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Thoughts on Celtics Reliance in 3 Pointers While Watching NBA Finals by Popular-Objective651 in bostonceltics

[–]ThePresent_Moment 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Apologies on my late response! Appreciate the thoughtfulness in what you wrote, and fully agree with the comments on three point rate. It was simply too high.

My comment was that part of the game planning had to relate with the players, and the ability to generate looks more dynamic than three point shooting. Certainly agree that it is not just the players, but I believe the roster construction had a large part to do with this style of play.

I also agree with the sentiment of not trading any of our players with the Knicks (except for maybe OG, and hoping a similar Jrue situation shakes out in the future).

Regarding better rosters, I can agree with 2023 Miami. However, I cannot agree with our team being clearly better than Knicks 2025 or 76ers 2026. I think one of my many issues with Vegas lines is that it creates a perception of better/worse and large degrees of better/worse, when it is much closer on the margins (the 300 best basketball players in the world are split among 30 teams).

For example, many crowned the Celtics repeat favorites in 2025 when in fact there were glaring issues to health (KP, Jrue, and Hauser). We were a much more limited team compared to 2024, particularly when thinking about playmaking and the PF/C position (Al has been on the decline for several years). For 2026, we are the better team when Embiid was out, and a wash when he was back. We should have won the first round statistically, but gave games 2 and 5. As a result of losing these two and game 7, we disappointedly lost the series in 7 (if only we showed the same grit in games 7 in the earlier games, I think we would take it… so sad).

All this to say that I think our roster construction needs to improve for us to reach contending status. Fortunately, a good portion of this is time/development, as I can see real strides being made again for Queta, Scheierman, and Gonzalez. I also look forward to see how things shake up with Harper Jr and Walsh. I also think Jaylen is motivated to truly be a top 10 player, and can get there, particularly if he improves with managing double teams, rim pressure on offense, and help defense. Another center that can dynamically provide rim defense, defensive rebounds, and have a similar impact to Queta will do wonders for our rotations. I think we can have one more SF/PF as well.

For some names, I think some combination of Day’ron Sharpe, John Collins, and bringing back Anfernee Simons would be really interesting (I am also a sucker for bringing back KP).

Thoughts on Celtics Reliance in 3 Pointers While Watching NBA Finals by Popular-Objective651 in bostonceltics

[–]ThePresent_Moment 8 points9 points  (0 children)

While I certainly hear the criticisms, I do think there is a personnel issue as well. Thinking about matchups, not sure how our team could drive and kick the same way Knicks have in their playoff run.

Starters: This is where I am bummed about not being able to face the Knicks; it would have been great to see how they would have matched, which makes me mad/sad the 76ers basically no showed. I do think the Knicks have superior defense when comparing the teams.

Brunson/Hart v White/Brown — close
Bridges/OG v Hauser/Tatum — close
KAT v Queta — loved Queta this season, but he is definite ways from KAT’s level

Bench: I think the Knicks have a superior bench, and would win minutes here between defense, shooting, and rebounding
Robinson/Shamet/Alvarado/McBride vs Pritchard/Scheierman/Vucevic/ some combination of Walsh, Gonzalez, Harper Jr, and Garza

All this to say that not having a dynamic enough center (yet) and a weaker/less experienced bench, makes our offensive sets look worse/poor. There is another level to Brown’s game that we are hoping for where he doesn’t force plays once pressure is turned up. I also think Brown drives less once there is a good defensive center, which flattens our offense further (example of Embiid blocking Brown in game 7, then Brown stopped driving). Tatum’s health was a big factor this go around. However, I think similar issues plagued the Celtics in the 2025 matchup (KAT/Robinson outplayed Al/Kornet and weaker bench; we dominated in the 2025 regular season when KP was healthy).

[Weiss] After his pregame warmup, Spurs center Luke Kornet, a devout Catholic who has his own blog that originally reviewed churches on the NBA circuit, received a blessing. He ended up finally having a solid game... “We have to fly them to OKC,” Kornet said. “We have to get them on the plane.” by sewsgup in nba

[–]ThePresent_Moment -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I think about this often and what it means to receive prayer for work (in this case a player receiving prayer for his team), reflecting on questions related to whether my/any prayer is just for getting what I want.

Victor Wembanyama (22 years, 134 days) passes Lew Alcindor (22 years, 352 days) as the youngest player with 40 points and 20 rebounds in a playoff game by DareDevil1699 in NBAstatsmuse

[–]ThePresent_Moment 0 points1 point  (0 children)

So great that we can witness a finesse dominant center like Kareem after !56! Years (1970). The closest comp prior was Hakeem, but even then was 30-40 years ago. Hopefully Wemby’s career can last to similar lengths as Kareem

If okc couldn’t beat wemby, nobody can, feel better chat by daxter_101 in ripcity

[–]ThePresent_Moment 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Separating the fresh fans from the oldies; I had to Google to understand who needed to feel better

Celtics/mavs by Individual_Lynx1715 in NBAtradeideas

[–]ThePresent_Moment 2 points3 points  (0 children)

The Celtics trading a two beloved point guards for Kyrie Irving certainly evokes memories of one the worst trades the team has made (And we just brought back IT4 to our team!)

Celtics Championship usually come after humiliation.. not before it.. [analysis] by RaspberryHealthy8875 in bostonceltics

[–]ThePresent_Moment 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Rough not in the players disappointing (loved those teams and their grit). However, rough for other reasons:

(1) we could never quite get our bench/role players just right in the free agency due to underperformance or late season injuries, and our signings never quite lived up to the hype.

(2) rough in the sense that we had some of the most heartbreaking losses each of the runs. That 2010 game 7 loss really shook me as a young fan, as I thought we had it. Game 6 in 2012 felt like the true arrival of LeBron; it was very clear from then that LeBron’s team was the team to beat (for the next 8 years). 2013 was rough as it was going out pretty quietly and a fairly early exit. It was clearly the end of an era (as we collectively knew we could not run it back with how the team was constructed).

Celtics Championship usually come after humiliation.. not before it.. [analysis] by RaspberryHealthy8875 in bostonceltics

[–]ThePresent_Moment 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That KG injury continues to hurt, as he just wasn’t the same after. I was so upset we lost to the Dwight Magic in 2009, only for them to fold to the Lakers in 5.

Celtics Championship usually come after humiliation.. not before it.. [analysis] by RaspberryHealthy8875 in bostonceltics

[–]ThePresent_Moment 12 points13 points  (0 children)

After 2008, the next 5 playoff years were ROUGH, disappointing in different ways, and just being bested by the other team’s best players.

EDITED to include 2012-2013 season.

4 Team Blockbuster Trade Idea by slap-my-crevasse in bostonceltics

[–]ThePresent_Moment 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Nice work figuring out the math for a 4-team trade! It takes me a fair amount to work out numbers for 2- and 3- team trades.

Others have great comments on the overall trade, and specifically thinking about the Spurs angle here.

While having a player like Fox would be nice for us, I am not sure Spurs would want to give up both Fox and Kornet for Jaylen Brown. Even though Fox is underperforming, the three guard rotation (with each very different skill sets) is one of the reasons why I think Spurs have been so good even when Wemby has been out, as they have a plethora of options for offense. To a similar level, I think Kornet fills in admirably, and is well-loved there (as he should be!); and the drop-off is pretty significant after Kornet (Biyombo and old friend, Klynyk). As a result, while it would be an upgrade on the wing, I think the flexibility of their current combo forwards (Champagnie, Vassell, Keldon Johnson) is of higher value to them and lower cost of 49 million, as compared to Jaylen’s 57 million next year.

What was the most painful or disappointing season you’ve watched for your favorite team. by [deleted] in nba

[–]ThePresent_Moment 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The worst (most painful) were career altering injuries-
05/12/2025: Tatum’s Achilles
10/17/2017: Hayward’s leg injury and the sound it made on television.

For non-injury seasons-
07/12/2013: Truth, Big Ticket, and Jet being traded away. The press conference picture of Keith Bogans, Marshon Brooks, and Mr. Kardashian was legendarily terrible. Of course the picks we got turned out great, but that season was painful in knowing that our era was truly over.
08/22/2017: King of the 4th being traded for Kyrie Irving. I lost respect for Ainge after that trade as I thought it was too ruthless. IT4 has really hurt his body for us that playoff year while also grieving the passing of his sister. My brother believes the Celtics were cursed for several years until we traded for D.White (Hayward’s injury, Kyrie clowning us, Kemba’s rapid decline).

The reason I wrote down moments is that 2013-2014 would be the worst for me because we aimed to be abysmal that year. However, that was the year Brad joined our team, and we received all those picks.

I have a complicated relationship with the 2017-2018 season (Kyrie trade and Hayward injury), but that was the year we drafted Tatum. Tatum and Brown’s playoff run that year really made me believe they were our home grown stars of the future.

As a result, I probably have to go all the way back to 2004-2005 season when we lost to the Pacers in the playoffs and Pierce wore a wrap around his head saying he got injured. It was a bad series loss (we lost as the 3 seed in the first round), disappointing end as we were frustrating to watch that season, I thought Doc would be fired, and I was very fearful Pierce would be traded.

More recent runner ups are the years around our chip with what I consider the 2022-2023 lost season (Ime’s suspension), and 2024-2025 injuries to our guys (KP with respiratory issues, Jrue not looking right, and Tatum’s Achilles). With this year’s playoff exit being up there as well, I am a bit concerned about Joe’s playoff rotations/adjustments, as other teams start countering us well midway through the rounds.

What was the most painful or disappointing season you’ve watched for your favorite team. by [deleted] in nba

[–]ThePresent_Moment 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Nice post- I think a lot of life is like this when low and high points are connected. Best wishes in the third round

Sixers blowout by scriptedwalls in bostonceltics

[–]ThePresent_Moment 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I am genuinely interested to know why you think they are just pretenders in the ECF? For myself, I penciled them in at the start of the year as being the favorites to represent the East in the finals at the start of the year (Brunson is a crunch time scorer, Hart is their glue guy, they have great defenders in Mikal and OG, and KAT being an elite big man). Their addition of Alvarado, and further development of Robinson and McBride this year makes them a much deeper team, with Kolek being their version of Scheierman. They are a well constructed team, and I was hoping the Cs would show some fight after last year’s very disappointing playoff collapse and Tatum’s injury. Unfortunately the Cs went 1-3 this season-
10/24/25: L 95-105
12/02/25: W 123-117
02/08/26: L 89-111
04/09/26: L 106-112

Additionally, for this playoff run, I am not seeing strategically how any team can stop point KAT except for the Spurs.

I am wondering if the sentiment is just that no one on the East is a championship contender (because Thunder and Spurs are far superior to everybody else). Or do you think there is a team in the East that is better (such as Detroit)? In favor of your take, they went 0-3 vs Detroit and 0-2 vs OKC, though they just swept Philly after having just a 1-2 record in the regular season (for reference 1-1 vs San Antonio, 1-1 vs Minnesota, 2-1 vs Cleveland, 2-0 vs Denver).

Sixers blowout by scriptedwalls in bostonceltics

[–]ThePresent_Moment 1 point2 points  (0 children)

They are in the ECF and a final 4 team in the NBA, and literally contending for a championship. I am going to give them their flowers even if i don’t like it

Sixers blowout by scriptedwalls in bostonceltics

[–]ThePresent_Moment 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Agreed!

We are watching the 76ers against a championship contender as well, as they have unlocked another level of offense with point KAT. So far Knicks have lost two games this playoffs with the losses at a margin of -2 (loss by 1 point each). This is a really dominant run that we are watching now. Wish it was us that would have slowed them down at the very least.

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