This topic contains 11 replies, has 8 voices, and was last updated by AvatarAvatar mgreener_34 6 years, 11 months ago.

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  • #66192
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    mgreener_34
    Participant

     Okay, lets talk about this second round series between the two teams in the East that I legitimately think are better than TOR and ATL, but worse than CLE. Should be a great match up, for all of you who follow basketball or have watch these two teams play, you’ll know that there is a lot of bad blood this year, and these guys are dying to play each other and prove themselves. 

    The teams split the season series at 2-2 a piece, with three blowouts. Both teams offensives were effienct, as Boston avgeraged 107 ppg to Washingtons 112. Boston shot the 3 better, and WAS obviously rebounded better. Those are the two factors that I’m looking for in this series. If Wiz can hit enough threes to stay with Boston, or if they can limit amount of 3s the Celtics hit. We saw last series how much better that Celtics offense looks when it actually makes shots. 

    The Key match-up here is obviously John Wall vs. Isaiah Thomas. Personally, I think Wall is one of the most under rated players in the league, and he’s playing with a chip on his shoulder. We saw it last round with Shroeder, he would just go at him knowing he was bigger and stronger. I see him doing the same with IT on the pick and roll. 

    With the emotional circumstance involved this weekend, I personally wouldn’t be opposed to playing game 1 with IT off the bench, and starting Marcus Smart and Gerald Green. This would allow us to switch anything 1-4 on the court, and have either of Smart/Bradley to always switch onto Beal or Wall. Also having IT as first guard off the bench, and playing against Jennings would give the Celtics bench a boost they will need.

    I know it will never happen, but I think Brad Stevens has proven to be an addaptive coach, and it’ll be interesting to watch his adjustments as the series goes on. 

    The Wizards are playing with a lot of confidense right now, as they should be. Wall is playing some of the best ball of his career, Gortat is playing good in the post and on the boards. He did a great job against Howard last series, but against the Celtics, he has been mediocre, and has lost his matchup against Horford, only averaging 11/7 and giving up 18/7/4 on 63/40/66. I think the Wiz need to find a way to limit Horfords effectiveness on the high block and when he’s spread out on the perimeter. They can do this by getting good contributions from Otto Porter and Morris. If these guys are staying aggressive, they should be able to create a lot of solid offensive possessions, and get a lot of chances at some offensive boards. I expect them to be the difference makers in this series.

    So, what do you guys think? The Celtic fan in me that loves this team, says Celtics in 7, the basketball junkie in me though, says the Wizards are just too big and athletic, and Wizards in 6. Either way, we’re going to get a real chippy series, with hard fouls, and a lot of T’s. 

     

     

     

     

     

     

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  • #1096408
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    TarHeelRaven
    Participant

     Wiz fan here.  I think any series involving the Wizards will be chippy.  Markieff Morris and Gortat are physical and tough guys.  John Wall is a dog and just overpowers you with his speed, strength, athleticism and competitive nature.  Few lead guards in the league can match up with him physically.  IT is a great player but there is no way he checks Wall in this series.  Marcus Smart will start on Wall and I assume Avery Bradley will check Beal.  Teams split the series 2-2 this year.  This is going to be a great great series.  I’ll go with a completely even matched series with the Wiz winning in OT is game 7.  Just my opinion. 

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  • #1096419
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    omphalos
    Participant

     As a Celtics fan, it pains me to say this, but I think the Wizards win this one in six. 

    Wall and Beal are too good right more and the Celtics just barely escaped Chicago. 

    However, I also think Washington has the best chance of beating Cleveland of any team in the East given how damn good John Wall is playng right now – so I’ll be happy with either outcome, as long as the winning team is healthy when they play Cleveland. 

     

     

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  • #1096422
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    Evan_Milberg
    Participant

    Another Wiz fan here. Like any game, regular season or playoffs, my main concerns with the Wizards going into this series are the same:

    1) Over-reliance on Wall/Beal + poor bench play

    2) Long stretches of inconsistent play, particularly in the second half of games

    3) Poor performance in road games

    I know everyone is salivating over this team after how they did in games 5 and 6 against Atlanta, but I feel like if the Hawks had home court advantage, they could’ve easily taken this series. Oubre has been working his tail off, but his play has been erratic at best to me. Jennings has done well in spots, but I still don’t fully trust him to run the offense efficiently when Wall’s out. Jason Smith all but disappeared in a majority of the first round games. Bojan improved throughout the Atlanta series, but I’d like to see more consistency out of him.

    I don’t think, however, that the Celtics can contain Wall and Beal at all. Keef is going to dominate if he doesn’t get in foul trouble. Gortat will be big on the boards. Is it enough, though? If the Wizards win this series, it won’t be in fewer than 7 games.

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  • #1096433
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    cohenbc1
    Participant

     There was a thread a few days ago that asked people to predict all the playoff series, first round through finals, and I picked the Celtics to sweep the Wiz. 

    My thinking was as follows: Washington finished the season pretty unimpressively. They have no bench. Brad Stevens will outcoach Scotty Brooks. Gortat will be lost trying to guard Boston’s sweet-shooting big guys.

    That said, the Wizards looked really good against Atlanta, from what I saw. But Boston just seems like a team on a mission now. I still think they win the series pretty easily.

     

     

     

     

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  • #1096434
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    mamadou
    Participant

    I’m so excited, and I just can’t hide it

    I’m about to lose control and I think I like it…

     

     

    I see 6 games….either way, the wizards will impose their superior talent, bigger, more athletic team or Boston will impose their will, celtic pride, smarter, better coaching

    Rooting for the celts, at full strength the wiz are the better team and a harder match up for the Cavs.

    But the Wiz ain’t at full strength, the bench is pretty weak, some players are made for the RS, others are made for the PO,  Mahinmi is injured, Gortat was a no show against the hawks, Morris is dumb, Jennings is dumb, Oubré is green, Bogdanovic is slowft….

    RS games….

    Wizards destroyed the celts, without Horford and Crowder…+ career high for Porter.

    Celts beat the wizards without Bradley and Amir, Jordan Mickey starter i repeat Jordan Mickey, Beal 35 pts, IT 38.

    Wizards beat the celts without Bradley, Amir starter, played 4 mins.

    Celts beat the Wiz, both team with their starting 5, full strength 1 to 11(new acquisitions for the Wiz).

     

    The big question is, which starting 5 for the Celts ?

    Amir is pretty washed up, you need speed against the fast and furious Wiz, their one man fastbreak wall and their very strong starting 5.

    Amir wasn’t a good fit against the bulls…with Rondo, Wizards are a way better team, way better starting 5, way more athletic, more scoring, more shooting, more pace and less lazy defensively.

    I don’t see how he could help in the starting 5 against the Wiz.

    I think i’d keep Crowder at the 4, mismatch and mismatched aginst Morris, they’ll love each other no doubt about it…

    My innovation would be Brown in place of Green in the starting 5, creating depth, scoring depth from the bench…that battle is an absolut must.

    You need an extra body to guard beal in the rotation IMO, even if it’s only 10-15 mins for the game, 3 fouls in the 1st 6 mins, i’d do it.

    Brown was drafted for a reason, an obvious reason…

    IT will "guard" Porter, Bradley will guard Wall…till he dies, helped by smart, Smart and Rozier will have a shot at both Beal and Wall off the bench, that 4th guy, a bigger, taller body than 6’2-6’3(or 5’7)… is needed.

    Brown started 20 games at the 2 and the 3, when Bradley and Crowder were out, he averaged 10 and 4 with solid shooting % , going to the line at a hign rate.

    I’d keep Green off the bench to score a bit against weaker defenders, and also defending against weaker offensive players, playing his natural game, running, jumping, gunning, chucking.

    It would allow a full 2nd unit, Smart-Rozier-Green-Jerebko-Olynyk.

    On the other end wall would have to defend IT full time with little help, Beal would have to chase Bradley around the world, Gortat and Morris would have to guard Horford and Crowder outside, same with Olynyk and Jerebko off the bench, 4 "bigs" not so "big", 4 floor spacers tho.

    The soft Smart could have a huge role in that serie, guarding anybody from the wizards 1 to 4, hey hey HE guarded Millsap (Morris had…a hard time), and as the 3rd playmaker alongside IT and Horford for the Celts, that 3rd legit playmaker is lacking for the Wiz…costly or not, we’ll see.

    Sure the Celts would be very small and unathletic, but the spacing, playmaking, offensive execution and perimeter D would be more than solid.

    It would be harder to create turnovers from the Celts, easy points as a result, they killed the Hawks(18 TO in their 4 wins, it’s not happening against the Celts).

    Other option for the Celts in the starting 5, i know it’s pretty sad in 2017, but Jerebko at the 4, Crowder at the 3….

    Same thing, limited minutes, 15-20 ish, bigger lineup, Crowder more experienced, a bigger body on Beal.

    Keeping Smart, Rozier, Green, Olynyk,(brown or Johnson) off the bench.

    Keeping the defensive intensity and playmaking from smart off the bench or the scoring punch ability from Green should be a priority IMO.

    The Wizards starting 5 is better in any case on paper…and probably on the court, if the Celts bench ain’t better than the wizards, how could they win  a 7 games series ?

    Let’s see what Stevens does….Johnson-Jerebko-Green-Brown or Smart ?

    I think he’ll keep green until he’s down 2-1 in the series, i hope they’ll be up 2-1 tho.

     

    For the Wiz, Gortat has to be really engaged, Mahinmi would help them if he comes back at some point(5-5-1-1 with high %, more length and better D could’t hurt against the small Celts)..

    Morris could have his way offensively if he brings his A game…more than his D head.

    Porter was good against the Celts in RS, they’ll need that version, length, 3 and D, runner, cutter, smart(he never loses a ball that’s insane), he’s supposed to be paid a billion this summer, it’s time to earn it i guess.

    If Porter-Morris and Gortat are playing on their capabilities, it will send the Wiz to the ECF, if they play like they played against the Hawks, it won’t be enough, Wiz need 40 pts from these guys…not 27.

    Wall and beal will have their 45-60 pts games on a nightly basis, they’ll still need help to score 105-115.

    IT will score the ball and he’ll be the horrendous defender he is, efficiency, TO and passing are still up in the air.

    For the Celts, lacking star power, as usual it will be a total team effort, unsung heroes here or there, Olynyk one game, Smart another, a 15 pts game from Green, a 20 pt game from Crowder, a 25 pts game with great D from Bradley, a 20-10 from Horford(28 MD per season…not a single 20-10 this season LOL), 6 guys in double digit scoring with 30 assists. 10 steals or 14 treys.

     

     

     

     

     

     

      

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

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    • #1096442
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      mgreener_34
      Participant

       This was an excellent analysis and breakdown, and I agree with most of what you said about the Celtics. I think it’s clear that Amir is done, and should only be used in select situations at this point. Our team has always 100% relied on our perimeter D to contain teams, and we’re going to need to do that full force this series. 

      I like your idea of starting Brown. He gives us another athletic body, and as you mentioned he played well as a starter during the season when AB was out. As a starter he averaged 10/4 on really good 46/40/70 numbers. But I think you have to continue to start Gerald Green instead. He’s a veteran, isn’t afraid of the moment, and both are just bad at D right now. I rather have Greens experience from last series, and just hope that Green gets his moments off the bench. 

      I also am curius to see how Stevens uses Rozier. We saw Rozier really step up in the Bulls series, and is a player who was brought in specifically for his ability to guard the John Wall of the leagues. I think Rozier is a better player than he is given credit for, and theres no doubt in my mind that if he was featured more on a bad team people would realize how good of a prospet he is. He was able to earn good minutes last series, and if he can continue to play great defense and hit the 3, he can play a big part in this series. 

      I like all of Bostons adjustments and personel in this series, but I still can’t get away from Morris and Porter. These guys killed the Celtics all year when they were banged up, so it should be interesting to see how these two teams healthy can stack up. I think if Horford can become a presense than it will make the game a lot easier for the Celtics. 

      Todays game is going to be very telling. 

       

       

       

       

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  • #1096448
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    OhCanada-
    Participant

     Wizards win this series. Wizards strengths hit the Celtics were it hurts. Size and athletisism against Thomas. The abillity to place screens for Beal to run through to shake off pesky gaurd defenders Rozier, Smart and Bradley. If they collapse or double Wall they have Bogdanovic, Oubre, Porter wide open. Morris and Gortat will be competitive as ever and Boston struggles boxing out. I dont think this needs a 3 paragraph review to understand. 

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  • #1096450
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    SeattleSuperChronics
    Participant

     John Wall is one hell of a point guard

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  • #1096545
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    OhCanada-
    Participant

     Am I the only one who notices the refs have been reviewing for a flagrant foul for about 3 minutes yet this Jae Crowder on Otto Porter challenge was a clean block. Wtf are they watching to need to review that for so long. 

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  • #1096547
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    OhCanada-
    Participant

     I feel like these guys are gonna brawl. 2 games into the series and elbows are being thrown on every play. Great series. 

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  • #1096556
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    mgreener_34
    Participant

     That was easily the game of the year! So much bad blood right now, i would be shocked if we didn’t see some ejections in WAS. Those games are going to be tough. 

    As a Celtics fan this series has been great. Both Brown and Rozie are playing great minutes, Brad is making all the right adjustments, and the players are stepping up. It’s nice to watch a team click like this. 

    I honestly feel terrible for Wall. Once he takes a breather that team just implodes. They lost tonight simply because he ran out of gas, and no one stepped up. I’m looking at you Bradley Beal…They need to really get a bench to be series contenders. Wall-Beal-Porter-Gortat is nice, they just need a little more punch off the bench. If I was them, I would seriously consider bringing Morris off the bench, and starting Bogs. Slide Porter to the 4, and just match small ball with small ball, and hope that the team D can hold it together on the pNr. 

    Morris off the bench would also give them someone to run the offense through, and bang with the inferior Celtics big men. 

     

     

     

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