06/17/2024
Congratulations to the 2023-2024 Boston Celtics. Business Fin18hed.
Category Archives: The Association
June TO’s & Threes – Celtics Column
By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:
Ever since Joe Mazzulla became the Celtics head coach the importance of winning the math battle took front and center among the team’s priorities. So even as Boston shot their poorest, (10-39 from beyond the arc) they didn’t let the results or Dallas dictate their gameplan.
For two games Boston found themselves without their best player, Tatum could not go far without being smothered and often found himself unable to get open. This led to Tatum to becoming a facilitator, driving to the basket like a point guard, 18 drives in game one, 29 in game 2. Through his shooting woes, Tatum’s playmaking shines averaging 10 assist in the two Celtics victories. Defensively what Tatum has done, being tasked with guarding the opposing teams center, he played his part limiting Dallas’s ability to attack the paint through lobs.
The combination of Boston possessing so many on-ball playmakers, and Kristaps Porzingis and Al Horford forcing defenses to guard beyond the arc, drags Dallas’s bigs away from the basket and even if the help collapses on Tatum he can kick it to an open shooter in the corners.
What Boston is exploiting is the splendors of a five-out lineup, while Dallas struggles to hide their weakest link. While Luka shoots an impressive 51% from the field, averaging a strong 31 points, what he is unable to do is establish consistent ball movement into Dallas’ preferred areas on the floor. Boston just doesn’t fear the likes of P.J Washington and Derrick Jones Jr when left open above the break and they’ve given them no reason to think otherwise. Until a Maverick not named Luka or Kyrie Irving show they can make Boston pay for leaving them open, then those corner threes won’t be an option for the series.
While Tatum is guarding bigs and out-muscling them for hard fought rebounds, Luka is moving like there is lead in his feet. His shot is still there, the step back triple and mid-ranger is still dependable. However, for a player not exactly known for his defense, Luka has given an effort even below his expectations. Players like Daniel Gafford are supposed to cover up for Dončić, protecting the rim when the opponent blows by the latter. Yet, Dončić is unable to do that in this clip right here. All he has to do is get Tatum to go left where Gafford will be there near the rim to help, but instead he lets him go right.
Celtics have an opportunity this week to continue their road playoff winning streak Wednesday night, and then possibly to return home with no one left to beat.
Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does not live deep in the heart of Texas.
May TO’s & Threes – Celtics Column(s)
By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:
Looking Back:
There was no tension. There was no hyperventilation or sphincter tightening. The series was over, and it was evident the Celtics were in a different class than their opponent. Only through lapses of judgement and execution did they allow Cleveland to land a counterpunch. When the Celtics remained focused the Cavaliers stood no chance. Despite missing Kristaps Porzingis for the sixth straight game the Celtics notched the series clincher and an impressive mark of 5 wins to 1 loss since his absence. This mostly thanks to the 37-year-old center Al Horford who was asked to shoulder a larger portion of the workload, such as in Game 5 vs Cleveland when backup Luke Kornet was not able to keep up with Evan Mobley.
He played thirty-five minutes in a game the Celtics absolutely had to have. They needed the rest. They needed the confidence builder closing out two series in quick fashion brings a team. And Cleveland played like a pesky gnat not willing to be swatted. Whenever the Celtics appeared close to finishing them off the Cavs found answers to keep things mildly interesting. It’s something past Celtics teams would have allowed to cause discouragement and to wilt down the stretch. But this year’s team appears to be made of sterner stuff.
Horford quietly does his role, setting screens, pop to the perimeter, and have the ball swing to him for the open triple or swing it to a teammate with a higher chance to make it or if he wants, drive it to the hole. That’s Al. Old Man Al. Always putting the team before himself. His quick footwork sealing off avenues to the paint on Isaac Okoro, and his ability to stick with guard Darius Garland lowered Cleveland’s ceiling as you can tell Horford had an extra skip in his step tonight. Savor it, because there is no assurance there are many of these Old School Horford games left. Lord knows we’ve seen plenty.
The elder statesman of the Celtics that’s been through battles with Tatum and Brown when they were younglings, shepherding then through playoff series with Giannis, Embiid and LeBron, until they were ready to take on the main role, but Horford was always ready and willing to dawn the cape again if the signal was flashed in the sky. His name was in the 2022 series vs Milwaukee when Giannis was running his mouth and needed to be humbled. When Bam Adebayo was causing mayhem in the 2022 conference finals Horford was there to put a lid on it. When the MVP Joel Embiid looked ready to finally vanquish his longtime nemesis, Big Al kept him a conference finals virgin.
Just a simple gaze of the box score, 8/15 from the field, six triples, 22 PTS | 15 REB | 5 AST | 1 STL | 3 BLK. This while facing allegations of being “washed” after an iffy Game 3 and 4 performances. Ladies and gentlemen, I am here to tell you he is not washed. He just has to pick his spots. And when he finds said spot the Celtics better not waste it.
Looking Forward:
The last time the Celtics played Indiana, Tyrese Haliburton was averaging 23 points and 12 assists, considered a shoo-in for First Team All-NBA and captain of a historically great Pacers offense. Since his injury his averages sank to 16 points and 9 assists; his playoffs numbers sit at 18 points and 4 assists. His hamstring injury continues to persist even long after its diagnosis. Some days he’s great, some days he isn’t.
How the Pacers survive is through others picking up the slack. Indiana potentially has the best bench unit of the remaining teams this playoffs. T.J McConnell is a perfect facilitating point guard on the second unit able to keep the teams head above water when Haliburton is on the pine. T.J is quick, shifty, and decisive. Indiana is a lot like Boston in the regard when they are running they are borderline unstoppable.
Indiana’s calling card beyond Haliburton is they have more than one bullet in the chamber and aren’t reliant on just one contributor. If Hali isn’t himself, dependable Pascal Siakam can create for himself with a lethal spin-move. Myles Turner, the veteran big from Texas, can imitate Dirk Nowitzki on some nights, other nights he’ll defend the paint like Pacer great Rik Smits utilizing his 6-11 frame and 250-pound body.
The Celtics primarily do their damage with Tatum bullying or finessing his way near the basket. His three-point attempts last postseason was near eight-in-a-half, now sits at six-in-a-half. The change is the strength he’s put in his upper body to absorb resistance and minimize off-balance shot attempts. Tatum is in the middle of his athletic peak. This is the time for him to attack, attack and attack. In the four regular season games versus Indiana, JT averaged 33 on 70 percent true shooting.
I expect this series to be a track meet. Indiana cannot sufficiently defend, sporting the 4th worst opponents points per game at 120.2. The Pacers best friend has been the Celtics historic worst enemy: shooting variance. In wins they shoot 53% from the field, in losses that falls to 47%. In their Game 7 dismantling of New York they shot 67 percent from the field, ungodly figure that can happen in more than one occasion if Boston does not acknowledge the smaller margin of error they have than in their previous playoff series.
Being without Kristaps Porzingis for at least the first two games (maybe three) means they’ll be without their best rim protector and lone constant mid-range threat. This means Al Horford will have his work cut out for him again with Turner, hustling and bustling for rebounds. Second chance points will be crucial and if Boston can win in that category it’ll go along way in pushing a hot Pacers team back to earth.
The Celtics will get to their spots and have open looks, Indiana cannot defend them consistently. It is up to Boston to MAKE their looks and remain ahead. Hali waxes and wanes with the flow of the game. If Indiana is in a big enough deficit early, he’ll waive the white flag and remind us he’s hurt. If it’s competitive or Indiana has another one of those 150-point games, he’ll be stunting. I love Hali, but his post-injury self is a front runner. Knock him out early and keep him down. The main reason this series goes longer than it should is if Lady Luck smiles down on them and they average 130 per night.
Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does not live at the foot of Mount Monadnock.
April TO’s and Three’s – Celtics Column
By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:
(written prior to Game One)
There are two kinds of superstar players in the NBA, those who can get it down in crunch time and those who can get you to their critical moments but needs someone else to finish the job.
For every Jordan, LeBron, Bird, there’s a Ewing, Drexler, and Paul George. You can win divisions, playoff series, maybe even sneak into the finals once or twice, but you’ll never win the title for what ever their shortcoming be.
Thus lay the greater mystery of this sport: what does it take to cross that threshold? Previous test cases like LeBron suggest it is mostly mental, the growth and maturity that comes from failure. Deep down we knew LeBron was always capable of winning the big one. The sensationalist drivel expounded by reporters and fans added theatrics to a rather anti-climactic finale.
The real “we didn’t think he could do it until he did” example is Dirk Nowitzki. Outmuscled in the 2006 NBA Finals. Mentally deconstructed in the 2007 1st round series vs Golden State. Nowitzki was labeled soft, a poor defender, and someone who wilted under the pressure. From 2008 to 2011 he continued to play at a high level, even though the interest for him waned. The story was written and ready for publishing; another superstar with all the potential unable to take that final step.
Until the faithful day he rewrote said story. Now the lasting imagine of Nowitzki is not him kicking the ball into the stands as his team implodes to an inferior Miami team. It’s him so overcome with emotion as the seconds trickle down in the Miami arena, LeBron and Wade standing forlorn, the impossible victor retreating from the spotlight to shed a tear in solitude.
But for every Dirk, there’s players similar to him who are the nail to the superior player’s hammer. Drexler couldn’t beat MJ. Ewing couldn’t beat Olajuwon. Paul George couldn’t overcome himself.
Can Jayson Tatum overcome the Miami Heat? He did it once before. An underrated gem is his Game 7 in Miami in the 2022 East Finals series. Jimmy Butler being the lone Heat with a pulse for 40 of the first 48 minutes keeping their chances alive, Tatum quietly notched an efficient 26 point effort, including a sick turnaround on Butler before a last ditch comeback by Miami fell so short. It was the most clutch Tatum’s ever been. On the road, all the momentum on the opposing side, and the Celtics led wire-to-wire.
Yet, they almost blew it. The ball continuously found their weakest link (Sorry, Marcus) and the Celtics ran the basketball equivalent of victory formation for the final 3 minutes and 20 seconds. Five of the final six Celtics shots came from Smart, not because of his selfishness, but because of Tatum’s fecklessness. Not wanting to step on anyone else’s toes, not wanting to be the guy everyone looked at for why things went wrong.
There is no malice in Tatum’s heart when he does this. I sense fear and it extends like the plague to the others. Basketball is a game most akin to spreading a diseases and cures. A good bench is a symptom of an established hierarchy setting the backups to carry the load for the needed respite for the starters. That’s the cure. The disease is if your superstar falters it’s unlikely anyone will save the team.
The numbers regarding the Celtics in the clutch aren’t initially concerning. Teams tend to slow the pace down and milk the clock when they’re up by a substantial amount. For Boston, the victory cigar is lit up either prematurely or their drop in effort leads to a heart stopping comeback attempt from the opponent.
Over the years the Celtics have fielded different teams, capable and incapable of certain things. The numbers don’t reflect in a vacuum how they responded to gut check situations, but the situations they often found themselves in.
The Isaiah Thomas-era Celtics have better numbers in clutch situations than the Tatum-era Celtics, but they rarely ran away with contests and often found themselves going 100% against teams either in their tier of “plucky, but not real contenders” or below. For the past three years the Celtics have found themselves considered top of the heap and they meet that criteria by smashing lesser teams into oblivion.
So does Boston rank at the bottom of pace in the clutch because opposing defenses up the tension forcing their best players into compromising positions, off balanced shots leading to fast break opportunities? Or is it because they’re bored and we shouldn’t overly react to a game serving little relevance to the standings.
As a first-round matchup with Miami looms it seems we’ll learn soon enough.
Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does not live on an island in the Quabbin Reservoir.
March – TO’s & Three’s – Celtics Column
Very rarely can you accurately pinpoint when a team is in the middle of something extremely special. Yes, the Celtics have not won the title – yet. But they are winning in such a dominating fashion they aren’t just the favorites to win the championship, but to be a team we hold in high regard for decades after the fact.
Boston’s net rating sit at 11.6, sandwiched between the 2016-17 Golden State Warriors and 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs for fourth best in the history of the league. For even more context the 2007-08 Celtics net rating was 11.2. But let’s focus on the fact the Celtics have compiled a team that statistically rivals the Kevin Durant GSWarriors. They won 67-games that year and everyone still believes they were pacing themselves, they were that good – and the Celtics are in their company for this regular season.
Sit back and really bask in this glory for the fleeting moments we have it. For even if it does not end the way we wish it to, you’ll kick yourself for focusing only on the destination and ignoring the fruits of the journey.
If they are able to close the deal then I can say not only was this the best Celtics team of my life time, but perhaps of all-time. While Jayson Tatum is no Larry Bird, and Kristaps Porzingis is no Bill Russell, what this team provides is the best elements of the 1986 and 1962 teams and super charges them and even makes the greats look human by comparison.
The ability to go five-out and have your only non floor spacer be Luke Kornet is embarrassing. Having Jrue Holiday, the No. 3 option on a title team act as your No. 5 is embarrassing. Having 2nd Team All-NBAer Jaylen Brown as your No. 3 is embarrassing. The fact Jayson Tatum doesn’t even have to force his hand and can walk into any shot he wants is embarrassing. Brad Stevens found his Dennis Johnson in Holiday. He couldn’t find his Bill Russell, but Yao Ming with a 3-point shot in Porzingis will suffice.
Normal teams don’t get to survive slumps from their player and still win by 20. They don’t spank a Warriors team rediscovering their mojo by 52. They don’t go 12-4 over the first 49-games, then win 11 in a row. Speaking of the win streak, some fun stats to put into perspective this recent stretch of excellence: Top average margin of victory ever during a win streak of at least 10 games (+22.1 during 11-game streak); Top average scoring margin over any six-game span in NBA history (+29.8) – Per Marc D’Amico on Twitter/X.
Brown is making a case for All-NBA, his post-All Star break run averaging 27.2/5.8/3.4 on 59.5/45.2/73 shooting splits averaging 9.6 points in the frst quarter. He may not be Tommy Heinsohn, or Kevin McHale, but rich man’s Vinnie Johnson is more than enough for me.
Porzingis’ All-NBA case grows by the day, as it is becoming increasingly evident, he is the No. 2 behind Tatum. He is averaging 20/7/2 on 66 True Shooting %. His net ratings are nearly identical to Tatum (+11 ON +8 OFF) only behind White with a crazy (+13.3 ON, + 5 OFF) much higher than Brown (+8.7 ON, +13.3 OFF) Add to that he’s also having one of his best defensive seasons in his career on top of this great offensive season.
It’s an embarrassment of riches and the reason I implore you to put your fears aside is even if they do hurt you in the end, the feeling of loss will remain the same regardless you brace for it now or later.
This team is TOO TALENTED for even a willing-to-spend owner to keep together. When the time comes to break them up it’s likely that Brown will be replaced by an in-house player or someone from the bargain bin because that’s what happens when your best players are making “too much”. It’s not bad cap management, it’s just the God’s honest truth; great teams cost money. The Warriors are on the back end of their run because their best players are on the back-nine eating up a large sum of the pie. And that’s not a bad thing. It’s the natural cycle of contention. What matters is you make the right bets in the end.
Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does not live in mortgage-free Western Mass.
TO’s & Three’s – Celtics Column
By Vinny Jace, Special to the15net dot com:
Modern sports media and its consumption is tightly wound in a disingenuous ball, trust fund kids acting as rats in a race searching for the angle that’ll get them the most attention. A cross to nail someone or themselves on, with the secret knowledge there is a chance they’ll be proven right incidentally regardless of what their overall point was.
The “Celtics shoot too many threes” accusation makes the rounds via Twitter, various podcasts and columnists, and it’s not like Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla is willing to play grab ass with the media to dull the knives. He’s a steely-eyed psycho who acknowledges the limited effect(s) he has on the game and can only help to taxi the flight back to the runway in one piece.* If the Celtics win the title this year, they’ll be no parade for Mazzulla, no vindication, only “You were supposed to, and these aren’t even your plays – they’re Udoka’s”, but it they fall short via Jimmy Butler and his playoff bullshit, or Caleb Martin and the Heat enjoying another outlier series shooting the ball, then he’ll be vilified as the man who screwed the Celtics out of a title. After all, the narrative pushed by “Celtics fan” Bill Simmons is Mazzulla didn’t get along with Marcus Smart, and the Celtics doubled down on their coach over their heart and soul, and this is how he repaid them???
Mazzulla is not doing anything that goes against the grain to earn this sort of scrutiny, and his coaching habits are par for the course. Every team “plays like the Warriors” nowadays, in fact, the Celtics are probably the most diverse team currently in how they mix in inside action with Kristaps Porzingis. Many teams do not have the ability to shoot and make the high variant of threes like the Celtics and enjoy the splendor of the added dimension Porzingis has brought in, and Mazzulla deserves credit for integrating him so smoothly given the issues Rick Carlisle had in Dallas doing the same thing. Sadly, no one ever says that.
Because this is the NBA, where players win games and coaches lose them. Only Erik Spoelstra as of now can make the argument he can strategize around certain defeat. Mazzulla cannot go toe-to-toe with Spoelstra, and the hope is he won’t have to. It’s not uncommon for the better coach to lose because the lesser one had the better team. And for all intents and purposes the Celtics appear to be the better team. They just have to play like it and that all rests on the shoulders of Jayson Tatum. The evolutionary Paul George. Defensive switchblade, underrated court vision, can score from all three levels with a coolness Celtics fans haven’t seen since Larry Joe Bird.
But there is one fabled test No. 0 must pass in order to truly get over the hump. The stage is set for him to do it, like it was for Bird in ‘81, LeBron James in ‘12, Giannis in ‘21. The team is a well-oiled machine, chock full of talent whose positive attributes are infectious even to the marginal bench players enjoying fruitful stints on the hardwood. It’s an environment you want for your superstar entering his prime. The athleticism is there, the experience is there, he’s gone toe-to-toe with the best the league has to offer and has no reason not to hold his head up high.
Yet… something is missing and that something is assertiveness. That something is when the world is crumbling all around you, the momentum is no longer on your side and your teammates aren’t getting their shots to go in due to the moment consuming them, can Tatum rise up, take the rock and barrel into contact like even a Butler with the full confidence in his ability to finish or at least draw a foul?
That’s what’s going to be the real moment of truth for the Celtics. Not Mazzulla and his timeouts, or if the three-point well runs dry – that last point is expected because it happens virtually to every team except the one who wins the championship. It’s how will Tatum respond when the team is up against it — and the breaks are beating the boys will No. 0 win one for Lucky?
Vinny Jace appears on the Entitled Weekend podcast. He does not live on the South Shore.
. . .
(*- No disrespect to the Orientals)
The 15 