The Weekend Greenie Bag: Did Brad Blow The Warriors Game?

Alright folks, with limited sports on today I figured what better time to clean out my inbox for another Weekend Greenie Bag mailbag. Things were a little hectic last Sunday with the Pats playing and all that, but coming off what was a pretty frustrating loss I knew stoolies out there would have takes/need a shoulder to cry on so that’s what I’m here to do. Remember, the Weekend Greenie Bag is a place where you can come to vent, be drunk off Kool Aid, freak the fuck out, literally whatever you want. It’s open 24/7 365 days a week and basically how it works is the second you have a take, I want you to tell me. All you have to do is either tweet me something with #GreenieBag or email greenieceltsbag@gmail.com.

With that said, we move onto your questions….

Hey Greenie,

To start the year I believe you had the Celtics winning 60+ games. Based on the current 25-18 record heading into the raptors game, they would mathematically be on pace for 47-48 wins.

Given we’ve had one of the easiest schedules to date, the deteriorating chemistry in the locker room, and Ainge’s seemingly unwillingness to make any moves until the summer, I definitely do not see them exceeding 48 wins. Looking ahead they do have a small benefit in 3 more home games than away games. But based on home and away splits they’d still be on pace for about 48 wins.

When laying out the opponents I’d estimate another 19 wins.

What is your current estimate? – Peter

Yup, much like the rest of the internet I was drinking that 62 win Kool Aid, and clearly that hasn’t worked out. Technically still in play but not really. As of today, this team is currently on a 50.18 win pace and I feel like that’s where they end up. I look at it like this, take someone like PHI who is currently in the 4 spot and have 1 fewer loss at the moment. They’re on pace for 52 wins, so I still think anything from 50-53 is something this team is capable of. If they play like they did last night against almost any other team they’ll be just fine (as long as they actually get bench production).

It’s fair to say they haven’t met their expectations but there’s still a shit ton of basketball left. The 2 seed isn’t out of the question yet as TOR is in a little bit of a slide and just 4 games ahead in the loss column. If this team still ends up with a 2 seed then it’s whatever in my opinion. The one thing you can’t do is estimate which teams they’ll beat and which they’ll lose to because as we know these Celtics never follow any sort of script. When you think they’re going to zig they zag, I would just say things usually fall in line with point differential, and as of now the Celts have the 2nd best one in the conference.

Greenie,

Something that I think has flown under the radar is the play of Al Horford. It’s no secret that this team thrives when the offense is run through him and the defense it stout when he is right.

Unfortunately, that doesn’t look like it’s the case. I don’t know if it’s age or his lingering knee issue, but Al doesn’t look the same on either end and I think it’s a big factor to the woes we’re having.

With Baynes back, is it time to think about shutting down Horford. We need him healthy for any real shot in the playoffs. -Sugar Shane

I think shutting him down is a little aggressive. With so much basketball to be played in this season, they’re going to need to have Horford available if they want to climb the standings. Having said that, there is something to be said about how much better he looks when he’s rested. I’d be down with giving him the Kawhi treatment in order to be ready for the Spring and sit him against bad teams. With Baynes and Timelord/Theis/Yabu they should have the depth to be able to limit Horford’s miles as the season goes on. Brad is doing a better job in limiting his minutes, he’s down to just 28 this year, but he’s too important to how this team operates to just say take the next few months off to be ready.

Give him an extra few days here and there? All for it.

Dan,

I’m seeing a lot of hate for Jaylen Brown at the moment. I just checked and his stats per 36 minutes are pretty much the same as last season. The only real knock on him is that his 3pt shooting and defense have regressed a bit. These seem like normal growing pains for a young player still acclimating to the league.

Thanks, Conor

I think the frustration has a lot to do with the inconsistency. It’s true, his Per 36s are pretty similar to last year when everyone loved him and he was a breakout player

but for some reason he’s become the scapegoat for this team’s struggles. This isn’t to excuse his poor start, it was absolutely pathetic, but the truth is he’s started to come back to the player we saw last season as the year has gone on

There are still defensive lapses at times and he does disappear at times, but those are things you see from young players all the time. I think those who hate on Jaylen are set in their ways based on how he started and refuse to accept he’s worked his way out of it. Is he perfect? God no, but he is in no way the same player he was in October/November but for whatever reason he’s still hated on like he is. If I were to rank the underachievers from that second unit, I’d probably have him third.

I can’t imagine Ainge does anything major. He’s waited this whole rebuild to throw everything he has at Anthony Davis and I think he’s comfortable riding with what he has until then no matter what that means for this season. It wouldn’t really be like Ainge to give up an asset for something that ultimately won’t make a difference in the bigger picture of this season. There’s no one move at the deadline that we know of that automatically makes the Celtics Finals favorites, so I think we’ll see him be more involved in the buyout market than the trade market. I think at some point they should get Jabari Bird’s roster spot back, and from there he’ll add whatever area he feels this team needs depth in.

We’ve been patient this long, what’s a few more months.

Hey Greenie,

Without a doubt Robert Williams has made an impact whenever given minutes but has remained #4 on depth chart behind Theis.

He has played a total of 198 minutes.

While that is still a small sample, there is no denying his defensive ability.

I normally don’t believe many advanced stats as some can be impacted based on team play and support, but after seeing the BPM (box plus minus) stat and more specifically Timelord’s (defensive) DBPM mark of 8.1, I can’t help but get excited for the future.

Current NBA leaders are: DBPM
R Gobert 5.4
Giannis 5.1
M Turner 4.9
Westbrook 4.3

Only question I ask would be is it is fair to call the Timelord the most dangerous defender in the league?

I think he has many all-defense first team ahead

Thanks, Danny

When you really look at it, Timelord’s advanced numbers are fucking outrageous. Between his BPM or his BLK%, the man is certainly the best shot blocking big man we’ve seen this team have in YEARS. The best part is it’s consistent, literally every time he’s in the game you know he’s swatting shit to the moon

Advertisement

The timing is way better than I thought it would be as a rookie, and I know it’s easy to get carried away with his potential but I won’t stop you. Could he be the rim protector this team needs for the next 10 years? Is he good enough to convince NO they can actually use him? He may go down as one of Ainge’s all time draft steals, and it’s a damn shame he isn’t getting more burn because that man makes a real difference when it comes to rim protection.

Hello Daniel

It is Ryan from Utah. So, I have been very impressed with the latest winning streak. Very impressed. And before I speak further you must know in full disclosure Kyrie is my favorite player. He’s the most skilled basketball player to ever walk the earth, like Kane in Kung Fu.

What do we need to win a couple more rings Daniel? What do we need? – Ryan

It’s a little early to start thinking about what this team needs to win multiple rings, we haven’t even seen this exact group go through a playoff series yet. I would say if they are going to pull that off you obviously need Gordon Hayward to be about a billion times better. You need Jaylen and Terry to be consistent positive contributors off the bench, and you’re going to need Vintage Kyrie with the same sort of Tatum we saw last postseason.

Seeing them play GS so even tells us that they are getting closer, but even that goes to a different level once the games matter and GS starts trying for real. It also depends on the eventual seeding. The playoffs are all about matchups, so who knows they could have enough already to make the Finals and compete, or we’ll learn after this run what’s missing and Ainge will then go find it.

Sup Greenie,

Currently fucking irate.

Brad Stevens completely blew that fucking game.

He should have called his last timeout with the ball in the half court with 18 seconds left and 14 on the shot clock. He’s known for his fucking ATO’s and the Celtics were only down 2.

But okay he didn’t do that and the warriors get the rebound and they foul Draymond a 74% free throw shooter. The Celtics are calling their last timeout after the free throws regardless but after he misses his first fucking free throw Stevens doesn’t sub in Baynes to get the rebound just in case, even though he’s calling timeout after this free throw.

This was fucking bullshit. Fuck Stevens.

P.S. I had the Celtics moneyline. – Max

That was a weird play for sure where calling a timeout does seem to make sense so I won’t disagree with you there. I’ll just let the man answer why he went the way he did

Advertisement

I mean I can’t argue with that. Mook did get a good look that we’ve seen him make a bunch of times this season, you have to live with that. It’s the same idea I have around Kyrie’s Fuck You Threes. Even if he misses them and it looks like a bad shot, he’s earned the right to take it. When you’ve been as auto as Mook has been this season, I have no problem with that shot.

The not putting Baynes in, this I’m a little more with you. Having that timeout there’s no excuse for not having him in just as insurance since if you got the rebound you’re immediately calling TO anyways. This sort of reminded me when Pop left Duncan on the bench during that one Finals possession in Game 6 when MIA got the OREB and Ray Allen hit that three. Sometimes playas fuck up.

Hey greenie,

I looooove Jaylen. Him clutching up in the playoffs last season made me so happy. Screw these dummies who wanna trade him. Explain why he’s such a good 3rd/4th/5th option after Kyrie and Tatum and then maybe Horford and Morris. He is an amazing starting role player like Tony Allen. Explain – Paul

Well it’s pretty simple in my mind. In theory he’s a matchup problem for an opposing team’s second unit. He’s stronger and more athletic than a lot of reserve wings. I wouldn’t say he’s Tony Allen, he’s not NEARLY the defender TA was, but he’s also a much better shooter. The thing with Jaylen is for him to really make his mark he has to be consistent. He doesn’t need huge 20+ games or anything like that, he just needs to fill his role, defend, and not be a liability for him to really make an impact. There have been times this year he’s done that, and times this year he looks like a guy who’s taken a step back or two.

Personally I think he’s at his best when he plays inside/out because he much like Tatum become different players when they get off to good starts and see the ball drop early. Brad talks all the time about how he gets to wherever he wants on the floor consistently, it’s just about slowing down and making the right basketball play. Remember it’s just his 2nd year getting legit minutes, and it’s true he still has a ways to go but the foundation is there.

And that’ll do it! Hopefully this helped distract you a little bit on this lazy Sunday. Thanks to everyone who wrote in, keep em coming. I’ll see you all next weekend, have a great Sunday!