What a tale of two games. After struggling to shoot the ball over this 5+ game stretch, this time the Heat shoot well but get torched on the defensive end. The Miami Heat are still unable to pick up this much overdue bounce back win and lose their fifth game in a row to the rival Boston Celtics 143-110.
The top seeded Celtics improved to a dominant 35-10 record as the struggling Heat fall to 24-21.
Terry Rozier made his first official start in the first unit as a member of the Heat and didn’t necessarily play awful, but still didn’t make nearly as much an impact as fans know he can.
He had just 7 points on 30% shooting and all 7 points came in that 1st quarter.
Rozier is not a tier 1 guy like a Kevin Durant or a Kyrie Irving or even a Damian Lillard where you can just ‘plug and play’ into lineups. It is safe to just assume that is going to take time. Not only take time for his individual stats to improve game by game, but just to affect the team in winning.
Being a newly acquired point guard is hard enough to get your own personal offensive game going, let alone learning an entire set of new plays and playmaking for new teammates.
The rest of the core in Jimmy Butler, Tyler Herro and Bam Adebayo all played well, but not necessarily any statement performances.
Butler had 17 points on 7/11 shooting, Herro had 19 points and 6 assists on 50% shooting and 5 3PM, and Adebayo had 19/5 on 8/14 shooting. Haywood Highsmith added 14 points on 4/4 from three as the starting PF.
Butler was aggressive in attacking the basket and getting to his spots; that mid range especially. He even knocked down a few threes and got great lift and form on those long range buckets. His arsenal offensively tonight, even with the misses, were similar to what he does in the postseason.
The problem is Butler just simply is not taking enough shots as he should. Those 11 attempts should at least be around 15.
Tyler Herro was hitting those fadeaway’s and triples at an efficient percentage.
Bam Adebayo shot the ball efficiently too, but didn’t get as much boards. During this losing streak, Adebayo has been either dominating the glass or shooting efficiently but not both on the same night.
There was no true standout bench performances either tonight. Thomas Bryant, playing in place of sidelined Kevin Love, brought energy early but that is about it.
Caleb Martin shot an abysmal 2/12 from the field and Duncan Robinson was just 1/5 from deep.
The real story of the game was the absolute historic shooting clinic the Boston Celtics displayed.
This team was just so lethal and dominate, both inside and outside.
They make tough shots, wide open shots and everything else in the middle; just a serious problem and so difficult to contain.
Before Kristaps Porzingis went down for the game with a rolled ankle in the 3rd quarter, he really stretched the floor with his sweet stroke from beyond the arc.
Although cooled down in the second half a bit, Jaylen Brown made tough shot after tough shot and was another big reason Boston got out to that double digit early lead. He finished going 7/11 from the field with 18 points and 5 assists.
Jayson Tatum led them with 26/8/4 and +22 on the floor.
Every single member of their starting unit scored 15 points or more.
The bench was just as impressive, with Al Horford coming in as a 6 man and being versatile with 8/7/6 in 23 minutes.
Luke Kornet made his presence known as a 7 footer on the floor and beat the Heat up inside the paint.
Heat shot 45% from the field and 38% from three compared to the Celtic’s 64% from the field and 55% (!!) from three.
Miami also got destroyed in the rebounding battle 47-31.
The Boston Celtics absolutely ripped apart the Miami Heat tonight, and the Heat are now in the midst of their longest losing streak in almost 3 years.
Something has to give, this team can’t be “running through the motions” forever. Is another move or two a possibility to beef up this rotation with some more size for the defensive end by the Trade Deadline and/or buyout market?
It is fair to say that with the guys being in and out of the line up, implementing a new core player in Rozier and missing Jaime Jaquez Jr’s game could be the root of these issues.
Heat Nation needs to hang in there, be patient and stay optimistic with these guys… a big win is due any day now.
Miami gets their next chance on Saturday afternoon against the New York Knicks.
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Sir Charles in Charge:
14. Miami HeatIt’s been a tale of three seasons for the Miami Heat so far. Miami got off to a rocky start to the season (1-4), then found its footing a bit (17-8), and once again finds itself in a bit of muddy waters of late (5-9).
I’m not exactly sure what is going to get the Heat back on track or whether the injury to Jaime Jaquez Jr. is to blame completely, but there are very much some real questions this franchise needs to answer heading into the second half of the season.
One potential fix or remedy that some in the fan base have been calling for is the removal of Tyler Herro from the starting 5. That’s not a knock on Herro; he just seems to find the most comfort coming off the bench. And, in a vacuum, Jimmy Butler and Bam Adebayo fit better with Duncan Robinson starting at the two-guard.
Who knows if that would effectively solve the Heat’s issues but at this point, it may be worth a try. If push does come to shove, don’t be surprised if this is something that comes to fruition at some point this season.
Ik most of us would like to put herro back on the bench, but idk if his ego will allow that… sad to say, he’s still kinda imature with that aspect. He needs to recognize that isn’t a bad thing, and maybe spo can talk to him about it. Honestly willing to try anything if it gets us back on track. Idk if it will ever happen though. Herro Is the same player that once said he wants to be in the same category as Luka and Trae, but offensively he just isn’t on there level, especially Luka. I don’t know if he will ever get there… I hope I’m wrong, but currently I’m not. He still hasn’t dropped a 50 point game, when Luka,and Trae did already multiple times. Also he hasn’t scored 25 + in 10 straight games yet in his career, even with all the shots he takes. Honestly I want herro to be great, so I’ll still hold out hope… for the day he makes most of us eat crow… or not.
I was hoping he would develop into a player like Devin Booker. Same size, same school, same kind of player. Booker has developed into a very good two-way player. Herro hasn’t. If he isn’t scoring, he isn’t contributing.
The Heat need a two-way SG to handle the defensive responsibilities Herro is unable/unwilling to perform. By starting Butler at SG and Jaquez at SF, the Heat would just need a good two-way PF who can spread the floor to complete the starting unit.
With Herro and Robinson both coming off the bench with Caleb, JRich and Love, they can hold their own offensively against opponents’ second unit players. However, I wonder what the Heat could get in the way of a legit starting PF for Herro or Robinson, plus Martin. How about Robinson and Martin for John Collins? Hmm?
GO HEAT!!!
I think those who think that JJJ’s return is going to fix everything may be disappointed by days end. I do expect Jaime to help some and give us at least a few moments of, “ it’s nice to have him back.”
And, in our opponent, we definitely face a team good enough to use as a measuring stick. Still, the Knicks are at the top of the second tier, of all teams below Milwaukee, Boston and Philly in the East. We should be able to give this team a run for their money. If we can’t do that, and after the last few games, everything is in question, then we must figure some things out…. and then do something about it, whatever that something is.
Game starts in 3 hours. Let’s see if this team can show some pride after being humiliated 5 straight games. I hope Jaquez has a great game. It will give Pat something to think about before the trade deadline. Time for Jimmy and Herro to lead, follow or get the hell out of the way.
So, which team would y’all like to play in the first game of the play-in tournament, Chicago, Atlanta or Toronto?
How about none of them lol. Maybe Atlanta, since lately we’ve been trash against Toronto and Chicago.
🙂
When NBA greats (MJ,Larry Bird, Magic, Kobi etc) were asked what could their team do to get better. I always heard:
1. Watch films, watch films, watch films and watch more films.
2. Practice, practice, practice, practice, and more practice.
These are things that can correct most of Heat’s issues including from looking for a big against mismatches. I heard Roger Miller once said, he never left a training session without making 300 threes. It was reported that Kobi once practised playing against his most challenging defender Roger Bell of the Suns, a month before he actually played against him in a regular season game!.When Butler was traded to the Lakers from the Heat. Kobe invited him to an early practice session at 7:30am. Butler claimed he almost passed out while Kobe kept on practicing, hence Butler called it “the blackout workout” session. The emphasis here is watching films and more practice sessions make you better no matter how high your level of skill set is. That is why I call out Heat’s assistant coaches on these forum. What are they doing with these players. Are they not watching old films or spending more training sessions with these players, that the problems of TOs, defensive missed assignments, not knocking down open 3s keep occurring. Obviously, these are correctable problems but all I hear on this forum is that the Heat needs a trade to solve these issues that are remediable with simpler solutions of practice sessions and films watching.
The question then is, how do I know that the Heat are not watching enough films and practicing more. My answers is, then it is not enough because these are recurring lingering issues that are not peculiar to a particular player. For reference, the Heat have won 61% of back to back games against 50% when they have rested. It tells me that the Heat is a better team when in a game mode. A trade or two maybe necessary to acquire some skill set but it is not a panacea to all issues.
Well, Roger Miller the singer also said ‘dang me dang me, they oughta take a rope and hang me’. 😀
I just looked up Roger Millers career. He had so many hits.
Reggie Miller, lol!
Roger’s brother? Lol
Hopefully we can be like one of his other songs – King Of The Road.
And if not we will just have to Chug-a-lug.
Question: what would we rather want…
A high octane offense with bottom 5 defense? Or a top 5 defensive team with average offense?
Case/s in pt at the end of 3rd qtr…
Mavs vs Hawks 108-102
Suns vs Pacers 114-105
And #77 just dropped 73 🤯
in front of atlanta to
Honestly that gets harder every year to answer with all these offenses getting better and better. Also players are scoring in the 60s and 70s more frequently. I’m used to saying that defense wins championships, but that may change soon with teams scoring like like that playing an all star game. Well for now… I’ll still take top 5 D with an average offense.
Let’s see if Jaime’s return interjects some youthful exuberance in this dead ass team.
GO JAIME! GO HEAT!!!
Juan Wick is back and he’s looking for revenge in the mecca. Sorry, Knicks
Tips how to trigger HHH or Heat nation in general:
Trade JJJ befor deadline for one 1st and one 2nd.
Bench Rozier and make Tyler starting pg.
Also start Dunc alongside Tyler.
…just kidding welcome back JJJ see you tomorrow. Go Heat! 😁😁😁
I’m cool with however you want to stagger the minutes for Rozier, Tyler, and Duncan.
But don’t you dare trade Jamie! Forget about a 1st and a 2nd, you better be trading for Anthony Edwards if you’re going to put his name in a trade!
Noooooooo!
With Jaquez and Love to return vs. Knicks, Heat just about whole for first time this season
Read more at: https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nba/miami-heat/article284737371.html#storylink=cpy
okay great. I got all my complaining out. The court vision duo is back.
let’s gooooooooo
About time! Sure been missing them love outlet passes, or them Jaime fast break transition passes.
jjj will be avail manana lets go love to
Jimmy and Herro are not playing up to the level of the $71M+ combined salaries they are making this year. Butler says the Heat’s players aren’t playing with energy or excitement. Maybe they need to focus more on basketball than their outside interests. BTW, how’s that new country western album coming along Jimmy? I bet you’re excited af about that!
Time to “shit or get off the pot” boys. Heat fans don’t tolerate apathy or half-ass efforts! Otherwise, I see more trades coming sooner than later!
GO HEAT!!!
one thing about ty and dunc they give their all.jimmy picks and chooses and this year i see nothing like playoff jimmy.how long ago was that milw series ,hasnt been that long what has happened to our super star .anyway we got a budding all star player soon to be back we hope not sure how high his ceiling is but hes def a baller
At one point in the second quarter the Celtics scored on Duncan Robinson for what seemed like 10 straight times. It’s like they went to whoever Ty and Duncan was guarding and got a positive outcome seemingly every time.
Duncan doesn’t even contest shots. He apparently never heard the phrase hands down man down.
Ty plays free safety on a basketball court. No particular assignment.
Make the opponents shots difficult once in a while geez.
I mention those two but the entire team’s effort is lacking.
Did the losing coincide with Spo big payday? Fat cat not working hard anymore? Inquiring minds want to know.
Guys please continue to humor me.
First, the problem was getting a true pg.
Now that you have one, the problem is Butler and Herro. One of them has to be traded.
I called it out, that a new pg will not fix the issues of missed assignments on defense, turnovers, mismatches against bigs, guys missing open 3s, I was called a denialist. Not pounding my chest but I will be reading comments to read weird suggested solutions that are nothing but are just what they are ; walking on a quicksand.
If we humor you, then humor us. Clearly, the best move was not to stand pat. Many saw that it was more than just needing a pg. We also needed more size and, more importantly, consistency. This group has played erratically all season. One day Herro scores 30, next, he’s 2-15. Butler often seems disinterested. Highsmith, Martin, Duncan, Love, J Rich, Bryant, Jovic, all have been inconsistent. Only Bam and Jaquez have been steady. It’s not like it can’t be fixed or won’t get better. Right now, they are grossly underperforming. They’re better than this. But if there’s a move to be made that improves the fit/chemistry, I say do it.
Ultimately, I think they’ll be fine. But thinking that this team can go from play-in to finals again is unrealistic. Not impossible, but unrealistic.
Good response. We ran into a buzz saw last night. Not sure what we could do. But, Rozier over Lowry, pretty sure that was a good move. Was it enough?- that’s what we have to assess and we still have a few games to figure that out.
Thanks for the humor.
Hey, if I didn’t laugh, I’d cry. 😆
Aside from Bam, the roster is thrash
Herro is good, but inconsistent.
Rest of the team is either too old (Love), or too young/rookies (jaime, jovic, orlando, swider, cain), or just decent players that punches above their weight (duncan, martin, jrich), or just plain rotation players (bryant, highsmith)
Jury is still out on Rozier, if hes just a player that puts up good numbers on a losing team before or is he for real.
Then we have Jimmy. I dont know what to say, but it seems he’s still not fully healed on some injury that we dont know of.
That is the big question, is Jimmy able to be the superstar he was just last year. There have been signs all season that he isn’t quite as outstanding this year. It’s a big deal because like you said, other players are punching above their weight, and without what we refer to as Playoff Jimmy, they aren’t as effective.
I even, at the risk of overreacting, which I know we shouldn’t do, started considering for the first time whether it’s time to start over. If we lost the last two games like we did with JJJ in the line-up, it would appear, as a politician would say, that there is no clear path to victory. But, let’s see how we do with JJJ.
This roster went to the Finals last year. The year before they were the 1-seed and went to game-7 of the ECF. Two years before that they were also in the Finals.
The roster is not the problem. They were a top-5 seed two weeks ago.
if jimmy continues to play like this its a problem.everybody else is playing to their level except lazy old disinterested injured coffee take your pick
I don’t think it’s the only problem, but I agree. Jimmy is one of the best players in Heat history. But if we’re judging by how they’ve played this season, Jimmy has not been a top-5 player on this team and doesn’t deserve to be in the starting lineup.
I’m going to give you credit that you saw our problems were beyond one man. And, you are right, we can’t overreact to this bad loss. But, we should try to figure out what to do and if there is more we can do. I think it’s fairly established that just hoping we start playing better or using a different strategy with the same players may not be the answer.
When NBA greats (MJ,Larry Bird, Magic, Kobi etc) were asked what could the team do to get better. I always heard watch films, watch films, watch films and watch more films. 2. Practice, practice, practice, practice, and more practice. These are things that can correct most of Heat’s issues including from looking for a big against mismatches. I heard Roger Miller once said, he never left a training session without making 300 threes. It was reported that Kobi once practised playing against his most challenging defender Roger Bell of the Suns, a month before he actually played against him in a regular season game!.The emphasis for here is watching films and more practice sessions. That is why I call out Heat’s assistant coaches on these forum. What are they doing with these players. Are they not watching old films or spending more training sessions with these players, that the problems of TOs, defensive missed assignments, not knocking down open 3s keep occurring. Obviously, these are correctable problems but all I hear is that the Heat needs a trade to solve these issues.
gee im scared of the knicks now lol, they just blew the nuggets out of the water. Theyll probably kill us by 20 lol
Don’t be scared. If Arison is not , why should you?
i told yall, its gonna be by 20 lol
I disagree that Butler, Bam and Herro played well. None of them played well.
At least wasnt 50 points difference.
And Heat scored more then 100 points.
So its not all bad.
I pointed out to expect one of these 3 players to have their efficiency drop, it seemed ludicrous at the time. Welcome to the land of realism.
This is a team-wide issue imo. Not just abt Kyle when he’s still here and now the new guy, not just abt JJJ needs to heal quick, Jimmy old…its majority of the whole team playing like they’re disinterested coz its not yet the playoffs? Need a wake up call hope it comes soon coz that play-in spot is a dangerous place and if Heat makes it to #8 (if they make it at all hehe) they’ll face the Celtics juggernaut. There’s still time but Heat’s chances are getting smaller. Go Heat and right the ship!
Warning:
You risk being called a denialist.
So I’ve been super bummed watching the Heat lately. Especially after they’ve been so fun to watch all season long. So I wanted to collect my thoughts and really try to figure out whats wrong with this team right now. So I’m going to take a quick look back at this season, then figure out where this team is now, then figure out where we go from here.
The regular season started in October, and Spo basically treated it like the preseason. Lots of Skyforce guys. Dru Smith looked good, but he’s out for the season. Jovic fell out of the rotation early. O-Rob and Cain looked good in October, but haven’t been able to hold up as the season wears on. They started something like 4-6.
In November Butler got hurt, and Ty and Bam carried this team to a top-6 seed. When Ty went down and Butler was out, we thought this team was in trouble. That’s when the season got interesting.
For most of December & January, Butler Herro, and Caleb have barely played. And this team has been great. Jamie, Love, Jovic, and Lowry are all great passers. J-Rich and Dunc can both move without the ball and score from anywhere. Bam was playing great. They were a solid top-5 seed in the East. We figured once the 3 missing starters came back, this team would be competing for a title.
Well, at the end of January, Jamie and Love got injured, Lowry got traded, and Jovic got benched. Meanwhile, the 3 missing starters came back and we traded for a 4th. Bam is the one constant. Otherwise, the four starters from last month aren’t even playing, and the four starters tonight weren’t playing last month. It’s basically October all over again. This team improved their talent level, but lost their identity. Now they’re on a 5-game losing streak (after losing to some crappy teams) and falling back into the play-in.
So February is the all-star break, then there’s six more weeks until the playoffs. This team has plenty of time figure it out. Hopefully Spo can rediscover what was lost from the Jamie/Love/Jovic/Duncan squad, while also building a new identity around Butler/Herro/Caleb/Rozier. The second group is more talented and better at defense and all that stuff. But the first group won more games and was more fun to watch. This team needs to find an identity if they want to stay out of the play-in. And all eight of those guys are going to have to come together around All-Star Bam if this team wants to win a title this season.
The last time I read your comment, your analysis was not this long : It was lack of a pg.
lol. the comments were shorter when the games were fun
Oh, the games were more fun without a pg, I got you.lol.
yeah, the games were more fun when people were cutting and passing and moving without the ball. Turns out, you don’t need a point guard to be a good passer, and teams that pass the ball well are more fun to watch. It’s pretty simple really
I always thought so too, but louder voices on this forum proved too much for me.
you keep mentioning something about that. I don’t know the details, but you gotta just let it slide. It’s a small crew here and mostly everyone is pretty nice. Of course we disagree on some stuff. That’s the whole point. You’re free to speak your mind on whatever.
But for what it’s worth, I was never saying this team needed a new Point Guard. I’ve been the loudest voice for ‘no trade’ this entire season. The Rozier trade is an easy test of that theory. It’s clearly a talent upgrade, but it’s also clearly a chemistry experiment. We’ll see what happens
I agree. We may disagree on one issue or another, but I respect that others see an issue differently than I do. No big deal.
I do agree. There have been too many injuries, roster and rotation changes recently and Spo has to start all over again. Last season was similar in this regard, they played bad and only found their mojo in the playoffs. Even the playin was bad and they barely made it to the playoffs after the Bulls choked.
Let us see whether they can fix it again in the time remaining.
I agree. The only problem is that they were playing great like three weeks ago. They only started playing bad when last years starters came back.
I don’t think we’re struggling to find an identity though. We’re just playing poorly. We’ve been a streaky team all season because we haven’t consistently executed and injuries.
That’s not to excuse the poor play. Consistent execution is our identity. Limit turnovers, generate free throws, have more possessions and shots than the other team. And the strategies we use to accomplish that goal are pretty straightforward. Attack mismatches against Jimmy and Bam, generate and capitalize on the space those mismatches make.
I think the concerns raised in The Dunker Spot are where I am right now, and if the team doesn’t get enough reps of consistent execution Spo won’t be able to toggle tactics through a series.
I don’t think it’s that we’re struggling to find an identity. I think this team found an identity while Bam and Jimmy and Caleb were out, Jamie and Love leading the way with passing and cutting and ball movement. I think the problem is that a lot of those guys are out, and different guys are in, and they’ve lost that identity.
The real puzzle for Spo is whether he tries to rediscover that identity with the new roster, or whether he tries to rediscover the identity of the previous Butler teams with the attacking defense we really haven’t seen from Jimmy all season. Or best case scenario, he manages to incorporate both of those things with the extended roster.
But right now, it’s none of the above. And I don’t want to hear that the roster isn’t good enough and this team needs to make a trade. This is the most talented team we’ve seen in the Butler era, and that includes 2 trips to the Finals, 3 trips to the ECF, and 1 year the finished first in the East in the regular season. The roster is good enough. They’re just playing like crap.
I’m gonna do some splits based off BBREF because I think it’s just the spacing being off when Bam, Jimmy and Herro are on the court. Before I do, to clarify, I’m saying the difference isn’t tactics deployed it’s entirely execution. That ball movement combined with off ball player movement is the identity, with or without Jimmy. (I’d say it’s different with Herro who always seems to play as if he’s proving he can play.)
I’ll admit my wrong doing if so when I post the splits.
Until then I just wanna say I was really disappointed there was no weak side movement against the Celtics. Especially when it was Jimmy and Herro on the weak side. I’m looking forward to that being incorporated with Terry providing some primary ball handling.
I’m not great at looking up statistics, but I’d be really curious to see the assist numbers with and without Jimmy in the starting lineup. I’m especially curious to know how many assists per game the team was averaging in December and January before Butler & Caleb came back, vs what the numbers have looked like since they’ve been back.
Pathetic display at home, celtics showed us exactly why they’re the best team in the league. I stopped watching around the 3rd quarter, I went to the gym to workout the frustration. This team is missing an ingredient for full recipe because right now they’re looking bland. Hopefully we get love jjj and love back soon. Also gotta believe that Riley ain’t done making trades because bam needs frontcourt partner.
guarantee u get rid of ty the team will be better .the dude just gets pushed around on d.is not a team player.he takes to many shots.hes very talented just doesnt get it.get jjj in there with his all round game and he’ll make u forget about ty asap.u can get something decent for ty.they need a ud type bad ass type player with some skills.when orlando was doing their dump an aaron gordon would have been a perfect fit.sunman needs to find somebig dude we can get .how bout nazr reid for ty sun man what do u think of that trade
what you doing tomorrow afternoon?
My brother went down to miami for business. Client is taking him to the game….F him
be with my 90 year old mother
For those that didn’t see my earlier post:
Okay, here’s a huge hypothetical. I’m not suggesting it be done, only that it could be done. I apologize in advance for the length of this comment.
I think all or most of us respect Butler and would like to see him get a ring. But will he get one here this season? The upcoming extension must be considered and I am against the Heat giving Butler a 4-5 year $200-250 million extension.
So, what to do? I looked at contending teams that may need that one piece (Butler) to get over the top.
OKC has 17 first round and 22 second round picks. They are well under the cap. I Trade Machined Butler and Bryant for Dort, K Williams, and Bertans (for salary) plus the Houston 2024 top 4 protected pick, plus getting back our own 2025 pick. The trade leaves both teams well below the cap.
Replace Dort with Butler in that lineup and you have:
Shai G-A pg
Giddy sg
Butler sf
J Williams pf
Holmgren c
THAT to me, is an explosive contender!
For the Heat, Bertans has only a $5 million guarantee after this season, Kenrich Williams is a decent player on a friendly contract through 25-26 with a club option after, and Dort is a bulldog also under contract through 25-26 with a club option.
With the additional first round picks and now being under the cap, the Heat can make a trade for a Claxton or other pf, and still have the flexibility for more big trades in the future.
So, best case scenario in my little fantasy scenario, the Heat could have:
Rozier pg
Dort sg (or Herro if he’s still here)
Jaquez sf
Claxton pf
Bam c
Claxton at c, Bam at pf if you like. My point is, we’d have flexibility and picks to swing for the fences for other players.
Even if that happened, spo probably wouldn’t start Claxton anyway, spo would do more small ball before starting Claxton because he wants bam frontcourt partner to shoot the 3 ball. Example : Kelly o, Leonard, pj. That’s why it’s important for bam to develop the 3 ball because you can’t just put any none shooting big in the lineup with him. Beef stew from Detroit would be a better fit to pair with bam, or even aldama from grizzlies, or even toppin. But toppin rebounding is shaky. But you get the point. Claxton would be a backup here.
Yes, you wouldn’t have to add Claxton. With the space created and extra picks, you are in the mix for any available players. Mitchell? Other power forwards? Opportunity!
I think if you’re trading Butler to OKC you gotta get Giddy back
Sounds good to me.
I hope Jimmy agrees to a vet minimum lol. Like that’s gonna happen but as you’ve said team comes first.
Just a what if…Jimmy balls out after the all-star break and takes us to finals again? That’s a hard decision for Riles and co
The Celtics shot the living daylight from beyond the arc. 4 players shot above 40% from beyond the arc. I hope you now, see why that is important.
How often do 4 players shoot 40+% in one game? Herro and Duncan are right around 40%. So are Martin and, with limited attempts, Butler. It hasn’t translated into great success.
You still don’t get it. Let me make it easier for you. When a team has 2 or more players in the 40% on 3s in the regular season, that number drops to one player hitting 40% in the player off. Go check the trend in the past 20 years, just don’t take it because I said so. But when you have 2 players in regular season and you trade off one of them (Herro or Duncan) in the regular season without a replacement that leaves you with one player in the regular season.Come player off time because of the defensive schemes from the opposition, the chances of that lone player hitting 40% drops off significantly to 39% or less. And I repeat again for Nth time, no team in the past 20 YEARS have won the NBA championship without having a player that shoots 40% at least from the 3s during play off time. Neither Martin or Butler has hit 40% of there 3s in playoff, you cannot count on them making much impact without having another player capable of shooting above their percentage of 38% at most from the 3s in the playoff !
I’m really not disputing what you’re stating. I only say there are many factors that make a team a winner. I’m sure in those teams there were complimentary players that had skill sets that dovetailed with those shooters – rebounders, great defenders, athleticism, great passing.
Again, don’t take my comments or the occasional disagreement for more than they are. We both want to see this team succeed.
You should be kicked off this forum suggesting something like that 3 months ago, but today?
Butler is not good this year. Its not really about numbers, numbers are not bad, but he doesn’t pass eye test. He is passive and seems slow.
I believe this is more of the mental problem rather then the age or physical one, he just doesn’t posses the same fire, concentration, focus as years before.
He led the team to finals last season, so I think its not time to give up on him yet. But this summer his trade would be a real option, if something wont change.
OKC is good, but not champion level good yet, even with Butler.
Vagibugi, go easy on Reality Czech, lol. I like his humor.
Thanks. Thought I was going to be voted off the island.
Just in case if Jimmy will score 50 in NY and Heat will win.
I like RC and his humor.
Folks standing around on offense and sleep walking on defense. No ball movement. Everybody in slow-mo. Too many mental lapses and half-ass efforts. Turnovers like a mo-fo. Not a pretty sight. I hope Jaquez comes back soon cuz these guys have absolutely no life. Butler goes stretches looking like he could gaf. Herro hot and cold and reverting to his old defensive lapses. I can definitely see a couple more trades before the deadline. This team, as presently consitituted ain’t going anywhere. I feel bad for Bam. He is the only one busting his ass night after night.
after watching the game yesterday, i said the Heat were going to lose by 30. They lost by 33. I didn’t even watch tonight because I knew what was coming.
Agree that it’s too many guys standing around and no ball movement. I think Jaquez and Love are basically the two most important players on the roster. They get the ball moving, make cuts, bring the offense to life, and make everybody better. With those two out, this is basically a football team that can run but can’t pass
They also have forgotten how to play tough, smash mouth Miami Heat defense. The team got killed on the boards. Boston came out hustling and playing like the game meant something. Miami came out playing like they can just phone the regular season in and turn it on in the playoffs.
I just missing watching this team pass and cut the way they were doing in November and Decmeber
Props to these Celts, helluva team. Im still hopeful for my Heat to have a decent standing before playoffs…like, pls avoid the play-in lol
Whatever mince meat is, that’s what the Celtics made of us.