Perspective: We're only one game worse than last year

[vinnie]

I still think comparing this year to last year's lockout year is fools gold. I hope the Celts prove me wrong, but I never remember the team looking this bad in three straight games this year. They did not have a lead after any quarter in these three west coast games. It is almost unfathomable that they were behind after each and every quarter against the Clippers, Warriors and Kings. This looks much more like the implosion year to me.

[Lightskinsmurf]

Only reason i still have hope is because AB isn't back yet and the trade deadline hasn't passed yet.

[mctyson]

TP and cosigned.  Cs were actually 23-21 after 44 games last year.  We need to be patient.  Let's get to the All Star break first before we call for wholesale changes.

[mctyson]

Last year's 15-15 record was reflective of the injuries the team suffered and the shortened lockout season.

This season we have one of the healthiest teams in the league.  The only player we're missing is Bradley.  [Darko doesn't count.  He never played and I don't think he would have ever crawled out of Doc's doghouse.  It's rumored that he showed no effort in practice.]

Avery Bradley is NOT going to save this team.  We're putting a lot of pressure on a guy who hasn't even played a full season in the league, and who seems to be training himself to be a backup to Rondo, though he's going to start at SG.

The sickening, depressing realization of this season is that the team is healthy, and is losing because they show absolutely no heart and no effort.

In hindsight, it's easy to just say "we were injured, so those losses were to be expected".  However, that's not what folks were necessarily saying at the time.  I mean, take this post, for perspective.

Things looked really bleak last year, too.  There were plenty of legit reasons to be discouraged, but the team turned it around.  While there aren't a ton of reasons for optimism this year, it's still important to remember that we've seen this team look terrible and pull it all together.  There's no reason to give up on the season yet.

Furthermore...the team did not turn last season around when they "got healthy."  See my post above, 23-21 after 44 games, well after Rondo and Pierce were healed up.

The team COMPLETELY CHANGED when Avery Bradley joined the starting lineup, and KG went to the 5.  We became a defensive nightmare.  I expect that to happen again.

[mctyson]

I still think comparing this year to last year's lockout year is fools gold. I hope the Celts prove me wrong, but I never remember the team looking this bad in three straight games this year. They did not have a lead after any quarter in these three west coast games. It is almost unfathomable that they were behind after each and every quarter against the Clippers, Warriors and Kings. This looks much more like the implosion year to me.

The Cs were a .500 team in the second-half of 2010.  You know, the year they blew Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

All that matters is how they play in the playoffs.

[Eja117]

This year's record after 30 games:  14-16
Last year's record after 30 games:  15-15

When we talk about "What happened?" or "When did this team fall off a cliff?", it's important to remember last year's start.  While we've had some (very) bad losses this year, we also dropped two games to the Pistons in the early going last season, too.

Last year, our big spark was Avery Bradley.  Hopefully that's the case this year, as well.

Now, I'm not predicting that we go on a run like we did last season.  However, it's also not out of the question.  Teams that look completely out of it can rapidly get it together.  Every one of us has seen that multiple times with this team, as recently as last season.  Before blowing the team up, perhaps it's worth reviewing where we were 30 games in last year.

Not a comforting thought at all. Last year we weren't spending 9 mill on Jeff Green. We didn't have Jet, Sully, Darko, Lee, and Barbosa.  Doc didn't look completely lost and wasn't saying things like "We're a bad team".  And in the 7 losses in 8 games run between Feb 9 and 19 they were playing a lot of games very quickly because of the shortened season but still didn't involve games like the Sactown game where young teams basically said to us "Oh I'm sorry I just stomped on you and took a wiz in your ear. I thought you kinda liked that". 

This team is looking like that version of Sheed's Celtics that had no desire whatsoever to be competitive till the playoffs. I hated watching that team and still thank God she saw fit to send him away after that.

[Moranis]

Celtics were also only 4 games out of first as Philly was 20-12 at that point of the season and was also in the midst of a 5 game losing streak. 

[pearljammer10]

That's what I'm taking about!

[CoachBo]

Meaningless comparison. The rosters are entirely different.

[billysan]

Happy New Year CBers 


For me it is a new season starting now.  I am going to continue being optimistic until we are eliminated. Hopefully that will not be until much later this year. I look at the teams we may face in the playoffs and have to believe that all of them are one knee injury away from mediocrity and their own heartache.

I think we may have overplayed our hand on the roster additions. I think there is/was a strategy of loading the roster with mid level rotation talent instead of one or two high end people to go with our big three.

Just the sheer numbers of players has proven to be a difficult integration process. When a team attempts to hang thier hat on defense like we do? It takes time as well as compatability.

It has to be recognized as a possibility that Danny did this all somewhat on purpose to build a marketable future trade package. Whether it will be remotely effective or not remains to be seen.

[vinnie]

Meaningless comparison. The rosters are entirely different.

Thanks for the common sense. I don't think this team has ever played defense this poorly since KG got here. That's another big difference. If Avery Bradley steps in and all of a sudden they become world beaters, he should be nominated for sainthood, nevermind the hall of fame.

[Roy H.]

Meaningless comparison. The rosters are entirely different.

1)  No they're not; the key pieces are largely the same; and

2)  It's perspective, not a prediction.  The same people saying the team is doomed this year were saying it last year, and in the latter part of 2010.  Maybe they're right, but history says that's not necessarily so.

[KGs Knee]

Meaningless comparison. The rosters are entirely different.

1)  No they're not; the key pieces are largely the same; and

2) It's perspective, not a prediction.  The same people saying the team is doomed this year were saying it last year, and in the latter part of 2010.  Maybe they're right, but history says that's not necessarily so.

The bolded is not necessarily true at all.  I'm sure there are plenty of people who did not feel that way last year but do this year.  I'm one of those people.

The roster is different, but yes, technically our starting five from last year is back (although not the last one we used last year).  The bench is totally different this year and it was planned they would be relied upon heavily.

[kozlodoev]

Meaningless comparison. The rosters are entirely different.

1)  No they're not; the key pieces are largely the same; and

2)  It's perspective, not a prediction.  The same people saying the team is doomed this year were saying it last year, and in the latter part of 2010.  Maybe they're right, but history says that's not necessarily so.

The problem is last season our best players were pretty abysmal during the first half of the season. They started playing better and we started winning.

This season, our best players have played great.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Meaningless comparison. The rosters are entirely different.

1)  No they're not; the key pieces are largely the same; and

2)  It's perspective, not a prediction.  The same people saying the team is doomed this year were saying it last year, and in the latter part of 2010.  Maybe they're right, but history says that's not necessarily so.

The problem is last season our best players were pretty abysmal during the first half of the season. They started playing better and we started winning.

This season, our best players have played great.

That said, this severe recent doom and gloom has come as a consequence of our last 3 games. In those 3 games, Pierce hasn't played well (though he recovered in the 2nd half against Sacramento). Also, comparing to the 2nd half of last season when we took off, Pierce has been playing worse and less efficient by a good margin.

Rondo has been awful or missing games because of injuries in those 3 games too.

So while overall I would say Rondo has been out-performing what he did last year (though he has been tasked with a bigger role this year, and still hasn't lived up to it in my opinion). KG has been completely awesome, and Pierce has been under-performing, though he has mixed it up with some very good peformance, but largely up and down with a step slower defensively.

So no, I wouldn't say our best players have played "great".

KG has been great, but he plays limited minutes. Rondo has been very good, but I'd say not living up to the role he was asked to play so far.

And of course, no Bradley, and Ray Allen was very good early in the season, then deteriorated.