Love Sully's recent quotes about "tanking"

[Interceptor]

I don't think anyone expected a player to say otherwise? To me this seems like a non-story.

Nobody expects a player to say that their team is tanking.

But there's normally denying it with a boilerplate response ("we'll be more competitive than people think"), and then there's what Sully said, where butts get involved. I'd call that a difference of some significance.

[Celtics18]

It'll be amusing thinking about these quotes when Sully is playing next to Parker or Wiggins next year, and perhaps even winning a title next to Parker or Wiggins sometime in the next decade.


(we can dream)

I will be very disappointed if we end up in a position for either of those guys . . . unless, of course, it is thanks to Brooklyn or Atlanta . . . or unless we really buck the odds from the 13th or 14th place in the lottery.

(we can dream)

For real?  You'll be disappointed if we end up with Parker or Wiggins?

I understand that you'd prefer to see the team win 35 games and get bounced in the 1st round, but if it comes to pass that on lottery day our team's logo comes out of one of the three envelopes, you're going to be disappointed?

Okay, I see that you said "in position" for one of those three guys.  I understand that.  But if we've already reached that point, and we have a good shot at getting a top pick, I feel like you can't be that disappointed.  Sure, it will mean that this team fell short of your expectations.  But a top pick in any draft, but especially this draft, is an awfully nice consolation prize.

Being in position for Parker or Wiggins doesn't even have to mean the young guys that matter let us down.

Rondo, Sullinger, Bradley, and Olynyk could all play quite well and give us reason for optimism the rest of the season and the team could still end up with fewer than 30 wins.

I won't be disappointed in the consolation prize, but I will be disappointed for this current Celtic team if they don't manage to win more than 30 games all season long.

I'm rooting for these guys.  At this point, it's that simple for me.  I trust Danny to make the best of the bounty of assets that he has and will continue to be able to amass over the next couple of years.

My concern is more about this team and the present and trying to live in the moment with them as a fan. 

Call me a homer.  Guilty.  I like this team.  I like these guys.  And, I root for them.

Sorry. 
 

[PhoSita]

My concern is more about this team and the present and trying to live in the moment with them as a fan. 

Call me a homer.  Guilty.  I like this team.  I like these guys.  And, I root for them.

Sorry.

I appreciate that.  Mine is a different perspective.

I like this franchise.  I'm rooting for a Celtics team that hasn't been assembled yet.

I'm a fan of some of the individual players currently on the team.  I love seeing Sullinger do well.  I'm eager for Kelly to get back, hopefully now at 100%, and I want to see him finish the year strong.  I want Rondo to come back -- though not too soon -- and play well, either to prove that he is worth keeping around, or to increase his trade value.

I'm neutral on Green, Bradley, Faverani, and Pressey.  They're okay guys, and I think they could be fine role players with the team long term if the price is right.  But I'm not too attached.

The rest of the roster is flotsam.  Not likely to be around a year or two from now.

This team was not assembled for me to cheer for it as a unit.  Danny Ainge didn't assemble this group with the intention that this collection of pieces was going to play great basketball.  But to me this roster is a clear sign of the road map that Danny expects to follow.  That road map will inevitably involve players who aren't yet on the team; heck, it will probably involve guys who aren't yet in the NBA.

So I appreciate your sentiment, your resolve to support the team that's put in front of you.  But from my view, this particular team was never meant to be supported in that way.

[indeedproceed]

My concern is more about this team and the present and trying to live in the moment with them as a fan. 

Call me a homer.  Guilty.  I like this team.  I like these guys.  And, I root for them.

Sorry.

I appreciate that.  Mine is a different perspective.

I like this franchise.  I'm rooting for a Celtics team that hasn't been assembled yet.

I'm a fan of some of the individual players currently on the team.  I love seeing Sullinger do well.  I'm eager for Kelly to get back, hopefully now at 100%, and I want to see him finish the year strong.  I want Rondo to come back -- though not too soon -- and play well, either to prove that he is worth keeping around, or to increase his trade value.

I'm neutral on Green, Bradley, Faverani, and Pressey.  They're okay guys, and I think they could be fine role players with the team long term if the price is right.  But I'm not too attached.

The rest of the roster is flotsam.  Not likely to be around a year or two from now.

This team was not assembled for me to cheer for it as a unit.  Danny Ainge didn't assemble this group with the intention that this collection of pieces was going to play great basketball.  But to me this roster is a clear sign of the road map that Danny expects to follow.  That road map will inevitably involve players who aren't yet on the team; heck, it will probably involve guys who aren't yet in the NBA.

So I appreciate your sentiment, your resolve to support the team that's put in front of you.  But from my view, this particular team was never meant to be supported in that way.

Well said. Same.

[Celtics18]

My concern is more about this team and the present and trying to live in the moment with them as a fan. 

Call me a homer.  Guilty.  I like this team.  I like these guys.  And, I root for them.

Sorry.

I appreciate that.  Mine is a different perspective.

I like this franchise.  I'm rooting for a Celtics team that hasn't been assembled yet.

I'm a fan of some of the individual players currently on the team.  I love seeing Sullinger do well.  I'm eager for Kelly to get back, hopefully now at 100%, and I want to see him finish the year strong.  I want Rondo to come back -- though not too soon -- and play well, either to prove that he is worth keeping around, or to increase his trade value.

I'm neutral on Green, Bradley, Faverani, and Pressey.  They're okay guys, and I think they could be fine role players with the team long term if the price is right.  But I'm not too attached.

The rest of the roster is flotsam.  Not likely to be around a year or two from now.

This team was not assembled for me to cheer for it as a unit.  Danny Ainge didn't assemble this group with the intention that this collection of pieces was going to play great basketball.  But to me this roster is a clear sign of the road map that Danny expects to follow.  That road map will inevitably involve players who aren't yet on the team; heck, it will probably involve guys who aren't yet in the NBA.

So I appreciate your sentiment, your resolve to support the team that's put in front of you.  But from my view, this particular team was never meant to be supported in that way.

I doubt the players and the coaching staff feel like they were assembled "not to be supported in that way."

I'll be honest, the idea that we are not supposed to root for our team if we don't see them as favorites to win kind of bugs me.  But, I understand that a lot of fans don't share my philosophy on rooting for a sports team, and I respect that difference in fan philosophy. 

[gpap]

It'll be amusing thinking about these quotes when Sully is playing next to Parker or Wiggins next year, and perhaps even winning a title next to Parker or Wiggins sometime in the next decade.


(we can dream)

I will be very disappointed if we end up in a position for either of those guys . . . unless, of course, it is thanks to Brooklyn or Atlanta . . . or unless we really buck the odds from the 13th or 14th place in the lottery.

(we can dream)

For real?  You'll be disappointed if we end up with Parker or Wiggins?

I understand that you'd prefer to see the team win 35 games and get bounced in the 1st round, but if it comes to pass that on lottery day our team's logo comes out of one of the three envelopes, you're going to be disappointed?

Okay, I see that you said "in position" for one of those three guys.  I understand that.  But if we've already reached that point, and we have a good shot at getting a top pick, I feel like you can't be that disappointed.  Sure, it will mean that this team fell short of your expectations.  But a top pick in any draft, but especially this draft, is an awfully nice consolation prize.

Being in position for Parker or Wiggins doesn't even have to mean the young guys that matter let us down.

Rondo, Sullinger, Bradley, and Olynyk could all play quite well and give us reason for optimism the rest of the season and the team could still end up with fewer than 30 wins.

I won't be disappointed in the consolation prize, but I will be disappointed for this current Celtic team if they don't manage to win more than 30 games all season long.

I'm rooting for these guys.  At this point, it's that simple for me.  I trust Danny to make the best of the bounty of assets that he has and will continue to be able to amass over the next couple of years.

My concern is more about this team and the present and trying to live in the moment with them as a fan. 

Call me a homer.  Guilty.  I like this team.  I like these guys.  And, I root for them.

Sorry.

And just to add to this, if the Celts can continue to hover close to 500 and Ainge is a buyer instead of seller at the deadline, this team could even reach as high as the 4th to 6th seed in the East.

Are the Wizards and Raptors really the 3rd and 4th best teams right now in the EC? (lol.)

[BballTim]

This guy is now officially my favorite Celtic


Baxter Holmes        ✔   @BaxterHolmes 
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Jared Sullinger: "We just want to win and show everybody that they can kiss our butts about that tanking stuff."

The pro-tankers can put that in their pipe and smoke it

Here's more on the story
http://www.celticslife.com/2013/12/sullinger-just-said-exactly-what-you.html

  Somewhat unrelated, but Rick Fox was always one of my favorites when he played because he made some noise about not re-signing with the team if he felt they weren't putting in an effort to win games.

[Celtics4ever]

Talk all he wants the record says otherwise.   We just lost to the Bucks could he have timed it better?

[indeedproceed]

I doubt the players and the coaching staff feel like they were assembled "not to be supported in that way."

I think they're aware of expectations, especially Stevens, but they're competitors, and don't care. Or at least that's how Id be, which one can only assume is the way every single human being in the world is.

[Celtics18]

Talk all he wants the record says otherwise.   We just lost to the Bucks could he have timed it better?

Luckily, we get another shot at them tomorrow.  I am expecting a different result.  8 and 12 after twenty games would look pretty good to me. 

[BballTim]

Talk all he wants the record says otherwise.   We just lost to the Bucks could he have timed it better?

  We're a half a game out of first place in the East. We don't really have the "tank" record people were predicting.

[Celtics18]

I doubt the players and the coaching staff feel like they were assembled "not to be supported in that way."

I think they're aware of expectations, especially Stevens, but they're competitors, and don't care. Or at least that's how Id be, which one can only assume is the way every single human being in the world is.

Whether they have the talent or not, I'm also guessing that they are taking a "prove people wrong" stance.  I'm with them.  I'm rooting for them to prove people wrong.

And, I think they can do it, particularly if Rondo returns with 50 or more games remaining in the season. 

[PhoSita]

I'll be honest, the idea that we are not supposed to root for our team if we don't see them as favorites to win kind of bugs me.  But, I understand that a lot of fans don't share my philosophy on rooting for a sports team, and I respect that difference in fan philosophy.

I saw this and I wanted to clarify my position.


There are lots of teams in the NBA every single season who are not favorites to win it all.


In fact, there's only one team in the NBA this season that meets that description; it's the Miami Heat.  That's still true despite the fact that the Pacers have gone 16-1.

Even so, there are plenty of teams in the NBA that I'd love to root for as a fan.  Teams that are fringe contenders.  Teams with exciting young players that are still trying to put together that first really successful season.

I don't think it's unreasonable to look at this Celtics team, with 5 shooting guards and 5 centers, and only a couple of currently active players who ought to be starting for a decent team, and say that it's not really meant for our viewing pleasure.  It's hard to get too riled up about a team that I know, in all likelihood, will be nearly completely turned over before the Celtics reach 50 wins again.

The players on the team and the coach aren't stupid.  They have to know it too.  But they're professionals and they're working for the future of their careers as much as some of us fans are cheering for the future of the team and not the present.

[Jailan34]

My concern is more about this team and the present and trying to live in the moment with them as a fan. 

Call me a homer.  Guilty.  I like this team.  I like these guys.  And, I root for them.

Sorry.

I appreciate that.  Mine is a different perspective.

I like this franchise.  I'm rooting for a Celtics team that hasn't been assembled yet.

I'm a fan of some of the individual players currently on the team.  I love seeing Sullinger do well.  I'm eager for Kelly to get back, hopefully now at 100%, and I want to see him finish the year strong.  I want Rondo to come back -- though not too soon -- and play well, either to prove that he is worth keeping around, or to increase his trade value.

I'm neutral on Green, Bradley, Faverani, and Pressey.  They're okay guys, and I think they could be fine role players with the team long term if the price is right.  But I'm not too attached.

The rest of the roster is flotsam.  Not likely to be around a year or two from now.

This team was not assembled for me to cheer for it as a unit.  Danny Ainge didn't assemble this group with the intention that this collection of pieces was going to play great basketball.  But to me this roster is a clear sign of the road map that Danny expects to follow.  That road map will inevitably involve players who aren't yet on the team; heck, it will probably involve guys who aren't yet in the NBA.

So I appreciate your sentiment, your resolve to support the team that's put in front of you.  But from my view, this particular team was never meant to be supported in that way.

Wow, you just described my exact feelings on this team much more eloquently than I ever could. Great perspective, and take on this team in its current state. Definite TP for you.

[indeedproceed]

Talk all he wants the record says otherwise.   We just lost to the Bucks could he have timed it better?

  We're a half a game out of first place in the East. We don't really have the "tank" record people were predicting.

Yeah, through the first quarter we haven't played like the 2nd or 3rd worst team in the league, but that's partially because the Nets and Knicks and others who aren't supposed to look so darn bad.