I can't see us finishing worse than 40-45 wins with a 7th or 8th seed with the current team. We pretty much kept the same core, and added talent and toughness to it. Plus our youngsters get another year to mature their game.
So, it's hard to picture us being able to tank with this team. Smart, Bradley, Johnson, Crowder are all tough, hard-nosed, defensive players. We might not win pretty, but I see this team being able to hold its own and capture a late playoff seed in the weaker Eastern Conference.
I think we win the division.
I'm not 100% sure of that yet because this certainly isn't our opening day roster, but I could certainly see it. This group, while lacking star power, is much much better than some folks around here give them credit for. I've seen people around here predict 30 wins or less for this group next year!
This team came together at the trade deadline, when Stevens was finally able to get some of his kind of guys in here. The Thomas trade was obviously a huge part of that. We had a .750 win percentage after that point, a 56 win pace over the course of a full season. They surely won't manage that, but where does the idea that a team who went 24-12 over it's last 36 games is somehow going to struggle to manage 35 over 82 games? I get it, we don't have stars. We won't win a championship with this roster, I know. But you can't build a champion overnight. We're establishing a culture here, these guys are going to absolutely play their hearts out almost every single dang game. Our whole entire core is like under the age of 27, most of them much younger than that. Assuming we stay healthy, we're going to go over .500. I'm pretty sure of that. After That dumpster fire of the first 2/3 of last season, we still managed 40 wins.
People are ignoring how good a coach Stevens really is. It's more than just getting guys to buy in and maximizing there talents. He's an excellent X's and O's coach. Part of the reason all these guy have played their best ball here is because Stevens gets them into a position where they can utilize their best attributes. He's a master at getting guys open looks. When you see KO catching a pass for a wide open 3 point shot, it's not because the opposing defense doesn't respect him. CBS is going to put these guys in a position to succeed, and with the type of culture he's established and the strong leadership/camaraderie in that locker room we're looking to have a pretty good team here. Certainly an entertaining one that will endear itself to our fans.
The importance of guys like Crowder and Smart can't be lauded enough. They set the tone, they're the heart and soul. Do you think James Young shuts off his twitter/Facebook, gains 20 pounds, trims his body fat and spends nearly his entire summer in Waltham without those guys? No way. We have assets, we have a plan. This off-seasons was kind of disappointing, but the sky is not falling. We will get that star player eventually, and when we do they'll be coming into an already established culture of winning attitudes. Someone like DMC would thrive here.
Topic: The new tough Boston Celtics (Read 3883 times)