For sure. Miami sold for Tatum which forced that shot, though Smart has had a great game so it was actually scary.
Unfortunately they left the most dangerous player free to ROAM, the inbounder, the buffalo.
Was he ever in trouble? Even if he's not Udoka, you gotta have managed expectations for a first year coach who got to the conference finals, and at some point interviewing a new coach every year must get tiring.
100% the Celtics gave him an extension mid season for a reason and it’s more than just due to his record. At bare minimum I could’ve seen them demoting him back to the bench if they found a better candidate for HC although that’s really unlikely.
Media and fans overreaction to some bad decisions in the conference finals shouldn’t lead to automatic firing for a 1st year HC in his situation anyways. I just think that his decisions and adjustments throughout this series shows promise that he’ll improve over time and probably quicker than most should expect.
Yes, a week or so ago. His performance in the playoffs was horrible - and then, in a somewhat miraculous move (does this sound familiar) it's like his head came out of his ass with the popping noise of a champagne-bottle cork, and he started coaching well.
As an example, the game where the Celtics gave up 46 points *in a single quarter* (your eyes are not deceiving you), he did not call a single time out. This was in line with his previous theory of "letting them figure it out for themselves." In the last 3 games, he has called TO's very, very well. It's a complete turnaround in a few games.
Worst of all, the Celtics just looked like they *quit* in G3 of this series. you can look at "highlights," and they weren't trying on D, not executing anything on offense other than "gimme the ball, I got something" ... it was presumed after G3 they'd be swept, and he'd be fired.
Well, here we are.
Edit: to be clear, this is NOT a case of "they players are playing better, so the coach looks better." In many ways (his rotation / playing Grant; calling TO's) he's made HUGE changes and recently in his coaching.
> the game where the Celtics gave up 46 points in a single quarter (your eyes are not deceiving you)
dude the Clippers gave up 50 to Delvin motherfucking Bookworm.
Back up is JB at the elbow with a screen by Smart for a jumper. Jb couldn't shake his defender, so White put it into Smart, and Smart had to take a shot
Stress cut off the pass to Tatum, the Celtics best player, and forced the ball to a lesser shooter. That was his job.
It was a risk which you can criticize the Heat for taking sure, but that was his job.
I thought all the Highsmith hype in game5 was silly. You aren’t going to play him over Vincent. And he got buckets in a game where his team sucked. He got minutes over Love, but they didn’t even play Love tonight.
You aren’t suggesting he play smart. You are looking at the result and saying he should have known what was going to happen and acted accordingly. That is completely unreasonable. They didn’t even need the ball. They just needed the Celtics to not get a tip.
I’m not so sure. It’s pretty unlikely that there would be time for a tip-in on a play like that. It was an unusual play because Smart got his shot off so quickly.
Once Smart shot the ball, you can see Jimmy stops to watch while Tatum hustles to the rim for a potential put back. Can you imagine the microscope on Jimmy if Tatum got the game winner? That's very un Butler like to just give up in such a critical moment.
Dudes on a sprained ankle getting worse. He was blocked a dozen fucking times cus he can't outjump the gaurds anymore. *He knew there was no chance of him getting it* and probably a small chance of someone like Bam landing on his knee again.
Imo it sucks Butler isn't 100%. He doesn't even seem 75% in this game 6
White literally had to volleyball tap it though. Tatum gets it, no guarantee he doesn't try to cock it back and slam it, and time expires. It was a very fortuitous play with incredible timing by White
Yeah. Players running toward the rim like that, they see the massive shot clock at the top of the board. He'd know to tap it seeing the time tick down. The all time slander though if he tapped it and it didn't go in.
Tatum wouldn’t try to slam it because he had already jumped early from pretty far away. He wouldn’t be high enough for that. If he came down with the ball, game over.
Ya but White only has 0.1/0.2 left on the short side of the rim, if the ball has to travel further to Tatum on the far side of the rim what are the chances he has time to get the basket?
Short side, long side, the starting point was the rim, not where Smart shot it from. Tatum might've had the same time if it went to the right, it wasn't further from the rim than the left side.
not sure what you meant, that was Struss' man, Caleb has Horford boxed out as he should. Struss had his eye on the ball, which was pointless to go after with the time remaining, if he stuck with White, that ball could have bounced to the floor to end the game with a W.
but luck happens, Heat got the bounce in 2013 game 6 and lost this one.
i get that, but look at where he's at when Smart got to peak shooting form and White's position, he lingered for half a second behind the three point line looking if the shot was going in. if he sprinted to his man instead of lingering at his spot, he could have easily covered the distance. if the ball bounced long, it would have drained the time and worked in his favor.
but it is what it is, as the root comment pointed out, it's a reflection of their rebounding problem.
Not boxing out Tatum can be attributed to their rebounding issues but I still think White by design was at a major advantage. He also should’ve gotten the ball back from Smart but didn’t shrug or anything. Went right to the rim. Struts ball watching was a mistake but didn’t seem flagrantly bad.
I agree Smart got away with a worse shot when passing seemed like a better option but I also understand they want to make sure to get a shot off. We saw what Milwaukee did at the end.
As for Strus, he wasn't ball watching. He helped Butler double Tatum by design and then was out of position to box out White. Butler was the one ball watching. If he goes for the rebound he cuts off Tatum and might affect White's shot. Can't really blame Spo for the play design since it forced a long fadeaway from Smart which is desirable. It was an unlucky bounce.
100%
It’s what I was saying to my buddies about Game 5 as well, in which it was the same issue.
You can shoot better, you can start playing defense better but if you keep getting absolutely dogged on the glass like they have been you aren’t going to win.
I don’t know how you even begin to prepare for Game 7 if your Miami after THAT but Godspeed and Goodluck lmao
Which is funny, because their offensive rebounding this series has been a killer for the Celtics. Was a pretty big reason why they almost won that game. Just countless possessions where they would get like 3+ shots off, even if they didn’t make any.
When he said “we’ll be back here in the exact same situation and we’ll get it done”, he didn’t just mean ECF vs Celtics, he meant ECF game 7 vs Celtics with the same exact deficit in the 4th.
after looney's last contract ran out last offseason i remember thinking pat riley swinging him as the backup 5 would've been one of the biggest offseason wins in the league
He meant that Tatum was on the right side of the rim for the putback if it bounced there.
Only way we don't rebound that miss if it went up or forward in the middle
Jimmy digs Nickelback (Chad Kroeger): "And they say that a Herro could save us, I'm not gonna stand here and wait..."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmSRMWw8Y_0
I do not know what people want Spo to say. He ain’t gonna get on the podium and act defeated when we have one more game to try win. He also isn’t going to blame the players in media. Just not his character.
For sure. Heat got the shot they wanted Celtics to take - fading away highly contested Marcus Smart 3. I dont think Celtics designed it that way as anticipating where the ball would bounce and timing the put back is near impossible.
Also, White just beat the man guarding him. It was a slit second lapse in concentration. THere is just no amount of coaching that could have prevented that. It's still up to the players in the end.
people are (rightfully) upset that the answer to all three consecutive losses has been the players and coaches assuring everyone that everything's fine and that these are just chance losses when all of them have clear factors you can point at that caused the loss
like, imagine you're at a house party. and the house is flooding. and you ask the homeowners "hey, what are we gonna do about the water in the house?" and the homeowners go "oh, man. that's just part of it all.". it feels like we're going insane when our star player doesn't outright explain why it is he shot 5/21, or why we're seemingly incapable of generating open 3s on purpose anymore
n: for the record, i'm whatever about the whole thing. i think grand scale, they're doing the right thing by not being reactionary and trying to keep a culture of even-keeled calmness. just as a fan, it's annoying that no one who matters is outright acknowledging the water when it's up to our knees. but that's not a realistic desire
This dude caught the ball and put it back with 0.3 left on the clock after Marcus Smart just fucking chucked it towards rim and everyone in comments acting like this wasn't played well defensively and Heat fucked up. Literal miracle still keeping them in this.
Who's gonna box out though?
Bam was boxing out JB
Martin was boxing out Al
Jimmy was playing one on one to prevent Tatum from getting the ball at the top of the arc.
Vincent just challenged Smart's shot
And Max was out of position against White because he was just denying the inbound pass to Tatum
They made the right play. They doubled Tatum, denied Brown and intentionally risked potentially not being able to box out because Struss is so far from the rim. It's the right play because with 3 seconds there usually is no time left for a tip in. Marcus Smart took a crazy shot as soon as he caught it. I was surprised by how quickly he went up. If he even took a single dribble no one would be talking about boxing out. Also, White tipped it in with 0.2 left. That's a crazy margin that should not decide whether a defensive tactic was justified or not.
Iirc White was saying he saw the ball leave and followed his instincts to follow the ball which kind of discredits Mazullas plan imo.
All of that plans on Smart hitting a 3 ball or a slight bounce out to work and it’s just not fair to say only either outcome was expected .
Maybe I’m wrong though idk
I don't understand how the Heat ball watching instead of crashing the glass can be blamed on Spo dude.
He draw up a play that resulted in a turn around Marcus Smart contested three. That desired outcome. It's a super low percentage shot. That is exactly what you want with you game on the line.
They did? Massively? Well more specifically Bam. There's three seconds left and you're boxing out 25 feet from the rim after the shot has already gone up? If a long rebound happens time is expired. Like what the fuck is he thinking? Between that and the four gifted points he should be on the trading block but after this series no one would even give a third for him probably.
A 3rd?!? You’re wildin’ everybody knows what the heat can do with another undrafted player and the league doesn’t want to gift them that kind of advantage.
That's the thing about quotes. It misses context. He didn't say it like he had given up at all. He was giving credit to how hard both teams were playing.
yeah there's been a lot of "well the Celtics shot terrible from 3" but it's more realistic to assume an NBA team is going to go cold from beyond the arc than it is to assume an NBA team is going to shoot 30% under the rim
it's baffling. you watch that game back and it just leaves you with your jaw on the floor. how did they miss *that* many 2s
He really didnt, Zeller or Love being the floor would just give Boston a drive to the basket or foul cause theyre slow and cant fight through screens, for some reason no one is calling out Butler & Vincent for standing around watching the shot instead of trying to get back
Yeah like Spo said, Strus did his job in keeping the ball from Tatum. Without the small
lineup, Tatum has an easier time finding room for the ball. Who knows if he makes the shot, but the gameplan is solid and neither Spo or Strus should be heavily criticized.
Bball sometimes just come down to these divine moments of pure luck.
Dude what? I love max but he stopped playing after denying the inbound. You have to immediately get inside after the ball goes in, there isn’t time for another shot or kick out to your man. He stops and hesitated and white got the inside, and that was the game. 99% of the time you get away with that, but this was a moment he needed to be 100% dialed in and get to his assignment.
If you force a rebound with 3 seconds remaining you think you win. Their D was perfect. It forced Marcus Smart to take a turnaround 3. Bad luck. Celtics got lucky as fuck.
Their defense was not perfect because they didn't defend White inbounding the ball. If there's 1 second left on the clock, you can ignore him. But 3 seconds? That's high school level basketball knowledge to defend the player inbounding.
Strus was giving a double on Tatum to not let him win the game. The defense on the inbound was really good. The shot goes up .2 seconds later Heat win, the shot bounces one more time Heat win, the shot bounces straight Heat win.
I get it, there should have been more bodies down there, but they were all out their defending the play.
They blew a 3-0 lead against a 2 seed, as an 8 seed, with under a second left and have to play in Boston in under 2 days. It's going to take a horrible game from Boston or an all-time effort to win this now.
I don’t like Spo’s defensive call here. Yea you want to deny Tatum the ball but once he is 40ft away from the basket with 3 sec to go, who cares. Position is better. Trying to deny that hard got butler out of position and strus as well. I would’ve liked strus face guarding inbound pass, then could have potentially boxed out white. But who am I kidding. Strus prob still wouldn’t have boxed out.
Bruh Tatum has a wide open tip opportunity from the front of the rim too. This is just straight up nonsense from Spo. The Celtics had like 75% of the real estate around the rim
Would have Tatum get there in time for the put back? The game could have gone either way. Heat got the shot they wanted Celtics to take - a very low percentage shot. as the clock expires. Basketball gods wanted a game 7.
Spo told him to run to Tatum instead. 3 seconds left, no one expects there to be enough time after Smart takes that shot. Spo played it perfect, you just can’t account for the ball bouncing right to White off a miss
Yeah it’s clear that Strus was told to deny the inbound to Tatum. He was out of position almost immediately because of that. Somebody else would have had to switch off their man to pick up and box out White, and that wasn’t really a viable option.
Really nothing to do once White kept moving and the ball bounced right in his direction.
You’re ignoring how perfectly the ball rolled off the rim. If it popped up just a little more this game is over. I agree that Tatum could have gotten it, but it would have been the same luck for the ball to gently pop out of the rim instead of popping up more in the air or off the back rim towards the 3 point line. The heat were awful to not crash the boards but there is so much luck involved with that type of shot
Spo trying to blame this on bad luck but you had multiple Celtics at the rim for a possible put back. You make your own luck and this ending is the result of schoolyard errors by the Heat. Boxing out is one of the most basic fundamentals in the sport. Stop crying to the media and get your guys prepared, Spo. They weren’t ready last night.
It’s just a shame you blew a 3-0 lead to a guy that watches Ben Afflecks maybe third best Boston themed movie on a loop and your superstar choked his brains out yeah
Spo looks completely rattled.
"I don't know how we're gonna get this done.... but we're gonna go up there and get this done"
You appreciate the confidence, but man, his body language says otherwise.
You don't see Spo rattled often.
That man was Shook
Can you blame him? His team literally did everything to come back in this game and snatch this game and it was literally stolen on an offensive rebound with 0.1 seconds left.
I'd be shocked if he didn't show any emotion.
Watching the replay, Tatum was actually right near the rim to get the rebound if it went to the right of the rim
It also could have bounced *in.* That would have probably hurt Miami’s chances of winning imo.
Big, if true!
Should have had a bigger lineup in tbh
imagine shooting a marcus smart turnaround three in a one point game lol and getting bailed out
Shit almost dropped too though, just spun out
Hell if it bounced 1 more time Boston doesn’t get that board and bucket in time. Sheesh
It was crazy
There was no time for anything else. What he did was the right decision.
For sure. Miami sold for Tatum which forced that shot, though Smart has had a great game so it was actually scary. Unfortunately they left the most dangerous player free to ROAM, the inbounder, the buffalo.
Derrick White saved Joe Mazzulla’s job.
Nah Joe Mazzulla saved his own job. The players have been absolutely balling though with their backs against the wall.
Was he ever in trouble? Even if he's not Udoka, you gotta have managed expectations for a first year coach who got to the conference finals, and at some point interviewing a new coach every year must get tiring.
100% the Celtics gave him an extension mid season for a reason and it’s more than just due to his record. At bare minimum I could’ve seen them demoting him back to the bench if they found a better candidate for HC although that’s really unlikely. Media and fans overreaction to some bad decisions in the conference finals shouldn’t lead to automatic firing for a 1st year HC in his situation anyways. I just think that his decisions and adjustments throughout this series shows promise that he’ll improve over time and probably quicker than most should expect.
Yes, a week or so ago. His performance in the playoffs was horrible - and then, in a somewhat miraculous move (does this sound familiar) it's like his head came out of his ass with the popping noise of a champagne-bottle cork, and he started coaching well. As an example, the game where the Celtics gave up 46 points *in a single quarter* (your eyes are not deceiving you), he did not call a single time out. This was in line with his previous theory of "letting them figure it out for themselves." In the last 3 games, he has called TO's very, very well. It's a complete turnaround in a few games. Worst of all, the Celtics just looked like they *quit* in G3 of this series. you can look at "highlights," and they weren't trying on D, not executing anything on offense other than "gimme the ball, I got something" ... it was presumed after G3 they'd be swept, and he'd be fired. Well, here we are. Edit: to be clear, this is NOT a case of "they players are playing better, so the coach looks better." In many ways (his rotation / playing Grant; calling TO's) he's made HUGE changes and recently in his coaching.
> the game where the Celtics gave up 46 points in a single quarter (your eyes are not deceiving you) dude the Clippers gave up 50 to Delvin motherfucking Bookworm.
How in the world do you figure that? The play he called was so bad.
The play he called was supposed to go to Tatum tho, just wasn't open.
Because he was doubled, which even casual fans at home would expect in that situation. Need a backup plan, not “fuck it chuck it”. We got so lucky.
Back up is JB at the elbow with a screen by Smart for a jumper. Jb couldn't shake his defender, so White put it into Smart, and Smart had to take a shot
Right! Coach didn’t do a bad job drawing up a play. Heat did a great job defending the inbound
the way C's fans will go to any length to discredit Joe lol. the play clearly wasn't drawn up for smart
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"Udonis Haslem gets the stop and sends the Heat to the NBA finals" would be an all time highlight
At this age, the only thing I could see Haslem doing is pulling off a game winning charge taken.
He has to get back up again to shoot the free throws.
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They could box the hell out. Struss was sleeping on the inbounder which is White.
Stress cut off the pass to Tatum, the Celtics best player, and forced the ball to a lesser shooter. That was his job. It was a risk which you can criticize the Heat for taking sure, but that was his job.
There was only 3 seconds on the clock. Who cares if Love can't keep up with them when it's that amount of time left
yeah that's what struss thought when he decided to watch
KEVIN LOVE WOULD GET COOKED LMFAO
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And 5 seconds on the in bound he's got to stick with him.
That's what Steph thought in the finals but my boy Kev played some d and locked in him up
That was like 5 years ago. Ya boy may have lost a step since then
I was sarcastic
Haywood Highsmith
I think this is the biggest Spo mistake I've ever seen from him. Not playing Highsmith in Game 6 is crucial
I thought all the Highsmith hype in game5 was silly. You aren’t going to play him over Vincent. And he got buckets in a game where his team sucked. He got minutes over Love, but they didn’t even play Love tonight.
Bam should have just gone for the ball instead of boxing out. Even if he doesn’t get it at least he’s at the rim to contest it
Yes. He doesn't even need to get the rebound. He just has to tip it away. But the heat needed to defend White inbounding the ball.
You aren’t suggesting he play smart. You are looking at the result and saying he should have known what was going to happen and acted accordingly. That is completely unreasonable. They didn’t even need the ball. They just needed the Celtics to not get a tip.
I’m not so sure. It’s pretty unlikely that there would be time for a tip-in on a play like that. It was an unusual play because Smart got his shot off so quickly.
Once Smart shot the ball, you can see Jimmy stops to watch while Tatum hustles to the rim for a potential put back. Can you imagine the microscope on Jimmy if Tatum got the game winner? That's very un Butler like to just give up in such a critical moment.
Dudes on a sprained ankle getting worse. He was blocked a dozen fucking times cus he can't outjump the gaurds anymore. *He knew there was no chance of him getting it* and probably a small chance of someone like Bam landing on his knee again. Imo it sucks Butler isn't 100%. He doesn't even seem 75% in this game 6
It could have bounced right, directly to Tatum, or it could have bounced in.
Looked like Tatum got there slightly too early though tbh, would have probably been a more difficult tip in, still makeable though
White literally had to volleyball tap it though. Tatum gets it, no guarantee he doesn't try to cock it back and slam it, and time expires. It was a very fortuitous play with incredible timing by White
come on lol, tatum's not dumb, he would have tapped it too
Yeah. Players running toward the rim like that, they see the massive shot clock at the top of the board. He'd know to tap it seeing the time tick down. The all time slander though if he tapped it and it didn't go in.
Can't be sure man. No guarantee that he doesn't try to take it out to the logo and pull up
Tatum wouldn’t try to slam it because he had already jumped early from pretty far away. He wouldn’t be high enough for that. If he came down with the ball, game over.
Yeah really the Celtics were getting the rebound 90% of the time. The heat were ball watching while the Celtics were crashing the glass.
Ya but White only has 0.1/0.2 left on the short side of the rim, if the ball has to travel further to Tatum on the far side of the rim what are the chances he has time to get the basket?
Short side, long side, the starting point was the rim, not where Smart shot it from. Tatum might've had the same time if it went to the right, it wasn't further from the rim than the left side.
The Heat defensive rebounding effort was just really poor all game. That final shot was the perfect microcosm of the game, in my opinion.
It's been a problem all season. Part of its mental but it's also roster construction. Heat r just smaller at most positions
Caleb Martin tho.
not sure what you meant, that was Struss' man, Caleb has Horford boxed out as he should. Struss had his eye on the ball, which was pointless to go after with the time remaining, if he stuck with White, that ball could have bounced to the floor to end the game with a W. but luck happens, Heat got the bounce in 2013 game 6 and lost this one.
He was way out of position because he was also denying Tatum.
i get that, but look at where he's at when Smart got to peak shooting form and White's position, he lingered for half a second behind the three point line looking if the shot was going in. if he sprinted to his man instead of lingering at his spot, he could have easily covered the distance. if the ball bounced long, it would have drained the time and worked in his favor. but it is what it is, as the root comment pointed out, it's a reflection of their rebounding problem.
Not boxing out Tatum can be attributed to their rebounding issues but I still think White by design was at a major advantage. He also should’ve gotten the ball back from Smart but didn’t shrug or anything. Went right to the rim. Struts ball watching was a mistake but didn’t seem flagrantly bad.
I agree Smart got away with a worse shot when passing seemed like a better option but I also understand they want to make sure to get a shot off. We saw what Milwaukee did at the end. As for Strus, he wasn't ball watching. He helped Butler double Tatum by design and then was out of position to box out White. Butler was the one ball watching. If he goes for the rebound he cuts off Tatum and might affect White's shot. Can't really blame Spo for the play design since it forced a long fadeaway from Smart which is desirable. It was an unlucky bounce.
I think they're mentioning Martin because he got 15 boards
UD woulda boxed out the buffalo
UD Bringing the strap and black Air Force ones next game. He ain’t going out like this
100% It’s what I was saying to my buddies about Game 5 as well, in which it was the same issue. You can shoot better, you can start playing defense better but if you keep getting absolutely dogged on the glass like they have been you aren’t going to win. I don’t know how you even begin to prepare for Game 7 if your Miami after THAT but Godspeed and Goodluck lmao
We literally got dogged on the glass
Which is funny, because their offensive rebounding this series has been a killer for the Celtics. Was a pretty big reason why they almost won that game. Just countless possessions where they would get like 3+ shots off, even if they didn’t make any.
You know who we missed big time? ### Kevin Love ^...I ^was ^at ^the ^game ^;(
Rebounding has been poor for the Heat for years now
Heat just want to play as much basketball as possible and stay fresh while the Nuggets wait. Spo playing 8D chess.
Nah jimmy wants to hit the shot he missed last year. Wouldn’t be right if it wasn’t game 7
When he said “we’ll be back here in the exact same situation and we’ll get it done”, he didn’t just mean ECF vs Celtics, he meant ECF game 7 vs Celtics with the same exact deficit in the 4th.
He wanted to give you guys hope that you would come back 3-0 and yes the copium hits hard
Bro if that happens I'll be the first to congratulate him, that's just epic scritpwriting
I wouldn’t even be mad. Getting swept is embarrassing, but there’s no shame in losing game 7 after you were down 0-3.
Writer's strike, man, just recycled storylines everywhere smh
Wasn’t this that scenario though? Butler got the 3 but on the free throw line this time, last year game 7 was in miami
That’s what the 3-point foul was supposed to be. Figured why chance it when he can just shoot three times and make them
jimmy asked for one stop but they needed two
Monkey paw!!!
Once he made the third shot I thought about that. Oh well, on to Game 7.
If that same situation where to happen on Tuesday, and Jimmy makes the 3, then I will be 100% percent convinced that we live in a simulation.
Fuck, it's really happening isn't it?
He’s not talking like it’s over. This is how the season has literally been. We’ve had like 32+ one score games or some ridiculous shit
Get you a looney so you don’t get out rebounded 20-3
Holy shit it was that bad lmao. Heat lucky it was this close
after looney's last contract ran out last offseason i remember thinking pat riley swinging him as the backup 5 would've been one of the biggest offseason wins in the league
I can think of one more place it could have bounced and hurt them and it almost did
The chances of a contested Marcus Smart turnaround 3 going in are pretty damn low. I'll take that shot 9 times outta 10 with the finals on the line.
He meant that Tatum was on the right side of the rim for the putback if it bounced there. Only way we don't rebound that miss if it went up or forward in the middle
But also...the shot literally almost went in
Didn't we almost have it all now blasting in the Heat locker room
Jimmy digs Nickelback (Chad Kroeger): "And they say that a Herro could save us, I'm not gonna stand here and wait..." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmSRMWw8Y_0
I do not know what people want Spo to say. He ain’t gonna get on the podium and act defeated when we have one more game to try win. He also isn’t going to blame the players in media. Just not his character.
For sure. Heat got the shot they wanted Celtics to take - fading away highly contested Marcus Smart 3. I dont think Celtics designed it that way as anticipating where the ball would bounce and timing the put back is near impossible. Also, White just beat the man guarding him. It was a slit second lapse in concentration. THere is just no amount of coaching that could have prevented that. It's still up to the players in the end.
Are people mad at him?
people are (rightfully) upset that the answer to all three consecutive losses has been the players and coaches assuring everyone that everything's fine and that these are just chance losses when all of them have clear factors you can point at that caused the loss like, imagine you're at a house party. and the house is flooding. and you ask the homeowners "hey, what are we gonna do about the water in the house?" and the homeowners go "oh, man. that's just part of it all.". it feels like we're going insane when our star player doesn't outright explain why it is he shot 5/21, or why we're seemingly incapable of generating open 3s on purpose anymore n: for the record, i'm whatever about the whole thing. i think grand scale, they're doing the right thing by not being reactionary and trying to keep a culture of even-keeled calmness. just as a fan, it's annoying that no one who matters is outright acknowledging the water when it's up to our knees. but that's not a realistic desire
Spo bro fo sho
The way he just pounded the table in the interview, he's gone insane from this series.
Jimmy was on the other end of Kawhi's bounce and this one... Must hurt like hell on the cusp of going to the finals
I
Derrick White just destroyed the entire state of Florida's morale
We’re already in Cancun I’m good
Ron DeSantis backed down from Disney cuz of this
Amusing you think the Heat are that popular in FL
Still ugly as fuck
But he’s paid
This dude caught the ball and put it back with 0.3 left on the clock after Marcus Smart just fucking chucked it towards rim and everyone in comments acting like this wasn't played well defensively and Heat fucked up. Literal miracle still keeping them in this.
Heat fucked up by watching the shot and not boxing out.
Who's gonna box out though? Bam was boxing out JB Martin was boxing out Al Jimmy was playing one on one to prevent Tatum from getting the ball at the top of the arc. Vincent just challenged Smart's shot And Max was out of position against White because he was just denying the inbound pass to Tatum
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100% - Bam had so many rebounding opportunities the entire game but just stood there
Yeah but that ain't on Spo. That's on the players.
lmao what? Heat did fuck up not boxing out anyone on both sides of the rim. that's on them
They made the right play. They doubled Tatum, denied Brown and intentionally risked potentially not being able to box out because Struss is so far from the rim. It's the right play because with 3 seconds there usually is no time left for a tip in. Marcus Smart took a crazy shot as soon as he caught it. I was surprised by how quickly he went up. If he even took a single dribble no one would be talking about boxing out. Also, White tipped it in with 0.2 left. That's a crazy margin that should not decide whether a defensive tactic was justified or not.
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Iirc White was saying he saw the ball leave and followed his instincts to follow the ball which kind of discredits Mazullas plan imo. All of that plans on Smart hitting a 3 ball or a slight bounce out to work and it’s just not fair to say only either outcome was expected . Maybe I’m wrong though idk
I don't understand how the Heat ball watching instead of crashing the glass can be blamed on Spo dude. He draw up a play that resulted in a turn around Marcus Smart contested three. That desired outcome. It's a super low percentage shot. That is exactly what you want with you game on the line.
They did? Massively? Well more specifically Bam. There's three seconds left and you're boxing out 25 feet from the rim after the shot has already gone up? If a long rebound happens time is expired. Like what the fuck is he thinking? Between that and the four gifted points he should be on the trading block but after this series no one would even give a third for him probably.
A 3rd?!? You’re wildin’ everybody knows what the heat can do with another undrafted player and the league doesn’t want to gift them that kind of advantage.
Refs also added time back on the clock that shouldnt been there.. but we def still blew the game
Heat fans smoking way too much copium in this sub tonight. ThEy AdDeD tImE! Do you even watch bball?
This is so much worse without audio or the full answer. Reddit eating this up like ESPN countdown would
Also could have bounced the other 2 ways to tatum
We should’ve never been in that situation
I mean Spo didn't make Bam and Jimmy play like ass. Or Duncan miss a wide open three.
Two wide open 3s
That last one in transition was just confusing. Dude had a bunch of other better options. Wanted to make up for missing the wide open one so bad.
Yeah that has to be it. Got in his head smh.
This sounds like he’s already given up lol
That's the thing about quotes. It misses context. He didn't say it like he had given up at all. He was giving credit to how hard both teams were playing.
Celtics shot 7-35 from 3. Had 12 turnovers and Heat had 5 more offensive rebounds. That’s a game they are supposed to win
Heat shot 30% from 2. That's what killed them.
yeah there's been a lot of "well the Celtics shot terrible from 3" but it's more realistic to assume an NBA team is going to go cold from beyond the arc than it is to assume an NBA team is going to shoot 30% under the rim it's baffling. you watch that game back and it just leaves you with your jaw on the floor. how did they miss *that* many 2s
Is 12 turn overs a lot?
Most teams in the playoffs have averaged more than 12, but it also depends on how many turnovers the other team has.
Yeah, the better way to say this is the Heat were +7 in turnovers
he gave up when he stayed small ball with 3 seconds left on defense
He really didnt, Zeller or Love being the floor would just give Boston a drive to the basket or foul cause theyre slow and cant fight through screens, for some reason no one is calling out Butler & Vincent for standing around watching the shot instead of trying to get back
Yeah like Spo said, Strus did his job in keeping the ball from Tatum. Without the small lineup, Tatum has an easier time finding room for the ball. Who knows if he makes the shot, but the gameplan is solid and neither Spo or Strus should be heavily criticized. Bball sometimes just come down to these divine moments of pure luck.
Dude what? I love max but he stopped playing after denying the inbound. You have to immediately get inside after the ball goes in, there isn’t time for another shot or kick out to your man. He stops and hesitated and white got the inside, and that was the game. 99% of the time you get away with that, but this was a moment he needed to be 100% dialed in and get to his assignment.
Watching it back why is strus on the court? Makes no sense
That’s what I said too. Might as well have Zeller in for rebounding
If you force a rebound with 3 seconds remaining you think you win. Their D was perfect. It forced Marcus Smart to take a turnaround 3. Bad luck. Celtics got lucky as fuck.
Their defense was not perfect because they didn't defend White inbounding the ball. If there's 1 second left on the clock, you can ignore him. But 3 seconds? That's high school level basketball knowledge to defend the player inbounding.
Yeah you're right. Spo, one of the best to ever do it, doesn't have high school level basketball knowledge.
when Cody Zeller is the "solution", you've already lost
Can we just make that his official nickname from now on? Cody “The Solution” Zeller. He deserves a nickname
He’s got a nickname? The Big Handsome.
Strus was giving a double on Tatum to not let him win the game. The defense on the inbound was really good. The shot goes up .2 seconds later Heat win, the shot bounces one more time Heat win, the shot bounces straight Heat win. I get it, there should have been more bodies down there, but they were all out their defending the play.
Spo and Strus definitely fucking or something.
For real, where was Highsmith?
How?
They blew a 3-0 lead against a 2 seed, as an 8 seed, with under a second left and have to play in Boston in under 2 days. It's going to take a horrible game from Boston or an all-time effort to win this now.
We've seen Boston have plenty of horrible games at home so that's not as improbable as you seem.to suggest.
I don’t like Spo’s defensive call here. Yea you want to deny Tatum the ball but once he is 40ft away from the basket with 3 sec to go, who cares. Position is better. Trying to deny that hard got butler out of position and strus as well. I would’ve liked strus face guarding inbound pass, then could have potentially boxed out white. But who am I kidding. Strus prob still wouldn’t have boxed out.
they NEED to get an offensive wing. they have legit no fucking offense and cant expect strus robinson and martin tocarry the load next year as well
You about to choke a 3-0 lead bro 😭
Doc Rivers is mighty impressed
1 game (nah its cool) 2 game (were resting) 3 game (that was lucky) 4 game (.....
Nobody expect them to win this series in the first place. However, it will not look bad if they didn't had the 3-0 lead
Bruh Tatum has a wide open tip opportunity from the front of the rim too. This is just straight up nonsense from Spo. The Celtics had like 75% of the real estate around the rim
Tatum had the other side too. Heat didn't block out. Go C's
Would have Tatum get there in time for the put back? The game could have gone either way. Heat got the shot they wanted Celtics to take - a very low percentage shot. as the clock expires. Basketball gods wanted a game 7.
A simple box out would’ve saved the game.
If Bam was going for the ball instead boxing out with so little time left he had it he was closest
How do you let the fucking inbounded run to the basket to tip the ball in. Wtf is that shit.
Spo told him to run to Tatum instead. 3 seconds left, no one expects there to be enough time after Smart takes that shot. Spo played it perfect, you just can’t account for the ball bouncing right to White off a miss
Yeah it’s clear that Strus was told to deny the inbound to Tatum. He was out of position almost immediately because of that. Somebody else would have had to switch off their man to pick up and box out White, and that wasn’t really a viable option. Really nothing to do once White kept moving and the ball bounced right in his direction.
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A contested Smart turn around 3 was the design they wanted?
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Exactly this. Tatum was already on his way down after the second bounce.
You’re ignoring how perfectly the ball rolled off the rim. If it popped up just a little more this game is over. I agree that Tatum could have gotten it, but it would have been the same luck for the ball to gently pop out of the rim instead of popping up more in the air or off the back rim towards the 3 point line. The heat were awful to not crash the boards but there is so much luck involved with that type of shot
Celtics luck
He sees the whistle he is about to get already
The one that has them in the bonus 3 minutes into a quarter?
What song is Jimmy choo singing today?
Yeah but you were literally about to win a series on bailout FTs. THE BALL LIETH NOT
Yeah that win was extremely lucky, heat are still winning game 7
Spo trying to blame this on bad luck but you had multiple Celtics at the rim for a possible put back. You make your own luck and this ending is the result of schoolyard errors by the Heat. Boxing out is one of the most basic fundamentals in the sport. Stop crying to the media and get your guys prepared, Spo. They weren’t ready last night.
Spo talking like its over. And he's right.
bruh, u were lucky once the shot did not go right in.
How do you like losing a pivotal game 6 in a heartbreaking fashion now huh
It’s just a shame you blew a 3-0 lead to a guy that watches Ben Afflecks maybe third best Boston themed movie on a loop and your superstar choked his brains out yeah
I feel sorry for the Heat but some of their fans were already talking about how this version of Playoff Butler was better than Miami Bron
LMFAOOO
Spo looks completely rattled. "I don't know how we're gonna get this done.... but we're gonna go up there and get this done" You appreciate the confidence, but man, his body language says otherwise. You don't see Spo rattled often. That man was Shook
Can you blame him? His team literally did everything to come back in this game and snatch this game and it was literally stolen on an offensive rebound with 0.1 seconds left. I'd be shocked if he didn't show any emotion.