Looks like this is going to be a process

[fairweatherfan]

Preseason results don't mean much but the results of how we react to preseason could mean quite a bit. I'm glad Brad's publicly sounding the alarm. We can't just waltz in and expect G7 of the ECF is a baseline and improving on it is guaranteed with Gordon/Kyrie/Theis back. There's still plenty of work to be done.

[Birdman]

i really doubt Hayward will be the player he once was...he still be good but not top 30 good..horrible injury like that is hard to come back from

[Sophomore]

i really doubt Hayward will be the player he once was...he still be good but not top 30 good..horrible injury like that is hard to come back from

Give him time. He might not but he's just coming back.

[nickagneta]

i really doubt Hayward will be the player he once was...he still be good but not top 30 good..horrible injury like that is hard to come back from

You mean like Paul George didn't come back and be a great player after his gruesome injury? In the end, even though Hayward's ankle turned sideways, it was still just a broken bone. There was no ligament or muscle damage and broken bones generally heal to be as strong or even stronger than before they were broken.

Like George, I fully expect Hayward to come back and be the player he once was. But he needs to shake off the rust, get his confidence back in his body and learn how he fits in with his new team mates that he never got to blend with last year.

[droopdog7]

Like I said, I'm not concerned for the long term.  But I disagree that the preseason means nothing.  This isn't the NFL.  I am fairly sure that the 2008 Celts were blowing teams out in the preseason too.  That team just clicked while this one is pretty much a hot mess right now. 

So I'm thinking this team will start off 8-8 or something like that.  Hopefully they continue to work and don't get discouraged.

[nickagneta]

Like I said, I'm not concerned for the long term.  But I disagree that the preseason means nothing.  This isn't the NFL.  I am fairly sure that the 2008 Celts were blowing teams out in the preseason too.  That team just clicked while this one is pretty much a hot mess right now. 

So I'm thinking this team will start off 8-8 or something like that.  Hopefully they continue to work and don't get discouraged.

The 2007-08 Celtics preseason record was 4-3. Not exactly stellar or blowing people out of the water.

http://proxy.espn.gns.go.com/nba/standings?sort=losses&year=2008&order=false

And yet they went 26-3 through the end of December of 2007. Preseason is meaningless.

[droopdog7]

Like I said, I'm not concerned for the long term.  But I disagree that the preseason means nothing.  This isn't the NFL.  I am fairly sure that the 2008 Celts were blowing teams out in the preseason too.  That team just clicked while this one is pretty much a hot mess right now. 

So I'm thinking this team will start off 8-8 or something like that.  Hopefully they continue to work and don't get discouraged.

The 2007-08 Celtics preseason record was 4-3. Not exactly stellar or blowing people out of the water.

http://proxy.espn.gns.go.com/nba/standings?sort=losses&year=2008&order=false

And yet they went 26-3 through the end of December of 2007. Preseason is meaningless.

Wish I could find the actual box scores of the games.  That would be more informational.

[Moranis]

Like I said, I'm not concerned for the long term.  But I disagree that the preseason means nothing.  This isn't the NFL.  I am fairly sure that the 2008 Celts were blowing teams out in the preseason too.  That team just clicked while this one is pretty much a hot mess right now. 

So I'm thinking this team will start off 8-8 or something like that.  Hopefully they continue to work and don't get discouraged.

The 2007-08 Celtics preseason record was 4-3. Not exactly stellar or blowing people out of the water.

http://proxy.espn.gns.go.com/nba/standings?sort=losses&year=2008&order=false

And yet they went 26-3 through the end of December of 2007. Preseason is meaningless.

Wish I could find the actual box scores of the games.  That would be more informational.

http://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/bos/season/2008/seasontype/1

Yeah a 4-3 preseason followed up by a 29-3 start to the season. 

[nickagneta]

Like I said, I'm not concerned for the long term.  But I disagree that the preseason means nothing.  This isn't the NFL.  I am fairly sure that the 2008 Celts were blowing teams out in the preseason too.  That team just clicked while this one is pretty much a hot mess right now. 

So I'm thinking this team will start off 8-8 or something like that.  Hopefully they continue to work and don't get discouraged.

The 2007-08 Celtics preseason record was 4-3. Not exactly stellar or blowing people out of the water.

http://proxy.espn.gns.go.com/nba/standings?sort=losses&year=2008&order=false

And yet they went 26-3 through the end of December of 2007. Preseason is meaningless.

Wish I could find the actual box scores of the games.  That would be more informational.

What do the scores have to do with anything? They lost 3 out of seven games so in three games they didn't blow teams out of the water. If you were to judge that team via preseason, you wouldn't have thought they may have been one of the greatest Celtics teams ever.

[gift]

Like I said, I'm not concerned for the long term.  But I disagree that the preseason means nothing.  This isn't the NFL.  I am fairly sure that the 2008 Celts were blowing teams out in the preseason too.  That team just clicked while this one is pretty much a hot mess right now. 

So I'm thinking this team will start off 8-8 or something like that.  Hopefully they continue to work and don't get discouraged.

The 2007-08 Celtics preseason record was 4-3. Not exactly stellar or blowing people out of the water.

http://proxy.espn.gns.go.com/nba/standings?sort=losses&year=2008&order=false

And yet they went 26-3 through the end of December of 2007. Preseason is meaningless.

Wish I could find the actual box scores of the games.  That would be more informational.

http://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/bos/season/2008/seasontype/1

Yeah a 4-3 preseason followed up by a 29-3 start to the season.

nvm

[Big333223]

Like I said, I'm not concerned for the long term.  But I disagree that the preseason means nothing.  This isn't the NFL.  I am fairly sure that the 2008 Celts were blowing teams out in the preseason too.  That team just clicked while this one is pretty much a hot mess right now. 

So I'm thinking this team will start off 8-8 or something like that.  Hopefully they continue to work and don't get discouraged.

The 2007-08 Celtics preseason record was 4-3. Not exactly stellar or blowing people out of the water.

http://proxy.espn.gns.go.com/nba/standings?sort=losses&year=2008&order=false

And yet they went 26-3 through the end of December of 2007. Preseason is meaningless.

Wish I could find the actual box scores of the games.  That would be more informational.

http://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/bos/season/2008/seasontype/1

Yeah a 4-3 preseason followed up by a 29-3 start to the season.

Yep. The only thing I'm looking for in preseason is how do the youngsters look out on the court?

Otherwise, there's not much to be gleamed here.

[Rosco917]

We also need to remember besides finding out who will actually make the team as to the end of the bench. The Celtics are still trying to blend together the original 1st team that was curtailed by the injury to first Hayward and then Kyrie. Hayward and Kyrie have never played together and the Hayward we're now seeing is not the guy we signed as a free agent, due to that terrible injury. Just because Paul George came back quickly doesn't mean Hayward will.

The more I see Hayward the more I feel he will not be back to 100% until the all-star break. He seems to be second guessing everything he's doing out there. I hope I'm wrong. 

[Boris Badenov]

We also need to remember besides finding out who will actually make the team as to the end of the bench. The Celtics are still trying to blend together the original 1st team that was curtailed by the injury to first Hayward and then Kyrie. Hayward and Kyrie have never played together and the Hayward we're now seeing is not the guy we signed as a free agent, due to that terrible injury. Just because Paul George came back quickly doesn't mean Hayward will.

The more I see Hayward the more I feel he will not be back to 100% until the all-star break. He seems to be second guessing everything he's doing out there. I hope I'm wrong.

Managing the Hayward situation might be the most challenging coaching situation Stevens has faced.

He's looking at a situation where Hayward needs minutes to get back to full strength. On the other hand, we have two wings in Brown and Tatum who are young, talented, itching for more minutes, and probably convinced that they are a championship-caliber tandem in the making.

What happens if Hayward is getting 25 mpg and looking mediocre, and the Celts are measurably worse with him on the floor to the point where we are losing games we'd otherwise win? Can Stevens navigate that without alienating our other young wings, and/or Irving?

[adam8]

Like I said, I'm not concerned for the long term.  But I disagree that the preseason means nothing.  This isn't the NFL.  I am fairly sure that the 2008 Celts were blowing teams out in the preseason too.  That team just clicked while this one is pretty much a hot mess right now. 

So I'm thinking this team will start off 8-8 or something like that.  Hopefully they continue to work and don't get discouraged.

The 2007-08 Celtics preseason record was 4-3. Not exactly stellar or blowing people out of the water.

http://proxy.espn.gns.go.com/nba/standings?sort=losses&year=2008&order=false

And yet they went 26-3 through the end of December of 2007. Preseason is meaningless.

Wish I could find the actual box scores of the games.  That would be more informational.

http://www.espn.com/nba/team/schedule/_/name/bos/season/2008/seasontype/1

Yeah a 4-3 preseason followed up by a 29-3 start to the season.

Yep. The only thing I'm looking for in preseason is how do the youngsters look out on the court?

Otherwise, there's not much to be gleamed here.

If I recall correctly rookie Rondo hit a game tieing three at the buzzer in one of the preseason games saw his competitiveness early on.

[Surferdad]

We also need to remember besides finding out who will actually make the team as to the end of the bench. The Celtics are still trying to blend together the original 1st team that was curtailed by the injury to first Hayward and then Kyrie. Hayward and Kyrie have never played together and the Hayward we're now seeing is not the guy we signed as a free agent, due to that terrible injury. Just because Paul George came back quickly doesn't mean Hayward will.

The more I see Hayward the more I feel he will not be back to 100% until the all-star break. He seems to be second guessing everything he's doing out there. I hope I'm wrong.

I hope so too, but unfortunately I think you’re right. It may be even longer b/c Stevens will have to bench him if his performance is a detriment to the team success.