coaches, executives and scouts who spoke to Heavy Sports agree on one thing.
They’ve seen it before.
“There is a pattern of behavior that is common here,” said one Eastern Conference coach, “so it’s not so crazy that these guys are struggling to execute down the stretch of games.”
“It’s a pattern,” echoed a league exec. “Last year it seemed like they had two terrible games in every series they played. Now you throw in them losing Game 2 when they weren’t terrible, and this is where you are.
League exec is right, it did seem like two awfuls every series.
“To win in the playoffs, you really have to play well. It’s not that complicated. And when you have Marcus Smart and Brown and Horford and Brogdon … like, I’m not sure, other than Robert Williams, who HAS played well. …“There’s like six players that are having terrible playoffs in comparison to their regular season. And their offensive struggles may have led to so many of the defensive challenges that they’ve had. It’s dispiriting.”
Joe Mazzulla's inelegant press conferences...
Inelegant press conferences! Like Trump had some "inelegant press conferences"! Ho ho ho.
But one veteran scout who’s had to keep very close tabs on the Celtics took a step back for perspective.
“Joe seems to be taking most of the abuse, and I’m not saying he doesn’t have things that he could be better at, but these patterns have happened with Brad Stevens and Ime Udoka, ...
I don't remember Stevens but the scout is absolutely correct; even I "saw" these same issues in the 2022 'loffs.
...as well. Same types of issues down the stretch of games — sharing the ball, ball movement, just dribbling out the clock, lot of isolation basketball, defensive lapses. All these things have existed for years. The difference between this year and last year is that last year these things didn’t catch up with them fully until The Finals. This year it’s happening a series earlier. Jayson and Jaylen still have room to grow.
Bullshit. They are not going to grow out of quitting. They grew into quitting. brown turd is in his seventh season with Beans, Hatem is in his sixth. There is no more room to go. They have outgrown their pot. They don't have what it takes to be champions; they never had it. They're entitled little shits.
Do they have it all figured out yet? I don’t think so. And having three coaches in three years doesn’t help either. If they had any one of those coaches all three years, they probably would be better at this stage.”
Okay, now hold up there, scout. In the first paragraph you traced these idiots' idiotic behavior back past JoeMaz, through Udoka and Stevens. They had it then, they have it now. If it had been one coach through three seasons, you'd be sourcing the idiocy in that coach.
The scout went on to point out that Tatum and Brown are well known around the league for playing into opponents’ hands.
“When things aren’t going well, Jayson or Jaylen, or both of them, or Marcus, they’ll all try to take the game over by themselves. That’s not so much selfish as it is their habits.
Noble Heavy, where did you get this guy. This is gibberish. It's not selfish, it's their habits. Selfish is habitual.
"It’s how they’ve been playing for years. When Tatum scored those 51 points, he took the game over, and he was able to. But you’re not always going to be able to, because a team like Miami will force him to a bad shot or to give the ball up, and too many times he tries to force it and he makes a bad decision.
“I know from someone who worked there that Stevens was working with Tatum on that in his rookie year — that when you get to the paint, the extra pass is still necessary. They know that.”
Right. They know that. Heavy, I hope you have quotes from someone else. I really hope this knucklehead isn't a scout for the "Heat."
Said a coach who’s taken teams deep into spring, “At this stage of the playoffs, your weaknesses are exposed. They were exposed last year in The Finals.”
That's nothing but boilerplate.
Celtics weaknesses most loudly include an inability to sustain focus and stick with what works, as well as a lack of resiliency in the moment. They may bounce back in the next game or close an early gap, but when hit hard in crunch time, they are far more likely to fold. That’s not on Mazzulla.
No, but. It's not all on Mazzulla, it's mostly on the players, but it has been three different coaches, and Stevens drafted these snow flakes and hired JoeFlake.
“I don’t understand for the life of me why we blame coaches so much when everyone who’s a part of the business knows you don’t win in this league unless you have players who take responsibility,” the coach said.
BECAUSE THEY'RE THERE. SOMEBODY COACHES, FOOL. WHY DON'T WE DO AWAY WITH COACHES? JOEMAZ HAS AL-FUCKING-HORFORD CONDUCTING HUDDLES DURING TIMESOUT! IS THAT COACHING?
“That doesn’t mean taking the ball and going one-on-one; it means taking the responsibility to make the right play. That’s the kind of thing that gets contagious and leads to wins. Like, man up on defense and take on the challenge.”
The coach then paused and added, “The funny thing is, that’s who Joe Mazzulla is. That’s the kind of personality he has. He may be having some issues as a coach … but if the Celtics were playing with the kind of intensity Joe Mazzulla has, they’d damn sure be taking responsibility on themselves and fighting back.
BULLSHIT. I would like to say Bull. Shit.
“I want to know why a Tatum or Brown isn’t just standing up and saying, ‘I got Butler. I’m going to be all over him.’
I want to know why JoeMaz doesn't COACH: "You-->You got Butler."
That’s the kind of thing you want to see. I’m frustrated that there’s not more fire.”
That's who JoeMaz is, huh? All fire and God Damn. Bull SHIT.
That last comment was repeated to a league source, who replied flatly, “Miami stole their heart in Game 3.
Click on that link: It takes you to G3 LAST SEASON. That's light, Heavy.
“They did it to New York, and they did it to Milwaukee. I mean, they’ve had like one bad game in the playoffs. It’s been crazy. I’m not sure there’s been enough credit give to Miami’s shooting and their toughness. People will talk about Jimmy, but it’s their whole team. They’re just stepping up and beating people.”
Another front office vet believes the Celtics have played a major role in their fall to 0-3 in these Eastern Conference finals.
“This makes no sense — especially for a group of guys that have played well all year,” he said. “You can look at some of their losses to bad teams, but they still won the second-most games in the league (one short of Milwaukee’s 58). You’ve got Horford, who is the second-leading 3-point shooter in the NBA, and you’ve got Brogdon, who’s the Sixth Man of the Year. Derrick White is on the All-Defensive team, and Jaylen and Jayson are All-NBA. It makes no sense that they could play that well all year and then lose it like this now in this series.
“Their confidence
is rattled, and that’s not by their coach;...
Oh my God. The team lacking confidence is not on the coach. Any of you quoted here, give me the job specs for NBA coach. No dribbling or shooting required, not responsible for team psyche. Generous benefits.
...that’s by your opposition. Miami is doing that to them… or they’re doing it to themselves. Part of it is Miami’s defense, and part of it is they can’t make a shot, and the pressure’s mounting.”
Terrible article. Terrible sources.
