Look on the bright side

[BudweiserCeltic]

If the season ended today, the Celtics would have picks #15 and #20, but also home-court advantage in the first round with a matchup against Detroit.  If the C's win the division, they could make it to the second round of the playoffs this year, due to home-court advantage and a fellow mediocre opponent in round 1.  I'd be perfectly fine with making the second round of the playoffs in a rebuilding year.  And I'd love to see Rondo in round 2 vs. the Pacers or Heat, especially the Heat.  Doubt we'd win, but we could steal a couple games.

If not mistaken winning the Division doesn't give you home-court advantage, something to look up somewhere.

  It does give you some seeding advantage, doesn't it? I don't think you can win the division and end up 8th seed.

They'd be the 4 seed.  I know they changed the rule around a little so that you wouldn't be the third seed, but I still think you get some seeding advantage.  Wikipedia agrees with me.

The three division champions, and another team in the conference with the best record, are seeded one through four by their records. This guarantees the division champions no worse than the fourth seed, and also guarantees the conference's two best teams (by record) will be the top two seeds even if the second-best team doesn't win its division.

Yeah, that doesn't say anything about home court advantage. As I understand it if the 5th seed has a better record than a 4th seed, then the 5th seed will have home court regardless of seeding position.


Edit: Completely misread your post.

[saltlover]

If the season ended today, the Celtics would have picks #15 and #20, but also home-court advantage in the first round with a matchup against Detroit.  If the C's win the division, they could make it to the second round of the playoffs this year, due to home-court advantage and a fellow mediocre opponent in round 1.  I'd be perfectly fine with making the second round of the playoffs in a rebuilding year.  And I'd love to see Rondo in round 2 vs. the Pacers or Heat, especially the Heat.  Doubt we'd win, but we could steal a couple games.

If not mistaken winning the Division doesn't give you home-court advantage, something to look up somewhere.

  It does give you some seeding advantage, doesn't it? I don't think you can win the division and end up 8th seed.

They'd be the 4 seed.  I know they changed the rule around a little so that you wouldn't be the third seed, but I still think you get some seeding advantage.  Wikipedia agrees with me.

The three division champions, and another team in the conference with the best record, are seeded one through four by their records. This guarantees the division champions no worse than the fourth seed, and also guarantees the conference's two best teams (by record) will be the top two seeds even if the second-best team doesn't win its division.

Yeah, that doesn't say anything about home court advantage. As I understand it if the 5th seed has a better record than a 4th seed, then the 5th seed will have home court regardless of seeding position.


Edit: Completely misread your post.

You're correct about the home-court advantage.  So we'd be a 4-seed without home-court vs. Detroit, if the season ended today.  Still, playing Detroit in the first round is way better than playing Indiana or Miami.  If this team wins the division, the second round is a real possibility.

[SHAQATTACK]

It would a riot if this hodge podge team of Celtics were to best the 100 million dollar payroll alll star stud team of the Brooklyn Nets .....LOL 

Our team is competing at 1/2 the price tag .....of the New York teams or the hated Lakers.

[nickagneta]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

[BudweiserCeltic]

If the season ended today, the Celtics would have picks #15 and #20, but also home-court advantage in the first round with a matchup against Detroit.  If the C's win the division, they could make it to the second round of the playoffs this year, due to home-court advantage and a fellow mediocre opponent in round 1.  I'd be perfectly fine with making the second round of the playoffs in a rebuilding year.  And I'd love to see Rondo in round 2 vs. the Pacers or Heat, especially the Heat.  Doubt we'd win, but we could steal a couple games.

If not mistaken winning the Division doesn't give you home-court advantage, something to look up somewhere.

  It does give you some seeding advantage, doesn't it? I don't think you can win the division and end up 8th seed.

They'd be the 4 seed.  I know they changed the rule around a little so that you wouldn't be the third seed, but I still think you get some seeding advantage.  Wikipedia agrees with me.

The three division champions, and another team in the conference with the best record, are seeded one through four by their records. This guarantees the division champions no worse than the fourth seed, and also guarantees the conference's two best teams (by record) will be the top two seeds even if the second-best team doesn't win its division.

Yeah, that doesn't say anything about home court advantage. As I understand it if the 5th seed has a better record than a 4th seed, then the 5th seed will have home court regardless of seeding position.


Edit: Completely misread your post.

You're correct about the home-court advantage.  So we'd be a 4-seed without home-court vs. Detroit, if the season ended today.  Still, playing Detroit in the first round is way better than playing Indiana or Miami.  If this team wins the division, the second round is a real possibility.

I don't like how we match-up against Detroit though, I'd rather play Miami in all honesty. I like our chances against them more, in particular because our positions of defensive strengths are the ones that are of better use against a team like Miami than Detroit. Detroits front-court height, athletism and rebound ability will be very very problematic.

[PhoSita]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

[j804]

If we get a lottery pick that's fine......but if this team puts the work in and compete s. every night ,  all I can do is support them . 

I'm enjoying the effort on the court ,  never quit attitude .

The Celtics may not have elite talent ,  but their games are better than the trash Bobcats , Raptors , etc......from those sucky teams from years past.

 Nets have a horrible product.     Star names ......very hollow .......no substance ...poor basketball to watch

This is my feeling also. I think even if we pick just outside the lottery we can get a nice player.

Exactly all one has to do is look at Sully/Bradley/Rondo

[BudweiserCeltic]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

You're focusing too much on rest while discounting the value of practice time, particularly how important it is with a young team.

[PhoSita]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

You're focusing too much on rest while discounting the value of practice time, particularly how important it is with a young team.

I guess I'm skeptical that practice in the middle of the season makes that big of a difference, even for a younger team.

[nickagneta]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

You're focusing too much on rest while discounting the value of practice time, particularly how important it is with a young team.

I guess I'm skeptical that practice in the middle of the season makes that big of a difference, even for a younger team.

it constantly reenforces the fundamentals, corrects in game mistakes and helps to play out the next game's game plan outside of a simple shoot around. For a young team, that's massively important.

[PhoSita]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

You're focusing too much on rest while discounting the value of practice time, particularly how important it is with a young team.

I guess I'm skeptical that practice in the middle of the season makes that big of a difference, even for a younger team.

it constantly reenforces the fundamentals, corrects in game mistakes and helps to play out the next game's game plan outside of a simple shoot around. For a young team, that's massively important.

Sounds plausible.  I'd need to see some kind of statistical evidence to be convinced of that, however.

In any case, I think the teams the Celtics face will have a much larger impact on their record than the timing / spacing of the games.

The difference between facing San Antonio on the road and facing the Bucks at home, for example, is enormous.

[nickagneta]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

You're focusing too much on rest while discounting the value of practice time, particularly how important it is with a young team.

I guess I'm skeptical that practice in the middle of the season makes that big of a difference, even for a younger team.

it constantly reenforces the fundamentals, corrects in game mistakes and helps to play out the next game's game plan outside of a simple shoot around. For a young team, that's massively important.

Sounds plausible.  I'd need to see some kind of statistical evidence to be convinced of that, however.

In any case, I think the teams the Celtics face will have a much larger impact on their record than the timing / spacing of the games.

The difference between facing San Antonio on the road and facing the Bucks at home, for example, is enormous.

As enormous as playing SA on the back end of a back to back night and playing them after having 4 straight days off?

[PhoSita]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

You're focusing too much on rest while discounting the value of practice time, particularly how important it is with a young team.

I guess I'm skeptical that practice in the middle of the season makes that big of a difference, even for a younger team.

it constantly reenforces the fundamentals, corrects in game mistakes and helps to play out the next game's game plan outside of a simple shoot around. For a young team, that's massively important.

Sounds plausible.  I'd need to see some kind of statistical evidence to be convinced of that, however.

In any case, I think the teams the Celtics face will have a much larger impact on their record than the timing / spacing of the games.

The difference between facing San Antonio on the road and facing the Bucks at home, for example, is enormous.

As enormous as playing SA on the back end of a back to back night and playing them after having 4 straight days off?

Yes, I think the difference between playing a team like San Antonio versus playing a team like Milwaukee is far bigger than the difference between the tail end of a back-to-back versus a game after a four day break.

[LarBrd33]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

You're focusing too much on rest while discounting the value of practice time, particularly how important it is with a young team.

I guess I'm skeptical that practice in the middle of the season makes that big of a difference, even for a younger team.

it constantly reenforces the fundamentals, corrects in game mistakes and helps to play out the next game's game plan outside of a simple shoot around. For a young team, that's massively important.

Sounds plausible.  I'd need to see some kind of statistical evidence to be convinced of that, however.

In any case, I think the teams the Celtics face will have a much larger impact on their record than the timing / spacing of the games.

The difference between facing San Antonio on the road and facing the Bucks at home, for example, is enormous.

I actually agree that practice time will probably be a big benefit for this team.  Everything I read about Stevens seems to suggest he's all about preparation preparation and preparation.   He's made comments about how he doesn't care what happens in the games as long as the guys are 1000% prepared for the game and follow through on the plan.  That's all stuff that happens in practice.

[nickagneta]

The Celtics played 19 games (23.1 % of their schedule) in 32 days. That's an average of 4 games every 6 days.

The Celtics play their final 63 games over 137 days. Thats an average of 4 games every 10 days or so.

I expect this team to be more prepared with practices between games and a better ability for game planning by the coaching staff with the spread out schedule, meaning, probably more wins against good teams and blow outs of bad teams

Maybe.

I'm not so sure that time between games will make such a difference with this team, considering how young it is.

Certainly not compared to the last few years.

You're focusing too much on rest while discounting the value of practice time, particularly how important it is with a young team.

I guess I'm skeptical that practice in the middle of the season makes that big of a difference, even for a younger team.

it constantly reenforces the fundamentals, corrects in game mistakes and helps to play out the next game's game plan outside of a simple shoot around. For a young team, that's massively important.

Sounds plausible.  I'd need to see some kind of statistical evidence to be convinced of that, however.

In any case, I think the teams the Celtics face will have a much larger impact on their record than the timing / spacing of the games.

The difference between facing San Antonio on the road and facing the Bucks at home, for example, is enormous.

As enormous as playing SA on the back end of a back to back night and playing them after having 4 straight days off?

Yes, I think the difference between playing a team like San Antonio versus playing a team like Milwaukee is far bigger than the difference between the tail end of a back-to-back versus a game after a four day break.

Explain beating Miami and losing twice to Milwaukee