Was it really that painful?

[Roy H.]

Game threads are real time looks into how folks are taking things. Good, bad, indifferent.

Overreaction is always key.

A lot of fans called on the Celtics and Joe to do better this year. They did.

Can Celtics fans do better next year, or is this region ok being cranky and pessimistic, like we're from Philly?

The Celtics did their part. Time for us to step up next year.

With fans in the Northeast there's no real separation between Boston, New York or Philly fans.  They're passionate, unrealistic and obnoxious.  I wouldn't expect much of a grace period next season.

Interesting take. I would have said that about Boston prior to the 01 Patriots/04 Red Sox. I thought there was something to the ?City of champions? run over the last 23 years. I thought things had gotten better since the Pats were kicked off the national telecast. Maybe not.

If anything, the title town culture has led to increased expectations and a feeling that any season without a championship is a failure.  And, since the ownership groups have gotten extraordinarily rich, milking that passion, I don't have a lot of sympathy for them. A working class family will never be able to afford going to a game while the teams are in contention.

[celticinorlando]

A lot of the posters on here have been here since the 2008 title. Lived through the nightmare of game 7 in 2010. The rebuild. The ECF loss to the Cavs. Then all the missteps by this group just praying one day Boston would get over the finish line. The loss in 2022 finals. The ECF comeback only to lose in Game 7 to the Heat.

From IT, Kemba, Kyrie, Hayward on down the line it has been a long ride. Lots of scars that created lots of doubt.

But TODAY it shows us that it is worth it.

[CelticSooner]

I?m glad I sat the last one out because I finally got annoyed lol it took all season basically but when they couldn?t make a basket in the 3rd i kept waiting on it to bite them. They scored what 9 points that quarter? Should have been a 30 point win because Dallas couldn?t hit anything either. C?s were missing point blank shots though lol

[radiohead]

A lot of the posters on here have been here since the 2008 title. Lived through the nightmare of game 7 in 2010. The rebuild. The ECF loss to the Cavs. Then all the missteps by this group just praying one day Boston would get over the finish line. The loss in 2022 finals. The ECF comeback only to lose in Game 7 to the Heat.

From IT, Kemba, Kyrie, Hayward on down the line it has been a long ride. Lots of scars that created lots of doubt.

But TODAY it shows us that it is worth it.

It?s definitely worth it! After the 2010 debacle, the Kyrie/Hayward/Horford team was the next realistic championship team for me. That team could have easily won a chip or two in my opinion. It?s just sad that Kyrie didn?t cooperate and Hayward was never the same after his gruesome injury. It was hard being a Celtics fan during those times. Great expectations turned into massive disappointments. Thank God for the Jays. Hopefully they win a couple more championships in green.

[SparzWizard]

A lot of the posters on here have been here since the 2008 title. Lived through the nightmare of game 7 in 2010. The rebuild. The ECF loss to the Cavs. Then all the missteps by this group just praying one day Boston would get over the finish line. The loss in 2022 finals. The ECF comeback only to lose in Game 7 to the Heat.

From IT, Kemba, Kyrie, Hayward on down the line it has been a long ride. Lots of scars that created lots of doubt.

But TODAY it shows us that it is worth it.

To this day, I still never rewatched Game 7 of 2010. Nor any of the playoff game losses for the Celtics.

Yeah that Kyrie/Hayward/Horford run was such a a waste. That IT4 run was so underrated too. Jaylen even played a part of that era with Horford- the days with Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder and those guys. We've come a long way.

[Kernewek]

A lot of the posters on here have been here since the 2008 title. Lived through the nightmare of game 7 in 2010. The rebuild. The ECF loss to the Cavs. Then all the missteps by this group just praying one day Boston would get over the finish line. The loss in 2022 finals. The ECF comeback only to lose in Game 7 to the Heat.

From IT, Kemba, Kyrie, Hayward on down the line it has been a long ride. Lots of scars that created lots of doubt.

But TODAY it shows us that it is worth it.

Eh. We arguably had the easiest rebuild in NBA history, thanks to Ainge.

Losses suck. Losses always suck. But we've arguably had a better run over the last 16 years than any team outside of Golden State. We had, what, two really bad seasons?

I think some of the posters have the right of it though, when we allude to the twin pillars of the last 20 years of Boston Sports Fandom: Title Town, the perpetual title expectations and entitlement intertwined with the 'no one believes in us' perpetual underdog stance that comes from the bad luck and being on the small-side of the big markets. It's easy to see why we're such an easy franchise to hate on.

Consider: we are, in equal measure, fans of an incredibly successful team and one where the what-if potential is so high that it's easy (and somewhat reasonable) to harp on the potential and all that could have been.

In other words, we're all celebrating Banner 18 but this should have been , what... Banner 22? (2010, 2022,Gordon Hayward's leg &c.)... This is clearly and fundamentally stupid, in some ways - we're the league's most successful team in history, it's not like we're rooting for the Kings - but no one gets into sports fandom to be an entirely rational actor.

[scaryjerry]

After not being ready for the finals 2 years ago and last years atrocity, was it not warranted? They were much better than the teams they played and arguably shouldn?t have lost any games.
I think they?ll be a little more trusted next season.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I?m glad I sat the last one out because I finally got annoyed lol it took all season basically but when they couldn?t make a basket in the 3rd i kept waiting on it to bite them. They scored what 9 points that quarter? Should have been a 30 point win because Dallas couldn?t hit anything either. C?s were missing point blank shots though lol

The third quarter was indeed maddening. They went from a hot first half to couldn't hit much?by my count they missed FIVE layups in the third quarter (two from Tatum, two from Al, one from Jrue). They could've easily had the lead up to 30+ by the end of the third. Thankfully, they kept playing good D and the offense came back around in the fourth.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

A lot of the posters on here have been here since the 2008 title. Lived through the nightmare of game 7 in 2010. The rebuild. The ECF loss to the Cavs. Then all the missteps by this group just praying one day Boston would get over the finish line. The loss in 2022 finals. The ECF comeback only to lose in Game 7 to the Heat.

From IT, Kemba, Kyrie, Hayward on down the line it has been a long ride. Lots of scars that created lots of doubt.

But TODAY it shows us that it is worth it.

Eh. We arguably had the easiest rebuild in NBA history, thanks to Ainge.

Losses suck. Losses always suck. But we've arguably had a better run over the last 16 years than any team outside of Golden State. We had, what, two really bad seasons?

I think some of the posters have the right of it though, when we allude to the twin pillars of the last 20 years of Boston Sports Fandom: Title Town, the perpetual title expectations and entitlement intertwined with the 'no one believes in us' perpetual underdog stance that comes from the bad luck and being on the small-side of the big markets. It's easy to see why we're such an easy franchise to hate on.

Consider: we are, in equal measure, fans of an incredibly successful team and one where the what-if potential is so high that it's easy (and somewhat reasonable) to harp on the potential and all that could have been.

In other words, we're all celebrating Banner 18 but this should have been , what... Banner 22? (2010, 2022,Gordon Hayward's leg &c.)... This is clearly and fundamentally stupid, in some ways - we're the league's most successful team in history, it's not like we're rooting for the Kings - but no one gets into sports fandom to be an entirely rational actor.

Sports fandom definitely isn't rational if you're more than a casual fan. Since you brought up what could've been, I've always believed that the Cs would've won three, maybe four, in a row if not for KG's knee injury. The Cs made it to the '09 conference finals without him, and to Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals with a somewhat-diminished KG. No KG injury, they reel off several, I believe, so yeah, maybe they'd have 21-22 by now.

[SHAQATTACK]

Like most virgin uncrowned teams trying to reach the top , it took some throwing the ? monkey ? off their backs to climb the mountain.

Now that our stars are champions,  maybe the jinx is lifted some , they know the pressure , and have confidence to play well till they retire.

The kimba , Hayward , and Irving signings were sure setbacks .Lost Al for a while.  And IT got hurt too. Then Ime screwed up?..these guys had a lot expectations, then the above blind sided them several times . Injuries to Smart , Brogdon and Rob Will didn?t help. Then Coach had to learn to be coach .  All this seems overwhelming when I look back.

Signing Holiday , White , return of Al, PP s progress and getting KP set things right.

What a long road ?whew

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Watching the games and reading posts on this forum gave me two difference reactions. While watching, the Celtics were dominant. Destroyed everyone during the regular season, walking away with the best record by far. They went 4-1, 4-1, 4-0, and 4-1 in the playoffs. On a relative scale (compared to other champions), they faced barely any adversity this year.

When I read game threads, I experienced something else. Panic. Fear. Anxiety. Insecurity.

With less than 24 hours of perspective, was this campaign really that bad?

I enjoyed this squad, and want to see them run it back next year.

this was a painful albeit very successful rebuild. but we do not have 10 year windows to redo this over and over and over. many of us will be long gone by then. 10 years is a long time. most plan on rebuilds being 3 to 5 years. it took 10 to get us a title once we scrapped the team after 2013.

now that we are rebuilt and loaded we need to keep winning and win now. I want a repeat and maybe a jordan esque 3-peat.

an outsider looking just at games won would say WOW. how impressive to destroy teams 4-1, 4-1, 4-0 and 4-1.

but in the game threads we go possession by possession on O and D. thus the huge ebb and flows for 48 minutes. we judge based on performance. we see what we see. we are not looking at stats we are watching them play. seeing what works and what does not. who is trying and who is not. who is lazy and who is not. who is playing smart and who is not. we call it as we see it.

i was finally impressed with our D play the full 48 where we normally slack off.

i was impressed with our pressing most all game driving to the rim which we rarely do. it worked and won us the game. dallas could not defend it and I said as much for ages.

our BBIQ was way better last game. may have been the best all playoffs.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

[Phantom255x]

The blue balls were extremely painful. Now they are green and cured 

[green_bballers13]

After not being ready for the finals 2 years ago and last years atrocity, was it not warranted? They were much better than the teams they played and arguably shouldn?t have lost any games.
I think they?ll be a little more trusted next season.

It was not warranted. They had a new squad with a second year coach. People are pretending like they ran it back with the same squad.

[scaryjerry]

After not being ready for the finals 2 years ago and last years atrocity, was it not warranted? They were much better than the teams they played and arguably shouldn?t have lost any games.
I think they?ll be a little more trusted next season.

It was not warranted. They had a new squad with a second year coach. People are pretending like they ran it back with the same squad.

Well too bad for you. There?s different fans, some that are critical of there team and others who are such homers and no matter what there team can never do any wrong and no one should ever critique them.