Call me a negative nancy/bad fan if you will

[BballTim]

If we can land someone like Kenyon Martin or JR Smith before the trade deadline and they play really well you never know what could happen we aren't done making moves yet.

I think how far we go this season is how well the Big Three can play but moreover Rondo hes got to make some huge strides. Also we would have to have a huge breakout year from Green (possible given he's playing on a contract year) and the bench would have to gel and be really solid. It would take luck as well a key injury to one of our eastern conference foes Miami, Knicks etc like it happened to us with Rondo last year.

Look at Dallas last season no one had them even getting near the Finals let alone winning, they did it with heart and teamwork as a unit.  

And an unstoppable force in Dirk. We don't have that kind of guy on our roster, so I can't agree with the comparison.

  If Dirk was an unstoppable force he'd have multiple titles by now.

[Yogi]

   Some of you seem to be unable to understand what Danny just accomplished...
   We started this off season with 3 million MLE and vet min contracts.  What does Danny do with that?  Only get us the MOST ATHLETIC 2nd unit in the league.  Dooling, Bradley, Green, Bass/Johnson, Wilcox.  He also filled the bench with high character, defense oriented, versatile players like Daniels, Pavlovic, Moore and Stiemsma.  Oh yeah... somehow he managed to keep our 3 mil MLE (perhaps for players coming back from china)and managed to grab a second round pick from Milwaukee.  Oh did I mention he did all this while maintaining our cap space for next year?
   There are not too many dominant centers in the league.  Only Howard and Bynum can score in the post, and neither of them have a back up big anymore.  But you know what the league is stacked with?  wings and forwards...

Rose, Wall, Westbrook, Paul, Williams, Lawson, Kidd, Nash, Irving etc.  We now have a rotation of Rondo, Dooling, Bradley and Moore to throw at these guys.  

Lebron, Wade, Carmelo, Kobe, Gay, Igoudala, Johnson, Durant, Butler and company can look forward to Pierce, Green, Daniels and Pavlovic.

The most stacked position in the league is power forward.  Bosh, Stoudemire, Boozer, Griffin, Love, Duncan, Millsap, Aldrige, Gasol, Randolph, Horford, Smith, D. Williams, Ibaka, Dirk, Odom, West, Beasley, Lee etc.  We can now throw a rotation of KG, Bass, Green, Wilcox and Johnson at them.  
   Yes our starters are old, but these guys represent the best of the best the sport has to offer.  Jermaine has been injured, but give him a chance to show us what he can do when healthy.

Howard and Bynum?  Well both of their teams got much weaker this off season.  Howard with all the rumors and Lakers losing Odom.  If Howard goes to LA, then we can worry about bringing in an extra center.  For now, JO, Wilcox, KG and Stiemsma should be more than enough.  

[Kane3387]

If we can land someone like Kenyon Martin or JR Smith before the trade deadline and they play really well you never know what could happen we aren't done making moves yet.

I think how far we go this season is how well the Big Three can play but moreover Rondo hes got to make some huge strides. Also we would have to have a huge breakout year from Green (possible given he's playing on a contract year) and the bench would have to gel and be really solid. It would take luck as well a key injury to one of our eastern conference foes Miami, Knicks etc like it happened to us with Rondo last year.

Look at Dallas last season no one had them even getting near the Finals let alone winning, they did it with heart and teamwork as a unit.  

And an unstoppable force in Dirk. We don't have that kind of guy on our roster, so I can't agree with the comparison.

  If Dirk was an unstoppable force he'd have multiple titles by now.

I'm talking about in the playoffs last year. No one on our team has the ability to consistently produce like that for the entire playoffs. That guy couldn't miss a shot.

[Yogi]

Dirk was awesome, but...
Dirk: 27.7 ppg FG .485 3PT .460 FT .941   
Pierce: 20.8 ppg FG .459 3PT .447 FT .882
Ray: 18.9 ppg FG .523 3PT .571 FT .960   
We weren't too shabby.  We just needed a bench.

[slamtheking]

I think this team is going to have the same problems it had last year in terms of scoring.  There's no real offense off the bench other than Green.  Quisy, if he stays healthy, can score but he's not a real threat off the bench.  C's need that or they're going to run the starters into the ground again trying to score.

I like the defensive skills of the players he's picked up but unless Rondo develops a jumper and FT skills and JJJ and Bradley show they're rotation-quality players, I don't see this team getting through the Finals.  I think they're certainly second-round quality in the East and possibly good enough to knock off either Chicago or Miami in the semis but not good enough to get through both of them to get into the finals.

We'll have a better idea as the season plays out but Danny's still got some work to do to get this team past both Miami and Chicago.

[Celtics18]

I think we are a contender.  We'll give it a good run this year.

[BballTim]

If we can land someone like Kenyon Martin or JR Smith before the trade deadline and they play really well you never know what could happen we aren't done making moves yet.

I think how far we go this season is how well the Big Three can play but moreover Rondo hes got to make some huge strides. Also we would have to have a huge breakout year from Green (possible given he's playing on a contract year) and the bench would have to gel and be really solid. It would take luck as well a key injury to one of our eastern conference foes Miami, Knicks etc like it happened to us with Rondo last year.

Look at Dallas last season no one had them even getting near the Finals let alone winning, they did it with heart and teamwork as a unit.  

And an unstoppable force in Dirk. We don't have that kind of guy on our roster, so I can't agree with the comparison.

  If Dirk was an unstoppable force he'd have multiple titles by now.

I'm talking about in the playoffs last year. No one on our team has the ability to consistently produce like that for the entire playoffs. That guy couldn't miss a shot.

  So, if 3-4 of our starters can produce like that at various times it's not as effective?

[vinnie]

I think the offseason is going as well as can be expected.


He has made the upgrades that are there while swinging for the fences on other moves. 


He can't force the other teams to accept the best offers the Celtics have.

yes, I completely agree. I'm very happy with what DA has done so far this offseason.

I second that - happy with what Danny's done.  Just don't think we've got the horses to win a ring at this point.  But both this year and broadly he's put us in as good a position as we could hope for.

I agree with this sentiment 100 percent. A longshot to win the title, real longshot, but not much else Danny can do. My expectations are extremely low this year, so any upside will be awesome.

[ACF]

Let's see what happens before we count this team out. Celtics basketball is going to be back soon, baby!

[Eddie20]

Let's not forget that the roster we have now will, in all likelihood, not be the roster we finish the year with. Depending on what happens with Paul, Williams, and Howard will greatly impact what course Ainge takes by the deadline. I'm certain that there will be quite a few teams that will find our expiring deals extremely attractive in order to shed cap. Plus, we still have the mini MLE which can be put to great use once the inevitable buyouts start happening.

[MBunge]

There are 3 X factors for this season.

1.  Overall health.

2.  Rondo's health.  I think we've all forgotten that Rondo had that planar fascitis last year, which is the sort of injury that doesn't go away until you can rest in the off season.  If Rondo can be even 75% of the player he was to start last year, this team could be dangerous.

3.  Jeff Green.  This has got to the be time when everyone finds out if Green can live up to his potential or if he's one of those guys who never quite put it all together.

If 1 or two of those things don't pan out, Boston could be looking at a very tough season and the odds of Ainge making a big move are probably increased after being jilted by FAs this off season.  If all three are positive, I'd give this unit a decent shot at being a legitimate contender.

Mike

[MF Doom]

Agreed. Jeff Green is a tremendous factor in how good we can be. If he can give us 15-18 per game, our chances of competing with Miami improve. We do still, however, need a 2guard who can score as well. Rudy Fernandez, JR Smith, and OJ Mayo all come to mind. Defense is good to talk about, but this team needs a major spark on offense if it even wants to think about competing with the likes of Chicago, Miami, and New York

[Vermont Green]

Last year we had different types of problems at different times but for the first 40 or 50 games, we were the best team in the league.  The key to that was Shaq so that we had 4 scoring treats to compensate for Rondo.  When we only had 3 on the floor, and the other team sagged off Rondo, our offense had trouble especially against the playoff teams.

This year we can solve that problem one of two ways.  We find a 4th scorer to put on the floor.  This could be JO or even Jeff Green, maybe even Bass.

The other way is that if Rondo shows up with a jump shot.

I feel like we are going to be better than many think plus we may pick up a key veteran along the way.

[celticinorlando]

did his best...but it just isn't good enough...the bulls and heat would sweep this team in the playoffs..the knicks would beat them in 5 or 6

[j804]

Let's see what happens before we count this team out. Celtics basketball is going to be back soon, baby!

TP that's why they play the games