I loved watching him with you guys, was stoked when we got him, and then have been perplexed by his lack of minutes. He’s another guy that guards think they can iso and then he’s right there the whole way.
I’m not just talking about last night. I saw him do it repeatedly in Memphis and in Boston in the minutes he did get. He moves well laterally and has great anticipation. You could throw a highlight reel together of small quick guards trying to iso him and not being able to shake him. I’m not saying he’s Draymond but I’ve always felt he should be getting more minutes because of his switchability.
Proud to be able to say I witnessed THE Xavier Tillman game IRL. Drove 5 hours, got very drunk on Beale at 5pm, stumbled over to FedEx Forum to witness a Grizzlies team without Ja fuck the Lakers up in a playoff game — while Tillman dropped a cool 23/12/3, looking unreasonably comfortable the entire time. He had like 6 left handed layups. Mindfuck of a game that was.
https://youtu.be/K8AfmNN_MbI?si=pKotmv7A4Ru_tCdP
And he is kinda of a dad bod by NBA standards, so he felt like one of us. I can see myself running into him 930 PM at the Safeway buying a whole pecan pie and Haagen-Dazs for evening snacks.
He'll get exposed by Dallas fast guards. Joe doesn't want to risk it. He did his job in early series where he had good matchups. But this series, he's a hypeman in the bench and we love it.
He is perfect against undersized centers or guy that can only drive/dunk. If the Mavs didn't have Kyrie, Kornet would probably see more minutes since he is still tall enough to give Luka overhead issues, but against Kyrie he'd be eaten alive.
He guarded LeBron too. Did a good job on LeBron. Not sure what happened. The bottom fell out last year for the Grizzlies, and it is STILL falling out for us.
He had a huge game last night. This is also a reminder that he was acquired at the trade deadline this year by 2024 NBA Executive of the Year Award winner Brad Stevens for two 2nd-round picks and Lamar Stevens
Funnily enough the guys that really underwhelmed on the Celtics and got traded at the deadline went to their new teams and played really well. Stevens played well for the Grizzlies, and Delano Banton looked like borderline young asset on the Trilblazers.
It's funny to me how the Celtics team have really excelled on getting every ounce of talent out of their players, yet those guys broke out on lesser teams. Guess they just needed different responsibilities and a change of pace.
Nesmith is also a solid starter for Indiana after not doing much in Boston, though we were still high on his potential at the time and just didn’t really have a consistent role for him
Yeah he wasn't as puzzling for me for a couple reasons. One, they hadn't really gotten to maximizing all their bench talent like they have now. That was the years they were really searching for anyone to be decent as a bench piece from Waters, to Edwards, to Langford, to Hernangomez, to a billion other guys.
And two, it was pretty obvious Nesmith had talent, but had needed more experience. He had flashes but they were hidden behind sloopy inexperienced sped up play. When he was traded I was almost certain he would bloom under a new team.
For Nesmith, it was a combination of him getting into his head too much on his shot, and not having consistent minutes because said shot wasn't falling. Everyone knew we needed a shooter for the team, so we drafted the best shooter in the draft. Nesmith himself said that he knows he was drafted to space the floor for the Jays, and then when he wasn't shooting well because we wanted him to be a spark plug, it became a cycle where he got more frantic trying to force shoots that he felt he had to make, and then us not playing him because he took wild shots.
I'm glad he's doing better in Indiana though, I will say I love the fact that he always hustled on defense, as he wanted to make a positive impact on the team in any way.
nesmith just needs to stop with the chip on his shoulder shit every time he plays against the Celtics. being traded for brogdon was the best that that could have happened to his career because it got him consistent time. When he plays against the Celtics he's like a spazoid with a complete lack of control of his body
Nah man Banton had a 46% TS, he was lowkey terrible. I really rooted for him, but he was so frustrating. He was a guy who would make a great play, but then finish it with a terrible play. I don't know how many times he crossed someone over, and blew by someone just to miss a point blank layup.
And Lamar Stevens wasn't as bad as Banton, but I had really hoped he could carve open a role for certain matchups. He should've been an option for some small ball 5, or defending some big 4s but Brissett took that job away from him and he was never really able to earn minutes. I really had some high hopes for him, but he never really was able to make an impact.
Same for X. He chose to go to the gleague over sitting on the bench doing nothing. Had Adams and Clarke not gotten injured, he may still be there.
This year, due to injuries, we were able to discover VWJ, GG, and SPJ, who were all in the gleague at the beginning of the season.
Hard to develop without meaningful playing time
Tell this man to put up 500 3 pointers a day in the off-season so he can become our new Al Horford.
His defense is great. If he can offer any kind of spacing, he will get mins.
Hell, even if all he gets reliable is elbow jumpers or those little midrangers that Al used to love, that would still make him a legitimate stretch threat.
His build reminds be a lot of a bigger, sturdier Brandon Bass who I thought was a damn good and oft forgotten guy for the Celtics in the lean years.
You gotta be happy for the guy. Lost his father during the playoffs this year and typically hasn’t played much since the deadline but he was fantastic on defense and that 3 will be remembered by C’s fans always if we win the series. Every dawg has his day
I don't think it's crazy at all. Brad has shown a knack for buying low on guys who are better fits for the Cs than their current teams. Tillman was hampered by Morant and Smart both being injured and the Grizz not having great distributors. Similar deal with acquiring KP and Horford when he was in OKC (though they already knew Al). Tillman is also, like Jaden Springer, a diet version of Derrick White, a player that is good now but could be a real steal for the Cs if they can develop into a more reliable outside shooter.
I didn’t expect Tillman to play in the finals, which is why it’s crazy that when he did play he really helped the team. It was just awesome, that’s all. I think people taking the word crazy a lil too literal.
Not too crazy. I was surprised Tillman didn’t get more early minutes in the series actually, but Tingus was playing so well. X tho is the perfect combination of stocky and quick to switch onto a player like Luka. He moves his feet better than Horford, and has a great second jump.
*Enters game* *Hits 3* *Refuses to elaborate*
How many Warriors fans felt PTSD from that shot?
X gonna give it to ya. I am so proud of our boy!
I loved watching him with you guys, was stoked when we got him, and then have been perplexed by his lack of minutes. He’s another guy that guards think they can iso and then he’s right there the whole way.
Tbf I think X would get beat by a lot of other guards in isolation, he's just doing way better than expected on Luka imo because Luka is slow lol
I’m not just talking about last night. I saw him do it repeatedly in Memphis and in Boston in the minutes he did get. He moves well laterally and has great anticipation. You could throw a highlight reel together of small quick guards trying to iso him and not being able to shake him. I’m not saying he’s Draymond but I’ve always felt he should be getting more minutes because of his switchability.
Was the same in college. Great defender
Proud to be able to say I witnessed THE Xavier Tillman game IRL. Drove 5 hours, got very drunk on Beale at 5pm, stumbled over to FedEx Forum to witness a Grizzlies team without Ja fuck the Lakers up in a playoff game — while Tillman dropped a cool 23/12/3, looking unreasonably comfortable the entire time. He had like 6 left handed layups. Mindfuck of a game that was. https://youtu.be/K8AfmNN_MbI?si=pKotmv7A4Ru_tCdP
The hard hitting analysis you crave: he just has such a nice smile! Really happy for him that he got to have an impact in a finals game.
And he is kinda of a dad bod by NBA standards, so he felt like one of us. I can see myself running into him 930 PM at the Safeway buying a whole pecan pie and Haagen-Dazs for evening snacks.
Oh my gosh how many bags of groceries do you think he could carry at once?
I would honestly want to witness that. Or what kind of damage he could do with Red Lobster 's unlimited shrimp.
Who would've guessed that the Luka stopper ended up being the 9th man on the Celtics rotation lmfao
More like 11th, generally speaking. He's playing over Kornet and Brissett because of the match up and role.
I was wondering where kornet was. He didn’t get a single minute
He'll get exposed by Dallas fast guards. Joe doesn't want to risk it. He did his job in early series where he had good matchups. But this series, he's a hypeman in the bench and we love it.
One game against Miami he essentially shut Bam down. It was stunning to watch
He is perfect against undersized centers or guy that can only drive/dunk. If the Mavs didn't have Kyrie, Kornet would probably see more minutes since he is still tall enough to give Luka overhead issues, but against Kyrie he'd be eaten alive.
There have been WAY too few shots of Kornet celebrating on the sideline this series.
They are interchangeable depending on matchup. Kornet played Miami, Cavs it was Tillman, and Indiana it was Brissett.
He was guarding AD last playoffs
He guarded LeBron too. Did a good job on LeBron. Not sure what happened. The bottom fell out last year for the Grizzlies, and it is STILL falling out for us.
He had a huge game last night. This is also a reminder that he was acquired at the trade deadline this year by 2024 NBA Executive of the Year Award winner Brad Stevens for two 2nd-round picks and Lamar Stevens
Happy for X. Hopefully we re-sign Stevens. He looked very good for us
Funnily enough the guys that really underwhelmed on the Celtics and got traded at the deadline went to their new teams and played really well. Stevens played well for the Grizzlies, and Delano Banton looked like borderline young asset on the Trilblazers. It's funny to me how the Celtics team have really excelled on getting every ounce of talent out of their players, yet those guys broke out on lesser teams. Guess they just needed different responsibilities and a change of pace.
Nesmith is also a solid starter for Indiana after not doing much in Boston, though we were still high on his potential at the time and just didn’t really have a consistent role for him
Yeah he wasn't as puzzling for me for a couple reasons. One, they hadn't really gotten to maximizing all their bench talent like they have now. That was the years they were really searching for anyone to be decent as a bench piece from Waters, to Edwards, to Langford, to Hernangomez, to a billion other guys. And two, it was pretty obvious Nesmith had talent, but had needed more experience. He had flashes but they were hidden behind sloopy inexperienced sped up play. When he was traded I was almost certain he would bloom under a new team.
For Nesmith, it was a combination of him getting into his head too much on his shot, and not having consistent minutes because said shot wasn't falling. Everyone knew we needed a shooter for the team, so we drafted the best shooter in the draft. Nesmith himself said that he knows he was drafted to space the floor for the Jays, and then when he wasn't shooting well because we wanted him to be a spark plug, it became a cycle where he got more frantic trying to force shoots that he felt he had to make, and then us not playing him because he took wild shots. I'm glad he's doing better in Indiana though, I will say I love the fact that he always hustled on defense, as he wanted to make a positive impact on the team in any way.
nesmith just needs to stop with the chip on his shoulder shit every time he plays against the Celtics. being traded for brogdon was the best that that could have happened to his career because it got him consistent time. When he plays against the Celtics he's like a spazoid with a complete lack of control of his body
I don't watch the Pacers at all, hence my question: he doesn't play that way against other teams? In games against Boston he always looks angry.
They played fine, there was just no chance of minutes. And even when they did see minutes, they never got a chance to do anything with the ball.
Nah man Banton had a 46% TS, he was lowkey terrible. I really rooted for him, but he was so frustrating. He was a guy who would make a great play, but then finish it with a terrible play. I don't know how many times he crossed someone over, and blew by someone just to miss a point blank layup. And Lamar Stevens wasn't as bad as Banton, but I had really hoped he could carve open a role for certain matchups. He should've been an option for some small ball 5, or defending some big 4s but Brissett took that job away from him and he was never really able to earn minutes. I really had some high hopes for him, but he never really was able to make an impact.
That was why I thought Banton was fine lol, you could tell he was just a step away from putting it together
Same for X. He chose to go to the gleague over sitting on the bench doing nothing. Had Adams and Clarke not gotten injured, he may still be there. This year, due to injuries, we were able to discover VWJ, GG, and SPJ, who were all in the gleague at the beginning of the season. Hard to develop without meaningful playing time
I think it’s really just fit. We don’t need more ball handlers or scorers we need more bigs
Delano looked better than scoot.
Same here, he is a dawg. We need the highest concentration of Dawgs just based on principles.
Brad trading his own son. LeNepo would never
That's 100% shooting in the Finals right there Please tell me when LeBron, MJ, or Kobe ever did that
None of them are Xavier Tillman!!!
Averaged 150% true shooting in career finals games. GOAT debate is over
If you were lying, it wouldn't be called true shooting percentage. All hail the new GOAT!
Tell this man to put up 500 3 pointers a day in the off-season so he can become our new Al Horford. His defense is great. If he can offer any kind of spacing, he will get mins.
Hell, even if all he gets reliable is elbow jumpers or those little midrangers that Al used to love, that would still make him a legitimate stretch threat. His build reminds be a lot of a bigger, sturdier Brandon Bass who I thought was a damn good and oft forgotten guy for the Celtics in the lean years.
This man can officially say he has more Finals points than a lot of great NBA players.
Xavier Tillman and Payton Pritchard have each scored exactly one time in the Finals, and both shots were absolutely devastating haymakers
[удалено]
He looked rusty in his first few minutes and I was a little worried too but it just comes with basically having barely any minutes
You gotta be happy for the guy. Lost his father during the playoffs this year and typically hasn’t played much since the deadline but he was fantastic on defense and that 3 will be remembered by C’s fans always if we win the series. Every dawg has his day
The bench collectively went apeshit. It was amazing to watch.
Hauser couldn’t miss from 3
Absolutely crazy that this trade paid off. Brad is elite.
trade
Tillman's excellent against certain matchups. He absolutely shitted on the Warriors in the play-ins a few years ago as a rookie.
I don't think it's crazy at all. Brad has shown a knack for buying low on guys who are better fits for the Cs than their current teams. Tillman was hampered by Morant and Smart both being injured and the Grizz not having great distributors. Similar deal with acquiring KP and Horford when he was in OKC (though they already knew Al). Tillman is also, like Jaden Springer, a diet version of Derrick White, a player that is good now but could be a real steal for the Cs if they can develop into a more reliable outside shooter.
I didn’t expect Tillman to play in the finals, which is why it’s crazy that when he did play he really helped the team. It was just awesome, that’s all. I think people taking the word crazy a lil too literal.
Not too crazy. I was surprised Tillman didn’t get more early minutes in the series actually, but Tingus was playing so well. X tho is the perfect combination of stocky and quick to switch onto a player like Luka. He moves his feet better than Horford, and has a great second jump.
THAT'S MY FORMER SPARTAN
lol I see you all the time in the MSU sub. Unironically the joy I felt when Tillman hit that 3 was greater than almost all of last season
I randomly thought about JA hitting 7 against Michigan earlier today!
AS A CELTICS FAN AND SPARTAN ALUM, I LOVE THIS
"X Gon' Give It To Ya"
People forget this man objectively outplayed Anthony Davis in a playoff game last year lol he’s no scrub
I feel like Jaylen (I think) passed him the ball thinking it was Horford there lol
He talked in a presser about how he trusted X in the moment and knew the shot would go in when he passed it
Even Al Horford's sister thinks he's Al out there sometimes lol. Happens to me regularly!
He’s better than Luka.
Bro he’s better than MJ
Kwame is ultimate 🐐
Anyone know where to see the highlights
The 3 biggest points of the night
What are his FMVP odds at?
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He absolutely defended that rim perfectly against Luka on several occasions
One of my favorite Spartans of all time 💚🤍
MORE FINALS POINTS THAN JOEL EMBIID. SPREAD THE WORD
I've heard of human victory cigars, but never done as an actual post