Do not invest more money than you can afford to lose.
One of those decisions was to double-team the rookie.
Jared Sullinger’s opportunity took only 5 1/2 minutes to arrive. For two years the fans in Boston had been dreaming in vain of a blockbuster trade to match the 2007 acquisitions of Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett, even as Celtics president Danny Ainge was forced to continue restocking the roster patiently. Jahlil Okafor is stomping on the new parquet floor for layup after layup? Bring in the guy most people expected to be the fifth big man in a four-person rotation. Zeller and David Lee aren’t getting the job done as a pairing? The only free agent that would even answer your phone call and agree for a meeting, yes, just a meeting, was Amir Johnson.
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This team’s biggest strength may also be its biggest weakness – it’s awfully tough to lock down anyone who is guaranteed to start 82 games.
“Just as we are asking the team to be flexible and malleable, I have to be”, Stevens said before the game. I’m still very surprised they didn’t come to terms with him over the summer, and I think the team is worse off because of it (What A Time To Be Alive).t. They’re really high on TJ McConnell, and I imagine they think Isaiah Canaan is suitable until better options return to full health. I need to be thinking outside the box and I need to make sure we utilize that depth. The Celtics know today what they already knew: That if they are to enjoy success and build upon last year’s 40-win season, then it is going to require all of their best efforts.
Thomas’ performance over the remainder of the Celtics’ opener was superstar esque; in the next 21 minutes he scored all 27 of his points on 10-of-14 shooting. For whatever reason, the guard fielded a number of questions about what prompted him to keep shooting through the struggles, as if a few reporters closed their eyes last season while he swung straight through defenses. One thing he has been criticized for repeatedly during his tenure with Boston, is playing too far from the basket. The Celtics are on an accelerated track through rebuilding and thus have most likely missed the window on drafting a superstar. Stevens considered the tactic wise against the 76ers, though. At the time, he was only 36 years old, making him the youngest coach in the league. With superb coaching and plenty of talent on the roster, they will be able to find different ways to attack defenses.
It all started so well, too, as Okafor made Sixers fans dizzy by hitting his first five shots and leading his team to that nine-point lead late in the first.
At their best, the Celtics converted turnovers or long rebounds into lovely fast breaks the other way. They started training camp off knowing that they would have four players unavailable to them: Joel Embiid (foot), Tony Wroten (knee), Kendall Marshall (knee), and Carl Landry (wrist).
