2022 NBA Playoffs Series Thread Celitcs (2) vs Bucks (3) Celtics Win 4-3

[AntiG]

I mean, I know Williams wasn't himself when playing, but the version of horford that showed up for the playoffs was likely as good, if not better than Williams to be honest. Not saying Williams is bad or unplayable by any means, but horford was probably more valuable than Williams would have been, especially early in your playoff career, vets are sometimes a better threat.

The Horford that stepped up did an excellent job, but it can only last so long. Rob Williams when healthy is a game-changer that makes it so much easier on both sides of the ball. They can't pressure Tatum, Brown, White when they attack because it will lead to an easy dunk. On defense, players like a Giannis, Westbrook, Luka, Lebron, Morant, etc will still get theirs but they can't easily just keep attacking the rim because Rob might swat them. And we won't get absolutely demolished on the boards. That's just huge. Every loss we had vs Milwaukee was due to those issues - Giannis and Holiday driving in for layups and dunks, Portis/Lopez/Giannis getting every board, no one on the team could really challenge inside, and Tatum, despite muscling up this year, still has that soft mentality where he would give up on attacking the rim because he had no one inside that he could give up the rock to when the defense comes at him.

[beasted86]

The Horford that stepped up did an excellent job, but it can only last so long. Rob Williams when healthy is a game-changer that makes it so much easier on both sides of the ball. They can't pressure Tatum, Brown, White when they attack because it will lead to an easy dunk. On defense, players like a Giannis, Westbrook, Luka, Lebron, Morant, etc will still get theirs but they can't easily just keep attacking the rim because Rob might swat them. And we won't get absolutely demolished on the boards. That's just huge. Every loss we had vs Milwaukee was due to those issues - Giannis and Holiday driving in for layups and dunks, Portis/Lopez/Giannis getting every board, no one on the team could really challenge inside, and Tatum, despite muscling up this year, still has that soft mentality where he would give up on attacking the rim because he had no one inside that he could give up the rock to when the defense comes at him.

Williams can't pass as well, doesn't spread the floor, and historically in the games against Miami has been a non-factor offensively. Horford out played his teammate in matchup against Miami, and likely will be a problem for Bam due to his strength.

Williams might kick the defense in overdrive, but it's not even close offensively.

But with that said, they are a good match together and will both give Miami problems in different ways.

[crewfan13]

The Horford that stepped up did an excellent job, but it can only last so long. Rob Williams when healthy is a game-changer that makes it so much easier on both sides of the ball. They can't pressure Tatum, Brown, White when they attack because it will lead to an easy dunk. On defense, players like a Giannis, Westbrook, Luka, Lebron, Morant, etc will still get theirs but they can't easily just keep attacking the rim because Rob might swat them. And we won't get absolutely demolished on the boards. That's just huge. Every loss we had vs Milwaukee was due to those issues - Giannis and Holiday driving in for layups and dunks, Portis/Lopez/Giannis getting every board, no one on the team could really challenge inside, and Tatum, despite muscling up this year, still has that soft mentality where he would give up on attacking the rim because he had no one inside that he could give up the rock to when the defense comes at him.

But the point isnt that horford is better than Williams or that for 82 games or going forward I'd rather have horford. But for this series, horford was very likely better than anything Williams would have brought to the table.

A healthy Robert Williams takes minutes away from guys like horford who actually played well. His presence in this series would have be relatively small.

Middleton's presence in the series would have take away minutes from guys like Allen, Hill and Portis, all of whom generally played really poorly.

Again, it's not saying Williams is bad or isn't impactful. It's saying his replacements, particularly horford played well.

[AntiG]

But the point isnt that horford is better than Williams or that for 82 games or going forward I'd rather have horford. But for this series, horford was very likely better than anything Williams would have brought to the table.

A healthy Robert Williams takes minutes away from guys like horford who actually played well. His presence in this series would have be relatively small.

Middleton's presence in the series would have take away minutes from guys like Allen, Hill and Portis, all of whom generally played really poorly.

Again, it's not saying Williams is bad or isn't impactful. It's saying his replacements, particularly horford played well.

My point is that losing Rob exposed a lot weaknesses that we haven't seen all season because we had both him and Al in there, his presence there makes such a huge difference. Horford wasn't Rob's replacement in the lineup, Grant was, and as great as he played he lacks the height and intimidation. Its similar to what the Bucks lost in Middleton because it exposed a huge deficiency on the team (for the Celtics it was rim protection and easy dunks, for the Bucks it was shooting) that the others can't cover for no matter them being really good players in their own right. Rob out was why Brook Lopez was killing us all series - you expect Giannis to beat up on any team, but Brook it really depends on who you have there, you need players can that handle the size and physical nature of play. Grant Williams really stepped up for us against Giannis which allowed for Al to play center, but even then you can see how much both Brook and Giannis physically dominated him and Theis when both in the lane and on the post. Hopefully we can finally see a healthy Rob in the next few series, otherwise Bam will be killing us the same way.

[beasted86]

Delete.

[AntiG]

predicted it lol, Rob out in game 3, Bam kills us. Rob in, and Bam doesn't do jack.

[More-Than-Most]

Delete.

you will gettem after the rebuild brother

[crewfan13]

predicted it lol, Rob out in game 3, Bam kills us. Rob in, and Bam doesn't do jack.

To be fair that's also just kind of who bam is in the playoffs. He's just as likely to go for over 25 as he is to go for under 10 it seems. He's a very odd guy offensively.

[ewing]

To be fair that's also just kind of who bam is in the playoffs. He's just as likely to go for over 25 as he is to go for under 10 it seems. He's a very odd guy offensively.

It's who he is. I've been saying for years he just doesn't make sense. If he would just attack he has a ton of offensive game. He can also shoot a bit if he would just let it fly. Dude is perplexing

[beasted86]

It's who he is. I've been saying for years he just doesn't make sense. If he would just attack he has a ton of offensive game. He can also shoot a bit if he would just let it fly. Dude is perplexing

Don't know if it's confidence, coaching, or the defense. But it's giving me Ben Simmons vibes on an Antman scale. He's always saying the right things and never shifts blame though.

But you're right, if he's attacking, only good things can happen with opening up for shooters.

[AntiG]

Don't know if it's confidence, coaching, or the defense. But it's giving me Ben Simmons vibes on an Antman scale. He's always saying the right things and never shifts blame though.

But you're right, if he's attacking, only good things can happen with opening up for shooters.

Bam has simply never been the guy, at Kentucky he was a talented role player, in Miami he's the Robin to Butler's Batman. Not everyone has that alpha dog mentality in them.

[crewfan13]

It's who he is. I've been saying for years he just doesn't make sense. If he would just attack he has a ton of offensive game. He can also shoot a bit if he would just let it fly. Dude is perplexing

Yea, I mean the game after he scored 30, his team played one of the ugliest offensive games I've seen in a bit and he took 5 shots. Their starting 5 shot under 20% and he still only attempted 5 shots. Like at some pointz when your offense is that bad, you just need to figure out ways to let it fly.

The whole heat team is kind of like that. Jimmy butler cycles between looking like an unquestionably top 10 player in the league to a guy who isn't even the top 20 discussion on a nightly basis it feels like sometimes too.