Will the Celtics be Fun to Watch???

[Alleyoopster]

Will the Celtics be Fun to Watch? 

Will Celtics = Excitement!!!

Yes, they may go 2-80 or 78-4 (okay that won’t happen), but could the C’s still turn out to be a rather exciting team to watch (provided they stay healthy)?
 
Here are some reasons they could turn out to be a fun to watch (in no particular order)….
1.  I’ll start with Bradley.  He provides solid, solid defense….can’t get much better. 
2.  Brandon Bass …okay, not Mr. Splashy, but dependable and a hard-nosed blue collar worker.
3.  Sullinger…. Action seems to follow him wherever he goes.  If he comes back and regains the lift he had in high school he could be the envy of the league. 
4.  Rajon Rondo…total excitement!!!  Enough said.
5.  Olynyk … Bird-like intelligence for a big man.  If you are open he’ll find you.  If you leave him open…bang!!!
6.  Gerald Wallace, Kris Humphries and Keith Bogans are solid players…. they’ll come to play every night.  You can tell by their initial interviews that Bogans will be a fan favorite.  Kris won’t have the media nonsense and none of them will have ‘must shoot’ Joe Johnson to contend with.
7.  Jeff Green… how much better will he play not having to compete with Pierce and Garnett for shots? He’s fast, lean and hungry.  He’s going to be surrounded by young players who will be looking at him as their go-to guy.  He’ll probably have a handful or more of 30+ point games. 
8.  Jamal Crawford… can generate offense in a hurry.  With a cast of unselfish players and a smart coach he may find easier shots to take. 
9.  Iverson….already a cult favorite.  Just watching him hustling for loose balls and clearing out an area for a rebound could be a sight to see.
10.  Fab Melo..... Many on this board will want him playing 40 minutes a game (lol)….so we can reach the bottom of the bottom.  Can’t get any better than that!  This is one player who will be cheered no matter what he does.  If he stinks… great, better chance for the lotto.  If he develops into a superstar, then Danny is a genius (okay, that won’t happen either). 
11.  Marshon Brooks….Like Crawford, he could spell instant offense.  Will have to see how he fits in.
12.  Victor Faverani…if he plays half as good as his highlight films, then a year from now people will be saying he would have been a top 5 pick had he come out of college.  He can shoot from the outside and seems to play half-decent defense.  And, he’s 7 feet tall.  Two 7 footers on the team with range…how much better does it get? 
13.  Pressey showed he can hit the floater and run the offense.  A flashy non-drafted player who can play the game… Along with Olynyk he was fun to watch in the Summer League.  If he can translate that to similar performance on the court he’ll do okay.   
14.  Courtney Lee….He can play pretty good defense and will be competing for minutes.  So, you know he’s going to be playing hard.   
15.  Coach Stevens…. A young coach with a lot to prove.  He’s totally not Doc.  He may provide non-stop entertainment value in that younger players may feed off his hard working style.  Doc seemed more old-school sticking with veterans no matter the circumstances.
 
Thus, my feeling is that Celtics may not win a lot of games, but if they are healthy, they could generate a fair amount of excitement.  They have energy players up and down the lineup.  They have a combination of young and veteran players trying to prove their worth.  And, as for health, every team in the NBA struggles with injury issues.  The game is too demanding and the season is too long for the body to take this amount of punishment.   

[rondoallaturca]

Here are some early things I'm looking forward to watching this next season:

- What sort of Rondo will play this season? Will he stick it to everyone and go berserk with 20/12/6?
- During his time off, will Rondo have improved his jump shot and free throws?
- What is the development on Bradley? This is his rookie contract's expiring year. Will he show a promising offensive game or remain a defensive ace?
- Can Sullinger put his back woes and foul troubles behind him and consistent carve out starter's minutes? If so, can he be a nightly 12/10 guy?
- Can Kelly Olynyk capably play center? How consistent will his 3-point shot be? How will his steals translate to the NBA? What exactly is his potential?
- Will Gerald Wallace experience a career rebound? His game is based of athleticism so I'm pessimistic, but not ruling it out.
- How good can Jeff Green get? KG thinks he can be one of the best ever, and he has the physical tools to do it. Mentally, I'm not so sure. Will he remain a second or third complementary option, or can he put up 25/6/3 all-star numbers?
- How will Courtney Lee bounce back? He is way better than the player he was last year.

[PhoSita]

I think it'll depend on what you want to get out of watching the Celtics.  If you can only enjoy it if they're playing really well and winning a lot of games, then no.

But if you can get excited about watching young guys develop and enjoy the fact that on any given night we won't know which guy is going to have a big game -- although there will be nights when nobody has a good game -- then I think they'll be fun to watch, yeah.

I expect Stevens to get them all working hard and giving as close to max effort as NBA players can give during the regular season.  That alone will make them more fun to watch in many respects than the Celtics teams we've seen recently (in the regular season).


I think there's a chance this could be a little bit like the Red Sox this season -- coming off a regular season where the team underperformed and had a ton of injures despite high expectations, it might be really refreshing to watch a team with no expectations fight hard every night.

What it will come down to, I believe, is whether you can have fun by looking for reason to hope for the future, whether it's young players showing flashes of brilliance, or imagining what our 2014 draft pick(s) will look like playing next to this group.

[BudweiserCeltic]

I think this will be an extremely fun team to watch. It'll be exciting and they'll be winning plenty of games, mark my words.

[Who]

Yeah, I'd say so. It isn't hard to make a fun team when you have a talent like Rajon Rondo on your roster and give him 7-10 solid NBA players to work with.

[Who]

Although, until Rondo returns, they might be pretty ugly to watch. Disorganized, sloppy and too much purposelessness to their activity.

But hopefully Rondo will be returning early enough in the season to limit that eye-sore.

[PhoSita]

Yeah, I'd say so. It is hard to make a fun team when you have a talent like Rajon Rondo on your roster and give him 7-10 solid NBA players to work with.

I'm guessing you mean that it ISN'T hard.

I agree, although you need to find guys that can get out in transition and spread the floor, which isn't always easy.  Cheaper vets and young players tend to do one or the other.  Those that do both tend to be awful defenders.

[Who]

Yeah, I'd say so. It is hard to make a fun team when you have a talent like Rajon Rondo on your roster and give him 7-10 solid NBA players to work with.

I'm guessing you mean that it ISN'T hard.

Ha, yep. I'll change that.

I agree, although you need to find guys that can get out in transition and spread the floor, which isn't always easy.  Cheaper vets and young players tend to do one or the other.  Those that do both tend to be awful defenders.

In terms of the Celtics, with this group of players Danny Ainge has brought together, I think Rondo will turn them into an enjoyable team to follow.

Pity they don't have a defensive anchor though. That will be irritating. Having zero rim protection and limited post defense. Backup PG (Pressey?) might be annoying too. But the rest of the pieces can work well together (and with Rondo).

[BudweiserCeltic]

Yeah, I'd say so. It is hard to make a fun team when you have a talent like Rajon Rondo on your roster and give him 7-10 solid NBA players to work with.

I'm guessing you mean that it ISN'T hard.

Ha, yep. I'll change that.

I agree, although you need to find guys that can get out in transition and spread the floor, which isn't always easy.  Cheaper vets and young players tend to do one or the other.  Those that do both tend to be awful defenders.

I think with the blend of players Danny Ainge has brought together, Rondo will turn them into an enjoyable team to follow.

Pity they don't have a defensive anchor though. That will be irritating. Having zero rim protection and limited post defense. Backup PG (Pressey?) might be annoying too. But the rest of the pieces can work well together (and with Rondo).

We should have a very strong perimeter defense, and I value that more. And if you give more playing time to Humphries and Sully, our rebounding should be better this season.

In all, I'm not that worried about a defensive anchor with the type of perimeter defenders we have.

[manl_lui]

the Celtics are ALWAYS fun to watch

The torch has been officially passed to Rondo, and Green growing up...what is there not to like about the team?

Sure we will lose a lot of games, but there's always something to root for

[clover]

Sure--unless we get stuck watching them try to pump up the value of the vets they want to trade instead of the young pups learning.

[Onslaught]

As long as they try I'll have fun watching them. I've not always had fun the last few years because I didn't always feel they gave their best effort.

[Evantime34]

I always think it's fun to watch young players grow.

I believe that all of the players on the team will play hard, and eventually play some decent defense.

We will have athletecim and a point guard that has the vision to find those athletes running down the court.

We might make a lot of mistakes early, but those mistakes will lessen as the year goes on and our players grow.

This season should be a lot of fun to watch.

[oldmanspeaks]

Watching a developing team is always fun if there is effort and improvement with time. I watched the steelers in the late 60s grow from the worst team in football to an all-time powerhouse. Watching the improvement in each player and their giant effort made you identify with their success. I remember the crowd giving one standing ovation after another when their defense became great but the offense still sucked. The defensive players talked about how it was impossible to give up with the crowd so behind you. The bond between fans and players can be really real in those circumstance because the player realize you were behind them when things weren't all that great. Young players who are given encouragement when things aren't going well has an emotional impact and the good guys don't forget that. It is why so many of the 70s Steelers have such a lifetime bond with the city.

[dark_lord]

its never fun to see a team lose a lot, but if they bust their butt every game, and play gritty defense, yes they could be fun