expecting more than we got this season would have been too much to ask for, given the circumstances

Next year we going to have the varsity squad out there

Damn that game really left a bad taste in my mouth. For multiple reasons.

First and foremost holy shit were Brown, Rozier, Morris and Smart awful shooting the ball. Especially Brown and Rozier who shot up brick after brick.

Secondly, when you see guys shooting like this for three quarters and then you have a guy like Tatum hitting impossible shots all game, it's ridiculous not to be feeding the hot hand. I know that's not how Stevens wants to typically run his system but you have to adjust mid-game if certain guys are struggling.

Lastly... what the fuck Horford? Great in the first half, 14 points and 3 rebounds... had 3 points and 1 rebound in the second half. Dude absolutely disappeared when he was needed the most. You have a bunch of young guys absolutely struggling to score and Horford was able to body pretty much anyone on the Cavaliers and he took his foot completely off the gas in the second half and wasn't aggressive at all. Just watched the rest of the team throw up a million bricks and lose the game.

Also just to add to why adjustments were needed from Stevens, it just blows my mind how the Celtics could never really get back to that great basketball that they played in games one and two. Just bizarre in that they did what the Warriors are doing, playing iso ball (hero ball) and not swinging to the open guys. Obviously a team stacked like the Warriors can overcome it but the Celtics aren't going to win many games with Terry Rozier, Marcus Morris and Marcus Smart forcing up 3's and playing iso early in the shot clock. Not sure why this wasn't fixed by Stevens. The only players who can really iso well are Tatum and Horford... if he's hot Brown can too. Regardless you don't want that all game and we've seen the Celtics at their best when they have a lot of ball movement.

Another side-note really bizarre that Kyrie wasn't at the game. That's a really bad look. Hope there was a good reason for him not being there.

Anyways on to the off-season for us. We don't have any top picks this year but I can foresee some big moves being made. Ainge really is going to have to work soon to consolidate some of these assets. We have a late first this year, maybe you do a draft and stash with that pick. Then you have the Kings 2019 1st which should be a top pick next season which surely will be a guy who will immediately be on the roster and probably can make some sort of an impact. Right now you already have the problem where if you aren't comfortable with Tatum at the 4, you are going to need to make one of Brown or Tatum the sixth man. It would most certainly be Brown in that scenario. So that's already a guy who isn't getting the minutes he should be. Then you have the scenario with Rozier who definitely proved he should be a starter in this league, despite his struggles at times in the playoffs. He definitely has become a nice trade chip probably. This will be the last year on his contract so if Danny isn't planning on paying him, he should be looking to move him this off-season. It's already disappointing enough that Smart could potentially be leaving with nothing in return for him. I'd really like to see Danny make a move to trade Rozier and get something out of him now while his value is so high. I think the Celtics should be offering the Spurs Gordon Hayward, Terry Rozier, the Kings 2019 1st and the Grizzlies 2019 protected 1st for Kawhi Leonard if he's really available. I doubt that happens though. I could see Ainge trying to make one last big splash though whether it's moving Horford or Hayward with picks or Rozier to upgrade. Maybe you figure out a sign and trade with Smart and package him with other stuff and see if that's a viable option. I would really hate for the Celtics to lose both Smart and Rozier to free agency though. That would be really disappointing. Regardless of Rozier and Smart, you're going to have a problem playing all of Irving, Hayward, Tatum, Brown, Horford and whoever you end up drafting in 2019. At some point Ainge HAS to consolidate and this off-season feels like the perfect time.

I am pretty disappointed in Stevens with last nights game and I can’t fogure out why


He made zero adjustments all night

Morris has sucked since the bucks series, rozier has had one good game this series

well fuck...did better than I thought we would

just saw the score

not surprised, I will watch a condensed version on YouTube later.

Just read Kyrie was mia to get a nose job done. Wat.

Chris Mannix
(@ChrisMannixYS)
Kyrie Irving needed a procedure done for a deviated septum, which was why he wasn’t at Game 7, per Danny Ainge. Didn’t want to be seen after the surgery, Ainge said.

not a big deal IMO, but of course some people will make it out to be one.

also:

Boston Celtics
(@celtics)
Danny Ainge laughs at a question and says, “I get a kick out of people who say we don’t need Kyrie and we don’t need Gordon.”
1 hour ago · Twitter

^he's probably sincere but it's hard to say, Aingegod is master of smokescreens.

Right, so he scheduled the surgery for this time as a coverup reason for not wanting to be at this game

The real reason he didn't wanna be there: After playing alongside Lebron, Irving got to observe how the Lebron/Silver dynamic actually works. Silver was unhappy about Lebron's short 2nd round series, so Lebron made it up to him by stretching the ECF out to 7 games. This is evident, just look at the way Lebron played so passively in the first 3 games in Boston.

Kyrie knew that it was just a ploy and that the Cavs would win tonight. He couldn't bear to see his old teammates celebrating without him. If he had attended G7, he would have had to leave the floor to go to the locker room early. That would have created an image that ESPN could replay constantly and make drama about.

This post was edited by Kayeto on May 28 2018 12:37pm