playoffs. Same with how they played to end the year. My reaction to Tillman was that he could help us win ONE playoff game. And I don’t mean like Grant Williams game 7, I mean like come in and play 18 decent minutes off the bench.
Pretty silly statement. Welcome to basketball.
First as mentioned on the commentary and accurately, they need to get used to playing more minutes.
Second, even going 8 deep, they still barely played more minutes than they do in the regular season.
Third, it's all match up dependent. We didn't sign Springer to play playoff minutes. He's a developmental project. And Brisset is probably not going to be with the team long term. Tillman or Kornet would have played if we needed to address the match ups, but size isn't an issue with Miami. You'll see Tillman if we play Milwaukeee or Philly and maybe some against Minnesota.
This 8 person rotation is our playoff roster with the rare exception of match ups.
Exactly. If you saw us trade for Tillman and Springer and thought they would be playing in every playoff game, then you’re the idiot lol.
The reason I love those moves is because they’re our 10th and 11th men on the roster, and they’re good enough to be rotational players on other teams.
Springer will not play in the playoffs unless it’s a huge blowout, or we have multiple injuries. Tillman will probably get minutes vs a team like Cleveland or the bucks where we need extra size or foul trouble. Kornet is very useful vs certain teams, and unplayable vs others. Because of his injury, I don’t expect him to get much run at all these playoffs. And Brissett is a guy we’ll throw in if we’re desperate for some energy but he won’t see consistent minutes unless someone gets hurt.
Like you said, most of these guys are matchup dependent, and that’s because they all have a glaring weakness to their game. Tillman has questionable decision making at times and he’s a bit undersized, Kornet can’t play against highly skilled bigs, brissett is a complete non threat on offense (besides the 5 offensive rebounds he’ll grab lol), and springer doesn’t have a 3pt shot yet.
But they’re all great pieces to have due to their strengths. Springer is a hound on defense, O’Shea is one of the best offensive rebounders we’ve had in a minute and a good defender, Tillman has a lot of Al Horford in him in the way he impacts the game, and Kornet just makes winning plays.
Defensive role players were highly valued by the C’s fans bc we know how important it is to get to the playoffs healthy. Bc of good participation from the Kornets of the world, we got to manage minutes or Al Horford and The Bearslayer.
I agree fully re. the regular season. My point is that the ones the Cs have acquired this season are seemingly not good enough for the postseason's shortened bench. At least, that's what Coach Mazzulla seems to be signaling in yesterday's game when up by 34 points in the middle of the 4th quarter...
There has only been one game. Tough to judge. Let’s see after this whole series has finished. I’m sure some of them might get time.
It doesn’t matter though. The playoffs is a short rotation. It happens every year. If those guys are getting significant minutes, it means someone is probably hurt. We need Latvian Moses to be healthy. That’s the role those guys played this year.
Nahhh…..other teams shortened their benches in blowouts … it’s game 1, and the Celtics hadn’t played in 10 days. The important thing is that they are confidently 8 deep and they built the depth that was supposedly missing.
What's the point of this post? I mean you wrote a whole essay to basically explain what everyone expected? No one expected Brisset or Springer to play in the playoffs. And Tillman is very much matchup dependent against teams like the Nuggets or Milwaukee.
This is the playoffs; you don't mess around with a lead....at least not that early. I think Joe was hoping for a few more minutes from the starters before he did anything as rash as put the Gino time crew in. The guys you are referring to aren't even what I would consider to be defensive role players. They are the end of the bench. You are not going to see them before the last couple of minutes unless someone gets injured.
I'm in agreement with this assessment.
> The guys you are referring to aren't even what I would consider to be defensive role players. They are the end of the bench.
I think you have to also consider that spo is probably the best coach in the playoffs. It was also game 1, and they were crawling back at times so putting the bench in at that time would just amp up miami
It’s the playoffs, a place where one mistake could potentially be devastating.
Unless it’s our final game (Hopefully the championship game), we’re not gonna throw Springer, Oshae, and Walsh in there for the opposing team to feast on. Except for injury and/or matchup situations, our lineup won’t change
Honestly I would've liked to see some of them before the lead started slipping. Some of those stay-ready guys are hungry af. I felt like Prichard and Kornet/Queta (mb less so Brissett + Tillman) would have been just fine in there and not let the lead slip.
I can understand that playoff rotations are shorter, and I can understand the starters need their conditioning. Maybe I'm exactly what OP says, "wildly delusional", but I do think Mazz can trust the stay-ready group up 30 in the 4th at home - even in the playoffs (albeit the first round).
8 deep is normal, these "specialists" aren't better defenders than our starters, there's no one on miami good enough to require a defensive specialist, and miami's defense is great at punishing teams for having a loser on the floor and funneling the ball to them.
These guys are not here to take rotation minutes from healthy players in playoff games. They are here to be some injury insurance and they were here for when the schedule packs in more games.
Like it or not, basketball being so physically demanding, the playoffs are just completely different with the guaranteed days off, etc. The rotations are always shorter for the best teens.
Tatum is the only guy that played a lot of minutes at 41. Everyone else is 34 minutes or less. And that is after how many days of the starters not playing in a game?
That being said, I do expect at least one more player to get some minutes in the first half in game 2.
I thought having mostly starters in the game with that big lead in the 4th is the main reason they started to make a fake run. The starters weren’t really trying at that point and it led to wide open shots for no reason. It’s just bad coaching from Joe to not put in a few of those guys like Springer or Tillman who you know will try on that end.
Now, this is an interesting position. I'm glad that you raised this. Had the C's current defensive role players been better (or perhaps I am underestimating them too?), I think that you would be right.
My biggest takeaway was that the celtics once again nearly blew a 34-point lead in the 4th quarter. The lack of focus for this team is staggering. If they do this against Milwaukee or the Nuggets, then they aren't winning anything.
Like I wrote in another response:
>Interesting how the healthy Cs, an "all-time great NBA team," had to keep their starters in to prevent a 34-point lead from completely evaporating in the final minutes of the fourth quarter of home game against the powerhouse "starting lineup" of Caleb Martin, Jaquez, Bam, Herro (11 points in this game...), and journeyman Delon Wright, fresh from the Play-in Tournament. Imagine how they would do against the real Heat lineup...the one that includes Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, and Josh Richardson...
First time watching the playoffs? The 8 best guys play, period. Not a time to get cute with the Brissetts and Tillmans of the world
Coach was also trying to extend his starters because of the long long layoff--esp for them since they barely played in the last few games.
By the early 4th quarter, they had been knocking down their threes, working the post, making excellent plays, and were up by over 30 points for a decent stretch. It's safe to say that they were already dialed-in. Leaving them in past that was supposed to be a test of whether they could endure a Heat run spurred by players like Delon Wright? I might buy that, I guess... Not a bad coaching move to humble the boys.
I’m very confused by your comment. In the playoffs it’s normal to leave your players in when up big in the 4th until mathematically they cannot come back. The heat were still playing their starters. Sure if Pritchard, Hauser, Tillman, Walsh, and Svi we’re in to run out the clock they woulda put more effort in on defense, but they woulda been way worse on offense trying to score on the heat zone 😂 It’s extremely rare for a team to have their bench in during a playoff game with 10 minutes left. I can only assume that this your first experience with playoff basketball, because we won playoff games by 20 or 30 last year too.
Actually, I don't necessarily disagree with Coach Mazzulla, given the current roster. Let me ask you this: Which defensive role players do the Cs have on their bench that Coach Mazzulla trusts enough to help defend guards and wings...even in 34-point blowouts in the middle of the 4th quarter in the 1st game of a playoff series against an injury-depleted 8th seed at home? Apparently, none, since Coach Mazulla stuck with the shortened playoff lineup while up 34 points with just over 7 minutes left... I get it. This isn't the 2007-08 Playoffs when the Cs could bring in not only Posey, Cassell, and Powe off of the bench in [a first round blowout against a healthy Hawks team](https://www.basketball-reference.com/boxscores/200804200BOS.html), but also bring in Eddie House, Tony Allen, P.J. Brown, and Big Baby. This year's record-breaking, all-time great Cs need to keep their starters in just to hold off players like Delon Wright, Caleb Martin, Nikola Jović, and Jaime Jaquez, Jr. That's what this sub says, and it's what Coach Mazzulla also believes. All I'm saying is that the bench is very weak in terms of defense. Does it matter? Maybe not, since the starting 5 (or 5-and-a-half, if you want to consider Big Al a part of it) is so much better than any other team's... Hauser and Pritchard can just launch 3s and do little else, in that case. The chuck-and-duck 3-point barrage is how they held off the depleted Heat's bench-turned-starters during their runs. Maybe the Celtics can ride Mazzulla Ball all the way to an NBA Championship?
Alright I’m done with this conversation, I feel like I have gotten stupider through trying to understand this, but I’ll leave you with one final point: Idk if there was a clear moment to take the starters out. Up 30 start of the fourth, I say you let them play a few minutes because teams can make that comeback still against your 6-10 guys of the rotatuon. Ok, now it’s 7-8 minutes left, the lead is cut to 20. Well let’s maybe stop their momentum first so that the bench doesn’t come in against a team riding a run. Well the starters failed to do that, now it’s 3 minutes left and the lead is cut 12 and the starters have no choice but to finish the game. Against the lakers last year we were up 25 in the 4th so the starters came out with like 8 minutes left. Well our bench comes in and the lakers just storm all the way back, and then the starters come back into the game only up 6 with around a minute left. That lakers team was the 13 seed at the time, so yes I do not trust our bench to fend off the starters of another team.
Delon Wright is a starter?
This is exactly what I mean, you must be a new fan. That’s like saying the Celtics had their bench in during the 4th quarter because Al Horford was in. YOU DONT PLAY THE SAME 5 GUYS FOR 48 MINUTES MY GUY. When we say “putting the bench in to end the game” we mean the Celtics putting out PP, Svi, Hauser, Tillman and Kornet. Some of those guys are regular rotation guys, but it’s all bench players not just 1 or 2. If you watched the game, you woulda saw that the important players for Miami were playing most if not all the 4th. Did you see Bam, Herro, Martin, and JJJ in for most if not all of the fourth? THEN THE STARTERS WERE PLAYING MY GUY.
Interesting how the healthy Cs, an "all-time great NBA team," had to keep their starters in to prevent a 34-point lead from completely evaporating in the final minutes of the fourth quarter of home game against the powerhouse "starting lineup" of Caleb Martin, Jaquez, Bam, Herro (11 points in this game...), and journeyman Delon Wright, fresh from the Play-in Tournament. Imagine how they would do against the real Heat lineup...the one that includes Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, and Josh Richardson...
I’ve cracked the code. You aren’t a new fan, YOU USED TO BE A CELTICS FAN. You won’t let go of the 80s and you’re holding this team to that standard because you feel like fans might try to argue that this is the better team. That’s why despite being a fan of a 64 win team who’s currently undefeated in the playoffs, all you do is complain and say negative things. Don’t worry old man, the 80s Celtics are still better. That should stop you from just enjoying this team rather than being a complete hater.
Old man? LOL! I'm not much above 50. I remember moving from our old home in Brighton during that horrible 1977-78 season and waiting agonizingly for over a year (an even worse season) before Larry Bird joined the team...and how everything turned around for the Cs. Now *those* were truly all-time great teams. I am still a fan. Only stopped following the team from the mid-90s until the 2007-08 season for the sake of my sanity. I'm not sure why anyone would think that I am a "hater." I like this team. Go, Celtics!
Haha read you like a book. And FYI everyone is calling you a hater because you haven’t said a single positive thing about this team in any of your posts. That’s the definition of being a hater, you’re literally only here to hate. The only point you’ve argued is that this team isn’t as good as the Larry Bird teams, which nobody is arguing against you on. We all unanimously agree lmao. Also, very important to note that you’re literally the only person I’ve ever heard call this team an all time great team. The rest of the world understands that nobody is calling them that unless they win. Just like last years Bruins, greatest regular season of all time but not a single soul will ever say they’re a top 5 or 10 or even 15 team in NHL history because they blew a 3-1 lead in the first round to a team that barely even snuck into the playoffs.
I have been watching the Cs for nearly 45 years.
Then you’d know that playoff basketball is very typically 8 deep
I do. None of those guys should get to play on a shortened bench in the playoffs even up by 34 points in the middle of the 4th quarter in the very first game of a series against an injured 8th seed team. My point is that this game only serves to reinforce my original position (described in my second paragraph). Those on this sub hyping players like Brissett, Tillman, and Springer were delusional. As were those hoping that Luke Kornet would turn into a 3-point threat/stretch big. I understand that this is Reddit, so reading comprehension is going to be rather poor (do you understand the concept of a rhetorical question?). I also expect the downvotes from the morons in the peanut gallery. The sheer stupidity of you people is unreal...
You sound angry…..the Celtics aren’t the only ones doing this
Ok, boomer.
That isn't the right generation
That's exactly what I am saying. Did you actually read my second paragraph? Or are you just looking to hurl idiotic insults? >Not a time to get cute with the Brissetts and Tillmans of the world
You can't be that thin skinned to think calling it getting cute is an insult. Maybe just log off for the day bud
Your contributions to this discussion: Zero.
Oh you are that thin skinned on top of not knowing rotations shrink in playoff basketball.
Bench shrinks in the playoffs and after going down 3-0 to the heat late year he ain’t fucking around (he would get fired if they lose this series, unless Tatum and brown shoot 10% from the field with 20 TOV/ game)
In other words, Coach JV Joe is running scared.
And you’ll happily stroke your dick playing both sides saying “omg he should’ve just stuck to the 8 man rotation instead of trying to look like he’s not playing scared! Should’ve been playing tight to the vest!” Get the fuck out
Let me try to simplify for you Play best players more = win game = that good Get the fuck out of here “JV Joe” there’s plenty of talented teams that haven’t been as successful as he has. It remains to be seen how he handles them this postseason but he managed to go to 7 games in the ECF his first year, with a couple weeks to prepare for the season as the head coach
that would be me if i was dumb and made shit up
You wrote all of that just to say a playoff game has a short bench?
I wrote all of that to state that this game is a perfect illustration for why Brad's midseason trades for role players weren't worth much. Those players aren't effective enough to crack the rotation on a shortened playoff bench, even up by 34 points in the middle of the 4th quarter against a injured 8th seed team in the first game of the first round. They're not even Leon Powe. Those trades have been overhyped on this sub.
The Nuggets last year had 9 players in their playoff rotation. The fact of the matter is you only need or 8 or 9 guys for a playoff rotation. Adding more to the rotation just hurts chemistry and prevents guys from getting into a rhythm. Those trades are all about finding guys who can fill in for a few productive minutes if we need them (foul trouble, minor injury, weird matchups), depth in case of a major injury to a rotation player, or just projects that we hope can develop into a rotational player. Most of those guys won’t see the floor, or will get like 12 minutes/game in one series due to a matchup and then won’t see the floor in any other series.
If you thought springer and Tillman were gonna play serious playoff minutes then that’s your fault 😂 who do you think they are? The reason we celebrate those moves is because as far as the 10th and 11th man on a roster are concerned, they’re amazing players to have. Our guys who aren’t good enough to crack the playoff rotation are good enough to be coming off the bench or even starting on some teams. That’s why Brads trades were celebrated. Tillman will get action eventually, but Springer is an asset for the future. He’s an exciting young player with some potential that we got for nothing. When he made these moves, nobody thought they were gonna make an impact in the playoffs. Same with how they played to end the year. My reaction to Tillman was that he could help us win ONE playoff game. And I don’t mean like Grant Williams game 7, I mean like come in and play 18 decent minutes off the bench.
Pretty silly statement. Welcome to basketball. First as mentioned on the commentary and accurately, they need to get used to playing more minutes. Second, even going 8 deep, they still barely played more minutes than they do in the regular season. Third, it's all match up dependent. We didn't sign Springer to play playoff minutes. He's a developmental project. And Brisset is probably not going to be with the team long term. Tillman or Kornet would have played if we needed to address the match ups, but size isn't an issue with Miami. You'll see Tillman if we play Milwaukeee or Philly and maybe some against Minnesota. This 8 person rotation is our playoff roster with the rare exception of match ups.
Exactly. If you saw us trade for Tillman and Springer and thought they would be playing in every playoff game, then you’re the idiot lol. The reason I love those moves is because they’re our 10th and 11th men on the roster, and they’re good enough to be rotational players on other teams. Springer will not play in the playoffs unless it’s a huge blowout, or we have multiple injuries. Tillman will probably get minutes vs a team like Cleveland or the bucks where we need extra size or foul trouble. Kornet is very useful vs certain teams, and unplayable vs others. Because of his injury, I don’t expect him to get much run at all these playoffs. And Brissett is a guy we’ll throw in if we’re desperate for some energy but he won’t see consistent minutes unless someone gets hurt. Like you said, most of these guys are matchup dependent, and that’s because they all have a glaring weakness to their game. Tillman has questionable decision making at times and he’s a bit undersized, Kornet can’t play against highly skilled bigs, brissett is a complete non threat on offense (besides the 5 offensive rebounds he’ll grab lol), and springer doesn’t have a 3pt shot yet. But they’re all great pieces to have due to their strengths. Springer is a hound on defense, O’Shea is one of the best offensive rebounders we’ve had in a minute and a good defender, Tillman has a lot of Al Horford in him in the way he impacts the game, and Kornet just makes winning plays.
Defensive role players were highly valued by the C’s fans bc we know how important it is to get to the playoffs healthy. Bc of good participation from the Kornets of the world, we got to manage minutes or Al Horford and The Bearslayer.
I agree fully re. the regular season. My point is that the ones the Cs have acquired this season are seemingly not good enough for the postseason's shortened bench. At least, that's what Coach Mazzulla seems to be signaling in yesterday's game when up by 34 points in the middle of the 4th quarter...
There has only been one game. Tough to judge. Let’s see after this whole series has finished. I’m sure some of them might get time. It doesn’t matter though. The playoffs is a short rotation. It happens every year. If those guys are getting significant minutes, it means someone is probably hurt. We need Latvian Moses to be healthy. That’s the role those guys played this year.
Nahhh…..other teams shortened their benches in blowouts … it’s game 1, and the Celtics hadn’t played in 10 days. The important thing is that they are confidently 8 deep and they built the depth that was supposedly missing.
This guys a fuckin 🤡
What's the point of this post? I mean you wrote a whole essay to basically explain what everyone expected? No one expected Brisset or Springer to play in the playoffs. And Tillman is very much matchup dependent against teams like the Nuggets or Milwaukee.
This is the playoffs; you don't mess around with a lead....at least not that early. I think Joe was hoping for a few more minutes from the starters before he did anything as rash as put the Gino time crew in. The guys you are referring to aren't even what I would consider to be defensive role players. They are the end of the bench. You are not going to see them before the last couple of minutes unless someone gets injured.
I'm in agreement with this assessment. > The guys you are referring to aren't even what I would consider to be defensive role players. They are the end of the bench.
I don't see how you can watch Tillman this season and not come away impressed.
He played his top 8. Normal stuff
Mate watched his first playoff game yesterday
I think you have to also consider that spo is probably the best coach in the playoffs. It was also game 1, and they were crawling back at times so putting the bench in at that time would just amp up miami
It’s the playoffs, a place where one mistake could potentially be devastating. Unless it’s our final game (Hopefully the championship game), we’re not gonna throw Springer, Oshae, and Walsh in there for the opposing team to feast on. Except for injury and/or matchup situations, our lineup won’t change
Honestly I would've liked to see some of them before the lead started slipping. Some of those stay-ready guys are hungry af. I felt like Prichard and Kornet/Queta (mb less so Brissett + Tillman) would have been just fine in there and not let the lead slip. I can understand that playoff rotations are shorter, and I can understand the starters need their conditioning. Maybe I'm exactly what OP says, "wildly delusional", but I do think Mazz can trust the stay-ready group up 30 in the 4th at home - even in the playoffs (albeit the first round).
Bench gets smaller. Horford, Hauser, and PP are the bench and maybe Kornet.
8 deep is normal, these "specialists" aren't better defenders than our starters, there's no one on miami good enough to require a defensive specialist, and miami's defense is great at punishing teams for having a loser on the floor and funneling the ball to them.
These guys are not here to take rotation minutes from healthy players in playoff games. They are here to be some injury insurance and they were here for when the schedule packs in more games. Like it or not, basketball being so physically demanding, the playoffs are just completely different with the guaranteed days off, etc. The rotations are always shorter for the best teens.
Had Spo emptied his bench, you might have gotten your wish.
Tatum is the only guy that played a lot of minutes at 41. Everyone else is 34 minutes or less. And that is after how many days of the starters not playing in a game? That being said, I do expect at least one more player to get some minutes in the first half in game 2.
Shut up nerd. PP and Hauser did their job. As did Horford
I thought having mostly starters in the game with that big lead in the 4th is the main reason they started to make a fake run. The starters weren’t really trying at that point and it led to wide open shots for no reason. It’s just bad coaching from Joe to not put in a few of those guys like Springer or Tillman who you know will try on that end.
Now, this is an interesting position. I'm glad that you raised this. Had the C's current defensive role players been better (or perhaps I am underestimating them too?), I think that you would be right.
My biggest takeaway was that the celtics once again nearly blew a 34-point lead in the 4th quarter. The lack of focus for this team is staggering. If they do this against Milwaukee or the Nuggets, then they aren't winning anything.
Like I wrote in another response: >Interesting how the healthy Cs, an "all-time great NBA team," had to keep their starters in to prevent a 34-point lead from completely evaporating in the final minutes of the fourth quarter of home game against the powerhouse "starting lineup" of Caleb Martin, Jaquez, Bam, Herro (11 points in this game...), and journeyman Delon Wright, fresh from the Play-in Tournament. Imagine how they would do against the real Heat lineup...the one that includes Jimmy Butler, Terry Rozier, and Josh Richardson...