Celtics will be better than anticipated this year

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Feels like we had a similar discussion last summer.

There was myself and a few others who were hoping the Celts would shock alot of people last season, but it didn't happen.

Granted, this year we'll have a healthy Rondo playing a full season and an actual center in Tyler Zeller.

However, unfortunately if the current roster is what we start the season with, I wouldn't get too optimistic

Again, the question is, what's the long-term plan of this team?

Is it to tank again next season and get another hopeful lotto pick in 2015?

Is it to just ride out the season with the status-quo, let money come off the books and then be major players in free agency next summer?

This is the part that's frustrating.

Well, you have to take into account that the Summer discussion had the asterisk that Rondo would be ready to go by the start of the season.

Also, most assumed that Humphries would get the bulk of the minutes at Center and Sullinger the bulk of the minutes at PF, those two being our big men starters, which didn't happen (Bass was there all year long).

We also assumed that Bradley wasn't going to be our starting PG (even if Rondo wasn't around since all Celtics fans have already been witnesses to this experiment years prior).

And to say nothing of how Courtney Lee was underused, who was having a great year. And also the lack of consistency in the rotations with a rookie coach, etc.

Despite those issues that are unpredictable from a Summer standpoint, we were on a 32 win pace by the time Lee was traded, which is not too shabby considering all the issues the team was facing. Though that's a projection that is influenced by the ups and downs of the schedule, win/losing streaks, etc. (we were in the middle of a losing streak then).

So keeping that in mind, if that type of roster was on pace to get that type of result or close to it, and we here on CelticsBlog seem to agree that our current roster should be better and play better than last year's team (which we also project to be much healthier) ... then why are we projecting an even worse result from most around here it seems?

Oops, I didn't read this before I posted.


Amen.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

I'm just waiting for th EPL to start

[chambers]

If Marcus Smart can play great defense  and then be adequate offensively, whether at the one or two spot,  I think our back court has the potential to be very disruptive and it will have a big impact on how many wins we get.

I also think Smart may be the outwardly emotional type that gets Rondo juiced.

Then, we have Zeller, Faverani, Olynyk, Sully, Green, Turner, Thornton and Bradley, all of whom get up and down the court quickly for their positions, for targets for Rondo?

I really do think this team will be better than expected and at the high end have just as good a shot at ECF contention as any other team, including Cleveland.

I like the IQ, toughness and competitiveness of most of the players on our team. I thinkw e have a lot of "gamers", starting with Rondo, then Bradley, Smart, Pressey, Green, Sully, Olynyk, Zeller.  They're gonna compete every night.

I'm excited.

   

Man I love your optimism but this is the furthest thing from reality on the internet. (well almost)In fact it's not fair to put that on the young guys.
Honestly there's zero chance aka it will never happen. Prepare for disappointment if you're expecting that. The absolute ceiling for this team is the 8th and that would be with the help of multiple injuries to key players in the East and multiple break out years for this Celtics team

[ScoobyDoo]

Thanks Chambers re my optimism and yes, i am an ultimate optimist, often  times to an unrealistic degree, as is probably the case here.

However, my attitude is why should I or this Celtics team think any other way. They should expect to compete for a championship every year  - at least this is the attitude they should approach the season with and then they should fight like heck to do everything possible to get there. That's how they'll improve the fastest as players and as a unit.

The Coach, and the players, can't go into the season saying, well, out goal is the lottery so let's aspire to play to that level... Anyway, that's just how I look at it, approach it.

But to the facts:

I do in fact like this team as constructed - I think there's good, if not great, talent at every position. We'll need to grow, we make a major trade, but I still like the current team.

Versus Cleveland:

Backcourt: 
Rondo, Smart & Pressey  versus Irving & Delladova? 
* I'm Ok with that match up

Bradley and Thornton versus Waiters and James Jones?
* I'm Ok with that

James & Miller versus Green, Turner & Wallace
James trumps all here but Green plays well against him and I like Turner and Wallace over Miller.

Love & Thmpson versus Sully & Olynyk?
* I'm really looking forward to this match up. I think Sully will get after Love and I like Olynyk.
** If Olynyk and Sully continue their development path they may become a real load at power forward in their own right.

Zeller, Anthony and Faverani versus Spongebob & Haywood?
I also like this match up.

Coaching? I like Stevens over Cleveland's coach.

I leave you with these thoughts as well:

1. I would not want to play against a Rondo, Smart & Bradley lead back court. That is a guaranteed fistfight every night for the opposing team.

2. I believe that Sully or Olynyk, or possibly both are going to break out this year. If that happens, we will be much better than expected. And I do think it will happen - more likely than not.

3. Green, along with Turner, Zeller and Thornton are all solid, if not great, scoring options. It's very likely that at least one, if not two of them will be "on" on any given night.

4. I think our "go to guy" could very well become either Sully or Olynyk.

5. I think we have a bunch of very heady, smart, team oriented guys.

Again, I'm very excited for this season to begin.

Then, you add the fact that we have major cap space coming and seven plus first round picks as well? What's not to like!!!?     



     

[ScoobyDoo]

Also, another thought...

How old is James, 30 in December? How many miles he have on him? Yes, he's a phenomenal athlete, but he could easily start getting a bit more dinged up and worn down.

I like our team. We can/should/probably will trade Green, bass, maybe Rondo or maybe make a large move to bring in another legit star next to Rondo, true.

But I like what we have right now as well. Stevens' job is to maximize his player mix - "let the games begin" as they say.