Predict the Celtics' Record/EC Seed 2014-2015

[LarBrd33]

Its tough not to think that anyone predicting less than 30 wins for our current roster going through the entire season is writing what they want to happen as opposed to what they expect.

The team last year won 25 games and Rondo only played in 30 games, with a number of those being on a minutes restriction. If he is even an above average player, having 50 more games out of him should add a few wins.

On the rest of our roster, adding Young and Smart should be worth at least a win or two over the course of the season. They are both raw players, but have talent and should be immediate improvements over the D-League players they would be replacing on the roster.

We have also added Zeller, who may just be a backup level NBA center. However, even a backup level NBA center is better than the D-League and non-centers we were forced to play last year.

Of the rest of our team, Sullinger, Bradley, Oly are clearly in the part of their career where they should be progressing as players.

Bass and Green should be about the same based on their age and game.

Our only Rotation loss will be Humphries. I really like him, but I don't think it can reasonably argued his absence will offset all the above improvements.

So thinking all that over, how in the world does our team not improve?
Lastly, some have made the argument that the East is dramatically improved. I don't really understand this sentiment. The players just moved primarily within the conference. Yes Cleveland is better now, but Miami is worse. Chicago may be better, but Brooklyn is worse. The only new "impact" player from the western conference as of now is Paul Gasol, all the other players just switched teams within the conference.

Celtics were 6-24 in games Rondo played.

I changed my mind...  if Rondo plays the full season, we'll win 16 games.

Great point!

Math ftw.   Celtics had a 16 win pace last season in games Rondo played.  They won a higher pecentage of games when Rondo was out.

But honestly... 25-40 wins seems to be reasonable.

[Fred Roberts]

Celtics (If no Love deal goes down) will be tanking again. Expect Ainge to unload Bass, maybe before the season even starts, and possibly Green too. I think Rondo stays unless a team gives us a steal of a trade proposal.

Also people are insane to think the Nets wont make the playoffs. Lopez, Dwill, and Johnson are enough to make the sixth seed unless one of them is injured.

You realize Lopez has played in 96 games in the last 3 seasons combined?
Deron has only played in over 65 games once in the last 4 seasons.
Johnson has been the healthiest of the bunch, but also just turned 33 and has a ton of career minutes under his belt. It would be a bit of a minor miracle if all 3 of them did stay healthy.

Not optimistic for BK next season. PP is gone. KG is the fumes of his old fumes. Lopez can't stay healthy and can't play D. Neither can D Will. Jarrett Jack is being considered a major pick up. AK 47 is dust. Lost Livingston. Likely to lose Blatche. Plums is nice but not enough. Celts could overtake them.

NYK is also in heavy transition. What, is Amare suddenly going to have a bounce back year, along with Bargs? Dalembert is past prime and never was that good in the first place. Melo isn't getting any better.

Hawks will be frisky. Wiz too. CLE will be fun to watch. What if Wade breaks down in Miami? Deng had some sort of knee issue, didn't he? Bulls should be neck and neck w/ CLE for tops in the East. Indy will take a step backwards, slightly. CHA, DET and TOR don't scare me.

1-3: IND, CLE, CHI
4-7: WAS, TOR, ATL, MIA
Fighting for 8th: BOS, NYK, BKN, ORL, MIL, DET, CHA
Why Bother Playing: PHI

[puskas54_10]

Its tough not to think that anyone predicting less than 30 wins for our current roster going through the entire season is writing what they want to happen as opposed to what they expect.

The team last year won 25 games and Rondo only played in 30 games, with a number of those being on a minutes restriction. If he is even an above average player, having 50 more games out of him should add a few wins.

On the rest of our roster, adding Young and Smart should be worth at least a win or two over the course of the season. They are both raw players, but have talent and should be immediate improvements over the D-League players they would be replacing on the roster.

We have also added Zeller, who may just be a backup level NBA center. However, even a backup level NBA center is better than the D-League and non-centers we were forced to play last year.

Of the rest of our team, Sullinger, Bradley, Oly are clearly in the part of their career where they should be progressing as players.

Bass and Green should be about the same based on their age and game.

Our only Rotation loss will be Humphries. I really like him, but I don't think it can reasonably argued his absence will offset all the above improvements.

So thinking all that over, how in the world does our team not improve?
Lastly, some have made the argument that the East is dramatically improved. I don't really understand this sentiment. The players just moved primarily within the conference. Yes Cleveland is better now, but Miami is worse. Chicago may be better, but Brooklyn is worse. The only new "impact" player from the western conference as of now is Paul Gasol, all the other players just switched teams within the conference.

Celtics were 6-24 in games Rondo played.

I changed my mind...  if Rondo plays the full season, we'll win 16 games.

+1
TP

Your main premise that the celtics will improve.
Which may be true, but the problem is:
Other teams will improve too. Maybe even more than the celtics.

[celticsclay]

Its tough not to think that anyone predicting less than 30 wins for our current roster going through the entire season is writing what they want to happen as opposed to what they expect.

The team last year won 25 games and Rondo only played in 30 games, with a number of those being on a minutes restriction. If he is even an above average player, having 50 more games out of him should add a few wins.

On the rest of our roster, adding Young and Smart should be worth at least a win or two over the course of the season. They are both raw players, but have talent and should be immediate improvements over the D-League players they would be replacing on the roster.

We have also added Zeller, who may just be a backup level NBA center. However, even a backup level NBA center is better than the D-League and non-centers we were forced to play last year.

Of the rest of our team, Sullinger, Bradley, Oly are clearly in the part of their career where they should be progressing as players.

Bass and Green should be about the same based on their age and game.

Our only Rotation loss will be Humphries. I really like him, but I don't think it can reasonably argued his absence will offset all the above improvements.

So thinking all that over, how in the world does our team not improve?
Lastly, some have made the argument that the East is dramatically improved. I don't really understand this sentiment. The players just moved primarily within the conference. Yes Cleveland is better now, but Miami is worse. Chicago may be better, but Brooklyn is worse. The only new "impact" player from the western conference as of now is Paul Gasol, all the other players just switched teams within the conference.

Celtics were 6-24 in games Rondo played.

I changed my mind...  if Rondo plays the full season, we'll win 16 games.

Great point!

Math ftw.   Celtics had a 16 win pace last season in games Rondo played.  They won a higher pecentage of games when Rondo was out.

But honestly... 25-40 wins seems to be reasonable.

In the last 35  games or so last year the celtics were evaluating people like Chris Johnson, Pressey and Babb to see if they may have a future in the league (and also were not displeased from an organization standpoint to lose games and improve lottery standing). Pressey may be an ok second or third string point guard, but the others probably will not play meaningful NBA minutes. I know you are a smart enough NBA fan to realize this, so why harp on a meaningless statistic?

[jay]

I expect the Eastern Conference to be a little bit tighter and do a little better against the West (still a losing record to the west, but not as bad. 


Cleveland  52-30
Indiana 50-32
Chicago 48-34
Toronto 47-35
Miami 45-37
Washington 45-37
Charlotte  44-38
New York 42-40
-------------------------
Brooklyn 40-42
Atlanta  39-43
Orlando  36-44
Boston 35-47
Detroit  33-49
Milwaukee  29-53
Philly  17-65

[celticsclay]

Its tough not to think that anyone predicting less than 30 wins for our current roster going through the entire season is writing what they want to happen as opposed to what they expect.

The team last year won 25 games and Rondo only played in 30 games, with a number of those being on a minutes restriction. If he is even an above average player, having 50 more games out of him should add a few wins.

On the rest of our roster, adding Young and Smart should be worth at least a win or two over the course of the season. They are both raw players, but have talent and should be immediate improvements over the D-League players they would be replacing on the roster.

We have also added Zeller, who may just be a backup level NBA center. However, even a backup level NBA center is better than the D-League and non-centers we were forced to play last year.

Of the rest of our team, Sullinger, Bradley, Oly are clearly in the part of their career where they should be progressing as players.

Bass and Green should be about the same based on their age and game.

Our only Rotation loss will be Humphries. I really like him, but I don't think it can reasonably argued his absence will offset all the above improvements.

So thinking all that over, how in the world does our team not improve?
Lastly, some have made the argument that the East is dramatically improved. I don't really understand this sentiment. The players just moved primarily within the conference. Yes Cleveland is better now, but Miami is worse. Chicago may be better, but Brooklyn is worse. The only new "impact" player from the western conference as of now is Paul Gasol, all the other players just switched teams within the conference.

Celtics were 6-24 in games Rondo played.

I changed my mind...  if Rondo plays the full season, we'll win 16 games.

+1
TP

Your main premise that the celtics will improve.
Which may be true, but the problem is:
Other teams will improve too. Maybe even more than the celtics.

The celtics are one of the youngest teams in the league. All of their rotation players are under 30, with a number of key rotation players that are rookies, second year and third year players. Players, in all sports, historically improve a lot in their first couple of seasons. The celtics also have a ton of room for improvement from a record standpoint. Other teams will improve, but some have certainly gotten worse (Nets, Heat, probably the knicks). The celtics certainly haven't gotten worse

[puskas54_10]

Its tough not to think that anyone predicting less than 30 wins for our current roster going through the entire season is writing what they want to happen as opposed to what they expect.

The team last year won 25 games and Rondo only played in 30 games, with a number of those being on a minutes restriction. If he is even an above average player, having 50 more games out of him should add a few wins.

On the rest of our roster, adding Young and Smart should be worth at least a win or two over the course of the season. They are both raw players, but have talent and should be immediate improvements over the D-League players they would be replacing on the roster.

We have also added Zeller, who may just be a backup level NBA center. However, even a backup level NBA center is better than the D-League and non-centers we were forced to play last year.

Of the rest of our team, Sullinger, Bradley, Oly are clearly in the part of their career where they should be progressing as players.

Bass and Green should be about the same based on their age and game.

Our only Rotation loss will be Humphries. I really like him, but I don't think it can reasonably argued his absence will offset all the above improvements.

So thinking all that over, how in the world does our team not improve?
Lastly, some have made the argument that the East is dramatically improved. I don't really understand this sentiment. The players just moved primarily within the conference. Yes Cleveland is better now, but Miami is worse. Chicago may be better, but Brooklyn is worse. The only new "impact" player from the western conference as of now is Paul Gasol, all the other players just switched teams within the conference.

Celtics were 6-24 in games Rondo played.

I changed my mind...  if Rondo plays the full season, we'll win 16 games.

+1
TP

Your main premise that the celtics will improve.
Which may be true, but the problem is:
Other teams will improve too. Maybe even more than the celtics.

The celtics are one of the youngest teams in the league. All of their rotation players are under 30, with a number of key rotation players that are rookies, second year and third year players. Players, in all sports, historically improve a lot in their first couple of seasons. The celtics also have a ton of room for improvement from a record standpoint. Other teams will improve, but some have certainly gotten worse (Nets, Heat, probably the knicks). The celtics certainly haven't gotten worse

Don't kid yourself. Heat, Nets and Knicks will all be better than the celtics next year.