Why don't people think we'll be better?

[LarBrd33]

In order to win you need a star who can score when the game is tight in the 4th, and you need enough size up front to at least hold your own.

The Celtics still dont have a starting quality center or a closer who can score in bunches in the 4th.

But, they do have nice role players, and if healthy a nice point guard to set everyone up. They will be better, just not much better. I am thinking 32 wins.

Agree with all of this.

I think at some point in the next few years, a star will become available and Boston will have the assets to land him.  This team is just loaded with mismatched parts of various value.

[Mazingerz]

Because people here are the most optimistic bunch;

[beklog]

Because people here are the most optimistic bunch;

Guess you haven't seen Houston

[TheTruthFot18]

I agree with OP. I think a lot of the negative nancy's on here are mad we didn't land Love, Melo, Hayward, and Gortat, therefore we must be worse than last year.

3 serious reasons we will be better:

1. Healthy Rondo playing in contract year. Doesn't guarantee an all star or conference finals appearance but his resurgence will get us into the playoffs.

2. Stevens' second year after what I saw as a pretty good first year considering what he had to work with.

3. Youth. Smart and Young in the draft. More development from Sully, KO, and AB. Other young guys with something to prove (I hope) in Zeller, Thorton, and now Turner.

[Celtics4ever]

If this off season is indicative of anything it should be that other teams do not value our assets as much as the fan base.   Ainge tried to trade for people but Sully and Oly were not interesting enough for other teams.   The failed Love trade was a great example.   They stand to outright lose the guy and they still didn't trade for our assets.  That being said, DA did what he could but other teams just didn't value what we had to offer.

I think we lack elite scoring as well but ET will help but he is not an elite scorer but he can score.  We have some quality players but a lot of our guys would be back ups on a truly good team.  ET, Bradley,  Green and Rondo are guys who could start on a good team and perhaps even Sully or Oly down the road.   But our star, RR, and I love his game, is flawed by his lack of shooting.   Before, he could compensate with his speed but who knows how he will bounce back.

I think we will be better but I too think we will win only 7-10 more games.   A lot of other teams got better as well.  Ainge basically got us some players for nothing.

Question is does ET count as a major free agent?   I think not but I think he could help us.

[SHAQATTACK]

Still don't have any of the best talent.   ..required to contend in the NBA

15 or 30 wins ....does it make a lot of difference ?  Not for me , not to me in terms of being relevant ...in terms of getting better chances of draft talent better off with the worse players until you hit the jackpot and land a top talent player.

If this team is ten wins better ....it's just a hit on draft pic day , a worse pic to use as an asset to get an elite talent.

If they can't win at least  50 games easy ...then the team is stuck spinning it's wheels in no where land

This is not a team

It's a collection of assets


That one day will be traded for talent to make a team.

[2short]

First and foremost…Ainge has assembled a better crew than last year (hump loss hurts but he wasn't played as much as he should have) , side note  rondo being healthy is a big plus
he didn't give up any assets to get seller, thornton, turner
2 good draft picks, smart will help right away, young might be too young 
this could be the bad news bears, we have a group playing under a good coach that have things to prove
bradley-i'm worth the contract and can stay healthy (and a year improved)
rondo-i'm healthy and in contract year
green-i'm ready to play good team ball, very good defense but average 20 pts a game while being consistent
zeller-i'm ready to be a nba starting center
ko-last years summer league was a glimpse of what i can do
turner-indy was a mess, i'm ready to look like a good nba starter
thornton-i'm playing for a contract and another team (think crawford)

who knows what will happen, if the small moves end up netting  us monroe its great, worst case scenario is a fun team to watch who will compete every night, there is enough competition at spots that guys should be busting there butts

we've lived through the ml tankapolooza era and pit :-Xno debacle how bad can this be ? 

[cman88]

its all about collecting assets guys. I believe we are already farther along in the rebuild this time than we were when ainge first took over the celtics.

[D.o.s.]

Better by 5 to 7 games and not officially tanking? sure. But we'll still struggle to make it even close to the playoffs.

It's the east, it's not impossible go to the playoffs with 35 wins. LOL

 A 7 win increase would put us at 32 wins, which would not be enough to make the playoffs.

[manl_lui]

we'll definitely be better, but still no where near contending or making a serious threat in the East

Rondo/Bradley/Green/Bass/Sully

Smart/Thorton/Turner/KO/Fav

ok team, 35-40 win team, 8th seed or battling for 8th seed.

Improvement, but won't be that much better than last year. Although, I prefer us fighting next year than tanking. We have all these assets, no point in tanking for another year. Fight for playoffs, make a few trades that will either give us more assets or acquire more talent to compete in 2 years.

**Edit: Whoops, I totally forgot we got Zeller**

But yea, I am very excited for next season. Lots of things to see, chemistry, improvements, Smart, possible moves...so much to expect

[GreenWarrior]

We will be better. And that's the problem.

This team is in the worst possible spot they could be in right now. and while I have to assume we're in the process of trading some of these players(if not a fully expect to see a 5 guard line up at some point). I don't expect it to be "fireworks", that ship has passed.

if this team looks like this or even close to it come the end of the season, then they will find themselves right on the outside of the playoffs. and that's the worst possible spot for any team. although making the playoffs could be the worst thing for this team.

[D.o.s.]

We will be better. And that's the problem.

This team is in the worst possible spot they could be in right now. and while I have to assume we're in the process of trading some of these players(if not a fully expect to see a 5 guard line up at some point). I don't expect it to be "fireworks", that ship has passed.

if this team looks like this or even close to it come the end of the season, then they will find themselves right on the outside of the playoffs. and that's the worst possible spot for any team. although making the playoffs could be the worst thing for this team.

You really think this team comes close to playing .500 basketball?

[GreenWarrior]

We will be better. And that's the problem.

This team is in the worst possible spot they could be in right now. and while I have to assume we're in the process of trading some of these players(if not a fully expect to see a 5 guard line up at some point). I don't expect it to be "fireworks", that ship has passed.

if this team looks like this or even close to it come the end of the season, then they will find themselves right on the outside of the playoffs. and that's the worst possible spot for any team. although making the playoffs could be the worst thing for this team.

You really think this team comes close to playing .500 basketball?

this team has to be better. I think Rondo will be better, I don't care if people hate him, love him or whatever, he wasn't healthy last yr., he wasn't playing a normal schedule of games, he'll be better and we'll be better.

and I have to assume sully and olynyk will be better....if sully hasn't eaten his way outta the league between now and the start of the season.

but all of this doesn't really matter. last season we still had a legitimate shot at the playoffs I think with like 3 weeks to go in the season. and that's why i'm puzzled as to why we're loading this team with guys that will get us to the 8th seed?

in the east we could have 28 - 30 wins and make the playoffs. it's a bad time to be mediocre.

also every yr. there's always 1 or 2 teams that don't live up to the hype esp. in the east. again we could find ourselves in or close to the playoffs without even trying.

[Cman]

I am not pretend that the C's will be a playoff team with the moves they have made but I don't understand how anyone can think that they won't be a better team.  Let's just compare the roster.

At Point...
Last Season:  Crawford, AB, Rondo & Pressey (Rondo limited all season)
This season:  Rondo, Smart, Pressey (healthy All-star PG and defensive minded back-up)

At Off-Guard....
Last Season:  AB, Crawford, Lee, Bayless, Babb, Blue, Brooks
This Season:  AB, Thornton, Turner, Young (better over all depth and scoring)

At SF....
Last Season:  Green, Wallace, Johnson
This Season:  Green, Turner, Wallace, Young (more depth and scoring)

At PF....
Last Season:  Sullinger, Bass, Hump, KO
This Season:  Sullinger, Bass, KO, Zeller (development of KO and Sully could make for decent play at the 4, Bass is playing for a contract)

At Center...
Last Season:  Hump, KO, Favarani, Sully
This Season:  KO, Zeller, Favarani, Sully (still a weak spot but Sully, KO and Zeller fighting for minutes could be a nice competition)

30+ wins isn't anything to write home about but I certainly think this team will be better than the 25 win team of a year ago.

Yes, the Cs are better entering the season this year than they were last year.
But, other teams in the East got better as well (Washington, Charlotte, Detroit, Cleveland) and those that were really good and lost players are still going to be good (Miami, Indiana).
It is all in relation to the other teams, and I don't see the Celtics as being significantly better than last season. Maybe the Cs can get 7th or 8th seed, but that's about it.

[D.o.s.]

this team has to be better. I think Rondo will be better, I don't care if people hate him, love him or whatever, he wasn't healthy last yr., he wasn't playing a normal schedule of games, he'll be better and we'll be better.

and I have to assume sully and olynyk will be better....if sully hasn't eaten his way outta the league between now and the start of the season.

but all of this doesn't really matter. last season we still had a legitimate shot at the playoffs I think with like 3 weeks to go in the season. and that's why i'm puzzled as to why we're loading this team with guys that will get us to the 8th seed?

in the east we could have 28 - 30 wins and make the playoffs. it's a bad time to be mediocre.

also every yr. there's always 1 or 2 teams that don't live up to the hype esp. in the east. again we could find ourselves in or close to the playoffs without even trying.

The bar for getting into the East last year, when the power was more concentrated, was 38 wins. I don't see where 30 wins gets us a spot this year.

I agree that we will be better than last year, but I don't think we're in danger of making the playoffs (which is an awful phrase to type).