Will we make the playoffs this year? Standings, stats and numbers (merged)

[Evantime34]

Similarly, early in the year we were getting killed on the boards (pretty sure we were in the bottom 5 in the league early in the year), the recent improvement would indicate that we will continue to trend upwards and eventually be a decent rebounding team.

We were actually better and are going backwards, we were a top 15 team and are sinking. Although Sully is grabbing 26% of all available rebounds lol. What a monster.

Quote from a Forsberg article

"Through the first 11 games of the season, Boston owned a league-worst defensive rebound percentage of 70.4 percent. At that point, Boston was about to embark on a road trip that featured some imposing opposing front lines (Minnesota, Houston, San Antonio), but managed to start trending in a more positive direction during that three-game stretch.

Over the past nine games, Boston’s defensive rebound rate is 75.7 percent, ranking 12th in the league during that span. That’s helped the Celtics climb from the league’s basement to 25th overall for the season with a season mark of 72.8 percent. "

[Moranis]

Making the playoffs would be a disaster as this team has no shot (even with Rondo) of beating Miami or Indiana in a playoff series, which at best would mean a second round exit as those teams are going to be the 1 and 2 seed.

[BballTim]

yeah tank for the lottery which is not even a lottery because its rigged.

last time we tanked we ended up with the worst possible pick that we could get. KG and ray were band aids to that wound which gave us a small championship window due to their age.

if rondo gets hurt again we will be in the lotto for sure but if not. so be it. The team will only get better going forward wiggins or not

so why trade down? lessen the total depth of this roster for one player? for that we make a trade now!

You realize that we never win a ring if we don't get that #5 draft pick, right?

duh which is why i said it was a small window. one title every 5-10 years doesnt cut it. kg was worn down otherwise timberwolves dont even make that trade

that number 5 draft pick gave us ray allen not a ring. the same ray allen that bolted for miami

so realy how valuable was that pick? because theres a lot players that would of contributed to a title here then ray

One title every 5-10 years doesn't cut it? You must not have been following the team before 2008 if that's your attitude.

The #5 pick got us Ray. Ray got us KG. KG had already turned down a trade to Boston before,  and it took Ray Allen to convince him that a ring could be won here.

No pick, No Ray Allen. No Ray Allen, no KG. No KG, no 2008 championship. No 2008 championship, we're looking at no titles in almost 30 years. I'll take five years of contention, two finals appearances, and one Finals victory over that.

yeah tank for the lottery which is not even a lottery because its rigged.

last time we tanked we ended up with the worst possible pick that we could get. KG and ray were band aids to that wound which gave us a small championship window due to their age.

if rondo gets hurt again we will be in the lotto for sure but if not. so be it. The team will only get better going forward wiggins or not

so why trade down? lessen the total depth of this roster for one player? for that we make a trade now!

You realize that we never win a ring if we don't get that #5 draft pick, right?

  I wonder if that's really the case. I think the trade was more about getting rid of Ray than an overwhelming wish for that draft pick. I'd bet a somewhat later (or future pick) would have gotten the trade done.

See that's a much more interesting discussion. I have no doubt that the Sonics wanted to get rid of Lewis and Ray, but I don't think they move on much beyond a top ten pick--even with his ankle surgeries.

  The Sonics didn't want to get rid of Rashard and Ray, but they were (IMO) much less inclined to keep Ray after Lewis signed with Orlando.

[Donoghus]

I wish the great Forums Purge hadn't rid us of those 2007 "Rashard Lewis to the Celtics" discussions and the aftermath of his signing with Orlando. 

Those would be really entertaining reads in retrospect.

[fairweatherfan]

yeah tank for the lottery which is not even a lottery because its rigged.

funny stuff huh? 

Never ceases to amaze me how people, (a) don't understand basic probability theory, (b) ignore Occam's Razor, and (c)  seem to think that businesses are just giddy to engage in massive fraud schemes for no incentive whatsoever.

But then I open the Internetz, and the amazement ceases.

But we won the practice draw in 1997!  Wake up sheeple!

Plus, I've realized over the years that conspiracy theories do subjectively fit Occam's Razor, provided you make no attempt at all to think them through.  "Stern did it!"  is a far simpler explanation than mapping out probability distributions, as long as you don't go any deeper than that.

[BballTim]

Bottom line is we can't and shouldn't make the playoffs.  There is no good reason to make it.  We are bad, not bottom of the league bad but then again were not that good.  We are mediocre, this is the year to tank.  Backing into the playoffs does no service to us.  Like I been saying, sit Rondo all year, limit minutes to others, trade players and get into the lottery. I am not understanding why fans want to make the playoffs, we aren't winning it all!!!!

  90% of the league don't have a real chance of winning it all. Did you ever ask yourself why every one of those teams isn't in a horse race for the worst record in the league? It's all good and well that the fans all want the team to be terrible (even though they'll crucify the team if they don't end up with the draft pick they want) but you can't expect the teams to take such an approach to running their franchises.

[manl_lui]

Similarly, early in the year we were getting killed on the boards (pretty sure we were in the bottom 5 in the league early in the year), the recent improvement would indicate that we will continue to trend upwards and eventually be a decent rebounding team.

We were actually better and are going backwards, we were a top 15 team and are sinking. Although Sully is grabbing 26% of all available rebounds lol. What a monster.

Quote from a Forsberg article

"Through the first 11 games of the season, Boston owned a league-worst defensive rebound percentage of 70.4 percent. At that point, Boston was about to embark on a road trip that featured some imposing opposing front lines (Minnesota, Houston, San Antonio), but managed to start trending in a more positive direction during that three-game stretch.

Over the past nine games, Boston’s defensive rebound rate is 75.7 percent, ranking 12th in the league during that span. That’s helped the Celtics climb from the league’s basement to 25th overall for the season with a season mark of 72.8 percent. "

Thanks to Sully, Bass and Vitor (Vitor in limited minutes is actually very good in rebounding, though inconsistent)

also, I am torn between the playoff debate. I love rooting for the team, but understand that we will not win a chip this year. I think making playoff this year is easier than making lottery as I see a lot of team just sucking this year for no apparent reason.

If we are in the lottery, and hopefully a top 5 pick, I WANT Parker!

My wishlist is

Parker
Smart
Embiid

[BballTim]

Making the playoffs would be a disaster as this team has no shot (even with Rondo) of beating Miami or Indiana in a playoff series, which at best would mean a second round exit as those teams are going to be the 1 and 2 seed.

  It would be a disaster if all the young players were sitting on the bench and the older guys that aren't likely to be a part of our future were playing all the minutes. It would be quite a disappointment to the people who were counting on the Celts finishing in the bottom 3 but overall it's not a disaster.

[kozlodoev]

yeah tank for the lottery which is not even a lottery because its rigged.

funny stuff huh? 

Never ceases to amaze me how people, (a) don't understand basic probability theory, (b) ignore Occam's Razor, and (c)  seem to think that businesses are just giddy to engage in massive fraud schemes for no incentive whatsoever.

But then I open the Internetz, and the amazement ceases.

But we won the practice draw in 1997!  Wake up sheeple!

Plus, I've realized over the years that conspiracy theories do subjectively fit Occam's Razor, provided you make no attempt at all to think them through.  "Stern did it!"  is a far simpler explanation than mapping out probability distributions, as long as you don't go any deeper than that.

Butbutbut... "the lottery is rigged" doesn't mean that Stern did it (it's kind of... not possible?).

It means that Stern + EY rep + individual team reps did it. And somehow those perhaps 100+ people were all on the same page and kept it all under wraps.

[PhoSita]

Making the playoffs would be a disaster as this team has no shot (even with Rondo) of beating Miami or Indiana in a playoff series, which at best would mean a second round exit as those teams are going to be the 1 and 2 seed.

  It would be a disaster if all the young players were sitting on the bench and the older guys that aren't likely to be a part of our future were playing all the minutes. It would be quite a disappointment to the people who were counting on the Celts finishing in the bottom 3 but overall it's not a disaster.

For me it's all about what makes reaching the playoffs possible.

Is it because the East is just so weak that a team that would typically win 25-30 games can scrape to 35-40 wins and actually host a playoff series?

Is it because journeyman players whose future may very well be with other teams -- Crawford, Bass, Green, Wallace, Humphries, Lee -- carve out major spots in the rotation and lead the team over opponents that lack experience, talent, or defined roles?

Or is it because the core players on the team play really well and do most of the heavy lifting? 

Is it because Rondo comes back and somehow plays better than ever?  Is it because Jared Sullinger plays like a guy who's one or two years away from earning an All-Star bid at the tender age of 21 years old?  Is it because Avery Bradley finishes the season as one of the Celtics' most reliable and productive off-ball scorers as well as their best on-ball defender?  Is it because Kelly Olynyk comes back from his ankle sprain and plays his way into the Rookie of the Year conversation?


Simply making the playoffs doesn't make your team good, or the future pieces on the team more valuable. 

Depending on the reasons the Celtics make the playoffs, the team could be in a much better position moving forward than previously anticipated, OR the team could be just as much in need of an infusion of cheap young talent with nothing but a mid-1st round pick and a couple of blowouts at home in the playoffs to show for this season.

[fairweatherfan]

Never ceases to amaze me how people, (a) don't understand basic probability theory, (b) ignore Occam's Razor, and (c)  seem to think that businesses are just giddy to engage in massive fraud schemes for no incentive whatsoever.

But then I open the Internetz, and the amazement ceases.

But we won the practice draw in 1997!  Wake up sheeple!

Plus, I've realized over the years that conspiracy theories do subjectively fit Occam's Razor, provided you make no attempt at all to think them through.  "Stern did it!"  is a far simpler explanation than mapping out probability distributions, as long as you don't go any deeper than that.

Butbutbut... "the lottery is rigged" doesn't mean that Stern did it (it's kind of... not possible?).

It means that Stern + EY rep + individual team reps did it. And somehow those perhaps 100+ people were all on the same page and kept it all under wraps.

I completely agree, but what you're doing is thinking about how the conspiracy would have to actually work.  That's not a level this kind of reasoning ever really gets to.  It's like "Bush did 9/11" - if you aren't hampered by a need to consider what it would take to accomplish it, it's subjectively about the most parsimonious explanation possible: bad man does bad thing for bad reasons, details irrelevant.

It has been fun watching Adam Silver's name slowly get phased in despite no real rationale for why he'd be doing it, save for being associated with Stern.

[D.o.s.]

  The Sonics didn't want to get rid of Rashard and Ray, but they were (IMO) much less inclined to keep Ray after Lewis signed with Orlando.

That was actually a S&T...

For a second round pick an a 9 million TPE.

To jive with all the conspiracy talk here--I could be convinced that the Sonics front office let Lewis walk and  traded Ray in the same year in order to make the team awful as to facilitate a move to OKC. And you wouldn't have to buy me more than one drink.

[GreenWarrior]

I can't believe how much Celtic fans underestimate how good rondo actually is.

[kozlodoev]

I can't believe how much Celtic fans underestimate how good rondo actually is.

I can't believe how much Celtic fans overestimate how well this team will play with Rondo back.

[BballTim]

I can't believe how much Celtic fans underestimate how good rondo actually is.

I can't believe how much Celtic fans overestimate how well this team will play with Rondo back.

  I'd guess it's by and large the same group that overestimated how well this dreadful, bottom of the table team would play.