Attacking the championship level mailbag answers

Questions about Queta, KP, trades, and the Cleveland matchup

I asked for questions and you guys attacked the task with championship level intensity. The least I can do is try to match that energy. Mailbag answers below!

Celtics65

What is the big picture plan for this season? Attacking the championship is a given, but what is the plan of attack?

I think the lessons learned last year need to be the same. Play elite defense, trust each other by moving the ball to get the best shot, and spam that 3 point line.

The only added thing I can think of (big picture) is a reminder that this is a marathon regular season, not a sprint. So keep giving rest where it is needed (which gives lower rotation players added reps) and stay cautious with injury return times.

.ReedKeller.

What do you think Tillman’s role with the team is? Originally thought he would share time with Queta and Kornet for backup minutes to Horford (depending on matchup) but seems Queta clinched those minutes with his recent play

It is a long regular season and there’s time for Tillman to earn himself some more minutes. These things have a tendency to ebb and flow sometimes. Last year Dalano Banton and Lamar Stevens both started out the year getting garbage time only minutes and by the end was averaging 20 to 30 min per game. Brissett was in and out of the lineup all year long.

I suspect there will be a need for Tillman by the end of the year. In particular as we keep managing the minutes of Horford and Porzingis (after he returns).

It has been great seeing Queta make the most of the minutes he’s been given, but there are holes in his game (guarding in space for example). In certain matchups, Tillman could be the better option for Joe to call upon. He just has to “stay ready.” (and maybe keep working on the jumpshot)

Celtics65

Neemias Queta is racking up minutes. What does it mean? Clearly there is more to it than trying to keep Horford healthy, since his minutes are coming out of Luke and Xavier more so than Al. I seriously doubt Queta is considered our second best center with Porzingas out. Is the thinking that that might change between now and the playoffs? Are we just stealing time for him this season in order to groom him for next season and beyond? Are we showing him off in preparation for a mid-season trade? What gives?

The (poor man’s) Robert Williams III comparison is probably overused because comparisons are always unfair on some level. Queta isn’t the defensive game changer that Timelord is (when healthy). But he does provide the team with a tall, athletic, rim-running big man that puts a different kind of pressure on defenses that Luke doesn’t and Tillman simply cannot.

Bits_of_Real_Panther

Who is going to buy the team and are they going to crush it before they win five titles?

Well, when I was out shopping for a new superyacht I ran into my buddies Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg and we got to talking about the Celtics over our complimentary champagne and caviar. We’ve already engaged the Scroll and Key to make sure Jeff Bezos is sufficiently distracted and Elon Musk has been given the wrong address.

I could tell you who it is that is going to actually buy the team, but then what good is it being a multibillionaire socialite like myself? I have to have some perks.

ezwind

I initially misread the headline and thought it was referring to the game threads:

“Ask me questions about attacking the champion Boston Celtics”

Well, good luck. That hasn’t been working out for other teams (or their fans).

1) I know someone is going to ask so we might as well get it out of the way: Why doesn’t Luke shoot 3s?? I’m not one of those who believe that it’s a big deal, but if he did take a few and make them at a decent clip it certainly wouldn’t hurt.

I guess it wouldn’t be a mailbag without this question. My short answer: The same reason we don’t see Payton Pritchard dunk more. I don’t think he’s very good at them and he’s focusing on the stuff that is keeping him in the league.

2) Baylor Scheierman has been on fire since being sent down to Maine. Can we expect something like that in the future with the C’s (not necessarily this season), or will he just be a really good G League player?

I really hope so. It is very hard to judge a rookie in the first month of their first season, in particular when they aren’t lottery level talent. Likewise, I don’t know how much you can really take from the G League stat lines. I guess it is the same thing as Summer League. Good performance doesn’t necessarily mean anything, but bad performance is very troubling.

I’ll say this though, if he shoot with accuracy and play just well enough on defense, he’ll have a place in the league.

Kubers

My question: Any thoughts on who the Cs might pursue at the deadline, if anybody?

I’m bad at picking out potential trade target names but I can make a few pretty reasonable predictions.

1. If they make a deal for someone making more than the minimum, it will probably be a contract that fits below Jaden Springer’s $4M salary and saves the team tax money.
2. The position we trade for might depend on who happens to be injured from the regular rotation at the moment.
3. He (probably) won’t play a significant role in the playoffs.
4. I’ll talk myself into loving whoever it is because Brad Stevens can’t seem to do any wrong.

ParquetNotParkay

How does the backup wing situation shake out? Right now DWhite/Jrue/PPPG have the ball handler role covered. And JB/JT/Hauser is a our wing rotation. But when any of those six guys are out (and with injuries and the need to rest, that is a lot of the time) who takes up the slack? We’ve seen Joe try Tilman at the 4 and Walsh at the 3. Is one of those the answer, or are there other options Joe should he be looking at? Bringing Springer or JD as the second guard off the bench? Or maybe Peterson or Scheierman as the second bench wing? And how do you weight using those minutes to develop some cheap young guys versus doing everything possible to win?

It seems like Walsh is the early favorite to fill in with his energy and defense. He’s still very raw, but you can see that the game is starting to slow down for him. I think Baylor should follow a similar path that Jordan did (spending a good amount of time in Maine as a rookie).

Personally, I’m not a big believer in JD at this level and I don’t really see it with Drew Peterson (but I’ve been wrong before). As mentioned above, I think Springer might just be a walking trade piece. So I guess we’ll see.

Charlie-two-protons

Are you as astonished as I am every time Jrue smokes a bunny? As Marcus’s successor he has my full Gratitude and Faith, but it is odd seeing little things like that happen.

We all have our foibles. I lean too heavily on narratives and cliches. Tatum gets distracted by bad calls. You capitalize words in the middle of sentences to emphasize them. Nobody’s perfect. I find that when we accept our own flaws, it becomes easier to accept and remain patient with other people’s flaws.

BlueSky questions: (Follow CelticsBlog here)

Positionally it would likely be Queta and Kornet taking a small step back in minutes. But between easing KP back and giving Horford nights off, there should still be plenty of minutes at center.

If all goes according to plan, Porzingis will provide that extra punch that turns some more of these “spirited” games with lottery teams into 15 – 20 point wins where the starters get to sit out the last 5 minutes.

Good question, and we’ll get the answer here soon enough. 15-0 is impressive in any context and you can bet that both teams will be up for the showdown.

My expectation is that Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland will score in bunches, Jarrett will grab a lot of rebounds, and Evan Mobley will make life difficult for the Celtics offense. Basically, they’ll do what they do best.

Cleveland, however, doesn’t have many solutions to Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown. Especially not when our shooters are spreading them out.

I think it will be close, but when the situation calls for it, I would expect Derrick White and/or Jrue Holiday to turn the defense up to 11 and seal the win.

He probably was asked, but Joe is laser focused on the season and can’t be distracted by such trivial things like commercials.

Thanks for the questions everyone! Let’s do this again sometime.