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UNDER CONSTRUCTION BUT ITS BASICALLY ALL BASKETBALL DISCUSSIONS HERE.
Any GSW fans here?
go blazers
I'll just drop this here:
Celtics fan here. Absolutely worried to hell about my teams future. Shocked and happy by the Raptors victory. Didn't think there was a chance any Eastern team could beat the Warriors. Feel real bad for KD. Happy that next year we finally won't see a steamrolling GSW though. Might actually make the league fun to watch again to me. Curious to see how the Lakers turn out with LeBron and AD. Have to hate AD now cause he is a Laker. Don't think the Eastern Conference can beat the Western again next year though.
Hey! do you like the rubber ball?
3 first rounders, Tatum, and Brown? I wouldn't worry too much. Future may not look as bright as it did just last season, but it's still brighter than most teams.
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NBA Draft 2019 in the midst of it
Except imo Brown took a step back last season. Hopefully he can get back on track next season but I did not like how he played throughout the year. Tatum is showing promise but still needs to improve to me. I know I am the only person in the world that feels this way but I am not a huge fan of Brad Stevens. I think he makes average players better but stars under perform. He draws up great plays and all but when he can't get the best from the best it is not enough to beat the truly elite teams.
I am not saying I am worried about making the playoffs or that they are gonna be a lottery team. I am worried about a championship. I know it is entitled and spoiled but that is the nature of Boston sports rn. Every team should be in play for the title and that is where our expectation should be. Much like last season without any moves I fear there is very little chance of beating the good Eastern teams let alone whoever wins the Western. I was not convinced by their season and Indiana series, and that showed against the Bucks. We were thoroughly outclassed.
All the first round picks are nice and all but if you are relying on first year players that aren't lottery picks to take you over the hump you are in big trouble. We'll see how many of them stay and how many are dealt too. Also have not been impressed at all by our ability to develop players specially lower picks.
At this point the team is Smart, which I don't like, Brown, Tatum and Howard and no one on the bench that can actually help imo. If Brown improves and Howard gets back in pre-injury form it's a decent starting team but you need at least competent bench to win in the NBA. It is still super early in the off-season so I'm sure the team will change a lot, people will get signed and traded so we'll see.
I see your point. If your mindset is title right now, I'd be pissed too. With Kyrie and Al leaving, the title window may have closed for now, but the future is still bright. Sure Brown took a step back last year, but there were so many circumstances that could've caused that (less playing time, chemistry issues, etc.). If they really do clean house, I'm sure he'll have a bounce back year. Nice mix of rookies from this year's draft too, plus they still have Memphis' pick for next year. At least you guys aren't the Wizards who just ruined their future by taking Rui ?
Yeah absolutely. The future is not bleak at all, just the present is what worries me. As I said I know I am being extremely entitled and spoiled, but this is the standard we've come to expect from Boston teams. We'll see how the draft picks develop and how they decide to use them, either put them in the D-league, use for trade chips or try to mold them into contributors for the team. It's just a lot of uncertainty from a team that imo has not done the best job of developing young players. I am also not a fan of Ainge. I feel like he relies too much on big name free agents. When it works it's great like with Allen and Garnett, but he is bad at building a solid team around those guys and maintaining a competitive bench. When it doesn't work we get last season.
I don't follow college bball at all but from what I've read I don't dislike the Hachimura pick for the Wizards. He seems like a hardworking kid who improved every season in college. Not a sexy pick that will become a superstar, but by all accounts this draft had very few of those types of players. He seems like a solid player that you can slot as a starter for the future. The issue imo with the Wizards is they need to decide if it's rebuild time or not. With Wall injured and Howard coming off an injury himself on a 1 year deal it's kind of time to either go all in or blow it up imo. They are in a real awkward spot imo.
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Wonder how Zion would fit in the Pelicans
Alke
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Tatum needs to stop jacking up 18 foot iso stepbacks like he's Kobe. Concerned long term about his actual dribbling ability mainly, sometimes it looks like he wants to get by people but doesn't have the handles to actually do it so he settles for an awful contested mid range shot.
Too early to lose hope on Brad imo, Kyrie ruined the locker room last year which makes it really tough to get the best out of your players.
This sums up last season really well for Boston imo
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If they get 3 point shooters around him then he'll be great, Lonzo and Zion should be fun especially with the pace the Pelicans play at.
Let's go Knicks! so pumped up for next season. great young players to build around!
Yeah that is one of the things Tatum needs to improve for sure. Iirc Paul Pierce even said he wanted Tatum to drive more and draw those fouls.
My thoughts on Stevens aren't a reaction to last season, they are how I've felt about him since his 3rd season when we overachieved to reach the playoffs. With scrappy guys like Avery Bradley, Isaiah Thomas, Jared Sullinger, etc he gets the best of them. But with talented guys I have always felt like he never got the most out of them. He is a good coach just don't know if he has the team building and motivational side some coaches have to put good teams over the top. I feel like he needs every player to be a worker bee type. If he gets someone who needs to be pushed I don't think he can do it.
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You're right that managing your superstars egos is one of the most important jobs of a coach, especially nowadays in such a star centered league. The Celts definitely could have made a Toronto like run if Stevens kept the locker room together. Think it can be argued that while Kawhi is better than Kyrie the remainder of the Celts roster was better than Toronto's. Ainge really should have tried to trade for a star this offseason since it puts them at an immediate disadvantage to not have one compared to the Raptors/Bucks/76ers. I would like their situation a lot more if they were able to package picks/players together and make a run for Beal or another guy who could be the #1 guy in a deep playoff run.
Absolutely agree. It's still early in the off-season though. I am 100% certain he will move guys and acquire some too. The question is will it be the right guys. I have not been overly impressed by Ainge's player trades. He gets good draft picks but when he trades players I always feel we give up important guys. I didn't like sending Avery Bradley away for one. Sure offensively he is limited but he is better than Smart imo in every aspect including grit. In hind-sight the Isaiah Thomas trade was right because his injury was a lot more serious than we thought but at the time I didn't like giving away a high pick plus a local hero even if for only a few seasons for a superstar that only had 2 years left in his contract. He basically made a deal that would only work in our favor if we won a title in those 2 years and still we would have to pay Kyrie a max contract for him to stay.
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Ainge is a good gm, but he gets overrated a bit by the Nets basically giving him their future for 3 washed up vets. Bradley was definitely a better leader/locker room guy than Smart is, Smart plays with a lot of heart for sure but Bradley spent a lot of time with the young guys trying to boost them up. On last years Boston team it was Horford then a bunch of guys who only cared about themselves and getting the roles they think they deserved.
I don't care if the IT trade was right, trading a guy who gave you everything he had even through an injury and a death in the family like IT did is the most heartless thing I've ever seen in sports. I think it was the right move business wise because Kyrie was a top 8 player who showed strong playoff performances but I've always hated Ainge since that trade.
I'm not even sure who they'll acquire though, I don't think it will be any big names since they haven't been linked to any of the available stars. If they can shed some salary while getting Steven Adams I wouldn't mind that for them.
Yeah. the IT trade was scummy too because of all he did and represented. I did not fault him at all for being upset for so long after it. Still am glad that seemingly he has calmed down about it. Boston still loves him a lot from what I've seen.
Definitely the biggest names aren't available. AD already traded and looking like Kawhi will resign a huge deal with Toronto. Maybe we can land KD but he is out for the entire of next season and we don't know if he will be the same after coming back too. Not to mention that would be a bad sign for Tatum's future. It is real bad timing to lose Kyrie and Horford. Another reason why I didn't like the trade. I looked at Horford age and contract and this exact scenario was my biggest fear. No title, both walk and you are left with lesser options for the future. Maybe if Hayward hadn't gotten hurt things would be different, but no use dwelling over that.
Looking at the free agents there are guys still out there that could help at big holes, but none are superstars that would carry the team. So you are basically putting all your eggs on Tatum and Brown to step up into star roles. I would be down with that because I think your future depends on those guys, but that would be risky cause if they fail you are looking into tanking territory when their contracts end. Unless another crazy gm wants to give up all their assets for failed nº3 overall former picks.
I personally wouldn't call Ainge a good GM. Up until now I would say he is ok at best. He has a good eye for talent but often mishandles team building imo. We have not had a good center in ages, our bench is always awful. The last good bench we had was the championship one imo. He also does a good job trading for assets but gives up guys whose value goes beyond stats and numbers as I said before. He finds the crazy person wanting to do a crazy trade and takes advantage of that guy but we imo always end up with a lesser team.
This offseason is huge imo. Depending on what he does here we can see 3 years of losing before the Eastern Championship or being relevant every year for it like the Patriots. Not saying we have to always make it to the Finals or the Championship but at least not get destroyed like we did against the bucks. If they lose in the second round again but at least keep it competitive I'll be happy.
It would be nice to keep Morris, but I don't know how much he wants. He was one of the few good things last season imo but he is not worth that much. Kemba Walker would be a good addition. He would be expensive and I would like a point that passes more but we need scorers too and he is a good one. I have no idea what the Klay Thompson situation is but I doubt we will have a shot. He is probably gonna want a max contract and I don't know if we do that. HE is good but I don't know how good without Curry.
People have been talking about D'angelo Russel, and he would be a nice addition in a position of need, but he is restricted and I don't know what it would take to get him. Same with Malcolm Brogdon but I like Russel better.
We definitely need a center and there are some decent ones out there. I know the league is going small ball but I still think you need a true center. Our low post game has been so weak for so long and our rebounding has been lacking imo.
Ideally we resign Morris, pick up a good C and a scoring PG. If at least one of the rookies becomes a good bench option and you pick up a couple guys to be bench guys I think it is a pretty solid team that can compete. If Tatum, Hayward and Brown improve that is. Mainly Hayward and Brown. Hayward flashed in a few games last season that he could go back to his pre-injury self but consistency is huge. Brown also flashed his talent in some games but way more lows that highs imo.
I want no part of Rozier. 2 seasons ago he gave me hope being a great bench guy, but last season his performance and specially his atitude and post season interview completely turned me around. Otherwise the guys that are currently signed to be on the bench give me no confidence at all. I still think Smart for as hard as he plays is like playing with a man down on offense and that is too much. If they think of him as the starter for the season I'll be extremely upset. Yes defense is important but scoring is more. Specially when you are not great at rebounding. What use is it forcing missed baskets if they have just as an easy time defending you because one of your players can't shoot.