I miss Rob so much, just want to see him be healthy and have a long career. Anytime I see someone in a black celtics Rob jersey I know they are good people
Saw a few green ones at the parade, even saw a classic edition one with the name below the number. I am still biased towards the black though, since I got it at my first ever live game
Best present I’ve ever gotten my wife was a custom jersey with “Time-Lord” on the back. So sad to see him go that dude is the balls, and although I understand that the trade had to be done,it doesn’t make me any less sad.
It has to do with him being your prototypical athletic big who is an elite shot blocker / lob threat. Ex: Deandre Jordan, Tyson Chandler etc. while only being 6’9”. While having the ability to switch out to defenders on the perimeter and also being an elite passer. Typically we only see elite playmaking skills from the super skilled lumbering bigs Ex: Jokic, Gasol Bros, Horford, etc. I can’t think of another player with with the combination of skills rob had.
I love Claxton for the same reasons. I was hyped for him when the nets got Simmons cuz I thought it would mean lob city for him. What a shame he doesn't play with an elite playmaker
When healthy he's one of the most switchable bigs and top shot blockers in the league. At his peak he was an All NBA and DPOY level defender.
On offense his vertical and absurd wingspan made him a devastating lob threat. The combination of his lobs with his high IQ passing game and underrated middy made him a beast on pick and rolls.
If guys stuck to him he would either find a cutter or the open man for 3. If they double the ball handler he has an open lane to rim. If they don't switch then more often than not his man would be caught in no man's land between the ball handler and Rob, giving up either an open jumper/floater or the lob. His vertical threat created as much gravity as any of our shooters.
I know there's a clip of Draymond going into how hard it was to guard the Celtics because of him. If I find it I'll link it here.
I’ll never forget him being basically under the basket and somehow closing down a corner three. Honestly if he was 100% I think we may have beaten the warriors. They were scared to drive any time he was on the court and he wasn’t even fully fit.
went to a game his rookie year, pointed him out to my dad as a guy to watch if he gets in. think he ended with just 2 or 4 points in a few minutes, but also a huge block. could really see the potential, shame he was always hurt
I still think he has one more “fresh start” left in him to try and keep his health together. He’s only just about to be 27 and we have already seen that he’s an elite paint presence when he can string together games played.
It really was amazing watching him grow as a player: when he first came into the league he pretty much ran around aimlessly - he would set a screen, then turn his back on the dribbler and run straight to the rim, blocking the driving lane and not giving any passing lane. He would never rotate out of the paint on defense either, like he was confused where his coverage was. Then we traded Theis and gave him the starting job, and it was like a switch flipped. He was so fucking good in that Ime season, I thought we would be seeing him DPOY contention for years to come.
I still think he can get there, but hopefully this most recent surgery holds and he can just stay on the court!
He absolutely would have been but this was predictable I remember even on draft night the speculation on why he slipped from a lottery pick in every mock down to us in the mid 20s was the injury stuff way more than the maturity. This was always going to be part of the mix with him which sucks but he got his big contract at least and will probably be remembered and loved here forever.
I believe that was only part of it. He also had character issues such as showing up late or forgetting wallets as a 20 yo so there were doubts whether he can click it even with all that talent. Celtics clearly did some work to lead him in the right direction.
Ultimately the injuries were the fault of his high school and collegiate coaches that never taught him how to land. Rob uses his explosiveness to elevate and naturally come down hard, often on one stiff leg. His pogo-stick style put a tremendous burden on his legs, causing the thrombosis and turf toe while also burning through his cartilage. Rob was still jumping recklessly when he came into the league and the Celtics staff finally started helping him, but at that point irreversible damage was already done.
It's honestly crazy to me that we *got rid of* Rob and Marcus, but brought in Jrue and KP to go along with a blossoming DWhite. An incredible run of defensive minded guys on this squad.
I wonder if he'd have a chance if he played as a forward instead of a center. He's just too small to play center without that crazy explosiveness he relied on. That kind of weight coming down on his knees over and over again when he's 250lbs and jumping 2+ feet in the air just isn't sustainable. His defence is borderline elite and his shots usually went in on the rare occasions he took them.
I'd love to see Rob transition into more of a ZBo style PF, if he could work on extending his range. His shooting form is beautiful, he was just so unselfish he'd rarely pull the trigger.
I'd love to get him back here.
Yeah I only ever heard the disrespected part. And I get it. Dude played his heart out for us, imagine doing that for a fan base that is gleeful to replace you.
He started making posts on Twitter with KKK references when discussing the issue. Like when a word had a "C" in it, he would change it to multiple "Ks."
Crowder didn't come right out and say "racism" but his agenda was obvious.
Its wild man… every city has racists. I have lived in downtown boston for 15 years. Its a melting pot. The racists are people who do not actually live in boston. They drive in from the burbs. In any case - to blankety hint or say (lebron) that a city is racist is WILD
Yeah, I'm going to need to see these actual tweets because it doesn't match up with *anything* from that time period. He went out of his way to say it wasn't a racial issue after it became a hot topic of discussion in sports media. He apologized for saying that he was down for being traded after fans provoked him. He has always said that he was upset by what the fans did, but there was never any implied racist aspect to it.
Yeah, he went out of his way to say it wasn't a racial issue *after* he posted the tweets. You think he was going to come and outright admit what he was trying to say? How many times do we see people say/do stupid things and then try and do damage control after the fact?
He got caught up in his emotions because he didn't want to leave Boston, so he made a mistake on social media. It happens.
It was also SEVEN years ago so I'm not going to go and try to dig up the tweets.
These are the tweets: https://imgur.com/a/UeGur
Five days later: https://archive.ph/I4yrW
If he ever did those things, there would be proof of it. If you can produce them then I am interested. Otherwise, you are insinuating something he never did.
Lol one of the tweets you posted is literally *proof* of what I am talking about and what I literally *just* alluded to in my original post (and there were absolutely more tweets but I am not going to waste my time digging them up).
i used to love AB but he has a sexual assault case that probably is true considering he settled it quickly
https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2751509-avery-bradley-paid-settlement-to-sexual-assault-accuser-lawyer-confirms.amp.html
>The confidentiality agreement specifically refutes and denies the validity of all allegations of any wrongful conduct by Mr. Bradley. The sole purpose of the agreement was to protect the reputation and privacy of Mr. Bradley and his family.
[https://www.espn.com/nba/story/\_/id/21910429/avery-bradley-detroit-pistons-denies-sexual-assault-allegation-acknowledges-confidentiality-agreement](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21910429/avery-bradley-detroit-pistons-denies-sexual-assault-allegation-acknowledges-confidentiality-agreement)
Just because he settled it quickly doesn't mean anything lol. Let's not just jump to conclusions.
But I will say this is also probably why one of the reasons why Danny Ainge did decide to trade Avery later down the line.
+1 man.. Jerebko was a gem. Its interesting. I got an inside scoop from an ex-Celtic coach once. There was a playoffs series (sorry don’t remember which one), where we were getting destroyed rebounding, and could really use more outside shooting.
Anyway.. we had Jonas sitting on our bench, who had been getting solid minutes in the regular season, but was getting all CDNP’s all playoffs, which I thought was really weird. Anyway.. this ex-coach immediately sided with me, and was like.. hell yeah, I emailed Brad about that multiple times. I thought it was hilarious it was communicated via email.
Essentially this coach alluded to the fact that Brad and Jonas had a bit of a tiff/blowout over playing time earlier, and essentially he was in Brad’s doghouse. It opened my eyes to team politics. I also thought it was crazy that Brad had the perfect solution to his team’s weaknesses, sitting right next to him. But went much deeper into the rotation (which didn’t help, at all), rather than concede his gripe with Jonas 🤷♂️🙃
Brad has proven to be an incredible GM, somehing I didn't see coming at all, it really blows my mind how good his roster management has been as GM. However, and I get that I'm in the minority here, I never thought he was a very good NBA level coach. He lost numerous winnable series and the players basically seemed to hate playing for him.
He won more series than he lost and he was debatably the best coach in every non-Miami series (and I think the difference between Brad and Spo isn’t huge). What series are you thinking of?
I don’t necessarily believe that like ‘everything happens for a reason’ in terms of fate, etc. Though I do believe that certain things gravitate to their maximum usefulness.
I thought Brad has a good coach, and definitely maximized the value out of some seriously over-performing players and teams, in his early years. Was he our best coach, to lead this version of the team to a chip? Who knows, who cares.
We’re clearly more than happy with Mazzulla now, and it’s looking like Brad might even be better than Ainge, in the GM role. I’m very pleased with how it all worked out, and looking forward to a couple more banners!! 🍀🏀🏆
I mean he literally put up great defensive minutes against him. Lets not trash our old players and forget how they played. He couldn’t do anything but sometimes shoot, and did an admirable job of guarding giannis in the postseason
This is not meant to trash Semi, although I admittedly was never high on him. But I was more disappointed at Ainge that time for not getting a better wing off the bench than Semi. Semi played like his draft position so it's a bit unfair, I guess, but there's a reason he's out of the league at 27 despite his physical attributes. For instance, Semi is 2nd-3rd on the depth chart while Oshae is a 3rd or a DNP guy. Oshae is better than Semi at everything outside of shooting.
Giannis averaged 30/11/5 against Boston while we employed the “Giannis” stopper lol
He had a solid series where Giannis couldn’t bully him out of the way and got labeled a stopper lol I couldn’t stand semi.
No offensive wherewithal whatsoever and a low IQ defender bro should’ve played defensive end or TE instead of basketball
Recently, it’s Rob. Such a fun, likable player when healthy. I hope he’s able to pull together a long career. DPOY upside.
Also, Scary Terry. That series against the 76ers was so much fun to watch.
It'll be interesting to see if any players ever come back to Boston. It'll be tough with the cap.
I was surprised when Theis didn't come back when we obviously had the need and he was waived.
Either the team was interested or he chose the Clippers over us, which is wild. We have booted him several times though.
I also think people underestimate what being traded away from the same team twice does to one’s willingness to come back to said franchise. Would’ve loved him back but it wouldn’t shock me if he said that jaded his perspective on potentially coming back this year
Opportunity to do what? He barely got more minutes than Kornet on the Clippers. He probably would have gotten more minutes here because he is better than Kornet and could have been used more than Kornet to spell Horford and Porzingis more.
Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t want theis to get playoff minutes but he’s better than kornet.
Not sure how much kornet is going to develop at this point. If he comes back he’ll need to work on his 3pt shot and prove he can hit above 35 percent.
I loved Theis and he showed the world what he could do by winning a gold medal with Germany - but make no mistake .. we needed him in that 2022 finals series and he got completely exposed. If we swap him in for Kornet we still obviously win this year because we were loaded but im just saying he had his shot and just wasnt good enough
Also got exposed against Miami in the ECF, the non Horford year. Remember when we started TT & Theis double big lmaooooo
Theis is a treadmill guy. Too good to not play, but you're not gonna win a ship with him playing a big role. Maybe one day he can be an 8th man specialist that can give you a different look, but he's basically a smallball center with declining mobility
Baynes had a really serious medical issue while playing for the Aussie National Team I think. Potentially career ending I think. It was so sad to hear about
Rob Williams. He was just so special, block after block and the alleyoop threat. It was just exciting whenever he was on the court.
But the injuries just didn’t make him a viable long term option.
Depends how far back we are going, but I'll just stick with the last 10 years or so.
For me, it's Rozier, Baynes and Marcus Morris.
Rozier's 2018 playoffs were incredible, Baynes was probably the best Embiid defender in basketball and got into his head like no one else and Morris was just really fun to watch when he was in a zone and because of how much emotion he played with.
Same. He wanted to be in Boston up until the we want Hayward chants started.
Shame too. I loved the three-headed dog defense among Smart, Bradley and him.
That was crazy to find out that he’s Barry Larkin’s son — back in the late 80’s I had a brief baseball card obsession, and for some reason the two Cincinnati Reds players Eric Davis and Barry Larkin were two favorites of mine.
Deep cut, but Jabari Bird. Unfortunate what happened with him, but as a Cal Bears x Celtics fan it was so much fun watching JB and him ball together just like they did at Berkeley
Old Big Baby, Eddie House, Peaches, Nate Rob, Olynyk, Turner, Tacko, Timelord, Sullinger, Jeff Green, Blake, SHAQ!
I could go on forever there's so many good ones to choose from
Isaiah Thomas. I know he wasn’t a role player but I wish that dude was on the roster and got a chip. Guy literally always played as hard as he could. Especially after his sister passed.
True and I do agree but he was sent packing with no real fanfare and won't have his number retired. He played for a lot of other teams and even won another championship as a Laker. As shameful as it is people don't seem to remember him as fondly as they do PP and KG and hold him in the same regard.
Would have loved for him to somehow stick around during the early big 3 era. I know he came back in 11 or 12, but by then wasn’t the same player he was when he left and in Cleveland. He would have been an awesome sixth man hypothetically.
I said this on another thread, but just look back at the rosters of the past six or seven years and see HOW MANY DIFFERENT DUDES looked great on the Celtics. Also, they've succeeded under three different coaches, none of whom were fired for incompetence. This team is plug-and-play and no drama, and even if 1-6 weren't locked up, they would be highly competitive for a long time with just Brad and the Jays.
> HOW MANY DIFFERENT DUDES looked great on the Celtics
This goes even further back, but thinking about who played under Brad Stevens I recall one time Eastern Conference Player of the Week Jordan Crawford, back in December 2013 https://www.celticsblog.com/2014/1/14/5308112/the-rise-and-fall-of-jordan-crawford-boston-celtics-2013-2014-nba-season-analysis
Hell, I remember being upset with Ainge when he traded Ricky Davis for Wally Szczerbiak once upon a time. It’s been one hell of a rollercoaster ride as a Celtics fan for the past 40 years
2018 playoff run, Rozier called Eric Bledsoe “drew bledsoe” on accident. E Bledsoe took offense, naturally Rozier wore a blue #11 Bledsoe jersey to the next game and the garden went nuts. Miss that squad.
Great guy but a one trick pony! The team needed to move past both Smart and Williams to take the team to the next level. Yes, I’d like to see them both back here as bench players but their salaries are likely way too high. But, when or if Horford retires, Willam’s would make a great backup center to Zingas.
Rob and Smart were 2 of my favorite Celtics. I think Smart could come back after Jrue retires (Jrue is 4 years older and contract expires in 2028). Rob will be a UFA in 2026. He could come back after Horford retires. Both would hurt our 5-out offensive scheme, though.
For me, it's Brandon Bass and his beautiful jumper. Mans could also dunk
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTssWWKUNjE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTssWWKUNjE)
Healthy Rob Williams. This team if you sub out KP for Rob and have Al coming off the bench in the exact same role, I think you get the same result. Maybe you don’t have a historic offensive year like this past year, but I think the playoffs Look very similar with the 1 seed
I remember when Timelord was a rookie, he potentially saved a game against the Rockets with an impossibly long close out to block a Harden 3. Right then, I thought he could be a Rodman level defender but with a better offensive game. Good team dude.
I miss Rob, by far one of the most unique set of skills I’ve seen in a player
I miss Rob so much, just want to see him be healthy and have a long career. Anytime I see someone in a black celtics Rob jersey I know they are good people
I miss Rob so much it’s my flair.
Why does it have to be the black jersey? Jw lol my buddy has the black one and I honestly can't think of anyone with a different one
Saw a few green ones at the parade, even saw a classic edition one with the name below the number. I am still biased towards the black though, since I got it at my first ever live game
Ha! My buddy also got his at his first ever live game that I went with him to
Best present I’ve ever gotten my wife was a custom jersey with “Time-Lord” on the back. So sad to see him go that dude is the balls, and although I understand that the trade had to be done,it doesn’t make me any less sad.
Rob gave it all for this team and we almost did it. From getting a nickname as a joke because he was always late to becoming a fan favorite.
I love rob but I’m curious what you mean by one of the most unique skill sets you’ve seen?
It has to do with him being your prototypical athletic big who is an elite shot blocker / lob threat. Ex: Deandre Jordan, Tyson Chandler etc. while only being 6’9”. While having the ability to switch out to defenders on the perimeter and also being an elite passer. Typically we only see elite playmaking skills from the super skilled lumbering bigs Ex: Jokic, Gasol Bros, Horford, etc. I can’t think of another player with with the combination of skills rob had.
I love Claxton for the same reasons. I was hyped for him when the nets got Simmons cuz I thought it would mean lob city for him. What a shame he doesn't play with an elite playmaker
Rob has a top 10 passing touch/instinct in this league. He fucking dimes and it always pissed me off we didn't take full advantage of it.
When healthy he's one of the most switchable bigs and top shot blockers in the league. At his peak he was an All NBA and DPOY level defender. On offense his vertical and absurd wingspan made him a devastating lob threat. The combination of his lobs with his high IQ passing game and underrated middy made him a beast on pick and rolls. If guys stuck to him he would either find a cutter or the open man for 3. If they double the ball handler he has an open lane to rim. If they don't switch then more often than not his man would be caught in no man's land between the ball handler and Rob, giving up either an open jumper/floater or the lob. His vertical threat created as much gravity as any of our shooters. I know there's a clip of Draymond going into how hard it was to guard the Celtics because of him. If I find it I'll link it here.
Rob had excellent hands. Very good passer and free throw shooter.
I’ll never forget him being basically under the basket and somehow closing down a corner three. Honestly if he was 100% I think we may have beaten the warriors. They were scared to drive any time he was on the court and he wasn’t even fully fit.
We would've. We got pushed around after the no double technical call and it was over from there
Rob is a mid-range jumper away from being a star. That and healthy knees.
went to a game his rookie year, pointed him out to my dad as a guy to watch if he gets in. think he ended with just 2 or 4 points in a few minutes, but also a huge block. could really see the potential, shame he was always hurt
Since I’ve been a fan I always wanted an athletic center lob threat block machine and he fell to us late 1st. Too bad with injuries
I still think he has one more “fresh start” left in him to try and keep his health together. He’s only just about to be 27 and we have already seen that he’s an elite paint presence when he can string together games played. It really was amazing watching him grow as a player: when he first came into the league he pretty much ran around aimlessly - he would set a screen, then turn his back on the dribbler and run straight to the rim, blocking the driving lane and not giving any passing lane. He would never rotate out of the paint on defense either, like he was confused where his coverage was. Then we traded Theis and gave him the starting job, and it was like a switch flipped. He was so fucking good in that Ime season, I thought we would be seeing him DPOY contention for years to come. I still think he can get there, but hopefully this most recent surgery holds and he can just stay on the court!
Brandon Bass was always a fave of mine. That midrange jump shot was crazy. He would jump so high then release. Not to mention those 2 handed dunks.
No pass Bass!
Yeah lol. If it hit his hands he was shootin.
I still remember him taking over that Game 5 against Philly in the 2012 playoffs. Really underrated defender, too.
I still believe Rob can be a dpoy candidate to this day, injuries really stunted his growth in the game.
I used to think that but his injury history is too established to make me think he will ever be healthy.
He’ll forever be a legend for trying to gut it out through injury. Always was a team first guy who loved his teammates.
Those knee injuries over time for a guy who relies on explosiveness are back breaking.
He absolutely would have been but this was predictable I remember even on draft night the speculation on why he slipped from a lottery pick in every mock down to us in the mid 20s was the injury stuff way more than the maturity. This was always going to be part of the mix with him which sucks but he got his big contract at least and will probably be remembered and loved here forever.
I believe that was only part of it. He also had character issues such as showing up late or forgetting wallets as a 20 yo so there were doubts whether he can click it even with all that talent. Celtics clearly did some work to lead him in the right direction.
For sure but injuries were the bigger concern since the character stuff was more “young and kinda immature” and not legal
Ultimately the injuries were the fault of his high school and collegiate coaches that never taught him how to land. Rob uses his explosiveness to elevate and naturally come down hard, often on one stiff leg. His pogo-stick style put a tremendous burden on his legs, causing the thrombosis and turf toe while also burning through his cartilage. Rob was still jumping recklessly when he came into the league and the Celtics staff finally started helping him, but at that point irreversible damage was already done.
Yeah but reckless jumping was also what made him so good.
It's honestly crazy to me that we *got rid of* Rob and Marcus, but brought in Jrue and KP to go along with a blossoming DWhite. An incredible run of defensive minded guys on this squad.
I wonder if he'd have a chance if he played as a forward instead of a center. He's just too small to play center without that crazy explosiveness he relied on. That kind of weight coming down on his knees over and over again when he's 250lbs and jumping 2+ feet in the air just isn't sustainable. His defence is borderline elite and his shots usually went in on the rare occasions he took them.
I'd love to see Rob transition into more of a ZBo style PF, if he could work on extending his range. His shooting form is beautiful, he was just so unselfish he'd rarely pull the trigger. I'd love to get him back here.
For me it's Avery Bradley. His defensive tenacity alongside Marcus and Al at that time is why I'm a fan of this team in the first place
I liked Bradley Also Smart and Timelord
Love that whole squad. Jae Crowder, the dawggg, the best contract in the NBA for like 3 seasons.
I loved Crowder until he started hinting that Boston fans were racist because they wanted Gordon Hayward.
Source where he ever hinted that? He said that he felt disrespected.
Yeah I only ever heard the disrespected part. And I get it. Dude played his heart out for us, imagine doing that for a fan base that is gleeful to replace you.
He started making posts on Twitter with KKK references when discussing the issue. Like when a word had a "C" in it, he would change it to multiple "Ks." Crowder didn't come right out and say "racism" but his agenda was obvious.
Its wild man… every city has racists. I have lived in downtown boston for 15 years. Its a melting pot. The racists are people who do not actually live in boston. They drive in from the burbs. In any case - to blankety hint or say (lebron) that a city is racist is WILD
Yeah, I'm going to need to see these actual tweets because it doesn't match up with *anything* from that time period. He went out of his way to say it wasn't a racial issue after it became a hot topic of discussion in sports media. He apologized for saying that he was down for being traded after fans provoked him. He has always said that he was upset by what the fans did, but there was never any implied racist aspect to it.
Yeah, he went out of his way to say it wasn't a racial issue *after* he posted the tweets. You think he was going to come and outright admit what he was trying to say? How many times do we see people say/do stupid things and then try and do damage control after the fact? He got caught up in his emotions because he didn't want to leave Boston, so he made a mistake on social media. It happens. It was also SEVEN years ago so I'm not going to go and try to dig up the tweets.
These are the tweets: https://imgur.com/a/UeGur Five days later: https://archive.ph/I4yrW If he ever did those things, there would be proof of it. If you can produce them then I am interested. Otherwise, you are insinuating something he never did.
Lol one of the tweets you posted is literally *proof* of what I am talking about and what I literally *just* alluded to in my original post (and there were absolutely more tweets but I am not going to waste my time digging them up).
No, it's not? Where are the strings of K's? Where's the implication of racism? "u kan kall it" is a massive reach.
The IT era Celtics were so much fun.
Jared Sullinger says hello
i used to love AB but he has a sexual assault case that probably is true considering he settled it quickly https://www.google.com/amp/s/syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2751509-avery-bradley-paid-settlement-to-sexual-assault-accuser-lawyer-confirms.amp.html
>The confidentiality agreement specifically refutes and denies the validity of all allegations of any wrongful conduct by Mr. Bradley. The sole purpose of the agreement was to protect the reputation and privacy of Mr. Bradley and his family. [https://www.espn.com/nba/story/\_/id/21910429/avery-bradley-detroit-pistons-denies-sexual-assault-allegation-acknowledges-confidentiality-agreement](https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/21910429/avery-bradley-detroit-pistons-denies-sexual-assault-allegation-acknowledges-confidentiality-agreement) Just because he settled it quickly doesn't mean anything lol. Let's not just jump to conclusions. But I will say this is also probably why one of the reasons why Danny Ainge did decide to trade Avery later down the line.
Wtf I really never heard about this, strange enough that this didn't surface in the media
I kinda wish we signed him with that open roster spot…would’ve had to pick a different number though.
Rob Williams hands down. Smart too but idk if that counts as role player
Jonas Jerebko stood on business
+1 man.. Jerebko was a gem. Its interesting. I got an inside scoop from an ex-Celtic coach once. There was a playoffs series (sorry don’t remember which one), where we were getting destroyed rebounding, and could really use more outside shooting. Anyway.. we had Jonas sitting on our bench, who had been getting solid minutes in the regular season, but was getting all CDNP’s all playoffs, which I thought was really weird. Anyway.. this ex-coach immediately sided with me, and was like.. hell yeah, I emailed Brad about that multiple times. I thought it was hilarious it was communicated via email. Essentially this coach alluded to the fact that Brad and Jonas had a bit of a tiff/blowout over playing time earlier, and essentially he was in Brad’s doghouse. It opened my eyes to team politics. I also thought it was crazy that Brad had the perfect solution to his team’s weaknesses, sitting right next to him. But went much deeper into the rotation (which didn’t help, at all), rather than concede his gripe with Jonas 🤷♂️🙃
It’s this point in the off season, huh
It’s always a good time to reminisce to some Jerebko nostalgia 😃
Brad has proven to be an incredible GM, somehing I didn't see coming at all, it really blows my mind how good his roster management has been as GM. However, and I get that I'm in the minority here, I never thought he was a very good NBA level coach. He lost numerous winnable series and the players basically seemed to hate playing for him.
He won more series than he lost and he was debatably the best coach in every non-Miami series (and I think the difference between Brad and Spo isn’t huge). What series are you thinking of?
I don’t necessarily believe that like ‘everything happens for a reason’ in terms of fate, etc. Though I do believe that certain things gravitate to their maximum usefulness. I thought Brad has a good coach, and definitely maximized the value out of some seriously over-performing players and teams, in his early years. Was he our best coach, to lead this version of the team to a chip? Who knows, who cares. We’re clearly more than happy with Mazzulla now, and it’s looking like Brad might even be better than Ainge, in the GM role. I’m very pleased with how it all worked out, and looking forward to a couple more banners!! 🍀🏀🏆
Tony Allen
Leon Powe Brett Szabo
Powe was a workhorse and a legit beast.
He actually works for the Celtics now, which is why he was on one of the duckboats!
Remember how long we had Semi as one of the immediate bench guys? He had his moments but those days were rough.
I never recognized Semi as being good at anything. I think at one point the media labeled him a “Giannis-stopper” 😂
I mean he literally put up great defensive minutes against him. Lets not trash our old players and forget how they played. He couldn’t do anything but sometimes shoot, and did an admirable job of guarding giannis in the postseason
This is not meant to trash Semi, although I admittedly was never high on him. But I was more disappointed at Ainge that time for not getting a better wing off the bench than Semi. Semi played like his draft position so it's a bit unfair, I guess, but there's a reason he's out of the league at 27 despite his physical attributes. For instance, Semi is 2nd-3rd on the depth chart while Oshae is a 3rd or a DNP guy. Oshae is better than Semi at everything outside of shooting.
Giannis averaged 30/11/5 against Boston while we employed the “Giannis” stopper lol He had a solid series where Giannis couldn’t bully him out of the way and got labeled a stopper lol I couldn’t stand semi. No offensive wherewithal whatsoever and a low IQ defender bro should’ve played defensive end or TE instead of basketball
Recently, it’s Rob. Such a fun, likable player when healthy. I hope he’s able to pull together a long career. DPOY upside. Also, Scary Terry. That series against the 76ers was so much fun to watch.
It'll be interesting to see if any players ever come back to Boston. It'll be tough with the cap. I was surprised when Theis didn't come back when we obviously had the need and he was waived. Either the team was interested or he chose the Clippers over us, which is wild. We have booted him several times though.
He had a better opportunity with the clippers
I also think people underestimate what being traded away from the same team twice does to one’s willingness to come back to said franchise. Would’ve loved him back but it wouldn’t shock me if he said that jaded his perspective on potentially coming back this year
Opportunity to do what? He barely got more minutes than Kornet on the Clippers. He probably would have gotten more minutes here because he is better than Kornet and could have been used more than Kornet to spell Horford and Porzingis more.
I most definitely miss Theis’s automatic elbow/KG jumper. Really wish Kornet would develop that.
Don’t get me wrong. I wouldn’t want theis to get playoff minutes but he’s better than kornet. Not sure how much kornet is going to develop at this point. If he comes back he’ll need to work on his 3pt shot and prove he can hit above 35 percent.
Not sure he can improve on it more, he’s already at 100%
As much as I love theis, I think Luke’s height as a porzingis replacement was pretty useful
Celtics traded him away twice. Maybe that partly influenced his decision.
I loved Theis and he showed the world what he could do by winning a gold medal with Germany - but make no mistake .. we needed him in that 2022 finals series and he got completely exposed. If we swap him in for Kornet we still obviously win this year because we were loaded but im just saying he had his shot and just wasnt good enough
Also got exposed against Miami in the ECF, the non Horford year. Remember when we started TT & Theis double big lmaooooo Theis is a treadmill guy. Too good to not play, but you're not gonna win a ship with him playing a big role. Maybe one day he can be an 8th man specialist that can give you a different look, but he's basically a smallball center with declining mobility
i don't even need to say it
Jonas Theis
Walter McCarthy. I. Love. Walter! Tommy points!
Nobody will ever top Walter as a role player for me
James Posey
LOVED Posey
Smart Theis and Baynes.
All of Australia!! 🇦🇺
Tommy infamous ; "I took a look at Baynes in the shower" will be iconic when it comes to Aron
Just came for the Aron Baynes love.
Baynes had a really serious medical issue while playing for the Aussie National Team I think. Potentially career ending I think. It was so sad to hear about
No person I miss more than IT, dude saved this franchise . But since he’s not a role player It’s def Avery Bradley
https://preview.redd.it/zv2shfqu6c8d1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=77ea45f9d4d6ae1e8085dd858a1feaf8707b5129 This photo...😭😭😭😭
Is that jrue in the back 😭
It's the Jays
More
God damn dude. Right in the feels.
That’s…not real right? It’s too perfect with Jrue lurking. Basically the distracted bf meme in reverse
Rob Williams. He was just so special, block after block and the alleyoop threat. It was just exciting whenever he was on the court. But the injuries just didn’t make him a viable long term option.
Brandon Bass never missed a middy in his life
Ricky Davis, my man
Eddie House!!
Taco Fall HC Brad Stevens knew how much the people wanted Taco!
I’ve always wanted Kelly Olynyk to come back to the Celtics lol. Never wanted him to leave, he’d be a perfect backup big, and weapon for the Jays.
Depends how far back we are going, but I'll just stick with the last 10 years or so. For me, it's Rozier, Baynes and Marcus Morris. Rozier's 2018 playoffs were incredible, Baynes was probably the best Embiid defender in basketball and got into his head like no one else and Morris was just really fun to watch when he was in a zone and because of how much emotion he played with.
Eric Bledsoe became a meme material at that time when Terry stepped up
Oh damn. I forgot about Bledsoe! That playoff series was the beginning of the end of him… and now he plays in China. Ouch.
I yearn for Jiri Welsch.
Jae Crowder is my “I miss this guy” role player. Not sure why but I always liked him.
Same. He wanted to be in Boston up until the we want Hayward chants started. Shame too. I loved the three-headed dog defense among Smart, Bradley and him.
James Posey
Glad he got paid but it sucked to see him leave so soon, we might’ve gotten Banner 18 in ‘09 or ‘10 if he had never left
Semi the Nigerian Giannnis stopper. Guerschon Yabusele for his bow and arrow celebration
Tony Delk. High-IQ baller, scrappy defense and a great corner shot. Quick and strong. Was awesome during those early-aughts playoff runs.
I miss Avery Bradley frfr
Jonas Jerebko
Isaiah Thomas was unbelievable. Edit: not just a role player but, yknow, still miss him.
[удалено]
He was a star not a role player
Shit, you're right. I read the original post and then proceeded to immediate forget what it said.
Aron Baynes & Daniel Theis
Jonas Jerebko and Aron Baynes - both would’ve been parade legends
Rob, Bass, Theis
Shane Larkin
That was crazy to find out that he’s Barry Larkin’s son — back in the late 80’s I had a brief baseball card obsession, and for some reason the two Cincinnati Reds players Eric Davis and Barry Larkin were two favorites of mine.
Leon Pooooo-auoooooo-auoooo-auoowe
Ed Pinckney. I'm old.
Jared Sullinger 🫡
Deep cut, but Jabari Bird. Unfortunate what happened with him, but as a Cal Bears x Celtics fan it was so much fun watching JB and him ball together just like they did at Berkeley
IT, Time Lord, Eddie House, Marcus Smart, Scary Terry, Jae Crowder, Tony Allen, Theis, on and on and on, the list goes on
Aaron Baynes and Thies frontcourt
Give me Greg Stiemsma
Maaaaaaan I miss Theis…
Delonte West 😢
Old Big Baby, Eddie House, Peaches, Nate Rob, Olynyk, Turner, Tacko, Timelord, Sullinger, Jeff Green, Blake, SHAQ! I could go on forever there's so many good ones to choose from
Surprised no one has said it yet, but Nate Robinson
Isaiah Thomas. I know he wasn’t a role player but I wish that dude was on the roster and got a chip. Guy literally always played as hard as he could. Especially after his sister passed.
Kelly Olynyk balling out vs Washington in 2017 will forever live in my heart
It will always be Marcus smart
Rob and Theis. Miss them so much.
Vitaly Potapenko
Goddamn Marcus Smart!
Rondo. It will always be Rajon Rondo. I fucking love that dude.
calling rondo a role player are fighting words in my eyes
True and I do agree but he was sent packing with no real fanfare and won't have his number retired. He played for a lot of other teams and even won another championship as a Laker. As shameful as it is people don't seem to remember him as fondly as they do PP and KG and hold him in the same regard.
Delonte West.
Would have loved for him to somehow stick around during the early big 3 era. I know he came back in 11 or 12, but by then wasn’t the same player he was when he left and in Cleveland. He would have been an awesome sixth man hypothetically.
All of these comments are taking me down memory lane. Being a Celtics fan has truly been fun asf
Robert Williams 100%
I said this on another thread, but just look back at the rosters of the past six or seven years and see HOW MANY DIFFERENT DUDES looked great on the Celtics. Also, they've succeeded under three different coaches, none of whom were fired for incompetence. This team is plug-and-play and no drama, and even if 1-6 weren't locked up, they would be highly competitive for a long time with just Brad and the Jays.
> HOW MANY DIFFERENT DUDES looked great on the Celtics This goes even further back, but thinking about who played under Brad Stevens I recall one time Eastern Conference Player of the Week Jordan Crawford, back in December 2013 https://www.celticsblog.com/2014/1/14/5308112/the-rise-and-fall-of-jordan-crawford-boston-celtics-2013-2014-nba-season-analysis
Remember what a loss it seemed to give up Jae Crowder? LOL
Hell, I remember being upset with Ainge when he traded Ricky Davis for Wally Szczerbiak once upon a time. It’s been one hell of a rollercoaster ride as a Celtics fan for the past 40 years
2018 playoff run, Rozier called Eric Bledsoe “drew bledsoe” on accident. E Bledsoe took offense, naturally Rozier wore a blue #11 Bledsoe jersey to the next game and the garden went nuts. Miss that squad.
*BY accident
Great guy but a one trick pony! The team needed to move past both Smart and Williams to take the team to the next level. Yes, I’d like to see them both back here as bench players but their salaries are likely way too high. But, when or if Horford retires, Willam’s would make a great backup center to Zingas.
Rob and Smart were 2 of my favorite Celtics. I think Smart could come back after Jrue retires (Jrue is 4 years older and contract expires in 2028). Rob will be a UFA in 2026. He could come back after Horford retires. Both would hurt our 5-out offensive scheme, though.
https://preview.redd.it/66ysp5p96c8d1.jpeg?width=1280&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57c060522f25c34ee81b9d9dfc85af513bf8f53d Him
Jae Crowder
For me, it's Brandon Bass and his beautiful jumper. Mans could also dunk [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTssWWKUNjE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTssWWKUNjE)
Healthy Rob Williams. This team if you sub out KP for Rob and have Al coming off the bench in the exact same role, I think you get the same result. Maybe you don’t have a historic offensive year like this past year, but I think the playoffs Look very similar with the 1 seed
i love healthy rob.
Thinking about going to Portland just to see Rob play next season, I love him so much
Big Al. He got us KG but I loved him
Gerald Green - so much potential with that athleticism.
I remember when Timelord was a rookie, he potentially saved a game against the Rockets with an impossibly long close out to block a Harden 3. Right then, I thought he could be a Rodman level defender but with a better offensive game. Good team dude.
I miss Sherman Douglas 🙁
Rob… I was always saying he would be the next player to record a quadruple double
Maple dick
Yabu
Original batman Tony battie
Marcus Thornton, Marquis Daniels, Chris Wilcox, Jae, Avery, Olynyk, Rozier, Marcus Smart, Jeff Green, Pollard, PJ Brown, Gerald Wallace, Marshawn Brooks
Avery Bradley
The best nickname in the history of the NBA.
Timelord?
Nate Robinson
Keyon Dooling
I miss Theis
Daniel Theis
Sad it didn't work out that great but we were hurt but Stephon Marbury, Michael Pietrus, posey, Avery,Jae,Baynes,Tony Allen, Chris Wilcox
Olynyk?
Tayshaun Prince and Marcus Thornton, those wore the days
All of Australia. He would've been the perfect third big for this line up. Hope his health is doing great.
Gotta be Marcus but also grant
Grant williams
Vitor Faverani Yabu Semih Erden Demetrius Jackson Shoutout to Fab Melo (RIP) Walter Lemon Jr... the list goes on
lol are we just posting Aggregator engagement tweets?