Author Topic: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!  (Read 11399 times)

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Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #30 on: July 28, 2014, 01:39:16 PM »

Offline Quetzalcoatl

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The two most underrated non-Celtic things on this board are 1.) How good Toronto is right now and 2.) how good Gerald Wallace's prime was.  I see people on here dumping on both of them, it's like you people only watch the Celtics  ;)

Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #31 on: July 28, 2014, 01:41:13 PM »

Offline TwinTower14

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Did people just all of a sudden forget how bad we were last season?

In comes a rookie and a few bench players and all of a sudden we're talking about taking the division?

Nobody forgot, but there are several of us (optimists) who believe that the same core of players and coaches can do a lot better this year.

Look at the 2013 Red Sox vs the 2014 Red Sox. Everything went right last year and they played way above what was expected. This season, they came back to Earth with mostly the same group of guys, in part because of injuries but also because of regression to the mean.

Last year's Celtics team was going to be bad regardless, and with injuries, no cohesiveness, tank trades etc (I think) they played even worse than they were expected to. Worse than they should have, definitely.

Taking the optimistic view, I could easily see a scenario where that same group plays to their potential or above, and adds more wins by getting over the hump in a lot of the close games. Healthy Rondo, healthy maturing Bradley, healthy Fav, new additions, more cohesiveness and general young player growth lead to overall team improvement.

Sure, talking about winning even a bad division is highly green lens optimistic, but I don't think a significant 10+ win turnaround is ridiculous to contemplate.

Can't compare two different sports....And the Red Sox had elite talent ( Ortiz, Pedrioa, Ellsbury, Lester and Koji etc...) C's have zero elite talent they have a nice bunch of decent players that translate into a lottery team in the NBA...

Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #32 on: July 28, 2014, 01:56:12 PM »

Offline manl_lui

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Did people just all of a sudden forget how bad we were last season?

In comes a rookie and a few bench players and all of a sudden we're talking about taking the division?

Nobody forgot, but there are several of us (optimists) who believe that the same core of players and coaches can do a lot better this year.

Look at the 2013 Red Sox vs the 2014 Red Sox. Everything went right last year and they played way above what was expected. This season, they came back to Earth with mostly the same group of guys, in part because of injuries but also because of regression to the mean.

Last year's Celtics team was going to be bad regardless, and with injuries, no cohesiveness, tank trades etc (I think) they played even worse than they were expected to. Worse than they should have, definitely.

Taking the optimistic view, I could easily see a scenario where that same group plays to their potential or above, and adds more wins by getting over the hump in a lot of the close games. Healthy Rondo, healthy maturing Bradley, healthy Fav, new additions, more cohesiveness and general young player growth lead to overall team improvement.

Sure, talking about winning even a bad division is highly green lens optimistic, but I don't think a significant 10+ win turnaround is ridiculous to contemplate.

Can't compare two different sports....And the Red Sox had elite talent ( Ortiz, Pedrioa, Ellsbury, Lester and Koji etc...) C's have zero elite talent they have a nice bunch of decent players that translate into a lottery team in the NBA...

nobody forgot, but let's mention a recent comeback by Rondo, led by Mr. Inconsistent Jeff Green. We didn't have a real floor general out on the floor, and Danny traded some pieces away mid-way through the season. 

The East is very very weak, with LeBron out of Miami, I think seed 5-8 is almost wide-open for the taking. Nets will probably crumble, limp into the playoffs, Knicks same way unless they make any moves.

I think we have a legit chance of making the playoffs, as for taking the Atlantic division, I'll leave that out for now.


Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #33 on: July 28, 2014, 02:00:21 PM »

Offline Fred Roberts

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Did people just all of a sudden forget how bad we were last season?

In comes a rookie and a few bench players and all of a sudden we're talking about taking the division?

Nobody forgot, but there are several of us (optimists) who believe that the same core of players and coaches can do a lot better this year.

Look at the 2013 Red Sox vs the 2014 Red Sox. Everything went right last year and they played way above what was expected. This season, they came back to Earth with mostly the same group of guys, in part because of injuries but also because of regression to the mean.

Last year's Celtics team was going to be bad regardless, and with injuries, no cohesiveness, tank trades etc (I think) they played even worse than they were expected to. Worse than they should have, definitely.

Taking the optimistic view, I could easily see a scenario where that same group plays to their potential or above, and adds more wins by getting over the hump in a lot of the close games. Healthy Rondo, healthy maturing Bradley, healthy Fav, new additions, more cohesiveness and general young player growth lead to overall team improvement.

Sure, talking about winning even a bad division is highly green lens optimistic, but I don't think a significant 10+ win turnaround is ridiculous to contemplate.

Can't compare two different sports....And the Red Sox had elite talent ( Ortiz, Pedrioa, Ellsbury, Lester and Koji etc...) C's have zero elite talent they have a nice bunch of decent players that translate into a lottery team in the NBA...

It's really simple. An argument about over and under performance can be made across sports and plenty of other things. I'm not comparing talent levels .. I'm just comparing performance relative to reasonable expectations. Sox outperformed dramatically after a dreadful season the year prior  -- talent level aside. Celts, Knicks under performed and ought to be better this year. Just my opinion here.

Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #34 on: July 28, 2014, 02:06:53 PM »

Offline Endless Paradise

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The two most underrated non-Celtic things on this board are 1.) How good Toronto is right now and 2.) how good Gerald Wallace's prime was.  I see people on here dumping on both of them, it's like you people only watch the Celtics  ;)

B-b-b-but Toronto clearly overachieved and there's no reason to anticipate that their young players can continue to improve.  Only the Celtics' young players have any kind of potential!

Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #35 on: July 28, 2014, 02:11:15 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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You're severely underrating Toronto if you think anything short of a major injury to Lowry or Derozan will keep the Raps from finishing ahead of the Celtics.
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Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #36 on: July 28, 2014, 02:58:26 PM »

Offline puskas54_10

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I say the celtics are bottom two in the division. Sixers probably need 1-2 year to compete, but Toronto clearly better, the Nets are better and the Knicks are better too.
No playoffs for the celtics next year.

Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #37 on: July 28, 2014, 03:41:27 PM »

Online SparzWizard

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We drafted Marcus Smart, acquired Tyler Zeller, and landed Evan Turner and suddenly we became the rulers in the Atlantic.

DeRozan, Joe Johnson, and Carmelo all have something to say sadly lol.

And Nerlens Noel is just coming back from his injury.


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Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #38 on: July 28, 2014, 04:01:11 PM »

Offline Moranis

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Did people just all of a sudden forget how bad we were last season?

In comes a rookie and a few bench players and all of a sudden we're talking about taking the division?

Nobody forgot, but there are several of us (optimists) who believe that the same core of players and coaches can do a lot better this year.

Look at the 2013 Red Sox vs the 2014 Red Sox. Everything went right last year and they played way above what was expected. This season, they came back to Earth with mostly the same group of guys, in part because of injuries but also because of regression to the mean.

Last year's Celtics team was going to be bad regardless, and with injuries, no cohesiveness, tank trades etc (I think) they played even worse than they were expected to. Worse than they should have, definitely.

Taking the optimistic view, I could easily see a scenario where that same group plays to their potential or above, and adds more wins by getting over the hump in a lot of the close games. Healthy Rondo, healthy maturing Bradley, healthy Fav, new additions, more cohesiveness and general young player growth lead to overall team improvement.

Sure, talking about winning even a bad division is highly green lens optimistic, but I don't think a significant 10+ win turnaround is ridiculous to contemplate.

Can't compare two different sports....And the Red Sox had elite talent ( Ortiz, Pedrioa, Ellsbury, Lester and Koji etc...) C's have zero elite talent they have a nice bunch of decent players that translate into a lottery team in the NBA...

nobody forgot, but let's mention a recent comeback by Rondo, led by Mr. Inconsistent Jeff Green. We didn't have a real floor general out on the floor, and Danny traded some pieces away mid-way through the season. 

The East is very very weak, with LeBron out of Miami, I think seed 5-8 is almost wide-open for the taking. Nets will probably crumble, limp into the playoffs, Knicks same way unless they make any moves.

I think we have a legit chance of making the playoffs, as for taking the Atlantic division, I'll leave that out for now.
I think it is safe to assume Toronto wins the Atlantic and is likely the 4th seed.  Washington probably wins the S.E., though Miami, Atlanta, and Charlotte should still be pretty good.  Cleveland, Chicago, and Indiana are all going to be pretty good teams.  That is the likely top 8 in the East.  Not nearly as weak as you make it seem and far from wide open.  Now sure teams like Atlanta and Charlotte could stumble and open up room for Brooklyn, NY, or Detroit, but Boston is no where near those teams.  Boston is much closer to Philadelphia, Milwaukee, and Orlando than it is to the top 8 in the conference.
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Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #39 on: July 28, 2014, 04:23:14 PM »

Offline Fred Roberts

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Miami could have issues if Wade can't pull things together.

Indiana lost Granger (leadship) and Stephenson (significant talent) and may be facing drop offs in production from Hibbert (a mess in the playoffs) and David West (simply not young anymore -- 34 next month).

I think both those teams could drop far from the #1 and #2 seeds they had this season. CHI and CLE should jump them easily, possibly with others. 

Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #40 on: July 28, 2014, 05:08:39 PM »

Offline Celtics4ever

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Quote
I think both those teams could drop far from the #1 and #2 seeds they had this season. CHI and CLE should jump them easily, possibly with others

Doesn't mean we will go up.  I think Humph may be missed.

Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #41 on: July 28, 2014, 05:24:30 PM »

Online hpantazo

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The two most underrated non-Celtic things on this board are 1.) How good Toronto is right now and 2.) how good Gerald Wallace's prime was.  I see people on here dumping on both of them, it's like you people only watch the Celtics  ;)

That, and how good the Wizards can be this year. I'm a bit surprised at how many posters on here are totally underestimating Toronto and Washington.

The East in general has improved a lot since last season. For one, there are far fewer teams tanking. Phili and Milwaukee are better by the additions of Noel and Parker. The Bulls have Rose back and added Mirotic, Gasol, and McDermott. The Wizards are a legit threat with their upgraded roster. The Pistons will be better simply by not having an idiotic coach and GM. Atlanta has Horford back and also added some more talent themselves.


Second, Lebron is still in the East. People are acting like him leaving the Heat = the East is now up for grabs. The Cavs already have a better roster than the Heat did , and once they get Love they will be much tougher to beat than Wade, Bosh and a bunch of old ring chasers. Some of those ring chasers btw are also following Lebron to Cleveland, and he has an actual center on this team in Varejao, and an all-star level point guard.

Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #42 on: July 28, 2014, 05:28:46 PM »

Offline D.o.s.

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The Cavs don't have a better roster than the '13-14 Heat right now, although the Heat played about as poorly as you could imagine in the playoffs.
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.

Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #43 on: July 28, 2014, 05:30:45 PM »

Offline Evantime34

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I love the people that think we can win the division. I wish I was that optimistic and I hope that we do surprise people.

I think we will improve a lot this year and end up just outside of the playoff race. To me year over year improvements are the name of the game not the playoffs this year.
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Re: Maybe win the division? - Not bad for a bridge year!
« Reply #44 on: July 28, 2014, 05:37:26 PM »

Offline Monkhouse

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I see BOS winning 29-31 games. I can see Zeller doing pretty well as a pick and pop kind of big with Rondo, and improving on defense, as hes still a young but underutilized big. A lot of mixed surprises here and there.

I think ideally, we'll see a better spike in our perimeter defense. More focus on team defense, taking good shots, and trying to shoot a little more 3's. I didn't like what I saw from Sully last year, but if he can improve his 3pt at least a notch better to 32-34%, I wouldn't mind him working on his 3's.

I can see us basically running a Spurs type of offense, but with Rondo having the ball a little more, and shooting a lot of 3's, (whether we make them or not, is the question to all our problems).
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