Celtics exposed?

[SichtingLives]

It has been extremely under reported exactly what they lost outside of Kyrie....

-They had 3 bigs who could defend, and in horfords case at an extremely high level (Horford, morris, baynes).
-Those 3 bigs also stretched the floor. Morris and Horford are 2 guys you can space the floor with without going small.
-They lost NBA calibur depth. Maybe a young guy steps up, but right now they really only go 7 deep with nba players. and when we talk about depth, its not just the bench playing well, its having nba level players to step in and start when injuries happen

Marcus Morris can defend and stretch the floor? The guy is a ball hog who got hyped last season because he was very efficient to start last season. However he has had a negative defensive box every season and doesn't know the word pass, he doesn't contribute to winning basketball and doesn't really stretch the floor as defenders know what will happen when he gets touches.. Obviously though Boston lost its inside defensive presence but we already knew they aren't contending for a title so I don't understand why it's a bid deal to play young guys and hope one developed. Same with their bench, they decided to use all their picks over brining in vets, however they're more than seven deep. Walker, Tatum, Brown, Hayward, Williams, Smart, Semi, Kanter, and Theis all saw decent minutes last season and I would bet at least Edwards gets minutes in the second unit.

Stop it he was one of the Celts most reliable/consistent players for large stretches of the season. A huge loss even though many like to pretend otherwise.

If we were playing to be a mediocre team than Morris was surely the perfect fit. Cried about PT in 2017-18, had the Suge Knight bully effect on Stevens last year, did nothing but be in the way of more important pieces getting proper usage which ultimately reduced all of their value and has never been anything more than an average NBA player at best, all while not being a long term piece to the puzzle. Cool that he had the one stretch of sub all-star level play for a couple months but Ainge holding on to him all that time was only about pairing him with Davis once we inevitably lost one of Tatum/Brown. No Davis made Morris pointless and frankly he should've never been here after the one year, if at all. Morris is another big example of Ainge steering everything towards only one outcome and failing to make adjustments along the way.

[robbie84]

Stevens took a team with Zeller and Sulllinger as the starting bigs, with Isaiah Thomas in the starting line up, to 48 wins.

It's probably too early to say they've been exposed.

[AussieCeltic]

Noone expects the Celtics to do much this year so they cant really be exposed.

However Ainge should take some blame for the Celtics current situation. The Bucks, the Lakers and the Sixers started their rebuild at the same time as the Celtics and they are comfortably better right now despite the fact that the Celtics started with much more assets. The Nets started even later and with no picks and they are better. Even the Magic that have been run terribly in the past years might have a better future. Even the Raptors that were going nowhere managed to build a contender.

Now some of it is bad luck, if Durant was more competitive and signed with the Celtics things would be different. Bu some of it is also on Ainge, who seems quite conservative in his moves and i am not talking about the trades only. He chose Olynyk instead of Giannis. He decided not to tank even though he didn't know how high the Nets picks would be and even though an IT led team of roleplayers had no future.

The team he constructed last year had no chemistry and part of the blame is on Ainge.

And the larger picture is that in all these years of the rebuild the Celtics never came particularly close to acquiring a franchise player, something that the Bucks, the Sixers and the Lakers have already done. Meanwhile Ainge never tried to risk anything (tank or a trade) to get one.

Wut? The Bucks and the Lakers? First the Bucks were a lottery team when we were a top seeded team in the East. Second, Lakers "rebuild" is signing James, who wanted to be there and everybody knew that and then throwing the kitchen sink at the Pels to get Davis and during that time Davis and his agent making sure nobody bids for him. That's a fantastic rebuild. I'm sure this was all planned by the Lakers and not LBJ and Rich Paul.

B.S.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2014_ratings.html

All of this started in the tank year of 2013-14 (the Wiggins draft). The Bucks, 76ers, Lakers, Magic and Celtics were all starting rebuilds at the same time. And 5 years later the Celtics are behind all but the Magic. And even that is debatable right now.

If we're going by you're logic that the rebuilds started the 2013/2014 season, then lets compare records since then.

Celtics: 270 wins 222 losses - Playoffs 5 out of 6 years. Conference finals twice. Conference semi's one
Bucks: 243W/257L- Playoffs 4 out of 6 years. Conference finals once
Orlando: 179W/313L - First round once
Philly: 178W/314L - Playoffs 2 our 6 years. Eastern conference semi's both times
Lakers: 163W/329L - 0 playoff appearances

Now you can speculate once going to happen in the future all you want. But I know looking at that, the Celtics have been in much better position since 2013/2014 season. Go back 10 years and those numbers look better.

The Celtics still have a good young core who has made a great run in the playoffs with plenty of assets if they want to use them.

[LewisnotMiller]

I would bet a lot of money that the Pistons and Hawks don’t finish ahead of the Raps. Heck the Hawks will be in the running for the leagues worst defensive team. Their defensive talent is horrible.

I'd rank them as Raps, Pistons, Hawks, but I could see Detroit topping those three on the standings.
But I'd have the Hawks a clear third, albeit with the clearest future path.

As you say, stopping people won't be much of a thing.

[RRyder823]

Lot of questionable slants about the C's from fans and haters alike these days. We're not contending this year so the C issue is irrelevant at this point. We had no immediate plan for losing Al (or any plan whatsoever besides tunnel vision for AD) so the current committee are temporary band-aids unless Rob develops well or Poirer is NBA quality. Ainge needs to snap out of his rebuilding plan which is dead now anyway, pick a new direction, piviot up and move Brown, Hayward or both for some value before that becomes the next issue that bites us in the ass. I'm cool with a starting point of Kemba, Smart and Tatum, getting a look at the youth we have coming up this year and moving past the misfires. An optimist would say there has been a lot for Danny and Stevens to learn from all of this.

Ainge needs to get back up on the horse and do what he does best which is work the count, draw walks, hit for contact, move runners over, steal bases, stretch singles into doubles and manufacture runs. That's what he excels at as a GM, finding value in odd places and maximizing it. He's not a home run hitter.

Right, getting Kevin Garnet from all those small moves wasn't a home run.
Getting Isaiah Thomas from all those small moves wasn't a home run.
Signing Al Horford wasn't a home run.
Signing Hayward wasn't a home run.
Finding Brad Stevens wasn't a home run.
Trading a depleted IT for Kyrie Irving wasn't a home run.
Drafting Jayson Tatum wasn't a home run.
Drafting Jaylen Brown wasn't a home run.
Drating Marcus Smart wasn't a home run.
Signing Kemba Walker wasn't a home run.

Getting those picks, then making the Jaylen, Smart and Tatum picks for the corpses of KG and Pierce wasn't a home run? C'mon man.

Dude's a fkn animal, you're way too pessimistic.

At least 5 of those are fails

Sent from my SM-G892A using RealGM mobile app

[robbie84]

Lot of questionable slants about the C's from fans and haters alike these days. We're not contending this year so the C issue is irrelevant at this point. We had no immediate plan for losing Al (or any plan whatsoever besides tunnel vision for AD) so the current committee are temporary band-aids unless Rob develops well or Poirer is NBA quality. Ainge needs to snap out of his rebuilding plan which is dead now anyway, pick a new direction, piviot up and move Brown, Hayward or both for some value before that becomes the next issue that bites us in the ass. I'm cool with a starting point of Kemba, Smart and Tatum, getting a look at the youth we have coming up this year and moving past the misfires. An optimist would say there has been a lot for Danny and Stevens to learn from all of this.

Ainge needs to get back up on the horse and do what he does best which is work the count, draw walks, hit for contact, move runners over, steal bases, stretch singles into doubles and manufacture runs. That's what he excels at as a GM, finding value in odd places and maximizing it. He's not a home run hitter.

Right, getting Kevin Garnet from all those small moves wasn't a home run.
Getting Isaiah Thomas from all those small moves wasn't a home run.
Signing Al Horford wasn't a home run.
Signing Hayward wasn't a home run.
Finding Brad Stevens wasn't a home run.
Trading a depleted IT for Kyrie Irving wasn't a home run.
Drafting Jayson Tatum wasn't a home run.
Drafting Jaylen Brown wasn't a home run.
Drating Marcus Smart wasn't a home run.
Signing Kemba Walker wasn't a home run.

Getting those picks, then making the Jaylen, Smart and Tatum picks for the corpses of KG and Pierce wasn't a home run? C'mon man.

Dude's a fkn animal, you're way too pessimistic.

At least 5 of those are fails

Sent from my SM-G892A using RealGM mobile app

List at least 5 of them then.
Lol

[Raps in 4]

[Snotbubbles]

Wut? The Bucks and the Lakers? First the Bucks were a lottery team when we were a top seeded team in the East. Second, Lakers "rebuild" is signing James, who wanted to be there and everybody knew that and then throwing the kitchen sink at the Pels to get Davis and during that time Davis and his agent making sure nobody bids for him. That's a fantastic rebuild. I'm sure this was all planned by the Lakers and not LBJ and Rich Paul.

B.S.

https://www.basketball-reference.com/leagues/NBA_2014_ratings.html

All of this started in the tank year of 2013-14 (the Wiggins draft). The Bucks, 76ers, Lakers, Magic and Celtics were all starting rebuilds at the same time. And 5 years later the Celtics are behind all but the Magic. And even that is debatable right now.

If we're going by you're logic that the rebuilds started the 2013/2014 season, then lets compare records since then.

Celtics: 270 wins 222 losses - Playoffs 5 out of 6 years. Conference finals twice. Conference semi's one
Bucks: 243W/257L- Playoffs 4 out of 6 years. Conference finals once
Orlando: 179W/313L - First round once
Philly: 178W/314L - Playoffs 2 our 6 years. Eastern conference semi's both times
Lakers: 163W/329L - 0 playoff appearances

Now you can speculate once going to happen in the future all you want. But I know looking at that, the Celtics have been in much better position since 2013/2014 season. Go back 10 years and those numbers look better.

The Celtics still have a good young core who has made a great run in the playoffs with plenty of assets if they want to use them.

This is a poor way of looking at rebuilds. Each one is different. How you do during the rebuilding process isn't relevant. It's all about accumulating star players.

[Curmudgeon]

Ainge's mistake was going after Kyrie instead of waiting a year and targeting Kawhi. And then there was the Hayward injury, over which he had no control.

Lot's of fans of other teams here dancing on Boston's grave. We'll see. But unless you root for Toronto or Cleveland, your teams haven't won squat in the last 5 years.

[ITYSL]

I am surprised at how low they rank the Raptors.

[Prokorov]

and doesn't really stretch the floor as defenders know what will happen when he gets touches..

Morris:
37.5% from three
146 three pointers made

Horford:
36.0% from three (42.9% the year prior)
203 three pointers made

Baynes:
34.5% from three
61 three pointers made

Kanter, Theis, and porier have made a combined 121 threes for the entire career.... and when i say career i mean not just NBA but college, theis' 6 years overseason, and poriers times overseas. So this notion that morris didnt spead the floor or that its not a dimension that was lost is absurd

[ITYSL]

and doesn't really stretch the floor as defenders know what will happen when he gets touches..

Morris:
37.5% from three
146 three pointers made

Horford:
36.0% from three (42.9% the year prior)
203 three pointers made

Baynes:
34.5% from three
61 three pointers made

Kanter, Theis, and porier have made a combined 121 threes for the entire career.... and when i say career i mean not just NBA but college, theis' 6 years overseason, and poriers times overseas. So this notion that morris didnt spead the floor or that its not a dimension that was lost is absurd

Hey buddy, I know you're down on the Cs. Since the OP is apparently scared, do you want to do a sig bet for fun? Any one of the following:

- If Celtics end up the 8th seed or worse, you win; 1-7 seed and I win
- If Celtics are ranked 16-30 in ppg allowed at the end of the season, you win; if they're 1-15, I win
- If the Nets finish with a better record than the Celtics, you win; if the Celtics finish with the better record, I win (same record = no one wins)

You can pick any one of those three. Winner gives the loser their sig for one month following the end of the regular season. Whadya say pal?

[Prokorov]

and doesn't really stretch the floor as defenders know what will happen when he gets touches..

Morris:
37.5% from three
146 three pointers made

Horford:
36.0% from three (42.9% the year prior)
203 three pointers made

Baynes:
34.5% from three
61 three pointers made

Kanter, Theis, and porier have made a combined 121 threes for the entire career.... and when i say career i mean not just NBA but college, theis' 6 years overseason, and poriers times overseas. So this notion that morris didnt spead the floor or that its not a dimension that was lost is absurd

Hey buddy, I know you're down on the Cs. Since the OP is apparently scared, do you want to do a sig bet for fun? Any one of the following:

- If Celtics end up the 8th seed or worse, you win; 1-7 seed and I win
- If Celtics are ranked 16-30 in ppg allowed at the end of the season, you win; if they're 1-15, I win
- If the Nets finish with a better record than the Celtics, you win; if the Celtics finish with the better record, I win (same record = no one wins)

You can pick any one of those three. Winner gives the loser their sig for one month following the end of the regular season. Whadya say pal?

i already have sig bets outstanding. im fine putting money on it if you are ok using the betting sites

[ITYSL]

Morris:
37.5% from three
146 three pointers made

Horford:
36.0% from three (42.9% the year prior)
203 three pointers made

Baynes:
34.5% from three
61 three pointers made

Kanter, Theis, and porier have made a combined 121 threes for the entire career.... and when i say career i mean not just NBA but college, theis' 6 years overseason, and poriers times overseas. So this notion that morris didnt spead the floor or that its not a dimension that was lost is absurd

Hey buddy, I know you're down on the Cs. Since the OP is apparently scared, do you want to do a sig bet for fun? Any one of the following:

- If Celtics end up the 8th seed or worse, you win; 1-7 seed and I win
- If Celtics are ranked 16-30 in ppg allowed at the end of the season, you win; if they're 1-15, I win
- If the Nets finish with a better record than the Celtics, you win; if the Celtics finish with the better record, I win (same record = no one wins)

You can pick any one of those three. Winner gives the loser their sig for one month following the end of the regular season. Whadya say pal?

i already have sig bets outstanding. im fine putting money on it if you are ok using the betting sites

I'd rather not bet with people I don't really know. How about we do a sig bet about one of those items at the All-Star break instead of end of season? That way any outstanding sig bets you have won't be affected.

[Prokorov]

Hey buddy, I know you're down on the Cs. Since the OP is apparently scared, do you want to do a sig bet for fun? Any one of the following:

- If Celtics end up the 8th seed or worse, you win; 1-7 seed and I win
- If Celtics are ranked 16-30 in ppg allowed at the end of the season, you win; if they're 1-15, I win
- If the Nets finish with a better record than the Celtics, you win; if the Celtics finish with the better record, I win (same record = no one wins)

You can pick any one of those three. Winner gives the loser their sig for one month following the end of the regular season. Whadya say pal?

i already have sig bets outstanding. im fine putting money on it if you are ok using the betting sites

I'd rather not bet with people I don't really know. How about we do a sig bet about one of those items at the All-Star break instead of end of season? That way any outstanding sig bets you have won't be affected.

that works for me

ill triple down. if any of the 3 happen you win. i need all 3 to happen to win

[Scarletfire81]

How the hell can anyone know anything after one preseason game? The Celtics may be worse than year or they may be better, I really don't know at this point.

[Tiny ball]

How the hell can anyone know anything after one preseason game? The Celtics may be worse than year or they may be better, I really don't know at this point.

When you have a guy like Carson Edwards you are most all the time not out of the game. I can not predict this team at all. Tacko blocks couple shots Edwards hits a few threes and back in the game. I would guess if Brad does not play Tacko and Edwards 40ish wins at best?

[Curmudgeon]

LOL, if this year's Celtics make it to the EC finals it won't be Tacko who gets them there. It will be Tatum, Brown Hayward, Walker and Smart.

[Asif16]

LOL, if this year's Celtics make it to the EC finals it won't be Tacko who gets them there. It will be Tatum, Brown Hayward, Walker and Smart.

So in other words they're not making the ECF

[LloydFree]

How the hell can anyone know anything after one preseason game? The Celtics may be worse than year or they may be better, I really don't know at this point.

When you have a guy like Carson Edwards you are most all the time not out of the game. I can not predict this team at all. Tacko blocks couple shots Edwards hits a few threes and back in the game. I would guess if Brad does not play Tacko and Edwards 40ish wins at best?

Classic