Eastern Conference

[C3LTSF4N]

I'm thinkin we'll make the right calls.

[Al91]

I'm holding back any excitement as I predict there will be at least one major move left for the Celtics. Harden being traded on the eve of two seasons ago made the whole "anything's possible" all the more real. It's early but my prediction of teams in the playoff hunt this year are as follows:

CHI
CLE
IND
MIA
ATL
WAS
TOR
CHA

Boston is left out. Gotta remember Detroit will also be making that push this year with their off-season acquisitions. Their roster isn't perfect but it's going to thrive off of hot shooters. I'm not sold on Boston's playoff chances yet. And I'd rather not see them in the playoffs only to be fodder for the 1/2 seed.

As long as Brandon Jennings is their pg, I just can't buy into the Pistons yet. All the talent in the world though.

He'll have the ball out of his hands less this season with the signings of Augustin and their second rounder Dinwiddle. I expect SVG to try and replicate Augustin's magic from Chicago last season. Not to mention their signings of players capable of bringing the ball up themselves after a basket or on the break (Butler, Meeks).

I'm holding back any excitement as I predict there will be at least one major move left for the Celtics. Harden being traded on the eve of two seasons ago made the whole "anything's possible" all the more real. It's early but my prediction of teams in the playoff hunt this year are as follows:

CHI
CLE
IND
MIA
ATL
WAS
TOR
CHA

Boston is left out. Gotta remember Detroit will also be making that push this year with their off-season acquisitions. Their roster isn't perfect but it's going to thrive off of hot shooters. I'm not sold on Boston's playoff chances yet. And I'd rather not see them in the playoffs only to be fodder for the 1/2 seed.

When I look at Toronto's roster I don't see them being any better than us.  Lowry played out of his mind and they had great chemistry.  It wasn't talent that won them games.  Same goes for  Atlanta, Horford and Millsap are good but other than that there isn't much talent.  They had good coaching though and decent chemistry.

Toronto's roster was one play away from beating the Nets last year and making it to the second round against the Heat where, IMO, they would've given them a better series than the Nets. Continuity and chemistry goes a lot farther than anyone thinks...look at the Spurs the past couple years and their success and look at the Celtics. Felt like every off-season the Celtics would swap out seven players for seven new guys that wouldn't last more than a year, or two. Felt like it anyway. Meanwhile, the Spurs brought back the same old guys every year and did their thing.

And don't underestimate ATL. Your supposition is slightly misguided considering Horford's injury last season. Imagine Horford in that series against Indiana. Would Indiana have advanced? Pretty good question to debate. The Hawks are shaping up to be "Spurs-East". They maximize their players' talents and unlike the Cs, have a roster of players with talent that play (thanks Bogans). ATL looked like a top four team in the East last year prior to the Horford injury and slipped to only what, fifth or sixth?

All I'm trying to say is we can't overlook last year's success and simply count it as a fluke. Teams will look to replicate the success from last year and many of the teams that made playoffs last year have made significant roster upgrades except for Miami and Indy. Our chance of making playoffs seems as likely as NYK's, BKN's, or DET's.

[D.o.s.]

Jennings gets a bad rap.

Oh, don't mind me, I'm just desperately clinging to 2009. That was a fun Bucks team to watch.

[Cman]

so let's optimist assume that the east breaks down as such:

seeds 1-5 in no particular order: Raptors, Cavs, Bulls, Pacers, Washington
seeds 6-10 in no order: Charlotte, NYK, Brooklyn, Boston, Detroit, Atlanta
sorry Milwaukee, Philly, and Orlando... no star-power, no bench-strength, too much youth

ANYWAY... out of teams 6-10, there is no better bench than the boys in Beantown. Boston is at least 1.5 deep at each position (can't give the Center position any depth, but they're serviceable on both ends).

The problem is that the Celtics are all bench.
other than Rondo, it is a bunch of bench players competing for starting jobs.

[saltlover]

so let's optimist assume that the east breaks down as such:

seeds 1-5 in no particular order: Raptors, Cavs, Bulls, Pacers, Washington
seeds 6-10 in no order: Charlotte, NYK, Brooklyn, Boston, Detroit, Atlanta
sorry Milwaukee, Philly, and Orlando... no star-power, no bench-strength, too much youth

ANYWAY... out of teams 6-10, there is no better bench than the boys in Beantown. Boston is at least 1.5 deep at each position (can't give the Center position any depth, but they're serviceable on both ends).

The problem is that the Celtics are all bench.
other than Rondo, it is a bunch of bench players competing for starting jobs.

Bingo.  This is also why people feel we have a crowded roster, as there's no real hierarchy except between Rondo, Smart, and Pressey.

The good news is that a lot of our players are young and could take steps forward with their games.  Any of Bradley, Sullinger, Olynyk, and Zeller could improve to legit starter status (I'd also argue that Green is already an NBA starter, just not a star.)

[Cman]

so let's optimist assume that the east breaks down as such:

seeds 1-5 in no particular order: Raptors, Cavs, Bulls, Pacers, Washington
seeds 6-10 in no order: Charlotte, NYK, Brooklyn, Boston, Detroit, Atlanta
sorry Milwaukee, Philly, and Orlando... no star-power, no bench-strength, too much youth

ANYWAY... out of teams 6-10, there is no better bench than the boys in Beantown. Boston is at least 1.5 deep at each position (can't give the Center position any depth, but they're serviceable on both ends).

The problem is that the Celtics are all bench.
other than Rondo, it is a bunch of bench players competing for starting jobs.

Bingo.  This is also why people feel we have a crowded roster, as there's no real hierarchy except between Rondo, Smart, and Pressey.

The good news is that a lot of our players are young and could take steps forward with their games.  Any of Bradley, Sullinger, Olynyk, and Zeller could improve to legit starter status (I'd also argue that Green is already an NBA starter, just not a star.)

Yes, I forgot about Green.
So, other than Rondo, Green and perhaps Bradley, it is a bunch of bench players competing for starting jobs.

[manl_lui]

so let's optimist assume that the east breaks down as such:

seeds 1-5 in no particular order: Raptors, Cavs, Bulls, Pacers, Washington
seeds 6-10 in no order: Charlotte, NYK, Brooklyn, Boston, Detroit, Atlanta
sorry Milwaukee, Philly, and Orlando... no star-power, no bench-strength, too much youth

ANYWAY... out of teams 6-10, there is no better bench than the boys in Beantown. Boston is at least 1.5 deep at each position (can't give the Center position any depth, but they're serviceable on both ends).

The problem is that the Celtics are all bench.
other than Rondo, it is a bunch of bench players competing for starting jobs.

Bingo.  This is also why people feel we have a crowded roster, as there's no real hierarchy except between Rondo, Smart, and Pressey.

The good news is that a lot of our players are young and could take steps forward with their games.  Any of Bradley, Sullinger, Olynyk, and Zeller could improve to legit starter status (I'd also argue that Green is already an NBA starter, just not a star.)

idk, I still think Miami should be in your seeds 1-5 range. Wade/Bosh/Granger etc, still good enough to compete in the East imo.

As for the Celtics

I disagree that besides Rondo, everyone are bench players. Green is a starter, just not a first go-to-guy or second. He is a third or fourth just like he was in OKC. He also strived when he was behind KG/PP in the scoring ladder.

Others you can argue that they are bench players. Sullinger is a tricky one in my opinion as I can also see him as a starter, playing a Millsap kind of role.

[D.o.s.]

Green is an average starting player. Rondo is an above average starter. Everyone else... is not.

[Endless Paradise]

I'm holding back any excitement as I predict there will be at least one major move left for the Celtics. Harden being traded on the eve of two seasons ago made the whole "anything's possible" all the more real. It's early but my prediction of teams in the playoff hunt this year are as follows:

CHI
CLE
IND
MIA
ATL
WAS
TOR
CHA

Boston is left out. Gotta remember Detroit will also be making that push this year with their off-season acquisitions. Their roster isn't perfect but it's going to thrive off of hot shooters. I'm not sold on Boston's playoff chances yet. And I'd rather not see them in the playoffs only to be fodder for the 1/2 seed.

When I look at Toronto's roster I don't see them being any better than us.  Lowry played out of his mind and they had great chemistry.  It wasn't talent that won them games.  Same goes for  Atlanta, Horford and Millsap are good but other than that there isn't much talent.  They had good coaching though and decent chemistry.

Charlotte should be better as should Washington and the Bulls.  But we all know injuries are the wildcard and some of these teams aren't very deep.  We might not have top talent but we have a really  deep roster at the moment.  Likely some are on the move to get the numbers down, but I suspect that will only make us stronger when we package a few guys for someone a bit better..

In any event, I feel very optimistic that this year will be much more fun to watch than last year.   We could be decent!!!

I don't really get this argument.  If chemistry and coaching was the difference between Toronto/Atlanta and Boston and those teams have retained their core players AND their coaches... shouldn't they probably be considered favorites over Boston to make the playoffs again?

Either way, yeah, the team is deep, but it's deep with a number of players who are bench guys on good teams.  Having a roster 10-deep of B/C-level players is cool in that you don't have to worry about burning anyone out, but you're not winning many games with those guys.

Basically:

Green is an average starting player. Rondo is an above average starter. Everyone else... is not.

This.

It's not like the Celtics are the 2013-14 Spurs, 2012-13 Nuggets or Clippers, or 2010-11 Bulls.