DOOMSDAY for playoff seeding: #2 or #4?? (Poll)

[sam_I_am]

It’s sounds to me like a lot of fans would be happier if Celtics beat a crappy team to advance and that it would be a more successful season losing in second round to Bucks or Nets. If Celtics can’t beat Nets in first round, I’d rather call it a season. This team is either good enough to win the East or it’s not. Losing in second round after beating a pretender is not a better outcome for me.

[Red2]

We still don’t know if Brown could have played in Canada. I gotta believe that was a factor in going for the number 2 pick. Let’s go Cleveland!

[Fierce1]

It’s sounds to me like a lot of fans would be happier if Celtics beat a crappy team to advance and that it would be a more successful season losing in second round to Bucks or Nets. If Celtics can’t beat Nets in first round, I’d rather call it a season. This team is either good enough to win the East or it’s not. Losing in second round after beating a pretender is not a better outcome for me.

For me, only reason why I want to dodge the Nets is because RWill is out.

If RWill is available, I'm with you on the "if the Celts can't beat the Nets in the 1st round then call it a season".

[sam_I_am]

It’s sounds to me like a lot of fans would be happier if Celtics beat a crappy team to advance and that it would be a more successful season losing in second round to Bucks or Nets. If Celtics can’t beat Nets in first round, I’d rather call it a season. This team is either good enough to win the East or it’s not. Losing in second round after beating a pretender is not a better outcome for me.

For me, only reason why I want to dodge the Nets is because RWill is out.

If RWill is available, I'm with you on the "if the Celts can't beat the Nets in the 1st round then call it a season".

I think Theis can replace enough of RW to give us the edge in first round. A healthy Simmons in round 3 might tip the scale a lot more for Nets than a healthy RW would for Celtics in that series. We have no idea of course because we haven’t seen Simmons play but I think his defense, physicality and unselfishness to a fault makes him like 2008 Rondo was for the big 3, but a 6-10 Rondo for Kyrie and Durant. I think in first round he won’t be up to speed enough to bother Tatum and Brown.

I do know that losing on purpose was bad for the mojo. For this team this season, the turn around was all mental and that mental edge was not weakened by adopting a beta attitude.

[Tyakack]

It’s sounds to me like a lot of fans would be happier if Celtics beat a crappy team to advance and that it would be a more successful season losing in second round to Bucks or Nets. If Celtics can’t beat Nets in first round, I’d rather call it a season. This team is either good enough to win the East or it’s not. Losing in second round after beating a pretender is not a better outcome for me.

If that's what it sounds like to you, then you aren't listening. Not to mention there's one huge flaw in your line of thinking. We are missing one of our most important players and he is due back in the second round. So if we aren't good enough to beat the nets/bucks without rob but we are good enough with him, we should just call it a season huh? Everything about that logic is so terrible it makes my brain hurt just attempting to make it make sense.

We aren't the same team without rob. We already know that. That is completely irrelevant if we can survive long enough for him to get back. Hence why alot of people preferred the sure 1st round victory to give him more time to get back. Not to mention the obvious wanting the easier opponent because ya know, winning a championship is hard. Nobody goes into the postseason saying, "I want this to be as hard as possible and I want our chances of winning to be as low as possible!" Because that's moronic.

[sam_I_am]

It’s sounds to me like a lot of fans would be happier if Celtics beat a crappy team to advance and that it would be a more successful season losing in second round to Bucks or Nets. If Celtics can’t beat Nets in first round, I’d rather call it a season. This team is either good enough to win the East or it’s not. Losing in second round after beating a pretender is not a better outcome for me.

If that's what it sounds like to you, then you aren't listening. Not to mention there's one huge flaw in your line of thinking. We are missing one of our most important players and he is due back in the second round. So if we aren't good enough to beat the nets/bucks without rob but we are good enough with him, we should just call it a season huh? Everything about that logic is so terrible it makes my brain hurt just attempting to make it make sense.

We aren't the same team without rob. We already know that. That is completely irrelevant if we can survive long enough for him to get back. Hence why alot of people preferred the sure 1st round victory to give him more time to get back. Not to mention the obvious wanting the easier opponent because ya know, winning a championship is hard. Nobody goes into the postseason saying, "I want this to be as hard as possible and I want our chances of winning to be as low as possible!" Because that's moronic.

Actually, I think losing on purpose to play Toronto is moronic and only losers would do it. The Celtics are better defensively with Rob but their offense has continued to get better without him. I think the team has enough depth to beat the Nets without him and I think home court will matter more against the Bucks. I also think we are the best team to knock off the Nets and our best chance is to do it now in case Simmons comes back and gets to full speed.

I get it. You are afraid of the Nets. You want to run and hide and hoped the Bucks could take of them for you. I’m glad that Ime - who has intimate knowledge of the Nets - doesn’t coach like a loser.

[Tyakack]

It’s sounds to me like a lot of fans would be happier if Celtics beat a crappy team to advance and that it would be a more successful season losing in second round to Bucks or Nets. If Celtics can’t beat Nets in first round, I’d rather call it a season. This team is either good enough to win the East or it’s not. Losing in second round after beating a pretender is not a better outcome for me.

If that's what it sounds like to you, then you aren't listening. Not to mention there's one huge flaw in your line of thinking. We are missing one of our most important players and he is due back in the second round. So if we aren't good enough to beat the nets/bucks without rob but we are good enough with him, we should just call it a season huh? Everything about that logic is so terrible it makes my brain hurt just attempting to make it make sense.

We aren't the same team without rob. We already know that. That is completely irrelevant if we can survive long enough for him to get back. Hence why alot of people preferred the sure 1st round victory to give him more time to get back. Not to mention the obvious wanting the easier opponent because ya know, winning a championship is hard. Nobody goes into the postseason saying, "I want this to be as hard as possible and I want our chances of winning to be as low as possible!" Because that's moronic.

Actually, I think losing on purpose to play Toronto is moronic and only losers would do it. The Celtics are better defensively with Rob but their offense has continued to get better without him. I think the team has enough depth to beat the Nets without him and I think home court will matter more against the Bucks. I also think we are the best team to knock off the Nets and our best chance is to do it now in case Simmons comes back and gets to full speed.

I get it. You are afraid of the Nets. You want to run and hide and hoped the Bucks could take of them for you. I’m glad that Ime - who has intimate knowledge of the Nets - doesn’t coach like a loser.

Nah, you don't get it.. Or you do, and pretend not to so you can act like some superior macho fan. I have no interest in that as I find it both childish and just dumb. Also, you're wrong about who I would have been rooting for had the nets faced the bucks. I would have been the biggest nets fan on the site rooting for them to take out the bucks. As I still deem them as the team to beat in the east.

No, I'm not "afraid" of the nets. I just would have rather faced them later with a fully healthy team and I preferred the cakewalk the bulls would have been. The end, That simple. So you can pretend to still not get it and play the "me not scared of nobody I'm so tough" card or acknowledge the basic logic and thought process behind what I'm saying. Even if you disagree with it.

[NJC]

I want the Cs to fly under the radar for first 2 rounds then peak at ECF and Final. Raptors-Heats-Bucks-Suns is the more realistic path to win it all. If the path is Nets-Bucks-Heats-Suns, we have to absolutely peak at first 2 rounds and more likely we burn out and have nothing to show in ECF like 2020

[KamikazeK]

It's really disheartening to see some posters on here who are disappointed that we didn't duck the Nets in the 1st round. Not shying away from that challenge, unlike what the Bucks did today (whether they did so intentionally or not is up for debate), is something to be lauded, not criticized. Championship aspirants don't duck teams. No one here is saying it'll be an easy series, but they might as well get tested early if they're really the contenders we think they are.

If we lose to the Nets in the 1st round, it just shows we're not championship material. But it'll be really sweet and a huge confidence-booster for us if we beat them in 6 games, which is what I predict. If you're scared of the Celtics facing the Nets, it just shows you don't really believe in this team, so you might as well just get the **** out.

I was a huge doubter earlier in the season and before the season (just didn't do much posting here really). But now we're here in 2nd place and primed to go into the playoffs with the confidence of a contender, so why doubt them now?

This is what you want out of the regular season. A high seed, a good record, a history of success against great basketball teams. If they can't rally behind the team now, when can they?

[Slax]

If that's what it sounds like to you, then you aren't listening. Not to mention there's one huge flaw in your line of thinking. We are missing one of our most important players and he is due back in the second round. So if we aren't good enough to beat the nets/bucks without rob but we are good enough with him, we should just call it a season huh? Everything about that logic is so terrible it makes my brain hurt just attempting to make it make sense.

We aren't the same team without rob. We already know that. That is completely irrelevant if we can survive long enough for him to get back. Hence why alot of people preferred the sure 1st round victory to give him more time to get back. Not to mention the obvious wanting the easier opponent because ya know, winning a championship is hard. Nobody goes into the postseason saying, "I want this to be as hard as possible and I want our chances of winning to be as low as possible!" Because that's moronic.

Actually, I think losing on purpose to play Toronto is moronic and only losers would do it. The Celtics are better defensively with Rob but their offense has continued to get better without him. I think the team has enough depth to beat the Nets without him and I think home court will matter more against the Bucks. I also think we are the best team to knock off the Nets and our best chance is to do it now in case Simmons comes back and gets to full speed.

I get it. You are afraid of the Nets. You want to run and hide and hoped the Bucks could take of them for you. I’m glad that Ime - who has intimate knowledge of the Nets - doesn’t coach like a loser.

Nah, you don't get it.. Or you do, and pretend not to so you can act like some superior macho fan. I have no interest in that as I find it both childish and just dumb. Also, you're wrong about who I would have been rooting for had the nets faced the bucks. I would have been the biggest nets fan on the site rooting for them to take out the bucks. As I still deem them as the team to beat in the east.

No, I'm not "afraid" of the nets. I just would have rather faced them later with a fully healthy team and I preferred the cakewalk the bulls would have been. The end, That simple. So you can pretend to still not get it and play the "me not scared of nobody I'm so tough" card or acknowledge the basic logic and thought process behind what I'm saying. Even if you disagree with it.

I absolutely would rather have played the Bulls in the first round, but that wasn't actually a mathematically available option to us in the end, so I'm not sure what this argument is really over tbh

[sam_I_am]

If that's what it sounds like to you, then you aren't listening. Not to mention there's one huge flaw in your line of thinking. We are missing one of our most important players and he is due back in the second round. So if we aren't good enough to beat the nets/bucks without rob but we are good enough with him, we should just call it a season huh? Everything about that logic is so terrible it makes my brain hurt just attempting to make it make sense.

We aren't the same team without rob. We already know that. That is completely irrelevant if we can survive long enough for him to get back. Hence why alot of people preferred the sure 1st round victory to give him more time to get back. Not to mention the obvious wanting the easier opponent because ya know, winning a championship is hard. Nobody goes into the postseason saying, "I want this to be as hard as possible and I want our chances of winning to be as low as possible!" Because that's moronic.

Actually, I think losing on purpose to play Toronto is moronic and only losers would do it. The Celtics are better defensively with Rob but their offense has continued to get better without him. I think the team has enough depth to beat the Nets without him and I think home court will matter more against the Bucks. I also think we are the best team to knock off the Nets and our best chance is to do it now in case Simmons comes back and gets to full speed.

I get it. You are afraid of the Nets. You want to run and hide and hoped the Bucks could take of them for you. I’m glad that Ime - who has intimate knowledge of the Nets - doesn’t coach like a loser.

Nah, you don't get it.. Or you do, and pretend not to so you can act like some superior macho fan. I have no interest in that as I find it both childish and just dumb. Also, you're wrong about who I would have been rooting for had the nets faced the bucks. I would have been the biggest nets fan on the site rooting for them to take out the bucks. As I still deem them as the team to beat in the east.

No, I'm not "afraid" of the nets. I just would have rather faced them later with a fully healthy team and I preferred the cakewalk the bulls would have been. The end, That simple. So you can pretend to still not get it and play the "me not scared of nobody I'm so tough" card or acknowledge the basic logic and thought process behind what I'm saying. Even if you disagree with it.

I don’t play for the Celtics so I don’t understand you accusing me of playing the ‘tough card’. I am just a fan. I think your take makes no sense to me. A Celtics-Nets will entertain me so I welcome it whenever it happens. Bulls vs Celtics doesn’t excite me. If the Celtics can’t beat their first round opponent whoever they may be than they will not go to the finals. Getting the #2 seed is just infinitely better than getting the #4 seed if a team’s long term goal is to get to finals and contend for a championship.

Your logic makes no sense to me. If the Bucks are the team you deem to beat as you say than it is illogical to ‘want’ the Bucks to have home court advantage and to lose on purpose so that you cannot have home court advantage against them. I understand you wanted the Celtics to lose on purpose. The men who actually play the game for the Celtics obviously disagree with you and probably think losing on purpose is cowardly.

I also happen to think playing Toronto and then Miami is a more difficult path to ECF than Nets and Bucks.

[Tyakack]

Actually, I think losing on purpose to play Toronto is moronic and only losers would do it. The Celtics are better defensively with Rob but their offense has continued to get better without him. I think the team has enough depth to beat the Nets without him and I think home court will matter more against the Bucks. I also think we are the best team to knock off the Nets and our best chance is to do it now in case Simmons comes back and gets to full speed.

I get it. You are afraid of the Nets. You want to run and hide and hoped the Bucks could take of them for you. I’m glad that Ime - who has intimate knowledge of the Nets - doesn’t coach like a loser.

Nah, you don't get it.. Or you do, and pretend not to so you can act like some superior macho fan. I have no interest in that as I find it both childish and just dumb. Also, you're wrong about who I would have been rooting for had the nets faced the bucks. I would have been the biggest nets fan on the site rooting for them to take out the bucks. As I still deem them as the team to beat in the east.

No, I'm not "afraid" of the nets. I just would have rather faced them later with a fully healthy team and I preferred the cakewalk the bulls would have been. The end, That simple. So you can pretend to still not get it and play the "me not scared of nobody I'm so tough" card or acknowledge the basic logic and thought process behind what I'm saying. Even if you disagree with it.

I don’t play for the Celtics so I don’t understand you accusing me of playing the ‘tough card’. I am just a fan. I think your take makes no sense to me. A Celtics-Nets will entertain me so I welcome it whenever it happens. Bulls vs Celtics doesn’t excite me. If the Celtics can’t beat their first round opponent whoever they may be than they will not go to the finals. Getting the #2 seed is just infinitely better than getting the #4 seed if a team’s long term goal is to get to finals and contend for a championship.

Your logic makes no sense to me. If the Bucks are the team you deem to beat as you say than it is illogical to ‘want’ the Bucks to have home court advantage and to lose on purpose so that you cannot have home court advantage against them. I understand you wanted the Celtics to lose on purpose. The men who actually play the game for the Celtics obviously disagree with you and probably think losing on purpose is cowardly.

I also happen to think playing Toronto and then Miami is a more difficult path to ECF than Nets and Bucks.

There's alot of things you don't understand I'm starting to realize. You're looking at what I'm saying with tunnel vision and only paying attention to the side of it you deem as a negative. Pay attention, it's really easy to understand. We both seem to agree that the celtics vs the bulls would have been very easy and a damn near guaranteed victory. Which is why I preferred them. Surely you understand that. Also, rob is out. I wanted the celtics to survive as long as possible until we can get him back. I do not think we are good enough to go all the way without our most important guys all healthy. Homecourt or not. Do you understand that?

I don't "want" the bucks to have homecourt, but I think as long as we have rob back we have a chance against anyone and I preferred the easy cakewalk first round over a team I think could potentially beat us while one of our most important guys heals up. Surely you get that logic. It's really basic stuff. Say you don't agree.. But to say you don't "get it" means you're either really dense or just lying. I 100% get your logic and your line of thinking. I just disagree. I think playing one less team that can beat you is > homecourt in a round you may not make it to against a team you might not play. Agree to disagree there. Nothing more to say.

Also, I actually went back and forth between preferring the 2nd seed vs the 4th. The 3rd was the one I wanted alot more than both. Your last point is fair enough even though I don't agree with it. We can end the pointless back and forth now. Especially if you still don't understand.

[TheMartian]

The team doesn't seem to care who they face in the playoffs. They're "ready" is the common theme I've been reading in articles about the C's players.

[sam_I_am]

Nah, you don't get it.. Or you do, and pretend not to so you can act like some superior macho fan. I have no interest in that as I find it both childish and just dumb. Also, you're wrong about who I would have been rooting for had the nets faced the bucks. I would have been the biggest nets fan on the site rooting for them to take out the bucks. As I still deem them as the team to beat in the east.

No, I'm not "afraid" of the nets. I just would have rather faced them later with a fully healthy team and I preferred the cakewalk the bulls would have been. The end, That simple. So you can pretend to still not get it and play the "me not scared of nobody I'm so tough" card or acknowledge the basic logic and thought process behind what I'm saying. Even if you disagree with it.

I don’t play for the Celtics so I don’t understand you accusing me of playing the ‘tough card’. I am just a fan. I think your take makes no sense to me. A Celtics-Nets will entertain me so I welcome it whenever it happens. Bulls vs Celtics doesn’t excite me. If the Celtics can’t beat their first round opponent whoever they may be than they will not go to the finals. Getting the #2 seed is just infinitely better than getting the #4 seed if a team’s long term goal is to get to finals and contend for a championship.

Your logic makes no sense to me. If the Bucks are the team you deem to beat as you say than it is illogical to ‘want’ the Bucks to have home court advantage and to lose on purpose so that you cannot have home court advantage against them. I understand you wanted the Celtics to lose on purpose. The men who actually play the game for the Celtics obviously disagree with you and probably think losing on purpose is cowardly.

I also happen to think playing Toronto and then Miami is a more difficult path to ECF than Nets and Bucks.

There's alot of things you don't understand I'm starting to realize. You're looking at what I'm saying with tunnel vision and only paying attention to the side of it you deem as a negative. Pay attention, it's really easy to understand. We both seem to agree that the celtics vs the bulls would have been very easy and a damn near guaranteed victory. Which is why I preferred them. Surely you understand that. Also, rob is out. I wanted the celtics to survive as long as possible until we can get him back. I do not think we are good enough to go all the way without our most important guys all healthy. Homecourt or not. Do you understand that?

I don't "want" the bucks to have homecourt, but I think as long as we have rob back we have a chance against anyone and I preferred the easy cakewalk first round over a team I think could potentially beat us while one of our most important guys heals up. Surely you get that logic. It's really basic stuff. Say you don't agree.. But to say you don't "get it" means you're either really dense or just lying. I 100% get your logic and your line of thinking. I just disagree. I think playing one less team that can beat you is > homecourt in a round you may not make it to against a team you might not play. Agree to disagree there. Nothing more to say.

Also, I actually went back and forth between preferring the 2nd seed vs the 4th. The 3rd was the one I wanted alot more than both. Your last point is fair enough even though I don't agree with it. We can end the pointless back and forth now. Especially if you still don't understand.

I understand what you are saying. And honestly, without malice as we are both passionate Celtic fans, I just respectfully disagree.

First off, if we lost on purpose we play Toronto not the Bulls. By winning we either play the Nets or the Cavs. Seems to me, playing the Cavs is the best option if you really are worried about life without Rob. So maybe …. if we play the Cavs and then have home court advantage against the Bucks….the very best case scenario works out after all. That is unless the Nets come together with Ben Simmons and steamroll the Heat and Raptors on way to ECF.

I do agree that we are likely going to have most difficult path to finals: Nets, Bucks, Heat. I strongly believe that the Nets will be easier to knock off now than they would be with a fully ramped up Ben Simmons back, which is not guaranteed of course. I also have posted elsewhere that in 8 games with Theis starting (which includes 2 games we tanked away without Tatum) we have identical off/def ratings to when Rob played and in month of April have an offensive rating of 130 which is far and away the best of the season. With Rob our defense is at its best but there has actually been little drop off - statistically only - without him.

If the Bucks are the true beasts of the East - and we both agree they are - I want home court advantage. If the Nets at full strength are truly to be feared ( even though they don’t have Harden and Harris the guys who killed us last year) - the Celtics are the best equipped team to take them down even without Rob, and their best chance is to do it themselves and not hope the Bucks can do it for them.

I also think playing the Raptors, Heat and Bucks without home court in 2/3 series is a really tough road. The Raptors have a lot of versatile bigs, wings to bother the Jays, a playoff hero in Van Fleet and might even be more dangerous to play without Rob.

Anyway, I appreciated the back and forth and can’t wait until Sunday! Go Celtics!

[Red2]

Game 1 is key. We need to win that

[Red2]

I do wish Jaylen Brown would come clean about his vaccination status. If we avoided Toronto because of that and then lose to the Nets in the first round there could be resentment among some of his teammates. The public will probably never know but his teammates will.

[sam_I_am]

I do wish Jaylen Brown would come clean about his vaccination status. If we avoided Toronto because of that and then lose to the Nets in the first round there could be resentment among some of his teammates. The public will probably never know but his teammates will.

I agree with coming clean part, but the team didn’t ‘avoid’ Toronto. They kicked ass on the road in Memphis to earn the #2 seed they deserved. I refuse to believe they would have tanked on purpose if Jaylen was vaccinated.

[KamikazeK]

Game 1 is key. We need to win that

Game 2 is pretty important too.

[Fencer reregistered]

I refuse to believe they would have tanked on purpose if Jaylen was vaccinated.

And I refuse to believe that Jaylen's private claims to be vaccinated are false.

[Feed Your Head]

I think they made the right choice.