wow.... the c's are going to be worse than I expected

[kozlodoev]

Bradley looked good with rondo and average without him. Lee was bad last year in my opinion a big big let down...and green sucked until half the season was over...I'm not sure how much better kg and pierce made those guys , kg and pierce were just better players getting the minutes.. it was Brandon bass they made appear better then he is

Bradley is a great defender but only marginally average on the offense end as a SG and worse on offense as a PG.  He has only looked good on one end of the court.   Some nights when he is on shooting he looks above average on offense but those are few and fair between.

Playing next to KG and PP would make a lot of people look better.

Above average defender? Sure. Great? The jury is still out on that, at the very least. Sure, he'll occasionally make the spectacular play, but his full-court press shtick has gotten old pretty quickly. He still needs to prove he can be at least passable off the ball and in half-court situations, and given his offensive deficiencies, he'll need to be adept at both.

[Snakehead]

I expected to be one of the worst teams, but we may be absolutely horrible and difficult to watch.  Wallace is the only one playing like a professional starter.

I guess it proves that Pierce and KG truly did make everyone else better because guys like Bradley, Lee, and Green all look like they have regressed.  Remember all those easy Bradley backcut layups?  I'm not seeing much of that now.  Now he's missing contested layup after contested layup or getting his shot blocked.  Green looks good only when there is space created by someone else drawing attention.

Lee looks pretty bad and Sullinger doesn't seem to have as much space to operate so he is drifting further from the hoop.

It isn't so much that KG and PP made everyone else better it is just with KG and PP being option 1 and option 2, they took pressure off and the other guys were in roles better suited for their skill set.  Now instead of option 3, Green is option 1 and that is something he should never be.  Bradley goes from 4 or 5 to 2 or 3, etc.  You can't just take role players and expect them to be 1st or 2nd options on a team.  It never works.

Indeed.  You can't take a bunch of 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th men and turn them into an effective starting lineup.

I'll co-sign this as well. We have what amounts to a great bench rotation... but without quality starters beyond Rondo and Green.

Honestly, at this point I'm not sold on Green as a quality starter.  I think if you have Jeff Green coming off the bench for you, that's pretty nice.  But he's a jack of all trades.  He's not good enough to be a primary scoring option, but he doesn't have any one particular elite skill that would make him a useful role player to have in your starting lineup next to more talented guys.  So he really seems like he'd be best as a 6th or 7th man with low expectations.

So really it's just Rondo and maybe Wallace who I see as starter quality on this team.  And Rondo is probably going to miss a third of the season.

I agree, I just think that if Jeff Green is your starting SF you're not necessarily trying to replace him as soon as possible.

I agree.  He is a good player but he just isn't a reliable all star level player.  Sometimes he will look like it.  The type of team he would be amazing on is Miami, where there are reliable options and he can pick his spots.  And he is also a good shooter too.  He is long, athletic, and a good defender.  This makes him a useful player.  He just isn't reliable offensively to score near 20 points.

Putting him on a pretty complete team he would be very effective.  Teams like Miami, Chicago, Memphis, Golden State, San Antonio etc.

In other words, he would be better on a team in which he would be left wide open.

Pretty much, as far as scoring goes.  He isnt' reliable to always be much more than that (but is legit a good shooter).

And he can defend and is long.  Guys like that are very useful right now, Miami always tries to have a few of them.

[Boston Garden Leprechaun]

This is a 25 win team at best. Crawford runniing the point is awful. No rim protector . This Is going to be a brutal season.

we tried telling people 

[D.o.s.]

This is a 25 win team at best. Crawford runniing the point is awful. No rim protector . This Is going to be a brutal season.

we tried telling people 

Pretty much every step of the way.

Which really sucks, because its the Celtics, but its the truth.

[Birdman]

I said this team be lucky to win 20 games

[Birdman]

Look like a tight race between Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando and maybe Phoenix as having worst record in the NBA

[D.o.s.]

Look like a tight race between Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando and maybe Phoenix as having worst record in the NBA

I still think Philly's got it locked up.

They still haven't hit the salary floor, have they?

[SHAQATTACK]

Look like a tight race between Boston, Philadelphia, Orlando and maybe Phoenix as having worst record in the NBA

Orlando is loaded with talent.  ...break even if lucky

Philadelphia can beat us too.  And that's not Half way trying.

Phoenix sucks

Celtics minus Rondo are a lock for lottery

No stars ... Few role players......rookies.........

Wow......      This is a tanking team if I ever saw one.....DA is lying though his teeth If claimS
otherwise.

Still I'll be cheering ,    Cause .....about 2016 things will be diff in bean town

[kozlodoev]

This is a 25 win team at best. Crawford runniing the point is awful. No rim protector . This Is going to be a brutal season.

we tried telling people 

The post-Carmelo Denver Nuggets have already given us the blueprint of how a team without superstars can be solid and fun to watch if it is honest, hard-nosed, and plays the game the right way. Unfortunately, these Boston Celtics don't seem to be any of the three.

This is both surprising and disappointing, because:
1. I didn't expect this from players that were on those KG-PP-Doc teams.
2. It clearly says we're more than one or two pieces away.
3. It makes me skeptical about the ability of those players to be part of the solution rather than the problem.

So I still feel this was anything but forgone conclusion, although unfortunately it's taken a turn for the worse.

[Snakehead]

This is a 25 win team at best. Crawford runniing the point is awful. No rim protector . This Is going to be a brutal season.

we tried telling people 

The post-Carmelo Denver Nuggets have already given us the blueprint of how a team without superstars can be solid and fun to watch if it is honest, hard-nosed, and plays the game the right way. Unfortunately, these Boston Celtics don't seem to be any of the three.

This is both surprising and disappointing, because:
1. I didn't expect this from players that were on those KG-PP-Doc teams.
2. It clearly says we're more than one or two pieces away.
3. It makes me skeptical about the ability of those players to be part of the solution rather than the problem.

So I still feel this was anything but forgone conclusion, although unfortunately it's taken a turn for the worse.

This team doesn't have as much talent as that Denver team.

They got players back as assets for Melo.  We basically got expiring contracts and picks for Pierce and KG.  It's good in the long run but in the short you have almost nothing to show for those two players.

[rondohondo]

Minus rondo,  I think the 96 c's had more talent than this years team

Guys like
Dino radja
Rick fox
David weslet
Antoine as a rookie who didn't jack 3's

[D.o.s.]

Minus rondo,  I think the 96 c's had more talent than this years team

Guys like
Dino radja
Rick fox
David weslet
Antoine as a rookie who didn't jack 3's

More sartorial talent, anyway.

Rick Fox is quite the dapper gentleman.

[Celtics18]

This is a 25 win team at best. Crawford runniing the point is awful. No rim protector . This Is going to be a brutal season.

we tried telling people 

Keep trying.  There's a lot of basketball still to be played.  It's a little early to be celebrating your prescience.

[thirstyboots18]

This is a 25 win team at best. Crawford runniing the point is awful. No rim protector . This Is going to be a brutal season.

we tried telling people 

The post-Carmelo Denver Nuggets have already given us the blueprint of how a team without superstars can be solid and fun to watch if it is honest, hard-nosed, and plays the game the right way. Unfortunately, these Boston Celtics don't seem to be any of the three.

This is both surprising and disappointing, because:
1. I didn't expect this from players that were on those KG-PP-Doc teams.
2. It clearly says we're more than one or two pieces away.
3. It makes me skeptical about the ability of those players to be part of the solution rather than the problem.

So I still feel this was anything but forgone conclusion, although unfortunately it's taken a turn for the worse.

This team doesn't have as much talent as that Denver team.

They got players back as assets for Melo.  We basically got expiring contracts and picks for Pierce and KG.  It's good in the long run but in the short you have almost nothing to show for those two players.

I hate to be a wet blanket, but you HOPE it is good in the long run.

[guava_wrench]

This is a 25 win team at best. Crawford runniing the point is awful. No rim protector . This Is going to be a brutal season.

we tried telling people 

The post-Carmelo Denver Nuggets have already given us the blueprint of how a team without superstars can be solid and fun to watch if it is honest, hard-nosed, and plays the game the right way. Unfortunately, these Boston Celtics don't seem to be any of the three.

This is both surprising and disappointing, because:
1. I didn't expect this from players that were on those KG-PP-Doc teams.
2. It clearly says we're more than one or two pieces away.
3. It makes me skeptical about the ability of those players to be part of the solution rather than the problem.

So I still feel this was anything but forgone conclusion, although unfortunately it's taken a turn for the worse.

The Nuggets got a windfall for a guy who has done nothing but get stats. Melo was traded in his prime, when people could still imagine him being a winner. They got a lot of talent to add to a roster that already had talent.