Official Boston Celtics Thread

[tonybologna]

I personally don't think we will get the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference like we did last season. I think we're looking at #3 or #4 with so many changes. It will take Kyrie a while to gel with his new Celtic teammates along with Hayward as well.

I think the Cavs & at least the Wizards will be better than us in the East. Maybe even one of either the Raptors, Hawks, or Heat could be as well. If Kyrie comes in & adjust well along with Hayward then we can be a #2 seed by seasons end. I still don't think we beat last seasons record. I say we go something like 50-32 down to as low as 47-35.

[FerdBrown]

Where's the Prelude impressions thread?

[CaseIH]

Quote: Originally Posted by tonybologna

I personally don't think we will get the #1 seed in the Eastern Conference like we did last season. I think we're looking at #3 or #4 with so many changes. It will take Kyrie a while to gel with his new Celtic teammates along with Hayward as well. I think the Cavs & at least the Wizards will be better than us in the East. Maybe even one of either the Raptors, Hawks, or Heat could be as well. If Kyrie comes in & adjust well along with Hayward then we can be a #2 seed by seasons end. I still don't think we beat last seasons record. I say we go something like 50-32 down to as low as 47-35.

Pacers fan here, but Im a Hoosier 1st and foremost, so unless your name is Eric Gordon, I pull for you to do well,lol. So with Brad Stevens, and now Hayward being Celtics, Im pulling for them to win it all, although still will root for Pacers when they play Celtics, but it doesnt hurt as much when we do lose to them.
Most times when there is a big roster change, it does take time for teams to work kinks out, so Im sure they will have a learning curve. I dont think it will be quite as long of a learning curve as it might be for other teams, do to Brad Stevens. Brad has a way of getting the most out of the whatever the talent level he has to work with. Lets be honest when you best player is 5'9 at best, and you do as well as they did, with IT as their star, and a roster full of basically role players, thats not a knock on any of those guys either, as when I think of role player, I dont think garbage, I think of a guy who is talented, but fits whatever role you ask of him. Horford is pretty darn good, but I wouldnt call him a star by any means.
I think the big ? for the Celtics, is 1, how Kyrie fits in, if he thinks this is his team, and he is the Lebron if this team, he will be sadly mistaken, and that could cause chemistry issues. The other ? is can Kyrie stay healthy, this isnt a player who has been all that durable in his career.
Celtics no longer have their best 2 defenders, so that possibly could be a issue, although Brad Stevens has a way of getting guys to give effort on defense, and I do think that Brown kid, could be a very good wing defender, but the loss of Avery and Crowder will likely so up some especially early in the season. Gordon is a solid defender, and with the emergence of Jaylen Brown, along with Smart, they should be OK.
The ability is there for Kyrie to be a solid defender more so than with IT, but its the willingness to play defense is the issue, like James Harden, although I would say Kyrie does put more effort than Harden does,lol.

If Kyrie stays healthy and thats a big IF, I believe Boston could be the best team in the EC, and beat the Cavs. I fell Lebron is at the age, where if he has to fully carry the load night in and night out, all season long, then do it also come playoff time, his run of consective finals run will be over. Cavs now have no closer to go to outside of Lebron now, and with Lebron having to carry all the load, I think he will be wore down some come playoffs.

If I were a betting man, I would almost bet the farm on Boston vs Warriors finals this yr, with Warriors obviously winning it all, just to much talent on Warriors for any team to overcome unfortunately, if they are fully healthy that is.

[tonybologna]

Quote: Originally Posted by CaseIH

Pacers fan here, but Im a Hoosier 1st and foremost, so unless your name is Eric Gordon, I pull for you to do well,lol. So with Brad Stevens, and now Hayward being Celtics, Im pulling for them to win it all, although still will root for Pacers when they play Celtics, but it doesnt hurt as much when we do lose to them. Most times when there is a big roster change, it does take time for teams to work kinks out, so Im sure they will have a learning curve. I dont think it will be quite as long of a learning curve as it might be for other teams, do to Brad Stevens. Brad has a way of getting the most out of the whatever the talent level he has to work with. Lets be honest when you best player is 5'9 at best, and you do as well as they did, with IT as their star, and a roster full of basically role players, thats not a knock on any of those guys either, as when I think of role player, I dont think garbage, I think of a guy who is talented, but fits whatever role you ask of him. Horford is pretty darn good, but I wouldnt call him a star by any means. I think the big ? for the Celtics, is 1, how Kyrie fits in, if he thinks this is his team, and he is the Lebron if this team, he will be sadly mistaken, and that could cause chemistry issues. The other ? is can Kyrie stay healthy, this isnt a player who has been all that durable in his career. Celtics no longer have their best 2 defenders, so that possibly could be a issue, although Brad Stevens has a way of getting guys to give effort on defense, and I do think that Brown kid, could be a very good wing defender, but the loss of Avery and Crowder will likely so up some especially early in the season. Gordon is a solid defender, and with the emergence of Jaylen Brown, along with Smart, they should be OK. The ability is there for Kyrie to be a solid defender more so than with IT, but its the willingness to play defense is the issue, like James Harden, although I would say Kyrie does put more effort than Harden does,lol. If Kyrie stays healthy and thats a big IF, I believe Boston could be the best team in the EC, and beat the Cavs. I fell Lebron is at the age, where if he has to fully carry the load night in and night out, all season long, then do it also come playoff time, his run of consective finals run will be over. Cavs now have no closer to go to outside of Lebron now, and with Lebron having to carry all the load, I think he will be wore down some come playoffs. If I were a betting man, I would almost bet the farm on Boston vs Warriors finals this yr, with Warriors obviously winning it all, just to much talent on Warriors for any team to overcome unfortunately, if they are fully healthy that is.

I like your detailed post. The last paragraph is where I might have a little bit of a disagreement in your post. Like you said Boston has lost two really solid defenders in Bradley & Crowder. Hayward & Irving aren't nowhere as near as good defensively as what we lost. They are better combined offensively no doubt.

I think Kyrie will fit in well in Boston but it might take 15-20 games to do so. The Cavs might not be the team we have to worry about beating in the East anyhow. It just might be the Wizards who showed signs last season of coming on to be contenders. 1st-3rd in the East though should be between these 3 teams(Celtics, Wizards, & Cavs).

Like you said, the Warriors will be cream of the crop again in the West. Nobody will come within 8-10 games of them in final regular season records. They could get upset in the playoffs though but it's not likely. Probably Warriors vs one of these 3 teams from the East in the finals. I would have to go with the Wizards by a slight advantage followed by almost a tie between Boston & the Cavs.

[CaseIH]

Quote: Originally Posted by tonybologna

I like your detailed post. The last paragraph is where I might have a little bit of a disagreement in your post. Like you said Boston has lost two really solid defenders in Bradley & Crowder. Hayward & Irving aren't nowhere as near as good defensively as what we lost. They are better combined offensively no doubt. I think Kyrie will fit in well in Boston but it might take 15-20 games to do so. The Cavs might not be the team we have to worry about beating in the East anyhow. It just might be the Wizards who showed signs last season of coming on to be contenders. 1st-3rd in the East though should be between these 3 teams(Celtics, Wizards, & Cavs). Like you said, the Warriors will be cream of the crop again in the West. Nobody will come within 8-10 games of them in final regular season records. They could get upset in the playoffs though but it's not likely. Probably Warriors vs one of these 3 teams from the East in the finals. I would have to go with the Wizards by a slight advantage followed by almost a tie between Boston & the Cavs.

Hayward is a solid team defender, but but obviously lacks some footspeed to be a lockdown defender, like Crowder or Bradley, but Hayward wont hurt you defensively. Kyrie on the other hand Id say he is worse defensively than IT, by his lack of effort. Kyrie;s defensive effort is much more than the Rockets get with Harden, but I do think Kyrie if he puts his mind to it, could be a solid defender, and if anyone can get it out of him, it will be Brad Stevens.

I cant really disagree with you, on the Wizards, might be the toughest team that Boston has to get by in the EC.

Im curious to see how the Cavs mesh this yr, especially if players on the team feel Lebron is planning on leaving the Cavs high and dry once again. Granted Lebron owes the owner nothing, or any Cavs fan for that matter, he did what he said he wanted to do and thats bring a championship to Cleveland, but I could see chemistry issues do to his drama queen act. On top Lebron having to carry the full load once again all season long, as I mentioned. especially at this stage of his career, I know he is a freak of nature, and keeps excellent care of his body, but he isnt 25 anymore, and this team will be Lebron or bust. Love is a good player, but he needs the ball fed to him to be effective offensively he cant create himself. Rose isnt much more than a glorified role player, and Ive always felt he was a loser, and no team expecting him to be able to help carry the load offensively nowdays, wont even see the finals IMO, let alone be able to win it all. Ive just never like him, due to Calipari being his coach and the whole SAT scandal, although IMO I dont think kids should have to go to college for a yr before entering the draft, not everyone is cut out for college.

Wizards could definitely challenge for the EC crown this season, but Bradly Beal is also kind of frail, and spends alot of time in street clothes instead of on the court. If Washington is fully healthy, meaning Beal stays healthy, thats a pretty darn good backcourt, that could give the Celtics issues. But Horford hasnt been the most durable player either, so it will be important for the Celtics to have him fully healthy as well if they want to get to the finals.

Ainge still has the ability to go out and add to that team during the season, and I think he will likley be more aggressive this season, in making moves than he was last season. Thats why I wish the Pacers would have held on to PG, if a team like say Boston felt at trade deadline, by adding him they could not only win the EC, but give the Warriors a run in the finals, we could have got more than we did for PG. But if I was in their shoes, I would have probably been ticked off at PG, and would have wanted to move him before the start of practice, just to make sure there isnt lockerroom issues arise due to everyone knowing he was leaving at seasons end. While I can see their side of it, as a fan, Im glad PG didnt pull the drama queen act like Lebron, or a Dwight Howard, and he made them aware before the draft that he wasnt resigning with them, just wish he would have been more of a man, and did it face to face rather than thru his agent, and wish he would have given them a more heads up, rather than just right before the draft. Oh well, I actually think OKC gave us quite a bit for a player, that there is a 99% chance he wont resign with them.

[tonybologna]

http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/2...gm-danny-ainge

I'm with you on this one IT. I'm still fuming over this one.

[redsox4evur]

Yea IT is being a little whiny kid. No reason to get pissed at an owner and not even respond to his text to him. As Wyc pointed out during his preseason interview with Felger and Mazz. Quick recap in this Twitter thread. https://twitter.com/jaredweissnba/st...25817069117440
Now back to IT, I’m now even more firmly in the camp that is happy he is gone. He should know this is a business and you get traded, hell he was traded 2 times in 2 years. And I now like him less because he didn’t text Wyc back after Wyc gave him his best wishes.


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[jeremym480]

I still love IT even though he's been up in his feelings since the trade. His season and playoffs last year were really something. I get how he feels, I mean he was the front man on this quick rebuild and was right there with Ainge on selling the Celtics to Durant, Horford and Hayward. He was true warrior on and off the court.

With all of that said, I'm not mad at the trade.... at all. Irving is younger, has a better contract and I think he's going to take the offense to another level. I'm also happy that we don't have to worry about overpaying a 30 year old PG. I've got no ill will towards IT, I hope that he does get paid and that he continues to have success, just not too much success (ie beating Boston in the playoffs).