Poll: Over Under 47 Wins

[KG Living Legend]

 I think it's weak to say the Celtics don't have a prayer at winning it all. They have a prayer.

 I don't think the Cavs have a real chance at winning, or even the Spurs. The Warrior's are winning again barring injuries. Simple as that. So saying the Celtics don't have a prayer at winning it, really isn't saying anything at all.

[Celtics18]

I was in the "over" camp.  I'm an unrepentant optimist, but I've always tried to provide reasonable support for my optimism.

What hasn't been a surprise to me about this year's Celtics is how good they've been at playing defense.  They showed signs of it last year on their run.  And they do have three elite level perimeter defenders on the team.  I think some people were legitimately concerned about not having a defensive game changer on the front line, but I always thought that Crowder, Bradley and Smart would be able to set a defensive tone for this team that would allow them to be a disruptive, high turnover producing, good defensive team.

What has been somewhat of a surprise to me is the elevation of Isaiah Thomas in to a full fledged offensive star player.  I, like many, thought of him more like a "microwave" type bench scorer than the night in night out--carry the load guy that he's been.

Crowder's offense hasn't really surprised me as much.  After watching him last year, I thought he could be a "glue guy" who would be able to pick up his share on offense.

This team has been a joy.  For me, winning a round in the playoffs would be a great result.  I'd love more; would be disappointed with less.

[KG Living Legend]

 Agreed Celtics. This thread proves that it's not all Rose's when it comes to the Celtics. And also that optimism is sometimes factualism.

[vjcsmoke]

I'm just shocked we are this far over .500.  We didn't really make any major moves this summer.  And the guys we drafted didn't really impact on the court either.  The only significant addition was Amir Johnson in free agency. 

I guess we already had our biggest addition blossoming from last year, Isaiah Thomas.  Man he is special.  I bet the Suns regret moving him a lot right now!  Jae Crowder continues to add grit and scrap to our defense.  Smart is healthy this season and improving.

We are really getting to teams defensively.  Imagine if we added one or two more real shooters/scorers this upcoming summer?

We are in the playoffs for sure, I'd love to see us make it to the Conference Semifinals.  Getting to the Best 8 would be a testament to how far this team and its players have grown!

[PhoSita]

What hasn't been a surprise to me about this year's Celtics is how good they've been at playing defense.  They showed signs of it last year on their run.  And they do have three elite level perimeter defenders on the team.  I think some people were legitimately concerned about not having a defensive game changer on the front line, but I always thought that Crowder, Bradley and Smart would be able to set a defensive tone for this team that would allow them to be a disruptive, high turnover producing, good defensive team.

I always thought that the effort and intensity of the guys you mention would get the Celts a long way toward being really good defensively, but that teams would be better at taking advantage of the Celts' soft interior. 

I'm not sure if it's smoke and mirrors, or simply that Sullinger, Amir, Olynyk, Zeller et al have been better than the eye test would indicate, but somehow the Celts have managed to be an elite defense without have any exceptional individual defenders (to my eye) over 6'5''.

[LooseCannon]

Individual man-to-man defense is less important for the Celtics than knowing where you are supposed to be within the defensive scheme and being able to get there.  That's why I think the defense will fall apart too often if you stick in a perimeter scorer who won't try on defense.

[Celtics18]

What hasn't been a surprise to me about this year's Celtics is how good they've been at playing defense.  They showed signs of it last year on their run.  And they do have three elite level perimeter defenders on the team.  I think some people were legitimately concerned about not having a defensive game changer on the front line, but I always thought that Crowder, Bradley and Smart would be able to set a defensive tone for this team that would allow them to be a disruptive, high turnover producing, good defensive team.

I always thought that the effort and intensity of the guys you mention would get the Celts a long way toward being really good defensively, but that teams would be better at taking advantage of the Celts' soft interior. 

I'm not sure if it's smoke and mirrors, or simply that Sullinger, Amir, Olynyk, Zeller et al have been better than the eye test would indicate, but somehow the Celts have managed to be an elite defense without have any exceptional individual defenders (to my eye) over 6'5''.

Amir has always been a very good defender.  He's got a lot of miles on him by now so he can't do it as consistently as he used to, but he's still got the mindset and the knowledge of how to play d.

As far as the others go, defense is contagious.  When your strongest leaders bring it defensively, that attitude is bound to rub off and make everyone buy into playing hard and smart on that end.

I believe Crowder, Smart, and Bradley have that kind of effect on their teammates. 

I'd like to add that in last night's game vs. the Blazers, I thought that was about as good as I've seen Sully look against the pick and roll.  That's encouraging. 

Our Celtics had a slight defensive dip around the all star break.  It looks like that defensive identity is back in the last few games.

[RockinRyA]

TBH I thought this thread was for this season, but judging by most posts it is not. Any clarification from the OP?

[saltlover]

TBH I thought this thread was for this season, but judging by most posts it is not. Any clarification from the OP?

It was originally posted in June, for the upcoming season which is this one.  Now we're all just looking back at what we said 8 months ago.  Some of us get to brag that we look like we were correct.

[CelticPride2016]

Some of the posts on the bottom of page one into page two are hilarious.

It's very early right now, a lot of variables for this summer, but I'd ballpark next year at 30-45 wins.  My expectation skews toward the lower half of that range, but I wouldn't blame somebody for leaning toward the higher end.

as-is i don't think this roster would get back to the playoffs next year.  They overachieved and caught teams off guard.

Overall point... on paper, this is a 25 win team.

[LatterDayCelticsfan]

Thinking about it, this thread is a good case study for recency bias.

[jpotter33]

Some of the posts on the bottom of page one into page two are hilarious.

It's very early right now, a lot of variables for this summer, but I'd ballpark next year at 30-45 wins.  My expectation skews toward the lower half of that range, but I wouldn't blame somebody for leaning toward the higher end.

as-is i don't think this roster would get back to the playoffs next year.  They overachieved and caught teams off guard.

Overall point... on paper, this is a 25 win team.

These wouldn't happen to be from our resident Celtic ultra-pessimist would they? 

[RockinRyA]

TBH I thought this thread was for this season, but judging by most posts it is not. Any clarification from the OP?

It was originally posted in June, for the upcoming season which is this one.  Now we're all just looking back at what we said 8 months ago.  Some of us get to brag that we look like we were correct.

ahh necro'd thread lol. Thx for the clarification

[Evantime34]

Catching up on some comments I wanted to respond to:

Thinking about it, this thread is a good case study for recency bias.

Please explain, I think it's the opposite.

With the way the team ended last year, if fans were exhibiting recency bias then the poll would have been overwhelmingly one sided favoring the over.

What hasn't been a surprise to me about this year's Celtics is how good they've been at playing defense.  They showed signs of it last year on their run.  And they do have three elite level perimeter defenders on the team.  I think some people were legitimately concerned about not having a defensive game changer on the front line, but I always thought that Crowder, Bradley and Smart would be able to set a defensive tone for this team that would allow them to be a disruptive, high turnover producing, good defensive team.

I always thought that the effort and intensity of the guys you mention would get the Celts a long way toward being really good defensively, but that teams would be better at taking advantage of the Celts' soft interior. 

I'm not sure if it's smoke and mirrors, or simply that Sullinger, Amir, Olynyk, Zeller et al have been better than the eye test would indicate, but somehow the Celts have managed to be an elite defense without have any exceptional individual defenders (to my eye) over 6'5''.

I think Sullinger, Amir and Olynyk have been better than you think but their jobs are made a lot easier due to the wing defense.

The key to the Celtics defense is the way they drop below the ball on defense. More often than not the opposing ball handler has 5 celtics defenders between him and the hoop. The way that every Celtic stays below the ball and moves in concert to stay that way is why we have a top 5 defense.

Individual man-to-man defense is less important for the Celtics than knowing where you are supposed to be within the defensive scheme and being able to get there.  That's why I think the defense will fall apart too often if you stick in a perimeter scorer who won't try on defense.

The defense absolutely relies on every man "being on a string". However, my hope is that anyone we brought in would be shamed into trying on defense all the time because that is what everyone on the team does.

BTW, is voting still open on this thread? I swear the overs were at 40 yesterday. It looks like people are retroactively trying to look like they called it over the summer.

[fairweatherfan]

Catching up on some comments I wanted to respond to:

Thinking about it, this thread is a good case study for recency bias.

Please explain, I think it's the opposite.

With the way the team ended last year, if fans were exhibiting recency bias then the poll would have been overwhelmingly one sided favoring the over.

I had that thought too, but maybe what he's referring to is that the most recent event was us getting swept out of the playoffs by a clearly better team.  That might've weighed heavier on people's estimates than the 24-12 finish.