Celtics exposed?

[Sign5]

They'll make the playoffs but definitely an overrated squad. Constantly in the Mil/Philly/healthy brook talks but they're at least 1-2 tiers below. Good amount of talent but very flawed.

[mg]

Initially I thought signing Kemba was a good idea to replace Kyrie. It wasn't going to cost any tangible asset other than the salary, so why not? Of course Horford ended up walking. They can still have a fun season but the defensive issues at the 4 and 5 are severe. Not that it matters but they cannot match up at all with the Lakers or Sixers' frontcourts. I don't know how much longer Ainge will be there but maybe he should keep one eye on the future and rebuilding around Tatum assuming he proves to be a franchise type player moving forward.

[NY 567]

Nothing to worry about, Tatum is going to average 32/7 shooting 49/45 and Brown is going to average 24/6/6 shooting 46/38. They have the two best prospects in the last 30 years on their team, everything is going to work out for them.

[Illmatic12]

They’ll make the playoffs but will probably have to make a midseason trade for frontcourt reinforcement

[NotACat]

Nothing to worry about, Tatum is going to average 32/7 shooting 49/45 and Brown is going to average 24/6/6 shooting 46/38. They have the two best prospects in the last 30 years on their team, everything is going to work out for them.

[SmartWentCrazy]

I like how the Knicks fan casually slips Morris in with Baynes and Horford in terms of defense lost

Morris defense is still better than Kanter

Cool— it still sucks though.

[macNcheese3]

The Celtics aren't neccesarily better than last year. According to Ainge, Hayward is back to pre injury form. I find that hard to believe. Regardless, they make the playoffs, but I don't see them making any serious noise. Bound for a first or 2nd round exit at best.

[macNcheese3]

I like how the Knicks fan casually slips Morris in with Baynes and Horford in terms of defense lost

Morris defense is still better than Kanter

Cool— it still sucks though.

Give me Kanter over Morris any day. He plays with less excuses and he showed that last year during the playoffs with the Blazers. He shined in that system. How he fairs off this year remains to be seen.

[GeorgeMarcus]

The Celtics aren't neccesarily better than last year. According to Ainge, Hayward is back to pre injury form. I find that hard to believe. Regardless, they make the playoffs, but I don't see them making any serious noise. Bound for a first or 2nd round exit at best.

They are necessarily worse. Horford was the most important piece to their success. Been that way for a few years. I like the Kemba fit a little better than the Kyrie fit, but the difference there is negligible.

Their best hope is for the young guys to take a significant next step.

[SmartWentCrazy]

Morris was a horrific defender last season and Baynes sucked according to realgm

Interesting how things change

when did baynes ever suck? he is someone constantly on the T&T board other teams fans wanted coming their way. maybe he wasnt the demi-gods C's fans thought he was, but he is as solid a backup C you will find and certainly a plus defender

Morris was certainly not a horrific defender by any measure or the eye test. boston was 5.1 points per 100 possesions better with morris on the floor defensively. middle of the pack in RPM, middle of the pack in RAPM.

plus you could put him on the court to stretch the floor and sitll have ok size and defense vs bigs. boston doesnt have that now. any floor spacer at the 4 (tatum, hayward, or brown) is going to be small and make their interior D even worse.

and compared to kanter, morris is a DPOTY type

A) you misunderstand DRTG— its points allowed per 100 possessions and the team allowed 5-6 more points with him on the court than off it.

B) He was a negative defender per pretty much every advanced stat.

Hes not a good defender at all.

[SmartWentCrazy]

Morris defense is still better than Kanter

Cool— it still sucks though.

Give me Kanter over Morris any day. He plays with less excuses and he showed that last year during the playoffs with the Blazers. He shined in that system. How he fairs off this year remains to be seen.

This is called a straw man argument. You Raptors fans are arguing something I am not. Marcus is a very bad defender. Period.

I dont care how he is relative to anyone else— including him in the same sentence as Baynes and Horford with respect to defense lost is laughable homerism.

[HotelVitale]

Funny how the BSPN analysts couldn't see this coming .No interior defense... You lose Morris, Horford, and Baynes, replace that with Kanter and what did they expect?Instead of talking about the Celts being a top 4 Eastern team and whether Kemba could replace Kyrie , they needed to be asking if they can even make the playoffs as a "donut" team.

Standard reminder that there is no 'ESPN'--the network employs dozens of writers and personalities, many of whom are idiots and some of whom are pretty sharp. Saying 'BSPN' did X or Y makes no sense since there's virtually nothing Kevin Pelton and Zach Lowe are going to agree with Skip Bayless and Ryan Hollins about.

[CoP]

Funny how the BSPN analysts couldn't see this coming .No interior defense... You lose Morris, Horford, and Baynes, replace that with Kanter and what did they expect?Instead of talking about the Celts being a top 4 Eastern team and whether Kemba could replace Kyrie , they needed to be asking if they can even make the playoffs as a "donut" team.

Standard reminder that there is no 'ESPN'--the network employs dozens of writers and personalities, many of whom are idiots and some of whom are pretty sharp. Saying 'BSPN' did X or Y makes no sense since there's virtually nothing Kevin Pelton and Zach Lowe are going to agree with Skip Bayless and Ryan Hollins about.

There is also this quote from a "BSPN" story in July. Plenty of people, including on ESPN, saw this coming, so his comment is a typical strawman. From https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/27189056/nba-power-rankings-league-best-teams-now :

It will be much more difficult to make up for losing Horford. Enes Kanter will likely be Boston's starting center, with second-year big man Robert Williams III, Frenchman Vincent Poirier and German Daniel Theis behind him. They will give Boston a few ways to play, but not nearly at the same level of skill and poise that Horford, one of the league's most versatile bigs, did. That, in turn, puts a ceiling on just how good Boston can be -- regardless of how much growth the Celtics get from young wings Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.

[pustoolio]

Nothing to worry about, Tatum is going to average 32/7 shooting 49/45 and Brown is going to average 24/6/6 shooting 46/38. They have the two best prospects in the last 30 years on their team, everything is going to work out for them.

Did you run out of green ink?

[Darth Celtic]

First preseason game with a 16 man rotation seemingly random for a reason (brad likes to throw out many different looks to get data on what works and what doesn't) and what we get out of it is "celtics exposed"? Keep doing you GB.

At least this is a step up from the NBA2k low rated bench thread. Oh yeah, we won the game. Did we win the preseason yet or get some award for that?

[macNcheese3]

The Celtics aren't neccesarily better than last year. According to Ainge, Hayward is back to pre injury form. I find that hard to believe. Regardless, they make the playoffs, but I don't see them making any serious noise. Bound for a first or 2nd round exit at best.

They are necessarily worse. Horford was the most important piece to their success. Been that way for a few years. I like the Kemba fit a little better than the Kyrie fit, but the difference there is negligible.

Their best hope is for the young guys to take a significant next step.

Exactly my point.

[macNcheese3]

Cool— it still sucks though.

Give me Kanter over Morris any day. He plays with less excuses and he showed that last year during the playoffs with the Blazers. He shined in that system. How he fairs off this year remains to be seen.

This is called a straw man argument. You Raptors fans are arguing something I am not. Marcus is a very bad defender. Period.

I dont care how he is relative to anyone else— including him in the same sentence as Baynes and Horford with respect to defense lost is laughable homerism.

What does being a Raptors fan have to do with anything? The moral of the story is that’s the opinion I have and that’s that. Maybe Raptors fans see something you clearly don’t. Take it how you want too.

[MagicBagley18]

They’ll win between 48-52 games and lose in the 2nd round and once again those same talking heads will be slobbering brads nuts

[SmartWentCrazy]

Give me Kanter over Morris any day. He plays with less excuses and he showed that last year during the playoffs with the Blazers. He shined in that system. How he fairs off this year remains to be seen.

This is called a straw man argument. You Raptors fans are arguing something I am not. Marcus is a very bad defender. Period.

I dont care how he is relative to anyone else— including him in the same sentence as Baynes and Horford with respect to defense lost is laughable homerism.

What does being a Raptors fan have to do with anything? The moral of the story is that’s the opinion I have and that’s that. Maybe Raptors fans see something you clearly don’t. Take it how you want too.

Its grouping the two of you trying to make a straw man argument together.

Morris is a very bad defender. Period. Thats my argument. Nothing about Kanter. You keep going there though.

[macNcheese3]

This is called a straw man argument. You Raptors fans are arguing something I am not. Marcus is a very bad defender. Period.

I dont care how he is relative to anyone else— including him in the same sentence as Baynes and Horford with respect to defense lost is laughable homerism.

What does being a Raptors fan have to do with anything? The moral of the story is that’s the opinion I have and that’s that. Maybe Raptors fans see something you clearly don’t. Take it how you want too.

Its grouping the two of you trying to make a straw man argument together.

Morris is a very bad defender. Period. Thats my argument. Nothing about Kanter. You keep going there though.

Awesome.