I think someone's numbers are off. Not sure the source of 8-3 heading into Miami, but according to the stats I'm looking at right now from bball-reference, Thomas/Horford/Crowder have played 13 games together (9-4 record) and Thomas/Horford/Crowder/Smart have played 10 games together (7-3)...
I tracked down the info. Sorry for not nailing it better.
This is from a Boston Globe article:
When the Celtics have been healthy, they have been a tough out; and that’s exactly what they were this past week after Isaiah Thomas returned from a groin injury. The 5-foot-9 point guard led Boston to wins over the Hornets and Heat, improving the team’s record to 9-3 with its starting five fully intact.
While the year has gone anything but smoothly so far, the above was the basic point.
As to the quality of opponents, I recognize that you and others are correct we haven't beaten many good teams. The grain of salt must be taken for both negative and positive evaluations.
We almost beat Houston.
We are beating the scrub teams.
Memphis has quite a home court advantage when they have the refs protecting their bully ball. If basketball was combined with football, the Grizzlies would be the favorite to win everything. And Scal says he no longer understands what is a common foul, a flagrant one or a flagrant two.
I don't think the NBA needs to be turned into figure skating with no contact, but it is too long a season with injuries playing a big role seemingly every year for every team. Basketball is clearly tilted in favor of teams with the best, most strong-willed players. Maybe that has a bit to do with the refs' stars versus scrubs officiating system. Maybe it's a bit to do with basketball as boxing in which the best of the best have an extreme in-built advantage. It is a form of the rich getting richer. For this reason, I can understand why some folks are nervous and want a super duper trade to have happened yesterday.
Oh, and although we didn't play well against Toronto, we didn't get pounded. We didn't look out of their league. The same result happened against the Spurs and Cleveland. We almost beat Oklahoma and Houston.
And the rebounding problem seems to be a result of the system and is a work in progress. The Celtics like to have a guard rebound. It's not like Avery took his own initiative and has emerged as a hidden rebounder.
The 2008 Celtics weren't that good at rebounding if I remember correctly. They were very good at shooting unlike the current team.
Danny seems to be going for a mix of offense and defense. Memphis will never win anything because they are too top-heavy for defense and bullying.
We were in jeopardy last night of breaking the modern record for least scoring ever in a game.
By the end of it, Scal and Mike were discussing whether good offense or good defense wins in the end.
Memphis showed that good offense will beat them.
The Celtics showed tremendous composure last night. Memphis is incredible for defense. That felt like playoff defense.
But we kept sticking around. Memphis looked awful on offense. When push comes to shove, they basically have Gasol and Conley, and that's pretty much it. They should have had a 20-30 point lead the way they shut us down. It would get up around 17, but as the second half progressed, it became apparent Memphis cannot stop great offense.
Brad made some good decisions last night. Smart was not going to help us too much because we were behind and his shooting is clearly broken.
Smart and Crowder could easily fit into the Grizzlies' style.
Brad didn't blink and kept going to Olynyk instead of Zeller.
If Zeller can't get into games when we are being destroyed by a big center, there's just no place for him on the team. I wanted Zeller in there. I felt we needed to throw all the fouls we could at Gasol. I was wrong. Stevens was correct.
By the end of the game, Gasol looked old.
Horford looked a bit old too, but Crowder looks strong. Isaiah Thomas is clearly at the top of his game and in his prime, as is Bradley.
We need a center. Johnson and Olynyk are band-aids for what we need. Horford can't do it alone.
Smart's lousy shooting is disturbing. I will concede that is a solid worry point.
I think Olynyk is pretty good. He always looks awkward making it seem he is worse than he is. He is the opposite of graceful. But he is clearly much better at bigs defense than it looked like he would end up as.
I remember from lurking that Celtics4ever was correct from the start of the Olynyk-Sullinger era, that they just didn't look like a combination which could succeed. They were solid for offense for young players, but on defense Sully was too short and that was pre-tough guy Olynyk.
Olynyk did what he had to last night. He is active at getting steals. He had the growth spurt and it's taken him some years to get comfortable as a tall guy.
His dinosaur arms are what they are. He will never be a starting center. But when the opponents are not strong for bigs, Olynyk starts to look like Bill Walton.
Kelly Olynyk is a solid two-way player for now. I hope he continues playing well. I also want to see more efficiency with Smart. He needs to stop shooting as if he is a primary scorer.
I don't count games from 1950 when comparing teams to history. It looked like we were going to end up with 50 points total. In 1996, Miami beat Philadelphia 66-57. In 2002, the Celtics beat the Pistons 66-64.
Last night we were pitiful in the first half ending up with 31 points. We then scored 31 in the third, 35 in the fourth and 15 in a five minute overtime.
So not only was last night a signature win, it was equally impressive how it was won. We have put together some solid halves. The first half against Miami was perfect. The second half against Memphis was close to that.
Barring new injuries to top players, it feels like we are finally putting it all together and are the 50-60 win team everyone thought we had coming into the year.
When Danny goes to fortify the team, I hope he can upgrade Zeller. I don't think we need to make the big move yet. Zeller seems pointless. If Marcus Smart is a shooting guard who can't shoot, Zeller is a center who can't defend centers. Maybe Danny can trade Zeller and James Young to a Chinese team which has the role playing center we need for this bridge year. I see I wrote the name Zeller four times in this paragraph. Maybe I am able to feel positive because I am so negative towards him and Young.
And I found it funny that Gerald Green thought he was finally a big part of the team. He was standing right in the huddle during a timeout after his stint.
Green could've emerged, but he is too much like RJ Hunter. If you're a scorer, then you might want to actually hit your shots and layups. Maybe Gerald will find a role by the end of the regular season. He is like an Amir or Rasheed with NBA experience. I wasn't surprised Rozier, Brown and Smart tailed off for offense under the intense Memphis pressure.
Isaiah won us that game! Horford looked weak but somehow put together a decent performance.
It looks tough trying to integrate so many young guys into a winning team. I am like the players and can't wait for the trading deadline to pass. You can see how contracts and trading rumors can affect players. Fluctuations in playing time can affect them.
I feel a bit sorry for Gerald Green. He probably expected to be part of the rotation. We're simply better off developing Brown instead of forcing Green into a role. It was similar to when we had Humphries. He was clearly better than Olynyk and Sully, but that was a clear cut tanking season (for Marcus Smart) and Sullynyk needed their minutes.
Brad has his system. He tries to balance veterans with raw youth. He tries to be fair in figuring out who ends up in the doghouse versus who must remain as part of the core. Brad Stevens has been very stubborn with not giving up on Olynyk. He is stubborn in gutting it out with Brown. All these decisions are necessary. We are not winning anything with Green and Zeller over Brown and Olynyk. You can't play everyone. Green and Zeller are what they are and on borrowed time. Brown and Olynyk are part and parcel of the asset core. So is Marcus Smart, so he keeps getting the call to go back into the game.
Topic: Title Edit: The great Celtics are 10-3 with a healthy starting five (Read 5781 times)