Author Topic: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?  (Read 7321 times)

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is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« on: July 11, 2014, 08:52:50 AM »

Offline cman88

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Just looking at how the roster shakes out right now.

Rondo/pressey/smart
Bradley/Thorton/smart
Green/james young
sullinger/olynyk
zeller/faverani

honestly, that team is not that bad, certainly not worse than teams like the 76ers, magic, bucks. Which is why I believe that ainges plan ideally is to use his horde of picks/assets to swing trades to improve the team.

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2014, 08:56:48 AM »

Offline Who

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I expect it'll be in that 7th-12th draft pick range next year.

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2014, 09:14:19 AM »

Offline GreenWarrior

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yup! rondo will be better and play every game. smart will be a better back-up PG than pressey. between young, Wallace, and green somebody is bound to play well. sully's aZZ should be about the size of the paint by the time the season starts so he'll get every rebound...

seriously though, yes we'll be good enough to lose a 1st rnd playoff series.

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2014, 09:30:34 AM »

Offline Alleyoopster

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I thought the Celtics didn't tank last year.  Maybe I missed something?  We played hard to win those meaningless games at the end of the season.  Gives me the feeling Brad will have the team doing the same this year. There won't be any tanking regardless of how good or bad the team is.

I pray we don't spend a zillion pixels in this forum on tanking again this year.  It's not going to happen...  get over it.   (no personal offense to the OP)

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #4 on: July 11, 2014, 09:33:57 AM »

Offline chambers

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Maybe 5 more wins than last year.
No better than 8th worst record.
Defense is still terrible- Zero rim protection. Shooting is still terrible.
We'll lose Bass as an expiring, Smart will be throwing up plenty of bricks with high usage (but getting to the line). Similarly Marcus Thornton will be chucking up tonnes of bricks with a high usage- similarly to Crawford last year, and once we lose him we'll lose a large scoring punch off the bench. When we lose Bass we'll hurt more.

Only hope that we have a pick outside the top 10 is if Sullinger, Bradley and Smart have better than expected seasons.

I think Sullinger is going to have a breakout year with something like 16 points 10 rebounds per game. If he can drain that jumpshot or three this year he'll be a serious weapon.

But there still could be some more trades so we'll see. It's going to have to be an asset development year if we don't get Love. Danny's too smart to let us be a good team and miss out on another top 5-6 pick when there's the serious potential of Rondo leaving in 12 months from now.   
"We are lucky we have a very patient GM that isn't willing to settle for being good and coming close. He wants to win a championship and we have the potential to get there still with our roster and assets."

quoting 'Greg B' on RealGM after 2017 trade deadline.
Read that last line again. One more time.

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #5 on: July 11, 2014, 09:38:07 AM »

Offline dreamgreen

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By "tank" you mean play hard, try to win but just not good enough or try to lose on purpose? Because they will not lose on purpose, that aint happening!

Just to hard to say right now. If the team stays healthy and Rondo is himself and the young guys improve like they should and the rookies do ok I could see us at a 7 or 8 seed. Right now I'd say the 10th pick in the draft if I had to make a bet.

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #6 on: July 11, 2014, 09:39:09 AM »

Offline Jon

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It's a tough call.  The East is obviously terrible.  Add into that the fact Rondo was out for a large part of last season and wasn't at 100%, and it's easy to think that with some development with Bradley, Olynyk, and Sullinger the C's could make some strides.

That said, the C's still finished 25-57, 13 games behind the Hawks for the 8th playoff seed.  So for the C's to get into the playoffs, it's going to take more than just winning a few more games. 

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #7 on: July 11, 2014, 09:47:53 AM »

Offline manl_lui

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sully's aZZ should be about the size of the paint by the time the season starts so he'll get every rebound...

LOL, HHAHAHAHAHA, TP for you, that made my day

but yea, I think this team is very talented...Rondo will be back 100%. Smart > Pressey, Kelly improved, Green isn't a 1st option, but I think with Rondo back full-time and setting up the offense, it should make him a tad bit more comfortable.

I think this team as is, is a 7-8th seed, if not competing with the likes of the Hornets for a playoff spot

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #8 on: July 11, 2014, 09:53:27 AM »

Offline MBunge

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Defense is still terrible

Boston gave up about 108 pts per 100 possessions last season.  Not very good but still 19th in the NBA.

The problem was more the offense than the defense but the real problem was a season-long habit of utterly collapsing after being competitive or even leading the other team.  Some of that was youth, some injuries, some mismatched roster, some lack of talent, some coaching mistakes and some, I'm pretty sure, was by design.  There's no way Sully keeps shooting 3s as poorly as he did last year unless Stevens specifically told him to.

Celts should have more talent this season (if nothing else, Smart will be a huge upgrade over Pressley, Thornton is probably going to be better than Bayless and we've added Zeller).  If Vitor can stay healthy, having him, Zeller and Anthony to man the 5 should balance out the roster.  Stevens should also be better acclimated to the league.

It all depends on Bradley's health, Rondo's interest in getting a big new contract and whether Wyc and Ainge really want to make the playoffs.

Mike

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #9 on: July 11, 2014, 09:59:10 AM »

Offline BudweiserCeltic

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Yes, we should be too good to tank. I thought it was the case last year, and nothing I saw has changed my mind. We clearly underperformed, which was in part due to rotations (too much Bass, too much time to the rookies even when undeserved, etc.), injuries, and we did some in-season trades that decreased our roster talent.

So far this off-season has plugged a couple of holes we had from last season and seemingly has improved our roster balance.

There are still more moves to make. We still have the MLE at our disposal (not sure if it's going to be used), and I figure Bass could be goon soon.

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #10 on: July 11, 2014, 09:59:42 AM »

Offline TwinTower14

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Assuming Lebron goes to Cleveland - this is how I see the East  -  Chicago moves to 2nd if Melo signs...

1 - Cavs
2- Indy
3- Washington
4 - Toronto
5 - Charlotte
6 - Chicago
7 - Brooklyn
8 - Atlanta



Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #11 on: July 11, 2014, 10:08:04 AM »

Offline vinnie

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I expect it'll be in that 7th-12th draft pick range next year.

Agree -- no playoffs, yet no tankapalooza.

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #12 on: July 11, 2014, 10:09:53 AM »

Offline CelticsFanFromNYC

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Just looking at how the roster shakes out right now.

Rondo/pressey/smart
Bradley/Thorton/smart
Green/james young
sullinger/olynyk
zeller/faverani

honestly, that team is not that bad, certainly not worse than teams like the 76ers, magic, bucks. Which is why I believe that ainges plan ideally is to use his horde of picks/assets to swing trades to improve the team.

Im not sure if you been following the Magic's off season transactions but

Payton , both Gordon's ,Frye, and they have a REAL center in vucevic, not to mention Tobias, Oladipo. Cant say onthe court because they havent played together, but ON PAPER, there destroying us right about now 

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #13 on: July 11, 2014, 10:12:11 AM »

Offline boscel33

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Assuming Lebron goes to Cleveland - this is how I see the East  -  Chicago moves to 2nd if Melo signs...

1 - Cavs
2- Indy
3- Washington
4 - Toronto
5 - Charlotte
6 - Chicago
7 - Brooklyn
8 - Atlanta

I might have the Hawks higher, into the 4-5 range.  They get Horford back and drafted Payne.  Last year they finished 8th with Horford out.  That was a huge loss to them.
"There's sharks and minnows in this world. If you don't know which you are, you ain't a shark."

Re: is our team too good to tank in 2014-15?
« Reply #14 on: July 11, 2014, 10:12:43 AM »

Offline D.o.s.

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Defense is still terrible

Boston gave up about 108 pts per 100 possessions last season.  Not very good but still 19th in the NBA.

The problem was more the offense than the defense but the real problem was a season-long habit of utterly collapsing after being competitive or even leading the other team.  Some of that was youth, some injuries, some mismatched roster, some lack of talent, some coaching mistakes and some, I'm pretty sure, was by design.  There's no way Sully keeps shooting 3s as poorly as he did last year unless Stevens specifically told him to.

Celts should have more talent this season (if nothing else, Smart will be a huge upgrade over Pressley, Thornton is probably going to be better than Bayless and we've added Zeller).  If Vitor can stay healthy, having him, Zeller and Anthony to man the 5 should balance out the roster.  Stevens should also be better acclimated to the league.

It all depends on Bradley's health, Rondo's interest in getting a big new contract and whether Wyc and Ainge really want to make the playoffs.

Mike

We also have to factor in that our roster might suffer as much turnover as it did last year.
At least a goldfish with a Lincoln Log on its back goin' across your floor to your sock drawer has a miraculous connotation to it.