2022/3 season thread

My Boston thoughts from the other day…..so many….

IMO, Boston are the best team in the league with the best and deepest roster - and I’m not just saying this because I’m a fan. To a near championship winning team last year they have added Malcolm Brogdan, and White has improved significantly. So what’s going wrong?

Ok, first things first. The coaching….I said it last Sept., there would be a price to pay for the Udoka sacking, and that’s come due. It’s psychological. The players feared him (in a good way). They do not fear Mazzulla, that’s obvious. They also respected Udoka. I’m not saying they don’t respect Mazzulla; but they certainly don’t respect him as much. It’s one thing when a former NBA player and a respected coach over you; it’s altogether different when he hadn’t played at that level and he’s younger than your starting centre - youth shouldn’t be an issue but of course it is. It’s human nature - you’ll play harder and with more intensity for someone you fear v someone who’s “nicey nicey”.

Also on coaching….they didn’t just lose Udoka, they lost Hardy and Stoudemire too. IMO, Jay Larranaga should have gotten the job - and I’m not just saying this because I played with him. Jay was the No. 1 assistant before Udoka came in and then went to the Clippers. Mazzulla by contrast went from 4th assistant to the top job - I can’t recall that ever happening before. He also reportedly has the respect of the players, which I’m not sure Mazzulla fully has. Again, not saying the players don’t respect him, just not as much as others.

I’m not going to comment on the lack of timeouts and adjustments etc., as I already have in previous posts, save to say it’s bad.

Coaching again - watch the timeouts, Horford and Smart seem to be running them, not the coach. That’s a bad sign.

i saw a line today where someone said if Popovich was coaching this team they would coast 16-3 to a title. I find it hard to disagree with that. I’m not saying Mazzulla is bad, but he’s not great either. Maybe that’s to come, maybe not. I found it a strange appointment at the time, I still do.

Playing style: last year’s team was built on defence FIRST. This year that’s gone to the wall. It’s a different mindset to play D first, then offence. It sets a tone mentally and shakes everything you do. Boston’s defence was what that team was built on last year. They had the best ranked Defence from Jan - June Now it’s on the 3. Everything changes as a result….intensity especially. Take G1 v Philly. That was like a pick up game intensity wise - not a chance in hell that happens last year. Harden would have been picked up full court list of the game and run off a thousand screens to wear him down - like the Lakers do with Steph (and they are really “working” him). No easy buckets, and beat him up physically at every opportunity (screen) and just wear him out.

Timelord - I’ve said many times he’s not their best player, but he may be the most important. His court time has dropped significantly, why? To accommodate the offence, he’s not a scorer, but he’s arguably the best or second best shot blocker in the league. He’s also the fulcrum on which the whole defence is built. Smart got DPOY last year but he wasn’t even the best defender on his team, let alone the league. Reduce Williams’ time on court and you make your defence worse instantly. Look at the players reactions post game the other night and you’ll see how energized and excited they were with Williams back over 30mins per game (he was below 20 all year). They know what he means to their chance of winning.

Over-reliance on 3s. Just a little too much - I know their stats are crazy when they shoot over 38%, but when they’re bad…..they are VERY bad.

i have more but I’m exhausted and going to bed. I’ll return on this tomorrow maybe.

Have you seen Denver play?

The wider media (esp. people of colour who work in media) need to call him out on this BS. He’s a multi-millionaire acting like he’s oppressed. The whole thing is farcical. As you said he is a very bitter man. I’ve only listened to bits of him on podcasts but it’s all about how he was “done dirty” by the Warriors, how the white man is doing this and that, crazy stuff. If he was white and saying stuff like he does about other races he’d be cancelled immediately.