People are too pessimistic regarding our chances against the Cavs

[crimson_stallion]

i do not even want to look it up.

somebody post the scores of when they swept us in 2015

i want a comparison

Differentials:
13,8,8,8

So add em all up and they don't equal the deficit from this game.

Yeah, it's embarrassing.  There is no other word for it.  I sure hope free agents don't judge Boston for this, because if I were one I would.  I would watch this #1 seed utterly falling apart at the seams and getting ripped to shreds, and I would say "on second thought...maybe not wise to go there".

I can handle a team that loses games, but I cannot handle a team that flat out doesn't compete.

where are the free agents that will dare judge this team? Oh yeah they have gone fishing.

At least they went fishing knowing in their hearts that they put up a fight.

Paul George went fishing knowing that the Pacers made Cleveland fight hard for every victory.

Utah went fishing knowing that they made Golden State fight hard for ever victory.

We are on route to going fishing knowing that we laid down and surrendered in embarrassing fashion without putting up anything remotely resembling a fight. 

At this point, I think those other guys probably feel better.

[Future Celtics Owner]

I just hope we can win at least one game in this series for Al's sake.

You make a decision to go to a certain ball club for a reason. That reason is usually the prospect of winning, or, more accurately, getting closer to winning than you have got before.

The plucky 2015 playoff Atlanta Hawks were swept by, including a demoralizing Game 4 blowout. I don't want that to happen again to poor Al..

Poor Al?!?  Seriously???

Al has been a big part of the reason why we are getting our asses handed to us in this series.  With Thomas playing hurt, Al Horford (our $30M man) should be the first man to stand up and take his game to another level. 

He should be the veteran leader to pull these guys together the get them in line.

Instead he's been out there getting absolutely ****slapped by Kevin Love (who averaged 13 PPG prior to this series) and Tristan freaking Thompson.

I get that he's been great in the Chicago series and in the Washington series, but he's getting paid like a superstar - he is SUPPOSED to be great. 

There are only three guys playing like the believe in this series, and Al Horford is not one of them.  Bradley is, Smart is, Brown is.  That's it. 

This "poor al" is not poor at all - he's as responsible for our epic breakdown as anybody.

LOL poor Al.

It's like he's non existent. I don't even know if we added another big what front-court position Al should play. I'm scared of putting Al at the 4 next season and I'm concerned we do not get enough rebounding/ defense if we put him at the 5. Good thing if a player does not play up to his contract you can just cut them like in the NFL....good joke.

[crimson_stallion]

At the start, I said that we can beat Cleveland - but only if we play like we believe it.  I wasn't wrong.  We can beat Cleveleand.  We have the talent to beat them. 

But after the way these playoffs have gone, it's clear that we do not have the heart.

We never had the talent IMO. We are a good regular season team as constructed but not a contender. That does not mean we do not have heart, IMO our organization/ coach and it's players posses tremendous integrity and heart. IMO heart is what got us the #1 seed and got us this far.....just my opinion.

We lost two straight games to a #8 seed (who barely made the playoffs) on our home court.  There is a very reasonable argument that we probably would have been swept by that #8 seed if not for the fact that their starting PG got injured after game 2 and missed the rest of the series - for all we know, that Rondo injury is the only reason we win that series.

Then we allow ourselves to start game one 0-16 to the Wizards, eventually getting down by well over 20 points before luckily making a big run and stealing back the game.  Then we go back to Washington and do exactly the same thing - allowing ourselves to get into a massive early hole, and eventually getting blown out in both games.

Then we finally drag out a win in that series, only to get blown out in a whole other fashion in the first two games against Cleveland the following series. 

Where is this heart that you speak of?  Because I haven't seen much off it, beyond the occasional flashes here and there.

If the Big 3 Celtics lost two blowouts to the Wizards like we did, that night KG or Pierce would have called a player only meeting, lit a fire under everybody's ass, and then the rest of the series they would play like their life depended on it. 

This team has no leadership.  There's nobody to go light a fire under this teams ass and push them to pick themselves up.  Coach Stevens is too nice.  Horford is too nice.  Which is great in a way, but we need fire.  We need somebody who hates losing more then anything in the world. 

We seem to have guys who want to win, but we don't seem to have any guys who hate losing so much that they will fight tot he death for a victory.  Guys with the Kobe / KG / Pierce mentality.

Clevleand don't have that mentality either, but they can get by without it - they have Lebron.  The Celtics don't have Lebron - we cant afford to cruise.  We need to play every game like it's our last, otherwise we will get what happened these past two games.

[CelticSooner]

At the start, I said that we can beat Cleveland - but only if we play like we believe it.  I wasn't wrong.  We can beat Cleveleand.  We have the talent to beat them. 

But after the way these playoffs have gone, it's clear that we do not have the heart.

No it's a complete mismatch talent wise. That's the difference between winning a round or two versus being a contender. Playing hard is great but talent wins in the NBA. They have a top 5 player all time on their team!

[Future Celtics Owner]

i do not even want to look it up.

somebody post the scores of when they swept us in 2015

i want a comparison

Differentials:
13,8,8,8

So add em all up and they don't equal the deficit from this game.

Yeah, it's embarrassing.  There is no other word for it.  I sure hope free agents don't judge Boston for this, because if I were one I would.  I would watch this #1 seed utterly falling apart at the seams and getting ripped to shreds, and I would say "on second thought...maybe not wise to go there".

I can handle a team that loses games, but I cannot handle a team that flat out doesn't compete.

where are the free agents that will dare judge this team? Oh yeah they have gone fishing.

At least they went fishing knowing in their hearts that they put up a fight.

Paul George went fishing knowing that the Pacers made Cleveland fight hard for every victory.

Utah went fishing knowing that they made Golden State fight hard for ever victory.

We are on route to going fishing knowing that we laid down and surrendered in embarrassing fashion without putting up anything remotely resembling a fight. 

At this point, I think those other guys probably feel better.

Ya I hope that does not truly sway a FA. I was happy we were playing the Cavs, still am, bc they are the best way for us to truly gauge ourselves against the 1 EC team that will def be contending for the next 2-3 years.

I'd take Blake over Gordon right now, even though he's hurt, to finish this series.

[Future Celtics Owner]

At the start, I said that we can beat Cleveland - but only if we play like we believe it.  I wasn't wrong.  We can beat Cleveleand.  We have the talent to beat them. 

But after the way these playoffs have gone, it's clear that we do not have the heart.

No it's a complete mismatch talent wise. That's the difference between winning a round or two versus being a contender. Playing hard is great but talent wins in the NBA. They have a top 5 player all time on their team!

The Cavs have talent. But it's the way they are playing together and passing the ball and executing everything on both sides.
Love has always been up and down for them, obv Love is a great player, but they are truly being made better by Lebron...never thought I'd admit that.

[jpotter33]

Just pat yourself on the back some more.  Good Lord, get  over yourself with this "fragile ego" nonsense. Classic "get off my lawn" drivel. 

I am a big boy and I don't need other people telling it will be ok or pats on the back.  I would say from your reaction you definitely have a fragile ego and you pretty much validated my statement.

Pretty much everyone agreed that the Cavs would win this series, including me. I just said it was premature to say they were necessarily going to be swept, and I still stand by that. The Celtics SHOULD be making this a competitive series. Nobody predicted that they would come out this timid, scared, and defeated. Obviously the Wiz series took more out of them than most thought, and that combined with them fearing the Cavs has turned this series into a blowout.

Were your parents flower children? I just think all the positive thought stuff is hippy bull crap.   We are a work in progress.  I love the team and you love the team.   I want us to win as much as you do,probably more because I live in Ohio and get it from the Cavs fans after every loss.

I think we are both disappointed in this team right now.  Pessimism seems warranted in this case.

Lol whatever you say, brah. I love that I'm being called the hippey optimist now when all season long I was labeled a pessimist - there's no winning here! 

But I'll agree with you that the pessimism for this current group is warranted. Unless we sign a big-time free agent and get some more size and scoring this summer, I think we should aim more for the future. I have absolutely zero interest in running this same basic team back with IT extended for big money this summer. And honestly, if Fultz looks starter-worthy by year 2, then I'd rather pay AB than IT.

Ideally, by 2018-2019 I'd like to see a starting lineup of Fultz, AB, Jaylen, FA Big, and Al.

[Drucci]

Turns out some of us (me included) were too optimistic.

[iadera]

Wish we lost Game 7 against WSH...

[Celtics4ever]

Lol whatever you say, brah. I love that I'm being called the hippey optimist now when all season long I was labeled a pessimist - there's no winning here

TP to you

Wish we lost Game 7 against WSH...

I hate losing to Cavs almost as much as I hate losing to the Fakers.