I agree with Tatum. It’s too late to change how the team offense plays. What I would change: if Tatum gets a switch onto Brunson, shouldn’t he be able to do better than a 3 pointer?

I agree regression to the mean will happen eventually and they will make their threes at their season average.

Getting up by 20 and blowing the lead is the identity of the team

Non C-s fan here. Yeah, shooting 3s looks stupid when it doesn’t work but its what makes y’all so unstoppable, you can’t change that. But damn, if the team has missed 55 3s in a row and Tatum gets a switch on a barely 6’2 dude he needs to capitalize on that and not go for another stepback 3. The impact of a few easy buckets on the teams mentality and rhythm can be absolutely huge, whereas the impact of missing your 56th consecutive three can be just as big in the opposite direction.

I get it, but at the same time, being able to adapt in real time HAS to be apart of your identity too. Saying “we shoot nothing but 3’s no matter the situation” is not really a strategy, and even people that don’t watch basketball could tell you that’s a dumb fucking way to play.

I wonder if pro fighters say this mid round while getting their asses kicked, or do they make adjustments.

Build a lead by going to the basket, then blow the game by missing 3s is the only way? Maybe we’re talking about getting rid of the wrong players

They won last year in part because in crunch time they attacked inside instead of continuing to take threes

That mentality is gone this year

We go ²²⁄₅₀ on threes in game 3 which encourages the team to shoot more.

Then we shoot ⁸⁄₅₀ in game 4.

People ignoring the fact that they were missing layups too. I understand being upset but some of y’all are insufferable with the factually incorrect takes. Rag on them for missing shots, sure. But when you keep parroting that all they did was shoot threes when they were clearly looking to get in the paint and just couldn’t convert, you look like an idiot.

Change the identity, might be to late for this season but for the future. Can’t be shooting a league average at 3% but at a record setting volume.

I mean he’s absolutely right. Our problem is we aren’t making shots. We’re getting wide open looks and laying terrible bricks

He’s not wrong, but there have to be other adjustments and I feel that is up to the coach. Tatum tried not chucking 3s - he only took 5 and they were basically all open - but he missed 3 straight layups in the 1st half and took some awful fall-aways.

We can win with Tatum having an off-shooting night if he’s doing all of the other things he was doing out there; but we can’t win if literally every other player on the roster is shooting below their averages. The Jaylen TOs and the KP disaster just torpedoed us after it looked like we could stay afloat.

Yes, JT, but settling for threes is not the way that you actually play. Thats just the common result.

This team plays a motion offense that exploits mismatches. You target the weak links in the opponent’s defense, drive to the paint, and then kick out when they collapse. You make the defense rotate and exploit gaps on cuts or missed rotations.

So do that! Attack Brunson and KAT. Grind them down every possession like you did Luka so they can’t expend all their energy on offense. Get into the paint and either finish at the rim, get fouled, or find the open man for 3.

I agree with that in some respect, but at some point when the team is missing shots, something has to change. Run a play to get an easy bucket. And in my opinion it’s all coaching. 

This is true but when shots aren’t falling they get giga shooked. Knicks were pretty much dictating the Celtics offense with their defense at the end there.

We all beg for less 3s, but this team is clearly all-in on this strategy and they’ve passed the point of no return. Just gotta hope these open looks fall I guess.

Yeah your identity is being 6’11 and playing like a guard. Stop tryna imitate Kobe bruh you don’t got that kind of love

Wait, they came out driving successfully to the rim, then started jacking 3’s, so don’t treat us like morons. Adapt for f’s sake, you are supposed to be pros.

This shit drives me up a wall. Can your identity be a team who runs more than one action every possession instead of isos and hoping someone gets left open behind the arc? Or are you all content to lose to an inferior team because you’re too stubborn to adjust?

There were multiple crucial possessions where we had less than two passes, several of them featured 0 passes before the shot! You can’t hide behind shot variance when you won’t even bother to run an offense!

Can’t shoot ²⁵⁄₁₀₀ from 3 first two games and expect to win. Losing both games by one bucket actually a bit of an accomplishment. Make it 30-³⁶⁄₁₀₀ and we’re up 2-0. 

People hate it but a lot of times it’s no more complicated than actually putting the ball in the hoop

This is the biggest cop out statement I’ve ever heard. Shooting 3s no matter what isn’t their identity. That is the identity of a one-dimensional, inflexible team. That is the identity Tatum is describing. The idea that a team of highly experienced superstars can’t shift gears is preposterous. Not only are they more than talented and experienced enough to do so, they HAVE TO when the situation calls for it. Shame on Joe for this and shame on Tatum for believing it. The guy said we can’t adjust out loud in front of the world. My mind is blown.

That identity is closer to 2019 Rockets. I’ll take more Jaylen midrange shots and more ball movement. A predictable identity is not a sustainable one.

This is some Disney ass shit. Thibs changed his entire defensive game plan for this team. Adjustments win chips.

It was the execution rather than the way yall play. I think most people understand that. If we need a quality bucket we need someone on the team that can generate that for us. So far its be a struggle to find someone besides derrick white.

What does it have to do with our piss poor late game execution? We can’t even generate a shot let alone a good one?

who you are- going well, everyone moving, open shots. not going well, no movement, defended shots (this happens after you miss some shots)

It sucks it happened 2 games in a row but the level of hate from our own fanbase is so strange

They’re getting mostly good looks, they aren’t falling. Series isn’t over yet

Maybe they could at least change their game so they actually get a shot off with a chance to win it at the end, instead do getting blocked or striped by Bridges both times.

Last night they were missing everything. Layups, mid range jumpers. It was ugly. Almost like they got inside their own heads.

Game 1 was the most egregious. They had the Knicks in foul trouble, they only had to keep driving. Why they settled for 3’s when NY could no longer physically defend is beyond me.

Okay, so when they get swept because they went ⁵⁵⁄₂₀₀ from 3 for the series, at least we know they kept their identity as a team intact.

Tldr: we live by the three, we die by the three. Nothing new. I hate this One dimensional type of basketball no matter what

Been saying this all day long

They generate open shots a lot they just didn’t make them enough. People forget this. But still if you miss 3 open shots in a row you might want to mix things up a bit. Stop being rigid and stubborn

Do your talking at the rim, otherwise save it.

I mean they are missing WIDE OPEN threes. It’s not like they are taking bad shots, they just can’t buy a bucket right now.

Damn. Jayson Tatum is a frustrating player to watch, he pisses me off with his dumbass shot selection and it’s annoying that he’s not more versatile as a scorer… but he’s right. I hate to say it but he’s 100% right here. The worst thing the Celtics can do in the next game is start passing up open threes. They have to stick to their identity come hell or high water.

We lost by one point. The only fg for 8 mins was when he ran to the rim and dunked it…

I agree to a certain extent but fully sticking to the process that isn’t working is dumb. Everyone watching knows it’s dumb.

Yes we couldn’t make threes but this game could’ve been won if we got clutch rebounds at the end or just showed any heart. We barely tried to rebound at the end either. One clutch rebound and Jaylen just stood staring at the ball

Also the hack-a-Mitch was dumb

The opposite approach from the greatest football coach ever. BB wouldn’t say this… The approach was always twofold. 1) take away the other teams most dangerous weapon and 2) take what defense is giving you.

You can argue the Knicks are giving us open looks. Ok fine. But it’s a subtle difference in attitude. Stubborn “we aren’t changing” vs Confident “we can beat you many ways”.

Game 5 against Orlando showed me we didn’t have to hit threes to win the game. They absolutely can take it to the paint and score when they want. Zero threes in the first half carrying a lead. It’s been a choice to play like this and blow the lead.

Yeah, I get it they missed some bunnies and wide open threes but they proved against the number 2 defense in the league last series that they could play differently if needed.

Tatum and Brown have been shooting 31.x over roughly 700- shots in 90- individual player appearances since January (playoff and regular season combined) which is multiple standard deviations below league average despite the team generating excellent looks at 3 overall.

In that period, in the regular season, out of 48 players to make at least 100 threes, Tatum is 10th in volume while having the second worst 3P% after Shaedon Sharpe (47th out of 48 players). Out of 101 players to make at least 75 threes, he has the fourth worst 3P% after Sharpe, Lamelo Ball and Paulo Banchero (98th out of 101 players).

Maybe there needs to be an internal shift and reality check that acknowledges that letting the both of them rip from 3 on nights when the long ones are clearly not falling can lead to disaster?

It feels like the offensive system operates like they are both 37-39% 3P shooters who are 50% when open when at least medium term trends indicates that it is clearly not the case.

You don’t win many championships if you don’t know how to play multiple styles of basketball.

Look at the warriors, they can play free flowing motion offense, but they also play lockdown rockfight when things get tight.

I mean I get it.. you hit even a small % of those shots and you win both games.

But in the 4th with them mounting a comeback and you are missing that many shot, you gotta be able to adapt

The issue is we are not playing like we did last year.  We are passing and cutting less and ISO’ing more.  We don’t fix that, we end the season early.

It’s hard when you can actively see them 2nd guess their abilities. It really showed in crunch time of game 2. Hopefully they can keep out those doubts and doubters and dial it in. They’re capable.

I don’t know if it’s the offense that needs to change, but losing a 20 point lead two games a row should indicate SOMETHING needs to change…

When investing… it’s good to take more risks when you’re young. Have more volatile stocks with high variance in your portfolio so you can grab some outperformance. You have time for the volatility to even out.

When you’re closer to retirement you want to cut out the volatility so you rein it in and move your money to the safety of fixed income and maybe dividend stocks.

To me if you’re up 20 with 7 minutes to go you are close to retirement.

You want the highest % shots on each possession. You don’t need the volatility of pull up threes and iso jumpers. Yet that’s always what Boston does.

The Celtics never rein it in. They take high variance shots the whole time no matter what.

Please just use y’all athleticism, deep bench, length, and go out and dominate the Knicks like yall did in the regular season. It just seems like to me the Knicks want it more. We can’t keep going almost 9 minutes without making a basket and excepting to come out with a win. We should not be down 0-2 in this series but instead up 2-0 heading into game 3 but sadly that isn’t the case. Continue to play your identity with launching as many three pointers as possible hasn’t really worked out in our favor going 25-100 in first two games. Just get out of this funk and play your brand of basketball. I want to see us show how we are the defending champs for fuck sake! Take back what’s ours!

If you have zero ability to adapt, that is a massive problem.

The thing is off ball Celtics shooters need to pump fake or drive when the Knicks close out hard to them after helping on Tatum. Doing so would create even more open opportunities

I’ve been saying this. We had so many open 3s that didn’t fall. We had a historically bad shooting night. Refs called the foul for Brunson to get the lead. But didn’t call the foul from og on Tatum to end the game. They let em play. We had 20 point leads in both games and missed opportunities let them come back. Knicks ain’t win these games man, missed shots and bad calls did.

We’re winning the next two just watch

Ain’t going out like this. Fake fans can leave now

Bro, you’re the one changing. You’re getting punked and have played like a little bitch. You know you can own the Knicks, so go out there and OWN them

So you’d rather lose out by being stubborn and sticking to your identity that’s not working, rather than figuring out an alternative game-plan or other ways to win games?. Your identity should be championship winners and by any means possible NOT by any 3 possible. Insert Einstein quote of insanity smh