Can the Boston Celtics shake off their playoff woes and rise to the challenge against the Miami Heat? Join us as we peel back the layers of their recent on-court battles, scrutinizing the team's struggle to adapt and the heavy reliance on isolation plays that have left fans and analysts alike scratching their heads. We dissect the games with an honest lens, highlighting where key players like Porzingis have fallen short and how Tatum and Brown's fluctuating performances have impacted the team's momentum. Without shying away from tough love, we explore the dynamic between player accountability and coaching, debating whether it's the schemes or the execution that will ultimately decide the Celtics' fate. Can the Celtics bring the necessary adjustments and intensity to close out tight games?
Can the Boston Celtics shake off their playoff woes and rise to the challenge against the Miami Heat? Join us as we peel back the layers of their recent on-court battles, scrutinizing the team's struggle to adapt and the heavy reliance on isolation plays that have left fans and analysts alike scratching their heads. We dissect the games with an honest lens, highlighting where key players like Porzingis have fallen short and how Tatum and Brown's fluctuating performances have impacted the team's momentum. Without shying away from tough love, we explore the dynamic between player accountability and coaching, debating whether it's the schemes or the execution that will ultimately decide the Celtics' fate. Can the Celtics bring the necessary adjustments and intensity to close out tight games?
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Mike Quigley:They're gonna call it a hard foul. They're gonna call it a hard foul, offering in-depth analysis on all things.
Jim Quigley:Boston Celtics With your hosts Jim and Mike Quigley.
Mike Quigley:Mike. It happened again. It's series is tied 1-1 and I want to say hello to everyone and welcome back to the hard foul and welcome back to the hot foul. The Celtics once again unperformed at home against Miami Heat. The Heat shot once again lights out in the playoffs against the Celtics. The Celtics once again stuck with a game plan that you would believe could work before the game started, but made no adjustments as we went later into the game and we once again saw a lot of isolation, hero ball and playing right. Hero ball is not the right word, but a lot of isolation, a lot of one-on-one basketball playing right into the Heat's hands, and now we have a 1-1 series.
Mike Quigley:Going back to Miami, I don't think this is time to hit the panic button. I would love to see the Celtics respond, and they're more than capable and should take the next three games. But you know, unfortunately it just feels like a movie we've seen before and a team that you know we saw in the first quarter of game one, the first quarter of game one, the fourth quarter of game one, that they're just not consistently relentless, like a championship team should be, and it doesn't give me a lot of confidence as these playoffs move forward and I do believe they're going to get past Miami. The number of games that you know, I'll stick to my prediction five, but who knows now? But I do have major concerns as we move forward and I didn't pick them to win the title. But before this, you know, playoff started. I said it would be Denver and this gives me even less confidence than I had before. So that's where I am, mike. Take it away with thoughts on the game, on how you feel, wherever you want to go.
Jim Quigley:Miami had a game plan. They were executing their game plan. The Celtics weren't responding at all. A lot of these three-pointers that Miami were hitting yeah, it was really impressive. But the Celtics were late, hardly putting a hand up, sometimes looked disinterested On offense. Miami was guarding their yard and basically saying you know what, beat us one-on-one. We're tough enough, we're tougher than you, we're going to play physical and we don't think you're going to respond. And the way the Celtics responded was walking the ball up slow, doing what never works and playing into Miami's hands.
Jim Quigley:And, to be honest, jim, some of these guys on the Celtics look soft. Porzingis looks soft and I kind of hope that he didn't come back into the game. He was terrible. I was at the point in the fourth quarter like he was a minus 27 going into the fourth quarter and I was like there's no reason to put him back in. He's 7-3. He's not finishing at the rim and he's not getting out on three-point shooters. He was not getting out on them and putting a hand up because he was scared of being beat off the dribble. The hand up because he was scared of being beat off the dribble. So he was. He was giving you nothing outside of some interior defense where he was blocking some shots. But he was horrible and it makes me nervous to see that somebody can play a little little physical with him and that's his response, because his MO has been that and he's the guy that has to prove it to me that he's going to show up in the playoffs consistently and be physical in response to that type of basketball.
Jim Quigley:Now, tatum and Brown yeah, I thought they both had really good first halves, but I don't think Tatum and Brown have had good second halves in the series. Maybe Brown did yesterday, but Tatum was kind of a no-show in the fourth quarter. I mean the entire team was a no-show in the series. Maybe brown did yesterday, but tatum was kind of a no-show in the fourth quarter and in the third, I mean the entire team was a no-show in the third quarter. That was.
Mike Quigley:That was pathetic well, he got him back into the game at the end of the third, but he only made one shot in the fourth quarter and he missed the two free throws early on two free throws.
Jim Quigley:It's the same story with this team when they, when they lose these games and you sent a good text like a little bit of adversity and this is how the team responds. I'm not nervous about this series, but I'd like to see them play well when they win and I'd like to see them respond in close games because they're going to blow out Miami in some of these wins moving forward, because they're just better. They'll make adjustments, they'll play different, but when Coach Spolstra makes his adjustments and it's working and the game is close, how is this team going to respond in the close game? How is this team going to respond when they're not hitting their threes? How are they going to respond when they're not getting calls from the refs? This is the stuff I'm worried about. This is what worries me about the Celtics.
Mike Quigley:I don't think they have it.
Mike Quigley:This wasn't a game about them not hitting threes. I think it was a game about them not getting enough open shots from the perimeter. If you want me to be completely honest, I think their drives were soft and they were easy to defend one-on-one because they didn't go hard to the hoop and so no help needed to come, so Miami stayed out on their shooters. A great example is late in the game, tatum drove hard. He drew help from three guys and White ended up having a wide-open three which he made. How often did you see that Oddly at all? I think their offense was a much much three which he made. How often did you see that Oddly at all? I think their offense was a much, much bigger problem than their defense. I think their defense as the game went on was an issue. They obviously had a game plan early where they were going to put tremendous ball pressure, which they started the game out with, on Miami and they were going to give up some shots because Miami showed a reluctancy to shoot in game one and they were going to give up some shots because Miami showed a reluctancy to shoot in game one. I thought Miami, especially early in the game, avoided taking shots. Obviously that changed in the fourth. So they had a game plan and they executed the game plan. But Miami made shots. To your point you have to make adjustments there defensively and they stopped getting out on shooters.
Mike Quigley:I thought that was overhelping all game long. It was really weird lack of attention to detail. I don't think it was lack of effort. They were diving on the ball, they were trying, but it was almost like playing hard and selfish on both ends of the floor and offensively. You know, miami, they had a game plan where they were going to take away the three. They weren't going to leave shooters.
Mike Quigley:You can beat that. You beat that with high drives. You beat that with screening roles. You beat that with attack in the zone with Przingis or Tatum at the foul line. Like the Celtics have the tools to beat that. They just I thought their drives were weak. To beat that, they just I thought their drives were weak. You know, there was a lot of like almost backing down. There wasn't like really attacking these guys and it wasn't a game where the refs wouldn't blow the whistle. They would in this game, maybe not to the extent that it was early in the season, but this wasn't a complete. We're not going to, we're going to put our whistles away. So I think if they went hard, they would have gone into the penalty pretty early too.
Jim Quigley:Yeah, my thing is, why didn't they go hard? And I'm I'm saying because they don't respond well to physical players. They don't respond well to that kind of basketball. They need to be tougher. They look soft as puppy shit and the effort thing, I agree. But why are we making these mental mistakes? We're making these mental mistakes because we're not prepared and we're still soft. Like this is the type of stuff that we saw last year and the year before and with this new team and all the moves they've made, like enough is enough with this, jim.
Mike Quigley:And the supporting cast needs criticism here. Like you, went into the fourth quarter with no one other than Tatum and Brown scoring six points.
Jim Quigley:Yeah, the only guy I don't put it on is Derek White, because there was no effort to get that guy the ball at all, because the whole offense was get the ball and drive to the basket and really play isolation. He was open in the corner. If you go back and watch, derek White was open a lot and they weren't passing him the ball.
Mike Quigley:but outside of that what I remember is Miami even the shooters and the Celtics not really have much movement to get guys going.
Jim Quigley:White was open in the corners and they would leave KP open in the corners because they like take that shot. You can't hit it.
Mike Quigley:Kp doesn't really go to the corner and he shouldn't.
Jim Quigley:He goes to the corner. One thing I've noticed with him he'll go hide in the corners when he's done, when he's done getting pushed around, and he did that a lot in game two.
Mike Quigley:I don't remember seeing him in the corner at all. I'd have to go back and watch that. I saw him trying to get the ball a lot at the foul line and it was not working. I saw him trying to finish at the rim and it did not work. I saw him out at the perimeter and it did not work. His problem he didn't finish at all and then he was a minus on defense. And I think there's something to what you said earlier of. You know, when these lights get bright and they get tough, we don't know what his DNA is yet and obviously that was not a good showing at all.
Jim Quigley:Yeah, and you shouldn't have games where yeah, go ahead.
Mike Quigley:I was just going to say I thought White and Holliday's drives throughout the game were poor, just like I thought for the most part Tatum and Brown's drives were poor. I don't think they drew any help at all. And I thought K and Brown's drives were poor. I don't think they drew any help at all. And I thought Kuznicka settled. You know he was catching at the foul line against Hero and looking for a foul rather than just turning and shooting against him consistently.
Mike Quigley:And what happened to this team seeking out matchups? If you're going to seek out matchups, why are we going after Caleb Martin andin and not after tyler harrow? Why does it have to be tatum or brown going? Why can't it be white or holiday? Attacking a guy like that? It's not ready to go on the help and finding shooters. You saw none of that. And um, miami's not going to change the way they play now. So you need to drive hard. You need to drive hard. You need to drive hard to the hoop, draw help and then get the ball moving. That's how you'll open things up If they don't make stops they're going to struggle to score 100 points again.
Mike Quigley:They have to play that way and they have to play fast. That's the other thing that makes no sense, mike, to me. How often do we see them get a rebound and stop walking it or not I'll get. I'll go in half speed, like Miami wants you to play that way. You're the Boston Celtics, you have scorers and athletes everywhere. Just go to me that's not being drilled in, or whether it's drilled in, and they just won't do it. And Missoula was calling timeouts. This wasn't a game where we could say, oh, missoula didn't not being drilled in, or whether it's drilled in and they just won't do it, and Missoula was calling timeouts. This wasn't a game where we could say, oh, missoula didn't.
Jim Quigley:He had two timeouts left with about six minutes left in the game.
Jim Quigley:So this game's not about the timeouts, but they weren't responding. No, this is about the Celtics and the same old shit that we've seen with different coaches that we saw last year. This is about them, in these moments, playing like this, which is a lack of mental toughness. It's a lack of paying attention to what you need to do. Whatever it is, like it feels like it's in their DNA. Like how much are they going to complain about the illegal screens by Bam Adebayo? Like if the Celtics were setting illegal screens like that, miami would do something about it. They would go out and have somebody fucking run through it. Like we've been playing against this guy. Now this is our fourth playoff series. Has anybody gone after him? Has anybody run through that screen and just decked them on the ground? Are we just going to continue to take it and give Tyler Harrow and Duncan Robinson wide open threes or is somebody going to do something? Yeah, you might get called for a fucking foul, but send a message. Like send a message to that guy because he's already almost hurt Derrick White. He already almost hurt Jalen Brown in game two when Harrow got that wide open three in the corner, like like Brown was limping. Fucking. Do something about it. Do something about it. Just run through his chest, knock him on his ass and stand over him. What's the worst that could happen? They call it technical foul, but make him think about setting that screen at least like.
Jim Quigley:These are the things I want. I want to see. I want to see more attitude with this team. I just like take care of business against this miami team and stop allowing them to punk you, because it's getting embarrassing and this is ridiculous that this happened to game two at home. You're a team that lost four home games all season and now you've lost another home game in the playoffs to the Miami Heat, a team that you're better than. It's ridiculous, jim. I'm sick of it.
Mike Quigley:Well, you know, if they come back and respond and win the next three, I look at this as a blip on the radar going forward. But if they come back and these games where they're struggling down the stretch to put this team away, then I think this would probably confirm that this team hasn't changed that much and that's disturbing. You know, at this point where it's been so many playoff runs, you've brought in so much new personnel, and you know I get worried when I hear things after the game from Missoula where he said most of the games were strong closeouts. I would have preferred to have said, you know, early in the game there were decisions made by design where they got open looks but we should have closed out harder as the game went on. And is he watching what happened as we went into the third and fourth quarter? Those closeouts didn't get hotter. You know, the game plan didn't even look to really change to me because there was one point where Derek White seemed to be closing in on, you know, wasn't even penetration at the top of the key and left Caleb Martin wide open on foul line extended for three. Maybe Derek White made a mistake. He's not known to make many mistakes outside the game plan. So I watched that and I wonder, you know, didn't really look like the decisions changed. So I have concerns about all of the above. I have concerns about whether this team changes on the fly and makes adjustments that's coaching staff and I have concerns about the killer instinct, the relentlessness that they need.
Mike Quigley:And what bothered me is too, mike, because I thought Tatum and Brown were kind of relentless for most of the game and, yeah, most of the game. You know, I thought Tatum, the last five minutes of the third, four minutes of the third, got them back into it. I think it was a 13, 14 point lead by Miami and it looked, felt like it was going to slip away and the Celtics cut it to. I think it was a 13, 14-point lead by Miami and it felt like it was going to slip away and the Celtics cut it to six and it was Tatum, basically with hard drives finding players. Then we stopped the fourth and it fell back into what we were and Tatum's drives became more like slow down. I'm going to get to the middle and hope there's contact instead of those hard, forceful drives that would draw two. And he, of course, only made one shot. It's just not enough. It's not enough and it's either those guys going hard or you know it can't be those guys going hard and no one else helping and then those guys disappearing in the fourth Brown didn't really disappear in the fourth, but you know what I mean.
Mike Quigley:I just think there's a lot of similar circumstances and I know people say you live and die by the three. The Celtics do. I know people say you can't, you live and die by the three. The Celtics do. Yeah, I thought they died by the three this game, but not because they took too many, it's because they didn't create enough shots. They didn't play the style that they played all the time. There wasn't the conviction to who they were. This was something we talked about before the playoffs too. And there weren't open shots, you know, because Miami didn't have to help on their drives, they just stuck with shooters and their game plan worked, as you said to start, and I just I hope we see a change down in game three on how the Celtics play and if Miami makes adjustment to that, I hope the Celtics can recognize it. But yeah, just a bad day. Adjustment to that, I hope the Celtics can recognize it.
Jim Quigley:Hopefully it's just a bad day.
Mike Quigley:Hopefully it's just a bad day at the office and Miami had a great day shooting. But it's tough to say that when you see these things happen before.
Jim Quigley:Exactly. I have a feeling the Celtics will probably blow them out in Game 3. What I'm interested in seeing is what happens in game four with the adjustments in the close game. That's what I want to see. I'm not going to be impressed by the blowouts against a team here.
Mike Quigley:a lot better than yeah, I want to see a game where it's close. Mike and the Celtics just trounce them in the last eight, nine minutes of the game.
Jim Quigley:Yeah, I want to see them respond.
Mike Quigley:If they're in a game with two minutes left, something's gone not so great against this team, unless Miami's just having the best select in the world shooting threes and they're making contested threes, and it's one of those weird screwed up NBA games that happen every so often. But if this is the fourth quarter, this five, six minutes left, this Celtics team should pull away. If they are who we think they are, they should be relentless in that moment on both ends of the court and make sure everything's correct. If they are a championship team, that's how they should respond and win. There shouldn't be a game with two minutes left. After what happened to them on Wednesday, they should be so pissed that doesn't come close to happening. That's my thought. I could see a game happening for three quarters, but the Celtics better make sure it's not a game in the fourth quarter if they are who they want to be. But we'll find out, I guess. Yeah, we'll find out, I guess.
Jim Quigley:Yeah, we'll find out. I mean, this definitely knocks my confidence. I think they have the talent to win games, but I just don't know if they have what it takes to get to the NBA finals after seeing some of this. All right, kim, so game three is tomorrow. Everybody, thank you for listening. We'll have another podcast, hopefully what on Monday morning, jim?
Mike Quigley:Yeah, yeah I guess, mike, the last thing I'll say is you watch the end of some of these other games and you watch how teams execute and just don't feel the Celtics are there at that level right now. You watch how Denver plays at the end of games against the Lakers. They just find ways to put the ball in and they get whatever shot they want. It's just disheartening at this point, because I thought at a point this season that we were getting there.
Jim Quigley:Because I thought at a point this season that we were getting there. Yeah, let's see what happens. But larger conversations about this team if this continues to end the way it has ended, year after year there's a larger conversation about the DNA of this team and the DNA of the players here I agree.
Mike Quigley:I agree, I don't think he is, but I think Missoula should be coaching for his job right now.
Jim Quigley:Yeah, and that's you know, he's there too, but this is on the players. Right now, like they, I'm pretty sure we've seen some wackadoo coaches in this league win titles. I mean, doc Rivas has a title, right like yeah, this is on the players man. Mike Budenholzer has a title, frank Vogel has a title. This is on the players.
Mike Quigley:Yeah, pazegas especially has to. He needs to show up big time tomorrow, big time tomorrow Big time.
Jim Quigley:All right, hey, one last thing, jim, and we'll get off the pod. Something that might help the Celtics is if they continue to struggle with Bam, because Bam's a scam. Whatever he wants, maybe try Tillman, give him a shot. I thought that with how poorly the defense was from KP and even Al was trying but struggling, I thought maybe in that fourth quarter to put Tillman in there.
Mike Quigley:I don't think it's a bad idea, just because maybe it brings some physicality to the game. But this is where I get back to the offense being more of a problem than the defense. What do they give up to Miami? 108 points or something, I forget what the final offense being more of a problem than the defense? What did they give up to Miami 108?
Mike Quigley:points or something, I forget what. The final it wasn't a lot. You know, if Bam goes out and gets 25 or even gets 30, that shouldn't be a big deal. If you're playing the right way, it should not be a big deal. You know they play. You can cut him one-on-one and take away the shooters and you should win handily, whether it's Przingis or Horford on him with the way the Miami's roster is constituted. But the Celtics aren't doing enough offensively and they don't get out in shooters. So I don't disagree with playing Tillman some, but Bam isn't the reason the Celtics are going to lose. It's going to be the Celtics or it's, you know, not executed. No, all right, I'll talk to you.