Hard times reading the ol' Cblog

[trickybilly]

It seems like there are so many people on here who don't understand so many parts of what is going on at the moment. Some truly obvious things (to me anyway) need to be stated over and over again.

One thing LB33 is  good for is reminding everyone that you simply cannot win a ring without a superstar nowadays (Detroit was an anomaly that will probably never happen again), and despite Horford being reeeaaallly good (whether or not he is worth the money he got is not a completely stupid conversation, but it's pretty close to that) he is not a superstar.

We are not yet true ring contenders. We are a gritty, well coached team, with buckets of assets, just over three years removed from a complete teardown, with two years of playoff experience.

Pansies, softies, we are certainly not. Undersized, with streaky shooters we are.

Sorry, I just want to read more interesting stuff on here than the sky falling in.

[max215]

TP. No need to freak out about tonight's loss. Cleveland is a special team, defending champs, truly next level. We are not. That is not a slight; it is plain truth.

[droopdog7]

Yeah, our issue is talent.  It's pretty impressive what the team has done with the talent they have but we're not close to the top teams like Cle, whose top three players are probably better than our best player.  Nevermind that they also have the best player on the planet, who could likely beat us in a series if he was playing with the Washington Generals.

So yeah, we need a tier 1 star.  Someone who is top ten, not top 25.  Until that happens we'll continue to be try hard team and that's about it.  Frankly, we are closer to the bottom teams than we are to the top 2 right now.

[tarheelsxxiii]

Well played, OP.

[celticsclay]

I mis lb

[slightly biased bias fan]

CBlog after every Ainge move

https://youtu.be/90HhZ-pyC2Y?t=14s

[JOMVP]

As a long time lurker then member of this community I tend to agree. The thread about toughness and us being soft is a perfect example - like, did you not even watch the game? One of the reasons why we were in down the stretch is because we went back to being physical and aggressive on the defensive end.

If one thing has gone soft, its this forum - at one point this blog was easily the best in the portal for smart, intelligent basketball talk has grown into the same over-reacted, less thoughtful, and lower BBall drivel that other websites provide.

[celtics2030]

Either you guys do not read the entire thread, or you stink at reading the details.

[danglertx]

I'm pretty encouraged after tonight's loss.  We were right there at the end.  A couple plays here or there and we could have beaten the champs on the road, a night after they lost a game so they were going hard.

Our toughness is not a question in my opinion.  Crowder, Smart and Bradley are as tough as they come.  We are just a rebounder away from moving up another level.  We have young players who are getting better and what will probably be two top 5 picks in the next two years draft, even though we are likely already a top three or four team in the East.  How can anyone complain about the state of the Celtics right now?

[walker834]

We are right there. This team gets too much criticism imo.   Smart got disrespected by Lebron then lead us on an epic comeback.  We fell short is all.  Smart is going to be a star in this league.  The cavs are talented but a bunch of drama queens.  We should have utilized Crowder and Brown more inside this game.  I think we are contenders.  We could use a couple things but have a lot of pieces. 

People are listening to Marv Albert, Chris Webber and the tnt crew too much.  We are right there.

This team has a load of talent. Guys are unselfish on this team.

[moiso]

I mis lb

Not me.  Now we have more different opinions, not just one side vs another.  And more stuff about the Celtics, less stuff about the Sixers.  And not many posters quoting their own posts that were made in the past like they are important evidence.

[mr. dee]

We surely do lack the talent. Superstar? Not necessarily. 2014 Spurs have won and Duncan was no longer a superstar caliber player at that point Kawhi is also not yet at complete player he is now. So the Pistons "blunder" can happen again. We just need the "right fit" of talent, not necessary superstars. Cavs game was a good measure of what we are missing, and its not our scoring.

[Greyman]

TP to the OP. I saw from near the end of the first half onwards. When I started watching the Cavs were building a lead and making the Celtics look ordinary. The team dug deep and found ways to compete with the Championship team. Lots of contributions, lots of tough competing and some smart ways to find points. Against the top teams this is what we need to compete.

Not only is this team only a player or two away from being a contender, the Celtics have prospects playing and stashed who could help make a new era of dominance. Doubters should stay the course, the future is bright.

[walker834]

They don't have anyone who can match Bradley or Smart.  Horford failed to show up this game.  IT was right there with Kyrie.  Crowder, Brown, Amir give us a better supporting cast.  They have those 3 guys and good roleplayers too.  Shumpert, Jefferson, Thompson are more just experienced role guys.  And Thompson starts for them.  JR smith can hit big shots but he is much more erratic than Bradley. Bradley has been consistant all year. Really Gerald is more comparable to Jr than Bradley.

Lebron is the x-factor for them, but if we get Brown going and get another athletic forward or big man.

Lebron is also a jerk and doesn't always perform well when things don't go his way.

[Androslav]

The game reminded us where we are right now.
They are clearly better, they are the champs.
I can still take 2 positives;
1) Cleveland needed LBJ to play for 43 and Kyrie 41 minutes for them to secure the W.
Our best players played about 30 each (Thomas 31, AB and Al 29 mins), so there is something to ramp up when it gets more competitive later in the year.
2) I like the recent guard post-up strategy. With Kyrie working hard on both ends it adds more pressure on his game. It wasn't as tangible this game, but in a 7 game series it would pay some dividends I believe.

Work, work, work.