Stevens and Ainge are finally getting it

[pokeKingCurtis]

Only the Celtics and the Sixers purposefully put forth teams that were not intended to make the playoffs this year.

I'd throw Utah into that group as well.  Letting Big Al and Milsap go for nothing was definitely a move intended to make the team much worse

Or it's a move to clear way for Favors and Kanter, while maintaining maximum flexibility.

Sure it was, but the Jazz didn't really have any intention of making the playoffs.  I'd add several teams to that group beyond the Sixers, Celtics, and Jazz.  There were the Suns (oops), Bucks, and Magic, at minimum.  I'm willing to bet that none of those teams really expected to make the playoffs, and they didn't make moves with the present in mind.

People are talking as if teams are proactively making it a point not to make the playoffs. Maybe teams are trying to do that.

Or maybe they don't care.

Or a little of both. It's not mutually exclusive.

The "look at this Celtic roster and tell me Ainge isn't tanking (and therefore making it a point to miss the playoffs)" argument bothers me.

[Mazingerz]

The Pistons game really opened my eyes to Stevens and Ainge's plans for next year. They purposely gave the ball to Bass and Green, both of whom are excellent tank commanders. The best combination would have been KO and Sully - but they sat out one of them. Also ran the offense thru Bayless who is a chucker - he caught fire in the first 3 quarters but eventually stank the 4th quarter.

I have become numb to watching them lose. At the same time, excited for the offseason fireworks.

[LarBrd33]

Ainge and  Stevens always got it.  So far this season has gone exactly as expected. 

[truthteller]

WWBD: What would Belichick do? 

Putting myself in his head.  In basketball, you need multiple superstars.  At least 3/5  has been the rule for the past few years.  We already have one in Rondo.  You also have a potential allstar in Sully.   BB would drop down as low as possible, and obtain the best draft position as possible.  With Rondo/Sully/Parker or Wiggins, you have your three all stars.  You also have a lock down defender in Bradley.  And then you can trade for a defensive center with the pics. 

[j804]

The Pistons game really opened my eyes to Stevens and Ainge's plans for next year. They purposely gave the ball to Bass and Green, both of whom are excellent tank commanders. The best combination would have been KO and Sully - but they sat out one of them. Also ran the offense thru Bayless who is a chucker - he caught fire in the first 3 quarters but eventually stank the 4th quarter.

I have become numb to watching them lose. At the same time, excited for the offseason fireworks.

And let Chris Babb iso a couple times lol

[D.o.s.]

WWBD: What would Belichick do? 

Putting myself in his head.  In basketball, you need multiple superstars.  At least 3/5  has been the rule for the past few years.  We already have one in Rondo.  You also have a potential allstar in Sully.   BB would drop down as low as possible, and obtain the best draft position as possible.  With Rondo/Sully/Parker or Wiggins, you have your three all stars.  You also have a lock down defender in Bradley.  And then you can trade for a defensive center with the pics.

You forgot film the other team's practices and use an introductory press conference to quit your job.

[Mazingerz]

WWBD: What would Belichick do? 

Putting myself in his head.  In basketball, you need multiple superstars.  At least 3/5  has been the rule for the past few years.  We already have one in Rondo.  You also have a potential allstar in Sully.   BB would drop down as low as possible, and obtain the best draft position as possible.  With Rondo/Sully/Parker or Wiggins, you have your three all stars.  You also have a lock down defender in Bradley.  And then you can trade for a defensive center with the pics.

He hasnt locked down anyone this year IMHO. I say let him go.

[Smokeeye123]

WWBD: What would Belichick do? 

Putting myself in his head.  In basketball, you need multiple superstars.  At least 3/5  has been the rule for the past few years.  We already have one in Rondo.  You also have a potential allstar in Sully.   BB would drop down as low as possible, and obtain the best draft position as possible.  With Rondo/Sully/Parker or Wiggins, you have your three all stars.  You also have a lock down defender in Bradley.  And then you can trade for a defensive center with the pics.

He hasnt locked down anyone this year IMHO. I say let him go.

Bradley's transition from lockdown defender to 'look at me i can shoot' mediocre chucker has made me lose respect for him. He needs to just focus on D and make some nice cuts without the ball. Works well for Tony Allen.

[Roy H.]

WWBD: What would Belichick do? 

Putting myself in his head.  In basketball, you need multiple superstars.  At least 3/5  has been the rule for the past few years.  We already have one in Rondo.  You also have a potential allstar in Sully.   BB would drop down as low as possible, and obtain the best draft position as possible.  With Rondo/Sully/Parker or Wiggins, you have your three all stars.  You also have a lock down defender in Bradley.  And then you can trade for a defensive center with the pics.

He hasnt locked down anyone this year IMHO. I say let him go.

Bradley's transition from lockdown defender to 'look at me i can shoot' mediocre chucker has made me lose respect for him. He needs to just focus on D and make some nice cuts without the ball. Works well for Tony Allen.

Part of this is what Bradley has been coached to do this year.  Stevens' asked Bradley to dial it back a bit on defense, and he was asked to be more aggressive offensively.

[chambers]

as a fan of the team, and a fan of Rondo, Sullinger, Olynyk, Stevens, Green, Bass, etc. as individuals, I would be ecstatic if we land a top 3 pick, and winning any of the last 5 games would bring no joy whatsoever, so I cannot understand why anyone is rooting for a win right now. It changes nothing for the current players, and only hurts the team long term. I honestly believe most of them have checked out mentally weeks ago. Does anyone believe Green, Rondo, Olynyk or anyone is really invested as an individual to win any of these remaining games?

I have played on some very bad sports teams, and some very good ones, and in between, and unless we were in a playoff hunt, we all pretty much reverted to individual performance and the next season as our main concerns in the last few games. Its human nature.

I'm not asking for understanding.  It's becoming apparent that some simply will never understand my stance on the point of athletic competition being to try to win all the games you play, even when the odds are stacked against you.

I'm also not trying to change anyone else's minds about the 2013-2014 Celtics at this point.  But, I'm going to keep rooting for wins at the very real risk of many of you not understanding why.

I understand the sentiment... As do most others here. Hopefully you understand the sentiment of those that believe that finishing with the 4th worst record over the 5th worst record is giving us the best shot at 'winning' in the future.
Both valid points.

[LooseCannon]

Well, as bad as we've been lately, a shot at a top three pick is still highly unrealistic.  A shot at a pick in the 4 through 8 range, however, is very realistic.  The fact is that even if we win a couple of our remaining games, we'll most likely not move beyond that eighth slot.

If the Celtics have the fifth-worst record, they have a 29.2% chance of having a top three pick.  If the Celtics have the fourth-worst record, that climbs to a 37.8% chance.  For comparison, Jared Sullinger has made 26.5% of his threes this season, while Avery Bradley is at 36.7%.  Do you think that Sullinger or Bradley have a highly unrealistic chance of making a three-point shot?

[crimson_stallion]

WWBD: What would Belichick do? 

Putting myself in his head.  In basketball, you need multiple superstars.  At least 3/5  has been the rule for the past few years.  We already have one in Rondo.  You also have a potential allstar in Sully.   BB would drop down as low as possible, and obtain the best draft position as possible.  With Rondo/Sully/Parker or Wiggins, you have your three all stars.  You also have a lock down defender in Bradley.  And then you can trade for a defensive center with the pics.

He hasnt locked down anyone this year IMHO. I say let him go.

I read an article a few weeks back that said Coach Stevens actually asked Avery not to play his typical defensive pressure this season.  Apparently he told Bradley not to pressure on the ball as much. 

Not sure why he would ask this, but the following reasons make some sense in the context of this season:

1) Save energy so he can stay on the court longer
2) Save fouls so he can stay on the court longer
3) Save energy so that he can be more effective on offense
4) Help the team tank

Either way the quoted statistics shows there was an absolutely insane different in Bradley's defensive stats from last season to this season.  IIRC last season he was ranked #1 in the league in fewest points allowed per possession (around 68) and opponent FG% (around 33%) in isolation situations.  These stats probably had a lot to do with this All-Defensive team selection.

This season the numbers were more like 98 OPPP and 48% OFG, which are far from impressive.  If Bradley does come back next year then I seriously hope Steve's changes his direction with this, because when AB is playing his natural hound-dog defense it completely transforms this team..

[crimson_stallion]

I'm hoping we catch Orlando, we're only one game behind now or something - that would give us the 3rd position.

1. We jump to the #1 spot
2. Wiggins in the next Jordan
3. Sully comes back like a beast, ripped next season
4. We trade for Asik
5. Pierce resigns at the vet min
6. We draft Tyler Ennis with the 18th

Asik / Faverani
Sully / Olynyk
Green / Pierce
Wiggins / Bradley
Rondo / Ennis / Pressey

1. Pretty slim chance that we will get the #1, though certainly possible
2. Not likely that Wiggins will be the next Jordan. Maybe the next Paul George, and I can live with that.
3. Sully getting ripped - never gong to happen
4. Trade for Asik is the worst trade we could possible make, for next year and beyond
5. Pierce signing for the vet (or similar) would be nice, and isn't out of the realm of possibility
6. Don't know Tyler Ennis so can't comment

That quoted roster is...bad.

This team needs some major changes made if it's to become good enough to get past the first round of the playoffs.  Adding Wiggins and Asik is not it.

I think Wiggins is very much clone of Paul George when he was a rookie.  Great natural athlete, excellent defensive skill set, good ball handler, good passer, good rebounder, good (but not elite) scorer.

I think his first couple of seasons me might give you 15-18 PPG which is solid, but it's not enough to lead a team like this anywhere significant.  However, like George, I think he may explode into a 20+ PPG scorer in his 3rd or 4th season.

I if we want to move forward quickly, I suggest that we would need to a consistent, high volume scorer right now...either via trade or via the draft. Right now we are stuck in that place where we have a lot of players who can score, but no players who will score every night. Jeff Green, Avery Bradley, Rajon Rondo, Jarred Sullinger, Jerryd Bayless - all guys who can explode for 20 points on any given night, but will follow it up with 7 points the next night.

I think all of those guys listed above could be very nice complementary scorers on a good playoff team, but neither one of those guys is consistent or explosive enough to be any more than a 3rd option on offense (maybe Green could be a #2 in the right situation, but it's a stretch).

We need a #1 scorer who can give you 20-22 points a night, and a #2 scorer who can give you 18-20 a night.  Then we can afford to keep any two of those four guys (I'd say Rondo + either Bradley / Green / Sullinger) as our #3 and #4 options.

I think some nice combinations would be something like:

Rondo (floor general)
Bradley (#4 scorer + defensive specialist)
Carmello (#1 scorer)
Sullinger (#3 scorer)
Embiid (#2 scorer)
- Trade Green + Bayless

Rondo (floor general)
Bradley (34 scorer + defensive specialist)
Wiggins (#2 scorer)
Green (#3 scorer)
Cousins (#1 scorer)
- Trade Sullinger and Bayless

Or we go for a smaller lineup and try to beat opposing teams with our defense and speed:

Exum (taken with first pick)
Bradley (resigned via free agency)
Wiggins (move Sully + Rondo to trade up with second pick)
Green
Okafor (sign to a 1 year deal via free agency, then look for a big in next year's draft)

1) Bradley, Wiggins and Green have range out to the three point line, and Okafor has a decent midrange jumper too.  Should be enough to space the floor.

2) The perimeter defense of this lineup would be absolutely epic.  The trio of Exum, Bradley and Wiggins may well become the best defensive trio in the entire league. Exum and Bradley both have the ability to defend either guard position, Green and Wiggins can defend either forward position, and Okafor is mobile enough to switch onto PF's if he need to.  That should be an outstanding defensive lineup. 

4) Bradley, Exum and Wiggins are all good rebounders for their position, and Okafor is an excellent rebounder.  Green isn't a great one, but the team should still be able to at least compete (if not dominate) the boards.

5) Once the team does get a stop you will have 5 guys on the court who are all quick enough to outrun most players at their position.  Even Okafor is more mobile than most centers out there.

This all depends n the ability to convince a team to trade a top 3 pick for a combination of Rondo, Sully and filler...which I don't think would happen.  But you never know...if we got to pick Wiggins with our own pick, there's a chance that another lottery team would give up Exum in return for a Rondo + Sully combination.

[Celtics4ever]

Stevens' asked Bradley to dial it back a bit on defense, and he was asked to be more aggressive offensively.

Usually the great defenders like to defend out of pride.   I would think it would he hard to turn off the switch even when a coach tells them to do so.

Either way he is not the defender he was and it may be due to increased offensive burden.   But he is not exactly General Patton on offense either.

[ScoobyDoo]

    1. We jump to the #1 spot.
    2. Wiggins in the next Jordan
    3. Sully comes back like a beast, ripped next season
    4. We trade for Asik
    5. Pierce resigns at the vet min
    6. We draft Tyler Ennis with the 18th


7. We would make the playoffs every year and get beat by the HEAT.

Holy fantasy island, Batman....

I'm an optimist...