[Katz] Jayson Tatum looking like Jayson Tatum is a horrifying development for the rest of the East.
Celtics gap year is just another contention year, even after their frontcourt outside of Tatum got dismantled in the offseason and they lost a key 3 and D starting guard in Jrue.
Yup. Insane to lose Jrue, the entire center rotation (KP, Horford, Luke) and then Tatum for like 80% of the season and still end up as the 2 seed (and like 4th best record in the league).
Testament to Joe as a coach.
And Brad as a GM.
And perhaps JB, White, and PP are still very slept on
And Hauser.
I watched some dude named Scheierman feast today. Celtics are a cheat code of white boy depth
Derek and the Whites rotation is goated.
Derrick and the Dominos
Baylor has lowkey been cooking. Today was his 4th double-double in his last 14 games.
They had an all-white lineup at one point and not including Derrick White.
Pritchard hauser schierman hugo and garza, dropping ethical buckets at a medium pace
The fact is that Hugo, the current league leader in +/- is somehow our 4th best white guy.
Baylor is your classic late first round 5 year college guy with a low NBA ceiling who knows how to play basketball and contributes quickly. You don’t build your team around these types of guys, but they’re exactly who contenders need in their rotation to win.
Honorable mention for Hugo. Dude is nonstop
Hugo has Shaq sized mitts. Its insane.
Queta
Yea Peyton Pritchard is amazing. He’s almost as good as Caitlin Clark
Thank you bro. Dudes run to praise Joe and Brad, but never mention Jaylen, Derrick and Payton!
Honestly the whole organization is really showing their capabilities. This is what happens when you build a culture of competitiveness and develop players mental toughness as well as skills, instead of hoping for ping pong balls or a star to demand a trade.
You’re not wrong, but having back to back top 3 picks doesn’t hurt. You guys just made good trades to get those picks instead of losing. In the end, talent is what still wins in the NBA
We’ve only had the 3 pick five times in team history: Tommy Heinson, Kevin McHale, Chauncey Billups, Jaylen Brown, Jason Tatum.
Not bad.
Chauncey is the only one that didn’t work out. Obviously a champion but considering he had a sexual assault charge on the Celtics and now the gambling stuff, not too worried about him not being a Celtics legend. We already have to deal with Big Baby, Tony Allen, and Pierce’s DUI lol
Chauncey worked out fine, just not for Boston because Pitino was a fucking moron of the highest order.
And Nick Sang as Tatum’s trainer
And Scheierman as a DAWG
If he wins a second ring he unironically has an argument for 2nd greatest coach in franchise history. Which is genuinely nuts to think about.
Yeah he can finally clear Doc /s
2008 Celtics are the greatest team of all time because they won DESPITE being coached by Doc Rivers
The reason KG yelled “Anything is possible!”
Hard to argue with that logic
Seriously. Heinsohn and Jones each won two as a coach, but their legendary status is more for their whole career and not just their tenure as a coach. KC somehow isn’t even in the hall of fame as a coach, just as a player (should honestly be reversed lol, he was way better as a coach than as a player). His resume is already nuts and he hasn’t even hit 40 yet.
Yeah, KC was basically defensive player who never averaged above double digits. He’s like Al Attles who only got his shirt retired because he was always on duty for Warriors.
KC did also have 2 NCAA championships but you’re still right
Its not the nba hall of fame and this is the answer. KCs second stint as a coach most likely hurt him.
That’s true, also has an Olympic Gold. Man really got 8 rings, 2 college natties, and a gold medal by being Bill Russell’s sidekick and homie.
Still weird he never got inducted as a coach though. They probably didn’t think he was worthy to get in as both since that’s a pretty exclusive list, but I feel like his tenure as Celtics coach alone is worthy of the Hall. He was on the top 15 coaches of all time list for the NBA 75th anniversary but not in the Hall of Fame lol.
A few more years and I’d have him right up there with Doc for #1.
Say sike rn
Dude is a killer coach, yall got lucky Udoka fucked up allowing Joe to take over as HC, not saying Udoka is bad but he very clearly ain’t on the level of Joe that’s forsure
I’ll say it then. Udoka is bad
Udoka’s strength has always been in the defensive schemes, imo. It feel like there were a lot more isos under him that Finals year.
Based on that Celtics finals and Rockets last year, his issues seem like poor offensive scheme and doesn’t adjust well on the fly offensively or defensively. Both series you could argue he had the advantage in terms of talent/depth.
still remember that clown using White like he was Andre Roberson or something just standing still in the corner
It was crazy how the second Joe took over he was like “wtf, this guy is clearly the 3rd star”
That random executive’s wife did the Celtics a huge favor.
Inside job?
I’ve never heard it called that
It wasn’t an executive’s wife. The guy had worked as a contractor for the Celtics but he has some super common last name that some random executive also has. From the stories I heard. That’s why idiots like Barnes were freaking out, they heard some last name and looked him up to see he’s a Celtics exec, but it’s a different guy.
Which is hillarious because a bunch of the fans were ready to run him outta town even after he got a ring
Imagine if Wyc had listened to the noise when the Celtics were down 3-0 to the Heat in 2022.
*2023
We beat the Heat in 2022.
There is no position NBA fans are more stupid about than coaches.
COTY if the voted have any sense
But some people on this sub said Mazzulla isn’t even a Top 5 Coach this season because it’s a “stacked” roster!
I thought we’d be vying for the lottery, not the top seed in the East.
I also thought Mazzoula was a crap coach.
I’m glad I was wrong on both counts. They’ve amazed me the past few months.
You did not mention JB once. The disrespect is real man.
And they got under the tax
Brad Stevens never beating the witchcraft allegations
I thought they were kinda screwed when he with coaching and took over for Ainge. A coach growing straight to head of basketball operations, leaving a Brad Stevens sized hole at head coach and an Ainge sized hole at PoBO, and everything going better than before is nutsm
…. FUCK
”gap 10 months” just doesn’t roll off the tongue as well.
Unrelated, Leon Powe flair. This guy knows ball
Elite flair
The Celtics exist to win championships. That is it.
If there’s even the smallest of chances it’s possible to add another Larry O’Brien to the trophy room, the team will go for it.
Brad Stevens has a real chance to be revered like the Logo with roster creation in 30 years if he decides to stay in his position
And next year will likely be another gap year, yet I feel somebody in the team (likely Hugo) will improve his game and become Derrick White lite.
First our Patriots massively overachieved and then our Basketball team
He almost played the entire 1st. Huge nod of confidence from Mazzulla. Dudes going to be a problem in May.
I thought him coming back now was a bad decision. Turns out, to nobody’s surprise, I am a dumbass and don’t know shit
I always say this whenever a coaching change happens (especially in the NFL, where strategy is a lot more complicated than basketball).
Nobody knows anything. We’re all stupid. There’s a million pieces of information that you don’t have. Unfortunately, this usually applies to the front office, as well.
I think Mazzulla is the perfect example of a guy who had to learn on the job. Obviously he wouldn’t have been the coach if circumstances hadn’t forced the Celtics hand, but Stevens saw the potential in him even if he was still a couple of years away from being “ready” for it.
100%. I thought he wasnt particularly good his first year (the not taking timeouts thing was straight up dumb), but he has gotten significantly better every season. Now I have the utmost faith in him.
Yeah it was just about as tough as situation as you can have. No summer to plan, not your own coaching staff, and right into training camp. Literally thrown to the wolves.
Mazzulla trained himself to be ready for that by literally throwing himself to real wolves.
Mazzulla is only hired cuz Celtics owners gave Stevens complete latitude to make all the decisions
Slight ‘tism moves up, gives his job to full ‘tism, and now he’s the best coach in the league
[deleted]
I too thought that guy was a dumbass and didn’t know shit 🤝
Sames. I still think that.
You’re just making him feel dumber
Look we all think he’s a dumbass you dont have to say it out loud!
Haha I’m just playing it up, I think that was the general sentiment actually. But it’s funnier the other way
I mean he can still have setbacks so we’re not out of the woods yet but it sure looks good for him right now
If it makes you feel any better, I’m surprised you’re a dumbass
That means a lot
Kindness is what makes me the awesome person that I am. That and humility
Could still play out poorly. The biggest concern is Tatum reinjuring himself. Too much too fast.
It still could be, we just don’t know yet. Hopefully he stays healthy and gets his confidence back.
I mean, if he were to – knock on wood – reaggravate his injury and have to sit out again into next season, folks would again say it was a bad decision.
You’re not the only one. The first time there was a setback there was a post on here that was like “of COURSE he was never gonna play this year” and everyone congratulating each other for having the same opinion.
Celtics fans knew of course lol
The wild part is he still looks like he’s moving at pickup game speed to me. I thought he even looked hobbled during the first half against Dallas. He’ll be so much better in a couple weeks.
Modern medicine is something.
Yeah, he doesn’t have his usual explosion or lift atm, but he’ll get there. It’s a testament to how good his game is that he’s still so impactful.
I actually thought he was moving really well. He was just nervous and rusty, and I think there is still a mental hurdle for him to overcome. Some plays you can just tell he is afraid to do certain things. Like the alley oop he messed up. Although it was good to see him at least attempt that 1st half dunk that he missed, I thought that was a good sign
Handing Joe Mazzula another all-nba player to work with is bad news for the other teams.
Joe Mazzulla is bad news for other teams
I think it’s really good for society that Mazzulla is obsessed with basketball lmao. Imagine if he didn’t have something to pour himself into like that
There’d be a lot of dead hookers
He’d be following in Craig James’ footsteps #CJK5H
And a lot of returned videotapes. And business cards.
Reminds me of the Bill Burr bit about Lance Armstrong being a sociopath and that we should all be glad he just wanted to ride a bike.
glad that the peloton today have less people like this (or none at all) and are generally nicer 😭
Same with jose mourhino. 2 psychos in the best way
Mou missed his true calling as post colonial dictator with a cult of personality
12 points and an assist in the first 6 minutes. Driving right at the chest of Mobley. He’s back!
It’s bad news for the west as well imo
It’s bad news for everyone.
Fuck man. Fuck.
I still can’t believe he came back that quick from a fully torn ACL
Edit: Achilles; I knew that, I’m just a dumbass. Thanks Guys.
He tore his Achilles, not his ACL
You can’t spell achilles without ACL
ACL
Worse, it was his achilles
Dude for YEARS I thought Achilles was just medical slang for ACL (like “funny bone” or whatever), so don’t feel too bad.
He’s playing with an edge right now. It’s beautiful.
dread it, run from it, celtics in contention arrives nevertheless
The inevitable: Death, Taxes, and a Celtics-Heat Playoffs matchup
When Tatum and Brown have both been available in the last game of the season, they have been eliminated before reaching the ECF just one time (2019)
Celtics going back to the finals man. Fml
It’s cool. We’ll handle them.
(joking. but not really. but really.)
No sarcasm, i love the new found self esteem in hornets fans these days 😭 yall deserve this
It’s alright until u find the few who believe we are a genuine dynasty in the making before ever making the playoffs
Bro thats the joy in fandom tho. That biased delusion only comes when your team is actually decent to good. I doubt there were many delusional fans in the bobcat days
I thought delusion was only for lakers fans and heat fans tbh
There are delusional fans for any decent teams tbh 😭 i love it tho
Im totally fine with my hornet brothers and sisters having a little bit of delusion lol. Would be really cool if charlotte established itself as a genuine problem in the league
You’ve been in the muck for so long, I think it’s alright for Hornet fans to talk their shit. Can’t expect everyone to act like they’ve been there before when… they haven’t.
I know it was just one game, but yall instantly put the fear of God in me. Still more worried about Detroit, but I’d rather face almost all other teams in the East besides you right now.
Maybe I’m delusional and overreacting but God damn yall were playing well.
Bill Simmons dream ECF.
Actually fuck it, it’s also my dream ECF
Don’t let Philly get healthy
Okay, I won’t
I been hearing that since 2017
When has Philly ever beaten the Jays in the playoffs?
I was going to point the famous Joe Carter home run that put the Phillies away back in the ‘90s as the only chance Philly ever had.
But outside of that they never really get to play each other in the playoffs since it’s AL/NL.
Then I realized we’re talking about the NBA. Crazy that the Jays always beat Philly in both leagues though.
well Tatum is obviously the main problem for them, if hes still not 100% by then, this is arguably one of their better chances to beat Boston since Horford isnt there to son Embiid again aswell
Shiver me timbers, Paul George is coming!
Paul George is a money-laundering scheme.
I don’t think anyone is worried about that.
If Embiid is there we’ll never have to worry about that.
Bruh 😂
Trust the Process!
We gotta prepare for PED P to come back from suspension.
When has that ever happened?
Wanted to make this a separate post the other day, but fun fact: this is the first time in NBA history where after 60 games, there are 10 teams at .500 and above in the Eastern conference. Would be cool if the 10 can stay at or above by the end of the year.
That is a fun fact! You should do the post
I was telling people at the beginning of 2026: if you see Boston make a move for a big man at the deadline, watch the hell out. It means Tatum is coming back, they are going all in and everyone in the league needs to be on notice.
I agree that a move for a Center was a positive sign, but the scary part is that they aren’t all in- they’re under the 1st apron. Vuc was like a hedging move to upgrade the 5 while keeping financial freedom.
lol they aren’t just under the first apron, they’re under the luxury tax
Brad is actually god
We can’t keep getting away with this lmao
I’m willing to let brad keep getting away with it
Fucking Brad man
Is this Bron burner 😂😂😂
Finals run for Boston is absolutely in play. Even as a Celtics hater, it’s been amazing to see Tatum come back and look like himself. Really shows how far medicine has come in a short time.
They are bookies favourites for the East title.
Crazy that the pistons are 3rd in odds to win the east.
If the Pistons lose in the ECF it’s still a good season honestly, this group hasn’t won a single playoff series.
This is the first time in awhile that I’ve been excited about east playoffs.
Celtics, Cavs, Pistons and Knicks are all legitimate contenders to come out of the East. And I also wouldn’t be surprised to see any of them get upset in the first round
Tatum is one of the best decision-makers in the league. Slightly diminished athleticism isn’t going to change that and having 60+ games to just sit on the bench and watch probably made him even more aware of what to do out there.
He talked about that being the most time off he’s ever had, which let him heal up all the nagging injuries and workout muscle groups he never had before
If he’s 100% as physically capable as before that’s even better. I’ve read that some lateral movement is lost after a torn Achilles.
I just watched how well he flipped his hips to stay in front of Donovan Mitchell. Honestly it looks fine.
Is his wrist back to normal again? League is fucked regardless.
i felt pretty good about JT being able to look like JT again after the injury. i didn’t expect him to look like himself after ONE HALF of basketball
He ain’t no roleplayer Doc
Of course it is. If Tatum never got hurt in the first place and the same with Hali, the east would have been shaped differently. Pacers and Boston would have been top 2. Hate to say it but Boston without Tatum is scary and now that he is back, just 75% Tatum will make this Celtics team even scarier
The Pacers are an enigma. I expected them to be bad but I thought they’d be a respectable bad (plays hard, up tempo, and a threat to win any game even if they won’t) but they’ve been pure dogshit. I think Hali is a great player, but you don’t push the Thunder to 7 in the finals and then go to shit like that.
Hali is one of the single greatest offensive engines of the decade, he’s the only reason the Pacers were contenders. They’ve been hurt sure but his impact is somehow still underrated
They truly tried at the beginning of the year to play at that tempo minus Hali (okc game to OT, among others) but the constant barrage of injuries to toppin, nembhard, Nesmith, tj, hell basically everyone not named siakam, and it just got to a point where tanking just made more sense. And to be frank it was a pretty ethical tank until silver decided to fine us, then the tank went egregious
I hate this kind of comment, if you’re not good enough to overcome the Celtics during a roster shuffle with an 85 % Tatum you’re not good enough to win a title. I’m glad he’s back, I’d never want to deprive myself of more good basketball
I get your poin, but if you’re a GM in the east right now you were just hoping you could make it out of the “weak east” to say your franchise made the finals and then hope you can swing for the fences while you’re there. Winning the finals is obviously the ultimate goal, but just making the finals is a huge boon for any franchise and the odds for all the top teams(except Boston) just got a lot worse.
The Detroit Pistons and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Week
They’re still a damn tough matchup for us IMO. Saw their first matchup earlier this season, and even though we squeezed out a win, it was close and intense and I would expect the same for a series
League is fucked
Did they fake an Achilles injury so that Adam Silver could suspend Tatum for gambling or something? Like how is this even possible? It’s like he never tore it
it’s a new surgery. cam akers, the rams RB was back in 5 months and that was guinea pig type surgery
That’s amazing. Hopefully they can do to Achilles injuries what they did to ACL injuries where it just knocks you out for about a year but it’s no longer career destroying anymore.
I love it man
Celtics are easily the favorites to win the east, would be a very big disappointment if they don’t make ECF.
Still a retool year for the Cs to get under the tax. Next year will be when the window is open again to go over the tax. Any success this year is house money
Nah, we’ll be staying under next year too so we can reset the repeater
All this sounds too complicated. i say we smack CJ McCollum for creating this riddle of a CBA
The repeater tax has existed for multiple CBAs…
I think they can win, but yeah it’s definitely not a catastrophe by any means if they lose this year.
They can try to get a long term starting caliber C and to give Tatum a full offseason and regular season to integrate next season.
I wouldn’t go that far to call it a disappointment. Top 4 seeds are all good and nobody wants to draw the Hornets first round either. Celtics might be the best team but they’re not some juggernaut that can’t get tripped up in a series.
Considering us and Boston are most likely going to be the second and third seed, let’s hope for repeat of last year! Minus a season ending injury.
Boston has some hard games against spurs and okc. With good wins the will put the east on real notice for PO.
But Tatum looks amazing even with low minutes.
I doubt Tatum plays both the OKC games. Playing with fire with Dort there.
Tatum might just be the best player in the conference at this point. This also may have been true dating back to last season.
It’s been him and Giannis and then a huge gap since 23-24.
Embiid was better than both in 23-24, but of course he went down to injury. I agree that from then on though, it’s been Tatum and Giannis, maybe 1-2.
It’s been 1 game. Why are we exaggerating again? For what?
Mr. Take your rebounds and steal your girl.
Yeah Celtics are winning it all. They’re destroying us right now, he’s their leading scorer and we have no answers.
I am not concerned about the Celtics at all.
😂😂 yeah alright
Let’s spin back to this in 2-ish months
Indeed it is
Not when you’ve already lost hope. What is dead may never die.
Forget the East, this is shaping up to be one of the worst seasons in Lakers’ history and the West as a whole too. It feels like we’re guaranteed to get a Thunder/Spurs vs Celtics series in the Finals.
“ One of the worst seasons in lakers history?” lol how so? wtf are you saying?
lol one game tatums back and theyre guarenteed going to the finals. wild
Does anyone want the Celtics to win another chip this year besides Celtic fans?
I think basically 95% of the league want the Celtics to win again because it’ll mean OKC loses, and everyone but OKC fans and weird people want OKC to lose
Wishing the best for Tatum! I hope Haliburton looks good when he returns!