This team will not repeat?.

[Vermont Green]

Now the 40/20 rule could actually be in danger. Need to go 12-6, but also they have some tricky games coming up.

West coast games are very tricky. I can see them dropping all 4 games. I'll be surprised if they beat the Lakers, and we'll get them on the SEGABABA. There's also the NBA Finals rematch with Dallas, and they're looking for blood

Somebody should be fired if they do drop all 4 games though cuz that'll mean we riding on a 5-game losing streak

So much for losing all 4 games.

The Celtics are still the betting favorite to win the title at +200.  OKC is right behind them at +250, per ESPN Bet.  Like most years, it will likely come down to a small margin between a few teams where the healthiest team wins.

OKC and CLE have played the best so far.  BOS had a stretch at the beginning where they were the best.  I see NYK and DEN as coming on.  It is likely going to be a lot harder than last season for any team.  I don't see any team going 16-3 through the playoffs.

[green_bballers13]

I do enjoy the hand-wringing over a defending championship team on pace to win roughly 60 games.

I mean, did we expect anything less? Why enjoy something when you can complain?

Since the date of that post (December 23 post), we're 8-7 and everybody on the team has acknowledged that the team is struggling. Why wouldn't people complain?

You're saying that the Celtics have a winning record during the stretch of games that they have played the worst basketball. Perfection doesn't exist, and rarely do teams play well throughout an entire season.

I don't see how that 8-7 record can be extrapolated out to determine whether or not this team will repeat. It's the conclusion that doesn't make much sense to me.

[Roy H.]

I do enjoy the hand-wringing over a defending championship team on pace to win roughly 60 games.

I mean, did we expect anything less? Why enjoy something when you can complain?

Since the date of that post (December 23 post), we're 8-7 and everybody on the team has acknowledged that the team is struggling. Why wouldn't people complain?

You're saying that the Celtics have a winning record during the stretch of games that they have played the worst basketball. Perfection doesn't exist, and rarely do teams play well throughout an entire season.

I don't see how that 8-7 record can be extrapolated out to determine whether or not this team will repeat. It's the conclusion that doesn't make much sense to me.

I think it can be extrapolated out that if we don't play significantly better than we have during this stretch, we won't repeat.

I'd be interested to see just how normal this is.  How many championship teams over the past 20 seasons or so have had at least a 14 game stretch of playing .500 ball without any major injuries?  My guess is that historically it's not all that unusual.  At the same time, after watching a historically good team last year and getting off to a 16-3 start, I think that struggling against the dregs of the NBA is also reason for an identity check.

[keevsnick]

I do enjoy the hand-wringing over a defending championship team on pace to win roughly 60 games.

I mean, did we expect anything less? Why enjoy something when you can complain?

Since the date of that post (December 23 post), we're 8-7 and everybody on the team has acknowledged that the team is struggling. Why wouldn't people complain?

You're saying that the Celtics have a winning record during the stretch of games that they have played the worst basketball. Perfection doesn't exist, and rarely do teams play well throughout an entire season.

I don't see how that 8-7 record can be extrapolated out to determine whether or not this team will repeat. It's the conclusion that doesn't make much sense to me.

I think it can be extrapolated out that if we don't play significantly better than we have during this stretch, we won't repeat.

I'd be interested to see just how normal this is.  How many championship teams over the past 20 seasons or so have had at least a 14 game stretch of playing .500 ball without any major injuries?

I don't know about the "without major injuries part" but before the Celtics last season a .500 record over at least at 10 game sample generally in the middle of the seaosn was pretty common.

The Nuggets had a 6-7 stretch in the 2023 title run. The Warriors had a 5-12 stretch in the 2022 title run. Bucks had a 6-8 stretch in the 2021 title run. Lakers had a 5-5 stretch in the Covid shortened 72 game 2020 title run. Raptors had in 8-8 stretch in the 2019 title run.

The Warriors had a 7-10 stretch to end the season in the 2018 title run. That's probably the closest analogy too the Celtics, that Warriors team was also coming off a dominant previous title run where they won 67 games in the regular season but won only 58 in their 17-18 run.

[rocknrollforyoursoul]

I do enjoy the hand-wringing over a defending championship team on pace to win roughly 60 games.

I mean, did we expect anything less? Why enjoy something when you can complain?

Since the date of that post (December 23 post), we're 8-7 and everybody on the team has acknowledged that the team is struggling. Why wouldn't people complain?

Yeah, pace over a whole season can make it seem like a team never had a bad stretch. If, for example, they lose 20 games in a season, maybe those losses are really spread out, like one loss every couple of weeks, and maybe the losses were mostly against other really good teams who just played better on those few nights. But the Cs are having a pretty bad extended stretch featuring multiple areas of concern. Sure, they're still the reigning champs, and even in their present state would probably still be tough to beat in 4 out of 7 games, but we also know that they could be so much better than what they've shown lately, and that past success is no guarantee of future success, so criticism is warranted.

[Vermont Green]

The Celtics were 8-8 between Dec 16 and Jan 19 (excluding this last GSW game).  8-8 sounds pretty mediocre but they were +6.8 in those 16 games which is a very strong point differential.

They did not look good in that stretch.  It was frustrating because you know they can play better.  I think they are coming out of it now.  This last game vs. GSW was a big win, but the Celtics were still not playing at a championship level.  Consistency is still an issue  It appears from the stats from previous defending champs that it is pretty normal.

No need to fire the coach or blow up the roster.  But we have some work to do.

[green_bballers13]

The Celtics were 8-8 between Dec 16 and Jan 19 (excluding this last GSW game).  8-8 sounds pretty mediocre but they were +6.8 in those 16 games which is a very strong point differential.

They did not look good in that stretch.  It was frustrating because you know they can play better.  I think they are coming out of it now.  This last game vs. GSW was a big win, but the Celtics were still not playing at a championship level.  Consistency is still an issue  It appears from the stats from previous defending champs that it is pretty normal.

No need to fire the coach or blow up the roster.  But we have some work to do.

I agree that there's work to do. The Celtics won't be given anything, and they will likely take on their opponent's best efforts as the reigning champs.

Was the expectation no adversity? Despite KP's injuries, last year was a very smooth year, so I'm not sure we should expect linear dominance throughout the regular season again. Nor do I think that is a good thing. I'd rather the Celtics have something to work on versus waiting 3 months for the playoffs. I'm ok with early tests in a season.

[ozgod]

Now the 40/20 rule could actually be in danger. Need to go 12-6, but also they have some tricky games coming up.

West coast games are very tricky. I can see them dropping all 4 games. I'll be surprised if they beat the Lakers, and we'll get them on the SEGABABA. There's also the NBA Finals rematch with Dallas, and they're looking for blood

Somebody should be fired if they do drop all 4 games though cuz that'll mean we riding on a 5-game losing streak

So much for losing all 4 games.

The Celtics are still the betting favorite to win the title at +200.  OKC is right behind them at +250, per ESPN Bet.  Like most years, it will likely come down to a small margin between a few teams where the healthiest team wins.

OKC and CLE have played the best so far.  BOS had a stretch at the beginning where they were the best.  I see NYK and DEN as coming on.  It is likely going to be a lot harder than last season for any team.  I don't see any team going 16-3 through the playoffs.

We need Sparz to keep up with his predictions...every time he predicts something the opposite always happens. He has a 100% record in that sense 

[Phantom255x]

Now the 40/20 rule could actually be in danger. Need to go 12-6, but also they have some tricky games coming up.

West coast games are very tricky. I can see them dropping all 4 games. I'll be surprised if they beat the Lakers, and we'll get them on the SEGABABA. There's also the NBA Finals rematch with Dallas, and they're looking for blood

Somebody should be fired if they do drop all 4 games though cuz that'll mean we riding on a 5-game losing streak

So much for losing all 4 games.

The Celtics are still the betting favorite to win the title at +200.  OKC is right behind them at +250, per ESPN Bet.  Like most years, it will likely come down to a small margin between a few teams where the healthiest team wins.

OKC and CLE have played the best so far.  BOS had a stretch at the beginning where they were the best.  I see NYK and DEN as coming on.  It is likely going to be a lot harder than last season for any team.  I don't see any team going 16-3 through the playoffs.

We need Sparz to keep up with his predictions...every time he predicts something the opposite always happens. He has a 100% record in that sense 

It's so sad we got swept in the first round of last year's playoffs   

[ozgod]

The Celtics were 8-8 between Dec 16 and Jan 19 (excluding this last GSW game).  8-8 sounds pretty mediocre but they were +6.8 in those 16 games which is a very strong point differential.

They did not look good in that stretch.  It was frustrating because you know they can play better.  I think they are coming out of it now.  This last game vs. GSW was a big win, but the Celtics were still not playing at a championship level.  Consistency is still an issue  It appears from the stats from previous defending champs that it is pretty normal.

No need to fire the coach or blow up the roster.  But we have some work to do.

The frustrating thing was the inconsistency and the fact that they lost to teams you would back them to beat 9 times out of 10, like Chicago, Sacramento, injury ravaged Philly, Toronto, Atlanta. Here are those losses:



6 of the 8 losses were because we shot below 30% from 3, 3 were by 4 points or less...the only one where we really got blown out was the Toronto game and we beat them by 50 pts earlier in the season. When I look at those things I'm not thinking our team is technically flawed or we need a piece or there's some structural issue, I'm thinking lack of concentration, leading to lapses, leading to lazy shots that are missed, leading to losses. That's what Joe has to address, the concentration and those types of lapses, like what happened in the Atlanta game that we gave away, or any of those other games we lost by close margins, and another few where we could have lost as well.

[ozgod]

Now the 40/20 rule could actually be in danger. Need to go 12-6, but also they have some tricky games coming up.

West coast games are very tricky. I can see them dropping all 4 games. I'll be surprised if they beat the Lakers, and we'll get them on the SEGABABA. There's also the NBA Finals rematch with Dallas, and they're looking for blood

Somebody should be fired if they do drop all 4 games though cuz that'll mean we riding on a 5-game losing streak

So much for losing all 4 games.

The Celtics are still the betting favorite to win the title at +200.  OKC is right behind them at +250, per ESPN Bet.  Like most years, it will likely come down to a small margin between a few teams where the healthiest team wins.

OKC and CLE have played the best so far.  BOS had a stretch at the beginning where they were the best.  I see NYK and DEN as coming on.  It is likely going to be a lot harder than last season for any team.  I don't see any team going 16-3 through the playoffs.

We need Sparz to keep up with his predictions...every time he predicts something the opposite always happens. He has a 100% record in that sense 

It's so sad we got swept in the first round of last year's playoffs   

Sparz is actually the Celtics? mascot and lucky charm?he just doesn?t know (yet) 

[Roy H.]

Now the 40/20 rule could actually be in danger. Need to go 12-6, but also they have some tricky games coming up.

West coast games are very tricky. I can see them dropping all 4 games. I'll be surprised if they beat the Lakers, and we'll get them on the SEGABABA. There's also the NBA Finals rematch with Dallas, and they're looking for blood

Somebody should be fired if they do drop all 4 games though cuz that'll mean we riding on a 5-game losing streak

So much for losing all 4 games.

The Celtics are still the betting favorite to win the title at +200.  OKC is right behind them at +250, per ESPN Bet.  Like most years, it will likely come down to a small margin between a few teams where the healthiest team wins.

OKC and CLE have played the best so far.  BOS had a stretch at the beginning where they were the best.  I see NYK and DEN as coming on.  It is likely going to be a lot harder than last season for any team.  I don't see any team going 16-3 through the playoffs.

We need Sparz to keep up with his predictions...every time he predicts something the opposite always happens. He has a 100% record in that sense 

It's so sad we got swept in the first round of last year's playoffs   

Sparz is actually the Celtics? mascot and lucky charm?he just doesn?t know (yet) 

Related:  can we get Moranis back to light a fire under Jaylen  Brown?

[Phantom255x]

Now the 40/20 rule could actually be in danger. Need to go 12-6, but also they have some tricky games coming up.

West coast games are very tricky. I can see them dropping all 4 games. I'll be surprised if they beat the Lakers, and we'll get them on the SEGABABA. There's also the NBA Finals rematch with Dallas, and they're looking for blood

Somebody should be fired if they do drop all 4 games though cuz that'll mean we riding on a 5-game losing streak

So much for losing all 4 games.

The Celtics are still the betting favorite to win the title at +200.  OKC is right behind them at +250, per ESPN Bet.  Like most years, it will likely come down to a small margin between a few teams where the healthiest team wins.

OKC and CLE have played the best so far.  BOS had a stretch at the beginning where they were the best.  I see NYK and DEN as coming on.  It is likely going to be a lot harder than last season for any team.  I don't see any team going 16-3 through the playoffs.

We need Sparz to keep up with his predictions...every time he predicts something the opposite always happens. He has a 100% record in that sense 

It's so sad we got swept in the first round of last year's playoffs   

Sparz is actually the Celtics? mascot and lucky charm?he just doesn?t know (yet) 

Yeah. And @Boston Garden Leprechaun as pictured here is always at TD Garden cheering them on 

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

We should have known what happened on opening night was a warning sign. But No...

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

Now the 40/20 rule could actually be in danger. Need to go 12-6, but also they have some tricky games coming up.

West coast games are very tricky. I can see them dropping all 4 games. I'll be surprised if they beat the Lakers, and we'll get them on the SEGABABA. There's also the NBA Finals rematch with Dallas, and they're looking for blood

Somebody should be fired if they do drop all 4 games though cuz that'll mean we riding on a 5-game losing streak

So much for losing all 4 games.

The Celtics are still the betting favorite to win the title at +200.  OKC is right behind them at +250, per ESPN Bet.  Like most years, it will likely come down to a small margin between a few teams where the healthiest team wins.

OKC and CLE have played the best so far.  BOS had a stretch at the beginning where they were the best.  I see NYK and DEN as coming on.  It is likely going to be a lot harder than last season for any team.  I don't see any team going 16-3 through the playoffs.

We need Sparz to keep up with his predictions...every time he predicts something the opposite always happens. He has a 100% record in that sense 

It's so sad we got swept in the first round of last year's playoffs   

Sparz is actually the Celtics? mascot and lucky charm?he just doesn?t know (yet) 

Yeah. And @Boston Garden Leprechaun as pictured here is always at TD Garden cheering them on