Don't expect to learn much this Preseason

[LarBrd33]

It sucks that we have to wait until October 14th until we play a real basketball team... and yet it's Brooklyn, a team a lot of people think will be bottom 5.   Then the Knicks on the 16th (oof)... the Nets on the 19th... then the Knicks on the 22nd... then the 76ers on the 23rd.   

Then we open the season against the 76ers on the 28th.   The first widely acknowledged "competent" team we'll see Boston face off against is the Raptors on October 30th.   

Lame.  Take what you see this month with a major grain of salt.  Yeah it's great that we blew out some Italian team by 31 points, but we blew out that same team by 30 points in 2012.  We went 3-5 the rest of that pre-season and started the season 14-17.  It wasn't until Rondo's injury that the team rallied and finished the season with 41 wins and a 1st round sweep.    I'm just sayin... you should fully expect to see Boston go 8-0 against Italian teams, Brooklyn, New York and Philly.   It's going to be another month until we see this team tested.

Side Note:  I actually think Brooklyn and New York have a chance to make the playoffs this year, but I acknowledge that most expect them to be bottom feeders.  Our first non-bottomfeeder is the Raptors on October 30th.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

It's preseason, no team faces any real competition and it doesn't matter if it's Cavs vs. Spurs. People aren't really trying and the coach is giving everyone a shot at playing. You can't tell how teams will fare in the regular season based off the preseason play so it doesn't matter who your opponent is, all you want is to "practice" against people who aren't on your team. Nothing more than greasing gears.

[jdz101]

"We play Brooklyn and people say they'll be bottom 5, so theyre not a real basketball team"

supports doomsayer argument that just because we might look good in preseason we wont be any good this year.

later in post:

"I actually think Brooklyn will make the playoffs"

conveniently supports doomsayer argument that our Brooklyn pick wont be any good, but completely contradicts initial argument in post

classic larbrd33

[PhoSita]

Even scrubby teams (e.g. the Italian team they killed today) have some NBA caliber talent.  So it's good to see how some of our players fit together playing in an actual game.  The young players in particular are interesting to watch.

I don't think it's meaningless, for example, that Marcus Smart looked competent running the offense today and scored 11 points in 20ish minutes without forcing the issue offensively.  David Lee and Tyler Zeller started and looked quite good together.  Lee and Amir both got very involved passing the ball.  All of that stuff was good to see.

Definitely have to take what we see with a grain of salt, but this is professional basketball played by honest to goodness Celtics.  The biggest thing to throw away is any concern about how many points are scored, or how easily.  But looking at the roles that guys play, and the lineup combinations, is interesting.

[LarBrd33]

"We play Brooklyn and people say they'll be bottom 5, so theyre not a real basketball team"

supports doomsayer argument that just because we might look good in preseason we wont be any good this year.

later in post:

"I actually think Brooklyn will make the playoffs"

conveniently supports doomsayer argument that our Brooklyn pick wont be any good, but completely contradicts initial argument in post

classic larbrd33

TP

People have been saying for months that New York and Brooklyn are bottomfeeder teams.  If you subscribe to that theory, it's unfortunate that we will not see a competent team until the 30th.

I actually think both those teams are fine, but they are top-heavy.  I suspect guys like Melo and Brook lopez will not play much in preseason.   Not much can ever really be learned from preseason anyways.  I'm just anxious to see this team play some competition.

[pokeKingCurtis]

Fantastic post.

It's going to be doom and gloom this season and the next five. Strap in guys, we should have tanked thrice.

After watching some highlights, I have come to some definitive conclusions about this team:

- David Lee was trying so hard against this Euro team. He's gonna get in the way of our tanking.
- Marcus Smart had a nice steal, but was only able to lay it in in the open court. Smart's weight is a major concern.
- People talk about Sully being fat, but Isaiah Thomas hasn't grown an inch since I last saw him.
- Olynyk hasn't grown an inch either with regards to facial hair.
- We're all gonna die someday.

[Boris Badenov]

It sucks that we have to wait until October 14th until we play a real basketball team... and yet it's Brooklyn, a team a lot of people think will be bottom 5.   Then the Knicks on the 16th (oof)... the Nets on the 19th... then the Knicks on the 22nd... then the 76ers on the 23rd.   

Then we open the season against the 76ers on the 28th.   The first widely acknowledged "competent" team we'll see Boston face off against is the Raptors on October 30th.   

Lame.  Take what you see this month with a major grain of salt.

Errrr...aren't these the exact same teams we'll be playing over and over in our division all year?

[max215]

"We play Brooklyn and people say they'll be bottom 5, so theyre not a real basketball team"

supports doomsayer argument that just because we might look good in preseason we wont be any good this year.

later in post:

"I actually think Brooklyn will make the playoffs"

conveniently supports doomsayer argument that our Brooklyn pick wont be any good, but completely contradicts initial argument in post

classic larbrd33

TP

People have been saying for months that New York and Brooklyn are bottomfeeder teams.  If you subscribe to that theory, it's unfortunate that we will not see a competent team until the 30th.

I actually think both those teams are fine, but they are top-heavy. I suspect guys like Melo and Brook lopez will not play much in preseason.  Not much can ever really be learned from preseason anyways.  I'm just anxious to see this team play some competition.

Predictions are nice, but facts are better. The fact is that in the Nets' loss to an 'amateur' team, Lopez played more minutes than all but one of our starters in our 33 point blowout victory.

[fairweatherfan]

Can we get a "painfully obvious" subforum?  Or otherwise, a reminder of the last time we could expect to learn much in the preseason?

[SHAQATTACK]

Laker Nation

Officially pressed early panic button.

Their 2 nd and 7 th rounders are not living up to the fans expectations .

So funny to read their threads

[fairweatherfan]

Fantastic post.

It's going to be doom and gloom this season and the next five. Strap in guys, we should have tanked thrice.

After watching some highlights, I have come to some definitive conclusions about this team:

- David Lee was trying so hard against this Euro team. He's gonna get in the way of our tanking.
- Marcus Smart had a nice steal, but was only able to lay it in in the open court. Smart's weight is a major concern.
- People talk about Sully being fat, but Isaiah Thomas hasn't grown an inch since I last saw him.
- Olynyk hasn't grown an inch either with regards to facial hair.
- We're all gonna die someday.

This is an excellent post, and absolutely true.  I've been tanking my posts for years to try and set a good example, but the front office doesn't seem to be getting the hint.

[jpotter33]

It sucks that we have to wait until October 14th until we play a real basketball team... and yet it's Brooklyn, a team a lot of people think will be bottom 5.   Then the Knicks on the 16th (oof)... the Nets on the 19th... then the Knicks on the 22nd... then the 76ers on the 23rd.   

Then we open the season against the 76ers on the 28th.   The first widely acknowledged "competent" team we'll see Boston face off against is the Raptors on October 30th.   

Lame.  Take what you see this month with a major grain of salt.  Yeah it's great that we blew out some Italian team by 31 points, but we blew out that same team by 30 points in 2012.  We went 3-5 the rest of that pre-season and started the season 14-17.  It wasn't until Rondo's injury that the team rallied and finished the season with 41 wins and a 1st round sweep.    I'm just sayin... you should fully expect to see Boston go 8-0 against Italian teams, Brooklyn, New York and Philly.   It's going to be another month until we see this team tested.

Side Note:  I actually think Brooklyn and New York have a chance to make the playoffs this year, but I acknowledge that most expect them to be bottom feeders.  Our first non-bottomfeeder is the Raptors on October 30th.

I mean, you keep saying this. However, our 2015 team is nearly fundamentally opposite of that team in the 2012 preseason.

I get what you're saying about tempering expectations, but there are many more things to develop and watch in the preseason than just winning and losing. Looking for chemistry and lineups that work well together are two big things that really shouldn't be all that effected by the level of competition we're facing.

[tankcity!]

Fantastic post.

It's going to be doom and gloom this season and the next five. Strap in guys, we should have tanked thrice.

After watching some highlights, I have come to some definitive conclusions about this team:

- David Lee was trying so hard against this Euro team. He's gonna get in the way of our tanking.
- Marcus Smart had a nice steal, but was only able to lay it in in the open court. Smart's weight is a major concern.
- People talk about Sully being fat, but Isaiah Thomas hasn't grown an inch since I last saw him.
- Olynyk hasn't grown an inch either with regards to facial hair.
- We're all gonna die someday.

I honestly don't see an issue with Smart's weight. He doesn't seem to get tired in games either....All the other comments seem to be a joke.

Also, this thread is ridiculous.

[guava_wrench]

It's preseason, no team faces any real competition and it doesn't matter if it's Cavs vs. Spurs. People aren't really trying and the coach is giving everyone a shot at playing. You can't tell how teams will fare in the regular season based off the preseason play so it doesn't matter who your opponent is, all you want is to "practice" against people who aren't on your team. Nothing more than greasing gears.

Yeah, many games won't even have starters playing.

[colincb]

Too many guys on this team trying to tank our tank and BS isn't on board either. We're screwed.

Oh yeah, saw the thread title in the sidebar and predicted the OP before I opened it. Unique psychic powers eh?