Author Topic: This looks like a lotto squad to me  (Read 36520 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #75 on: July 05, 2015, 10:03:37 AM »

Offline JHTruth

  • NCE
  • Bailey Howell
  • **
  • Posts: 2297
  • Tommy Points: 111

I also think based on the free agent snubs that Ainge has come to the conclusion the only way we end up landing a star is through the draft.


On the contrary, signing vets to these large unguaranteed contracts signals to me that Ainge is not concerned with trying to get talent higher in the draft.  Nor does it seem like he's intent on signing second or third tier free agents, even if the player is young and might be a bargain long term. 

Instead, it seems he's focused entirely on setting himself up to make a blockbuster trade or two for an elite talent.  From what I can tell, all of the eggs are in that basket.  If no such trade materializes, we're basically left hoping that one of these guys selected in the mid to late 1st round turns into a star.

No we're not terrible. And that is the problem. We're mediocre. Fringe playoff team, going to he drafting 12-16 every year, watching FAs laugh in our face as they head elsewhere, as we pray for the trade of the century. We were promised fireworks two years in a row and ended up with Jack. We're literally in the worst place to be for a NBA franchise.

And the Nets have no incentive to tank and every in incentive to avoid embarrassment..

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #76 on: July 05, 2015, 10:31:44 AM »

Offline jmen788

  • Jaylen Brown
  • Posts: 574
  • Tommy Points: 22
I hope we're a lottery squad... we need to land a star in the draft, badly!

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #77 on: July 05, 2015, 10:37:54 AM »

Offline greece66

  • Tiny Archibald
  • *******
  • Posts: 7395
  • Tommy Points: 1342
  • Head Paperboy at Greenville
Oh look another Glorious 'the C's suck big time' thread.

I'm thrilled.


Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #78 on: July 05, 2015, 10:41:48 AM »

Offline aingeforthree

  • Bailey Howell
  • **
  • Posts: 2013
  • Tommy Points: 134

I also think based on the free agent snubs that Ainge has come to the conclusion the only way we end up landing a star is through the draft.


On the contrary, signing vets to these large unguaranteed contracts signals to me that Ainge is not concerned with trying to get talent higher in the draft.  Nor does it seem like he's intent on signing second or third tier free agents, even if the player is young and might be a bargain long term. 

Instead, it seems he's focused entirely on setting himself up to make a blockbuster trade or two for an elite talent.  From what I can tell, all of the eggs are in that basket.  If no such trade materializes, we're basically left hoping that one of these guys selected in the mid to late 1st round turns into a star.

No we're not terrible. And that is the problem. We're mediocre. Fringe playoff team, going to he drafting 12-16 every year, watching FAs laugh in our face as they head elsewhere, as we pray for the trade of the century. We were promised fireworks two years in a row and ended up with Jack. We're literally in the worst place to be for a NBA franchise.

And the Nets have no incentive to tank and every in incentive to avoid embarrassment..

Gimme a break. To be in the worst place you have to have no assets, no youth to develop, and up against the cap.

So basically the Brooklyn Nets.

You are the complete opposite. You're wide open. Keep building through the draft.

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #79 on: July 05, 2015, 10:44:24 AM »

Offline aingeforthree

  • Bailey Howell
  • **
  • Posts: 2013
  • Tommy Points: 134
Oh look another Glorious 'the C's suck big time' thread.

I'm thrilled.



You'd think this is the 76er's board or that your team hasn't sniffed the playoffs in 10 years.

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #80 on: July 05, 2015, 10:49:07 AM »

Offline Eja117

  • NCE
  • Bill Sharman
  • *******************
  • Posts: 19274
  • Tommy Points: 1254
The last half of last year (really as soon as IT showed up) outside of the Cavs and Hawks there really wasn't a team in the East the Celts couldn't beat at will. Where has this team regressed? What part of the team is worse?

The guards are better. Way better than at the start of last year.

The wings are better.

The bigs are better.

Arguably the center position isn't better but it's not worse.

We didn't lose a major coach, right?

What team are we expecting to be far healthier than us? Orlando. I could give you them. But not Brooklyn or a lot of other teams.

Milwaukee. I expect them to be good.

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #81 on: July 05, 2015, 10:51:51 AM »

Offline CoachBo

  • NCE
  • Paul Silas
  • ******
  • Posts: 6069
  • Tommy Points: 336

I also think based on the free agent snubs that Ainge has come to the conclusion the only way we end up landing a star is through the draft.


On the contrary, signing vets to these large unguaranteed contracts signals to me that Ainge is not concerned with trying to get talent higher in the draft.  Nor does it seem like he's intent on signing second or third tier free agents, even if the player is young and might be a bargain long term. 

Instead, it seems he's focused entirely on setting himself up to make a blockbuster trade or two for an elite talent.  From what I can tell, all of the eggs are in that basket.  If no such trade materializes, we're basically left hoping that one of these guys selected in the mid to late 1st round turns into a star.

No we're not terrible. And that is the problem. We're mediocre. Fringe playoff team, going to he drafting 12-16 every year, watching FAs laugh in our face as they head elsewhere, as we pray for the trade of the century. We were promised fireworks two years in a row and ended up with Jack. We're literally in the worst place to be for a NBA franchise.

And the Nets have no incentive to tank and every in incentive to avoid embarrassment..

Gimme a break. To be in the worst place you have to have no assets, no youth to develop, and up against the cap.

So basically the Brooklyn Nets.

You are the complete opposite. You're wide open. Keep building through the draft.

Not much comfort there with Ainge feeding his addiction for guards.
Coined the CelticsBlog term, "Euromistake."

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #82 on: July 05, 2015, 10:54:45 AM »

Offline Who

  • James Naismith
  • *********************************
  • Posts: 47136
  • Tommy Points: 2401
I think Amir Johnson will prove to be a big pickup for this team.

The lack of an above average defensive big caused all types of problems last season. Having Amir on board is going to make a lot of things easier for everyone else defensively. I also think the team will benefit from having two centers in Amir and Ty Zeller. Better able to keep the pressure on the opposition.

The composition of the Celtics' big man rotation is much better with Amir replacing Bass. More balanced. More defensive integrity. Still retained offensive integrity with Sully, Olynyk and Jerebko. Still able to go small and play two offensive minded bigs when necessary.

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #83 on: July 05, 2015, 11:00:03 AM »

Offline PAOBoston

  • Don Nelson
  • ********
  • Posts: 8098
  • Tommy Points: 533
Looks to be another case of heralding/overrating other teams while dumping on the C's. The C's aren't a championship contender obviously but why is it so hard to believe that the team and its players could improve? Reading these boards lately, apparently every other team in the NBA can improve next season except for the C's, who are bringing back the majority of their team from last year. The C's young players like Smart etc won't improve while we expect other young players on other teams to. I don't get that.

I get people are disappointed that the team didn't land any the "big" FA names and maybe th ownership is responsible for those expectations with their statements. But that doesn't mean the C's will be bottom feeders next season. They have a solid good young core, plenty of upcoming cap space, and a ton of picks (which could be lottery picks depending on how the season turns out for BRK/DAL). The team finished the regular season on a tear last year. I don't expect them to play at that type of level but I do expect them to be competetive and be in the playoffs.

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #84 on: July 05, 2015, 11:10:18 AM »

Offline Celtics18

  • Ed Macauley
  • ***********
  • Posts: 11688
  • Tommy Points: 1469
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that Toronto is the most likely to take a precipitous fall next season.  I wouldn't be surprised to see them drop all the way out of the playoffs.  They were a disaster to finish the season last year.  I could see their spiral continuing.

Brooklyn is another top candidate to drop out.  They rely so much on Brook Lopez being healthy.  That's a risky proposition.

I would like to see Milwaukee continue to improve.  The Pacers should be in with Paul George returning and stellar play from the under-rated George Hill.

I agree with those saying that Orlando seems primed to make real improvement.  Whether it's enough to get all the way to the post-season remains to be seen.

I don't trust the Hornets or the Pistons.

Here is my early prediction:

Cleveland
Atlanta
Washington
Chicago
Milwaukee
Miami
Boston
Indiana

DKC Seventy-Sixers:

PG: G. Hill/D. Schroder
SG: C. Lee/B. Hield/T. Luwawu
SF:  Giannis/J. Lamb/M. Kuzminskas
PF:  E. Ilyasova/J. Jerebko/R. Christmas
C:    N. Vucevic/K. Olynyk/E. Davis/C. Jefferson

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #85 on: July 05, 2015, 11:13:22 AM »

Offline gpap

  • Don Nelson
  • ********
  • Posts: 8224
  • Tommy Points: 417

I also think based on the free agent snubs that Ainge has come to the conclusion the only way we end up landing a star is through the draft.


On the contrary, signing vets to these large unguaranteed contracts signals to me that Ainge is not concerned with trying to get talent higher in the draft.  Nor does it seem like he's intent on signing second or third tier free agents, even if the player is young and might be a bargain long term. 

Instead, it seems he's focused entirely on setting himself up to make a blockbuster trade or two for an elite talent.  From what I can tell, all of the eggs are in that basket.  If no such trade materializes, we're basically left hoping that one of these guys selected in the mid to late 1st round turns into a star.

No we're not terrible. And that is the problem. We're mediocre. Fringe playoff team, going to he drafting 12-16 every year, watching FAs laugh in our face as they head elsewhere, as we pray for the trade of the century. We were promised fireworks two years in a row and ended up with Jack. We're literally in the worst place to be for a NBA franchise.

And the Nets have no incentive to tank and every in incentive to avoid embarrassment..

Gimme a break. To be in the worst place you have to have no assets, no youth to develop, and up against the cap.

So basically the Brooklyn Nets.

You are the complete opposite. You're wide open. Keep building through the draft.

A few problems with what you're saying

-Other than Smart, we have no assets.

-Having youth to develop is meaningless. You need to have players that can contribute now to win now.

-I actually like the guys we drafted but having "youth to develop" is in NO WAY a requirement for having a good team.

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #86 on: July 05, 2015, 11:22:19 AM »

Offline Celtics4ever

  • NCE
  • Johnny Most
  • ********************
  • Posts: 20000
  • Tommy Points: 1323
Quote
The last half of last year (really as soon as IT showed up) outside of the Cavs and Hawks there really wasn't a team in the East the Celts couldn't beat at will. Where has this team regressed? What part of the team is worse?

The guards are better. Way better than at the start of last year.

The wings are better.

The bigs are better.

Arguably the center position isn't better but it's not worse.

We didn't lose a major coach, right?

What team are we expecting to be far healthier than us? Orlando. I could give you them. But not Brooklyn or a lot of other teams.

Milwaukee. I expect them to be good.

I think IND will be better too.  MIA possibly with their pickup in the draft.

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #87 on: July 05, 2015, 11:27:19 AM »

Offline jbpats

  • Don Chaney
  • *
  • Posts: 1525
  • Tommy Points: 406
I'd have to agree, and have been saying so all week on the blog.

Assuming the C's stick with the same roster I think we are bottom 3-4 team in East. I feel this team overachieved this past season, benefited from an easy second half schedule and played a handful of teams down the stretch that were either resting starters or shooting for the lottery.

I think this team is a 30-35 win team, and honestly might be better off being it in the long run.

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #88 on: July 05, 2015, 11:28:38 AM »

Offline pokeKingCurtis

  • Ray Allen
  • ***
  • Posts: 3733
  • Tommy Points: 280
I think Amir Johnson will prove to be a big pickup for this team.

The lack of an above average defensive big caused all types of problems last season. Having Amir on board is going to make a lot of things easier for everyone else defensively. I also think the team will benefit from having two centers in Amir and Ty Zeller. Better able to keep the pressure on the opposition.

The composition of the Celtics' big man rotation is much better with Amir replacing Bass. More balanced. More defensive integrity. Still retained offensive integrity with Sully, Olynyk and Jerebko. Still able to go small and play two offensive minded bigs when necessary.

Zeller plus Johnson (plus Mickey, on the off chance) is a nice stream of defensive bigs.

Re: This looks like a lotto squad to me
« Reply #89 on: July 05, 2015, 11:30:39 AM »

Offline GreenFaith1819

  • NCE
  • Reggie Lewis
  • ***************
  • Posts: 15402
  • Tommy Points: 2785
I believe the Celtics will NOT be in the lottery, and will compete for 45-ish wins...maybe more, if a few of these teams become suspect. With Amir's addition, whatever he's lost injury-wise will be made up for with his leadership and glue mentality. I believe we're going to love him here. He's going to help with our rim protection and rebounding and at 28 YO is still rather young. I'm expecting Smart, Sully, AB and KO to improve, as well as Zeller. Looking forward to us scrapping out some wins, and potentially making more moves as DA sees opportunities.

Indy has Monta and apparently will lose DWest and Hibbert. DWest's loss will be HUGE, in that he brought toughness and leadership to that team. Monta won't help them move the needle much at all, IMO. They'll win most of their games, but I'm guessing no more than 48-34 or 49-33.

WAS has lost PP34, which was/is the heart and soul of that team. Unless Wall or Beal step up leadership-wise, they'll win a fair amount of games but will stumble in tough games vs talented teams and won't make it past the 1st round of the playoffs. 46-36.

MIA will probably be better, and CHI will probably remain top-flight. CLE will be a top team again, as well - but I'm holding out hope that Blatche will not figure out how to use KLove properly. I'll admit that this is unlikely though.

I'll place MIA at 45-50 games won...CHI at 50+ and CLE at 55-60 wins.

I'll place MIL at 50-ish wins. Greg Monroe will be HUGE for them, as will Jabari coming back from injury last season. MIL will be fun to watch.

TOR? We have their heart and soul in BOS right now, in Amir. Demarre will replace that in some ways, but I just don't see them maintaining that team as is next season. My guess is they won't win many more games than BOS, TBH.

DET/ORL/NY will be better, but won't win anymore than 30 games, IMO.

Just my two cents. Looking forward to next season. I'm sure that BOS will be better, as will a few other teams in the East. I'm also certain that injuries will (unfortunately) affect a few of these teams, as will performance. Either of these factors will help BOS down the road as trade opportunities will arise.

Just be patient and let DA and CBS do their jobs. :)

EDIT - I forgot BKN. TBH I'm not sure what to make of them. They could win 45-50 games or miss the playoffs completely. A lot, for them, depends on health. Just seems to me that that team is on the verge of going south, IMO.