Anything under 65 wins will shock me

[Ilikesports17]

Preseason is meaningless, but when you look at a team like the Cavs and say they went 1-6 its different from us going 1-6. The reason being is that the Cavs have arguably 2 of the 5 best players in the Eastern Conference. Their bench is awful. Our deep bench is supposed to be a strength. Our deep bench is supposed to be more talented than any other deep bench in the league. its meaningless in the sense that it isnt at all predictive of our regular season, but the fact that Jaylen Brown Terry Rozier James Young and Tyler Zeller got outpplayed by a couple UFAs and late seconds is sure as hell not a good sign.

[GreenWarrior]

65 aint happenin. though I don't care personally how many wins we get, not sure why we need to guess on the number.

one thing is for sure we know what will be our downfall this season, and that's rebounding and the lack of a guy on the bench(like turner) that can create for other players. I know I know Rozier is great and it won't be a problem... 

[snively]

Last year, the Celts were in a three way tie for 4th in Defensive Efficiency.

They were 13th in Offensive Efficiency.


Winning 65 would require, I think, moving up into the top 3 in Defensive Efficiency, and moving into the top 7-8 in Offensive Efficiency, if not the top 5.

The first part of that seems doable to me.  Horford is an elite defender at the 5 spot, and represents a major upgrade over Sullinger on both ends.

On the offensive end, I expect the team will be better.  I'm not sure how much better they'll be.  I expect that the starting lineup will be more potent, though offensive rebounds, free throw attempts, and overall scoring efficiency will continue to be an issue.  The Celts will have to force a lot of turnovers to stay above average offensively, even with Horford on board. 

The bench is the real point of concern for me.  I think the bench unit will be really dangerous at times, but I don't expect them to be very consistent.  There may be some games where the Celts just get outgunned when the benches are in the game and the starters can't make up the deficit in the 4th quarter.


Overall, I like the Celts to win 50 games, maybe a few more than that, assuming everybody stays healthy.  Winning 60-65 seems very far fetched to me.  It is really tough for any team to do that without a top 10 player, and  I'm not sure the Celts have anybody who qualifies as a top 20 player.

I actually expect the Celtics to stagnate or maybe even get worse offensively. Horford is major upgrade over Sully as a scorer, but he's pretty bad on the offensive glass. While much less severe, it's reminiscent of the shift from Powe to Sheed that really hurt the 09/10 Celtics, even with the badly needed injection of size and shooting.

There's potential for the bench to really struggle offensively. They were already hurting with ET, but replacing ET with Rozier (under the radar awful offensively last year, and pretty underwhelming baseline from Louisville and Maine) and Brown could bring them crashing down to Philly levels - particularly if KO misses any real time with injury. And that's a big problem on a Brad Stevens team, as our bench will likely be seeing significant minutes.

[PhoSita]

I think that's a plausible case for the Celts finishing somewhere closer to the middle on offense.  Hard to imagine the defense not being top 5 again.  But offense I could see hanging around the 14-17 range.


I think any of Smart, Rozier, or Brown could be fine as an individual piece in a bench unit.  But it worries me a little that the Celts are going to have to rely on all three, occasionally at the same time.

[walker834]

Our depth is to the point where these guys are roleplayers for us but could go on to be starters on other teams.  I would rather that be for us though.  I think Rozier is still a bit too inconsistant and Marcus and Jaylen are not offensive threats where they don't need each other. I still think Rozier and Jaylen have a ways to go in particular. Marcus should be pretty solid all year imo. KO is a roleplayer with upside too.  I think all these guys with Jerebko just make a solid bench unit.

Our team is starting to remind me of the Patriots though where they are so good they have players who we consider roleplayers who are potentially better than that.  Rozier and KO are really borderline imo though. Marcus and Jaylen are still young but really have the potential to start someday.

Gerald Green and Young give us  more kick with offense.  Zeller is really fine. I hope Mickey does something though.   Jaylen is really a future star but we still need all these guys.  As Young gets better Green might not be here.  Amir isn't going to be here forever.  Zizic and Yab are coming.  They can coexist but it's a lot of guys. 

We have a swap with Brooklyn and then a bunch of picks in 18 as well.  Ainge will have to figure out a way to keep building this.  We are starting to get into that phase of dynasty already. It's mainly a few more picks and a lot of second rounders.

I don't expect Amir, Zeller or even jerebko to be here forever.  I hope Jerebko sticks in ways.  Green might be short term as well until Young figures things out.

I would keep developing our bench and use our assets wisely. Crowder may go eventually too.

We are a 56-62 win team this year.

[Big333223]

I don't see any reason why this team should lose any games this season. But I'm a pessimist, so I'll predict 81-1.

[Neurotic Guy]

Who besides IT is going to score 20 PPG?   Don't we need another guy who is a nightly threat for 20?  Bradley may be an outside threat for 20 but has never been a guy who brings it every night on offense. Neither is Smart, Kelly, Jae, Amir.   

C's consistent D and respectable offense gets them to 50 wins, but they need optimal consistency offensively to win 60, never mind 65.   Think of how consistent, and top-level, the performances of Bird, McHale and Parish were.  Same for PP, RA and KG.   Same for Draymond, Steph, Klay and KD.   

The C's need to KNOW they will put it together on offense night after night after night.  On rare nights that a teammate has an off-night, the others WILL step it up.  This not the C's yet and therefore they don't look like a 65-win team.   Yet.

[walker834]

Horfords numbers should go up this year.  He is going to get more touches in general than he did in Atlanta with Millsap.  Bradley should also be money this year.   I think everywhere else our talent level is enough.  Brown is a stud.  Crowder, Green, KO, Rozier, Marcus etc.  That's a lot of guys chipping in most nights. Our defense is also just going to be more physical with the addition of Horfrod and Brown.   Our defense was physical last year and is going to be ridiculous. What we lack is a true defensive big man off in there.  After Horford sits and Amir we have no defensive backup right now.  jerebko is good and we can go small.  Zeller is alright and Micky is the guy who has to do something. KO is ok but not a defensive center overly.  Zizic should be better but Yab isn't a defensive guy overly right now although he will hustle and make plays.  They aren't going to be here this year though. They are more offensively geared too.  We will score points.  Our defense should be really good too.

[jpotter33]

Who besides IT is going to score 20 PPG?   Don't we need another guy who is a nightly threat for 20?  Bradley may be an outside threat for 20 but has never been a guy who brings it every night on offense. Neither is Smart, Kelly, Jae, Amir.   

C's consistent D and respectable offense gets them to 50 wins, but they need optimal consistency offensively to win 60, never mind 65.   Think of how consistent, and top-level, the performances of Bird, McHale and Parish were.  Same for PP, RA and KG.   Same for Draymond, Steph, Klay and KD.   

The C's need to KNOW they will put it together on offense night after night after night.  On rare nights that a teammate has an off-night, the others WILL step it up.  This not the C's yet and therefore they don't look like a 65-win team.   Yet.

Why couldn't Horford be that guy? He'll have more offensive freedom than ever before, and he certainly looked aggressive last night. Further, with our run-and-gun style that pushes the tempo off of lots of forced turnovers, he'll have plenty of chances to score.

I could see both IT and Horford averaging right at 20 ppg with Jae and Bradley both between 15-17 ppg.

[CelticPride2016]

Thanks for the responses.

Al Horford and Isaiah Thomas are top tier players.

Crowder, Amir and Bradley also seem to be top caliber NBA players.

As to the posts complaining about last night's loss, I do not want to try their drinks. Summer leagues don't count. The Developmental League doesn't count. Preseason games only count so much. The starters dominated then rested. There was no Olynyk and Green. Brown showed superstar flashes.

Our offense looked very good last night. Picture if Olynyk played instead of Zeller. Smart is going to be much better.

65 wins is a crazy amount. I admit it was hyperbole. The truth is I won't be shocked if we win 65 games. Of course anything is possible.

The real question should be could we steal a title this year? I think so. It might not have to be stolen. Some of you better hope Isiaiah, Al and Jae don't see your posts. You ought to feel ashamed. Those are great players.

Amir Johnson is a great player. We are going to be a machine. A lot of those bench guys from the Philly game have other issues going on. Hunter, Jordan, Jackson and Young are going to be playing in real games this year? I doubt it.

We are going to steamroll the league. I think 60 is more accurate than 50 or 55 and 65 would be a best case scenario. 58-62 wins sounds like the fairest guess. I think the 50-55 win crowd are selling the team short.

[Neurotic Guy]

Who besides IT is going to score 20 PPG?   Don't we need another guy who is a nightly threat for 20?  Bradley may be an outside threat for 20 but has never been a guy who brings it every night on offense. Neither is Smart, Kelly, Jae, Amir.   

C's consistent D and respectable offense gets them to 50 wins, but they need optimal consistency offensively to win 60, never mind 65.   Think of how consistent, and top-level, the performances of Bird, McHale and Parish were.  Same for PP, RA and KG.   Same for Draymond, Steph, Klay and KD.   

The C's need to KNOW they will put it together on offense night after night after night.  On rare nights that a teammate has an off-night, the others WILL step it up.  This not the C's yet and therefore they don't look like a 65-win team.   Yet.

Why couldn't Horford be that guy? He'll have more offensive freedom than ever before, and he certainly looked aggressive last night. Further, with our run-and-gun style that pushes the tempo off of lots of forced turnovers, he'll have plenty of chances to score.

I could see both IT and Horford averaging right at 20 ppg with Jae and Bradley both between 15-17 ppg.

I do think Horford can be a consistent performer, but I have doubts he'll be a 20 ppg guy.   Crowder and Bradley may average 15-16, BUT they'll do so scoring 10, 19, 5, 23, 16..... My opinion is that the inconsistency leads to losses.  65 win teams have very few let downs.

[OhioGreen]

Thanks for the responses.

Al Horford and Isaiah Thomas are top tier players.

Crowder, Amir and Bradley also seem to be top caliber NBA players.

As to the posts complaining about last night's loss, I do not want to try their drinks. Summer leagues don't count. The Developmental League doesn't count. Preseason games only count so much. The starters dominated then rested. There was no Olynyk and Green. Brown showed superstar flashes.

Our offense looked very good last night. Picture if Olynyk played instead of Zeller. Smart is going to be much better.

65 wins is a crazy amount. I admit it was hyperbole. The truth is I won't be shocked if we win 65 games. Of course anything is possible.

The real question should be could we steal a title this year? I think so. It might not have to be stolen. Some of you better hope Isiaiah, Al and Jae don't see your posts. You ought to feel ashamed. Those are great players.

Amir Johnson is a great player. We are going to be a machine. A lot of those bench guys from the Philly game have other issues going on. Hunter, Jordan, Jackson and Young are going to be playing in real games this year? I doubt it.

We are going to steamroll the league. I think 60 is more accurate than 50 or 55 and 65 would be a best case scenario. 58-62 wins sounds like the fairest guess. I think the 50-55 win crowd are selling the team short.

First, Amir Johnson is neither top caliber or great!
Secondly, outside of Bradley, Smart, Horford, Crowder, and IT and Jaylen and TRoz the rest of our roster is pretty much expendable/trash.  Rather have Nader than anyone on the roster not named above!

[kozlodoev]

The Garnett/Pierce/Allen team won 65 games once. Once.

So yeah, prepare to be shocked.

[ederson]

Unless you are GS this thread makes no sense!!

[Clench123]

I definitely see 60.  65?  I don't know.