Beasts of the East

[Briantir]

1. Raptors
2. Celtics/Bucks
3. Philly

 I wasn't ready to declare Toronto the best team in the East however that win over Golden State on the second night of a back to back without their best player and it being in Oracle area in a different time zone is really really impressive.

 The rest of the Eastern conference teams look like pretenders to me because Champions win on the road and at home and look at the fields road records pathetic

12-3 Raptors

5-6 Bucks
5-8 Philly
9-7 Celtics

 The Celtics last year had 13 road losses they were road killers this year they already have 7 road losses and it looks like by end of season they will have 20+ for sure.

 Assuming we don't get home court how do we advance? If we do somehow by a miracle make it out of the East do we really believe we'll finish better record than the Warriors who are almost unstoppable at Oracle Arena.

 This win streak is against lesser teams, teams we wont see in the post season. I do not believe this team will "Flip a switch" and be dominant in the post season we don't have a Lebron James or even any top 5 talent.

 The worst part of all this is Danny could have paired Kyrie with Kawhi and he didn't.

[knuckleballer]

We wouldn't have known if Kawhi was going to re-sign.  He sounded dead set on wanting to go to LA.  This team is too young to go for it now.

It's not going to take a miracle to get out of the East.  We're playing a lot better and are still far from our potential.  Toronto will still likely be favored, but I doubt I doubt beating them will be much of an upset by the end of the season. 

[Briantir]

I haven't seen anyone else on the Celtics this year step up other than Kyrie.

Teams are going to take Kyrie out they'll double him force him into tough tough shots we cannot rely on Kyrie to score 35+ every night just to have a chance at winning.

 Pascal Siakam is better than Tatum right now that's a fact.

[bdm860]

The Celtics last year had 13 road losses they were road killers this year they already have 7 road losses and it looks like by end of season they will have 20+ for sure.

The team only plays 41 road games.

If they're 9-7 now, they'd have to go 12-13 the rest of the way on the road to finish with 20 road losses exactly, even worse to hit the 20+ you're sure of.

So you're predicting the C's are going to have a losing record on the road from here on out?  You think they're going to play worse on the road then they already have so far this season?  We all don't have to be Kool-Aid drinking optimists, but that doesn't sound right to me.

[Briantir]

The Celtics last year had 13 road losses they were road killers this year they already have 7 road losses and it looks like by end of season they will have 20+ for sure.

The team only plays 41 road games.

If they're 9-7 now, they'd have to go 12-13 the rest of the way on the road to finish with 20 road losses exactly, even worse to hit the 20+ you're sure of.

So you're predicting the C's are going to have a losing record on the road from here on out?  You think they're going to play worse on the road then they already have so far this season?  We all don't have to be Kool-Aid drinking optimists, but that doesn't sound right to me.

 Did you watch that Washington game? have you been keeping track of the Wizards? They are absolutely pathetic and the whole team is waiting to be traded because they have serious locker room issues and they are 11-17.

 If they struggle against teams like that especially when you know the other team is trying to trade all their players and none of them are happy how do we beat the real competition.

 From what I've seen so far if it wasn't for Kyrie we wouldn't even be in a playoff position he's saved the Celtics like 5 or 6 times by himself.

Tatum, Rozier, and Brown need more mins but it's hard with Hayward and Irving back Danny should have traded for Kawhi would have made the Celtics clear favorites just because of star power alone.

[knuckleballer]

The Celtics last year had 13 road losses they were road killers this year they already have 7 road losses and it looks like by end of season they will have 20+ for sure.

The team only plays 41 road games.

If they're 9-7 now, they'd have to go 12-13 the rest of the way on the road to finish with 20 road losses exactly, even worse to hit the 20+ you're sure of.

So you're predicting the C's are going to have a losing record on the road from here on out?  You think they're going to play worse on the road then they already have so far this season?  We all don't have to be Kool-Aid drinking optimists, but that doesn't sound right to me.

 Did you watch that Washington game? have you been keeping track of the Wizards? They are absolutely pathetic and the whole team is waiting to be traded because they have serious locker room issues and they are 11-17.

 If they struggle against teams like that especially when you know the other team is trying to trade all their players and none of them are happy how do we beat the real competition.

 From what I've seen so far if it wasn't for Kyrie we wouldn't even be in a playoff position he's saved the Celtics like 5 or 6 times by himself.

Tatum, Rozier, and Brown need more mins but it's hard with Hayward and Irving back Danny should have traded for Kawhi would have made the Celtics clear favorites just because of star power alone.

Perhaps, you're the one who didn't watch the game because if you did, you would have realized we were missing Hayward, Horford, and Brown that game. 

Based on these and your prior posts, I'm assuming that you are a Toronto fan pretending to be a Celtics fan.

[PhoSita]

I get that they have Kawhi, but I've been burned by the Raptors in the past and I won't believe in them until they're dominating like this in the playoffs.

The Raptors have a really good defense, even though they aren't a top ranked unit.  In crunch time, they're aggressive and really tough.

However, their crunch time offense is really predictable.  I think they're going to run into problems in the post-season.  Kawhi is the only guy they have who can really create against tight defense, and in the post-season he's not going to be able to do it all by himself.


Personally I think the Bucks and Sixers will be more dangerous come post-season time, thinking in terms of who will be toughest to defense in crunch time.


I think you make a good point, though, about the importance of having home court advantage to win playoff series.  That may very well be the Celts' downfall this year, ultimately.

[CF033]

To be fair the Celtics have already beaten Toronto, Philly and Milwaukee this season as for teams we'll probably see in the playoffs.

[nickagneta]

I haven't seen anyone else on the Celtics this year step up other than Kyrie.

Teams are going to take Kyrie out they'll double him force him into tough tough shots we cannot rely on Kyrie to score 35+ every night just to have a chance at winning.

 Pascal Siakam is better than Tatum right now that's a fact.

Siakam is not better than Tatum.

Here is their comparison. Take note, Tatum is 20 in his 2nd year and Siakam is 24 in his 3rd year. Tatum is a better scorer and just as good a rebounder even though Siakam is an under the basket PF and Tatum is a wing.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.fcgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1_hint=Jayson+Tatum&player_id1_select=Jayson+Tatum&y1=2019&player_id1=tatumja01&idx=players&player_id2_hint=Pascal+Siakam&player_id2_select=Pascal+Siakam&y2=2019&player_id2=siakapa01&idx=players

Siakam being a mostly below the basket performer explains his better FG% and TS%. He takes 75% of his shots from inside 10 feet. Meanwhile Tatum takes 65% of his shots from outside of 10 feet. Also Siakam doesn't shoot from inside 10 feet all that much better than Tatum while Tatum is a way better shooter than Siakam from outside 10 feet. And Tatum can create his own offense, Siakam can't.

Tatum will be a difference maker to star by the time he is 24. Siakam at 24 is a role player.

[KGs Knee]

The Celtics are still the only team in the East capable of being an actual 'beast'.  They haven't consistently played up to their potential; it's been a bit of a bumpy ride waiting for Hayward to recover his form and some of the younger players to settle into their roles.  But Boston still has the most talent, top to bottom, of any team in the East, and that's really not debatable.

Sure, Giannis and Kawhi are the two best players, but Kyrie is close enough, and truthfully, a more dangerous offensive player than either Giannis or Kawhi.  With LeBron now out of the way, it's the Celtics' conference to lose.  The other teams just have to hope we falter.

[bdm860]

The Celtics last year had 13 road losses they were road killers this year they already have 7 road losses and it looks like by end of season they will have 20+ for sure.

The team only plays 41 road games.

If they're 9-7 now, they'd have to go 12-13 the rest of the way on the road to finish with 20 road losses exactly, even worse to hit the 20+ you're sure of.

So you're predicting the C's are going to have a losing record on the road from here on out?  You think they're going to play worse on the road then they already have so far this season?  We all don't have to be Kool-Aid drinking optimists, but that doesn't sound right to me.

 Did you watch that Washington game? have you been keeping track of the Wizards? They are absolutely pathetic and the whole team is waiting to be traded because they have serious locker room issues and they are 11-17.

 If they struggle against teams like that especially when you know the other team is trying to trade all their players and none of them are happy how do we beat the real competition.

 From what I've seen so far if it wasn't for Kyrie we wouldn't even be in a playoff position he's saved the Celtics like 5 or 6 times by himself.

Tatum, Rozier, and Brown need more mins but it's hard with Hayward and Irving back Danny should have traded for Kawhi would have made the Celtics clear favorites just because of star power alone.

So this is all based on 1 game?

Toronto only beat those same Wizards by 4 on the road.

Toronto just lost to Brooklyn on the road.

Even the 73-win Warriors only beat the 10-win Sixers by 3 on the road.

Bad road games happen to all teams.

But the C's also beat the Bulls by 56 on the road so there's that 

[Briantir]

The Celtics last year had 13 road losses they were road killers this year they already have 7 road losses and it looks like by end of season they will have 20+ for sure.

The team only plays 41 road games.

If they're 9-7 now, they'd have to go 12-13 the rest of the way on the road to finish with 20 road losses exactly, even worse to hit the 20+ you're sure of.

So you're predicting the C's are going to have a losing record on the road from here on out?  You think they're going to play worse on the road then they already have so far this season?  We all don't have to be Kool-Aid drinking optimists, but that doesn't sound right to me.

 Did you watch that Washington game? have you been keeping track of the Wizards? They are absolutely pathetic and the whole team is waiting to be traded because they have serious locker room issues and they are 11-17.

 If they struggle against teams like that especially when you know the other team is trying to trade all their players and none of them are happy how do we beat the real competition.

 From what I've seen so far if it wasn't for Kyrie we wouldn't even be in a playoff position he's saved the Celtics like 5 or 6 times by himself.

Tatum, Rozier, and Brown need more mins but it's hard with Hayward and Irving back Danny should have traded for Kawhi would have made the Celtics clear favorites just because of star power alone.

Perhaps, you're the one who didn't watch the game because if you did, you would have realized we were missing Hayward, Horford, and Brown that game. 

Based on these and your prior posts, I'm assuming that you are a Toronto fan pretending to be a Celtics fan.

 I'm a fan of the NBA and great basket-ball I'm and I'm a firm believer of respect your opponent.

 I don't buy this general consensus of the Raptors having post-season failure will reflect how they do this post season. 

 They fired their coach which a lot of people fail to realize even though Casey won coach of the year he was not a good at in game adjustments, in fact he was horrible at drawing up plays and reading plays last years series against Cleveland proved that.

 They got rid of a guy who literally said "We can't beat Lebron he's the best" the was Derozans mentality going into a series, your best player with that attitude will never win you anything.

 To be the best you have to beat the best.

 They swapped Derozan with Kawhi and Danny Green who's also been playing the best I've ever seen him those two are proven champions finals mvp defensive player of the year.

 The Celtics have not played Toronto in a series yet I'm very afraid of them, they have a long history of owning us.

 When I was watching the Warriors game Van Gundy said a very interesting fact, When the Warriors fired Mark Jackson and put Kerr with basically the same unit they went from first/second round exit to champions. That Warriors team had amazing depth well coached and the perfect amount of star power this years Raptors resemble that in a lot of ways.

 

[Briantir]

I haven't seen anyone else on the Celtics this year step up other than Kyrie.

Teams are going to take Kyrie out they'll double him force him into tough tough shots we cannot rely on Kyrie to score 35+ every night just to have a chance at winning.

 Pascal Siakam is better than Tatum right now that's a fact.

Siakam is not better than Tatum.

Here is their comparison. Take note, Tatum is 20 in his 2nd year and Siakam is 24 in his 3rd year. Tatum is a better scorer and just as good a rebounder even though Siakam is an under the basket PF and Tatum is a wing.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.fcgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1_hint=Jayson+Tatum&player_id1_select=Jayson+Tatum&y1=2019&player_id1=tatumja01&idx=players&player_id2_hint=Pascal+Siakam&player_id2_select=Pascal+Siakam&y2=2019&player_id2=siakapa01&idx=players

Siakam being a mostly below the basket performer explains his better FG% and TS%. He takes 75% of his shots from inside 10 feet. Meanwhile Tatum takes 65% of his shots from outside of 10 feet. Also Siakam doesn't shoot from inside 10 feet all that much better than Tatum while Tatum is a way better shooter than Siakam from outside 10 feet. And Tatum can create his own offense, Siakam can't.

Tatum will be a difference maker to star by the time he is 24. Siakam at 24 is a role player.

You misread what I wrote I said Siakam is better "right now" and as far as Siakam not being able to create his offense you don't watch basket-ball my friend. I watch the competition go on youtube watch Siakam highlights of this year the man creates offense for the entire team.

[nickagneta]

I haven't seen anyone else on the Celtics this year step up other than Kyrie.

Teams are going to take Kyrie out they'll double him force him into tough tough shots we cannot rely on Kyrie to score 35+ every night just to have a chance at winning.

 Pascal Siakam is better than Tatum right now that's a fact.

Siakam is not better than Tatum.

Here is their comparison. Take note, Tatum is 20 in his 2nd year and Siakam is 24 in his 3rd year. Tatum is a better scorer and just as good a rebounder even though Siakam is an under the basket PF and Tatum is a wing.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/play-index/pcm_finder.fcgi?request=1&sum=0&player_id1_hint=Jayson+Tatum&player_id1_select=Jayson+Tatum&y1=2019&player_id1=tatumja01&idx=players&player_id2_hint=Pascal+Siakam&player_id2_select=Pascal+Siakam&y2=2019&player_id2=siakapa01&idx=players

Siakam being a mostly below the basket performer explains his better FG% and TS%. He takes 75% of his shots from inside 10 feet. Meanwhile Tatum takes 65% of his shots from outside of 10 feet. Also Siakam doesn't shoot from inside 10 feet all that much better than Tatum while Tatum is a way better shooter than Siakam from outside 10 feet. And Tatum can create his own offense, Siakam can't.

Tatum will be a difference maker to star by the time he is 24. Siakam at 24 is a role player.

You misread what I wrote I said Siakam is better "right now" and as far as Siakam not being able to create his offense you don't watch basket-ball my friend. I watch the competition go on youtube watch Siakam highlights of this year the man creates offense for the entire team.

Yeah. The stats comparison is from this year. Actually go and read the comparison.

Now as a mod

You are new here so probably have not read the rules of the site. Being a non-Celtic fan you are expected to be extra respectful of Celtic fan's opinions and posts. Telling someone they don't watch basketball is extremely disrespectful. If you want to stay on this site very long you will follow the rules.

Link to rules:
https://forum.celticsstrong.com/index.php?topic=10.0

[Donoghus]

What may be true on December 14th very well may not be the case come mid-April. 

I still believe the Celtics are the team to beat in the East when firing on all cylinders.  They're still sorting through the early season growing pains but you can see the progress over the past few weeks.  In a 7 game series in the Eastern Conference Finals, I still expect this team to be an awfully hard bounce.    Things are slowly coming together already and I expect this team to have much of it figured out come April.  They're too talented & well coached not too. 

The big question, and as been for me since day 1 of the season, can they stay healthy?