Will the shortest offseason of all time hurt the team?

[Gant]

Bobby Manning:

The #Celtics officially announced they’ll begin training camp with media day on Sept. 24. They’re starting early due to their October Abu Dhabi trip.

The Celtics played Game 5 of the Finals on June 17th. Media Day is September 24th. In between, three starters played in the Olympics. This has to be the shortest NBA offseason of all time.

Late postseason, Paris, early preseason. Will the oddly brief rest affect the team in 24-25? Or will it not matter?

[Shamrock]

Lets be honest.. These aren't killing themselves for about 95% of the season. They are professional athletes, they'll be fine. Not to mention they all rode the pine in the Olympics

[Celts17Pride]

Just like last year, this Celtics team will be judged by how they do in the playoffs. The goal is to have a good record and have everyone healthy for the playoffs. In the mean time hopefully develop a player or two. Celtics had 64 wins last year. I'm expecting between 54-58 wins this year. It's all about the post season.

[ConstableGeneva]

Dunno if this fun nugget is related...

The gap between player with most minutes played incl. playoffs since 2021-22 (Tatum) and player with 2nd most minutes played (Brown) is about the same as the gap between 2nd and 16th (Aaron Gordon).

Hope they take it easy a bit on Tatum, Holiday, and Horford early in the season. Give the bench guys more opportunity to play. But we already know Mazzulla's gonna chase for wins no matter what. And that Tatum hates sitting out games.

Something that's in our favor -- our players don't seem to be the party-hard and stay-out-late types. They're really dedicated to their craft (apart from their families), taking care of their bodies, and everything that comes with being prepared for another gruelling season.

[Parliament10]

Bobby Manning:

The #Celtics officially announced they’ll begin training camp with media day on Sept. 24. They’re starting early due to their October Abu Dhabi trip.

The Celtics played Game 5 of the Finals on June 17th. Media Day is September 24th. In between, three starters played in the Olympics. This has to be the shortest NBA offseason of all time.

Late postseason, Paris, early preseason. Will the oddly brief rest affect the team in 24-25? Or will it not matter?

I think that, as constructed, the Celtics have alot of built-in redundancy.
It's all going to come down to the Playoffs, and who is rested and ready (and without major injuries), by that time.

Just like last year, this Celtics team will be judged by how they do in the playoffs. The goal is to have a good record and have everyone healthy for the playoffs. In the mean time hopefully develop a player or two. Celtics had 64 wins last year. I'm expecting between 54-58 wins this year. It's all about the post season.

There are essentially 2 NBA Seasons, every year.
There's the Regular Season, where you play your Deep Bench for Development, and also try to escape the Injury Bug.

Then, there's the Playoffs. = That's when & where the Real Season begins.
Playoff Games are like 3 times the intensity of a Regular Season Game, 3:1.

[Gant]

For comparison, the 1986 Celtic champions had an 18 day longer offseason, no Olympics, and no doubt a later starting preseason.

[ConstableGeneva]

If this thread is related to repeat chances, continuity could be a significant factor...

Here's the (regular season) roster continuity for following season of past 10 champions:

• BOS, 2024: 93% (lost playoff 11th and 12th men Brissett and Svi)
• DEN, 2023: 90% (lost playoff rotation guys Jeff Green and Bruce Brown)
• GSW, 2022: 73% (lost playoff rotation guys OPJ, Poole, and Bjelica)
• MIL, 2021: 64% (lost playoff rotation guys PJ Tucker and Bryn Forbes)
• LAL, 2020: 60% (lost playoff rotation guys Rondo and Dwight Howard)
• TOR, 2019: 82% (lost Kawhi, enough said)
• GSW, 2018: 81% (well, they lost Klay and KD in the playoffs)
• GSW, 2017: 81% (REPEATED; replaced Ian Clark with Quinn Cook)
• CLE, 2016: 83% (only lost Dellavedova and Mozgov, but they're going against the Warriors?)
• GSW, 2015: 95% (Draymond punched Lebron in the nuts leading to his suspension)

[Hal14]

This isn't the shortest offseason. It was a shorter offseason in 2020..we had the bubble and then the 20-21 season started like 2 months later.

3 of our guys played Olympics. Not the whole team. And some of the olympic games our guys were DNP.

We'll be fine - we're deep as hell..Joe has to just make sure to develop the bench and not be afraid to use guys like Walsh, Scheierman, Watson, Queta and Springer (when the time is right) throughout the season, so our top 6 guys get enough rest..

[SuperDeluxe]

Lets be honest.. These aren't killing themselves for about 95% of the season. They are professional athletes, they'll be fine. Not to mention they all rode the pine in the Olympics

While I agree with your post in general, the offseason isn't just about not playing/training but also about mentally disconnecting from it all. So these guys did ride the pine in the Olympics, but their minds were still plugged in.

Having said that, I think they'll be fine. The pressure will be there to win another championship, but the monkey is off their backs.

[Green89]

I think our #1 key player that may decide if we repeat is Brown. He didn't play in Paris, so we'll be fine. Maybe now, Tatum won't start the year off looking like he hadn't picked up a ball all summer.

[ConstableGeneva]

If this thread is related to repeat chances, continuity could be a significant factor...

Here's the (regular season) roster continuity for following season of past 10 champions:

• BOS, 2024: 93% (lost playoff 11th and 12th men Brissett and Svi)
• DEN, 2023: 90% (lost playoff rotation guys Jeff Green and Bruce Brown)
• GSW, 2022: 73% (lost playoff rotation guys OPJ, Poole, and Bjelica)
• MIL, 2021: 64% (lost playoff rotation guys PJ Tucker and Bryn Forbes)
• LAL, 2020: 60% (lost playoff rotation guys Rondo and Dwight Howard)
• TOR, 2019: 82% (lost Kawhi, enough said)
• GSW, 2018: 81% (well, they lost Klay and KD in the playoffs)
• GSW, 2017: 81% (REPEATED; replaced Ian Clark with Quinn Cook)
• CLE, 2016: 83% (only lost Dellavedova and Mozgov, but they're going against the Warriors?)
• GSW, 2015: 95% (Draymond punched Lebron in the nuts leading to his suspension)

Sorry to hijack the thread...

Roster continuity of NBA repeat champs since 70s:

?? 2024-25: BOS, 93%, ✓✓
• 2017-18: GSW, 81%, ✓✓
• 2012-13: MIA, 82%, ✓✓
• 2009-10: LAL, 87%, replaced Ariza with MWP
• 2001-02: LAL, 79%, replaced Harper & Grant w/ Hunter & Walker
• 2000-01: LAL, 72%, replaced Rice & Green w/ Rider & Grant
• 1997-98: CHI, 92%, ✓✓
• 1996-97: CHI, 97%, ✓✓
• 1994-95: HOU, 78%, replaced Thorpe w/ Drexler midseason
• 1992-93: CHI, 86%, ✓✓
• 1991-92: CHI, 96%, ✓✓
• 1989-90: DET, 95%, lost Mahorn and Dantley
• 1987-88: LAL, 96%, ✓✓

✓✓ - top 6 returned

As for the OP, Celtics players are mostly in their prime apart from Holiday and Horford that the shortened offseason might not be that big of a factor. Anyway, I trust our medical/conditioning staff to manage the players minutes/prep accordingly.

[neno]

Losses?
Since when?
Payton don't play that
Right now this second
Springer is over your shoulder
Gonna snatch your phone
Losses
Not walking through our door
Not on our floor
Bench vs bottom feeders all year

[Gant]

Karalis:

Mazzulla will be the first to tell you he sometimes needs to be reigned in on the sidelines. He has games he wants to win just like the players do. He also has players who want to play. Neither Jayson Tatum nor Jaylen Brown will be happy if Mazzulla trims their November minutes down to 32 minutes or so.

But the team has to be smart about everyone’s playing time in the early going. The short summer turnaround, coupled with the longest possible season a team can play and another 100-plus games potentially on the docket, makes player health the most important issue for the Celtics. Any sort of soft tissue injury could result in a season-long issue.

No one wants that, and everyone has to be willing to do uncomfortable things in order to prevent them.

That might mean a few more losses early on, which everyone will have to accept. Fans will have to understand that might mean weird rotations through the rest of 2024. It might mean some of the losses the Celtics avoided last season end up in the L column this time around. The team that didn’t lose more than two in a row throughout their championship run might go on a couple of longer streaks this time around.

There's no doubt people will overreact to this. I can guarantee national NBA shows will talk about a championship hangover, flipping switches, and how this is a one-and-done team. There will be speculation about breaking the team up, maybe even some talking heads breaking out some golden oldies about splitting up the Jays.

It won’t be comfortable. But it will be necessary.

https://www.bostonsportsjournal.com/2024/09/19/celtics-camp-questions-can-mazzulla-dial-it-back-enough-to-accept-some-early-season-losses

[KamikazeK]

I'm not worried about next season at all. Last year was ez, this year will be ez.

[Gant]

Revisiting this thread because it's looking increasingly real.

It's midseason and the Celtics are playing tired and worn out. There's not enough force or sharpness on either end. They're getting out-hustled. This is all happening regularly.

Aside from Pritchard, their three point accuracy is down across the board too. Another sign of tiredness.

They can bounce back, but for now they're playing like they had a very short offseason.

[Fierce1]

They're not tired, their personal goals are in the way.

Last season we kept hearing about how they should make sacrifices for the good of the team.

Have not heard that this season.

[Gant]

Because of the slowness, I've become an advocate of bringing in a high energy guy. Oshae Brissett filled that role very well last year. He didn't get stats, but he routinely boosted the team out of lethargy.

[Fierce1]

Because of the slowness, I've become an advocate of bringing in a high energy guy. Oshae Brissett filled that role very well last year. He didn't get stats, but he routinely boosted the team out of lethargy.

Amir Coffey
Julian Champagnie
Javonte Green

All those 3 can boost the Cs out of lethargy.

[Gant]

Here's the guys who played any sort of minutes on the US Olympic team: LeBron, Curry, Durant, Booker, Davis, Edwards, Bam, Tatum, Holiday, White.

That's the Lakers, Warriors, Suns, Wolves, Heat, and Celtics. Just about all of those teams have fallen short of expectations this season. Some of those clubs had unrelated bad luck, but still.

Not that the Celtics have been bad, just the opposite. They've been really good, but the fatigue is showing a little.

[brackdan70]

This is definitely one of the excuses I tell myself.
I really think playing a bit deeper rotation will help. We are losing every other game anyway. Give Walsh and Queta more run.