All these mediocre teams signing mediocre free agents=Celtics 2014 lottery gold.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

some people need to stop living in a pipe dream

agreed and chambers is dead on. we will have no rim protection. green, sully and olynyk will score but they cannot outscore other teams when we will have no defense. I like the fact olynyk can and will post up but he is a 4 not a 5. sounds like we will not have much perimeter game either. rondo cannot shoot jumpers like he should. maybe green and bass. maybe olynyk. Due to other teams not really having to worry about rim protection that may open up more dribble drives for green though and when rondo returns but either way we are in this season for learning. No way in hell will we sniff the playoffs. 

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

RR is free now, no more slow possession offense.
He will be great and will make anyone on this team better.
This year will be JG and Sully year.
I'm sorry but I'll take this 3 against any other best 3 from Washington through Phily.
Looks like some people forgot how good was RR and how even better he can be now with this new coach.

Doc and Danny always wanted Rondo to play faster and more aggressively.  Rondo is the one who wanted to play slow and methodically.

LINK??

  He probably read it on celticsblog.

[Fan from VT]

I think the Rondo/Walk it thing comes from the fact that in so many Pre, During, and Post game conferences Doc and Danny both said they need to run it more, push the pace, etc, but that in games, instead of using long passes, the c's would grab the rebound, short pass to rondo near their own paint, then rondo would 50/50 run it or slow-trot across half court.

He's fast, and he's good on the break, but he certainly does not relentlessly push the ball unless it's a clear 2 on 1 or something like that. If not an obvious obvious fast break, he really does prefer to slow it and work his dribble in the half court.

[Ogaju]

Celtics will not be in the lottery next season.  They are a 6th seed at worst as it stands now.

Brilliant.

If we can convince the rest of the teams to tank, we'd be NBA champions.

LOL .... This

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

I think the Rondo/Walk it thing comes from the fact that in so many Pre, During, and Post game conferences Doc and Danny both said they need to run it more, push the pace, etc, but that in games, instead of using long passes, the c's would grab the rebound, short pass to rondo near their own paint, then rondo would 50/50 run it or slow-trot across half court.

He's fast, and he's good on the break, but he certainly does not relentlessly push the ball unless it's a clear 2 on 1 or something like that. If not an obvious obvious fast break, he really does prefer to slow it and work his dribble in the half court.

so this is more proof that they did not listen to doc rivers? if so these are the problems we need to avoid going forward. If a player will not listen then HIT THE ROAD! We do not need inmates running the asylum here. It is looking more and more like doc was just a figurehead and the players did what they wanted.

[Kuberski1]

I think we are clearly one of the worst teams in the East, especially with Rondo out for awhile.  Management knows this, and I think sees next year as a developmental one, both for the new coach and players.  It makes no sense to chase big ticket FAs at this point.  Humphrey expires at the end of the year, and Wallace can perhaps be moved at the deadline for a dead-weight contract which expires....the assumption being that Wallace does better than last year, which he should.  And/or these guys get moved with Bass and perhaps Lee, who may not fit into the longer-term plans.

So, while it's not exactly tanking, it's also not going out of your way to get pieces to make a playoff run, which is what we have been doing for the past several years.  And I personally think this is exactly what we should be doing given all of the changes.  Quite the interesting off-season....

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think the Rondo/Walk it thing comes from the fact that in so many Pre, During, and Post game conferences Doc and Danny both said they need to run it more, push the pace, etc, but that in games, instead of using long passes, the c's would grab the rebound, short pass to rondo near their own paint, then rondo would 50/50 run it or slow-trot across half court.

He's fast, and he's good on the break, but he certainly does not relentlessly push the ball unless it's a clear 2 on 1 or something like that. If not an obvious obvious fast break, he really does prefer to slow it and work his dribble in the half court.

Completely true, and also in evidence you can use that observation that when Rondo sat, and you inserted Courtney Lee for example in the same game with the same group, for some reason or another, that unit ran more.

I recall Rondo in a post game during the playoffs speaking about the need to run, and about how he has to force himself to do it, that it's not something that comes natural to him. I'm been trying to find it, but it remain in my memories for eternity with no evidence to support it. But I'll stand by that recollection until I see otherwise.

But man, when Rondo pushes the ball, it's a thing of beauty. I recall some of those games against the Suns, Knicks, and Bulls from a few years ago and how he single handedly destroyed them by pushing the ball.

[Smitty77]

1. Miami
2. Brooklyn
3. Indiana
4. Chicago
5. New York
6. Boston
7. Washington
8. Toronto
9. Cleveland
10. Atlanta
11. Milwaukee
12. Orlando
13. Detroit
14. Charlotte
15. Philadelphia

Put down the pipe man.

All the teams in bold got better significantly.
We got way worse and we finished 7th seed last season. how are we finishing higher? What big men do we have to protect the rim? What jumpshooters do we have?
Here's your list and who they got this offseason already. You can imagine anyone that signed a bigger free agent will try and get better. (ie Hawks will get Mo Williams, Bobcats will try to get someone else like Humphries off us to help Al Jeff inside).

Let's assume we move Wallace and Humphries.
Starting 5 of Rondo, Bradley, Green, Sully, Olnyk.
How do we beat any of the teams below in bold?

1. Miami
2. Brooklyn
3. Indiana
4. Chicago
5. New York
6. Boston
7. Washington
starting 5 this season:Wall, Beal, Webster, Seraphin, Nene with Okafur and Singleton off the bench. Not a chance.

8. Toronto- Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry, Demar Derozan, Terrence Ross, Jonas Valancunas.
I'd say it's fair to call that a wash?
9. Cleveland- Anthony Bennett and one more year experience= they are better than us without KG and Pierce.
10. Atlanta= Millsap and Mo Williams (perhaps Teague too?) and Al Horfoard and Korver= arguably better than us with Millsap and Horford.
11. Milwaukee= Larry Sanders, Ilyasova, Jennings and Mayo + whoever else they get.
12. Orlando=added Oladipo. Still suck but they're a 50/50 against us with Vucevic in the paint and Harris, Harrison and their inside presence against our non existent rebounding presence.
13. Detroit=Monroe, Caldwell Pope, Brandon Knight, Maxiell, stuckey, Singler.  Trying to sign Josh Smith, so obviously wanting to get better. If Smith to Houston doesn't happen then they are front runner.
The above players even without Smith vs our starting 5? lol
14. Charlotte= new starting 5
Al Jefferson, Biyombo, Kidd Gilchrist, Henderson, Kemba Walker. That's if we don't send Humphries to them and make them even better.
15. Philadelphia still suck and will be worse than us. Probably the only ones with the Magic that we are slightly better.

In the West?
Suns?
The Pelicans just signed Tyreke Evans so they'll have:
Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, Anthony Davis, Chris Anderson, Lopez...
you think our starting five can beat the Pelicans? You realise bookmakers will have us as clear underdogs right?

You're dreaming if you think we're making the playoffs lol.

First, how in the world is Atlanta better with Mo freaking Williams.  He is TERRIBLE.  Jeff Teague is MUCH better.  Not even close!!  Milsap is a ROLE play and is NOT as much of a game changer as Smith was. 

The Bucks are likely to lose Monte Ellis and they lost Redick for two second rounders which will NOT make them better this year!!

Toronto should still be really bad.

As it stands now, Detroit is virtually the same horrible team.  Josh Smith would help, but he is NOT there yet.  Caldwell-Pope will hardly play at all with the other bigs.

As for Charlotte, Biyombo would not score 20 points if you left him on the court by himself for an entire half:-))  Kidd-Gilchrist is also offensively challenged.  Is Charlotte going to lock up Henderson long-term?  Still a lot of questions.  Kemba likes to shoot a LOT!  Will he actually run the pick and roll effectively with Big Al?  Big Al is one of the worst post defenders in the league too!!

Time will tell on the Magic. Oladipo is NOT a prolific scorer and may never develop into one either!!  He is a very good defender and they have a nice future in front of them as a team.  That being said, they will not have a lot more wins this year.  Maybe 10 at best.

Smitty77

[BballTim]

I think the Rondo/Walk it thing comes from the fact that in so many Pre, During, and Post game conferences Doc and Danny both said they need to run it more, push the pace, etc, but that in games, instead of using long passes, the c's would grab the rebound, short pass to rondo near their own paint, then rondo would 50/50 run it or slow-trot across half court.

  That makes it sound like Rondo's the only one involved in the play. There are other things involved.

  Start with the outlet pass. When someone would get a rebound they'd look to get the ball to Rondo. If he wasn't open they'd frequently stand still until he got open and then get him the ball, which killed any transition opportunity. After Rondo stopped playing, if many of those players got a rebound, they'd advance the ball themselves and then make an outlet pass when they had space. There was nothing preventing them from doing that when Rondo was playing. I think Danny's claim that the players had simply grown too dependent on Rondo was probably accurate.

  You also have to consider the fact that when you'd see Rondo walk or 50/50 run the ball into the front court you'd normally see PP and KG trotting up the court behind him. It's likely that his playing at that pace had a lot to do with those two preferring to play at a slow pace.

He's fast, and he's good on the break, but he certainly does not relentlessly push the ball unless it's a clear 2 on 1 or something like that. If not an obvious obvious fast break, he really does prefer to slow it and work his dribble in the half court.

  When someone on the team would get a rebound he'd go towards open space up court and call for the outlet pass. He did that on probably 90% of our possessions. Clearly he was trying to exploit transition opportunities.

[wahz]

1. Miami
2. Brooklyn
3. Indiana
4. Chicago
5. New York
6. Boston
7. Washington
8. Toronto
9. Cleveland
10. Atlanta
11. Milwaukee
12. Orlando
13. Detroit
14. Charlotte
15. Philadelphia

Put down the pipe man.

All the teams in bold got better significantly.
We got way worse and we finished 7th seed last season. how are we finishing higher? What big men do we have to protect the rim? What jumpshooters do we have?
Here's your list and who they got this offseason already. You can imagine anyone that signed a bigger free agent will try and get better. (ie Hawks will get Mo Williams, Bobcats will try to get someone else like Humphries off us to help Al Jeff inside).

Let's assume we move Wallace and Humphries.
Starting 5 of Rondo, Bradley, Green, Sully, Olnyk.
How do we beat any of the teams below in bold?

1. Miami
2. Brooklyn
3. Indiana
4. Chicago
5. New York
6. Boston
7. Washington
starting 5 this season:Wall, Beal, Webster, Seraphin, Nene with Okafur and Singleton off the bench. Not a chance.

8. Toronto- Rudy Gay, Kyle Lowry, Demar Derozan, Terrence Ross, Jonas Valancunas.
I'd say it's fair to call that a wash?
9. Cleveland- Anthony Bennett and one more year experience= they are better than us without KG and Pierce.
10. Atlanta= Millsap and Mo Williams (perhaps Teague too?) and Al Horfoard and Korver= arguably better than us with Millsap and Horford.
11. Milwaukee= Larry Sanders, Ilyasova, Jennings and Mayo + whoever else they get.
12. Orlando=added Oladipo. Still suck but they're a 50/50 against us with Vucevic in the paint and Harris, Harrison and their inside presence against our non existent rebounding presence.
13. Detroit=Monroe, Caldwell Pope, Brandon Knight, Maxiell, stuckey, Singler.  Trying to sign Josh Smith, so obviously wanting to get better. If Smith to Houston doesn't happen then they are front runner.
The above players even without Smith vs our starting 5? lol
14. Charlotte= new starting 5
Al Jefferson, Biyombo, Kidd Gilchrist, Henderson, Kemba Walker. That's if we don't send Humphries to them and make them even better.
15. Philadelphia still suck and will be worse than us. Probably the only ones with the Magic that we are slightly better.

In the West?
Suns?
The Pelicans just signed Tyreke Evans so they'll have:
Jrue Holiday, Eric Gordon, Tyreke Evans, Anthony Davis, Chris Anderson, Lopez...
you think our starting five can beat the Pelicans? You realise bookmakers will have us as clear underdogs right?

You're dreaming if you think we're making the playoffs lol.

Lopez is a trail blazer now.

It looks to me like only Philly and Orlando will be worse, and Orlando won't be worse if Rondo sits out until say mid January.
In the west, imho, only Phoenix will be worse if Rondo is out.

Actually a poll might be a good idea.  What will our record be on 1/15 if we have played 37 games, which was how many we played last year. I wag that we are 7-30.

[Swoopz]

RR is free now, no more slow possession offense.
He will be great and will make anyone on this team better.
This year will be JG and Sully year.
I'm sorry but I'll take this 3 against any other best 3 from Washington through Phily.
Looks like some people forgot how good was RR and how even better he can be now with this new coach.

Doc and Danny always wanted Rondo to play faster and more aggressively.  Rondo is the one who wanted to play slow and methodically.

I'd say it was the 35+ year old veterans who wanted to play slow.

[BballTim]

I think the Rondo/Walk it thing comes from the fact that in so many Pre, During, and Post game conferences Doc and Danny both said they need to run it more, push the pace, etc, but that in games, instead of using long passes, the c's would grab the rebound, short pass to rondo near their own paint, then rondo would 50/50 run it or slow-trot across half court.

He's fast, and he's good on the break, but he certainly does not relentlessly push the ball unless it's a clear 2 on 1 or something like that. If not an obvious obvious fast break, he really does prefer to slow it and work his dribble in the half court.

Completely true, and also in evidence you can use that observation that when Rondo sat, and you inserted Courtney Lee for example in the same game with the same group, for some reason or another, that unit ran more.

I recall Rondo in a post game during the playoffs speaking about the need to run, and about how he has to force himself to do it, that it's not something that comes natural to him. I'm been trying to find it, but it remain in my memories for eternity with no evidence to support it. But I'll stand by that recollection until I see otherwise.

But man, when Rondo pushes the ball, it's a thing of beauty. I recall some of those games against the Suns, Knicks, and Bulls from a few years ago and how he single handedly destroyed them by pushing the ball.

  I can remember a playoff game in 2009 or 2010 when the Celts killed their opponent in transition, when they'd been unable to run in the previous game. They asked Rondo about the difference between the two games and he said the reason he was able to run was that his teammates got him the ball quicker, even after made baskets. I don't have a link to that one either, but I'd guess it was against the Magic.

  The team as a whole pushed the ball (and ran up the court) faster after Rondo went down because of changes Doc made to try and counter losing Rondo. But when he played this year I'm pretty sure they played at a faster pace when he was in the game than on the bench.

[vinnie]

Here we go again with the Rondo out until mid-January stuff. 

[D.o.s.]

Here we go again with the Rondo out until mid-January stuff. 

Feel free to provide some evidence to the contrary.

[BballTim]

Here we go again with the Rondo out until mid-January stuff. 

Feel free to provide some evidence to the contrary.

  You're saying you're completely unaware of anyone from the Celts saying they expect him back before then?