Light at the end of the tunnel.

[DesertDweller]

The more I see of this team, gel and compliment each other, the more I'm seeing what Danny envisioned and less of that bad team we were being force fed by numerous members of this forum early on.
I seriously think if this team can make the ball find the bottom of the net more frequently then last year, a task we failed miserably at,  and get a decent break from injuries, we can be contenders because it's very possible these everyday names like Olynyk, Sullinger and Young might just turn into the next "Big 3" at which point I hope all you "tankers" will have the decency to refrain  from ever giving advice again!!!

[Jailan34]

I think while you may trash talk people for tanking you fall on the opposite end of the spectrum, drastically over valuing your own players and really not looking at the team objectively. We we be better than last year for sure, but probably not by all that much.

[celtics2030]

i believe he is joking

[GreenWarrior]

until we get that "go to guy", at best this could be a well coached up team that could be an 8 seed, bounced in the 1st.

i'm not too invested in any player on this team except for maybe young who I have the highest hopes for. but even so I doubt this current roster will even be here when we return to prominence.

my only hope for the reason why Rondo is still here is because Danny feels there's a legit shot at bringing a player or 2 in here to pair him with Rondo. otherwise him being here is just delaying the process.

[Csfan1984]

I took "contenders" as playoff contention. Which they could be. Contenders for title not unless by some miracle.

[Mr October]

I see the light at the end of the tunnel with this team as well. There is a lot of really rice complementary talent on this team. Bradley, Sully and Green are solid starters, good enough to be 4th or 5th men on a contender. Smart and Young have a lot of potential. Rondo will hopefully bounce back to all star form - and then we either resign him, trade him for a good package, or at least gain cap space. We have a ton of draft picks over the next 4 years. 10 of them in the next 2 years!

But we are still in that tunnel right now. The team is probably going to have a hard time getting 30 wins this season.

We need at least one game changing scorer, or defensive big man, and experience for the young guys in order to begin talking about contention.

[fantankerous]

Seeing light at the end of a tunnel is a phenomenon frequently experienced by those approaching brain death.  That is precisely what you have to be to believe this Celtics team could be a contender.

[Eddie20]

The more I see of this team, gel and compliment each other, the more I'm seeing what Danny envisioned

Curious as to how you arrived at this conclusion since we have yet to play one preseason game. Also, "light at end of the tunnel" is very different from being "contenders".

[pearljammer10]

I'll play the light at the end of tunnel game and try and post something optimistic to balance out the incredible amounts of pessimism the board sees in regards to the upcoming season.

If everybody pans out to 85% of the potential they should get to, we could actually be a pretty good team.

Rondo - Returns healthy comes out to average something like 14 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game and makes the all start team. Becoming a sure fire leader and returning to his form as floor general. Plays 35 minutes per game.

Bradley - Turns back to his lock down defense role. Focuses less on offense but he continues to improve in that area. Averages 11 points a game shooting 45% and 39% from three with 2 steals per game. Second team all nba defense. Plays 25 minutes per game.

Green - Gets more aggressive and consistent. Still isn't that number one option we need but his aggresive play feeds off of the team chemistry. Averages 18 a game with 6 rebounds (which isn't all that unrealistic) and shoots 45% and 38%from 3. Plays 35 minutes per game.

Bass - Gets the role as starter and plays his consistancy game once again. Helps the youngsters break out. Averages 10 and 5 in 20-ish minutes per game.

Zeller - As a starting center he makes a good leap with the extra minutes in his third year. The run and gun game allows him to shine and he turns into an 10 and 7 per game guy with a block per game playing 20+ minutes per game.

The Bench:

Olynk - Makes a great sophomore leap. He looked good in FIBA ball and has put in work this summer. Looks confident with his game. His per 36 numbers looked pretty good last year and he improves all around as a player who fits perfectly in this system as a stretch big man. Averages near 30 minutes per game hits 47% again with 38% from three and turns in averages of 14 and 7 with 4 assists per game becoming a starter at some point during the year while improving his overall team defense. Gives us what Sully gave us last year. Makes the biggest improvement of the squad.

Sullinger - His stamina is still low but he still makes the most of his minutes. Plays 25 ish minutes a game.  Averages 13 and 7 and stays pretty steady to last year.

Turner - Breaks out in a ball handling combo guard role. Plays handles the offense while Rondo is out. Plays 20 minutes per game averages 12 on slightly improved shooting.

Smart - Plays great ball as a rookie and really shows that he belongs in the NBA. Plays a good combo role alongside Turner and makes his case as a good future prospect. Averages 10 a game and is in discussion for rookie of the year.

Wallace - Plays spot minutes as the heady veteran and gives his 110% effort all the time attitude.

Thorton and Fav get spot minutes.

If everything goes well for everybody in a manner like this, we won't be contenders but we could move up to as high as a 5th spot in the East and blow everyone's expectations out of the water...The biggest problem this team will face is not having enough minutes for everyone to get. This could definitely cause chemistry and locker room problems if a trade doesn't happen. But if everyone buys in, things might not go nearly as bad as we are expecting.

[chambers]

I think if everyone on this team reached 85% of their potential we'd be looking at a possible 35 wins. If we have a good year without any major trades like Rondo, Green or Bradley I think 32-33 wins is possible.
My biggest concerns are lack of shooting and lack of elite/solid defensive presence in the paint. Our wings will be among the leagues best defensive units but we're a piece away from  having a truly elite defense.
I'd also say that the Eastern conference has gotten better with us so it's harder to call how many wins we're looking at.
Lets say 32 wins and the 8th pick. A major trade or injury and we slip under 30 wins.

[celticdog]

Hopefully the light is not an oncoming train. 

[MBunge]

Lets say 32 wins and the 8th pick. A major trade or injury and we slip under 30 wins.

That's pretty realistic.  I think this team could be better than that but the Knicks, Bucks, Cavs, Nets and Magic should also improve and only Miami should be significantly worse, so it's hard to know how many more wins will be out there.

Mike

[Eddie20]

I'll play the light at the end of tunnel game and try and post something optimistic to balance out the incredible amounts of pessimism the board sees in regards to the upcoming season.

If everybody pans out to 85% of the potential they should get to, we could actually be a pretty good team.

Rondo - Returns healthy comes out to average something like 14 points, 11 assists, 5 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game and makes the all start team. Becoming a sure fire leader and returning to his form as floor general. Plays 35 minutes per game.

Bradley - Turns back to his lock down defense role. Focuses less on offense but he continues to improve in that area. Averages 11 points a game shooting 45% and 39% from three with 2 steals per game. Second team all nba defense. Plays 25 minutes per game.

Green - Gets more aggressive and consistent. Still isn't that number one option we need but his aggresive play feeds off of the team chemistry. Averages 18 a game with 6 rebounds (which isn't all that unrealistic) and shoots 45% and 38%from 3. Plays 35 minutes per game.

Bass - Gets the role as starter and plays his consistancy game once again. Helps the youngsters break out. Averages 10 and 5 in 20-ish minutes per game.

Zeller - As a starting center he makes a good leap with the extra minutes in his third year. The run and gun game allows him to shine and he turns into an 10 and 7 per game guy with a block per game playing 20+ minutes per game.

The Bench:

Olynk - Makes a great sophomore leap. He looked good in FIBA ball and has put in work this summer. Looks confident with his game. His per 36 numbers looked pretty good last year and he improves all around as a player who fits perfectly in this system as a stretch big man. Averages near 30 minutes per game hits 47% again with 38% from three and turns in averages of 14 and 7 with 4 assists per game becoming a starter at some point during the year while improving his overall team defense. Gives us what Sully gave us last year. Makes the biggest improvement of the squad.

Sullinger - His stamina is still low but he still makes the most of his minutes. Plays 25 ish minutes a game.  Averages 13 and 7 and stays pretty steady to last year.

Turner - Breaks out in a ball handling combo guard role. Plays handles the offense while Rondo is out. Plays 20 minutes per game averages 12 on slightly improved shooting.

Smart - Plays great ball as a rookie and really shows that he belongs in the NBA. Plays a good combo role alongside Turner and makes his case as a good future prospect. Averages 10 a game and is in discussion for rookie of the year.

Wallace - Plays spot minutes as the heady veteran and gives his 110% effort all the time attitude.

Thorton and Fav get spot minutes.

If everything goes well for everybody in a manner like this, we won't be contenders but we could move up to as high as a 5th spot in the East and blow everyone's expectations out of the water...The biggest problem this team will face is not having enough minutes for everyone to get. This could definitely cause chemistry and locker room problems if a trade doesn't happen. But if everyone buys in, things might not go nearly as bad as we are expecting.

You have the First 9 (SAMCRO) guys you listed having a total points average of 112 pts. So unless Doug Moe is at the helm, I really doubt we're doing that.

[Celtics18]

I think if everyone on this team reached 85% of their potential we'd be looking at a possible 35 wins. If we have a good year without any major trades like Rondo, Green or Bradley I think 32-33 wins is possible.
My biggest concerns are lack of shooting and lack of elite/solid defensive presence in the paint. Our wings will be among the leagues best defensive units but we're a piece away from  having a truly elite defense.
I'd also say that the Eastern conference has gotten better with us so it's harder to call how many wins we're looking at.
Lets say 32 wins and the 8th pick. A major trade or injury and we slip under 30 wins.

This is one of the main reasons that I'm sold on starting Kelly Olynyk.  With Olynyk, Green, and Bradley on the floor with Rondo, that looks like a team that has some definite floor spreading capability.

[mef730]

It's always darkest before the lights go completely out. 

Seriously, I think we're looking at a 35 win team.  Rondo will be around for more of the season (assuming he trades in his trampoline for a Connect 4 tournament), Sully and KO are improving and Green is in a contract year, so he'll play hard.  The backcourt should be strong on D and Zeller is better in the middle than what we have had in the past.

We could realistically slip into that 8th playoff spot.  That spot isn't necessarily ideal from a rebuilding point of view, but this is not going to be the 4th or 5th worst team in the NBA, either.

Mike