What we learned after one game

[Kane3387]

What I didn't learn tonight? - That people on this blog overreact. ALOT!

What I learned tonight...

This team has a little ways to go to get the chemistry down. We played a very good first half offensively. Like last year the defense is a work in progress to begin the season.

What else I learned... Any talk of trading Avery Bradley needs to cease until we see him against D Wade (myself included here). There is arguably not a better Wade defender in the NBA then AB. Lee's foul trouble hurt. With AB and Lee rotating on him I think we can really limit Dwyane.

James is on a level all his own and there is no margin for error against him.

We were within 4 with 2 minutes to go while playing a game that Jet, Green, and KG basically didn't show up for. I know James was out too, but assume James is in and Green, Jet, and KG are all producing like we would expect.

KG must be more aggressive. He was way too passive offensively tonight.

Bass is more valuable to us then Sullinger this season in this matchup.

All in all we have a lot of new faces that are big time contributors in our rotation. Miami has two (Ray, Lewis) that are very seasoned. This isn't 2008. We need time to gel and we will.

We have the pieces to beat Miami but things have to go almost perfectly for us to do so. It's the way it is when you play the transcendent talent of the generation (orlando in 1995 for example).

We are built to beat Miami and we can, but we have to get more from a lot of our rotational guys. We need AB back to limit Wade and allow him or Lee to go to the bench and thus challenge Ray when the second units come in.

It's October. Nothing really matters until we see this team in May. I like our chances. BUT the defense has to become Celtics caliber defense for us to pull this off.

EDIT - OH YEAH... WE HAVE TO CLOSE QUARTERS MUCH BETTER!!!

[rondohondo]

Wilcox is mobile enough to stay with Bosh, would like to see him instead of sullinger when kg goes out against Miami. Gives us another guy who can run the floor and gives us more size.

is his back still a concern?

[kozlodoev]

I'm not feeling negative about this game at all.  I don't think signing a bunch of average shooting guards somehow makes you a team capable of beating LeBron james.  Nothing about this shocks me... we got a little better.. they got a little better.  Our biggest problem remains our lack of size next to KG.

Good news is:  We got assets, baby.  Tons of assets.  Even Barbosa is showing game.  We're loaded with lots of average guards if someone wants them.  Come mid-season, hopefully we can flip those assets for a Big Al or a Josh Smith.  Not worried at all... we got the most out of our team tonight.  We aren't as good as Miami.  Newsflash.  It's been that way since Bron joined the Heat.

Yeah. Don't hold your breath. Veterans on 1-year minimum deals are not "assets".

[KGs Knee]

Miami is still by far the best team in the NBA and should be a big favorite to win it all. We really could be watching a dynasty in the making.


This is the worst defense I have seen since KG got here and it needs to improve 100 percent if this team is going to contend.

This is the worst defense I've seen since the beginning of last season.  We were terrible defensively for the first couple of weeks to start last year's regular season.  I feel confident that by season's end this team will be playing the kind of D that we've grown accustomed to seeing them play.

The defense will definitely improve over tonights performance.  How much I can't say.

[bucknersrevenge]

What I learned is that "the sky be fallin" in Celticsblog. Jesus...Game ONE. Might as well pack up and go home.

In other news, loved the speed and tempo we played with on offense. Attacked the hoop more. Thought Rondo missed a couple of connections on the fastbreak but we are just playing with so many new guys. Loved the fight at the end of the game to make it a little closer. Thought we just had too many unforced turnovers from just general sloppy play. I didn't see any issues tonight that are uncorrectable We have smart players. We have good passers. Just in this game I saw too many guys pass up the simple play or the obvious shot in search of more difficult plays and dribble right into turnovers. I'm confident the defense will be better and the cohesion will get better.

[kozlodoev]

Wilcox is mobile enough to stay with Bosh, would like to see him instead of sullinger when kg goes out against Miami. Gives us another guy who can run the floor and gives us more size.

is his back still a concern?

Yes, his back is a concern. Also, all of our big men not named Kevin Garnett or Darko Milicic can run. And Milicic was a DNP anyhow.

[CelticSooner]

I really didn't learn anything. That will come over the next month or so.

Ray is an extremely valuable player that can cause havoc.  Too bad a lot fans did not appreciate it.

Fits better playing on Miami than the C's. He's the fourth option the majority of time and plays alongside stars in their prime.

[Chief Macho]

I just learned again why Jeff Green is awful and insignificant.  All the metrics say it.  And anyone objective can see it.   Glad he is healthy however.

[KGs Knee]

I'm not feeling negative about this game at all.  I don't think signing a bunch of average shooting guards somehow makes you a team capable of beating LeBron james.  Nothing about this shocks me... we got a little better.. they got a little better.  Our biggest problem remains our lack of size next to KG.

Good news is:  We got assets, baby.  Tons of assets.  Even Barbosa is showing game.  We're loaded with lots of average guards if someone wants them.  Come mid-season, hopefully we can flip those assets for a Big Al or a Josh Smith.  Not worried at all... we got the most out of our team tonight.  We aren't as good as Miami.  Newsflash.  It's been that way since Bron joined the Heat.

Yeah. Don't hold your breath. Veterans on 1-year minimum deals are not "assets".

I'd say the fall under the umbrella of "desirable salary ballast"

[LarBrd33]

I'm not feeling negative about this game at all.  I don't think signing a bunch of average shooting guards somehow makes you a team capable of beating LeBron james.  Nothing about this shocks me... we got a little better.. they got a little better.  Our biggest problem remains our lack of size next to KG.

Good news is:  We got assets, baby.  Tons of assets.  Even Barbosa is showing game.  We're loaded with lots of average guards if someone wants them.  Come mid-season, hopefully we can flip those assets for a Big Al or a Josh Smith.  Not worried at all... we got the most out of our team tonight.  We aren't as good as Miami.  Newsflash.  It's been that way since Bron joined the Heat.

Yeah. Don't hold your breath. Veterans on 1-year minimum deals are not "assets".

No.. but I'm not nearly as high on Avery Bradley as most of this forum.  I'd be fine with trading him (along with Bass, future picks, SUllinger, etc) if it could net us a quality big. 

Problem is, I don't think the rest of the league is nearly as high on Avery Bradley as most of this forum either.  I doubt a guy who had a month of solid play has much trade value.   

I think Courtney Lee is better than Bradley.  He's got more size too.

I actually think my biggest take-away from this game is that Boston is going to have a darn fine team this year.  We are going to be fun as heck to watch.  Miami's just going to be better.  They are the defending champs.  It happens.  Also, Ray was locked in tonight.  He had something to prove.

[Celtics18]

I learned that I'm psyched that my Celtics are back, even if the result of game one wasn't what any of us would have wanted.

I also learned that I was actually kind of happy for Ray that the nonsense is over and he can finally just be a ball player, albeit for the enemy. 

Yeah, I hate him, but I always hated him a little bit.  I just didn't know it when he was a Celtics.

Congratulations on your first game for the dark side, Ray.  We'll see you again.

[kozlodoev]

I'm not feeling negative about this game at all.  I don't think signing a bunch of average shooting guards somehow makes you a team capable of beating LeBron james.  Nothing about this shocks me... we got a little better.. they got a little better.  Our biggest problem remains our lack of size next to KG.

Good news is:  We got assets, baby.  Tons of assets.  Even Barbosa is showing game.  We're loaded with lots of average guards if someone wants them.  Come mid-season, hopefully we can flip those assets for a Big Al or a Josh Smith.  Not worried at all... we got the most out of our team tonight.  We aren't as good as Miami.  Newsflash.  It's been that way since Bron joined the Heat.

Yeah. Don't hold your breath. Veterans on 1-year minimum deals are not "assets".

No.. but I'm not nearly as high on Avery Bradley as most of this forum.  I'd be fine with trading him (along with Bass, future picks, SUllinger, etc) if it could net us a quality big. 

Problem is, I don't think the rest of the league is nearly as high on Avery Bradley as most of this forum either.  I doubt a guy who had a month of solid play has much trade value.   

I think Courtney Lee is better than Bradley.  He's got more size too.

I actually think my biggest take-away from this game is that Boston is going to have a darn fine team this year.  Miami's just going to be better.  They are the defending champs.  It happens.  Also, Ray was locked in tonight.  He had something to prove.

Bradley may end up being good but not great. But I see no point in trading him for other "good but not great" players in Al Jefferson or Josh Smith. There are no "quality bigs" on the market right now that is worth shipping out multiple rotation-type players.

[cman88]

I just learned again why Jeff Green is awful and insignificant.  All the metrics say it.  And anyone objective can see it.   Glad he is healthy however.

I hope you're not serious...judging a player based on his play from 1 game.

come back in a month, and if green still looks like this I will agree...but its game 1

[vinnie]

There is absolutely no need to panic after one game. There are a lot of good pieces on this team. However, it is clear that there has to be significant improvement on the defensive side. Clearly it will get better, but how much better is the question.

As for Jeff Green, I never liked the deal. I got a little excited by his preseason play, but tonight he reverted back to the Jeff Green I learned to not love. Again, only one game, but I hope that this isn't this guy's MO.

[kozlodoev]

There is absolutely no need to panic after one game. There are a lot of good pieces on this team. However, it is clear that there has to be significant improvement on the defensive side. Clearly it will get better, but how much better is the question.

As for Jeff Green, I never liked the deal. I got a little excited by his preseason play, but tonight he reverted back to the Jeff Green I learned to not love. Again, only one game, but I hope that this isn't this guy's MO.

I don't think anyone is panicking. As a matter of fact, quite a number of people are encouraged by the fact that a lot of things worked well, and a lot of the stuff that didn't is fixable.