Can I start panicking if we lose to Charlotte?

[mef730]

Given that we are only two games in, it's way too early to start making judgments. Having said that, after almost blowing it against BKN the other night and an ugly loss to Chicago, I am feeling neither the warms nor the fuzzies right now. The defense will be better once we get Marcus back, but how do you fix a problem like rebounding? It's not like you can put two inch heals or Sullinger's butt on anyone?

This should be a huge season for us, but it's starting ugly. At what point is it okay to panic?

Mike

[PhoSita]

The Celts should ultimately finish with a better record than Chicago.  They will probably finish with a better record than Charlotte.

But they aren't so much better than either of those teams -- especially at the start of the season when those teams are healthy and the Celts are missing two key bench guys -- that back to back losses to those teams ought to be cause for alarm.


We get to watch a Celts team that is set up to be very good this year.  Perhaps top 5-8 in the league.

Unfortunately, being top 5-8 in the league isn't as impressive as it may have seemed once upon a time.  The Celts are just a short step above the morasse of mediocrity that forms the sizable middle of the league.  This isn't a team you should expect to comfortably beat all opponents save the elite contenders.


If they get blown out at home by the Suns or Magic or Sixers, then yeah, maybe that's reason to be worried.

[fairweatherfan]

Sure, why not?

Longer answer - didn't we start like 1-3 last season? It's a very very long year and how teams start the season often has little relation to how they end it. I doubt Golden State will drop many home games by 29 in March and April. It's more like "look for improvement where we're struggling" than "freak out because we're struggling in some areas".

[Quetzalcoatl]

We usually play way better after the break, so I'm not worried.  If we're like a .600 team going into the All-Star Break, we'll probably finish as a .700 team (57 games).  That's about what we're all expecting, anyways.

[PhoSita]

I will say, if the Celts continue to get trounced on the boards and consistently give up 100+ points through the first .... let's say 8-10 games ... then I think it's reasonable to worry.

Rebounding is an obvious Achilles heel for this team, and likely will be all year.  The defense is going to have to more than make up for it for the Celts to be as competitive as we all hope. 

[LarBrd33]

Given that we are only two games in, it's way too early to start making judgments. Having said that, after almost blowing it against BKN the other night and an ugly loss to Chicago, I am feeling neither the warms nor the fuzzies right now. The defense will be better once we get Marcus back, but how do you fix a problem like rebounding? It's not like you can put two inch heals or Sullinger's butt on anyone?

This should be a huge season for us, but it's starting ugly. At what point is it okay to panic?

Mike

No.  Relax.  This team is going to be really good.   It's also one of the best equipped teams in the league for withstanding injuries.

[alldaboston]

Given that we are only two games in, it's way too early to start making judgments. Having said that, after almost blowing it against BKN the other night and an ugly loss to Chicago, I am feeling neither the warms nor the fuzzies right now. The defense will be better once we get Marcus back, but how do you fix a problem like rebounding? It's not like you can put two inch heals or Sullinger's butt on anyone?

This should be a huge season for us, but it's starting ugly. At what point is it okay to panic?

Mike

No.  Relax.  This team is going to be really good.   It's also one of the best equipped teams in the league for withstanding injuries.

Man i hope so. Expectations are high across the league. The Horford addition was supposed to take us to that next level. Except, you can argue that Horford hasnt shown up. I am still worried about the fit. I thought it was gonna be a perfect and easy fit, but so far it looks like we will have to endure some growing pains.

The rebounding is something I'm also scared of. We can get really beat up if we dont fit that. And soon.

If we lose to Charlotte, I will also start panicking a bit. I'm in the same boat as OP, definitely feeling let down so far this season.

[Daddy Pinto]

We're 2 games into the season. Even if we dropped the next game there's still no reason to panic. We did a lot of good things last night. Our defense held them to 39% while we shot 50% and 34% from 3 (not great). I also don't see the Bulls shooting 44% from 3 consistently throughout the season.

What killed us, as everyone already knows, was rebounding (19 more than us). We honestly had no business even coming close to stealing this game but we only lost by 6 points. If we even had 4 or 5 more rebounds we couldve possibly stolen that game but being out rebounded by 19 is insane. Going forward we have to try to close that gap.

IT4 was once again solid. Horford was good but needed to be more aggressive. Need to run more offense through him. Jaylen continues to impress. We just have to give these guys time to gel. They looked great in preseason but preseason should always be taken with a grain of salt. As we continue through the season and chemistry improves I expect offense and defense to improve. Guys need to learn to trust each other. As Horford builds chemistry with the starting unit he's going to continue to improve. He'll become more familiar with defensive rotations and where guys like to get the ball.

This team is full of fighters and you could see the body language after the game they weren't happy. I trust these guys will only get better from here.

 

[The One]

Yes, you have our permission...it will be entertaining.

[Moranis]

No reason to panic, but the first two games are showing what many, myself included, thought would be areas of concern for this team.

Again those are:
1. Rebounding
2. No shot blocking
3. No go to #1 scorer
4. No consistent three point shooting

The first two games have shown those were legitimate concerns for this team, and there isn't any way to fix them without a trade.  Boston just has to do what it does well more consistently, which should be helped when Smart and Olynyk are back and playing, and thus minimize the effects of those weak areas. 

[TrueFan]

I say yes if we got smashed on the boards again.

[Bobshot]

Didn't they lose their first two games last year? When Stevens started Lee and Zeller up front, and put the team in the hole early--twice--before he finally put them on the bench. This year, Amir hasn't shown up yet, Horford isn't an inside guy, and Zeller is getting big minutes because Olynyk is sidelined. I doubt Olynyk would improve matters, but it just shows they have defensive weaknesses up front--again.

Sullinger, by the way, was the best rebounder of the bunch last year, and his inside play helped a lot. They will miss him this year, though Danny dodged a bullet by letting him go. He has serious foot problems--which is perhaps why he struck out in the playoffs last year.

[fairweatherfan]

Didn't they lose their first two games last year? When Stevens started Lee and Zeller up front, and put the team in the hole early--twice--before he finally put them on the bench.

And the year before that we tried AB at PG for a few games, and overachieved to 40 wins regardless. Brad's early season lineups don't always work too well but he's excellent at eventually figuring out ones that do.

[Celtic_Pride777]

I expected there to be an adjustment period, but I didn't think our rebounding problem would be THIS bad. I won't panic, but I'll be concerned if the same problem keeps coming up.

I know this team has flaws, but I expect them to still reach 50+ wins and hopefully, clinch the #2 seed.

[Chris22]

Getting Smart and Olynyk back will help, but Olynyk won't be back until mid November.