The Weekend Greenie Bag: OK, What The Hell Is Going On

Since the Pats game was a blowout I figured why not multitask and fire up the old blogging machine and check in with stoolies to see what was on their minds after a for sure up and down week. The beauty of this mailbag is it isn’t just for when times are good, far from it. I originally started this weekly blog way back when because I felt like Celtics fans needed a place to vent when it was like 2am and you couldn’t sleep because they enduring yet another frustrating loss. To this day that’s still the case and that’s why I’ll continue to pump this weekend mailbag out because frankly I don’t think the Celtics will ever stop being frustrating. As a reminder, you can participate in this blog by either tweeting me something with #GreenieBag or you can email greenieceltsbag@gmail.com. After a win, after another loss to a dogshit team it doesn’t matter. We are here to navigate through this up and down season together.

With that said, your questions…

Hey Greenie,

Gonna ask you to put on your GM cap for a second. First by no means am i saying we should trade anyone, strictly hypothetically speaking my roommate and I were having this discussion and disagreed with each other.

Trade Marcus Morris.

He is playing lights out which should increase his trade value (as you’ve mentioned before he might be playing his way out of Boston), I am not sure he is in the C’s plan long term and I think it would open up the wing position for tatum, brown & hayward creating a better rotation.

On the contrary we’d miss his size as well as improved 3pt shot which i dont think anyone saw coming this year.

I am for idea, my roommate is not.

What are your thoughts? – Jeff

I think at this point, it would be very hard for Ainge to do something like that. Obviously it all depends on the return, but with Morris being essentially your second best player all season I can only imagine what a move like that would do to the chemistry of this team considering that’s already a very delicate subject. I think heading into the season most Celtics fans would have been cool with this idea, it gets them under the luxury tax and frees up minutes for other wings, but he’s been too good I don’t think this team gets better by subtracting him. It’s clear this team needs consistency and toughness and I would say losing that in Morris would probably do more harm than good.

Even if he plays his way into a big deal this summer, I think you live with that. I’m not all that keen on getting rid of guys performing well in a contract year, especially once we get to the playoffs. I want to maximize every ounce of his production and whatever happens this summer so be it.

Greenie,

The Marcus’ starting lineup did it’s job, we got off the early season slide (against some terrible teams we probably would have beaten anyway.) Back to reality, can a team with those 2 in the starting lineup contend for a Championship? Probably not. Is it time to put Brown and Hayward back into the starting lineup? Thanks. – Dio

Suddenly, I think Brad has an important decision to make in regards to his lineup. Before the change it was clear that the starting unit needed new life. They needed to insert that group with some energy and guys who are actually trying. Putting Morris and Smart in there solved that problem, and that group has been nails ever since. But now, it’s pretty clear that same thing needs to happen for the second unit. They need exactly what Smart/Morris bring, so would it be so crazy to take one of them and move them back to the second unit? For me, it’d be Morris, if only because I feel like that second unit needs some offensive consistency. Bump up Hayward or Jaylen, it doesn’t matter to me which one, but if you watch this team recently the second unit shifts are killing this team. Having to rely on inconsistent offensive players is costing them wins at a time when they can’t exactly be giving up wins.

If Brad does go this route it’s pretty clear guys are going to be upset. In a sense it could be seen as rewarding the underachieving players by putting them in the first 5, but I feel like Brad can’t be afraid to use his depth and versatility. Maybe you drop one of those guys down for a handful of games just to establish order and then you go back to what we see now. I think at some point we need to see what the original starting 5 looks like again now that Hayward has more games under his belt, but who knows if Brad has the stones to do it.

Hey Greenie,

It’s been driving me crazy how little the Celts get to the line this season. With guys that can seemingly get to the rim whenever like Kyrie, Tatum, Mook, and Jaylen why is their number so low per game, 27th in makes and 28th in attempts I think. I’m guessing it’s just the team approach. But more importantly with the emphasis on three point shooting these days, does getting to the line even matter anymore? Out of the top ten FTM/FTA per game only 4 teams have winning records. Is this coincidence or something to look at moving forward as a problem for us the rest of the season? Thanks – Ben

To me it still matters. It’s honestly been astounding how infrequent the Celts get to the line, among the bottom two in the league in FTr. A little while ago I went back and looked over the past like 15 years which was as far as NBA.com went back to see if we’ve ever seen a Celtics team not get to the line like this and I couldn’t find any year where it’s been worse. Even if the league is still a 3PA oriented league, you still see other three point shooting teams get to the line.

I just think to the playoffs, where defenses try harder, guys close out on three point shooters with more effort, you need to be able to establish yourself at the line. Maybe they’ll change their approach but too often we see this team turn in performances where like all five starters combine for like 4 FTA. For a team that is as streaky as they come shooting the ball, that worries me for sure. The game slows down when it matters most, and I’m just hoping they are saving all their FTA for the Spring.

Watching the Celtics make a comeback against Miami while Rob Williams is in the game has me perplexed. If it were me I would rotate Rob into Theis’ spot and even give him more minutes then Baynes when he comes back because I’m sure he’ll be on minute restrictions and Al isn’t getting any younger. Let the boy PLAY!
Thanks – Ryan C

Ryan you’re certainly not the only person who wrote in asking for more Robert Williams. What we’ve seen in his short flashes has been incredible. Blocks everything, doesn’t make too many mistakes, actually not a bad passer, it’s all been gravy. The thing is, Brad trusts Theis. He knows what he’s going to get from him on a night to night basis, and I can’t blame Brad for leaning on his veterans as they wait for Baynes to get back. The problem is, Theis is really only effective against a certain type of big. He’s effective against smaller bigs but every time he faces a more traditional center, he struggles big time. Last night vs ORL is a prime example, so it’s confusing as to why Williams only played 2 minutes. That would be my biggest adjustment in how the minutes should be handed out. Play Theis more in situations he can take advantage of, and against all other traditional bigs go with Baynes/Williams. This team needs rim protection in a bad way, and a guy who has a 14% BLK% ideally should be able to give you that.

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Greenie,

Love the coverage btw, and when I’m pissed off after games sometimes you help me calm down so thank you for that.

On another note, I understand the hype but I actually love what I’ve seen from Rob Williams so far. I think he adds a much needed physical presence down low that we’ve been missing since Baynes went out. However I can’t see Brad rotating 4 “big”?men (excluding Morris) once the games start to matter. I love Theis on the defensive end but I don’t know if he’s a true center in terms of his ability to body up with true big men.
What do you think the rotation will be once the games start to matter? I would argue Horford-Baynes-Williams.

Sorry for the lengthy message. – Peter

It depends who they play, but I still think Brad rolls with Theis until he absolutely has to make the switch. Obviously since the games will matter maybe Theis has a shorter leash when he struggles, but it’s not all that common we see Brad reach that far back to his bench once rotations shorten. At the same time, we have no idea what Theis will look like in a playoff series since he missed all of last year’s run, but again I think Brad will lean towards his consistency.

Greenie,
Thanks for all the great C’s blog. My question is about Gordon. What do you expect from him at full, or what would be an indicator that he’s fully back? Is it a specific stat line (18 ppg, shooting % way up) or just a look on the floor? (Big time dunks, strong attacking, fast off the catch) Thanks and go Celts! – Nolan

I asked this a few days ago on Twitter and I think it’s different for everyone. Some people responded they needed to see him put someone on a poster, others talked about how they’ll know it when they see it, and for me it’s broken down into two parts.

1. When he’s getting to the line like he did before. I don’t need him to dunk on someone to prove to me he’s back, but I do need to see him have that same aggressive mentality and not shy away from contact. To me that’s the final piece in his road back, he needs to get to the line like he did when he was an All Star caliber player. That means not just bailing every time he gets to the lane and passing it out for a three, instead put your head down and look for contact.

2. If I were to put numbers on it, if he’s going to be playing around 24 minutes a night, I would say an efficient 12/5/5 or something close to that would be enough. Really for me it’s the efficiency, as his splits from both the floor and from three haven’t quite been there. I think people expect him to be this 20 point scorer despite taking like 10 shots a night which isn’t really realistic. Show up on the defensive end, be efficient, be aggressive. He does that and I’ll feel a whole lot better about him.

The big question is what does he look like next year with a full season and summer under his belt. I feel like we should hold off complete judgement until we see what that looks like.

At this point in time where he’s really shown a large regression, what is a realistic trade scenario you could see for Terry? Do you see a trade as imminent, or has his value decreased so much that we would be better suited just letting things play out and hoping he can regain his form for the rest of the season? Love your work man, keep it up! – Devin

After last night’s performance, the trade Terry brigade is firing on all cylinders. At the same time, it’s not that simple in my opinion. Obviously his value is very low right now, and there is a lot to think about here. First, whether you like him or not, he’s your Kyrie insurance. For whatever reason he showed the ability to fll that role as a starter, and with Kyrie’s health and contract status still up in the air, wouldn’t it be a little foolish to give up that security in February?

Then you also have to think of this summer. NO may be in the market for a point guard, so why give up any valuable asset that could help you land your big fish. Even if that is a pipe dream, that’s been Ainge’s goal all along. Now here’s where it gets tricky. If he continues to play like he did against ORL, he’s sort of doing more harm than good and obviously something has to change. If it were me, I’m not trading him but I sure as shit can give his minutes away. Brad Wanamaker exists for a reason. I don’t care if Terry hates it, I just don’t think you can get rid of him as an asset.

That’s why I think the plan will be to bite the bullet and see what happens. If he’s that much of a problem when the games matter most, well rotations shorten anyways so we may not have to even worry about it. Either way you look at it though, it’s been a brutal season for him and now the Celts have to just deal with it after making the decision to not trade him this summer.

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Are you concerned that the heavy contracts of Hayward and Horford are too burdensome considering their lack of overall production? I know with Horford stats tell only 50% of the story, but he has taken a step back. – Ryan

I see this from time to time and I don’t really get it. What are the contracts of both of those guys preventing them from doing? What FA is out there that they can’t get because they pay those guys max money? They paid what the market dictated and that’s that. Al has earned his contract in my opinion, and we have no idea about Hayward given his injury. If they want to reinvest in their own players, they’ll pay the tax it’s pretty simple. So in that regard what do I care what these two get paid? It’s not handcuffing them unless you consider the possibility they may be without Morris for the next few years, but if it comes down to not having Hayward and having Morris, who makes that decision? Also, who knows, maybe Al doesn’t opt in and signs a team friendly extension so they can continue to add.

This is the one thing that will never bother me until it actually starts costing them big time players, which it hasn’t yet.

Alright, I’m gonna go watch the Eagles/Saints. Hopefully this may help you later today when your scaries start to set in. Enjoy the rest of your Sunday everybody and I’ll see you all next weekend.