I like this team, but...

[D.o.s.]

The NBA today is all about the three point shot.

When you can spread the floor, big teams like Detroit don't have a chance.

The two best teams in the NBA are also the two best three point shooting teams....Golden State and Atlanta.

Unless either gsw or hawks make it far in the playoffs their ways is not the new "nba" imo.

I would probably disagree with you there, Triboy -- even if Chris isn't giving context:

http://bkref.com/tiny/sSG14

That's a whole lot more 50 win teams than teams below .500. The three ball has been the "future of the game" for a while now, and Orlando made it to the NBA Finals doing it.

[TheTruthFot18]

The NBA today is all about the three point shot.

When you can spread the floor, big teams like Detroit don't have a chance.

The two best teams in the NBA are also the two best three point shooting teams....Golden State and Atlanta.

Then why are we targeting bigs like Gasol and Jordan who are similar to a Drummond and Monroe that we just walked over?

[fairweatherfan]

The NBA today is all about the three point shot.

When you can spread the floor, big teams like Detroit don't have a chance.

The two best teams in the NBA are also the two best three point shooting teams....Golden State and Atlanta.

Unless either gsw or hawks make it far in the playoffs their ways is not the new "nba" imo.

I would probably disagree with you there, Triboy -- even if Chris isn't giving context:

http://bkref.com/tiny/sSG14

That's a whole lot more 50 win teams than teams below .500. The three ball has been the "future of the game" for a while now, and Orlando made it to the NBA Finals doing it.

Love that the '03 and '02 Celtics squads are still up there; you've got to go down to #100 to find another team from those seasons.  Ahead of their time, clearly 

[CelticGuardian]

We are looking good my man, there's no need to worry the C's organization is more than adequately managed.

My only hopes this offseason is for Tobias Harris to be joining us in green and Bradley and Sullinger being on the trading block (I'm sorry but they have to go).

[DarkAzcura]

We are looking good my man, there's no need to worry the C's organization is more than adequately managed.

My only hopes this offseason is for Tobias Harris to be joining us in green and Bradley and Sullinger being on the trading block (I'm sorry but they have to go).

Be careful what you wish for there. Tobias Harris' defense is almost disgustingly terrible. I'd rather keep Bradley and/or Sullinger over Harris every day of the week. Harris' scoring is nice, but Turner was absolutely burning him and doing whatever he wanted to him recently. Like..literally anything.

[kraidstar]

The NBA today is all about the three point shot.

When you can spread the floor, big teams like Detroit don't have a chance.

The two best teams in the NBA are also the two best three point shooting teams....Golden State and Atlanta.

Unless either gsw or hawks make it far in the playoffs their ways is not the new "nba" imo.

I would probably disagree with you there, Triboy -- even if Chris isn't giving context:

http://bkref.com/tiny/sSG14

That's a whole lot more 50 win teams than teams below .500. The three ball has been the "future of the game" for a while now, and Orlando made it to the NBA Finals doing it.

you beat me to the punch with the duh-wight howard/orlando magic reference.
as your list suggests, there have been oodles of teams that jack up 3's in the last decade or so. many have been good, a couple have been very good.

the question is whether they are jacking up 3's because they easily manufacture open shots, or are they jacking them up because they have little slashing ability or inside presence.

in the case of the magic we know it was the latter. there just wasn't enough talent around howard to break through for a championship. rashard lewis just isn't good enough to be the second-best player on a championship team. lewis, redick, turkoglu, and nelson were all fine players, but didn't have the versatility or slashing talent to take the burden off their inside-out 3-point strategy. we all remember how the c's managed to cover the entire magic perimeter in 2010 and just shut that team down.

last year's spurs of course were a different story, though they shot a ton of 3's like the magic. but unlike the magic, that spurs team was actually very balanced. not only did they have a bevy of pass-happy 3-and-D guys, but they had great slashers in parker, leonard, and ginobili, and a strong big man inside in tim duncan.

so while their style benefited them, they had a lot of talent to back it up. it remains to be seen whether teams like the hawks and warriors can have similar success. i have my doubts as to whether or not they have enough inside presence for sustained half-court scoring once those fast-break opportunities start drying up come playoff time.

[ScoobyDoo]

I'd like to see as much Celtic basketball as I can and I wouldn't mind seeing them in the playoffs. I guess they'll get some "playoff experience", get beaten 4-1 or 4-2, maybe 4-0 in the first round and go home for the summer with the 17th pick and another role player in the draft?

In honesty I would much rather see them get a top 10 pick and go balls to the wall with the rebuild via free agency and our stockpile of assets to try and add a difference making veteran/franchise player or two if possible.

A pick along the lines of Stanley Johnson, Cauley-Stein, Oubre or Myles Turner maybe - whoever is deemed that best talent where we pick in the top ten... - and then go from there.

     

[saltlover]

The NBA today is all about the three point shot.

When you can spread the floor, big teams like Detroit don't have a chance.

The two best teams in the NBA are also the two best three point shooting teams....Golden State and Atlanta.

Then why are we targeting bigs like Gasol and Jordan who are similar to a Drummond and Monroe that we just walked over?

Because a) interior defense is still important (teams will happily take a wide-open layup), and b) if you have an elite guy inside, he gets a lot more 1-on-1 matchups when you have four shooters keeping help defenders away from the paint.  Helps with rebounding, too.

[CelticGuardian]

We are looking good my man, there's no need to worry the C's organization is more than adequately managed.

My only hopes this offseason is for Tobias Harris to be joining us in green and Bradley and Sullinger being on the trading block (I'm sorry but they have to go).

Be careful what you wish for there. Tobias Harris' defense is almost disgustingly terrible. I'd rather keep Bradley and/or Sullinger over Harris every day of the week. Harris' scoring is nice, but Turner was absolutely burning him and doing whatever he wanted to him recently. Like..literally anything.

Tobias is only 22 and is due for a 20 ppg season anytime now, averaging just as many steals as Bradley, has a higher PER than both Bradley and Turner and Sullinger. I like Turner he is definitely a key player in our offense, but will have no business starting over Tobias, who is shooting much better from deep and is the overall the better athlete.

[CelticGuardian]

If Danny Ainge is smart he would say screw DeAndre this offseason and attempt a trade at Hassan Whiteside, another young up-and-coming player. He's younger than DJ, and he rebounds and blocks shots, and we could get to keep him after his contract expire for much cheaper than we would have to shell out for DJ.

We just need to find away to get him off the Heat's hands (maybe giving them our draft position, the draft isnt the only way we can get a quality young player)

[inverselock]

The NBA today is all about the three point shot.

When you can spread the floor, big teams like Detroit don't have a chance.

The two best teams in the NBA are also the two best three point shooting teams....Golden State and Atlanta.

Hardwork in the paint, rebounds, defense, drives, makes lazy jumpshooters look good.

[celticsclay]

If Danny Ainge is smart he would say screw DeAndre this offseason and attempt a trade at Hassan Whiteside, another young up-and-coming player. He's younger than DJ, and he rebounds and blocks shots, and we could get to keep him after his contract expire for much cheaper than we would have to shell out for DJ.

We just need to find away to get him off the Heat's hands (maybe giving them our draft position, the draft isnt the only way we can get a quality young player)

We could get him off the Heat's hands. It seems like the players there are already fed up with him there and after being given a second chance at the NBA he has already tackled Alex Len and had incidents with other players and his statistics have been in decline for the last few months. I really hope the Celtics don't get him.

[celticsclay]

I'd like to see as much Celtic basketball as I can and I wouldn't mind seeing them in the playoffs. I guess they'll get some "playoff experience", get beaten 4-1 or 4-2, maybe 4-0 in the first round and go home for the summer with the 17th pick and another role player in the draft?

In honesty I would much rather see them get a top 10 pick and go balls to the wall with the rebuild via free agency and our stockpile of assets to try and add a difference making veteran/franchise player or two if possible.

A pick along the lines of Stanley Johnson, Cauley-Stein, Oubre or Myles Turner maybe - whoever is deemed that best talent where we pick in the top ten... - and then go from there.

   

My understanding was that the absolute worst we could do if we made the playoffs would be the 16th (the 7th seed) because Milwaukee holds a tiebreaker over us.  Most likely it will end up being the 15th. With 36 wins already and a couple of games left we are probably going to end up with a 12th pick if we do miss. So it is more like a matter of 12 versus 15 rather than a 10-17 argument.

[apc]

The NBA today is all about the three point shot.

When you can spread the floor, big teams like Detroit don't have a chance.

The two best teams in the NBA are also the two best three point shooting teams....Golden State and Atlanta.

Then why are we targeting bigs like Gasol and Jordan who are similar to a Drummond and Monroe that we just walked over?

We don't really know who DA is targeting. We just speculate on this blog.

[PhoSita]

I like this team, too.

I believe this team has shown us a lot about what types of players will thrive under Stevens and which ones will be readily dumped.

This team may give us some sense of what a really good team under Stevens might play like.  This is the low-cost, low-talent prototype.

However, the Celtics are still a team without a starting point, a player or two that allows everything else to fall into place.  Until the Celtics find that starting point, they will be in limbo whether they manage 20 wins or 40.

But winning close to 40 is certainly more entertaining for fans.