Celtics Stat of the Day: 12/29/09

In the midst of teeth-knashing time, let us remind ourselves that the 2009-10 Boston Celtics have a winning percentage of .767.

The Boston Celtics have won 17 championships. In 14 of those regular seasons, their winning percentage was lower (usually MUCH lower) than .767.

So far, this is the shortest stat thread I have posted. I hope it is not only short but also to the point.

Sam

"Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire boil and cauldron bubble."

Just took a look at the regular season record of the 1985-86 Celtics, you remember, the team with Bird and Walton, McHale and Parish, DJ and Danny - unbelievable!, stop the presses! that team lost 5 games in December, including 2 in a row!!! We should have traded Larry Bird, we never should have gotten McHale and Parish - only 3 championships. Imagine! All that talent.

Lucky for us there wasn't a board back then. Otherwise, Sam would have had a million posts by now and worn away the letters on his keyboard.

Sam: Leave it to you to be the one to find a green (not silver) lining in this cloud of depression now called a losing streak!-MD.

spikeD wrote:"Double, double, toil and trouble,
Fire boil and cauldron bubble."

Just took a look at the regular season record of the 1985-86 Celtics, you remember, the team with Bird and Walton, McHale and Parish, DJ and Danny - unbelievable!, stop the presses! that team lost 5 games in December, including 2 in a row!!! We should have traded Larry Bird, we never should have gotten McHale and Parish - only 3 championships. Imagine! All that talent.

Lucky for us there wasn't a board back then. Otherwise, Sam would have had a million posts by now and worn away the letters on his keyboard.

spike,

That is a great season to make comparisons with. Last year, when we went into a little skid at this time in the season, I actually researched those losses. Some of the teams that we lost to then were the bottom feeders of their time. It was on the BDC and it must have been early January. I may go find it, that would be easier than doing the research over again.

Didn't the Celtics lose to the Bobcats back-to-back, home & away (or visa-versa) during the 07-08 championship season? That was my first year on the BDC and at the time, the negative outlooks were a shock to me. The board just exploded!!! It happened again last season, and I grew to expect it. This season, being my third year posting on a Celtics forum, out it comes again.

To each their own, I guess. Hey, the Lakers lost 2 out of three and the win was a 2OT game with the Kings. Every team goes through a rough patch and for many teams, the rough patch lasts the entire season. We should be happy to be playing better than .700 ball, other teams struggle to get to .500.

Worse things could happen, you could be a Knick fan!!

gyso

MD,
AFAIK, streak starts with 3
It looks like the last year (same period) but, looking on the bright side, last year they had full crew, now no PP and MD.
Also, on the bright side, did you notice Perk yesterday: he's learning to walk away from Ts. I guess KG did convince him that though his name starts with the same letter but it's longer and he doesn't have the same skills to drop his opponents with his elbow without getting ejected.
On the not so bright side where's the fire? I bet that if yesterday they had half of the desire to win as they had in Orlando they'd won by 13-15.
I hope that the team and coaches taking notes.
Thank you very much,
AK

MD,

Sometimes I forget to follow my own advice. And my number one counsel in rooting for a basketball team is to follow the players' leads.

Now that philosophy involves qualifiers. I don't have the talent to copy their act on the court. I don't have the money to match their acquisitions and life styles. On the other hand, I don't have the notoriety that would require me to be on guard every minute I'm in public.

But what I DO have is the ability to emulate the way players handle the vagaries of basketball life.

Their number on priority, of course, is to take care of business. Their families are the first to learn that treatment of injuries must receive priority over anything...unreasonable practice demands must be complied with unquestionably...stolen nap times cannot be interrupted for any reason. On the road, the players are surrounded by people who are in similar situations, and the lack of distractions may partly explain why a road record could surpass a home record.

But the lesson that I can learn from players (and I recommend it to all) involves what goes on in their minds while they're NOT attending to the necessities of their trade. They are, first and foremost, people; and most of them soon learn that they cannot allow all the daily basketball pitfalls to get into their heads.

They learn not to get too "down" after losses, and the sharp ones learn not to become too exuberant after wins. (There's a difference between confidence and cockiness.) They understand that, in some ways, they're living the movies "Groundhog Day" and "Fifty First Dates," because they're constantly being presented with the gift of a new game and a clean slate—the value of which can be diluted by an unhealthy focus on past negatives that they can no longer influence. They realize that they have the choice of expending energy on recrimination and regret or on the much more desirable alternative of filling that clean slate constructively.

I'm a passionate fan, so I've never completely mastered the "on/off" aspect of this philosophical switch the players possess. But I'm working at it.

Sam

What is the lowest win% of a championship team in modern times?

Swede, I'll try look it up, but first I'll ask you to define "modern times" by year. I'm really sensitive to definitions about that term.

Sam

Sam - That's cause you're a sensitive guy.

Sam wrote:In the midst of teeth-knashing time, let us remind ourselves that the 2009-10 Boston Celtics have a winning percentage of .767.

The Boston Celtics have won 17 championships. In 14 of those regular seasons, their winning percentage was lower (usually MUCH lower) than .767.

So far, this is the shortest stat thread I have posted. I hope it is not only short but also to the point.

Sam

Whilst knashing my teeth Sam, it gives me an opportunity to be thankful I still have teeth. Your point is well taken. They are 1 game off the pace after losing at least 3 games they should have won. This team has still not found it's identity...unlike the Lakers...
Once all hands are on deck, if they are still close to the pace...I see no reason why the C's can't end up with the best record in the NBA and in great shape heading into the playoffs.

Swede

Lowest # of wins for a championship team
(not counting the strike year)

Washington Bullets 1978 Champs..............44-38 record
Houston Rockets 1995 Champs..................47-35 record

Went back as far as the 68-69 C's whom won 48.

beat

Thanks for saving me the trouble Beat. In trying to get ready for Swede's response about modernity (which I can never get a handle on), I had thought about the 1969 Celtics, but it turned out I needn't have gone so far back.

Sam

Sorry, was sloppy of me to just throw modern out there.

Just thinking there might have been some weird format/seasons back in the day that just wouldnt be possible nowadays.

In general though I would say that you will probably see a slightly lower win% with a veteran team in sacrifice for a better win% in games that matter (playoffs).

That would be an interesting analysis: average age of team against winning percentage in both the regular season and the playoffs.