Are you more excited about the playoffs or the off-season?

[Big333223]

July 1st.
I'm done with this season.

I'm glad you guys don't actually play for the Celtics. I'd have a hard time rooting for a bunch of quitters.

[moiso]

The fact that Ainge didn't trade Kyrie at the deadline amidst speculation he might leave this summer tells me he's fully invested in Kyrie for the long-term.

So, that's one thing to be excited about for the offseason (if you want to see Kyrie in Boston for the long-term. Sadly, some don't.)

I've been on the Kyrie side of this for a while but I'm worried that keeping him will mean this general malaise will be a long term fixture as well.

There's just something wrong about this team.

This is what I have been thinking and just mentioned the exact same thing to someone a couple hours ago.  Not trying to bash Irving but I don't think he'll ever be happy, and that has a big effect on the rest of the team.  If you can't date a girl for a little while without tons of friction I don't think it's worth buying her a ring, no matter how hot she is.

[PhoSita]

The fact that Ainge didn't trade Kyrie at the deadline amidst speculation he might leave this summer tells me he's fully invested in Kyrie for the long-term.

So, that's one thing to be excited about for the offseason (if you want to see Kyrie in Boston for the long-term. Sadly, some don't.)

I've been on the Kyrie side of this for a while but I'm worried that keeping him will mean this general malaise will be a long term fixture as well.

There's just something wrong about this team.

This is what I have been thinking and just mentioned the exact same thing to someone a couple hours ago.  Not trying to bash Irving but I don't think he'll ever be happy, and that has a big effect on the rest of the team.  If you can't date a girl for a little while without tons of friction I don't think it's worth buying her a ring, no matter how hot she is.

Right, now imagine we trade half our team for AD and then we have not one but two high profile superstars who always seem to be injured or unhappy unless the team literally just blew out an opponent a few hours ago.


For real, even if they're gonna win 60+ games for a few years, if that's what we have to go through on a day to day basis with this team, that sounds miserable.  It's not like Kyrie + AD is a guaranteed championship or anything.

[PhoSita]

July 1st.
I'm done with this season.

I'm glad you guys don't actually play for the Celtics. I'd have a hard time rooting for a bunch of quitters.

So like ... are you having a hard time right now?


This team has quit trying plenty of times this season, and don't seem especially locked in despite the playoffs being a month or so away.

[Big333223]

July 1st.
I'm done with this season.

I'm glad you guys don't actually play for the Celtics. I'd have a hard time rooting for a bunch of quitters.

So like ... are you having a hard time right now?


This team has quit trying plenty of times this season, and don't seem especially locked in despite the playoffs being a month or so away.

Definitely having a hard time. I'm very frustrated with the team. I also plan on watching every game I can and rooting for them to figure it out for the remainder of the season. I don't like the effort I'm seeing but I am nowhere near "done with the season" as others seem to be.

[Kuberski33]

Neither.  Personally I think they're screwed. There's a stench going on with this team that's not easily fixed by changing out a couple of parts. They're going to try to fix it but I'm not confident that it will work. 

[gouki88]

The fact that Ainge didn't trade Kyrie at the deadline amidst speculation he might leave this summer tells me he's fully invested in Kyrie for the long-term.

So, that's one thing to be excited about for the offseason (if you want to see Kyrie in Boston for the long-term. Sadly, some don't.)

I've been on the Kyrie side of this for a while but I'm worried that keeping him will mean this general malaise will be a long term fixture as well.

There's just something wrong about this team.

This is what I have been thinking and just mentioned the exact same thing to someone a couple hours ago.  Not trying to bash Irving but I don't think he'll ever be happy, and that has a big effect on the rest of the team.  If you can't date a girl for a little while without tons of friction I don't think it's worth buying her a ring, no matter how hot she is.

Right, now imagine we trade half our team for AD and then we have not one but two high profile superstars who always seem to be injured or unhappy unless the team literally just blew out an opponent a few hours ago.


For real, even if they're gonna win 60+ games for a few years, if that's what we have to go through on a day to day basis with this team, that sounds miserable.  It's not like Kyrie + AD is a guaranteed championship or anything.

AD definitely has niggling injury issues, but what are you saying about his personality? He has only seemed to ever complain about his frankly dire organisation this season. It's not some long history of complaining

[PhoSita]

AD definitely has niggling injury issues, but what are you saying about his personality? He has only seemed to ever complain about his frankly dire organisation this season. It's not some long history of complaining

AD seems pretty similar to Kyrie to me, in that he's mostly quiet in his public persona.  He seems like a guy that wants to just play his game and lead by example.

Which is fine.

But I'm trying to imagine the team being centered around that type of personality and Kyrie, who is much the same, albeit a bit weirder in the statements he does make to reporters.


Who steps up and takes responsibility for being the face of the team, the guy who holds other guys accountable while also holding himself accountable?  Who sets the edge on defense and offense?

I don't see either Kyrie or AD doing that.  And the way they've handled their business off the court seems to suggest that if both guys end up on the Celts, we can probably look forward to more questions in the future about whether they are happy and whether they want to be on the team long term.

[Who]

I have no issues with AD's personality. He is a team orientated player and a good character.

[PhoSita]

I have no issues with AD's personality. He is a team orientated player and a good character.

Is he going to buy in and be all about whatever team he's traded to, though? 

Or is it going to be "Prove to me that I should commit" for a season or two?

Is he going to do anything to change the culture?  AD strikes me as a guy who is just going to play his game and not really ruffle feathers.  Except maybe via his agent.

That's fine, but right now we have a disgruntled team with a dysfunctional culture. 

Is AD likely to help that issue?  Or is adding another front-facing star who doesn't really want to have the responsibility of setting the culture and the tone going to make it harder for the veterans on the team who are willing to accept that burden (e.g. Smart, Horford etc) to do that?

[Who]

I have no issues with AD's personality. He is a team orientated player and a good character.

Is he going to buy in and be all about whatever team he's traded to, though? 

Or is it going to be "Prove to me that I should commit" for a season or two?

Is he going to do anything to change the culture?  AD strikes me as a guy who is just going to play his game and not really ruffle feathers.  Except maybe via his agent.

That's fine, but right now we have a disgruntled team with a dysfunctional culture. 

Is AD likely to help that issue?  Or is adding another front-facing star who doesn't really want to have the responsibility of setting the culture and the tone going to make it harder for the veterans on the team who are willing to accept that burden (e.g. Smart, Horford etc) to do that?

What stars in today's game do set / change a team's culture?

I think AD is a player that plays very well with everyone & anyone. He plays the game in a good way and would likely play it even better (more effort on D) once alongside more talented teammates (who can score).

[PhoSita]

I have no issues with AD's personality. He is a team orientated player and a good character.

Is he going to buy in and be all about whatever team he's traded to, though? 

Or is it going to be "Prove to me that I should commit" for a season or two?

Is he going to do anything to change the culture?  AD strikes me as a guy who is just going to play his game and not really ruffle feathers.  Except maybe via his agent.

That's fine, but right now we have a disgruntled team with a dysfunctional culture. 

Is AD likely to help that issue?  Or is adding another front-facing star who doesn't really want to have the responsibility of setting the culture and the tone going to make it harder for the veterans on the team who are willing to accept that burden (e.g. Smart, Horford etc) to do that?

What stars in today's game do set / change a team's culture?

I think AD is a player that plays very well with everyone & anyone. He plays the game in a good way and would likely play it even better (more effort on D) once alongside more talented teammates (who can score).

Dame, Draymond, Westbrook, Embiid, Conley, Lowry, Gobert ...

The Celts have two very good leader type players in Smart and Horford, but they're far from the best players on the team.  As a result it doesn't seem that most of the players on the team this year are looking to them for how they should handle themselves on and off the court.  Hence where we are at now.

For better or worse most of the guys on the team seem to look to Kyrie, or else they just look to themselves.  Perhaps they look to Kyrie and that leads them to the conclusion that they should focus on building their own personal brand first and worry about their place on the team second, instead of trying to thrive as part of a whole.

I'm just not convinced that if the future is a team built around Kyrie and AD, that things are going to improve in terms of the general atmosphere and culture of the team that we've seen this year.  Especially if Smart and/or Horford are traded in order to acquire AD.


Maybe my concerns would be unfounded if the team was Kyrie and AD plus a bunch of vets. 

It does seem that for certain teams that have a lot of veterans in place, it doesn't matter if the main stars are not very interested in setting the culture the way KG did when he came here in 08.

Adding Kawhi to Toronto doesn't seem to have messed things up there, even though he's clearly the best player there and has all of the leadership of a premium brand refrigerator.  But Toronto has Kyle Lowry as it's second best player and they have a lot of guys who have been there a while.  And maybe they just have more team-oriented guys than the Celts do, at the end of the day. 

Maybe the answer is just that in the pursuit of piling up talented assets, Ainge neglected to make sure that there enough of the roster was comprised of guys who are focused on the team instead of standing out and getting paid.

[e001]

July 1st.
I'm done with this season.

I'm glad you guys don't actually play for the Celtics. I'd have a hard time rooting for a bunch of quitters.

So like ... are you having a hard time right now?


This team has quit trying plenty of times this season, and don't seem especially locked in despite the playoffs being a month or so away.

Definitely having a hard time. I'm very frustrated with the team. I also plan on watching every game I can and rooting for them to figure it out for the remainder of the season. I don't like the effort I'm seeing but I am nowhere near "done with the season" as others seem to be.

I never said I would stop watching them, you just assumed it.

[tazzmaniac]

I have no issues with AD's personality. He is a team orientated player and a good character.

Is he going to buy in and be all about whatever team he's traded to, though? 

Or is it going to be "Prove to me that I should commit" for a season or two?

Is he going to do anything to change the culture?  AD strikes me as a guy who is just going to play his game and not really ruffle feathers.  Except maybe via his agent.

That's fine, but right now we have a disgruntled team with a dysfunctional culture. 

Is AD likely to help that issue?  Or is adding another front-facing star who doesn't really want to have the responsibility of setting the culture and the tone going to make it harder for the veterans on the team who are willing to accept that burden (e.g. Smart, Horford etc) to do that?

What stars in today's game do set / change a team's culture?

I think AD is a player that plays very well with everyone & anyone. He plays the game in a good way and would likely play it even better (more effort on D) once alongside more talented teammates (who can score).

Dame, Draymond, Westbrook, Embiid, Conley, Lowry, Gobert ...

Why'd you leave off Lebron?  He certainly falls in that category (pro and con). 

[SparzWizard]

I'm more excited about the off-season, now.

We're gonna hear big splashes of Anthony Davis and Kyrie Irving and who will be starting in October 2019.

Just don't have faith in this team playing in the postseason. If they couldn't resolve their chemistry problems 25 games into the season, and continue losing a series of games post ASB IDK what to tell you. This team lately look like they can't compete with the big dogs, let alone getting blown out by little dogs- all year long.

Hayward does not get a pass from me anymore. He's shown flashes of putting up big numbers, but he needs to do it consistently. He needs to stop driving into the lane just to pass the ball. Either you drive in and go in for the kill, or you be one of those fodders outside shooting 3's make or miss (and I'll still be p---ed about missed 3's; take the high-percentage shots man). I want Rozier gone ASAP. Morris he's been nice during the first half of season but now he sucks, so good riddance too. Tatum/Brown/Smart need to step up and find a way to coexist with Kyrie Irving and share the ball. Yabusele is just a cheerleader on the bench so he's another wasted body. Stevens I don't know what he's been doing but he's not doing a good job this season.