If we don't go 2-1 the next three games...

[MBunge]

Losing to Atlanta won't be bad, even though they're not an elite team.  If we can't beat Detroit and the Lakers, two teams that are even worse than us, then we will need to stop talking about we just need a big or we just need a closer.  If we can't beat them, it will mean that all these competitive losses, for at least 3 quarters, are a mirage.

Mike

Huh? So getting an elite defensive center won't make us a playoff team if we lose 2 out of the next 3 games?

Like DeAndre Jordan? Won't help much.

Unless you are talking about Marc Gasol. But what is the point of talking about that?

That's what I mean.  Is this a team where adding a good role player at a position of need will make a difference?  Or do we need a top 15 player overall to make a dent?

Mike

[Quetzalcoatl]

I think we have players that could actually fill out a top tier roster......if we had a defensive big and a big time scorer.  Like if we all of a sudden had DeAndre Jordan, Carmelo Anthony and a top 10 2015 draft pick added to our roster, which is a huge move.

I do think though that if the rest of our team was Rondo, Sully, Bradley, KO, Smart, Young and Bass we'd be alright.

[TheFlex]

I think we have players that could actually fill out a top tier roster......if we had a defensive big and a big time scorer.  Like if we all of a sudden had DeAndre Jordan, Carmelo Anthony and a top 10 2015 draft pick added to our roster, which is a huge move.

I do think though that if the rest of our team was Rondo, Sully, Bradley, KO, Smart, Young and Bass we'd be alright.

Haha, you'd be hard-pressed to find a team in the league that wouldn't contend despite adding D.J., Melo and a top ten draft pick.

This team is not "just" [anything] from a top tier club. We have a severely imbalanced roster with noticeable talent voids at key roles. Our go-to scorer is Jeff Green (though as a big Sully fan, I'm beginning to think we should look to him more for buckets), who is at best the fourth best player on a contending squad. Our rim protector and garbage man (dunks, tip-ins, finishes off P&Rs, etc.) is Tyler Zeller, who couldn't start for a contending team unless the other four starters were perennial All-Stars or close to it.

I am steadfast in my belief that this team has a terrific future, but it's time to quit thinking that  another ring is within our very grasp. Things can change quickly, but that's not likely, and it's distorted to characterize our chances of contending as being "just" one piece or two pieces away when realistically that one piece is LeBron James or those two pieces are Carmelo and Marc Gasol/DeAndre Jordan/Roy Hibbert. Again, literally any team in the NBA can say that.

edit: Except maybe the Sixers. 

second edit: I recognize your inclusion of "..., which is a huge move." I'm more addressing your broader line of thinking that is shared by many on this site in which it is believed that we're "only" a mysteriously defined/interpreted "player" away from contending.

[clover]

Losing to Atlanta won't be bad, even though they're not an elite team.  If we can't beat Detroit and the Lakers, two teams that are even worse than us, then we will need to stop talking about we just need a big or we just need a closer.  If we can't beat them, it will mean that all these competitive losses, for at least 3 quarters, are a mirage.

Mike

Detroit's in a similar situation to the C's, except they do have a stud center. Should make for an interesting match up, at least.

[Celtics4ever]

The sky won't fall if we don't go 2-1.   I think we will go 2-1 pr 1-2, I see us beating the Lakers for certain, but after that it is a crap shoot.

[SHAQATTACK]

The sky won't fall if we don't go 2-1.   I think we will go 2-1 pr 1-2, I see us beating the Lakers for certain, but after that it is a crap shoot.

LoL......the Lakers have C's pegged as a Win ....one of the few they see themselves winning.


If we had a good center I feel like we could win a few games .  No center ..no wins.

[D.o.s.]

If we lose to Detroit and the Lakers, how are we better than them?

I took it to mean worse record currently.

TP for you. Makes sense.

If we lose to Detroit and the Lakers, how are we better than them?

By the power of inverse thinking...

Hahahahaha TP.

[loco_91]

Losing to Atlanta won't be bad, even though they're not an elite team.  If we can't beat Detroit and the Lakers, two teams that are even worse than us, then we will need to stop talking about we just need a big or we just need a closer.  If we can't beat them, it will mean that all these competitive losses, for at least 3 quarters, are a mirage.

Mike

We aren't beating detroit. Drummond will destroy our centers on lobs . I think we match up better with atl and LA

you really think we have a better shot against the hawks than against detroit? detroit is just terrible this year...

[thehumburger]

I don't know about the next three games, but I think the month of December may serve as a litmus test for where this team stands.

Exactly. The Dec schedule is looking as easy as Nov was hard:

@Atlanta
Detroit
LA Lakers
Washington
@Washington
@Charlotte
NY Knicks
@Philadelphia
Orlando
Minnesota
@Miami
@Orlando
Brooklyn
@Washington
Sacramento

C's are currently only 1.5 games out of the 8 seed despite being 4-10. They could easily go 8-7 and find themselves within a half game of the 8 or even 9-6 and be in the 8 at 13-16. On the other hand, if they have a losing record in Dec, they'll know they're cemented into the lottery even if they're within 4 or so games of the 8 seed b/c the schedule isn't getting any easier than this month. Ainge should have a good idea of what he wants to do re. the trade deadline by Jan 1.

[ZoneD]

I don't know about the next three games, but I think the month of December may serve as a litmus test for where this team stands.

Exactly. The Dec schedule is looking as easy as Nov was hard:

@Atlanta
Detroit
LA Lakers
Washington
@Washington
@Charlotte
NY Knicks
@Philadelphia
Orlando
Minnesota
@Miami
@Orlando
Brooklyn
@Washington
Sacramento

C's are currently only 1.5 games out of the 8 seed despite being 4-10. They could easily go 8-7 and find themselves within a half game of the 8 or even 9-6 and be in the 8 at 13-16. On the other hand, if they have a losing record in Dec, they'll know they're cemented into the lottery even if they're within 4 or so games of the 8 seed b/c the schedule isn't getting any easier than this month. Ainge should have a good idea of what he wants to do re. the trade deadline by Jan 1.

Washington, Atlanta, Miami and Sacramento are all clearly better than us. The rest of these are winnable games.

My projection: we go 6-9

[gift]

I don't worry about Ainge thinking this team is close. He once broke up a conference finalist/second round playoff roster because he recognized that it was fool's gold.

[Celtics4ever]

LoL......the Lakers have C's pegged as a Win ....one of the few they see themselves winning.

Who cares what the Lakers think....

[hwangjini_1]

I don't know about the next three games, but I think the month of December may serve as a litmus test for where this team stands.

Exactly. The Dec schedule is looking as easy as Nov was hard:

@Atlanta
Detroit
LA Lakers
Washington
@Washington
@Charlotte
NY Knicks
@Philadelphia
Orlando
Minnesota
@Miami
@Orlando
Brooklyn
@Washington
Sacramento

C's are currently only 1.5 games out of the 8 seed despite being 4-10. They could easily go 8-7 and find themselves within a half game of the 8 or even 9-6 and be in the 8 at 13-16. On the other hand, if they have a losing record in Dec, they'll know they're cemented into the lottery even if they're within 4 or so games of the 8 seed b/c the schedule isn't getting any easier than this month. Ainge should have a good idea of what he wants to do re. the trade deadline by Jan 1.

Washington, Atlanta, Miami and Sacramento are all clearly better than us. The rest of these are winnable games.

My projection: we go 6-9

not a bad guess at all. for me the keys to a better than 6-9 record would be a return of a healthy smart and olly becoming aggressive. if these two things happen, 8-7 is possible.

[vjcsmoke]

LOL.  Have you been watching this season?  One more good role player is NOT going to make a difference.  The Celtics need a star to focus the team around.  Rondo cannot carry the scoring load, so he's a beta dog.  Jeff Green, we know he just doesn't have alpha dog in his DNA.  It is glaringly obvious that the Celtics need a go-to guy in the 4th quarter and they just don't have that right now.  Best chance is probably through draft or trade.  That's why DA has been stockpiling picks.

And the next 3 games results don't matter at all imo.   We need to accept that we are a bad team and the best we can hope is that our 'assets' grow in the process and by the trade deadline we can swing a trade to improve our longterm outlook.

That's what I mean.  Is this a team where adding a good role player at a position of need will make a difference?  Or do we need a top 15 player overall to make a dent?

Mike