Celts won by double digits, they could afford to rest their best switch defender down the stretch. Jeez. This is not supposed to be this hard in a basketball forum. Do better.
I've been reading this argument and I am coming to the opinion that you're being a bit obtuse regarding Marcus Smart. He was benched for the entire comeback part of their surge to overtake the Warriors. Saying they could afford this negates that benching Smart was just a plain ole smart decision made by the coach. Their purest defensive player did not influence the comeback. I love Smart. I love great defense. Great defense doesn't always do what it's supposed to do. Sometimes scrappy energetic defense is just what the doctor ordered. Sometimes shot making does the trick. Either way, our drafting of a player should have little to do with whatever overreaction we're having for the game one playoff game behind us. There are many ways to win championships and believing in your way seems to be the most influential. Being flexible in your attack and your defense seems to be the next. Hell, the formula to the 94' championship didn't have anything to do with the 95' formula. Things change. Projecting the future of the NBA is the job of the GM and this 4th quarter blitz of three point shooting will have zero impact on the actual championship we earn eventually. My point is this: current patterns don't necessarily make for the best projection of the future. This is because we need to be working towards doing something better than the best are already doing it because they'll be doing their strategy even better by the time it matters. We need to draft for our own version of unstoppable... or as Olajuwon said 'Unbeatable'.
He brought the 2018 Rockets. For my money, when healthy, the greatest team ever assembled to not win a ring. The switching defense we put on the floor was utterly insane.
Smart was in when Celts put nail in coffin with over 7 minutes in 4th. Those 3balls he dropped sealed the double digit lead. He may have not been in when comeback started but he was critical to make sure GSW didnt rally. Tatum had a ton of AST but his 3ball was dry.
GSW were the #1 offense in playoffs per NBA.com. Ranked #6 defense in playoffs. Celtics had #2 ranked defense in playoffs. Ranked #8 in offense. GSW outscored their opponents by 25.4 points per 100 possessions in the fourth quarter, the best mark for any team in any quarter. A single digit lead was zero guarantee vs GSW, especially in Q4. Tatum had a ton of AST but his 3ball was dry, especially early. Flexibility is great but we have seen enough championships in modern era to see the following pattern: 1) Playoff defense requires ability to switch - this is NOT negotiable - Celts finally went away from ineffective drop coverage and stifled GSW with switch. Celts are best switch + PnR defense in playoffs. 2) Teams with best 3P% + high 3PA usually win. Celts shot 51.2% v GSW 42.2% from 3P. 3) TRANSITION game matters - Celts are 2nd best transition team in playoffs. 4) TOP matters - Best teams hold the ball and generate extra possessions via offensive rebounds, steals, blocks, deflections, fouls, bad shots, etc. Timelord averages over 4 STOCKS (steals + blocks), most in playoffs. Celts are #2 in Time of Possession.
Ever since Dantoni took the Rockets helm - he put us on the same level and pushed a game 7 with arguably one of the best teams ever assembled. (Durant Warriors). More teams are shooting threes when the Rockets did it first! The Celtics won cause of their defense, but they attempted just as many threes as the warriors did.
I don't care to talk about greatest team to not win anything but for correctness, we all know D'antoni did not build that team nor did D'antoni develop the defensive scheme.
defense being half the game is the biggest myth constantly repeated by old heads. offense is easily much more important
he said “not win a ring”, he didn’t say “not win anything” winning 65 games and winning 2 playoff series + 3 games in the WCF isnt “not winning anything” Not winning anything is more like what last years Rockets did.
And as great as that team was, the lasting "legacy" is that the team choked... While we know the 27 straight missed 3s isn't entirely correct that was still directly on D'antoni. There are plenty of teams that can claim "greatest team to never won a championship" 73 win Warriors, '18 Bucks, '01 Kings?(awful) '03 Suns '09 Rockets... The difference between that Warriors and Bucks teams and the '18 Rockets or the rest of what whatever team you want to put there is that they came back and won it all. Their coaches made adjustments. D'antoni had chances.
Again he accomplished the same thing as Milkhair... a WCF appearance and a division title. But we all can agree D'antoni had the better roster.
To be fair it's only been one game and the GSW really did just miss their open shots but absolutely agree... What's the worst defensive team to win a chip in recent years?? Maybe the Bucks and the are damn elite when they need to be. There is a reason why teams like the Nash/Amar'e Sun's never advanced to the finals.
Defense being half the game is far from a myth. What a ridiculous claim. There’s a reason why being elite on both ends is a proven criteria to winning. It’s casuals that don’t understand the game in its entirety that think points is the main thing that matters. It’s probably because it’s the easiest thing to count and involves little thinking. Everything else that goes into the game just can’t register
65 wins > 56 wins Going 7 in WCF > Going 5 in WCF. but either way I don’t care about a Mchale vs dantoni I’m argument. I’m just saying it’s ridiculous to say a team “didn’t win anything” because it didn’t win the ultimate prize.
Ring or nothing culture is poisonous to critical basketball thinking. D'Antoni gave his team an identity that they believed in. He was a bounce or two away from you being at the end of his johnson. That's all you can ask for from a coach. The mistakes the organization made have nothing to do with Mike D'Antoni: A. Not paying/replacing Trevor Ariza B. Not sticking with the plan for a longer period of time, with similar goals and roster structure. C. You lose CP3, you aren't beating a KD-Warriors team, period. I don't care who is coaching.
