The Celtics' search for a star

[LGC88]

Great post. I gave a lot of TPs.
Many good points and reality check. I like that.
If I may say something about this year performance, at first I thought this team was overachieving but later I realize something. This team unify quickly with no rivalry and they found a way to compensate for their lack of talent : energy.
Any team that wasn't prepare to match our energy level get trapped and lost.
It's understood, our Celtics play each game like a playoff game, while the other teams were still competing in a marathon.
This team simply shows to the modern nba that team play, good chemistry and great energy can do some serious damages and upsets.
So I wouldn't call that overachieving. More like maximizing our average talent level.
This ended with a reality check, that comes playoff time, when talent put the same energy level, we get swept.
This is all good for our team, coach and organisation. They now know exactly what they need to do for the future.
This conclusion is the reason why we need to keep the core of this team to move forward and let them improve while adding talent to help them.
Smart will keep improving. We all know that. Sully & KO are at 1 issue away from having a breakout year.
With DA, the future can only be bright.

[greece66]

Just wanted to say this for some time- people keep throwing the 'poor playoff performance' stone too much against this team.
Consider that with Love still healthy, Cleveland had by far the best roster in the NBA. Granted not the best team (although Love had just started fitting into their offensive plans) but there is no question that LBJ, Love, Irving, JR Smith, Mozgov, Tristan Thompson, Perkins, Shumpert and Shawn Marion together were one of the most formidable accumulations of talent seen in the league for some time.
To say that our sweep against this team is a proof of anything is a very cheap shot.

[Celtics4ever]

To say that our sweep against this team is a proof of anything is a very cheap shot.

Even the announcers stated there was a talent differential.  Our guys played hard and did the best they could but we lack talent and have our weaknesses.   Every team has them but our are glaring at times.  It is pretty obvious that we could use a rim protector and some scoring pop off the wing.  That is not a knock on this team, it is what it is, folks.

I agree the Cavs are a bad matchup for most any team.   But the NBA is a rich man, poor man's league right now.   I don't consider us talent rich, I think we are  poor man that played our pants off and worked hard.  Teams like the Rockets, Cavs, Clippers and Bulls are talent rich but they have their warts too and weaknesses.

The real thing to realize, is this team is going to be in flux.   Bass and few guys are gone, will we even be the same team?  Who knows what Ainge will do, I root for the name of the front of jersey so I will be ok with whatever is done.

[Rondo9]

I don't think anyone is denying that is just that people downplaying the celtics success judging from their sweep

[BDeCosta26]

We are not going to get a star if we keep up what we did this season. I'd trade Avery etc for a pick that nabbed us Myles Turner. With the East getting better we prob won't even make the playoffs next year. IND MIA are two teams that will be getting make superstar players....we barely beat them into the playoffs.

Im sick of the Green Teamers who only watch when we are good and liken the NBA DRAFT to the NFL NHL or MLB. The drafts are completely dif and the NBA is a star ran league.

Sorry for being off topic. I only watch the Celtics and nothing else. So while many have moved onto baseball I'm still plugging away researching the draft.

I'll never understand this. Why are we going to be worse next year, or not even make the playoffs. We went something like 24-11 over our last 35 games with a core of guys all 26 or younger and even after that horrific start to the season we managed to reach 40 wins. Even assuming we don't make any moves (which I highly doubt), just bringing this group back with some development from Smart, Young, AB, Sully, etc. should get us to a few games over 500. Even if Indiana and Miami improve, Toronto looks like they're ready to blow it up, Milwaukee seemed like a much different team after the MCW trade and Brooklyn is MUCH more likely than us to fall out of the playoff picture, certainly if Lopez opts out.

I get that young teams take steps back some times, and I surely don't expect this group to keep up a 56 win pace all year. But still, in a season where we made 1000 trades and had a multitude of injuries amidst a bunch of other obstacles we still managed to just about reach .500, including that great stretch once this group came together. I'd be absolutely shocked if we won less than 38 games this year, and I'll be disappointed with anything less than 43-39. Besides, do you really think Ainge doesn't make any moves?

The relative level of optimism, I think, depends on how much you believe the team dramatically overachieved/was fortunate to be playing in the East. It's no coincidence that the C's went on a run during the second half of the season, after all.

Absolutely, our stretch run had a whole lot to do with playing a weaker schedule, and I certainly think this group over achieved. But that's why I don't reasonably expect them to win 56 games as their post-ASG record would indicate. It's not like everything went right for us last season, we had our own fair share of injuries to key players and a lot of roster turnover while no one had a breakout season. We have a team that's core players are all under 27, and some of our guys will certainly improve. Do I think we have a loaded roster? No. But folks around here undervalue our current guys a lot. We're closer to contention than a lot of people think.

I guess what I'm saying is, I just don't see how a team that got to 40 wins by playing .700 ball after the deadline when this group actually came together, will somehow be lucky to reach that same 40 win mark over the course of a full season with a years worth of development and continuity. Of course, I'll admit that I may be looking through green tinted glasses (I'm a huge C's fan after all), but it still doesn't jive with me. Plus, I think a lot of folks are disregarding Stevens' impact. This team bought into CBS and each other 110 %, and he really has gotten better at almost every aspect of his job seemingly by the day.

Naturally, this is sports and just about anything can happen. But if we assume no significant changes are made and we re-sign Crowder/Jerebko I think anywhere from 36 to 50 or so wins is a reasonable estimate. I'd be disappointed in anything much less than 40, very content with something around 45, and very pleasantly surprised if it's more than 48. I certainly don't expect them to regress much if we stand pat this summer. Just my opinion though.

[D.o.s.]

If we won 50 games I would eat a shoe-shaped thing.

[Rondo9]

I just don't understand how people are still downplaying what brad and the celtics had done

[TheFlex]

If we won 50 games I would eat a shoe-shaped thing.

As in if a Celtic team constructed similarly to that of our squad post-ASB wins 50 games, or if any possible 2015-16 Celtic team wins 50 game?

[Hemingway]

It's kind of silly to start talking about how we are now worse than the teams getting guys back until we see way we can do.

[CoachBo]

This franchise cannot afford not to look substantially different next year.

And it will.

The infatuation with overachievement is one of the most dangerous things in sports.

[PhoSita]

This franchise cannot afford not to look substantially different next year.

And it will.

The infatuation with overachievement is one of the most dangerous things in sports.

Does Ainge strike you as the sort of GM who will make wholesale changes simply to make wholesale changes?  Everybody wants the Celts to be a lot better next year.  It doesn't mean the moves will be there to make it happen.

[GreenFaith1819]

This franchise cannot afford not to look substantially different next year.

And it will.

The infatuation with overachievement is one of the most dangerous things in sports.

While I certainly hope that we do get a star (or two) in Green next season, I don't think they are needed, per se, for us to still make the playoffs.

As evidenced in the Cavs series - if we did have a star or two that series could've been different.

But I'm not so sure of the "Overachievement" part. We have a great coach (and proven) who can maximize talent. A baby Pop.

As is, we are looking at anywhere from 5-8 seed next season with the roster as is. Yes, other teams in our conference will be healthier and better, but so will we.

Smart will be a year older, as well as Sully and Oly. We do have a good amount of talent here that competes every night.

If you compete, regardless of your talent level - you will win more than lose.

[PhoSita]

So I suppose the Nets and Hornets simply didn't try hard enough to win this year, huh?  Same with the Pacers?  The Kings and Suns, too ... clearly they just didn't want to win badly enough.

[GreenFaith1819]

So I suppose the Nets and Hornets simply didn't try hard enough to win this year, huh?  Same with the Pacers?  The Kings and Suns, too ... clearly they just didn't want to win badly enough.

I think with those teams they did indeed try. But neither of them had the upheaval we did in getting their top 2 players traded.

BOS overcame that, CBS righted the ship, and we were on our way.

Next season, with the roster as is, we won't have to worry about those upheavals. Indy and other teams will be better, but so will we.

I expect TOR to falter a bit, NY to still flounder, and - unfortunately - some Star(s) in our conference WILL get hurt, which will help our rankings. This is happening every season, it seems.

[Csfan1984]

It's the void of overall talent that makes it all but necessary to star search. People are hoping that at the very least top 30-50 players like Middleton or Monroe come here and reach new levels of play that is how bad things are. We hope to acquire stars before they are stars by overpaying and praying. If Cs had guys that were consistent at what they did to NBA special levels things would be different, but no one on this team is consistent. I for one am willing to wait for the star while developing the young guys. Put them out there and give them a shot. Let the Bass, Crowders, JJs, Gigis, walk. Don't blow the cap. Get real stars or develop real stars. And if you start to get specialist instead they can succeed well like last Piston Champs then enjoy the miracle.