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

[Eja117]

#nevertank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5-iJUuPWis

[j804]

Depends how the offseason goes really. Should we strike out again, you could make the argument we should have tanked for talent. If the improvement means a strong FA signs with us as the "up and coming" team, it was a good thing.

"Playoff experience" is overrated. Rondo and Co never sniffed the playoffs until the Big Three came and then they began contending immediately. Talent trumps all..

I agee about the playoff experience point and that talent trumps all -- and have made similar comments in the past.  However, it's not a bad point that playoff experience for Brad Stevens could be useful.  At some point he'll coach his 1st NBA playoff series -- it may be useful to get that out of the way early.

I have a feeling in the playoffs Brad would really shine, with all the game planning for opponents etc..

[j804]

Bad thing. 


The only reason we are talking about this is because the lack of playoff level teams in the East.  A sub 500 team playoff team is not something I look forward to in the NBA as a fan. 


It is great how well the Celtics are playing now, but the team still needs more talent.  I rather the higher pick to give Ainge a better chance to get who he feels is the best possible talent instead of hoping a few more teams make draft mistakes.   


Not hoping they lose more games, just that one of the teams ahead of them hold serve and keep the 8th spot in the East.

Nice play on words just say it you'd rather they lose and not make it lol

[Roy H.]

Good thing.  We're talking about the difference between maybe the 11th and the 15th pick.  Sure, I'd rather have a top-5 pick than a playoff berth, but that's not happening. 

As I keep pointing out, the last time this happened we ended up with Big Al instead of Robert Swift. 

[Mazingerz]

I think with 2016 looming it really doesn't matter. I do wish the east had some better teams so we could properly gauge how good this team really is...the losing record really bothers me.

that's not to say I don't acknowledge or appreciate how well they're playing, because they are playing really well right now. I just question weather we'd actually even be in this position if the hornets and a couple other teams like Detroit(who all the analysts predicted "should break out this yr.) played up to their potential. our record says we shouldn't be in this position. but like it or not the main reason we are is because the state of the east.

We have won against playoff bound teams, but we also lost to some bottom dwellers; This team already has formed a cohesive mindset; Come playoff time, I bet we can do some damage (win at least 1 series);

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

I can't understand why people keep talking about our team as backing our way in with a sub .500 record. Yes, the conference is terrible but who knows where this team would be had it been the same all season. Maybe they would be even better by now. They have been playing excellent ball given the circumstances. If this is what they are, given the small amount of time they have been together, just imagine a full season of working together. Heck, this team could be fighting for the 8th (or better) seed in the West if they were together all season and had a chance to play this way longer!

[JHTruth]

Depends how the offseason goes really. Should we strike out again, you could make the argument we should have tanked for talent. If the improvement means a strong FA signs with us as the "up and coming" team, it was a good thing.

"Playoff experience" is overrated. Rondo and Co never sniffed the playoffs until the Big Three came and then they began contending immediately. Talent trumps all..

Uh. Rondo and Perkins are pretty much the perfect examples of why playoff experience is so important along with proper leadership. Rondo was only a rookie before the Big 3 came together so let's not pretend he was in the league for many years before and playoff experience meant nothing for his development. Rondo and Perkins came back in 08-09 completely transformed. That season was arguably their best seasons as professionals and the confidence they gathered from a playoff run was huge in that. Toronto, Washington, Chicago, Indiana, Portland, and GSW are a few recent examples of young teams making the playoffs as subpar teams and then came out way better the next season with more confidence. Playoff experience is absolutely not overrated for young teams. The 2008 Hawks are pretty much another great example of this. They were a 38 win team against us and took us to 7 games. They came back next year and won in the high 40s or low 50s. It was a big deal for a franchise that was previously spinning their wheels for a decade or longer.

Hawks had Josh Smith and Horford on that team. We have no similar such prospects..

[GratefulCs]

#nevertank

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5-iJUuPWis

truth

[GreenFaith1819]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ-iQhaKqBA

[Csfan1984]

Plenty of Pros and cons to making the playoffs. I could list the ones I believe for each side but I think people have mention a few on each side already. I wanted C's to tank and develop guys. Yes tank but develop. There are just so many bad teams that developing and tanking isn't possible. You have to go all in on losing this year to have a shot at a top 5 pick. That would not be very good team wise IMO. So it is what it is. If C's make playoffs or not it's "oh well", for me.

[vjcsmoke]

Well our draft pick won't be as good.  But in every other area that helps the team.  Why?  Because the players buy in.  The coach gains credibility.  And free agents who wouldn't even sniff us before, might actually consider coming to Boston.

In the end everybody likes winning.  I'll be sad that we lose the chance of a top lottery pick.  But DA is pretty good at creating assets out of nothing.  He should be able to make some moves if an opportunity presents itself.  He's always looking for ways of improving the team. 

DA is possibly one of the most active/pro-active GMs in the league today.  I gotta give him kudos for that.  Even if his moves don't always look great, the way he keeps piling them up has resulted in a big stockpile of picks for us plus 'tradeable assets'.  Hopefully we cash in that pile of chips someday for a premier player, and then leverage that premier player to attract a '2nd star' to come play for the Celtics.

[JHTruth]

If you already have young studs on your team, playoffs are a great step to the next level. If you dont have future all-star prospects, you tank to get more talent. Just my humble opinion..

[chambers]

Just means that we really need to sign a big name over the next two offseasons because we aren't getting a shot at any of the studs in this years draft.

Personally I want to do anything to get our hands on Kristaps Ponzingris in this draft.
Do we have the assets to trade up for a guy like that if we make the playoffs? I doubt it.
Perhaps some team would take the 15th pick+Clippers pick+Olynyk for a top 8 pick, who knows.

Here's the catch 22 with making the playoffs...
We'll be more appealing to free agents but we'll have less chance of acquiring a valuable asset through the draft.
The catch 22 with the above statement is that free agents are a gamble, and the draft is a gamble with no guarantees either.
I really can't see any free agents coming here over other locations with the same money available (or more) but obviously the draft requires luck too.

My biggest problem is that we don't have a concrete future core of this team.
We've got Smart, Thomas and we've got Sullinger (who's injured and who's rookie contract is almost up). I will include Stevens because giving him playoff experience would be a good motivator and he's key to our core.

At the end of the day I'd like Stevens, Smart and Sully to get playoff experience but I'd like Kristaps Porzingis even more.
That being said, if we did make the playoffs and signed DeAndre Jordan this offseason then I'd be happy- Although wouldn't it be nice if we got Porzingis AND signed DeAndre Jordan this offseason?

I don't think we'll make the playoffs but if we do I'll be front row at all our home games and travelling to where ever our first round opponent is

[LB3533]

I am in the camp that making this year's playoffs would be a good to great thing for this current group of guys and our young NBA head coach (along with the whole staff).

Quickly, I just wanted to point out, we have been, as a team with a win / loss record of 16-10 with Brandon Bass as our starting PF. [9-5 since Sully's shutdown due to injury; 6-4 in games Isiah Thomas has actively played.]

So lately, in terms of this season, and in terms of wins and losses, so far, our front court seems to be doing the job well.

I really like Tyler Zeller, whom I had really no clue about before we acquired him. Datome and Jerebko are nice hustle pieces, not exactly building blocks per se....but beneficial to have on our roster.

Crowder and Zeller are currently my favorite players, and I am not sure how I would feel if they were not in our plans going forward.

I really do not know where Danny Ainge finds these guys or how he knows who can fit with Brad Steven's system. Maybe it was a trial and error type of thing.....dunno.

What I would like our team to learn more about is if these guys we got right now with Steven's system, what that all translates into for a playoff run.

How do we all fair out in the playoff environment? Would we get killed or would we scare a top seeded team?

I would really like to find out.

I do know, normally, teams would like to stock pile assets and the higher the draft picks, the more valuable the assets. But not all top picks actually turn out to be top tier players.

I do not want to find out about more new draft picks while we still have to learn more about the picks we currently have etc.

So playoff ball for me plz, thanks!

[colincb]

Every time I see a thread where some well meaning sort tells me that losing is good for my Celtics I think they really should follow a team like the Sixers or, better yet, become Jets fans where they can cling to the hope year in and year out that a savior will come along and rescue them.

Making the playoffs would be a great thing.