Smart2Nesmith43 wrote:If the Celtics aren't championship material because they went through the motions of a random February game against a bad team, I wonder what this board would think of the 2023 Denver Nuggets that went 7-10 in their last 17 games or the 2022 Golden State Warriors that went 12-16 in their last 28 games.
Apologies for the incoming rant...
Just speaking for myself here, but much of my anxiety/angst comes from their previous near-successes and failure to get over the hump. I know it's a different season with different teammates, but the leadership and star players remain the same. Nuggets have Jokic, who will probably end up in top 20-30 best players of all-time. He has great reliable synergy with Murray and is a top 2 offensive engine in the league. Warriors have Curry and have won it 3 previous times before 2022. So do we need to say more about them? Tatum is not (yet) close to those two guys imo and I'm still unsure if he will ever be. This is his first season with KP and an elevated-role DWhite. JB has never had oncourt chemistry comparable to Jokic-Murray or Curry-Draymond. Whatever we're doing on offense this season and will use in the postseason is new tbh.
We've had several playoff runs in the past but I still can't fully trust them to complete the task (maybe it's a me problem but I'm not alone in this). I know they will be ultimately judged in May/June. In the meantime, it's not unreasonable to expect them to use these games as an opportunity to keep getting better on both sides of the ball (esp the starters). The fact that the starters have a negative net rating in 2024 is bothersome despite the wins. Are we anticipating "another switch to be flipped" like in seasons past? They relax and suddenly they were down 0-3 to the Heat, who they outmatched in talent, and had to crawl back into that series only to be hit by an untimely injury to Tatum. Just don't want that to happen again and I'm hoping they do all they can to control the controllables.
TLDR: Not one to say they aren't championship material. But other teams are too. Just want them to be the best version of themselves by the time the playoffs hit. Games like today and against the Lakers a week ago aren't steps in the right direction.