AINGE: 'I DON'T LOOK AT OUR TEAM AS A TITLE CONTENDER'

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/ainge-i-dont-look-our-team-title-contender?p=ya5nbcs&ocid=yahoo

I agree with him.

I'm gonna disagree with trader Danny. Next week we will have 16 teams contending for the title. We will be one of them.

I'm even really liking our chances of getting to the finals. Who would have thought we would even be having such a conversation so soon after giving Paul and Kg away?

Matty wrote:I'm gonna disagree with trader Danny. Next week we will have 16 teams contending for the title. We will be one of them.

I'm even really liking our chances of getting to the finals.  Who would have thought we would even be having such a conversation so soon after giving Paul and Kg away?

I thnk DA is just being realistic.  We still have holes to fill on this roster and as we move hpefully deeper in the playoffs those holes will start leaking.

Yes technically we are in contention but not really.  

Also we did not give PP and KG away.  To the contrary we sold them for a King's ransom and we have not even started to spend the loot that we got from the Nets.

By all accounts this teams is probably 1 to 2 years ahead of schedule during the rebuild and the remarkable thing is that the team only had one bad year since it all started.

dboss

which brings up the next question.

WHAT does this team need next year to BECOME a contender?

to me:

1) another high quality scorer , who can create his own shot

2) a rim protecting big man , who can switch outside the box defensively when needed (good luck on this one).

what say everyone else?

once we determine the need, we can discuss the solutions.

kdp59 wrote:which brings up the next question.

WHAT does this team need next year to BECOME a contender?

to me:

1) another high quality scorer , who can create his own shot

2) a rim protecting big man , who can switch outside the box defensively when needed (good luck on this one).

what say everyone else?

once we determine the need, we can discuss the solutions.

kdps59

I would suggest that we need a sniper and a wing that can create his own shot (score inside and from deep, defend his position rebound, etc. etc)  We have to move the needle on our 3 point shooting.

The Celtics offense in terms of movement and the ability for guys to find open space is really quite impressive.  However open shots mean nothing if the shooting percentage is low.

I also agree that we need a rim protector/rebounder.  Basically a defensive big.  We would also want him to provide a some offense although he does not have to be a high end scorer.  Ideally he should be able to run the floor, run the high P & R, make shots in the 12-15 range, provide on the ball post defense and also have the quickness to rotate as a weak side defender

I know that is asking for a lot.

I know we can get a sniper in the draft but the other two pieces (the go to guy that can create his own shot) will be more difficult and the multi-skilled center may not be available either in the draft or free agency.  If we cannot get the go to scorer then add 2 Snipers at the 2 and 3 spots and then get the best defensive and rebounding center  available. (Can live with less  offense from the center)

It could be very possible to add all three pieces this off season but more than likely it may take an additional year to complete the team.  I think we will be approaching 55-60 wins next year and will be considered a real contender.

dboss

dboss wrote:I also agree that we need a rim protector/rebounder. Basically a defensive big. We would also want him to provide a some offense although he does not have to be a high end scorer. Ideally he should be able to run the floor, run the high P & R, make shots in the 12-15 range, provide on the ball post defense and also have the quickness to rotate as a weak side defender

Jakob Poeltl can do most of that, and might even be a high end scorer on top of it. The only problem is he's light in the pants right now and would get bullied by the 270+ lb centers. But he did shut down Jahlil Okafor last year, holding him to 6 points.

As far as being long AND mobile enough to guard any position in space, he offers that. And his scoring is top notch.

The ability of a center to defend guards in space is probably very underrated.

Whiteside's utter inability to do that is probably what keeps his advanced stats so mediocre, even though he's a great shot blocker.

In our last 3 games against the Warriors:

1 Celtics blew a 20-25 point lead last spring, and lost a very close game.
2 Celtics lost in double overtime
3 Celtics beat Warriors a couple weeks ago.

I'm just guessing, but I think the ability of our bigs to switch onto GS's guards has been a big reason we've played them so incredibly well, probably better than any other team in that timespan.

And probably a big reason the Warriors have been so dominant against the rest of the league is because of most centers' utter inability to switch onto guys like Curry and Thompson and Barnes and Iggy.

Not that we should build a team focused primarily on beating the Warriors.

arambone wrote:

dboss wrote:I also agree that we need a rim protector/rebounder.  Basically a defensive big.  We would also want him to provide a some offense although he does not have to be a high end scorer.  Ideally he should be able to run the floor, run the high P & R, make shots in the 12-15 range, provide on the ball post defense and also have the quickness to rotate as a weak side defender

Jakob Poeltl can do most of that, and might even be a high end scorer on top of it. The only problem is he's light in the pants right now and would get bullied by the 270+ lb centers. But he did shut down Jahlil Okafor last year, holding him to 6 points.

As far as being long AND mobile enough to guard any position in space, he offers that. And his scoring is top notch.

Are you hoping Boston could move up and take him in the mid to late lottery or do you think Boston should take him early with pick 3-5?

dboss wrote:I would suggest that we need a sniper and a wing that can create his own shot (score inside and from deep, defend his position rebound, etc. etc) We have to move the needle on our 3 point shooting.

The Celtics offense in terms of movement and the ability for guys to find open space is really quite impressive. However open shots mean nothing if the shooting percentage is low.

Brandon Ingram definitely fits the description to a T, and then some. There's a strong argument to be made that the Celtics should do (almost) anything necessary to trade up for him, if we ended up outside the top 1 or 2 picks.

tjmakz wrote:

arambone wrote:

dboss wrote:I also agree that we need a rim protector/rebounder.  Basically a defensive big.  We would also want him to provide a some offense although he does not have to be a high end scorer.  Ideally he should be able to run the floor, run the high P & R, make shots in the 12-15 range, provide on the ball post defense and also have the quickness to rotate as a weak side defender

Jakob Poeltl can do most of that, and might even be a high end scorer on top of it. The only problem is he's light in the pants right now and would get bullied by the 270+ lb centers. But he did shut down Jahlil Okafor last year, holding him to 6 points.

As far as being long AND mobile enough to guard any position in space, he offers that. And his scoring is top notch.

Are you hoping Boston could move up and take him in the mid to late lottery or do you think Boston should take him early with pick 3-5?

First I'd try to trade up for Brandon Ingram. He's going to be dominant. I'd even seriously consider trading IT and the top 6 pick to move up for him.

But failing that, I'd very much strongly consider using pick 3-5 on him. Just because mock draft might have him ranked 9th or 10th right now, doesn't mean taking him at 3-5 would be a bad pick. I'm pretty sure the Lakers would trade D'Angelo Russell for Okafor (3rd), Porzingis (4th), or Myles Turner (11th?).

Turner was ranked 9th-12th for the entire draft season last year, and in a re-draft he'd go top 5.

Similarly, Nikola Jokic wasn't on any first round mock drafts in 2014, and now he'd go top 5 in a redraft.

There are other good prospects to be had in the 3-5 range this year, but none are clearly better than Poeltl, and as far as fit, there's no obvious better fit for Boston.

I still really like Murray and Jaylen Brown, but neither are clearly better than Poeltl, and neither represents an immediate and obvious upgrade for the Celtics like Poeltl does.

Here's KDP's favorite prospect outside the top 2. I'm growing on him as well.
He combines scoring, two way impact, sky high upside, and intangibles.

The only issue is we already have Crowder locked up for like 5 years. I guess that would be a good problem to have though.

And here's Pac 12 player of the year Poeltl's highlights. You can see his crazy mobility for a 7'1 guy on display.