Celtics will be better than anticipated this year

[ScoobyDoo]

On one hand it would have been nice to pair Love with Rondo. But on the other hand, I really like our young core, our draft assets and our cap flex moving forward.

i like sully, olynyk and zeller upfront. i think zeller and sully could be very complimentary together.
i'd like to pair olynyk with a good young defensive center. maybe next year's draft

in the backcourt rondo, bradley, smaert and young could be an absolute load. odd as it may seem because he's a rookie, smart could be an emotional kg type that lights a fire under rondo's backside. rondo has fire on his own but i always felt kg got him juiced...

lastly, thornton and zeller are two more targets for rondo. if rondo's healthy, this team could score much more easily this year.

major trades may happen, including one involving rondo in which we acquire more young assets. but if not i'm looking forward to watching this team, as is this year and if it remains as is i think they will surprise us by being better than we think.

[ScoobyDoo]

i'm also pumped that we have so many quality draft picks and cap space to add to what is an already promising young core of players.

we have so much flexibility moving forward. not bad for year two of a rebuild.

[Mr October]

Better than anticipated is a broad statement.

In terms if wins what do you think the general expectation is?

And then part two of my question, how many wins would be better than anticipated?

I think they have a lot of nice young players, and have nice depth at positions 1-4. Hopefully Zeller will surprise us at center. I still see a lack of shooting ability from the guard positions, a lot of undisciplined youth, Sully's unknown weight status, a lack of go-to players in the last 4 minutes of the 4th quarter.

I am excited about the future too though. Smart should become a heck of a player. I like all the young role players. And that stack of picks should yield something nice over the next few years via trade, drafting.

[Mr October]

This is my guess as to the expected win totals for the Celtics:

The average from the national media: 28 wins

The average Celticblogger: 35 wins

My expectation: 32 wins.

I think they will surprise the national media / other teams a little. But I also think the Celtics will fall short of the average celticblogger's expectations.

I will be curious to see the Vegas over/unders in October.

[bleedGREENdon]

We are making the playoffs.

Anything else is just gravy over a nice bed of linguini and fettuccini.


40 win season.
Jeff green 20 PPG
Rondo Comeback player of the year
Sully improves
Kelly improves
Smart in the running for ROY

Stevens in the running for coach of the year

[Nerf DPOY]

We are making the playoffs.

Anything else is just gravy over a nice bed of linguini and fettuccini.


40 win season.
Jeff green 20 PPG
Rondo Comeback player of the year
Sully improves
Kelly improves
Smart in the running for ROY

Stevens in the running for coach of the year

This post has really got me thinking about lunch.

On "Kelly improves"---I've got to say that based off of what I've read about Olynyk on this blog, I've got a massively lower opinion of him and his potential than most seem to here. That said, if he were to elevate his game to where I'd think of him as 'average or above' starter, I'd feel a bit better about our front court. In a general sense, I actually think at least a portion here underrates our talent at the 1-2-3 positions, mainly because I'm higher than most on Bradley, and Green gets basically slaughtered daily.

Blah blah blah, we're thin up front and injuries will likely dictate our fate as well as every team in league. I say we wind up 43-40, having to win a one game playoff to get the eight seed, which may be an impossibility based off my ignorance of tie-breakers.

[Eja117]

I think we'll be one of those losing teams nobody wants to play

[hwangjini_1]

On one hand it would have been nice to pair Love with Rondo. But on the other hand, I really like our young core, our draft assets and our cap flex moving forward.

i like sully, olynyk and zeller upfront. i think zeller and sully could be very complimentary together.
i'd like to pair olynyk with a good young defensive center. maybe next year's draft

in the backcourt rondo, bradley, smaert and young could be an absolute load. odd as it may seem because he's a rookie, smart could be an emotional kg type that lights a fire under rondo's backside. rondo has fire on his own but i always felt kg got him juiced...

lastly, thornton and zeller are two more targets for rondo. if rondo's healthy, this team could score much more easily this year.

major trades may happen, including one involving rondo in which we acquire more young assets. but if not i'm looking forward to watching this team, as is this year and if it remains as is i think they will surprise us by being better than we think.

nice optimism, good to see this sometimes. i agree that in terms of pure physical talent, this team looks better than last year. but the team as constructed this year will not make the play offs.

my reservations/hesitations are more about the mix of players. there are plenty of nba players at sg and pf and pg. but sf and center are thin or poorly manned. this adds up over the course of a season as the celtics weaknesses are exposed and exploited.

next, i still dont think the celtics have a good match of talents as a team, but stevens may be able to over come this and design some innovative plays that take advantage of the current mix. 

but, it is a beautiful sunday, so i will lean more towards optimism today.

[Celtics4ever]

I think we'll be one of those losing teams nobody wants to play

Agree +1

KO has not been dominating in his Canadian league play.

[ScoobyDoo]

Who's strong in the East this year?
Cleveland
Washington?
Chicago
Miami?
Charlotte?

Surprise to me means I think we will be a lergit contender for the Eastern Finals, if:

1. Rondo comes back at full strength
2. Smart, Bradley, Rondo & Thornton are as tough a basckcourt as I think they will be
3. Smart makes the immediate impact I think he will
4. Sully OR Olynyk make a major jump this season - I'm thinking Sully.

I think our starting linuep of:

Zeller
Sully
Green
Bradley
Rondo  Is going to be quite good, and I think our bench of

Faverani or Joel Anthony
Olynyk
Wallace or Turner
Turner or Thornton
Smart or Pressey

I also a real load as a second unit.

This team could run, run, run. Has a lot of flexibility and a lot of high IQ basketball players who are team oriented.

I think we surprise this year while developing a number of assets that we parley into another majore piece at the trade deadline or over the summer.

But meaning of "surprise" is that I think we can go toe to toe with any team in the east.

I think Rondo, Bradley and Smart are going to give the backcourts of teams like Cleveland, Chicago and Washington fits.

[D.o.s.]

I'm sticking with 31 wins.

[slamtheking]

I think this team will win 26-28 games and that's about it.  a few surprise wins and a lot of disappointing losses to teams down the stretch in a lot of games because we have no go-to scorer nor a strong front court defender to block shots or make up for guards that penetrate.

I think they'll be better in a sense that most players will look better than last year and will look like NBA-caliber players but none will be the big foundation player that the franchise needs.

[timpiker]

I like our players too, but as a team, we suck.  No rim protector no crunch time scorer.  None.  Nada.  Nothing. 

[Onslaught]

It's possible we could be worse then last year. Last year we lost many close games. I'm not so sure they will be as close this year.

[SHAQATTACK]

We may have more wins , yet finish lower with a better lottery pick.

I don't want to see 33 wins.....I rather have 20 wins and a top 3 pick.