171 days later, this guy looks really dumb

[GetLucky]

I was angry when I first read this article (when it came out). However, looking back, his player assessments are pretty spot-on. The only difference is that the team overachieved as a unit, in no small part due to the coach. While the tone of this is a little morose, the individual breakdowns aren't as bad as I originally though they were.

[PhoSita]

What this Celtics team did to overachieve is not unlike what a lot of past over-achievers have done.

They fielded a lot of smaller lineups with multiple shooters and ball-handlers and they played at a top 5 pace.

As it has been in the past, it's probably just fool's gold, to a large extent.  Still, the team gets some playoff experience, for whatever that's worth, and the faster pace undoubtedly inflated the stats of the players to some extent, which is a good thing as far as trade value is concerned.

[celticsclay]

I think there are probably two big problems with how he ends it. (Side note it isn't really insightful or great either way so we have probably spent too much time discussing it as is)

 Worse, they'll be a bad team without recourse to fanciful hope or the illusion of direction. They probably won't be the worst team the franchise has ever put out on the court, but in all honesty, they often feel that way, particularly to those who've grown accustomed to winning, or even just relevance. Those people include only its best player, its front office and its entire fan base. But, hey, we'll be fine.

We obviously had a lot of assets regardless of how this season went. Teams would trade a lot for Brooklyn's picks. We also really don't have a single bad contract, which is a big of a rarity in and of itself. In fact our worst contract, probably become a slight asset next season (Wallace expiring). Also, it is really weak of the writer to speak for the entire fan base. This board wouldn't really exist if all fans agreed on the direction of the team. Saying our entire fanbase will often feel like the this was the worst team the franchise has ever put on the court is a real reach.

[colincb]

I thought it was a poorly written article without much insight, but plenty of snark. That some predicted a similar fate doesn't make it more reasonable.

The structure of the team coming into the season was better than 2013's mismatched mess, the talent was better, and Danny had a lot of draft picks and large trade exceptions to improve the roster and the will and temperment to do so. It didn't take much imagination to think Danny would find a way to improve the team.