Is it just me or does this team….

[TheReaLPuba]

…feel like it’s missing something?

Keep hearing on ESPN and other sports media that this years C’s are on some historic paces yet I just don’t see them as being super dominant.

They’ve had some big big wins differential wise but they always seem to play down to their opponents or lose big leads or go into stretches of terrible shot selection as a whole team.

This years team arguable has the best starting 5 since 03-04 Pistons  (Billips, Rip, Prince, Sheed, Ben Wallace) yet on some nights our bench play seems to be more impressive.

It’s a talented team in year one with a bunch of new players and a very young coach….perhaps our judgements/expectations are too strong.

We shouldn’t be expected to win it all this year.

Definitely think a sub 60 win team would be deemed a failure though.

[Donoghus]

…feel like it’s missing something?

Keep hearing on ESPN and other sports media that this years C’s are on some historic paces yet I just don’t see them as being super dominant.

They’ve had some big big wins differential wise but they always seem to play down to their opponents or lose big leads or go into stretches of terrible shot selection as a whole team.

This years team arguable has the best starting 5 since 03-04 Pistons  (Billips, Rip, Prince, Sheed, Ben Wallace) yet on some nights our bench play seems to be more impressive.

It’s a talented team in year one with a bunch of new players and a very young coach….perhaps our judgements/expectations are too strong.

We shouldn’t be expected to win it all this year.

Definitely think a sub 60 win team would be deemed a failure though.

I expect them to win it all this year.  DEN is really the only team that scares me.  I think that would be an epic series.  Otherwise, I don't see another team beating the Celtics in a 7 game series. 

This team is another level from the '22 Finals team and last year's squad.  They're loaded. More talented, more explosive offensively, the depth is there.   Injuries and mental lapses (such as last night) are my biggest worries.  This team is really, really, really good.  Especially when you start looking around this league.

I don't really care what the regular season win total comes out to be but if they win 58 and win the title, so be it.   

[celticinorlando]

I think if they are missing anything it is that killer instinct that the Bird teams had or the KG teams had.

They are superior in talent and skill but often play when they want and let down mentally.

[ozgod]

I think if they are missing anything it is that killer instinct that the Bird teams had or the KG teams had.

They are superior in talent and skill but often play when they want and let down mentally.

It's not so much killer instinct as overconfidence and yes, choosing when to play, which is a mentality thing. Because you don't beat teams by 50 points repeatedly if you don't have a killer instinct to grind teams into the dust. To me they just get too overconfident like they think they can beat anyone and it doesn't matter if the other team starts to play well, they can just switch it on. Like KP said:

“I think it’s healthy for us. We do have feelings like, ‘Hey, we’re going to win every game.’ Like, we’re invincible, we’re gonna win this game,” Porziņģis said. “No matter what happens, we’re like, ‘We got this.’ A little bit of that feeling is always there. It’s maybe healthy, but it’s also healthy to get a loss here and there like, ‘Here we go. Let’s recalibrate a little bit and have that attention to detail again.’ So I think it’s completely fine and I think it’s necessary to keep building.”

And Jaylen:

“Yeah, cause I think we are a much better team than we showed today, and today was just a mentality loss, I think,” Brown said. “We had the game and then we got comfortable, so it was more of a mindset thing than X’s and O’s. We gotta just be the more disciplined, the more militant team to be focused. We weren’t that, usually we are that, and we felt that today.”

https://theathletic.com/5320024/2024/03/06/celtics-lose-cavs-jayson-tatum-foul-overturned/

I always try to put myself in the players' shoes...I guess if you are a top tier player playing for a team so much better than its opposition, and you've been blowing teams out, and you're leading by 22 with 10 mins to go in the 4th it can be a challenge to maintain focus...it's easy for us as fans to exhort them to keep playing hard and crucify them when they slip mentally, because we tune in to the game for 2 hours then we move on to our daily lives till the next game, while this *is* their life, 82 games a season of it, and numerous training sessions and shootarounds, and it's not like any of us approach our own work at 100 miles an hour with intense focus all the time ("gotta really knuckle down in replying to this email from my colleague - don't lose focus!"). Or "I'm driving home from work now, time to turn into Lewis Hamilton". Sometimes you just put the car on cruise control   

Nevertheless, that's what differentiates champions, like Larry's teams and KG's teams, from wanna-bes, so that's the challenge in front of them. And doing that when it REALLY matters - the playoffs, even if they fail to do so on some game in March.

[Yuckabuck33]

An Alpha. That's what we're missing. After thinking about it, I don't want to fire Joe. I want to trade Tatum.

Jan 19. Undefeated home streak broken- Tatum says "I should have took some more time, but you can't go back so it's something that I can learn from."

Mar 5. Twelve game win streak broken. Tatum says
“I probably should have went a little faster."

He is not learning anything. We have hitched our wagon to someone that chokes in crunch time. Forget judging Joe by the playoffs. I don't have the confidence that Tatum will get us all the way thru the playoffs. When the chips are down. Tatum is the weakest link.

[scaryjerry]

They’re missing a transcendent superstar. They’re really solid all the way around but Tatum just isn’t that yet which is why I really don’t get the mvp talk. He could easily shut me up with a consistently dominant postseason I just don’t see that happening, it’s gonna have to be a full team effort with different guys making the difference night to night.
We are 100% the favorite with our record being what it is but I think most people are wildly over confident with how easy they think it’s gonna be for the celtics

[tenn_smoothie]

This group has always been weak mentally - mental focus, mental discipline to keep doing things the right way possession after possession, our two stars alternately having disastrous performances in the most important playoff games and just the overall lack of an angry edge to them, like Bird, like Garnett, like Cowens, like Russell, DJ, Silas, Perk, Max, on and on. Guys who didn't just want to win, but needed to win.

[Roy H.]

An Alpha. That's what we're missing. After thinking about it, I don't want to fire Joe. I want to trade Tatum.

Jan 19. Undefeated home streak broken- Tatum says "I should have took some more time, but you can't go back so it's something that I can learn from."

Mar 5. Twelve game win streak broken. Tatum says
“I probably should have went a little faster."

He is not learning anything. We have hitched our wagon to someone that chokes in crunch time. Forget judging Joe by the playoffs. I don't have the confidence that Tatum will get us all the way thru the playoffs. When the chips are down. Tatum is the weakest link.

The key points of your post:  Undefeated home streak.  Twelve game winning streak.

Add:  Best team in the NBA. Best point differential. 

There's no sense in trading Tatum.  Just diversify the end of game plays.

[radiohead]

It’s missing a championship. Once they win one, all these narratives about being soft, having no killer instinct, etc will be gone. I personally am enjoying this season. One disastrous loss to Cleveland hasn’t changed my perspective that we’re on track to at least make the finals. Lebron has missed and passed on potential game winners and yet he’s hailed as one of the best. JT will be fine. We’re just a spoiled bunch.

This is an interesting read. Not sure how accurate it is though.

https://www.reddit.com/r/nba/comments/11c5sij/oc_jayson_tatums_clutch_stats_are_elite/

[droopdog7]

…feel like it’s missing something?

Keep hearing on ESPN and other sports media that this years C’s are on some historic paces yet I just don’t see them as being super dominant.

They’ve had some big big wins differential wise but they always seem to play down to their opponents or lose big leads or go into stretches of terrible shot selection as a whole team.

This years team arguable has the best starting 5 since 03-04 Pistons  (Billips, Rip, Prince, Sheed, Ben Wallace) yet on some nights our bench play seems to be more impressive.

It’s a talented team in year one with a bunch of new players and a very young coach….perhaps our judgements/expectations are too strong.

We shouldn’t be expected to win it all this year.

Definitely think a sub 60 win team would be deemed a failure though.

I expect them to win it all this year.  DEN is really the only team that scares me.  I think that would be an epic series.  Otherwise, I don't see another team beating the Celtics in a 7 game series. 

This team is another level from the '22 Finals team and last year's squad.  They're loaded. More talented, more explosive offensively, the depth is there.   Injuries and mental lapses (such as last night) are my biggest worries.  This team is really, really, really good.  Especially when you start looking around this league.

I don't really care what the regular season win total comes out to be but if they win 58 and win the title, so be it.

The reality is that some other team will win the title though.  You pretty much always take thw field.

[BitterJim]

An Alpha. That's what we're missing. After thinking about it, I don't want to fire Joe. I want to trade Tatum.

Jan 19. Undefeated home streak broken- Tatum says "I should have took some more time, but you can't go back so it's something that I can learn from."

Mar 5. Twelve game win streak broken. Tatum says
“I probably should have went a little faster."

He is not learning anything. We have hitched our wagon to someone that chokes in crunch time. Forget judging Joe by the playoffs. I don't have the confidence that Tatum will get us all the way thru the playoffs. When the chips are down. Tatum is the weakest link.

The key points of your post:  Undefeated home streak.  Twelve game winning streak.

Add:  Best team in the NBA. Best point differential. 

There's no sense in trading Tatum.  Just diversify the end of game plays.

Imagine what Brad could draw up for end of game/ATO plays with this squad. Being able to use Tatum, Brown, and KP as decoys to open each other (or the guards) up... we would see some really incredible stuff. Even just having an assistant coach whose main job was drawing up/trying out those sorts of plays would probably be worth a win or two this year.

Hopefully that doesn't rear its head too much in the playoffs.

[Donoghus]

…feel like it’s missing something?

Keep hearing on ESPN and other sports media that this years C’s are on some historic paces yet I just don’t see them as being super dominant.

They’ve had some big big wins differential wise but they always seem to play down to their opponents or lose big leads or go into stretches of terrible shot selection as a whole team.

This years team arguable has the best starting 5 since 03-04 Pistons  (Billips, Rip, Prince, Sheed, Ben Wallace) yet on some nights our bench play seems to be more impressive.

It’s a talented team in year one with a bunch of new players and a very young coach….perhaps our judgements/expectations are too strong.

We shouldn’t be expected to win it all this year.

Definitely think a sub 60 win team would be deemed a failure though.

I expect them to win it all this year.  DEN is really the only team that scares me.  I think that would be an epic series.  Otherwise, I don't see another team beating the Celtics in a 7 game series. 

This team is another level from the '22 Finals team and last year's squad.  They're loaded. More talented, more explosive offensively, the depth is there.   Injuries and mental lapses (such as last night) are my biggest worries.  This team is really, really, really good.  Especially when you start looking around this league.

I don't really care what the regular season win total comes out to be but if they win 58 and win the title, so be it.

The reality is that some other team will win the title though.  You pretty much always take thw field.

Sure, there are no guarantees in life.  That's obvious.  Just offering my opinion.  And my opinion for months is that this team has the look of a champion.

If I'm wrong, I'm wrong.  Wouldn't be the first time.  But I'm sticking to this.