A few clouds. Low 63F. Winds light and variable..
A few clouds. Low 63F. Winds light and variable.
"Warriors in six. Sincerely, a Philadelphia 76ers fan."
"Warriors in six. Sincerely, a Philadelphia 76ers fan."
The Boston Celtics have created the most boring finals run, if not entire playoff run, of the last quarter century of National Basketball Association play.
There, I said it. The team, composed of young talent and veterans tested by Father Time, put together some of the most unexciting basketball that my eyes have ever beheld. The problem lies not within a singular player, nor group of players, nor the coaching staff. The problem exists with the franchise as a whole from the top, down.
Let’s start with Jayson Tatum. As the franchise’s primary star, Tatum serves as the primary scorer and leader on the offensive end. This season, the 2021-2022 NBA season, Tatum scored a career high 26.9 points per game while averaging a career low three point percentage as well as being within three tenths of a point from averaging a career low in field goal percentage.
To summarize, the heart of the offense is having the most inefficient scoring season of his career, yet usage and time of possession are not considered to the fair weather fan when looking directly at the still impressive 26.9 points per game. The question is, at what cost to the offensive unit?
This is not a hit piece on Tatum, but his 12 points on 3-17 shooting in game one of the 2022 NBA finals was a non factor with the Celtics blowing out the Warriors by 18 points. To be fair, in that game Tatum created 13 assists. However, they were boring assists, mostly outlet passes and easy looks. Gone are the days of Celtics legend, Rajon Rondo, and the assists he created.
The next player that needs to be addressed is the 2022 Defensive Player of the Year, Marcus Smart. I will not make the case that Smart did not deserve the DPOY honors, but I will make the case that media narratives aided his case thoroughly. Advanced statistics and analytics point to Smart being not number one, nor number two in defensive rating this year. In fact, his defensive rating was ninth best in the league, ranking behind the heart of the offense himself, Tatum.
Smart is by no means a bad defender. He is simply an overrated defender. He has had flashes of the alleged greatness throughout the playoff run, but overall his presence on the court is more of an annoyance than a disruption. Being able to guard the one through the five slot at a slightly higher than average level should not aid your case as much as it did Smart’s.
Al Horford, the 36 year old center, found the fountain of youth. Unfortunately, he did not drink enough from the fountain and his three games of dominance are over. The eastern conference finals run against the Miami Heat villainized Horford for me. As a Sixers fan, seeing Horford put up elite numbers after his abysmal time with my favorite team has done nothing but inspire me to nitpick every movement that he makes on the court.
The lanky, awkward moving center should not be able to produce at the level he was producing at through two playoff series and hopefully the Warriors have figured out the key to slowing him down. That key being to make the old man move so he exhausts himself defensively.
There is so much more to say about this team, from the uninspiring and dull big man rotation to the nameless, faceless guards and forwards that fill out the bottom of the rotation.
The only redeeming qualities that this team has resides in Jaylen Brown, Aaron Nesmith and Derrick White. Those players are wholly interesting and fun to watch. I hope they find their way to a better home than Boston. Warriors in six. Sincerely, a Philadelphia 76ers fan.
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