BGleas

Jaylen Brown has 40 points, 1 assist and 7 turnovers. I don't even know what to make of that?

I'm good with that. But anytime you have PJ Tucker and Kyle Lowry you can't play the victim.

You must not have watched much of the Milwaukee-Celtics series. That was bad, but not that bad.

Fixed it for you. PJ Tucker has been pushing and shoving Tatum all over the court. The play where Tatum hurt his shoulder Oladipo fouled the crap out of him.

Just an absolutely epic meltdown by the Celtics tonight. 22 turnovers with Smart, Tatum and Brown combining for 17. Just an atrocious performance. I think Boston is clearly the better team in this series, but it doesn't really matter when you're down 1-2. Tatum 3-for-14, 1-for-7 from 3, with 6 turnovers. Rare to see a superstar meltdown that bad. He had a similar game in the Milwaukee series.

This game is so frustrating. Tatum, Brown and Smart have a combined 17 turnovers while shooting a combined 3-for-17 from 3. Many of the turnovers have just been stupid, bonehead plays.

That should tell you it really is bothering him and affecting his play. He didn't look great in the first half.

I guess he's just not as tough as guys like Kareem Abdul Jabbar. Only real men miss Finals games with a hurt ankle.

https://twitter.com/SeanGrandePBP/status/1528193175877304322 For some reason this tweet won't embed, but this is why you need good big men to win. The Celtics have been outscored by 42 points in Daniel Theis' 34 minutes played in the series and Boston has outscored Miami by 41 in the 86 minutes Theis hasn't played. The only reason Theis has played that many minutes is because Robert Williams, a all-defensive 2nd team selection, has missed games 1 & 3. Without Williams protecting the rim, defending on switches and catching lob dunks, the Celtics are not nearly as good.

Celtics with just an awful first half performance. An absolute win to cut the lead to 15 going into half. Not ideal, but need to win the 3rd quarter and then make it a game going down the stretch.

Who said anything about building the team around them? I missed where that was the premise? Regardless, you still need those guys. They're not irrelevant to the game. You still need them to win, and if the best player available in the draft is an athletic, versatile big (especially defensively) then you take them. As an example, the Cavs took Evan Mobely #3 last year and he's going to be a great, really important player for them. They start him with Jarrett Allen and it's a formidable, athletic front line that really helped propel Cleveland into a playoff team. Garland is the key, best player, but they aren't a playoff team without Allen and Mobely.

Great share! I only had time to skim the article but really looking forward to reading more. At a high level, this article highlights why I can't see JG being a wing in a lineup with TJD and Race. One, because he hasn't shown any wing skills through two seasons, but also because the game is changing. As the article said, the real change in basketball hasn't been eliminating centers or more guards, it's been the removal of the traditional power forward. Gone are the Charles Oakley's, PJ Brown's, Horace Grant's, etc. Teams now basically play guards and wings, with a versatile almost 3rd wing at the 4 and then a center. I know this hasn't completely trickled down to college yet, but I still don't see a scenario where IU goes XJ, JHS, JG, Race, TJD. It's just counter to the entire direction the game is going.

I don’t know, athletic bigs that can protect the rim, switch multiple positions defensively and finish at the rim and/or shoot are still valuable. The Celtics best lineup is Robert Williams with Horford, the Bucks played Brooke Lopez and Giannis, Miami plays Bam Adebayo, GS Looney, Phoenix Ayton, Philly Embiid, etc., etc.

Who said anything about not disciplining him? A game 7 months later for speeding seems stupid though. I guarantee whatever Woodson did to punish him is far worse than missing an exhibition game that doesn't even count.

Apples and oranges. Completely different offenses/accusations and there are numerous differences between college and pro, with a big one being that punishments at the pro level are collectively bargained.

Seems kind of dumb, but ok. I think those type of things are more for placating the fans that scream about this stuff online as opposed to being any kind of productive punishment.

Not 7 months after the fact. That doesn't accomplish anything.

Why would he be getting punished like 7 months after the fact?

Right, but my point was 45% in 1976 was really bad. Buckner would he far worse in today's game, not 45%. I realize that also supports your point, though I'm not arguing against that. Just saying, when you said Buckner shot 45% and that wasn't really that bad, it kind of was.

All great stuff! Wasn't really debating any of that, was just talking about shooting percentages.

Buckner's would not be good today, because if he played today he wouldn't be taking the same shots. Even guards back then typically shot from much closer than they do now. For example, XJ isn't really considered a good shooter, but his TS% is 8% higher for his college career than Buckner's was.

Yeah, XJ and JHS will play a ton together and most likely be the starting backcourt. Galloway obviously isn't a point guard, but you sub him in as a secondary ball handler then when one of XJ and JHS are out. Galloway kind of mitigates the need for a true backup point guard.

Awesome news! Feels good to have excitement going into an offseason for once!

Robert Williams called for a foul for banging his face off Jimmy Butler's elbow.

Haha, yeah I might have gotten frustrated a little early tonight 🤣. Though, last game Miami jumped us in the 3rd, so this isn't over.