Evaluate the Celtics season

[Roy Hobbs]

Hmm...  if I was giving an overall grade for the season to date, it would be a D.  They're still passing, but relative to their talent, they've played very poorly for 60% of this season.

I'm generally a Celtics apologist to some extent (even if I critique individual players), but nothing excuses lack of effort.

[Q_FBE]

I think I can sum it up in one word.

UNDERACHIEVED.

[Q_FBE]

Hmm...  if I was giving an overall grade for the season to date, it would be a D.  They're still passing, but relative to their talent, they've played very poorly for 60% of this season.

I'm generally a Celtics apologist to some extent (even if I critique individual players), but nothing excuses lack of effort.

You are being quite generous, Roy. They get an F in my book and need to get to game 7 of the 2nd round to earn them a D. If they can get to the third round and compete, they might salvage a C-. Finals and lose to the Lakers a C+. In the remote chance that they win the NBA championship, well that is an A in any Celtics fans book.

[barefacedmonk]

In the remote chance that they win the NBA championship, well that is an A in any Celtics fans book.

What earns A+? 

[LB3533]

I refuse to believe this team is one or two wins better than the Jim O'Brien Celtics of the early 2000's.

[guava_wrench]

When we traded for KG, I remember most people expecting that we had only 3 years to get it done. I guess it was actually 2 1/2.

I think this season shows how worthy KG was of the DPOY 2 years ago. The results of a drop in his play are not pretty.

Still, it's all about the postseason.

I would give them a C grade. Sure, they won 50 games, but they won half of those 50 early in the season. Might that have been a result of our continuity -- the same veteran starting lineup for a third year?

[guava_wrench]

In the remote chance that they win the NBA championship, well that is an A in any Celtics fans book.

What earns A+? 

Perfect season, win each game by double digits.

[jdpapa3]

 Might that have been a result of our continuity -- the same veteran starting lineup for a third year?

I don't think so. That starting lineup performed very well. The problem was that any change out of the starting 5 resulted in major chaos to our chemistry and production.

[PosImpos]

Any way you slice it this season was very disappointing overall and pretty disheartening for any hardcore Celtics fan who followed them closely the whole time.

The hardest part?  It will get worse before it gets better.  A lot worse.

[nickagneta]

I can't see how anyone can be happy with what we have seen from this team since Christmas. The inconsistencies in effort are inexcusable in my book.

Kevin McHale once broke his foot and gave it every effort in his body to win one post season to the detriment of his career. I may not want my players to be stupid about injuries, but I always want them to pattern that level of effort into everything they do. And since Christmas, this team has shown that type of effort in maybe a handful of games.

And the problem here is this lack of effort has pervaded just about every player on this team. I can't help but think when it is all said and done that someone like Jackie MacMullen is going to do an expose on the turmoil and tensions that existed this year in the Celtics' locker room. Generally when a team has this much talent and this much of a pedigree it's due to coaching and/or locker room problems. I happen to think this group still loves and will play for Doc. I think the problem is in personal clashed and chemistry with this team.

Doc, as much as I am a supporter, has had his worst season here. The details aren't necessary but I honestly believe he did an overall better coaching job in 2006-07 than he did this year. It's probably not enough to get him fired but a bad first round ouster could force Danny's hand to fire him because , I think Danny is stuck with this team. You can't fire guaranteed player contracts or rewrite the CBA overnight, but you can fire your coach to save your ass and that is what Danny might have to do.

Unless this team gets to the ECFs, the best this season can be is a D+, possibly C- if they take Cleveland the distance.

[PosImpos]

I can't see how anyone can be happy with what we have seen from this team since Christmas. The inconsistencies in effort are inexcusable in my book.

Kevin McHale once broke his foot and gave it every effort in his body to win one post season to the detriment of his career. I may not want my players to be stupid about injuries, but I always want them to pattern that level of effort into everything they do. And since Christmas, this team has shown that type of effort in maybe a handful of games.

And the problem here is this lack of effort has pervaded just about every player on this team. I can't help but think when it is all said and done that someone like Jackie MacMullen is going to do an expose on the turmoil and tensions that existed this year in the Celtics' locker room. Generally when a team has this much talent and this much of a pedigree it's due to coaching and/or locker room problems. I happen to think this group still loves and will play for Doc. I think the problem is in personal clashed and chemistry with this team.

Doc, as much as I am a supporter, has had his worst season here. The details aren't necessary but I honestly believe he did an overall better coaching job in 2006-07 than he did this year. It's probably not enough to get him fired but a bad first round ouster could force Danny's hand to fire him because , I think Danny is stuck with this team. You can't fire guaranteed player contracts or rewrite the CBA overnight, but you can fire your coach to save your ass and that is what Danny might have to do.

Unless this team gets to the ECFs, the best this season can be is a D+, possibly C- if they take Cleveland the distance.

Doc only gets fired if the C's lose to the Heat in 5 games or less and get blown out a couple times in the process.

I could easily see Doc getting fired next year, though, if the team runs into injury issues early in the season and then plays like crap and finishes with fewer than 40 wins (sadly I see that as an outside possibility).

[nickagneta]

I can't see how anyone can be happy with what we have seen from this team since Christmas. The inconsistencies in effort are inexcusable in my book.

Kevin McHale once broke his foot and gave it every effort in his body to win one post season to the detriment of his career. I may not want my players to be stupid about injuries, but I always want them to pattern that level of effort into everything they do. And since Christmas, this team has shown that type of effort in maybe a handful of games.

And the problem here is this lack of effort has pervaded just about every player on this team. I can't help but think when it is all said and done that someone like Jackie MacMullen is going to do an expose on the turmoil and tensions that existed this year in the Celtics' locker room. Generally when a team has this much talent and this much of a pedigree it's due to coaching and/or locker room problems. I happen to think this group still loves and will play for Doc. I think the problem is in personal clashed and chemistry with this team.

Doc, as much as I am a supporter, has had his worst season here. The details aren't necessary but I honestly believe he did an overall better coaching job in 2006-07 than he did this year. It's probably not enough to get him fired but a bad first round ouster could force Danny's hand to fire him because , I think Danny is stuck with this team. You can't fire guaranteed player contracts or rewrite the CBA overnight, but you can fire your coach to save your ass and that is what Danny might have to do.

Unless this team gets to the ECFs, the best this season can be is a D+, possibly C- if they take Cleveland the distance.

Doc only gets fired if the C's lose to the Heat in 5 games or less and get blown out a couple times in the process.

I could easily see Doc getting fired next year, though, if the team runs into injury issues early in the season and then plays like crap and finishes with fewer than 40 wins (sadly I see that as an outside possibility).

Yeah, that pretty much is the definition of a "bad first round ouster".

[guava_wrench]

 Might that have been a result of our continuity -- the same veteran starting lineup for a third year?

I don't think so. That starting lineup performed very well. The problem was that any change out of the starting 5 resulted in major chaos to our chemistry and production.

The fact that they performed well is the point. We could start off strong because we knew one another. It took time for other teams to catch up. But they did catch up.

Considering how many games we lost in the 3rd or with the starters on the floor in the 4th, I am not also not sure how changes were relevant. With everyone healthy, we haven't been good. I'm not sure there is a basis for saying we have a chemistry issue.

Perhaps Pierce's health could be a partial explanation too. KG, not so much since he was far from impressive when we started the season strong.

[colincb]

I can't see how anyone can be happy with what we have seen from this team since Christmas. The inconsistencies in effort are inexcusable in my book.

Kevin McHale once broke his foot and gave it every effort in his body to win one post season to the detriment of his career. I may not want my players to be stupid about injuries, but I always want them to pattern that level of effort into everything they do. And since Christmas, this team has shown that type of effort in maybe a handful of games.

And the problem here is this lack of effort has pervaded just about every player on this team. I can't help but think when it is all said and done that someone like Jackie MacMullen is going to do an expose on the turmoil and tensions that existed this year in the Celtics' locker room. Generally when a team has this much talent and this much of a pedigree it's due to coaching and/or locker room problems. I happen to think this group still loves and will play for Doc. I think the problem is in personal clashed and chemistry with this team.

Doc, as much as I am a supporter, has had his worst season here. The details aren't necessary but I honestly believe he did an overall better coaching job in 2006-07 than he did this year. It's probably not enough to get him fired but a bad first round ouster could force Danny's hand to fire him because , I think Danny is stuck with this team. You can't fire guaranteed player contracts or rewrite the CBA overnight, but you can fire your coach to save your ass and that is what Danny might have to do.

Unless this team gets to the ECFs, the best this season can be is a D+, possibly C- if they take Cleveland the distance.

Doc only gets fired if the C's lose to the Heat in 5 games or less and get blown out a couple times in the process.

I could easily see Doc getting fired next year, though, if the team runs into injury issues early in the season and then plays like crap and finishes with fewer than 40 wins (sadly I see that as an outside possibility).

If we get massacred in the 2nd round or lose in the 1st, then I think Doc is done.

[PosImpos]

 Might that have been a result of our continuity -- the same veteran starting lineup for a third year?

I don't think so. That starting lineup performed very well. The problem was that any change out of the starting 5 resulted in major chaos to our chemistry and production.

The fact that they performed well is the point. We could start off strong because we knew one another. It took time for other teams to catch up. But they did catch up.

Considering how many games we lost in the 3rd or with the starters on the floor in the 4th, I am not also not sure how changes were relevant. With everyone healthy, we haven't been good. I'm not sure there is a basis for saying we have a chemistry issue.

Perhaps Pierce's health could be a partial explanation too. KG, not so much since he was far from impressive when we started the season strong.

The Big 3 aren't so "Big" anymore.  That's all the explanation you need for why our starting 5 is no longer the best in the NBA as it was the last two seasons.  

Maybe it's injuries, or maybe it's just old age - or the former caused by the latter - but KG, Ray, and Paul (especially the first two) just aren't the same players they were when the C's won it all.  This team was built to succeed when the Big 3 all play like All-Stars.  Now that they aren't consistently playing at that level, the team isn't dominant anymore - the same gameplan doesn't work as well as it did.

Unfortunately, Rondo and Perk are still just elite complementary players at this point; they can't pick up the slack.  Unless Rondo develops a jumpshot and a better scoring mentality, all he'll ever be is an elite distributor who has to be surrounded by stars to succeed.  Perk is probably as good as he'll ever be.  

Our bench is pretty awful, as well, which only makes things worse - which is perhaps the biggest surprise of the season, considering the off-season additions seemed so good at the start of the season.