If Rondo did not get injured in game two in the 2017 playoffs, would the team have upset the Celtics in the first round?

TheBomb81 · Post #1 » by **TheBomb81** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 4:08 am

If so, would they have at least gotten to the eastern conference finals?

Post #2 » by **HomoSapien** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 4:54 am

Yes, we definitely upset them IMO.

TheGOATRises007 · Post #3 » by **TheGOATRises007** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:13 am

Yes we would have.

Though it was probably a good thing in hindsight we didn't. We probably would have ran back the same team next season and it would have been even worse.

Grodoboldo · Post #4 » by **Grodoboldo** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 11:19 am

Oh God, that team. That offseason was the exactly opposite of this one, I absolutely hated every single move we made. To me, that was the straw that broke the camel's back on GarPax, got me into the "Fire everyone and sell the team" wagon.

Anyway, no, I don't think we would have.

Oh, and **** Rondo forever.

FriedRise · Post #5 » by **FriedRise** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:15 pm

That was a weird and generally unlikeable team, but yes we would've beaten the Celtics that first round. We probably could've taken the Wizards too and gone to the ECF.

pylb · Post #6 » by **pylb** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:31 pm

I don't think so. The Celtics changed their scheme after the first two games and we never adapted.

sco · Post #7 » by **sco** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 5:47 pm

I thought we'd win back then, but in retrospect, I feel like Thibs is so rigid come playoff time that his teams ultimately become subject to opponent adjustments.

Post #8 » by **HomoSapien** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:23 pm

pylb wrote:I don't think so. The Celtics changed their scheme after the first two games and we never adapted.

It wasn't about adapting. It was about Jerian Grant barely being able to dribble the ball upcourt.

sco wrote:I thought we'd win back then, but in retrospect, I feel like Thibs is so rigid come playoff time that his teams ultimately become subject to opponent adjustments.

Hoiberg was the coach.

TheBomb81 · Post #9 » by **TheBomb81** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:36 pm

Grodoboldo wrote:Oh God, that team. That offseason was the exactly opposite of this one, I absolutely hated every single move we made. To me, that was the straw that broke the camel's back on GarPax, got me into the "Fire everyone and sell the team" wagon.

Anyway, no, I don't think we would have.

Oh, and **** Rondo forever.

LOL Why F Rondo?

gardenofsound · Post #10 » by **gardenofsound** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 6:59 pm

I'm iffy on it.

That Celtics team was Isaiah Thomas plus role players. Horford was still good (and IIRC had a good series), but the rest of the team was meh. Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart were still really green (no pun intended). Crowder was Crowder.

In retrospect, the Bulls had the best player on the court in Butler, but he had a really inconsistent series, and that was probably the nail in the coffin on his tenure here. If ever there was an opportunity to put the team on his back and carry them through a series, that was it. He didn't come through.

Rondo going down shouldn't have been much of a blip on the radar except that it meant Isaiah freaking Canaan got big minutes instead.

Also oh my goodness the East was terrible.

Grodoboldo · Post #11 » by **Grodoboldo** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 7:16 pm

TheBomb81 wrote:
Grodoboldo wrote:Oh God, that team. That offseason was the exactly opposite of this one, I absolutely hated every single move we made. To me, that was the straw that broke the camel's back on GarPax, got me into the "Fire everyone and sell the team" wagon.

Anyway, no, I don't think we would have.

Oh, and **** Rondo forever.

LOL Why F Rondo?

Because he is, and has always been, a bitch ass dirty player, who sucker punches, pushes and arm-locks other team's players.

Watch on YouTube

bad knees · Post #12 » by **bad knees** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 7:27 pm

sco wrote:I thought we'd win back then, but in retrospect, I feel like Thibs is so rigid come playoff time that his teams ultimately become subject to opponent adjustments.

Fred was our coach that year. Thibs had been let go two years earlier.

And I definitely believe that we would have beaten the Celtics that year if Rondo had not been hurt. He would have made the necessary adjustments to counteract what Stevens did to change things up.

Post #13 » by **dougthonus** » Wed Sep 15, 2021 7:27 pm

No, Rondo had a more normal 1 and we won that game by 4 points. He had a pretty absurd game 2 and we won by 14. We lost the next four games by 17, 9, 11, and 22. Even in his absurd game he was a +14 on the floor (and -7 in the other game). Even if you assume he averages +7 for the series, it's not enough to swing any of the other games.

Maybe we'd have won one more if he was healthy, but I think we still lose in 6.