Our Opening Schedule is Brutal

[footey]

Game 1: Sixers, ranked top 2-3 in NBA.
Game 2: Raptors, NBA Champs, better than folks realize even without Kawhi.
Game 4: Bucks, ranked top 2-3 in NBA.

It softens up a bit after that, thank goodness.

So let's not get discouraged by a slow start.  1-3 is not out of the realm.

I think we need to play harder on the defensive end.  All the calls made by the refs in the Philly game made us play passively.  But the Sixers kept playing hard.  They committed more fouls as a result, but that didn't hurt them because we were so poor from the foul line.

The best teams are playing really hard defensively.  Look at the Clips.  The Bucks.  The Sixers.  Even the Rockets pressed hard, at least in the first half.

The shots will fall. Sometimes they don't.

But there is no excuse not to play hard defensively every play.  Even if the refs are calling it tight.

[liam]

Game 1: Sixers, ranked top 2-3 in NBA.
Game 2: Raptors, NBA Champs, better than folks realize even without Kawhi.
Game 4: Bucks, ranked top 2-3 in NBA.

It softens up a bit after that, thank goodness.

So let's not get discouraged by a slow start.  1-3 is not out of the realm.

I think we need to play harder on the defensive end.  All the calls made by the refs in the Philly game made us play passively.  But the Sixers kept playing hard.  They committed more fouls as a result, but that didn't hurt them because we were so poor from the foul line.

The best teams are playing really hard defensively.  Look at the Clips.  The Bucks.  The Sixers.  Even the Rockets pressed hard, at least in the first half.

The shots will fall. Sometimes they don't.

But there is no excuse not to play hard defensively every play.  Even if the refs are calling it tight.

It is a tough opening schedule and The Defense could have been better but The offense really was the problem. 36% shooting and 26% from 3 and the horrid 58% from the line is just really, really bad. 15 points off the bench is also a drag.

[PhoSita]

No joke.

I went through the schedule from now until Christmas and I honestly won't be surprised if the team is hovering around .500 at Christmas time.

[mmmmm]

Yeah, the really tough part about the schedule is actually going to be the middle of November.   Overall, we have 9 road games to just 5 home games in November.   And after the nice softie home game against NYK on the 1st, we have a nasty stretch of:

@CLE
@CHA
@SAS
DAL
WAS
@GSW
@SAC
@PHX
@LAC
@DEN

Yes, there are a couple road games against weaker teams like CLE and PHX.  But SAS, GSW, LAC and DEN on the road are going to be tough.  And playing at SAC is probably going to be tough this year as well.

If we can climb out of November at least close to .500, I think we'll be alright.  Things get a lot easier (i.e., more home games) in DEC and JAN.   Those two months have 17 home and just 12 road games.

[Phantom255x]

No joke.

I went through the schedule from now until Christmas and I honestly won't be surprised if the team is hovering around .500 at Christmas time.

Unfortunately it'll be more of the same like last year. I'd be fine with it IF we saw some improvement from guys and better team chemistry, but if it still feels more like 2018 with the dumb play and no real improvement, it'll be massively disappointing.

This year's team isn't as talented as last year's, but you'd figure guys like Tatum, Brown and others will take on bigger roles and start to make a leap. So I wouldn't be surprised either if we're sort of around .500 by December, but it'd be encouraging if we started to pick things up later on. Last season was just an endless ride of hoping they'd figure it out, until we got to April 

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

No joke.

I went through the schedule from now until Christmas and I honestly won't be surprised if the team is hovering around .500 at Christmas time.

I guess Brad Stevens teams have a (too?) convenient built-in excuse for early-season struggles, given all the rotation experimentation he does. It's like, we wait all summer for the Celtics to start playing again, but even then we really don't get to see much good basketball from them until the new year.

[ozgod]

Game 1: Sixers, ranked top 2-3 in NBA.
Game 2: Raptors, NBA Champs, better than folks realize even without Kawhi.
Game 4: Bucks, ranked top 2-3 in NBA.

It softens up a bit after that, thank goodness.

So let's not get discouraged by a slow start.  1-3 is not out of the realm.

I think we need to play harder on the defensive end.  All the calls made by the refs in the Philly game made us play passively.  But the Sixers kept playing hard.  They committed more fouls as a result, but that didn't hurt them because we were so poor from the foul line.

The best teams are playing really hard defensively.  Look at the Clips.  The Bucks.  The Sixers.  Even the Rockets pressed hard, at least in the first half.

The shots will fall. Sometimes they don't.

But there is no excuse not to play hard defensively every play.  Even if the refs are calling it tight.

I won't start getting discouraged till December. I think October is too early for wrist slitting.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

Game 1: Sixers, ranked top 2-3 in NBA.
Game 2: Raptors, NBA Champs, better than folks realize even without Kawhi.
Game 4: Bucks, ranked top 2-3 in NBA.

It softens up a bit after that, thank goodness.

So let's not get discouraged by a slow start.  1-3 is not out of the realm.

I think we need to play harder on the defensive end.  All the calls made by the refs in the Philly game made us play passively.  But the Sixers kept playing hard.  They committed more fouls as a result, but that didn't hurt them because we were so poor from the foul line.

The best teams are playing really hard defensively.  Look at the Clips.  The Bucks.  The Sixers.  Even the Rockets pressed hard, at least in the first half.

The shots will fall. Sometimes they don't.

But there is no excuse not to play hard defensively every play.  Even if the refs are calling it tight.

I won't start getting discouraged till December. I think October is too early for wrist slitting.

I agree that some patience is warranted (though being patient is hard for me), but the slow starts still concern me, because they probably lead to lower seeding and less home court for the playoffs. I guess the idea is to get things figured out (rotations, etc.) as early in the season as possible, and to be playing really well come playoff time, so then seeding/home court don't matter as much (in theory), but I have my doubts about that approach.

[PhoSita]

No joke.

I went through the schedule from now until Christmas and I honestly won't be surprised if the team is hovering around .500 at Christmas time.

I guess Brad Stevens teams have a (too?) convenient built-in excuse for early-season struggles, given all the rotation experimentation he does. It's like, we wait all summer for the Celtics to start playing again, but even then we really don't get to see much good basketball from them until the new year.

i mean, a couple years ago they started 16-2 or whatever, right?