What's with early season scheduling of champs?

[nickagneta]

Okay, so I know I am just a Celtic yahoo complaining about something stupid but, is David Stern and the schedule makers purposely trying to get the Celtics off to a slow start? By the time Saturday night's game ends the Celtics will have played 8 games in 12 days and played a league high 11 games. Over 13.4% of their schedule will be completed in less than the first three weeks.

I thought of this because it reminded me of the insane opening of the schedule that the Red Sox were put through this year after winning their title. By the end of the season, most of Boston's older vets were pretty banged up or exhausted. They weren't able to repeat. Am I blaming the schedule for the Sox not being able to beat the Rays? Hell no! Could it have had a factor in it? Oh yeah, it definitely could have.

So on Saturday night, after all the games across the league will have been played, who will have played how many games? Here it is:

11 Games

Boston
Milwaukee

10 Games

Philadelphia
Cleveland
Chicago
Portland
Oklahoma City
Phoenix
Sacramento
Golden State
Houston
Memphis

9 Games

Toronto
New York
New Jersey
Detroit
Indiana
Atlanta
Orlando
Miami
Denver
Dallas

8 Games

Chicago
Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Clippers
San Antonio

7 Games

Washington


That means that half the teams in the league will have played 2 or more less games thus far come Saturday night than have the Celtics. Now, I understand that it all evens out in the end but sometimes early season grinds can lead to bad things later. I just thought a World Champion deserves a bit more respect in the schedule making than to have had  4 back to backs in the first 11 games that are spaced all within a 19 day time period.

Why does this irk me so much? Well it's of course my paranoid perception that this league wants the Lakers to win this year. So far they have play only five games, four in the building they call their home. They don't finish playing their fourth back to back until December 10th. The Lakers eventually play 11 games in 19 days between November 28 and December 16 but 8 of those are at home.

I know, there's nothing to this, I'm being immature and protective of my Celtics. But I just find the whole thing rather convenient for the Lakers.

[Redz]

Just think of the rest come later in the season.

It is a brutal schedule early.

[GroverTheClover]

I'd rather them get the hectic schedule now so they can rest up for the playoffs later.

[ma11l]

Yeah I'd rather have this schedule come in November than March. It's a good test early, and it's a good time to get the younger guys some more minutes.  The bench plays more when there are games grouped together and it's good to get the experience early in the season so they're ready to go when it's crunch time come May and June.

[BudweiserCeltic]

That would be all fine and good if we had an easy schedule March/April. But it's the opposite... the schedule is loaded too then.

[nickagneta]

Just so that you guys know, the February and March schedule is not a picnic. From February 19th to April 1 the C's play 21 games in 42 days with road games against Utah, Phoenix, Denver, Miami, San Antonio, Orlando and Atlanta and home games against Detroit, Cleveland, Orlando, and Miami. 12 of those 21 are on the road.

April is pretty easy but it's not like the last half of the season is a cakewalk with a ton of rest.

Edit: I take that back. 5 games in 8 days to end the season against NJ, Miami, Cleveland, Philly and Washington isn't easy.

[nickagneta]

That would be all fine and good if we had an easy schedule March/April. But it's the opposite... the schedule is loaded too then.

Thank you Budweiser for being on the same wavelength. TP4U.

[Roy Hobbs]

Ray Allen addressed this in yesterday's Herald:

But as with last week’s win in Houston, the Celtics have much to gain by these early-season road games against quality teams.

It’s all about establishing themselves early.

“It’s the opposite of what you go through on a college team,” Ray Allen said after yesterday’s practice. “You always start in college with those early-season games against in-state rivals.

“That way, you have 10 wins under your belt before you go up against your first really tough opponent,” he said. “There’s no such thing in the NBA. We opened with Cleveland, one of our biggest rivals.”

The Celtics also passed that opening night test in convincing fashion.

But few parts of the season will be as taxing as their first month.

They are in the midst of an eight-games-in-12-days stretch. Indeed, tonight’s game against the Pistons is the first of five during the next seven days, including four against legitimate playoff contenders - Detroit, Toronto (tomorrow), Atlanta (Wednesday) and the new-look Denver Nuggets (Friday).

Even with the latter three of those games at home, it will be a tough week to escape unblemished.

“We always talk about the schedule,” said Allen. “Sometimes as a player you look at the schedule and think that you’re getting screwed by the schedule. But for us, it’s a good thing to be getting these early tests.”

In truth, there’s no winning when it comes to the schedule. Allen remembers one annoying byproduct of that 8-0 start.

“Last year a lot of people were saying that we hadn’t played anybody yet,” he said. “I don’t think you can go 8-0 without that kind of talk.

“But this is definitely different. Over the next seven days it’s just going to be game after game for us. Detroit, Atlanta, Toronto - these games are going to be great for us.”

Link.

I think there are some benefits to this schedule.  As mentioned by others above, it allows the team more rest later in the year.  Also, it establishes an early season pecking order, and puts to rest any questions -- internal or external -- that there may have been about the team struggling without Posey.

[EatSleepBreatheGreen]

Rest? Remember last year what rest did to the team? It lead to us having a sloppy 1st and 2nd round in the playoffs. I rather have them rest now, find out who on the bench can play, and then get into a rhythm right before the playoffs. But oh well. As a Fan Im glad to see them playing this much. As a Fanatic(Fan Addict), lol, I'm ****ed and thinking the same way. Why do we play that much, bla bla bla.

The only thing that really ****es me off though, is how the Lakers have an easy schedule(maybe the nba wants bynum 100%, before the Lakers get tested). Think about it, maybe if they had our schedule they would not be undefeated, or maybe bynums knees wouldnt be holding up. All in all, I dont care if the Lakers were to go 80-2(two losses to us,lol) and be declared REG season champs. We ALL KNOW they shrink like you know what in cold water, soon as they reach the playoffs.

[Roy Hobbs]

Rest? Remember last year what rest did to the team?

I don't think it was rest.  I think it was equal parts 1) Doc changing the entire rotation, and 2) the team not being prepared for playoff intensity basketball.  I don't attribute that to having too much rest, though.

[Chris]

Rest? Remember last year what rest did to the team?

I don't think it was rest.  I think it was equal parts 1) Doc changing the entire rotation, and 2) the team not being prepared for playoff intensity basketball.  I don't attribute that to having too much rest, though.

Yeah, I don't think rest had much to do with it either.  Not to mention they were basically in a no-win situation at the end of the season.  If they played the starters regular minutes, they would have been absolutely blowing teams out (which they still did with their reserves in most cases).  In blowouts like that, it always gets sloppy, and that is when bad habits are formed.  So Doc had the choice of resting his players, and having them play less minutes, but go all out when they were on the court and play the right way (which they did), in order to try to maintain the overall "edge" that the team had throughout the season.

The problem I saw is that both the coach and the players were not prepared for the difference in playoff basketball.  It was like they were learning to play all over again.  It was not until probably Detroit series when they finally looked like a team that felt comfortable, and had adjusted.  I don't blame this on rest, I blame it on the fact that they were a team with several young players who had never been there playing main roles, and veterans who hadn't had much recent success in the playoffs, and had never done it together, and a coach who had never had the chance to learn how to manage a playoff game.  His previous experience was always so brief that he didn't get a chance to learn what he clearly learned over the first two rounds last year.

[guava_wrench]

This thread is silly. Some team will have played the most games, some team the least. It isn't a big deal. All that matters is we will play 82 games. Any schedule will have a stretch were fans go, "gee, why is this stretch so ridiculous".

The idea that a championship team would still be resting in November is ridiculous. The season has started. Vacation is over.

What is significant is the # of back-to-backs. We have 15. Isn't that less than last year?

By month, Novembers is typical of our schedule:

October (2 games)
November (16)
December (15)
January (15)
February (12) (6 days off for allstar break. I like this since we are on the road before and after, and we will have multiple participants in the allstar game)
March (15)
April (7) (only half a month)

ONE extra game in November and people complain?

Also, considering 11 of the first 19 games are at home, it seems silly to insinuate the someone in the league office wants us to get of to a slow start.

[dark_lord]

champions don't complain, they face adversity head on.  the best way to stick up the leagues butt, is to beat them no matter how the deck may be stacked against you. 

[nickagneta]

champions don't complain, they face adversity head on.  the best way to stick up the leagues butt, is to beat them no matter how the deck may be stacked against you. 

TP4U oh Dark One. Very well put and agree 1000%.

[BudweiserCeltic]

champions don't complain, they face adversity head on.  the best way to stick up the leagues butt, is to beat them no matter how the deck may be stacked against you. 

TP4U oh Dark One. Very well put and agree 1000%.

Good thing that they have us fans to do the crying and complaining for them.