So, 82-0?

[footey]

I look forward to building on last season.  We were still 0.500 in what, January?  The ball movement wasn't there.  Moving without the ball was not there.  The offense was very predictable.  It improved significantly from that point on.  We got more healthy, that helped, but you could see things really start to click on offense, even though we added White (who never looked comfortable).

Now we need to pick up where we left off, even though we have a new coach.  Should be similar schemes.  Players should be more comfortable right from the start.  We are starting out with injuries again but I still feel that we should be better, especially in the first half of the season.

I hope they pick up where they left off.  Adversity is usually part of the picture in an NBA season. I wonder how CStrong will respond when the new coach faces some challenges.  Does he get any rope as a young, first year coach?  Or will we be seeing fire him / hate his rotations threads the first time the Cs drop 2 straight?

Have we ever had a season where large numbers of forum members were not calling for the head coach to be fired at some point during the season?

I know it happened in 2007-08. Go figure.

Oh yeah, there were plenty of 'fire Doc!' posts that season

Most fire Doc posts were 2006-07. I don't remember that many if any in their championship season.

[footey]

I'm not all that impressed by the "finishing touches".  I'm not seeing quite the same things you are.

I'm definitely happy with the core, though, and Hauser looks like he could step into the Gallinari role.  Kabengele looks like a great energy guy on a 2-way.  Once Timelord comes back, the team should definitely be better than last year, which is impressive.

You aren't impressed by Brogdon addition? To me that was huge.  After settling in, he looked awesome.  Maturity, intelligence and skill.  That trade alone gives Brad an off season A IMO.

[bello_man09]

I been having dreams of Gallo Coming back and the garden going craZy 

[Kernewek]

I look forward to building on last season.  We were still 0.500 in what, January?  The ball movement wasn't there.  Moving without the ball was not there.  The offense was very predictable.  It improved significantly from that point on.  We got more healthy, that helped, but you could see things really start to click on offense, even though we added White (who never looked comfortable).

Now we need to pick up where we left off, even though we have a new coach.  Should be similar schemes.  Players should be more comfortable right from the start.  We are starting out with injuries again but I still feel that we should be better, especially in the first half of the season.

I hope they pick up where they left off.  Adversity is usually part of the picture in an NBA season. I wonder how CStrong will respond when the new coach faces some challenges.  Does he get any rope as a young, first year coach?  Or will we be seeing fire him / hate his rotations threads the first time the Cs drop 2 straight?

Have we ever had a season where large numbers of forum members were not calling for the head coach to be fired at some point during the season?

I know it happened in 2007-08. Go figure.

Oh yeah, there were plenty of 'fire Doc!' posts that season

Most fire Doc posts were 2006-07. I don't remember that many if any in their championship season.

I remember a bit of people complaining about Doc as a HC, but we got off to an insane start that season, so no room for the complaints to gather steam.

[Roy H.]

I'm not all that impressed by the "finishing touches".  I'm not seeing quite the same things you are.

I'm definitely happy with the core, though, and Hauser looks like he could step into the Gallinari role.  Kabengele looks like a great energy guy on a 2-way.  Once Timelord comes back, the team should definitely be better than last year, which is impressive.

You aren't impressed by Brogdon addition? To me that was huge.  After settling in, he looked awesome.  Maturity, intelligence and skill.  That trade alone gives Brad an off season A IMO.

Read my other posts in the thread.  I didn't see Brogdon as a "finishing touch".  To me, core pieces of the roster aren't finishing touches.

[hwangjini_1]

I look forward to building on last season.  We were still 0.500 in what, January?  The ball movement wasn't there.  Moving without the ball was not there.  The offense was very predictable.  It improved significantly from that point on.  We got more healthy, that helped, but you could see things really start to click on offense, even though we added White (who never looked comfortable).

Now we need to pick up where we left off, even though we have a new coach.  Should be similar schemes.  Players should be more comfortable right from the start.  We are starting out with injuries again but I still feel that we should be better, especially in the first half of the season.

I hope they pick up where they left off.  Adversity is usually part of the picture in an NBA season. I wonder how CStrong will respond when the new coach faces some challenges.  Does he get any rope as a young, first year coach?  Or will we be seeing fire him / hate his rotations threads the first time the Cs drop 2 straight?

Have we ever had a season where large numbers of forum members were not calling for the head coach to be fired at some point during the season?

I know it happened in 2007-08. Go figure.

Oh yeah, there were plenty of 'fire Doc!' posts that season

not to mention the number of posts to fire Udoka early last season.

i have read that most of the great defense last year was due to Mazulla. i hope this is so.

i am looking forward to this season. 

[footey]

I been having dreams of Gallo Coming back and the garden going craZy 

Yeah his name is now Hauser.

[Vermont Green]

I'm not all that impressed by the "finishing touches".  I'm not seeing quite the same things you are.

I'm definitely happy with the core, though, and Hauser looks like he could step into the Gallinari role.  Kabengele looks like a great energy guy on a 2-way.  Once Timelord comes back, the team should definitely be better than last year, which is impressive.

You aren't impressed by Brogdon addition? To me that was huge.  After settling in, he looked awesome.  Maturity, intelligence and skill.  That trade alone gives Brad an off season A IMO.

Read my other posts in the thread.  I didn't see Brogdon as a "finishing touch".  To me, core pieces of the roster aren't finishing touches.

I know with injuries, we won't have all of these, but we are really solid through 12 now (listed below ordered by salary). Hauser is 12 which isn't bad the way he has looked, but he still has to prove it.  I think Kornet is just keeping a seat warm.  So we have to fill in slots 13, 14, and 15.  Seems like the "finishing touches" are still TBD.  There will be buyouts (Favors?), roster adjusting late trades, things like that.  Even worst case, if 13, 14, 15 end up being Vonleh, Thomas, Samanic or something like that, is that so bad?  And we still have Davison and Kabengele as 2-ways that may actually be useful along the way (not usually the case for 2-ways).  I am not sure if any team has better 2-ways than us.

1.  Jayson Tatum
2.  Jaylen Brown
3.  Al Horford
4.  Malcolm Brogdon
5.  Marcus Smart
6.  Derrick White
7.  Robert Williams
8.  Danilo Gallinari
9.  Grant Williams
10. Payton Pritchard
11. Blake Griffin
12. Sam Hauser

(Luke Kornet)

[Celtics4ever]

Kornet should not be considered safe as his play and past have not merited that.  Hauser had a wonderful shooting game but he better carry it on too.  Blake should have to earn his keep as well.  Try outs for a reason.

[sgrogan]

I'm not all that impressed by the "finishing touches".  I'm not seeing quite the same things you are.

I'm definitely happy with the core, though, and Hauser looks like he could step into the Gallinari role.  Kabengele looks like a great energy guy on a 2-way.  Once Timelord comes back, the team should definitely be better than last year, which is impressive.

You aren't impressed by Brogdon addition? To me that was huge.  After settling in, he looked awesome.  Maturity, intelligence and skill.  That trade alone gives Brad an off season A IMO.

Read my other posts in the thread.  I didn't see Brogdon as a "finishing touch".  To me, core pieces of the roster aren't finishing touches.

I know with injuries, we won't have all of these, but we are really solid through 12 now (listed below ordered by salary). Hauser is 12 which isn't bad the way he has looked, but he still has to prove it.  I think Kornet is just keeping a seat warm.  So we have to fill in slots 13, 14, and 15.  Seems like the "finishing touches" are still TBD.  There will be buyouts (Favors?), roster adjusting late trades, things like that.  Even worst case, if 13, 14, 15 end up being Vonleh, Thomas, Samanic or something like that, is that so bad?  And we still have Davison and Kabengele as 2-ways that may actually be useful along the way (not usually the case for 2-ways).  I am not sure if any team has better 2-ways than us.

1.  Jayson Tatum
2.  Jaylen Brown
3.  Al Horford
4.  Malcolm Brogdon
5.  Marcus Smart
6.  Derrick White
7.  Robert Williams
8.  Danilo Gallinari
9.  Grant Williams
10. Payton Pritchard
11. Blake Griffin
12. Sam Hauser

(Luke Kornet)

Why should we expect better than last year?

1.  Jayson Tatum = Tatum
2.  Jaylen Brown = Brown
3.  Al Horford  = Horford (we hope)
4.  Malcolm Brogdon > Schoder
5.  Marcus Smart = Smart
6.  Derrick White =? Richardson
7.  Robert Williams = RWIII (except he's hurt)
8.  Danilo Gallinari > Parker (except he's hurt)
9.  Grant Williams = G.Will
10. Payton Pritchard = Pritchard
11. Sam Hauser =? Langford
12. Blake Griffin =? Freedom
13.Luke Kornet =? Hermangomez
14. Noah Vonleh =? Fernandez
15. Brodric Thomas =? Neismith

Kabengele =? Hauser
Davison > Thomas

[Roy H.]

I'm not all that impressed by the "finishing touches".  I'm not seeing quite the same things you are.

I'm definitely happy with the core, though, and Hauser looks like he could step into the Gallinari role.  Kabengele looks like a great energy guy on a 2-way.  Once Timelord comes back, the team should definitely be better than last year, which is impressive.

You aren't impressed by Brogdon addition? To me that was huge.  After settling in, he looked awesome.  Maturity, intelligence and skill.  That trade alone gives Brad an off season A IMO.

Read my other posts in the thread.  I didn't see Brogdon as a "finishing touch".  To me, core pieces of the roster aren't finishing touches.

I know with injuries, we won't have all of these, but we are really solid through 12 now (listed below ordered by salary). Hauser is 12 which isn't bad the way he has looked, but he still has to prove it.  I think Kornet is just keeping a seat warm.  So we have to fill in slots 13, 14, and 15.  Seems like the "finishing touches" are still TBD.  There will be buyouts (Favors?), roster adjusting late trades, things like that.  Even worst case, if 13, 14, 15 end up being Vonleh, Thomas, Samanic or something like that, is that so bad?  And we still have Davison and Kabengele as 2-ways that may actually be useful along the way (not usually the case for 2-ways).  I am not sure if any team has better 2-ways than us.

1.  Jayson Tatum
2.  Jaylen Brown
3.  Al Horford
4.  Malcolm Brogdon
5.  Marcus Smart
6.  Derrick White
7.  Robert Williams
8.  Danilo Gallinari
9.  Grant Williams
10. Payton Pritchard
11. Blake Griffin
12. Sam Hauser

(Luke Kornet)

Why should we expect better than last year?

1.  Jayson Tatum = Tatum
2.  Jaylen Brown = Brown
3.  Al Horford  = Horford (we hope)
4.  Malcolm Brogdon > Schoder
5.  Marcus Smart = Smart
6.  Derrick White =? Richardson
7.  Robert Williams = RWIII (except he's hurt)
8.  Danilo Gallinari > Parker (except he's hurt)
9.  Grant Williams = G.Will
10. Payton Pritchard = Pritchard
11. Sam Hauser =? Langford
12. Blake Griffin =? Freedom
13.Luke Kornet =? Hermangomez
14. Noah Vonleh =? Fernandez
15. Brodric Thomas =? Neismith

Kabengele =? Hauser
Davison > Thomas

I think we'll see improvement from a lot of players.  Tatum, Brown, White, Grant and Hauser should all be better than last year.  I think Marcus will be about the same, and we'll see a small regression from Horford.  It's hard to tell with Timelord, because he's lost an off-season and training camp for working on his game, and we don't know how he'll come back from surgery.

But, I think the biggest criticism I have is just listing "Malcolm Brogdon > Schoder", in a list, as if all upgrades and downgrades are created equal.  Brogdon is a pretty giant addition.  He's a very smart, very tough two-way player who can both create for himself and others.  His addition alone improves the team substantially.

[Vermont Green]

I'm not all that impressed by the "finishing touches".  I'm not seeing quite the same things you are.

I'm definitely happy with the core, though, and Hauser looks like he could step into the Gallinari role.  Kabengele looks like a great energy guy on a 2-way.  Once Timelord comes back, the team should definitely be better than last year, which is impressive.

You aren't impressed by Brogdon addition? To me that was huge.  After settling in, he looked awesome.  Maturity, intelligence and skill.  That trade alone gives Brad an off season A IMO.

Read my other posts in the thread.  I didn't see Brogdon as a "finishing touch".  To me, core pieces of the roster aren't finishing touches.

I know with injuries, we won't have all of these, but we are really solid through 12 now (listed below ordered by salary). Hauser is 12 which isn't bad the way he has looked, but he still has to prove it.  I think Kornet is just keeping a seat warm.  So we have to fill in slots 13, 14, and 15.  Seems like the "finishing touches" are still TBD.  There will be buyouts (Favors?), roster adjusting late trades, things like that.  Even worst case, if 13, 14, 15 end up being Vonleh, Thomas, Samanic or something like that, is that so bad?  And we still have Davison and Kabengele as 2-ways that may actually be useful along the way (not usually the case for 2-ways).  I am not sure if any team has better 2-ways than us.

1.  Jayson Tatum
2.  Jaylen Brown
3.  Al Horford
4.  Malcolm Brogdon
5.  Marcus Smart
6.  Derrick White
7.  Robert Williams
8.  Danilo Gallinari
9.  Grant Williams
10. Payton Pritchard
11. Blake Griffin
12. Sam Hauser

(Luke Kornet)

Why should we expect better than last year?

1.  Jayson Tatum = Tatum
2.  Jaylen Brown = Brown
3.  Al Horford  = Horford (we hope)
4.  Malcolm Brogdon > Schoder
5.  Marcus Smart = Smart
6.  Derrick White =? Richardson
7.  Robert Williams = RWIII (except he's hurt)
8.  Danilo Gallinari > Parker (except he's hurt)
9.  Grant Williams = G.Will
10. Payton Pritchard = Pritchard
11. Sam Hauser =? Langford
12. Blake Griffin =? Freedom
13.Luke Kornet =? Hermangomez
14. Noah Vonleh =? Fernandez
15. Brodric Thomas =? Neismith

Kabengele =? Hauser
Davison > Thomas

I think we'll see improvement from a lot of players.  Tatum, Brown, White, Grant and Hauser should all be better than last year.  I think Marcus will be about the same, and we'll see a small regression from Horford.  It's hard to tell with Timelord, because he's lost an off-season and training camp for working on his game, and we don't know how he'll come back from surgery.

But, I think the biggest criticism I have is just listing "Malcolm Brogdon > Schoder", in a list, as if all upgrades and downgrades are created equal.  Brogdon is a pretty giant addition.  He's a very smart, very tough two-way player who can both create for himself and others.  His addition alone improves the team substantially.

I agree with Roy on this one.  The finals team last season didn't even have Schroder or Richardson or some of the others that were included in the side by side list.  Brogdon essentially replaces Nesmith in terms of the finals roster.  That is a huge upgrade.  It would have been Gallinari replacing Theis but instead now it is Griffin replacing Theis.  Griffin won't have to do a whole lot to give us more than Theis did.

I see the addition of Brogdon as a major improvement.  Gallinari would have been a second major improvement but even without him, the team is meaningfully better just with the addition of Brogdon.  This all relates to players.  The wild card change is Mazzulla for Udoka.  Understandably the main focus is on players but it is big to change the coach.

As to the returning players, I think White in particular is going to improve.  He was clearly never comfortable.  He is one I predict to have some decent improvement.  Tatum and Brown should both be some increment better as well.  Pritchard and Hauser should improve but their improvement won't impact the team as much as the top players.

So again, I don't see how there is even a debate that we are better than last season based on players and we may not be done.  We still have up to 3 roster spots to fill (or upgrade in the case of Kornet).  There should be some veteran players that become available either as buy outs or teams looking to trade someone to get their rosters down (if a team can trade a player to us into a TPE, they don't have to buy them out).  I don't expect there will be any real impact players that come available but maybe some good solid "finishing touches".

[Celtics4ever]

I like how Stevens keeps adding pieces, like Blake.   I think he realized that last year we got far with a cheap bench but it hurt us in the finals.    Hopefully this is rectified and I too, think we're improved.   

[ozgod]

So...81-1? 

[Roy H.]

So...81-1? 

For half the blog.

Nearly half will now assume 41-41, while a segment jumps to 1-81.