Order has been restored in the universe

[CelticPride2016]

Jae Crowder and Al Horford would add fifteen wins to most teams. It was fitting that Horford completely dominated the final plays. The schedule is about to get easier.

The next two games are cupcakes against Minnesota and Brooklyn. Then there is San Antonio at Boston for a matinee. That will be the next barometer unless we choke on a cupcake.

I hope Olynyk can regroup. Marcus Smarts' shooting is officially scary.

I want him to prove everyone wrong. We are also going nowhere unless Jaylen develops into a quality, dependable rotation piece by the playoffs. Brad needs to be like Francona who stuck it out with Pedroia.

It looks like Young, Zeller, Green, Jackson and Mickey are fighting for one role. I don't see them getting many more chances. Zeller is probably the one who will see time if we play against giants, unless Brad thinks Marcus Smart should cover the Drummonds.

Zizac would have put up a fight. Rozier has made the leap, but there is no way around the need for Jaylen Brown to develop on the fast track. He's tall, quick, and has the bb iq.

Horford is the one to watch. He must have a chip on his shoulder. He must know a lot of people think he is at the bottom level for stars. Isaiah has that chip picked last in the draft. Marcus Smart must have a chip. Most people worry he might be a head case like Rondo for shooting.

Horford doesn't want to wait three years for Brown and Smart to take over the league. I like that Jerebko has picked up his game. Jerebko and Olynyk have won their spots. Zeller is about to collect some dust.

I like our team's odds. Ten guys.

G Isaiah, Terry, Avery, Marcus
SF Crowder, Brown
PF Olynyk, Jerebko
C Horford, Amir

That's the talent Brad has. Everyone else is either a scrub, too raw or a crap shoot for NBA serviceability.

Unfortunately, we are only 7-6. To hit on my 65 win prediction, we'll have to go 58-11. It's going to be tough, but we could gel like the year KG, Ray, Posey, PJ, Leon and Eddie arrived and we won it all. The only new guys that need to blend into the machine are Horford and Brown. All the others have been together quite a while now. Teams that stick together over years usually improve with chemistry. Horford could have the career year of his life and win us a championship. He's arguably better than KG was in 2008.

Look at those ten guys above and think best case scenario. Injuries probably derailed a historic season like in 2008, but Al is back and won the game on his own in the final minute. Ball don't lie. I think this is where we will make some separation from the scrub playoff teams we are currently mired with in treadmill basketball.

This is a fresh slate. As far as I am concerned, we are 1-0 and may health be with us. It's too early to fold my cards now. I think we are the third best team in the NBA. It would take the greatest of best case scenarios to beat Cleveland or Golden State, but let's keep hope alive. We could become the best team by the end of the season. All this talk of talent and needing stars is negative. Brad is old-school. Hopefully the above ten players get it done and the Celtics will be at the top of the standings soon enough.

[LarBrd33]

should get back on track as a 55 win team.  Need to get a top 3 seed or we will not get out of the 2nd round.

[KG Living Legend]

 Do yourself a favor and give up on 65 wins. It's just not happening. The team has potential but not that much potential.

[CroCorvus]

Of course it's early in the season, but it must be said that we have been very unlucky. First we start the season without Kelly, then Smart goeas down for a few games, then Horford and Jae goes out. These are really important players to our team so you can't just say every team has to deal with injuries.
Plus I must say that we lost three games to, by me, less superior teams due to specific circuimstances. First it was Chicago game where we let D Wade on the perimeter and he killed us with fantastic rare shooting night (will not repeat so often this season). Then we play Denver and Mudiay sets the fire on us with probably career night where he put amazing first quarter and scored around 24 pts. If you would have saw his percentage numbers prior to that game you would see he was shooting below 30% from the field (of cours you will let him shoot). We lose that game to. And then there was the game vs the Wizards where Porter had an amazing career night against us (don't get me wrong, think hes a solid player). So, with a little luck from the leprechaun, with all troubles and difficulties that we had from the start of the season we could have been now with 10 wins and 3 loses, second place in the east behind the Cavs and half of this posts would not exist.
PS Good luck we survived last night's career night from Marcus Morris.

[Hank Finkel]

Horford could have the career year of his life and win us a championship. He's arguably better than KG was in 2008.  Horford is not better than KG.  KG could shoot, rebound, and play D all better than Al.  He also was a great leader and intimidator.  Don't get me wrong I like Horford but he is no KG.

[mr. dee]

Horford is nowhere near 2008 KG. The 2011-12 version seems like a closer comparison.

[Surferdad]

should get back on track as a 55 win team.  Need to get a top 3 seed or we will not get out of the 2nd round.

Even that I think is a stretch at this point, I would put them at 52 wins right now.

I like CelticPride2016's enthusiasm but no way they go 58-11 the rest of  the way. Toronto is still better and Charlotte is knocking on the door in the East.  I would say Celts are 3rd seed in the East but due to 6-6 start will end up at 4th seed.

[CelticPride2016]

Thanks for the replies.

Due to the nature of the NBA with back to backs, injuries and a season that seems to take up most of the year, overall win predictions are tough to make. Oklahoma lost Durant one season and was scrambling to win games.

Everything to do with the Celtics maximizing 2016-17 depends on best case scenarios.

Comparing players is always risky, but I'll get to 2008 KG versus best case scenario Horford in a bit.

A quick look at the standings has us no worse than two games back in the loss column against every team not including Cleveland. We would probably have to catch fire or have the Cavs pile up injuries or to LeBron to pass them.

I admit Toronto is our older brother and for now must be respected. Nonetheless, I do not worry about them, Dwight Howard or any of the others. I agree with the above saying we would be 10-3 or some other nice record if we had been at full-strength from the start. If we take care of our own business, everything else like the standings will fall into place in our favor.

I look forward to the next three games as barometers. We must take care of business against the cupcakes. We must or for the best case scenario also beat the Spurs at home.

Or better yet, we probably have to give it a month or two to start making realistic hedges on how good we are.

55 wins would be solid. It would also be nice to get no worse than the third seed. We'd have to go 48-21. I think that's more likely to happen than not. 65 wins is definitely out of play except for a miracle run, but maybe 60 wins is still attainable. We'd have to go 53-16.

I apologize for making KG seem less of a player than he was, but how is this for a theory: Say it is true you need a big three or top talent to win it all. Isaiah and Avery must add up to one. Horford is a big three member. The rest of the team fills in the blanks and becomes the third of a big three. Brad Stevens who brought no-name Butler teams to Final Fours somehow molds the roster into a true title contender non-dependent on future Brooklyn draft picks.

People seem to think there is so little chance for our team as currently constructed to win it all. Something could happen at the trade deadline that puts us over the top. In short, I don't want to ruin enjoying this season by assuming we can't win it all. I think we can and will if we are healthy and only need sixteen more wins to win it all. Brandon Bass is gone. There's no more Phil Pressey. We are back in the show. Unfortunately, there is Tyler Zeller. But enough with the negativity.

I admit it is a bit of a long shot, but I think we are a top five team or in that general area. It's to be seen how good we truly are. This team imho has a very high ceiling.

If you take the best stats from Horford, he is a machine like KG was even better in some areas. I meant best case scenario with Horford is comparable to 2008 KG. He isn't to the younger KG with Minnesota. My hope is Horford can be much better than the 2011-12 KG. We can win it all if he can compete with 2008 KG. On the other hand, even if Horford does have a career season and Isaiah takes over the NBA, there are still a lot of other what ifs which need to come out smelling like roses. I am optimistic, no doubt. First things first, we need the next three games and no more injuries.

[hodgy03038]

I wouldn't call Minnesota a cupcake. They score more and give up less than the Celtics. They have one of the best young centers in the game along with Wiggins & LaVine. How is that a cupcake? We lost to a cupcake in the Pelicans - a 1-win team. I hope we can beat them but not sure about the cavalier attitude blowing teams off like we are the Cavs, Clippers or Warriors. We have to work our ass off and be at full strength to barely win. I will take the games that we squeak out but really?

[mctyson]

I would like them to be 12-8 after 20 games.

[SHAQATTACK]

Townes will get 38 and 16 ,  but we will win.

[Vermont Green]

Horford and Crowder showed how valuable they are to the Celtics but they are not Garnett and Pierce.  I know that no one is directly suggesting that they are but in order for us to go anything close to 58-11 the rest of the way, they would need to be that good.

I would be happy with 50-32 for the season.  That is what 43-26 (0.623) the rest of the way.  That would be great but it is the high end of my expectation.  There will be more injuries and growing pains for young players.  The NBA is on to us.  Wins are going to be tougher this season.

[CelticPride2016]

I wouldn't call Minnesota a cupcake. They score more and give up less than the Celtics. They have one of the best young centers in the game along with Wiggins & LaVine. How is that a cupcake? We lost to a cupcake in the Pelicans - a 1-win team. I hope we can beat them but not sure about the cavalier attitude blowing teams off like we are the Cavs, Clippers or Warriors. We have to work our ass off and be at full strength to barely win. I will take the games that we squeak out but really?

The Timberwolves are 4-8. Last year they finished 29-53. If they are not a cupcake, then no team is except for maybe Philadelphia.

And you missed the general idea I offered that this is a clean slate. We finally got back Horford and Jae, 40% of the starting lineup including our best player. There's no point in bringing up the loss to the Pelicans under that scenario.

This forum is obviously the biggest for Celtics basketball, but it quickly gets very old to consistently see so many negative posts day after day unless the team is always dialed in and on a roll.

Kelly Olynyk gave us a jump start. The last two games he was definitely not himself or hit a slump. So many forget about how well he did coming back raw and instead are using the last two games to condemn him as a scrub. Maybe there will be some games he should play less. Styles make the fight. It's going to take ten or eleven guys to maximize this team's potential.

I think some games Isaiah should hit the bench more. They are rare, but if he can't hit his shot nor defend that well, then it's clearly time to go to Plan B.

The only players we can probably depend on no matter who is the opponent are Bradley, Crowder and Horford. Those are our best two-way players. We have been missing two-thirds of that trifecta most of the season.

Okay, let's make tonight a barometer game then. Maybe it's wrong to put so much meaning on any one game, but if we lose tonight, I will admit there are cracks in my green goggles. However, I see us winning the next two and then the true barometer becomes the home game against the Spurs.

We should not lose many games to 25-30 win teams. Those kind of losses end up described as trap games. The key to a top record is to stay relatively healthy, win at home, compete on the road, beat the teams that one should and not get blown off the court by elite teams. This is why we watch, to find out how good we are or how far we still have to go.

Subsequently, there is nothing to take from the Golden State game. If we are at full strength for the next one (and them too), then perhaps we can judge how good we are in comparison to the elites. The same applies to the Cleveland loss.

I see only two teams clearly above us. The season has only just started. Why expect mediocrity going forward? No one knows what will happen.

We actually played quite well against the Warriors until the dam broke. Maybe we would have lost anyway if Horford and Jae played. But they didn't, so we just don't know what it means.

[kozlodoev]

The next two games are cupcakes against Minnesota and Brooklyn.

Sounds like an easy split. 

[CelticPride2016]

The next two games are cupcakes against Minnesota and Brooklyn.

Sounds like an easy split. 

It looks like we are toying with Minnesota. I think we will win both. We're a completely different team with Horford and Crowder back. I didn't know Horford was so good at blocking shots and scoring. I don't understand why 2008 KG would be considered that much better than him if at all. Horford can pass and dribble. He looks stronger than KG.

His Hawks won a lot of games some years. Why not us?