Be Honest: Celtics make the playoffs - Good or Bad Thing?

[mctyson]

I'm going to say it - I want to see playoff basketball.

It would be fun.

But realistically this team isn't going to do much damage in the playoffs. They're just not that talented enough....so no I don't think it would be a good thing for the TEAM to make the playoffs this year.

But they've been better than expected this year and they're actually not super bad as most have thought. I do wish they were super bad though because Thomas is our best player and he's a borderline All-Star at best.

This paragraph makes so little logical sense it is baffling.

[democritic]

There are two ways to look at this, increasing the team's overall performance with experience and execution, and increasing the individual value of the pieces we have.

I think that a player having a breakout game or series in the playoffs would boost their trade value more than moving up a couple spots in the draft would. Playoffs should be better for the team in the short and long run.

With a better draft pick, we trade our coach and players missing out on playoff basketball, and lose the culture of winning that they are developing. The only place this might be a worthwhile tradeoff is the 5-8 seeds that give a decent shot at winning the lottery. The difference between picking 16th and picking 13th isn't going to help the franchise as much as a round of playoff basketball will.

Hopefully we can take the Hawks to 7 just like they did for us back in the day.

[mctyson]

...and to elaborate on my point above:

Winning = having talent.

[Nerf DPOY]

...and to elaborate on my point above:

Winning = having talent.

But I don't really see what's so crazy about the position of thinking IT is our best player while at the same time only a borderline all star caliber player (to be generous). Consider our front court of Crowder, Turner, Bass, Olynyk, Jerebko, Zeller. Is there a top 100 player in there? Even teams that contend in spite of lacking a superstar like the Hawks and Spurs still have players that dwarf our guys talent wise.

[SHAQATTACK]

...and to elaborate on my point above:

Winning = having talent.

But I don't really see what's so crazy about the position of thinking IT is our best player while at the same time only a borderline all star caliber player (to be generous). Consider our front court of Crowder, Turner, Bass, Olynyk, Jerebko, Zeller. Is there a top 100 player in there? Even teams that contend in spite of lacking a superstar like the Hawks and Spurs still have players that dwarf our guys talent wise.

This above makes no sense...maybe if your in the third grade.. .   Who cares about a players name ....star , scrub , all star ....long as the Celtics win is important .......as much as they possibly can.   

I don't care if the whole team is 5 ft tall and from Japan ......long as they play hard and TRY to win every game possible.

Nobody wants to pay to see a team field a bad coach and players on purpose.

So why are you complaining ?....just watch the Spurs then

[Snakehead]

...and to elaborate on my point above:

Winning = having talent.

But I don't really see what's so crazy about the position of thinking IT is our best player while at the same time only a borderline all star caliber player (to be generous). Consider our front court of Crowder, Turner, Bass, Olynyk, Jerebko, Zeller. Is there a top 100 player in there? Even teams that contend in spite of lacking a superstar like the Hawks and Spurs still have players that dwarf our guys talent wise.

What about the Hawks?  Yes they did have All Stars this year but that was because the success was undeniable.  They are a sum of their parts team right now (better than ours obviously) and we are in that same mold currently.  Even with Thomas, other players are hitting big shots and I think the togetherness is very evident.

I don't know where any of those players you named rank alone, but together they are very effective and their individual talents really give our team an identity (spacing bigs out).  Guys like Olynyk and Crowder are having a huge impact because of how they are hitting threes and are managing to hold their own on defense too against anyone.

[LarBrd33]

Whatever.   I trust Danny.   He's still got another 3 years until his 10 year championship grace period expires.  I think he succeeded in stripping this team down to the core with the expectation that we'd begin building it back up the right way.   I think maybe he was prepared for us to totally bottom out, but he'll probably find a way to leverage the team's success if we make the playoffs.   I think this is the first in the history of the franchise that we've had potential cap space.  This should be a really important offseason for us.  I'm rooting for us to win.  Might as well.    At this point it's probably easier than ending up with a top 5 pick.

[Snakehead]

I don't think Ainge ever really wanted to bottom out.  He just wanted assets, including young players of which we have multiple promising ones.  The addition of Thomas was all about, yes liking him, and also value on his contract.  I think Ainge is willing to win if he likes the assets he has.  I think it will help the players and I think the results from Stevens are a great thing.  The reward for such a coach should not be making his roster worse on purpose.

His fate is also not tied to a single draft pick AND we have cap room, which the franchise has basically never had the likes of.

[Nerf DPOY]

...and to elaborate on my point above:

Winning = having talent.

But I don't really see what's so crazy about the position of thinking IT is our best player while at the same time only a borderline all star caliber player (to be generous). Consider our front court of Crowder, Turner, Bass, Olynyk, Jerebko, Zeller. Is there a top 100 player in there? Even teams that contend in spite of lacking a superstar like the Hawks and Spurs still have players that dwarf our guys talent wise.

This above makes no sense...maybe if your in the third grade.. .   Who cares about a players name ....star , scrub , all star ....long as the Celtics win is important .......as much as they possibly can.   

I don't care if the whole team is 5 ft tall and from Japan ......long as they play hard and TRY to win every game possible.

Nobody wants to pay to see a team field a bad coach and players on purpose.

So why are you complaining ?....just watch the Spurs then

I didn't really think I was complaining. That this team has gone 13-7 in their last 20 games with this roster is amazing to me. But if the roster were a bunch of 5 foot nuthin' Japanese guys, I think that would certainly be cause for concern about Ainge's direction for the team.

I'm just pointing out the obvious that this team doesn't have much talent at the top. Maybe that can change if we trade up or just get lucky in this draft or FA this summer, or maybe we'll have to wait for the '16 draft. I'm not saying I want to see Jae Crowder kicking the ball into the stands during crunch time.

[DesertDweller]

Because the C' s have been doing well of late I see it seems okay to change the language from tanking or not tanking to Celtics in playoffs, good thing or bad thing??? how white of you!!!

for the record here's the difference between tanking and not tanking....tanking takes no brains, no skills, no energy, just go out there, play sloppy basketball, and lose.  for this you are rewarded with the possibility of gaining nothing at all.
 on the other hand not tanking makes men out of boys because it makes you learn how to play hard when all the odds are against you it makes winning one game the best feeling in your life. a feeling you will find out you cannot do without. if, by giving it your best, you make the playoffs, you will learn even more important things by players; that do it the best!!!

tanking is all about the luck of the draw, it's a gamble that doesn't even favor you and teaches you nothing but bad work habits.  but putting in the work and winning is a whole different ball game that teaches you how to be a man.

[gpap]

Good thing.

Very, very, very good thing.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I don't think Ainge ever really wanted to bottom out.  He just wanted assets, including young players of which we have multiple promising ones.  The addition of Thomas was all about, yes liking him, and also value on his contract.  I think Ainge is willing to win if he likes the assets he has.  I think it will help the players and I think the results from Stevens are a great thing.  The reward for such a coach should not be making his roster worse on purpose.

His fate is also not tied to a single draft pick AND we have cap room, which the franchise has basically never had the likes of.

LOL he tried. He just doesn't have it in him to drop assets for nothing. He had no choice but to give up what he did for IT, that was a no-brainer deal. DA is human, he will make mistakes but he likes to come out of deals like any good GM, feeling like he won the trade. He wasn't just going to give a guy like Bass away just because he could. Nope, DA lost the battle against himself.

[droopdog7]

Honestly, good and bad. 

[D.o.s.]

I don't think Ainge ever really wanted to bottom out.  He just wanted assets, including young players of which we have multiple promising ones.  The addition of Thomas was all about, yes liking him, and also value on his contract.  I think Ainge is willing to win if he likes the assets he has.  I think it will help the players and I think the results from Stevens are a great thing.  The reward for such a coach should not be making his roster worse on purpose.

His fate is also not tied to a single draft pick AND we have cap room, which the franchise has basically never had the likes of.

This is a good post, and I agree with it.

[moiso]

I don't think Ainge ever really wanted to bottom out.  He just wanted assets, including young players of which we have multiple promising ones.  The addition of Thomas was all about, yes liking him, and also value on his contract.  I think Ainge is willing to win if he likes the assets he has.  I think it will help the players and I think the results from Stevens are a great thing.  The reward for such a coach should not be making his roster worse on purpose.

His fate is also not tied to a single draft pick AND we have cap room, which the franchise has basically never had the likes of.

LOL he tried. He just doesn't have it in him to drop assets for nothing. He had no choice but to give up what he did for IT, that was a no-brainer deal. DA is human, he will make mistakes but he likes to come out of deals like any good GM, feeling like he won the trade. He wasn't just going to give a guy like Bass away just because he could. Nope, DA lost the battle against himself.

I agree with all of this.  I think Ainge would be be fine with having the worst record in the league right now as long as he thought he won all of his trades.