Tag Archives: Isaiah Thomas

LeBron Knows the Answer to the Big Question About Kyrie

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“…I don’t have any advice for him now. I got no advice for him or any other people that’s on any other team. Noooo.. Listen man we trying to win a championship here, I don’t have time to give advice to other guys…”

LeBron seemed sincere in his opening press conference for the season, and it’s a fair point to not want to help players that aren’t helping you win a championship. The thing is, LeBron has been giving advice to all kinds of young players in a very public manner after games. We saw it with Lonzo Ball. The very next game against the Jazz we saw him and Dwayne Wade pull another rookie, Donovan Mitchell, aside and give him a short lecture. You might remember last year when he did the same thing with a rookie Jaylen Brown.

So, why does he have nothing left for Kyrie?

KYRIE IS READY

The answer is simple: he knows Kyrie is ready to win without him. He’s already given his former protegé more than he would like the leader of a serious contender to have. Kyrie is no wide-eyed rookie. Still, LeBron has established himself as a “big brother” of sorts for young players around the league. The two have built a bond together. Now, he doesn’t have anything left to say to Kyrie. He can act like it’s everyone, but it’s not. It’s just guys he sees as a threat to his legacy, and that list now includes Kyrie Irving. His explanation of why he has nothing left for Kyrie seems inaccurate and pointed. If you ask me, he is legitimately worried about Irving and the Boston Celtics.

“…The only thing I’m upset about is he took a lot of the DNA and the blueprint to Boston.”

LeBron has been to 7 straight NBA Finals. He knows what it takes to get there. He also knows Kyrie Irving knows what it takes to get there. Kyrie Irving is ready to be the #1 guy. LeBron may have been ready to give him the keys, as he said in his preseason interview. But Kyrie was tired of riding in the backseat. So he went out and found himself his own car. One that he could drive. And one that has yet to reach its top speed.

KYRIE VS LEBRON ON THE BIG STAGE

The Celtics are still a work in progress. They have cooled off a bit since their 16 game win streak at the beginning of the season, but they are still an obvious force. Even without Hayward, the general consensus is that there will be an Eastern Conference Finals rematch between the Cavs and Celtics. The biggest difference this time around would be the size of the storylines.

Kyrie will be trying to put the last stamp of approval needed to validate his move to Boston. Maybe more accurately, out of Cleveland. It would be truly epic to see Kyrie take down LeBron and end his Finals reign. Instead of LeBron handing Kyrie the keys, Kyrie will be looking to take them from him, head to head. We could see these teams clash in the playoffs for years to come. It seems inevitable the Celtics take the crown and reach the Finals.

THE MAKINGS OF A TRUE RIVALRY

For Celtics fans, perhaps watching Isaiah Thomas try to exact revenge on his old team and new rival will be the hardest thing to watch. It is tough not to root for this guy. It is tough to realize he could be heavily responsible for ending the Celtics’ season.

It would also be the 2nd year in the row the two play in the ECF, and could mark the start of a true rivalry. The Celtics are getting better every year and will soon be the favorites in the East. But until somebody knocks him off, LeBron holds the key to the Finals. As long as he is in Cleveland, they will be a force in the playoffs.

Eventually, there will be a team that comes along and beats LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. Most would agree that team will most likely be the Boston Celtics. Even if LeBron isn’t willing to give Kyrie any more advice. Kyrie has everything he needs to succeed. Who knows, maybe we’ll see LeBron give the rookie Jayson Tatum some love Wednesday after the game. Or, maybe he’ll see him as a member of a team that is a serious threat to his championship aspirations and stay far, far away.

Don’t Go Away Mad IT, Just Go Away.

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Enough already. Every time someone puts a keyboard or microphone near Isaiah Thomas’ face he reminds us more and more of his namesake. We hated that IT.

Our IT was great last year. Huge in the playoffs. We were sad when he left. No more. Kyrie Irving is a better player than Thomas. It’s not even debatable.

He’s also, apparently, a lot more grown up.

Le Divorce

Fandom, especially in Boston, is like a marriage. We love our teams and players until we don’t. And then, like a divorce, we tend to hate their very existence. Sure, there have been some amicable splits. We love Ray Bourque, despite leaving to lift Lord Stanley in Colorado. And, other than that bastard Johnny Damon who went to New York, we don’t hate anyone of the 2004 Red Sox players who went elsewhere. They drink for free forevah!

Thomas came to Boston a pretty average NBA player. He spent three seasons in Sacramento (2011-2014) and had a cup of coffee in Phoenix in (2014-2015). In those three and a half years he averaged just over 15 points, 4.5 assistants, and less than a steal per game. He was 37% from the 3-point line and 44% from the field. He was a nice player.

In two and a half years in Boston he became a star – averaging over 24 points, 6 assists, and 1 steal a game. He was a giant in the playoffs. Boston loved IT. Many of us still do, despite how difficult he is making it.

The Trade

Source: NBC Sports

Channeling his inner Hoodie, Danny Ainge capitalized on Thomas’s breakout year and post season and packaged him in a deal for Kyrie Irving in August. Beyond the machinations of compensatory picks due to Thomas’s health and the emotional outcry by Boston fans who loved IT’s play and heart, the initial reaction was that maybe the Celtics were giving up too much for Irving. Kyrie certainly didn’t take long to dispel those fears.

As much as we loved Thomas, Boston fans, more than most others, understand that even star players come and go. At some point everyone leaves – they are traded, released, or retire. We don’t like it when it happens to a popular player and important piece to our success.

The key for fans, lest we lose faith in the organization, is that these moves need to improve the team. And, over the course of the last two decades, we’ve come to understand that, just maybe, the coach and GM know a little more about the game and the organization than we do.

Theo dumped Nomar – who was the franchise’s most popular player for a decade. We don’t win the 2004 World Series without that deal.

Belichick dumps everyone at some point. There is no Patriots Dynasty without his cold calculus.

Ainge traded Paul Pierce, an all-time Celtic great, and Kevin Garnett to Brooklyn in 2013 over the outrage of all of New England. That deal, in hindsight, continues to be regarded as one of the greatest in history. Theo, Bill, and Danny know how to build winning franchises.

The Tantrum

The problem with the IT-Irving trade is simply this: Thomas can’t move on. Rather than thank Ainge and the Celtics organization for the opportunity they gave him – and he capitalized on – to become a star, he’s pouted and cried about how he was treated.

Source: Twitter

Thomas is not a child, despite how he’s behaved since the trade. From snide tweets responding to Boston’s growing appreciation for Irving to criticizing Ainge and the Celtics’ medical staff, it’s been a four-month sulk that would shame even the most melodramatic teenage girl upset over being dumped for the prettier cheerleader.

Thomas contents that he’s moved on. He claims that the drama of the trade is only being kept alive by media. But his actions betray his words.

The week before Christmas, IT dropped the ultimate self-pity party. He posted a fourteen-minute video on The Players Tribune detailing the day he learned of the trade and his FaceTime exchange with his kids about having to move to Cleveland. It is a touching video. It is clear how disappointed IT is about leaving the Celtics and uprooting his family to move to Cleveland.

Time to Move On

That is totally understandable. Anyone who’s ever been to Cleveland would be devastated about moving there. But this, IT, is the life you chose. You are not a rookie. You’ve been through this before.

Thomas needs to stop acting like the original Isiah Thomas – one of history’s greatest and most unlikable whiners – and act like the guy who capitalized on his trade to Boston. Ainge and the Celtics gave you an opportunity to be a star and you took it. They traded you for a better player because that’s what organizations are supposed to do to improve their teams. You have a new opportunity in Cleveland with perhaps the greatest player in league history – grow up and take it.

Celtics Continue to Struggle with Former Teammates

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OLYNYK’S BIG NIGHT

Kelly Olynyk’s career-high 32 points on Wednesday night marked yet another instance where Boston couldn’t handle one of their former teammates this season. Stevens brought up the team’s recent ineptitude when facing off against former Celtics following their 90-89 loss to Miami:

“He [Olynyk] played a great game…It was definitely at our expense. Second time in a week one of our former players came in here and just gave it to us” –Brad Stevens following Wednesday night’s loss.

The Celtics have recently begun to show signs of concern on the defensive side of the ball. Lack-luster defensive efforts during the month of December have exposed Brad Stevens’ group. Boston has allowed seven 100-plus point games in their eleven contests this month.

Break-downs on defense have wavered fans’ confidence in this Celtics group. Despite recent struggles, they remain tied for first in the league for team defensive rating. The team’s current struggles may be over-stated when considering their whole body of work this year, but there has been one constant. This year, revenge games may be this team’s Achilles’s heel.

When Danny Ainge decided to ship out Isaiah Thomas and the rest of what seemed to be a temporary core for the green team, he was confident in his decisions. It is hard to argue with Ainge’s confidence as his new roster has spent almost the entirety of this season atop the Eastern Conference standings. However, what Ainge and company may not have foreseen was most of the players shipped out last summer coming back and taking revenge on the league’s best defense.

DOES BOSTON HAVE A FORMER PLAYER PROBLEM?

Olynyk’s 32 points are only the most recent example of former players getting up for their return to Boston this year. Piling on top of Olynyk’s career numbers Wednesday night was his teammate, and former Celtic, Jordan Mickey. The 2015 second round draft pick added eight points, eight rebounds and 2 assists in the victory over the Celts.
Just five days earlier, Jonas Jerebko made his return to the TD Garden with Gordon Hayward’s former squad, the Utah Jazz. On a night where no one expected more than a respectful applause upon Jerebko’s first check into the game, the big Swede proceeded to drop 17 points while adding seven boards and two steals. Two weeks prior, Amir Johnson returned to Boston with the 76ers, and while he didn’t exactly light the world on fire, Johnson exceeded his season averages in points, rebounds, assists and steals in the game.

Surprisingly enough, Avery Bradley, arguably the best player outside of Isaiah Thomas to depart from Boston this past summer, is the only former teammate the Celtics have been able to hold in check. Bradley has averaged a modest 12.5 points and 3.5 assists in his two games against gang green this season. Both are below his season averages.

If the Celtics were giving up big points to what, for the most part, are role players, then there may not be much concern surrounding it. Unfortunately for Boston, competing with their ex’s has proven to be costly in the loss column. The Celtics have lost eight games so far and five of those losses have come against teams with members of last year’s roster. In those five losses, Cleveland and Detroit are the only teams that are currently in a playoff spot.

SHOULD THE CELTICS BE NERVOUS?

In the grand scheme of this season I’m sure Brad Stevens and company have more on their mind than getting bested by their former comrades. While Jonas Jerebko may not be a threat to the Celtics immediate success, the one cast-off that may threaten Boston’s success has yet to make his return. I’m sure you can figure out that I’m referring to the aforementioned Isaiah Thomas.

Should IT decide to return for Cleveland’s match-up in Boston on January 3rd, it is clear that, emotionally, he is ready. He will look to exact his revenge against Trader Danny and his new crew. The Cleveland game is one many fans and players have marked on their calendar. If it does prove to be Isaiah’s return to Boston then recent history tells Boston fans to be weary. IT will be coming to exact his revenge.

Nets/Lakers Played, And It Mattered

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TRADE VALUE TBD

Out of all the offseason moves made by Danny Ainge, the value of two trades is still largely unknown. First, the trade to acquire Kyrie. Isaiah Thomas was shipped to Cleveland, along with Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic, and two picks. One of those picks happens to be one of the most valuable around the league– the Nets unprotected 2018 pick, still left over from the Pierce/Garnett deal. The Nets look like they might not be the worst team in the league this year. We don’t know how Thomas will come back from his hip injury, so we still don’t fully know the value of this trade.

The other trade, whose value is still TBD, is the draft night trade of the 2017 #1 pick, sent to Philadelphia for the 2017 #3 pick (swap) and an additional 2018 1st round pick with protections. The pick is the Lakers 2018 pick, but only comes to fruition if it falls in between 2-5. This means the Lakers have to be pretty bad this year. If not, it becomes the higher of the 76ers & Kings 1st rounder in 2019, as long is it isn’t #1 overall. If it is, it becomes the lower of the two teams. This would be the worst situation, but also by far the least likely.

DID THE LAKERS WIN?

Last year, one of my favorite twitter accounts to follow was “Did the Nets Win?” It was a simple yes or no tweet, with the score after every game. Simple and somewhat pointless, it reminded me every time I saw it, how well-positioned the Celtics were for the future. Now, the account has changed to “Did the Lakers Win?” This year, the Celtics have the potential to benefit from the Lakers dropping as many games as possible, rather than the Nets. It’s a great card to hold over our greatest rival. Celtics fans have another reason to cheer for a Lakers implosion. We get to let the Nets go on with their lives. Danny Ainge put that franchise in such a fierce stranglehold, it almost felt wrong to be happy about.

Can the Lakers be bad enough this year to fall in the 2-5 range? Could they end up being worse than the Nets? If that happens, Ainge would look like a genius. Both the Lakers and Nets are starting to play a little better this season, than in previous years. They both added some veterans to help with the process, but so far it hasn’t resulted in anything crazy. The two teams played each other on Friday night, and the Lakers came out with the win. Let’s take a look at both teams, and see who has a better chance at a worse record this season.

LAKERS

Showtime in LA was seemingly back after the Lakers drafted Lonzo Ball. Through 10 games, he has yet to truly captivate the city, like some thought he would do right away. Despite some rough performances, he has shown the ability to get his teammates involved. The Lakers are starting to show a willingness to pass we haven’t seen with them since before the Kobe era. Ball’s presence is being felt, even if he isn’t posting gaudy scoring numbers.

The Lakers might have picked the steal of the draft 27th overall, in Kyle Kuzma. This guy is showing he can score at a high level, and he is ready now. While the team is still high on Brandon Ingram, it is becoming more apparent every game that Kuzma is more of an offensive threat than Ingram, at least right now. The Lakers are starting to catch on, giving him his first start on Friday against the Nets. He recorded a game-high 39 minutes, notching 21/13 on the night. Add Josh Hart and Thomas Bryant to Kuzma & Ball, and the Lakers might have had the best draft in 2017.

FOLLOWING THE CELTICS?

In addition to the top-notch draft the Lakers had, they added some true veterans they are hoping will help them win right now. All the while building something similar to what the Celtics are trying to do–a sustainable culture of winning with youth, that outlasts the Golden State era. The additions of Brook Lopez and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope were very underrated. Lopez had an all-star caliber season last year with the Nets, and posted 34 points against his old squad on Friday. KCP has hit big shots throughout his career. He has already put his clutch gene to use this season, tying the game with a big time 3 late against the Blazers on Thursday. He is also a great defender, something the Lakers have been missing on the wings.

NETS

The Nets are far from showtime. Most of their fans probably can’t tell you when the game starts. However, they are finally starting to turn a corner. While their drafts have been sparse, due to selling their future to the Celtics, they did pick up Caris Levert in the 1st round last year. The team is very high on him, and he is looking like a potential 2nd scoring option for them. They have done their best to surround him with young, gritty players that want to win.

The backcourt in Brooklyn was supposed to be newly acquired D’Angelo Russell & Jeremy Lin. Much like the Celtics, one of their best players, Jeremy Lin, suffered a season-ending injury in their season opener. Russell has turned it on since, and is looking like a borderline all-star. How long can he keep it up? He is looking like the franchise cornerstone going forward. Even if it is the Nets, his development will be something to watch this season.

ANYTHING YOU CAN DO, I CAN DO WORSE

Who is going to be worse this year, the Lakers or the Nets? Things are back to normal when Celtics Nation would rather see the Lakers lose. They definitely have a brighter future than the Nets, and should separate themselves from the bottom feeders of the league in the next couple of years. They are leaning heavily on young guys to win now. It is going to be tough for them to compete for a playoff spot this season. The way they have been playing right now, sitting at 5-5, they do have an outside chance.

The Nets, however, have virtually no shot at the playoffs this year. They are finally good enough to compete, but not for a playoff spot, even in the East. We should expect them to have their best record since the infamous Pierce-KG trade, but nothing more.

THE VERDICT

The Lakers beat the Nets heads up, and I think they will end up ahead of them in the standings at the end of the season as well. The only thing that could be a factor is the conferences. Obviously, the Western conference is much tougher than the East. Teams play conference opponents four times a year, so the Lakers are going to be going through the gauntlet, while the Nets will have more opportunities to steal games.

At the end of the day, I don’t think the Lakers pick will fall between 2-5 in 2018. We will have to wait a year, and get the better of the Kings/76ers picks. It is somewhat unfortunate because this draft class is supposed to be stacked (again), but the Kings have only won 1 game so far this year, and are looking more than a year out from being a serious team. In all likelihood, we will end up with their pick in 2019, and it could very well be a top 5 pick. We just might have to wait for it. Let’s not forget this is in addition to trading down to draft Jayson Tatum. This is a win in itself.

Celtics Must See TV – 2017-2018 Schedule Breakdown

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Now that the on-again, off-again trade finally has closure, and another preseason is among us, the Boston Celtics have yet another new look.   It makes one ponder some of the upcoming dates on the schedule. Which games are must-see TV for Celtics fans? Let’s take a look of what’s to come, shall we?

Celtics Must See TV

October 17th @ Cleveland on TNT – 8:00 PM

Could the season get off to a better start? The Celtics start against the Cavaliers, last year’s Eastern Conference Finals match-up. Coincidentally, these two teams completed a blockbuster deal with each other just a few short weeks before training camp.

While it may be bittersweet to see Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder in Maroon, the drowning out of TNT announcers to the Cavalier fans booing their newest traitor and our newest treasure will be delightful.

November 8th – Los Angeles Lakers on ESPN – 8:00 PM

I do not envision a rebirth of the past rivalry just yet.  But how can you not be interested, even a little, in how Lonzo Ball plays in his first game against the C’s?

Moreover, I can just imagine the buzz around Boston Sports Media and Lavar Ball.  The next coming of Don King in promotion of said event. Not to mention, it is always good to see the Purple and Gold get run out by the Leprechaun.

Christmas Day – Washington Wizards on ABC – 5:30 PM

A little bit of the sting has been taken out of this match-up since the trade of Jae Crowder and Isaiah Thomas to the Cleveland Cavaliers.   The Cavs escalated the battle with the poke/slap fest with John Wall where the Wizards then claimed it was the Celtics Funeral, wearing all black to their next contest.

The seven-game contest in last year’s playoffs is still fresh.  With John Wall claiming the number-one point guard crown, the Kyrie Irving and John Wall competition should make for must-watch television.

The Return

January 3rd, 2018 – Cleveland on ESPN – 8:00 PM

This will be the first return of fan favorites Isaiah Thomas and Jae Crowder to the Garden. All eyes will be on the diminutive 5′ 9″ guard with the heart and will of a GIANT.

He may not be ready for court action, but one can only imagine a fitting tribute will be played on the jumbotron for Thomas.   In Celtics green, he played with undeniable grit, passion, and fire during a most difficult time in his life and throughout the season.

The accomplishments and impact in Boston, on and off the court will not be forgotten.

February 11th – Cleveland on ABC –  3:30 PM

The game will be second to the retirement ceremony honoring Paul “The Truth” Pierce, number #34 in your program. He will be forever immortalized high in the Garden rafters, in a building where he played so many epic games.  None more memorable than the 2008 Eastern Conference Semis duel between him and King James. Fitting,  LeBron will be on hand.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66FNMqAAmX4]

Honorable Mention

November 3rd, @ Oklahoma City on ESPN – 9:30 PM

Who doesn’t want to watch the dynamic duo of Russell Westbrook and Paul George with side kick Carmelo Anthony take on the new BIG three incarnation of Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward and Al Horford. Not to mention Marcus Smart shines in his College Alma Mater’s state.

November 16th, Golden State Warriors on TNT – 8:00 PM

This will be a great barometer to see where our new look Celtics really rate compared to undoubtedly the team to beat for coveted Banner 18. I wonder what the clever Boston fans will come up with to play off the Kevin Durant Twitter Saga this summer.

December 20th, Miami Heat – 7:30 PM

Good friend Kelly Olynyk and Jordan Mickey (who?) come back to the Garden. This might be more of my own guilty pleasure. I was big into the #KOHAIRWATCH and although he never excelled to the player we all hoped he’d be consistently (Remember Game seven last year against the Wizards?), it’s hard NOT to like KO.

A Team to Follow Throughout the Year

The Philadelphia 76ers.

With top-pick Markelle Fultz (who everyone in Boston thought was coming here until the infamous trade down to #3) and number-one pick Ben Simmons who face number-three Jayson Tatum and number-three Jaylen Brown a number of times throughout the year, will make for an interesting development to follow.

The reality, if you try really hard, you could make any game worth watching.

The Celtics retooled with dreams of having fireworks this June and a Duck Boat Parade to City Hall. Close your eyes. Can you see the Championship banner waving?

Let me know the games you are looking forward to in the comments. You can find me on twitter @bleedcelticgrn

Realistic Expectations for 2017-2018 Season

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BASKETBALL SEASON IS UPON US

Training camp is less than a week away and the basketball junkies are coming out of hibernation. Soon enough, a clearer picture of what we can expect the Celtics to look like will start to show itself. So, you’re probably expecting a post about how the Celtics are going to go all the way this year, right?!?

Well, this is the part where I tell you to temper expectations just a little bit. It’s an exciting time to be a Celtics fan, but moreover a fan of the NBA in general. A lot of teams have a similar buzz around them. The Celtics might have a tough time shining the brightest in the 2018 Playoffs. Even if they eclipse their previous high-water mark for the fourth consecutive year and reach the NBA Finals, a juggernaut will await. It won’t be a cake walk.

I wrote an article about how this team shouldn’t have any problems hitting the ground running, and I stick to that. We should see some amazing basketball out of the Celtics this year. Furthermore, I don’t think they’ll have many problems with team chemistry. This group of guys just seem to mesh together already; it’s the perfect mixture of skill sets ready to complement one another. Add in some colorful personalities to taste, and it smells like a recipe for success. The things I think will hold this team back initially all share a common thread – inexperience.

ON YOUR MARK…

Most of the players we had that gained playoff experience in the past few years are gone. Sure, Kyrie won a championship and should be a leader of the Celtics in time. Can we really expect a 25-year-old to lead even younger guys to the top of the NBA in less than a year, though? Stevens and Hayward have been to the championship stage before together in college but didn’t win. Horford won in college and should step further into a leadership role. All things considered, the reality is this team needs more experience before being catapulted into the history books.

Even further, they simply lack experience in terms of player age. Let’s face it: this is one of the youngest teams in the NBA. They will be relying on first- and second-year players making a big impact if they want to make a deep playoff run. Jaylen Brown did get meaningful PT last year in the playoffs. He was on the floor frequently in the ECF and was even tasked with guarding Lebron James at times. Jayson Tatum very well might be the best rookie in his class.   And fellow rook “The Terminator” Semi Ojeleye might just contribute immediately on defense as Brad Stevens indicates. Regardless, this is a team with five rookies on guaranteed deals and 10 players 25 years of age or younger.

PLANT THE SEEDS AND WATCH THEM GROW

This team to me is complete. When I say that, I mean I don’t think they really need to add anything major to compete for championships. The biggest thing that is going to help them reach another level is organic growth in the coming years. The young stars, Jaylen and Jayson, need to continue to improve. Hopefully one or both will be ready for crucial starting roles within a couple years. The other rookies need to find ways to contribute as well, and the younger guards that have been here (Smart and Rozier) need to start showing leadership and growth.

Even the players at the top of the lineup are still getting better in Irving and Hayward. The only player that seems to have reached his peak playing level is Horford, and he still has some great years ahead of him. The dynamic of this team is exciting, but there are a lot of moving parts here. Only time will tell if they are all moving in the same direction.

BUELLER… BUELLER…..

So where will this team get its leadership? Kyrie will be expected to take on that role, and he seems ready for the challenge. Al Horford will be another guy the Celtics will lean on heavily this season to keep everybody focused on the goal of winning a championship, something he did twice in college at Florida. He is the oldest and most experienced player on the team at 31 with 10 years of NBA experience. Together these two have 144 playoff games good for 143 starts. But when you take them out of the equation, the situation is pretty grim; the rest of the team has a combined total of 114 playoff games under their belt, good for just 27 starts.

PLAYOFFS? WE TALKIN’ BOUT PLAYOFFS??

Getting down to brass tacks, I see this team finishing as the number-one seed in the East again, with a slightly better record than last year. I’ll peg them for 55-60 wins which should easily get them the top spot. The Cavs will be without Isaiah to start the season, trying to figure it out. When he does come back, they’ll have to reconfigure again.

The second round will be the first real test for the new look C’s, but don’t expect it to be a drawn out battle. The number-one seeded Celtics move on to the Eastern Conference Finals for the second consecutive year. Following the same narrative as last year, they run in to a team they have yet to see all season – the Playoff Cavaliers.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS?

There is no way to sugarcoat it. The Cavaliers are going to be in the Eastern Conference Finals, and they will be ready. Not only ready to play, but ready specifically to beat the Boston Celtics. There will be a guy by the name of Isaiah Thomas in the ECF, playing with a chip on his shoulder. Oh, and he’s going to have his friend Jae Crowder with him as well, ready to lock down Lebron James all game. Wait.. this is getting confusing. We can’t put Jae on Lebron?

Seriously, that’s going to be an issue. As if that weren’t enough, lining him up with Lebron on defense is going to be scary for any team. And then there’s the fact that, well, Lebron does a lot more than just play defense. Not to mention he’s going to be out to show Kyrie he made the wrong choice leaving Cleveland. When the best player in the world has your number, it’s never a good thing.

JUST BEING REAL, FOLKS

This series is going to be a classic, point blank period. The last time I was waiting for a particular series before the season started, it was the Celtics-Lakers in the Finals. It is simply the fate of these two teams to go the distance in the Conference Finals after all that has transpired. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but my prediction is the Celtics will lose to the Cavaliers in seven. The inexperience of the young C’s will show itself, and the Cavs will be more hungry for it this season. They will be out for revenge; the Celtics are just going to be taking it all in. The Cavs also don’t have the luxury of youth and (take a seat, Danny, your job is done) stability, and thus have more of a sense of urgency to win now.

All things considered, if the Celtics get this far, it’s not that far-fetched to see them advancing to the Finals. Anything can happen in a game seven, but I don’t think that scenario favors the Celtics. In the wise words of former Celtics coach Doc Rivers, “you never want the series to get to a game seven when the best player is on the other team.” He was talking about Lebron James, right after his Celtics team lost to the Heat in game seven of the 2012 Eastern Conference Finals. Lebron had 45pts-15rbs-5ast in that game. Fast forward six years and I think the narrative proves to be eerily similar. The Celtics crawl a tad further into uncharted waters in their quest for Banner 18, but fall just shy of the NBA Finals this year.

Stay tuned for my upcoming article on when the Celtics will win their next championship!!

 

 

Even Stevens: Making Lemonade Since 2013

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SOMETHING IN THE AIR

We hear it every time a team has any type of significant roster turnover. “They’ll need time to gel.” Or, “We’ll have to wait and see if they have chemistry.” Sure, these are valid points. But I’m here to tell you, these issues are minimal with this Celtics team. To find out why, you don’t need to look any further down the team roster than the head coach.

Brad Stevens became the head coach prior to the 2013-2014 season. Remarkably, he has exactly zero players left from that team going into the 2017-2018 campaign. Seems like a massive headache for a guy who came from college coaching ranks. A mid-major nonetheless, where he didn’t have to worry about the business side of basketball. Stevens has embraced the challenge, however. He has done a better job than anyone expected him to, improving the teams record every single year since he came to Boston despite some major changes. Let’s take a closer look at how he has handled this tremendous roster turnover in the past.

2013-2014*

Stevens’ first year as head coach was a rough one. The team won 25 games, and it looked like the rebuild might take awhile. He did give us a taste of his genius though, when he dropped Jordan Crawford into the starting Point Guard role in the absence of Rondo. Crawford was widely considered a selfish player around the league, but Stevens made him into a team- first guy. He had his best all-around year, even earning Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors. Despite the poor record, Stevens showed he wasn’t afraid to do things his own way. He gave the last player on the roster the same opportunity to prove himself as the first guy. He didn’t want to overlook anyone, and made sure everyone got their fair shake.  If you could play team ball and defend, you would play, period.

2014-2015*

In his second season, Ainge made some significant midseason moves, and Stevens was finally getting a taste of the difficulties of coaching in the NBA. The Celtics were 9-14 when Rondo went to the Mavericks, and 13-23 when they sent Jeff Green to Memphis. Both were starters, and the players that earned those roles were new to the team. Marcus Smart was an unproven rookie, and Evan Turner signed as a free agent just before the season. Turner was widely considered a bust after being the number two overall pick and never meeting expectations.  But Stevens saw something in him.

When the team traded for Isaiah Thomas at the trade deadline, they were still trying to crawl out of the cellar. Nobody expected them to make the playoffs. With a completely different look than just months prior, they finished the year with one of the best post All-Star break records and made it to postseason. In a year that saw 22 different players receive minutes, Stevens created a playoff team. His peers were starting to see him as one of the best young coaches in the game.

2015-2016*

2016-2017*

The last two years have had considerably less roster turnover, but still saw a new name in the starting lineup each year with Amir Johnson and Al Horford. The team has continued to improve and exceed expectations no matter who they roll out. Isaiah Thomas turned into a star, but they still didn’t have much firepower behind him. Stevens’ teams to date have been known for being overachievers.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

Let’s take a look at what Stevens was working with in his second season compared to what he will have next year. In ’14-’15, the fresh, new core was a rookie Marcus Smart, Evan Turner, and a young IT who had not yet established himself as a star. Compare that with the likes of Kyrie Irving, Gordon Hayward, and Jayson Tatum along with plenty of other moving parts, and there is no contest as to which group has more talent.

Taking all of this into account, it’s a given that this team will be good, and possibly great. Stevens has without question the most talented roster he has coached in the NBA. He no longer has to make lemons into lemonade; he already has the lemonade. If they simply achieve, progress will still have been made. Betting sites have them pegged for as high as 56.5 wins on the season, more than the 53 wins they reached last year.

The overachieving C’s may be gone, but the new look C’s might not need to overachieve to win a championship. They have the talent. The question we must answer now is, does this team have what it takes to win it all? Do they have championship DNA? Stevens will do his part and put players in the best position to succeed as he always has.  But it will be up to them what they do with the opportunity.

 

* Courtesy of RealGM. Depth charts are from the last game played that season. This takes into account injuries, which shows another element Stevens has had to deal with. He was missing a starter due to injury in the playoffs all 3 years he has been there.

Isaiah Thomas: The 5’9 Giant

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Championship Mike Drop

The clock ticks down under 10 seconds. The game is tied in overtime. The Staples Center in LA is packed. Jersey number two in black is still dribbling calmly in place just past half court. The people closest to him know what happens next, as he prepares to show the rest of the world what he is all about. Isaiah Thomas starts to drive hard left. He gets inside the perimeter enough to sell the drive. He gets a sliver of space and then takes a step back with a distance comparable to that between Man and the Moon itself to get behind the line.   A two-point victory wasn’t good enough for him. (It ended up being called a two but I dispute it to this day). You can probably guess what happens next: swish. “COOOLLDD BLOODED!!” the announcer can be heard yelling over all the chaos.

Special Person, Special Player

That was the scene of the PAC-12 (then PAC-10) championship game on March 12, 2011, and the exact moment I became an Isaiah Thomas fan. You see, certain players bring more to basketball than just talent. IT plays with a fierce passion unmatched by most. You have to bring up the names of greats just to find somebody on his level in that regard. Then there’s that smile. You can always tell he’s having a blast on the court, and for his teammates, it’s contagious. Complement these things with an unrealistic confidence and you have the makings of a special player. He is willing to say he wants to be the best player in the NBA, and he doesn’t care if you doubt him. As a fan, you have to love a guy like that. Especially when he’s able to back it up with top-five level play, which is right where he found himself in the MVP race at the end of last season. Say that again?

Down Draft

Speaking of doubt, let’s fast forward from that day at the Staples Center to a few months later at the 2011 NBA draft. You’ve probably heard the story. Thomas was taken with the last pick, far beyond the point where a team can typically find someone worth a roster spot. Well, the Kings struck gold. Not only did he make the team, he averaged 11.5 ppg as a rookie. He jumped up to 20.3 ppg by his third year. Despite showing promise as a young player, the  Kings weren’t satisfied and dumped him for nothing in a sign-and-trade move with the Suns. He played in Phoenix for only half of the 13-14 season. Even though he continued to play well, they doubted Thomas and his role in their long-term plans. They viewed him as the third-best point guard on the roster.

Little Big Man

When I heard the Celtics landed Thomas before the trade deadline of the 2014-2015 season, I was ecstatic. Right away I felt we had the scoring punch we needed to maybe make a run at the playoffs, and he took us there as a mid-season acquisition. But he wasn’t satisfied; he won the starting role, and in the 2016-2017 season threw it in the face of his doubters and had himself an MVP caliber season.

Some of the things he did this past season literally brought me to tears. There’s the Miami game where he notched a career- high 52 points, and we needed every last one of them to win. The King of the Fourth came to play that day, breaking Larry Bird’s franchise record with 24 in the final period.

Need a day off? The very next game, he recorded a career high 15 assists behind 29 pts, and it started to seem like he could do anything. Just two games in the line of a franchise-record 43-straight, 20-point games. And in the playoffs, when he bested his 52 with a gritty 53-point performance on a bad hip, on what would have been his sisters 23rd birthday. She passed away in a car accident weeks before. If you weren’t a fan of his after that game, you didn’t have a pulse.

He fought through that personal tragedy for the rest of the playoffs and beyond. The missing tooth game, the game winner in Atlanta, I could go on and on. We were witnessing greatness out of “the little guy” every single time he stepped on the floor. He fought so hard for everything, and he finally felt at home. He was in a good situation where his coach allowed him to be himself and it was paying dividends. Even the doubters where starting to diminish. Imagine that, it took an MVP level season for most to realize this guy is pretty darn good.

…Another, New, Era?

What happens next, well, is simply heartbreaking. As I’m writing this, I’m torn between excitement for the future and borderline depression that the hard nosed Celtics led by Thomas will never step on the floor together again. While the culture remains, the fact is this is a much different team led by a different floor general. Isaiah wears a Cavaliers jersey now. And get this; reports reveal the Cavs didn’t care much about Thomas being part of the deal, but were more enamored with Crowder and the Nets pick. Two great assets, sure, but the message was clear; we don’t think he can do it again. Definitely not after the hip injury. They even demanded more out of the deal after it was agreed upon when concern was expressed about their results from Thomas’ physical. IT’s newest team has become his latest doubter.

Is the hip a concern? Yes. Is he shorter than your roommate, who thinks he would’ve made it to the NBA if he was taller? There’s a pretty good chance. The concerns have always been logical, but does it really matter? I answered that question for myself the second the ball left his hands in the final seconds of that OT game on March 12th 2012 in the sold out Staples Center. It didn’t matter whether it went in or not; I had seen enough to know this kid had guts. The fact that it dropped was the proverbial icing on the cake.

Cleveland Doubts Thomas

Certain players, certain people, defy logic with their craft. Coincidentally enough, some people call it the “IT” factor, and the man whose initials and most popular nickname is I.T. has “IT.”  Magical might be a more appropriate word than logical when talking about Thomas. He has defied logic time and time again, and you won’t find me giving any reason why he can’t do it once more. So when it was reported that Isaiah was really just the icing on the cake for the Cavs, the only reasoning I can come up with is that their front office is full of odd individuals who only eat the icing.

P.S. I wanted to help direct Cleveland here, as they will almost certainly be needing this service in the near future. You earned it IT!!

Isaiah Thomas said when asked about his looming payday next offseason that they better bring in the Brinks truck, and took it a step further with these.  Here’s a clip of the shot in the 2011 Pac-10 title game. Stat line: 28-5-7. COLD. BLOODED.

The Cavaliers Playing Dirty

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The Cavaliers are playing hardball. In my opinion, they are playing dirty. In trade talks between the Cavs and Celtics, Boston was reportedly forthcoming with all medical information on Isaiah Thomas. The two teams agreed to a trade.  The Celtics would send the Brooklyn Nets first-round pick next season along with Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder and Ante Zizic to Cleveland in exchange for Kyrie Irving. The two teams forged the agreement based on the understanding of the health of Thomas’ hip.

During Game One of the 2017 NBA Eastern Conference Finals at TD Garden on May 17, 2017 in Boston, Massachusetts.

Faulty Memory?

A couple days after the trade, news leaked that the Cavaliers had concerns with Isaiah Thomas’ hip. Reports said they might ask for more compensation in the trade. They already had the information when they agreed upon the above deal, which, come on, is quite a nice haul.

This is where I believe the Cavaliers are playing dirty, using the media to their advantage. They knew the condition of Thomas’ hip when they made the deal. They decided to go through with the agreement and then leak this information to the media a few days later to put pressure on the Celtics. The Celtics fan base was stoked at bringing Kyrie Irving on board. What would happen if the trade didn’t go through? Cleveland knew they would have Danny Ainge in a bind. Hence my opinion that they planned to squeeze as much out of the Celtics as they could.

In the end, the Celtics should not cave. They can’t let the Cavaliers bully them into adding more to a trade that was already incredibly fair. If adding a second-round pick will do it, that’s okay. Reports of Cleveland wanting Jaylen Brown or Jayson Tatum added to the deal belong in the circular file.

Kyrie and IT Trade Reactions

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It’s been a wild 24 hours for the Celtics, after an off season that has already give Celtics fans a some cause to order that celebratory drink.  In fact, we just posted “Way-to0-early predictions” and you can’t help but ask if this team adds a few more Ws to our Celtics’ cause.

Chris and I found ourselves debating the merits of IT, the trade and their histories and decided to take it public so you can weigh in.  But, before we get started, let’s say a collective THANK YOU to Isaiah Thomas.  He brought it for the fans and his teammates every night.  The things he did off the court, like recruiting other players to our cause, had a significant impact on this team.  So, thank you Isaiah.  But, this is a business, so let’s talk…

Chris:  There are probably a lot of people with negative emotional reactions to this trade. However, this won’t be your typical “heart says no, head says yes” argument. In my opinion, this is an objectively bad trade from a value standpoint. Kyrie Irving and Isaiah Thomas are very similar players. They’re both great PGs. But Isaiah Thomas fit the system perfectly. Excellent pick and roll player, great at attacking the rim or pulling up and shooting from range. Excellent getting to the line, and one of the very best free throw shooters in the NBA. While Kyrie is also undeniably a great player, paying Jae Crowder, Ante Zizic and the BKN ’18 pick to swap Thomas for a younger, less seamlessly fitting, version of himself seems like a massive overpay.

The trade by the numbers

First, play-type data from nbamath.com shows Thomas as the massively superior player both offensively and defensively last season. (And far superior in the pick and roll offensively, a bread-and-butter play for the Cs.) And this isn’t a volume stat. This isn’t a “well he ran more PnR so of course he accumulated more points in this type of situation. We’re talking points per possession, an efficiency stat that volume usually drags down. Thomas was a top 10 NBA player in Win Shares. He was top six in Win Shares Per 48. He scored 29 points per game as the sole focal point of the defense, attracting numerous double and triple teams and baseline and half-court traps. Thomas could get to the free throw line as well as anyone not named James Harden, and he was the second-best free throw shooter by percentage in
the NBA last season.

Brett: I’m not going to lie, I had an emotional reaction to this trade.  I think ITs commitment to the fan base is irreplaceable.  From all accounts, he was a great teammate, has a strong work ethic and is an all around good guy.  Kyrie got some of those qualities, but (and maybe it is because I don’t live in Cleveland) – I didn’t see as much of that.  That said, bringing a guy who can create his own shot and needs less help in post defense.  Sure, neither are great defensive players but Kyrie hasn’t had a coach like Stevens and can learn a new system, IT can’t grow.

I have a different perspective on the win shares.  Did he score, yes.  Did the team have anyone else who could come close to that, no.  Lebron (according to ESPN) averaged about 33 points again, Kyrie 26 and Love 17.  The top three Celtics players had Thomas at 23, Bradley with 17 and Horford at 15 for the 2016 season.  Boston needed to run plays, to provide Thomas room to find his shot.  Even competing for his shots in Cleveland with higher performing players around him, Kyrie was a top 20 ppg guy.

The algorithms of basketball

Chris:  Kyrie is also a great player. However, Kyrie Irving is a less efficient scorer. Sometimes this isn’t necessarily his fault, he excels at less efficient play types like isolation sets out of the high post. But the fact remains. This is especially concerning as Kyrie was playing with the greatest basketball player on earth and for a great three-point shooting team featuring the likes of Kevin Love, J.R. Smith and Channing Frye. Usually playing alongside other super-stars has statistical side effects. It may temper your counting stats, as you won’t see the ball as much or get as many shots. However, it usually increases efficiency. Celtics fans saw this effect first-hand when Pierce, Garnett, and Allen joined together. The all experienced drops in raw production of counting stats, but the best efficiency of their careers.

Kyrie is also not an improvement defensively. Again, turning to nbamath.com, one can see that Kyrie was a massive negative in several play-types. While Isaiah Thomas was also a negative defender, his negative impact on that side of the ball has been far overstated. Kyrie was actually far worse.

Brett: Ok, Chris, I hear you, and according to nbamath.com almost 20% of Isaiahs shots in the last two years came off screens or hand offs where Kyrie needed that help half as often.  In fact, Kyrie was able to play isolation more than twice as often as the It.  I supposed someone could argue thats that nature of these two teams systems.  but for Kyrie to spend 20% of his team in isolation with guys like LeBron and Love on the team is undeniable.    So, Isaiah needs his teammates to put extra miles on their legs to get him open where Kyrie can create his own shot.  Two sides of the same coin?  Maybe, but Kyrie’s value added in isolation is twice as strong as IT.

Celtics sacrifice?

Then there is the value side of what the Celtics gave up. The BKN pick was a prime asset. The 2018 draft class appears to be excellent. Zizic had very promising overseas numbers. Guys like Porzingis, Jokic, and Nurkic played comparably during their overseas careers. Zizic may not pan out like them, and isn’t a three-point shooting or offensively skilled unicorn like Porzingis, but he is a nice prospect. And Jae Crowder was included in the trade as well.

The thought of the Cavs lining up Isaiah Thomas, J.R. Smith, LeBron James, Jae Crowder at the four, and either Tristan Thompson or Kevin Love at the five looks terrifying. Crowder can defend the three’s and four’s of the modern NBA and hit spot-up and catch and shoot threes at a 40% rate.   Crowder represents one of the best value contracts in the league. All this for a player who will cost roughly $14M dollars more than Isaiah Thomas this season, and has an opt-out after two years. For all the whining about paying Isaiah Thomas max money, Thomas was still on the books for a bargain price this year, and Kyrie will need the exact same max to stick around just a year later.

 

This trade stands as a massive gamble and still possibly a massive overplay. The Celtics have to hope they can integrate Kyrie in their system.   They’ll need to transform him from an isolation player to a read-and-react offense, pick-and-roll heavy type system fit. They have to work on his shot selection. They have to hope Kyrie can duplicate the success Thomas had last year.

Even if you believe Kyrie has superior talent, which doesn’t necessarily showing up in the objective evidence, this won’t be a slam dunk because Isaiah was such a great system fit. The Celtics also have to hope Kyrie re-signs with the team in two years. If he walks, it’s a terrible trade.

The Celtics also have gambled on IT and LBJ leaving CLE in a year. If they both leave, and Kyrie works out, they’ll look like geniuses. If LBJ, IT, Love, TT, and Jae all excel together and decide to stick around, it may not matter how well Kyrie integrates into our system. So not only is this trade a risk in the short-term, but the best long-term asset in the trade went to CLE. And that is the BKN pick. In three years if Kyrie Irving is playing elsewhere and the Cavaliers have a young lottery stud to groom, this will be a terrible trade.

Consider the upside

There is potential for this trade to work. Kyrie could excel in the Celtics system like Isaiah did. Kyrie came from an ISO-centric system in college. Perhaps coming to a motion heavy, PnR-heavy, read-and-react offense will be a breath of fresh air. He’s a great ball handler, finisher and shooter. He could re-sign with the team. He is younger than Isaiah. (Though the two have very similar mileage in terms of NCAA+NBA combined minutes.  Thomas was a four-year college player, and didn’t jump up to an 82 game grind as early as Kyrie did.) The Celtics now have two years to make a max contract decision on their star PG instead of one. While Isaiah Thomas has been the far more durable player in their careers to date, and the hip is probably being over-stated as a concern, Kyrie is healthier right now and will be to start the season. The Celtics may have had to deal with a slight delay with Thomas. That’s probably not a big issue long term, but now they should start the season fully healthy as a team, which is always nice.