10 things after the last preseason game

[Gant]

1) Everyone Loves Green

There’s been no basking in the warm embers of “disrespect” this preseason. Just about every expert out there feels the Celtics are poised to move up. The egghead analytic crowd is leading the way. Thank you, benevolent Poindexters.


2) Dark Night

The Celtics have no stars. None. It will be rarely said, going into a game, that Boston has the best player on the floor. Many times, they won’t have the second or even the third. But...


3) Depth Charge

...The Celtics are deep. So deep injuries rarely matter. So deep the second unit is equal or better than the starters. So deep a third stringer might outplay his starting counterpart. Foul trouble doesn’t hurt. Rotations become fluid and are almost insanely hard to guess.


4) Play How Many?

Can Brad Stevens take advantage of all that depth? Will he just keep rotating fresh bodies into the game, 48/82? Will they wear down their opponents quarter after quarter, month after month, with short minutes and fresh legs? Is this team immune to the strains of back to backs?


5) Law of Averages

Almost top to bottom, the roster is comprised of players that outwardly seem average. Overall, nobody looks really great and nobody looks really bad.


6) But They’re Not Average

This team is filled with players with remarkable skills. It’s just that a full package of skills does not reside in any one person. You’ve got some great shooters, a great scorer, a slew of exceptional perimeter defenders, and a whole bunch of oddities: dribbling and passing big men, guards that score inside, flexibility in hybrid wings imported from both the front and backcourts… they all work hard and together.


6) The Downside

They all have flaws. They all have weaknesses. What you need is a good coach (done) who can mix and match these strengths, while hiding their undeniable shortcomings.


7) Next Year's Roster Crunch

If you think it’s crunched now, wait until next year. Add three or more first rounders. Add another second round gem.


8) Trades

….That means Danny is just getting warmed up. There was a ridiculous amount of roster rearranging last season, but THIS (finally) is the time the deals really begin to pay off. Between now and the next summer league, there will be tremendous asset movement.

There are only 15 slots. The team has what, 14 bona fide players now? Add in all those draft picks, some of which might be extremely valuable… well you can imagine what’s coming.


9) No Star Revisited

This might not be true by season’s end. I’ve got good vibes about Marcus Smart.


10) Obligatory Robert Upshaw Commercial

Robert Upshaw was cut by the Lakers. If he doesn't get picked up by anyone, he's a guy to keep an eye on every once in a while in the D-league. He's already won the coveted Most-Likely-To-Do-Something-Sort-Of-Like-Hassan-Whiteside-In-A-Few-Years-If-He-Doesn't-Use-Too-Many-Drugs award.


Finally, A Prayer

Oh mighty Hoop Lords, in the name of everything holy, please send a long agile shot blocker to the Celtics.

[VeryMuchWoke]

4) Play How Many?

Can Brad Stevens take advantage of all that depth? Will he just keep rotating fresh bodies into the game, 48/82? Will they wear down their opponents quarter after quarter, month after month, with short minutes and fresh legs? Is this team immune to the strains of back to backs?

One thing that has really impressed me is how fast we've been playing. It seems like after every defensive possession guys are running hard and pushing the ball up the floor. It's a great way to both capitalize on our depth and maximize the relative importance of guards/wings vs bigs.

[Powe-Fessional]

I like this. In terms of your 10 points:

I'm glad people are wising up to the Celtics. They're a good team of good parts with a God for a head coach. I think they're going to win the Atlantic (Currently considering parlaying the Celtics to win the Atlantic at +250 w/ OKC winning the title at +850).

The depth of this team is going to be it's real strength obviously. Boston has an all defensive lineup (Smart, Bradley, Crowder, Mickey/Sullinger [I know, but who else are you going to put there?], Amir) and an all offensive lineup (IT, Hunter, Turner, Lee, Olynyk). I don't think people are factoring in how much that is going to screw with people. You look at Golden State last year, and obviously it won't nearly as well because Boston doesn't have the star power, but one of their biggest assets was their depth. Green could switch defensively on almost anyone from 3-5, they could do a lineup of all ball-handlers (Steph, Klay, Iggy, Livingston, Green, Barbosa), all defense, all shooting, etc. How did they beat the Cavs? Well partly because after the Cavs made an adjustment to go big in games two and three, Golden State countered with more Iggy and Green.

Boston is as primed as anyone to trade for that "star" this year. That Nets pick is GOLD. Danny knows it, the league knows it. I think a lot of GM's are banking on Boston's roster crunch hurting them. The problem is all of those picks are going to allow Danny to pretty much do whatever he wants (THANK YOU BILLY KING). The Celtics have potentially three straight years of top-5 picks that they don't have to tank for, in addition to another potential top-10 pick this year. Cubes talked about it recently, but those picks are worth a ton because of the rookie pay scale. This is something everyone on here has discussed ad nauseum, but this is a rare situation so let's brag about it. I'd keep an eye on Paul George. Could end up being a problem over in Indy. Him and Jimmy Butler are two guys that I could see making a lot of noise if things don't work out right away. The rest of the teams in the NBA either have a disgruntled start we already know about (Melo, Boogie) or aren't trading anyone away.

Oh yeah, and Marcus Smart is the man. Grabbing a gym rat that already had elite NBA-level defensive skills was a good idea. He will continue to improve. Vision has been a huge plus in the preseason. He's been attacking more. Now I think it's really just the long range jumper that needs more improvement, but he's still competent from there.

The Hoop Lords blessed Boston with one of those guys already, but Jordan Mickey is a year or two away from being that guy. Although they could use someone longer in the future.

My own observation:

I find the defensive metrics and rebounding numbers interesting. Boston led all NBA teams in the preseason in total rebounds, which is something I thought I'd never say ever (although yeah it's only 7 games). They had a real tough time cleaning up the glass last year. Lee and Amir are two guys that helped with that dramatically. And that increase in rebounding and rebounding efficiency directly correlates with Boston's second best defensive rating in the preseason (only behind Memphis). Boston plays sound defense, They're physical, can switch a ton of PnR's, and they have a good, team defensive IQ (EVEN JAMES YOUNG KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING). A good defensive possession always ends with a rebound. When you add the increase in rebounding with a full season of Jae and Amir you have potential for a top-5/top-7 defensive unit. Sprinkle that in with Boston's high-tempo offense that they can constantly run because they are always rotating fresh guys in and you have a team that is going to wear down opponents night in and night out.

[gocelts]

Nice job as usual Gant!

One more item to plug is David Lee and Sully.

Some folks actually thought that sending out Wallace was a poor trade although this preseason supported that Lee is definetly going to contribute this year.

On the flip side with Sully, he neither proved or disproved that we must keep him. He just sort of showed up, gobbled some boards, but didn't separate himself as the best power forward on the roster and he definitely didn't show a "transformation" as he hyped.

[Fidel Sarcasmo]

great thread.

[jirrit]

Nailed it again Gant.

[cloverleaf]

I like this. In terms of your 10 points:

I'm glad people are wising up to the Celtics. They're a good team of good parts with a God for a head coach. I think they're going to win the Atlantic (Currently considering parlaying the Celtics to win the Atlantic at +250 w/ OKC winning the title at +850).

The depth of this team is going to be it's real strength obviously. Boston has an all defensive lineup (Smart, Bradley, Crowder, Mickey/Sullinger [I know, but who else are you going to put there?], Amir) and an all offensive lineup (IT, Hunter, Turner, Lee, Olynyk). I don't think people are factoring in how much that is going to screw with people. You look at Golden State last year, and obviously it won't nearly as well because Boston doesn't have the star power, but one of their biggest assets was their depth. Green could switch defensively on almost anyone from 3-5, they could do a lineup of all ball-handlers (Steph, Klay, Iggy, Livingston, Green, Barbosa), all defense, all shooting, etc. How did they beat the Cavs? Well partly because after the Cavs made an adjustment to go big in games two and three, Golden State countered with more Iggy and Green.

Boston is as primed as anyone to trade for that "star" this year. That Nets pick is GOLD. Danny knows it, the league knows it. I think a lot of GM's are banking on Boston's roster crunch hurting them. The problem is all of those picks are going to allow Danny to pretty much do whatever he wants (THANK YOU BILLY KING). The Celtics have potentially three straight years of top-5 picks that they don't have to tank for, in addition to another potential top-10 pick this year. Cubes talked about it recently, but those picks are worth a ton because of the rookie pay scale. This is something everyone on here has discussed ad nauseum, but this is a rare situation so let's brag about it. I'd keep an eye on Paul George. Could end up being a problem over in Indy. Him and Jimmy Butler are two guys that I could see making a lot of noise if things don't work out right away. The rest of the teams in the NBA either have a disgruntled start we already know about (Melo, Boogie) or aren't trading anyone away.

Oh yeah, and Marcus Smart is the man. Grabbing a gym rat that already had elite NBA-level defensive skills was a good idea. He will continue to improve. Vision has been a huge plus in the preseason. He's been attacking more. Now I think it's really just the long range jumper that needs more improvement, but he's still competent from there.

The Hoop Lords blessed Boston with one of those guys already, but Jordan Mickey is a year or two away from being that guy. Although they could use someone longer in the future.

My own observation:

I find the defensive metrics and rebounding numbers interesting. Boston led all NBA teams in the preseason in total rebounds, which is something I thought I'd never say ever (although yeah it's only 7 games). They had a real tough time cleaning up the glass last year. Lee and Amir are two guys that helped with that dramatically. And that increase in rebounding and rebounding efficiency directly correlates with Boston's second best defensive rating in the preseason (only behind Memphis). Boston plays sound defense, They're physical, can switch a ton of PnR's, and they have a good, team defensive IQ (EVEN JAMES YOUNG KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING). A good defensive possession always ends with a rebound. When you add the increase in rebounding with a full season of Jae and Amir you have potential for a top-5/top-7 defensive unit. Sprinkle that in with Boston's high-tempo offense that they can constantly run because they are always rotating fresh guys in and you have a team that is going to wear down opponents night in and night out.

One big caveat on these rebound and other numbers: the C's must have had the weakest preseason opposition, and then even that was further diluted by a couple of still-lesser international teams.

[Powe-Fessional]

I like this. In terms of your 10 points:

I'm glad people are wising up to the Celtics. They're a good team of good parts with a God for a head coach. I think they're going to win the Atlantic (Currently considering parlaying the Celtics to win the Atlantic at +250 w/ OKC winning the title at +850).

The depth of this team is going to be it's real strength obviously. Boston has an all defensive lineup (Smart, Bradley, Crowder, Mickey/Sullinger [I know, but who else are you going to put there?], Amir) and an all offensive lineup (IT, Hunter, Turner, Lee, Olynyk). I don't think people are factoring in how much that is going to screw with people. You look at Golden State last year, and obviously it won't nearly as well because Boston doesn't have the star power, but one of their biggest assets was their depth. Green could switch defensively on almost anyone from 3-5, they could do a lineup of all ball-handlers (Steph, Klay, Iggy, Livingston, Green, Barbosa), all defense, all shooting, etc. How did they beat the Cavs? Well partly because after the Cavs made an adjustment to go big in games two and three, Golden State countered with more Iggy and Green.

Boston is as primed as anyone to trade for that "star" this year. That Nets pick is GOLD. Danny knows it, the league knows it. I think a lot of GM's are banking on Boston's roster crunch hurting them. The problem is all of those picks are going to allow Danny to pretty much do whatever he wants (THANK YOU BILLY KING). The Celtics have potentially three straight years of top-5 picks that they don't have to tank for, in addition to another potential top-10 pick this year. Cubes talked about it recently, but those picks are worth a ton because of the rookie pay scale. This is something everyone on here has discussed ad nauseum, but this is a rare situation so let's brag about it. I'd keep an eye on Paul George. Could end up being a problem over in Indy. Him and Jimmy Butler are two guys that I could see making a lot of noise if things don't work out right away. The rest of the teams in the NBA either have a disgruntled start we already know about (Melo, Boogie) or aren't trading anyone away.

Oh yeah, and Marcus Smart is the man. Grabbing a gym rat that already had elite NBA-level defensive skills was a good idea. He will continue to improve. Vision has been a huge plus in the preseason. He's been attacking more. Now I think it's really just the long range jumper that needs more improvement, but he's still competent from there.

The Hoop Lords blessed Boston with one of those guys already, but Jordan Mickey is a year or two away from being that guy. Although they could use someone longer in the future.

My own observation:

I find the defensive metrics and rebounding numbers interesting. Boston led all NBA teams in the preseason in total rebounds, which is something I thought I'd never say ever (although yeah it's only 7 games). They had a real tough time cleaning up the glass last year. Lee and Amir are two guys that helped with that dramatically. And that increase in rebounding and rebounding efficiency directly correlates with Boston's second best defensive rating in the preseason (only behind Memphis). Boston plays sound defense, They're physical, can switch a ton of PnR's, and they have a good, team defensive IQ (EVEN JAMES YOUNG KNOWS WHAT HE'S DOING). A good defensive possession always ends with a rebound. When you add the increase in rebounding with a full season of Jae and Amir you have potential for a top-5/top-7 defensive unit. Sprinkle that in with Boston's high-tempo offense that they can constantly run because they are always rotating fresh guys in and you have a team that is going to wear down opponents night in and night out.

One big caveat on these rebound and other numbers: the C's must have had the weakest preseason opposition, and then even that was further diluted by a couple of still-lesser international teams.

In complete agreement. But it's something to watch for as the season progresses. I like how they're going to start out with a tougher schedule. Sure, they get a layup opening night with Philly, who had a tough time getting to 70 points in a preseason game. But then Toronto, San Antonio, the new-look Pacers, Wizards, Bucks with Monroe, Pacers again, Hawks, Thunder, and Rockets to open the season. A good sample size with tough competition, no doubt.

[truth18]

Always dig these threads, Gant. And nice to have a couple preseason Powefessional posts.

[chakdaddy]

Even I'm feeling vaguely optimistic after feeling really negative since the draft.

What's our upside? 45-50 win playoff team, 3 Brooklyn high lotto picks for star power, and an attractive FA destination for 1 or 2 stars to build a megateam with preexisting depth and infusions of lottery talent

What's the downside? A 35-40 win low lotto / borderline playoff team, 3 Brooklyn low lotto picks, and nobody bites in FA. But heck..the Brooklyn picks added to the current depth is still kind of promising; not necessarily the doomsday treadmill I've been envisioning.