C's are clearly not contenders

[Eja117]

I think this team will win the Atlantic, get into the second round and then anything can happen.

What happens if Bass happens to pull down LeBron in an awkward fashion and he dislocates his shoulder? Boston could win.

Get into the second round and anything can happen after a long year and with a team as playoff experienced and having the heart that this team has.

I'm not going to go to the "blow it up" crowd or "they can't do it crowd" because after watching 22 years of crap, I would rather have hope with this team than think getting bad for years and years is a viable mental aspect to take into my Celtic watching regimen.

Such thoughts just provoke looking at road wins in a negative sense and get people angry rather than enjoying watching basketball. I have too much stress/anger/negativity in my life without having it seep into my Celtic basketball watching portion of it.

I'm a New England fan. I expect my teams to compete for championships as my birthright, or to have a plan to do so and I offer no apologies about that.  

I'm sorry is this team not competing for a championship after being just .500 after 20 games?

Were the 2001 Pats not competing for a championship after being 5-5 after 10 games in a 16 game season?

Were the 2004 Sox not competing for a championship after being down 0-3 to the Yankees in the ALCS?

Were the Bruins not competing for a championship last year when they started two playoff series 0-2 or this season when they started the season 4-7?

Were the Celtics not competing for a championship in 2010 when they ended the regular season 27-27?

Yeah, you are a New Englander who demands championships but sometimes being a New England sports fan means supporting your team through thick and thin and believing there is a chance to win it all even though everyone says you can't.

we're competing for a championship! 

[fairweatherfan]

I think this team will win the Atlantic, get into the second round and then anything can happen.

What happens if Bass happens to pull down LeBron in an awkward fashion and he dislocates his shoulder? Boston could win.

Get into the second round and anything can happen after a long year and with a team as playoff experienced and having the heart that this team has.

I'm not going to go to the "blow it up" crowd or "they can't do it crowd" because after watching 22 years of crap, I would rather have hope with this team than think getting bad for years and years is a viable mental aspect to take into my Celtic watching regimen.

Such thoughts just provoke looking at road wins in a negative sense and get people angry rather than enjoying watching basketball. I have too much stress/anger/negativity in my life without having it seep into my Celtic basketball watching portion of it.

Nick. you know better than that. pretending we are contenders doesnt make it so.

Declaring we aren't contenders doesn't change anything either.  Posting trade ideas doesn't influence the chances of those trades actually happening one iota.  Nothing we do on this site or in our own lives has any effect whatsoever on what happens to the team.  So if it works out the same either way, why not try to enjoy it? 

Like Nick said, life's too short and the things that actually matter are too stressful to let our entertainment make us unhappy.

[Tgro]

I know we all got excited after the winning streak, but IMO the C's clearly aren't contenders . It's just a waste of a season trying to make the playoffs.

Well there goes my entire life of watching sports down the drain then. I'd rather not watch sports at all if that's the way I felt. You could have said the same thing in 2010 and we came within 6 minutes from winning the title.

No thank you. I'll take the ugly wins. No one is just supposed to roll over and die for us. Bad team beat us in the last minutes one night. Bad team couldn't complete a comeback against us the next time. We blew one. We held onto one. 

Some will see the glass as half empty. We're 10-10. We must suck. OMG! 1st round exit! Gee Whiz, it sucks being losers. 

Others will see the glass as half full. We've won 6 out of our last 8. Still a long ways to go. Guys are out. We're getting better.

I may be delusion here. But I don't want to throw the season away so we can have a good lottery pick. If we fail, so what. A new season comes every year. I'm gonna enjoy this season and the next one too. And each and every season hoping we make the playoffs even when its beyond hope. Cause I'm Celtics fan and that's all I know how to do.   

[tyrone biggums]

I know we all got excited after the winning streak, but IMO the C's clearly aren't contenders . It's just a waste of a season trying to make the playoffs.

Well there goes my entire life of watching sports down the drain then. I'd rather not watch sports at all if that's the way I felt. You could have said the same thing in 2010 and we came within 6 minutes from winning the title.

No thank you. I'll take the ugly wins. No one is just supposed to roll over and die for us. Bad team beat us in the last minutes one night. Bad team couldn't complete a comeback against us the next time. We blew one. We held onto one. 

Some will see the glass as half empty. We're 10-10. We must suck. OMG! 1st round exit! Gee Whiz, it sucks being losers. 

Others will see the glass as half full. We've won 6 out of our last 8. Still a long ways to go. Guys are out. We're getting better.

I may be delusion here. But I don't want to throw the season away so we can have a good lottery pick. If we fail, so what. A new season comes every year. I'm gonna enjoy this season and the next one too. And each and every season hoping we make the playoffs even when its beyond hope. Cause I'm Celtics fan and that's all I know how to do.   

TP here, lottery picks aren't a sure thing by any means. If we tank the season and end up with Jerome Moiso 2.0, was it worth it? Championships are everything and I do not want to watch a 5-7 year rebuilding plan once again.

[rondohondo]

I know we all got excited after the winning streak, but IMO the C's clearly aren't contenders . It's just a waste of a season trying to make the playoffs.

Well there goes my entire life of watching sports down the drain then. I'd rather not watch sports at all if that's the way I felt. You could have said the same thing in 2010 and we came within 6 minutes from winning the title.

No thank you. I'll take the ugly wins. No one is just supposed to roll over and die for us. Bad team beat us in the last minutes one night. Bad team couldn't complete a comeback against us the next time. We blew one. We held onto one. 

Some will see the glass as half empty. We're 10-10. We must suck. OMG! 1st round exit! Gee Whiz, it sucks being losers. 

Others will see the glass as half full. We've won 6 out of our last 8. Still a long ways to go. Guys are out. We're getting better.

I may be delusion here. But I don't want to throw the season away so we can have a good lottery pick. If we fail, so what. A new season comes every year. I'm gonna enjoy this season and the next one too. And each and every season hoping we make the playoffs even when its beyond hope. Cause I'm Celtics fan and that's all I know how to do.   

TP here, lottery picks aren't a sure thing by any means. If we tank the season and end up with Jerome Moiso 2.0, was it worth it? Championships are everything and I do not want to watch a 5-7 year rebuilding plan once again.

we are going to have to rebuild in the next year or 2 anyways ...

Is a year of the big 3 making it to the 2nd round at best worth sticking it out with this roster ?

You are right it takes 3- 5 years to rebuild , but we already have a top 10 PG , why not try to gather talent around him while we have expiring contracts wit Ray , JO and most likely Bass( he will opt out )

We can easily get a draft pick or 2 for Ray and Bass (what's the point of keeping him if he will opt out and demand a BBD like contract when the c's will be looking to rebuild)

I just see no reason to keep this team together, but I respect you opinion

[EJPLAYA]

I think this team will win the Atlantic, get into the second round and then anything can happen.

What happens if Bass happens to pull down LeBron in an awkward fashion and he dislocates his shoulder? Boston could win.

Get into the second round and anything can happen after a long year and with a team as playoff experienced and having the heart that this team has.

I'm not going to go to the "blow it up" crowd or "they can't do it crowd" because after watching 22 years of crap, I would rather have hope with this team than think getting bad for years and years is a viable mental aspect to take into my Celtic watching regimen.

Such thoughts just provoke looking at road wins in a negative sense and get people angry rather than enjoying watching basketball. I have too much stress/anger/negativity in my life without having it seep into my Celtic basketball watching portion of it.

Nick. you know better than that. pretending we are contenders doesnt make it so.

Declaring we aren't contenders doesn't change anything either.  Posting trade ideas doesn't influence the chances of those trades actually happening one iota.  Nothing we do on this site or in our own lives has any effect whatsoever on what happens to the team.  So if it works out the same either way, why not try to enjoy it? 

Like Nick said, life's too short and the things that actually matter are too stressful to let our entertainment make us unhappy.

Maybe someone else's definition of enjoying it is trying to be realistic about where we stand and try to discuss ideas that would make us better. If you truly feel that anything said on here is wasting your time, then why on earth would you bother logging on?!

Lying to yourself and saying that we are contenders doesn't do anyone any good. First of all its not true and you don't really believe it, but second of all we have a right as paying customers to be upset if the product we are buying is crap.

I am grateful for what the Big 3 have given us but its time to move on and look for the next big 3!

[PosImpos]

I do not want to watch a 5-7 year rebuilding plan once again.

Well, we're going to have to watch at least a 3-4 year rebuilding plan at some point, anyway.

Riding it out longer with this group just means it'll be that much longer before the team is really contending again.

We're probably locked into this group for the rest of the season, though.

[rondohondo]

I do not want to watch a 5-7 year rebuilding plan once again.

Well, we're going to have to watch at least a 3-4 year rebuilding plan at some point, anyway.

Riding it out longer with this group just means it'll be that much longer before the team is really contending again.

We're probably locked into this group for the rest of the season, though.

exactly it makes me scratch my head when people say this with our core players being 34,35 and 36 .... do they expect these guys to play forever? they have already dropped off a ton from their prime..

[PosImpos]

I do not want to watch a 5-7 year rebuilding plan once again.

Well, we're going to have to watch at least a 3-4 year rebuilding plan at some point, anyway.

Riding it out longer with this group just means it'll be that much longer before the team is really contending again.

We're probably locked into this group for the rest of the season, though.

exactly it makes me scratch my head when people say this with our core players being 34,35 and 36 .... do they expect these guys to play forever? they have already dropped off a ton from their prime..

It does seem sometimes that there are Celtics fans who believe the Big 3 can all play at a high level until they are 40.

[BballTim]

I do not want to watch a 5-7 year rebuilding plan once again.

Well, we're going to have to watch at least a 3-4 year rebuilding plan at some point, anyway.

Riding it out longer with this group just means it'll be that much longer before the team is really contending again.

We're probably locked into this group for the rest of the season, though.

  Unless you think that rebuilding takes a fixed amount of time, starting it earlier doesn't necessarily mean ending it sooner. Cleveland was bad 5-6 years before they got LeBron, Orlando got Howard the first year they missed the playoffs.

[PosImpos]

I do not want to watch a 5-7 year rebuilding plan once again.

Well, we're going to have to watch at least a 3-4 year rebuilding plan at some point, anyway.

Riding it out longer with this group just means it'll be that much longer before the team is really contending again.

We're probably locked into this group for the rest of the season, though.

  Unless you think that rebuilding takes a fixed amount of time, starting it earlier doesn't necessarily mean ending it sooner. Cleveland was bad 5-6 years before they got LeBron, Orlando got Howard the first year they missed the playoffs.

I don't think it takes a fixed amount of time.

However, to the extent that rebuilding is based on acquiring draft picks, it basically comes down to rolling the dice a certain number of times until you get a franchise star or get a high enough pick that you can trade for one.

So the more opportunities you get to roll the dice, and sooner, the higher likelihood you have of landing that next centerpiece for your team.

In that sense, any season in which you are essentially playing for moral victories is a wasted opportunity to roll that dice.

[Celtics18]

I do not want to watch a 5-7 year rebuilding plan once again.

Well, we're going to have to watch at least a 3-4 year rebuilding plan at some point, anyway.

Riding it out longer with this group just means it'll be that much longer before the team is really contending again.

We're probably locked into this group for the rest of the season, though.

exactly it makes me scratch my head when people say this with our core players being 34,35 and 36 .... do they expect these guys to play forever? they have already dropped off a ton from their prime..

It does seem sometimes that there are Celtics fans who believe the Big 3 can all play at a high level until they are 40.

I don't think that anyone thinks that's true, but I do think that those guys can play, and are playing, at a fairly high level right now.

[PosImpos]

I do not want to watch a 5-7 year rebuilding plan once again.

Well, we're going to have to watch at least a 3-4 year rebuilding plan at some point, anyway.

Riding it out longer with this group just means it'll be that much longer before the team is really contending again.

We're probably locked into this group for the rest of the season, though.

exactly it makes me scratch my head when people say this with our core players being 34,35 and 36 .... do they expect these guys to play forever? they have already dropped off a ton from their prime..

It does seem sometimes that there are Celtics fans who believe the Big 3 can all play at a high level until they are 40.

I don't think that anyone thinks that's true, but I do think that those guys can play, and are playing, at a fairly high level right now.

Well, I've seen more than one poster float the idea that we should just reload with some free agents this summer and "continue to contend for a title" for another year or two. 

I don't doubt that the Big 3 can be effective role players until they are nigh on 40, if they don't break down or just decide to call it a career before hand.  But it's silly to think they can be the core of a contending team well beyond this season, even if the supporting cast is improved.

[Celtics18]

I do not want to watch a 5-7 year rebuilding plan once again.

Well, we're going to have to watch at least a 3-4 year rebuilding plan at some point, anyway.

Riding it out longer with this group just means it'll be that much longer before the team is really contending again.

We're probably locked into this group for the rest of the season, though.

exactly it makes me scratch my head when people say this with our core players being 34,35 and 36 .... do they expect these guys to play forever? they have already dropped off a ton from their prime..

It does seem sometimes that there are Celtics fans who believe the Big 3 can all play at a high level until they are 40.

I don't think that anyone thinks that's true, but I do think that those guys can play, and are playing, at a fairly high level right now.

Well, I've seen more than one poster float the idea that we should just reload with some free agents this summer and "continue to contend for a title" for another year or two. 

I don't doubt that the Big 3 can be effective role players until they are nigh on 40, if they don't break down or just decide to call it a career before hand.  But it's silly to think they can be the core of a contending team well beyond this season, even if the supporting cast is improved.

Well, I don't think this is the core of a contending team for the next few years, but I do think they can be a contender this year.

If Danny blows it up, we'll never know, though.

[wdleehi]

Just as some have to realize there is no magic rebuild...




Others have to realize that there is no magic dynamite. 


To many of the "rebuild" trades I have seen are the type teams do when they need to get out of contracts. 


The Celtics are not in the location.