Team full of role players

[Banner18now!]

Thats why this team can't close a game. The closest player would probably be Green but he doesn't have the stones to be the go to guy every night.
Until there is a top end player this team will be frustrating to watch at times.
They can be capable of going on the road and beating a Bulls team and then blow 4 quarter leads at home or have brainfarts in the last 2 minutes of close games.
Rondo does not deserve max money and if that is what he is demanding than Ainge will look to move him at the deadline. Around 12 million would be my max for Rondo. You can't give a guy who is not a go to guy max money.
Rondo is a great player but he needs certain parts around him for his game to excel.
This team doesnt fit Rondo because he asked to be the go to guy when he is clearly not that player.

[Mr October]

Bumping this for those who want to put tons of blame on the coach or on particular players.

The bottom line is that the team is loaded with role players, and the lone star (Rondo) is a uniquely complementary star who is never at his best in the last 2 minutes of a game without a big time scorer or shooter next to him.

As Jeff Van Gundy often says, coaches look great when they have great players.

As for Rondo's value, I think he could land in the 15-17 per year zone. Anything above that is probably a mistake.

[puskas54_10]

Thats why this team can't close a game. The closest player would probably be Green but he doesn't have the stones to be the go to guy every night.
Until there is a top end player this team will be frustrating to watch at times.
They can be capable of going on the road and beating a Bulls team and then blow 4 quarter leads at home or have brainfarts in the last 2 minutes of close games.
Rondo does not deserve max money and if that is what he is demanding than Ainge will look to move him at the deadline. Around 12 million would be my max for Rondo. You can't give a guy who is not a go to guy max money.
Rondo is a great player but he needs certain parts around him for his game to excel.
This team doesnt fit Rondo because he asked to be the go to guy when he is clearly not that player.

I agree this team is a bunch of role players, some can develop, some will be the same or worse.

For the bolded part: That's my problem with Rondo and his fans. The perspective. Not Rondo needs to be surrounded with star players, it's the other way. Star players needs to be surrounded with guys like Rondo. Last two games were the perfect example. Rondo will not win you many games in the last minute. He can't shoot, and it shows in the last minute, when confidence in your ability is the most important. Rondo is a good player, just not what people want him to be.

[Banner18now!]

Bumping this for those who want to put tons of blame on the coach or on particular players.

The bottom line is that the team is loaded with role players, and the lone star (Rondo) is a uniquely complementary star who is never at his best in the last 2 minutes of a game without a big time scorer or shooter next to him.

As Jeff Van Gundy often says, coaches look great when they have great players.

As for Rondo's value, I think he could land in the 15-17 per year zone. Anything above that is probably a mistake.

I think Stevens is doing a good job coaching these role players. If Stevens was a bad coach this team would be getting blown out right now and they are not. There is not much a coach can do when he doesn't have a legit closer on this team. There is not one player you need to fear in the last minutes of the game. There is no player that needs to be doubled teamed and thats a big reason why they can't close in the 4th. Maybe Marcus Smart developes into that as the year goes on or Green starts to play with an edge in the 4th other than that a player like that deosn't exsist on this roster.
Stevens is doing fine with the roster he has.

[fairweatherfan]

I more or less agree.  The most immediate path to sharply improving as a team (beyond miracle trades or whatever) is for one of our young guys to start to emerge as a legitimate star-caliber player, within a notch or two of All-Star status. 

That's a huge missing element, even more so than rim protection.  A guy you can not only count on to make plays, but who draws the defense to himself to open things up for our role players too.  Because Rondo really can't be a #1 guy, he needs that star to play off of.  Neither can Green, though he sure can look like a star in highlights.

Most likely candidates are Sullinger, Olynyk, and Smart, probably in that order, but the only one I see that looks like he has the mindset to step up like that is Smart.  But his game still seems much too limited (and maybe injury-prone) to get there any time soon.  It's frustrating, but cause for some optimism, too.  We're not a good team, but we're not that far away from being a good team.