Look on the bright side

[PhoSita]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

You're focusing too much on rest while discounting the value of practice time, particularly how important it is with a young team.

I guess I'm skeptical that practice in the middle of the season makes that big of a difference, even for a younger team.

it constantly reenforces the fundamentals, corrects in game mistakes and helps to play out the next game's game plan outside of a simple shoot around. For a young team, that's massively important.

Sounds plausible.  I'd need to see some kind of statistical evidence to be convinced of that, however.

In any case, I think the teams the Celtics face will have a much larger impact on their record than the timing / spacing of the games.

The difference between facing San Antonio on the road and facing the Bucks at home, for example, is enormous.

As enormous as playing SA on the back end of a back to back night and playing them after having 4 straight days off?

Yes, I think the difference between playing a team like San Antonio versus playing a team like Milwaukee is far bigger than the difference between the tail end of a back-to-back versus a game after a four day break.

Explain beating Miami and losing twice to Milwaukee

Beating Miami -- mostly luck.  That last second play was spectacular, but it also didn't have a great chance of working.  Also, while Miami is obviously among the best of the best, the Celtics do matchup with them better than most top teams (like, say, the Pacers or Blazers), given Miami's penchant for small-ball.

Losing twice to Milwaukee -- the Celtics are not a very good team, at least one of those losses came when the Celtics were still trying to use Bradley as a point guard, and the Bucks give the Celtics problems inside with their size, length, and athleticism.

The matchups mean more to me than the timing of the games.

[nickagneta]

The matchups mean more to me than the timing of the games.

That's funny, earlier I thought you were saying strength of opponent made a bigger difference than timing of games. Point disproven and suddenly its matchups are more important than timing of games.

[PhoSita]

The matchups mean more to me than the timing of the games.

That's funny, earlier I thought you were saying strength of opponent made a bigger difference than timing of games. Point disproven and suddenly its matchups are more important than timing of games.

Let me clarify -- when I say "matchups," I mean the same thing as "strength of opponent."

The team the Celtics are matching up with on a given night means more to me than the amount of rest since the last game.

[BballTim]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

You're focusing too much on rest while discounting the value of practice time, particularly how important it is with a young team.

I guess I'm skeptical that practice in the middle of the season makes that big of a difference, even for a younger team.

it constantly reenforces the fundamentals, corrects in game mistakes and helps to play out the next game's game plan outside of a simple shoot around. For a young team, that's massively important.

Sounds plausible.  I'd need to see some kind of statistical evidence to be convinced of that, however.

In any case, I think the teams the Celtics face will have a much larger impact on their record than the timing / spacing of the games.

The difference between facing San Antonio on the road and facing the Bucks at home, for example, is enormous.

  I don't think it's even possible to measure something like that. There are way too many variables. Coaches frequently talk about the value of practice though. And it's true that the difference between facing San Antonio on the road and facing the Bucks at home is enormous. But you're facing those teams anyways. The question is whether those two games would be easier in the middle of a crowded stretch of games or when you're rested. I'd guess rested.

[PhoSita]

The question is whether those two games would be easier in the middle of a crowded stretch of games or when you're rested. I'd guess rested.

I would agree with you 100%.


All I'm saying is that I think the teams the Celtics face over a given stretch is a bigger consideration in how "difficult" that part of the schedule was than how much time there was between each game.