Poll

How far will the C's go in the playoffs?

First Round (loss to IND)
1 (1%)
Conference Semis (loss to MIL or #8)
35 (36.5%)
Conference Finals (loss to one of TOR/PHI/#6/#7)
17 (17.7%)
NBA Finals (loss)
13 (13.5%)
Banner #18
30 (31.3%)

Total Members Voted: 96

Author Topic: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?  (Read 6912 times)

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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #30 on: April 10, 2019, 04:04:12 PM »

Offline seancally

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I still have a lot of confidence in this group. I think they have a good shot of getting to the ECF... I think Brogdon hurts MIL, especially in the playoffs when he would probably be earning more minutes. Against TOR, man, that's a toss-up. They're a really good team. But I think there's a solid chance BOS comes out of the east. From there, who knows...

Many rightly point out Hayward as an X-factor. Really, I think Tatum, Brown and to a lesser degree Rozier are as well. They were excellent in the playoffs last year, and up-and-down this year (if not outright disappointing). Do they step up again?
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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #31 on: April 10, 2019, 04:05:33 PM »

Offline GreenEnvy

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Last week weren't you talking about how Indy would beat the C's if they got the 4 seed?


Yes, and if the Celts had ended up with the 5th seed, I would still be inclined to pick against them.

The Celts have looked pretty good the last couple of weeks, but we have a whole season of evidence that they can't be trusted, especially on the road.


People are talking about the Celts like they are a "flip the switch" team, but that implies that this team has ever had the "flip" switched to "on" at some point in the past.

When has this group -- Kyrie, Smart, Jayson, Jaylen, Horford, Hayward, Morris, Rozier, Baynes -- played at the level of a contender for more than a couple weeks at a time?


We saw some of these players make a deep run last year, but that was a different team in a very different Eastern Conference.  I don't think the "flip the switch" logic applies here.

Yeah, you came off that notion when? When the Celtics destroyed the Pacers in Indiana? And yet if C’s somehow lost both games after and Indy won both to grab the 4-seed, you’d still think that? Interesting logic, I guess (you know, considering we lost on a buzzer beater to Oladipo and completely outplayed them in the other in our two games there). So I take it you’re now going with C’s in 7 against Indy?



I don’t think many are expecting a switch to be flipped per se, but CBS tightens and adjusts his rotation and these team plays with a greater purpose. It’s pretty evident we’ve played to our competition for the vast majority of the season. And we’ve also dealt with a myriad of injuries that can’t be quantified through statistics.

Baynes is back starting alongside Horford, which is a good thing. Hayward is really starting to look like his All-Star-caliber self again. Morris is where he belongs, a reserve. And Brown has looked really good (for the most part) off the bench. Live with Rozier for 10 mpg and hopefully he can be Scary Terry while out there.

You tighten this rotation down to 9 and they are as good top to bottom as ANY team.

This team can most certainly win ANYWHERE. We’ve seen them play great on the road against quality teams. We’ve also seen them lose at home to poor teams. They have been inconsistent to say the least. Doesn’t mean the playoffs can’t be a different story when we put everything together.
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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #32 on: April 10, 2019, 05:51:40 PM »

Offline CF033

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Realistically we're probably looking at a second round exit but we could go further.  We are a big wildcard.

Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #33 on: April 10, 2019, 06:07:00 PM »

Offline rondofan1255

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I voted Conference Semis loss to MIL.

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2018 Playoffs Expectations thread w/ poll (started April 7, 2018): https://forum.celticsstrong.com/index.php?topic=95833.0

Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #34 on: April 10, 2019, 07:18:25 PM »

Offline gouki88

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Smart out for potentially two rounds hurts a lot
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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #35 on: April 10, 2019, 07:31:56 PM »

Offline Phantom255x

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Beat Indiana in 5 games. Lose to Milwaukee in 6 or 7 games.

But I do think we have a better shot at making the ECF by playing Milwaukee as opposed to Toronto in the 2nd round, so there's that.

With Smart now injured, I still think we beat IND in 5 games.

But against MIL... I think now it's more likely we lose it in 5 or 6 games  :(
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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #36 on: April 10, 2019, 07:33:48 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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Yeah, you came off that notion when? When the Celtics destroyed the Pacers in Indiana? And yet if C’s somehow lost both games after and Indy won both to grab the 4-seed, you’d still think that? Interesting logic, I guess (you know, considering we lost on a buzzer beater to Oladipo and completely outplayed them in the other in our two games there). So I take it you’re now going with C’s in 7 against Indy?



I think I made it pretty clear that homecourt advantage is what sways my thinking on who will win the series.

I'm expecting the series to go 6 or 7.

As I said, we have months of evidence that this team can't be trusted, and much less evidence that the team is going to come out and blow the doors off an opponent that is lesser than them in talent.

The Celts played at around a .500 pace for much of the season.
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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #37 on: April 10, 2019, 07:56:20 PM »

Offline Eddie20

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Yeah, you came off that notion when? When the Celtics destroyed the Pacers in Indiana? And yet if C’s somehow lost both games after and Indy won both to grab the 4-seed, you’d still think that? Interesting logic, I guess (you know, considering we lost on a buzzer beater to Oladipo and completely outplayed them in the other in our two games there). So I take it you’re now going with C’s in 7 against Indy?



I think I made it pretty clear that homecourt advantage is what sways my thinking on who will win the series.

I'm expecting the series to go 6 or 7.

As I said, we have months of evidence that this team can't be trusted, and much less evidence that the team is going to come out and blow the doors off an opponent that is lesser than them in talent.

The Celts played at around a .500 pace for much of the season.

You’re so off on this. The Pacers, minus Oladipo, are going to have a ton of issues getting quality looks and generating offense against us.

My gameplan would be to trap Bog on all PNR’s. He’s their #1 threat, but he’s not the best passer and we can not only force him into bad shots/turnovers, but force others to make plays.


This series  is going no more than 5. The disparity in talent is huge.

Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #38 on: April 10, 2019, 08:21:04 PM »

Offline PhoSita

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Yeah, you came off that notion when? When the Celtics destroyed the Pacers in Indiana? And yet if C’s somehow lost both games after and Indy won both to grab the 4-seed, you’d still think that? Interesting logic, I guess (you know, considering we lost on a buzzer beater to Oladipo and completely outplayed them in the other in our two games there). So I take it you’re now going with C’s in 7 against Indy?



I think I made it pretty clear that homecourt advantage is what sways my thinking on who will win the series.

I'm expecting the series to go 6 or 7.

As I said, we have months of evidence that this team can't be trusted, and much less evidence that the team is going to come out and blow the doors off an opponent that is lesser than them in talent.

The Celts played at around a .500 pace for much of the season.

You’re so off on this. The Pacers, minus Oladipo, are going to have a ton of issues getting quality looks and generating offense against us.

My gameplan would be to trap Bog on all PNR’s. He’s their #1 threat, but he’s not the best passer and we can not only force him into bad shots/turnovers, but force others to make plays.


This series  is going no more than 5. The disparity in talent is huge.


I will say that if the Celts play in Round 1 the way they did in the last week or two of the regular season, I would tend to agree.  Especially if the Pacers also play the way they did in that crucial match in Indiana last week.



But as I've stated already, I think it makes sense to look at what the team has done over the course of the entire season and not base everything on the last week or two of the regular season.


The Pacers, on paper, are clearly an inferior opponent for the Celtics.

Yet the Celtics, on paper, should have been much better than a 49 win team with a less than 5 point differential.
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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #39 on: April 10, 2019, 09:19:42 PM »

Online Moranis

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Yeah, you came off that notion when? When the Celtics destroyed the Pacers in Indiana? And yet if C’s somehow lost both games after and Indy won both to grab the 4-seed, you’d still think that? Interesting logic, I guess (you know, considering we lost on a buzzer beater to Oladipo and completely outplayed them in the other in our two games there). So I take it you’re now going with C’s in 7 against Indy?



I think I made it pretty clear that homecourt advantage is what sways my thinking on who will win the series.

I'm expecting the series to go 6 or 7.

As I said, we have months of evidence that this team can't be trusted, and much less evidence that the team is going to come out and blow the doors off an opponent that is lesser than them in talent.

The Celts played at around a .500 pace for much of the season.

You’re so off on this. The Pacers, minus Oladipo, are going to have a ton of issues getting quality looks and generating offense against us.

My gameplan would be to trap Bog on all PNR’s. He’s their #1 threat, but he’s not the best passer and we can not only force him into bad shots/turnovers, but force others to make plays.


This series  is going no more than 5. The disparity in talent is huge.


I will say that if the Celts play in Round 1 the way they did in the last week or two of the regular season, I would tend to agree.  Especially if the Pacers also play the way they did in that crucial match in Indiana last week.



But as I've stated already, I think it makes sense to look at what the team has done over the course of the entire season and not base everything on the last week or two of the regular season.


The Pacers, on paper, are clearly an inferior opponent for the Celtics.

Yet the Celtics, on paper, should have been much better than a 49 win team with a less than 5 point differential.
The Pacers have been a well below .500 team since Oladipo went down.  They wouldn't have even made the playoffs going over the whole season.  Even if Boston isn't going at full steam it should have no difficulty at all with Indiana.
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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #40 on: April 10, 2019, 09:25:11 PM »

Offline Somebody

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ECF if Jaylen returns to the SG spot in the starting 5. He's such a mismatch for Indy and Milwaukee at SG.
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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #41 on: April 10, 2019, 11:04:21 PM »

Offline Kuberski33

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They're not getting past Milwaukee. Besides Giannis they have better shooting and there will be no coaching advantage for the Celtics unlike last year vs Milwaukee and Philadelphia.  Bucks in 5.

Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #42 on: April 10, 2019, 11:39:13 PM »

Offline Ogaju

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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #43 on: April 11, 2019, 01:50:06 AM »

Offline tenn_smoothie

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too inconsistent and a little banged up

I think the AD fiasco hurt this team more than anyone realizes.

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Re: Poll: How far will the C's go in the playoffs?
« Reply #44 on: April 11, 2019, 02:37:11 AM »

Offline GreenEnvy

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Yeah, you came off that notion when? When the Celtics destroyed the Pacers in Indiana? And yet if C’s somehow lost both games after and Indy won both to grab the 4-seed, you’d still think that? Interesting logic, I guess (you know, considering we lost on a buzzer beater to Oladipo and completely outplayed them in the other in our two games there). So I take it you’re now going with C’s in 7 against Indy?



I think I made it pretty clear that homecourt advantage is what sways my thinking on who will win the series.

I'm expecting the series to go 6 or 7.

As I said, we have months of evidence that this team can't be trusted, and much less evidence that the team is going to come out and blow the doors off an opponent that is lesser than them in talent.

The Celts played at around a .500 pace for much of the season.

Again, even suggesting the C’s could win in six games ruins the theory they NEED home court to win this, as even you can envision them closing out IN Indiana.

Celtics lose on buzzer beater by Indy’s best player and win in pretty dominating fashion, but absolutely need HCA to get past a team without said best player? Yes, because the Celtics got spanked in Milwaukee back in December without Horford, Baynes, and Morris... they are clearly a bad road team. Losing to the Nets without Kyrie and Al two weeks ago means anything against Indiana?

Like I said, it was possible after the thrashing last week in Indy that we still didn’t get HCA, but after clearly seeing us capable of winning there, there wouldn’t be any reason to be all that worried.

There is literally no valid reasoning why this should be a very tough series. Sure you can cite about our stretches of mediocrity throughout a long season (let’s ignore their great stretches where they’ve proven they could beat anyone, anywhere), but you have to look at the opponent. Indiana just isn’t all that good without Oladipo, which you are clearly ignoring.

Yes, even a great team can struggle against a poor one (we all saw that in 2008), but there is zero logic behind expecting this to be difficult for the Celtics, even without Smart.

Home court will not decide this series, plain and simple.
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