Random thoughts to talk you off the ledge

[ChainSmokingLikeDino]

I have a feeling that Ainge has been a bit hesitant with our next year's cap space for my liking.

Yeah, I get that sense too.  I don't understand it. 

The free agent class is not going to be so much better next year -- the Celts aren't getting Kevin Durant, kids -- and everybody in the league will have cap space so the market will be even more competitive.

I wanted the Celts to add at least one major piece this summer so they could hopefully show some more improvement next season and head into next summer looking like a team that might be one piece away.

But, in free agency (and trades are obviously still a possibility) what was that piece? Who realistically was there that would be the right fit for this team? I never thought Monroe was a good fit with The Celtics and the system Stevens runs. The rollercoaster of opinions on here about Harris is about the only one (depending on if that coaster is up or down right now, can't remember).

The worst thing a team can do (see NY Knicks, who finally seem to be curing themselves of this) is to spend money to spend money. When the #1 target is no longer available to just add the next guy in line whether he fits your team or not. I haven't really seen a realistic player in this free agency that it seemed worth tying up money/flexibility in.

[PhoSita]

I felt Monroe could have been that piece, yeah.  Install him as the starting center and top option (second option when IT is out there).

I think Monroe could have averaged at least 18-10 for the Celts and Stevens could find ways to make it work defensively.

Harris would have been a nice Plan B.

Certainly I didn't think Amir Johnson would be the big get.

[ChainSmokingLikeDino]

I felt Monroe could have been that piece, yeah.  Install him as the starting center and top option (second option when IT is out there).

I think Monroe could have averaged at least 18-10 for the Celts and Stevens could find ways to make it work defensively.

Harris would have been a nice Plan B.

Certainly I didn't think Amir Johnson would be the big get.

That's fair, though I never liked Monroe for this team. The way he gets his 18 (didn't attempt one 3 all year, just a hair over half his fg's were unassisted, plays at a really slow pace, etc) coupled with the defensive atrociousness just never seemed best. He to me feels like the type of player a team spends on to spend money, because they are a name and sought after, even though the fit is wrong (in context for The Celtics --- Milwaukee I'm not totally sold on but makes a little more sense. He still seems like an outlier to how they want to play).

Harris feels like a move that at least has potential but that was likely going to take Millsap going to Orlando for them not to match (effectively taking him off the market).

I guess I don't find doing nothing big, when nothing big was really to be had or appropriate, to be too dismaying.

A lot of people complain about a purgatory of being in the middle but The Celtics are better off being ok this year with flexibility for the future and the ability to trade their way into an impact player in the near future (meaning as a this year alternative to free agency), than to be stuck in the even worse position of being committed financially for the long term to players who don't fit what they are going for.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think people should stop throwing around the "fit into Brad Steven's system" shtick. It's bordering the absurd.

[Chief]

So remind me again what we are doing at sf. Crowder, I'm good with. But is Turner going to start and drive me nuts all season again? Tell me Danny has another plan. Please!

[Evantime34]

So remind me again what we are doing at sf. Crowder, I'm good with. But is Turner going to start and drive me nuts all season again? Tell me Danny has another plan. Please!

I'm praying we move Turner. If we do so I expect Crowder to start, Young to back him up and then for us to go real small for about 10 minutes a game with Marcus at the 3.

Even if Turner stays I think we will end up starting Crowder.

[ChainSmokingLikeDino]

I think people should stop throwing around the "fit into Brad Steven's system" shtick. It's bordering the absurd.

So, teams don't play different styles of basketball? Don't prefer certain players that have certain kinds of games? The Knicks didn't just have an abomination of a season trying to shoehorn players into the triangle (not that that was the only reason, of course, but it certainly didn't help --- or The Lakers and Byron Scott's offense. It certainly didn't help with free agents and LMA)? The Warriors didn't decide to keep Klay Thompson rather than trade for Love because he fit the style of play they preferred?

Obviously teams adapt to players that they deem worth adapting for. But is a Greg Monroe worth changing the philosophical and practical direction of the team (and thus the kind of players they have --- would they be complimentary?)? I don't personally think so, and, so, no it isn't absurd to look at the context of how a team plays basketball to judge whether a player is the right fit for that team.

[Kuberski33]

I felt Monroe could have been that piece, yeah.  Install him as the starting center and top option (second option when IT is out there).

I think Monroe could have averaged at least 18-10 for the Celts and Stevens could find ways to make it work defensively.

Harris would have been a nice Plan B.

Certainly I didn't think Amir Johnson would be the big get.

I'd have liked Monroe myself.  He'd have vaulted this team into the top 4 in the East.  But he said today  he was going to the team with the best chance for winning.  So he was never coming here because Milwaukee has a more talented roster.  That's the problem with building around a top level free agent at this point in time.  Good luck waiting for one to sign here. 

[libermaniac]

If we have cap space again next year, who would we target? This years FA class was much better/ more realistic in coming to Boston.

Hortford and Drummond likely stay.
Durant isn't coming here.
Anthony Davis and Lilliard just got resigned.

Roy Hibbert, Noah, Joe Johnson, Big Al, Beal, Ross, MKG?

Don't forget that neither Ray Allen nor KG were free agents.  We traded for both of them.  That's the more likely route for Ainge to take to improve.  Trading young assets for stars in bad situations.

[D.o.s.]

I think people should stop throwing around the "fit into Brad Steven's system" shtick. It's bordering the absurd.

So, teams don't play different styles of basketball? Don't prefer certain players that have certain kinds of games? The Knicks didn't just have an abomination of a season trying to shoehorn players into the triangle (not that that was the only reason, of course, but it certainly didn't help --- or The Lakers and Byron Scott's offense. It certainly didn't help with free agents and LMA)? The Warriors didn't decide to keep Klay Thompson rather than trade for Love because he fit the style of play they preferred?

Obviously teams adapt to players that they deem worth adapting for. But is a Greg Monroe worth changing the philosophical and practical direction of the team (and thus the kind of players they have --- would they be complimentary?)? I don't personally think so, and, so, no it isn't absurd to look at the context of how a team plays basketball to judge whether a player is the right fit for that team.

For good teams, the players determine the system -- not the other way around.

If you want a prime example, look at the Spurs run with Tim Duncan. Their most recent championship was played in a style that bears nearly no relationship to the way they won in 1999, or in 2004.

[Chris22]

We were 24-12 in our last 36 games, and we are a much better team now.
I really look forward to next season.

Sometimes I come off as the downer guy but people that know me and followed my thoughts and predictions know me as a realist. I like everyone on here wants the C's to be great.

I just don't see how anyone can say we are much better. Unless the young guys improve in leaps and bounds I see us as worse. Amir does not make us 1 game better IMO, at best that is a lateral move. So how did we get better?

Also I'm telling you IT will be driving people crazy with anger in the very near future, he's 5'9" gunner.

You don't see how we are much better than last year?
We have added IT, Crowder, Amir, Rozier, Hunter, Jerebko, and Mickey.
All of our youngsters are a year older. James Young just put on 20 lbs of muscle.
And we were 24-12 in our last 36 games.
I think people here are underrating our team.

[Tr1boy]

Random thoughts to talk you off the ledge

topic title of the year? lol

[ChainSmokingLikeDino]

I think people should stop throwing around the "fit into Brad Steven's system" shtick. It's bordering the absurd.

So, teams don't play different styles of basketball? Don't prefer certain players that have certain kinds of games? The Knicks didn't just have an abomination of a season trying to shoehorn players into the triangle (not that that was the only reason, of course, but it certainly didn't help --- or The Lakers and Byron Scott's offense. It certainly didn't help with free agents and LMA)? The Warriors didn't decide to keep Klay Thompson rather than trade for Love because he fit the style of play they preferred?

Obviously teams adapt to players that they deem worth adapting for. But is a Greg Monroe worth changing the philosophical and practical direction of the team (and thus the kind of players they have --- would they be complimentary?)? I don't personally think so, and, so, no it isn't absurd to look at the context of how a team plays basketball to judge whether a player is the right fit for that team.

For good teams, the players determine the system -- not the other way around.

If you want a prime example, look at the Spurs run with Tim Duncan. Their most recent championship was played in a style that bears nearly no relationship to the way they won in 1999, or in 2004.

Yes, and I said that. For certain players teams will adapt (and I am also not offering these things are set in stone -- at least not The Celtics. The Lakers at this moment may be an opposite example and it likely cost them a chance LMA). I personally don't think Monroe is worth adapting so much for. Again, I think The Celtics would obviously choose talent over style any day of the week but it would have to be the right talent. Stevens has his ways he wants to play but he is also incredibly smart and capable of fitting a playing style towards his roster (which we have seen). But that doesn't mean there isn't a type of player The Celtics prefer so it actually speaks to a larger philosophy.

That said, 1999 basketball is so fundamentally different down to the basic core of the game that that comparison doesn't carry much weight. The entire league is radically different. Popovich has been so successful in large part due to his ability to adapt and foresee what will work. As much as he has adapted, and pioneered, due to players he has equally had players adapt and change their games (this is not as teacher/student dynamic as it is sounding --- but the ying/yang of system/player - player/system is the point).

[TheSlipperyWhistle]

If we have cap space again next year, who would we target? This years FA class was much better/ more realistic in coming to Boston.

Hortford and Drummond likely stay.
Durant isn't coming here.
Anthony Davis and Lilliard just got resigned.

Roy Hibbert, Noah, Joe Johnson, Big Al, Beal, Ross, MKG?

Valanciunas... somewhat more under the radar target, but your point is well met.

[dreamgreen]

We were 24-12 in our last 36 games, and we are a much better team now.
I really look forward to next season.

Sometimes I come off as the downer guy but people that know me and followed my thoughts and predictions know me as a realist. I like everyone on here wants the C's to be great.

I just don't see how anyone can say we are much better. Unless the young guys improve in leaps and bounds I see us as worse. Amir does not make us 1 game better IMO, at best that is a lateral move. So how did we get better?

Also I'm telling you IT will be driving people crazy with anger in the very near future, he's 5'9" gunner.

Do we have the only players in the world that don't improve?  Young players get better.  Our entire roster should be slighly to moderately better.  They should be bigger, faster, stronger shoot better, and just about everything else.   Just being in the same system around the same guys should grow improvement.

So Bass for Amir Johnson is a lateral move.  I hated Bass, so it isn't a lateral move to me but assuming it is, we should still be seeing improvement from all of our youngsters.  If we are the same team we were the second half of last season after all our moves, we should be pretty good.

I assume are young guys will improve but than you have to assume every teams young guys have to improve.

I'm not a big Bass fan either but I have to admit he was a solid player and right now I have no reason to believe Amir will be any better, he will just earn more.

It's unrealistic to think we are going to continue the run we had at the end of last year. In the last 36 games we could just easily go 12-24 depending on schedule, injuries, chemistry ...

There is not one player on our team that would start for the 6 best teams in the league, not one.

I'll add we are a 3 point shooting team that can't shoot 3's, think we ranked 27 in % last year? The only player we brought in that can maybe shoot them is the 28th pick. Are we now counting on him playing 25 mpg and hitting 3's?