Celtics don’t need championship to be successful, just a win in Game 7

by **bobheckler** Sun May 14, 2017 12:59 pm

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2017/05/bulpett_celtics_don_t_need_championship_to_be_successful_just_a_win_in_game_7

Bulpett: Celtics don’t need championship to be successful, just a win in Game 7

Steve Bulpett

Sunday, May 14, 2017

There will be no confetti falling from the Garden rafters if the Celtics are victorious tomorrow.

If Adam Silver is in the house, he will not be handing out a gleaming gold trophy to the winner.

Avery Bradley and Isaiah Thomas will not dump Gatorade over Brad Stevens if they are ahead as the final seconds tick away.

But in all measures that have even a passing acquaintance with reality, maybe all these events should occur if the Shamrocks manage to shake the Wizards in tomorrow night’s Game 7. Maybe even a duck boat ride down the street to the North End for a slice of pizza or a cannoli.

If the Celtics triumph in this second-round series, they will have traveled their maximum allowable distance — at least the max for their 2016-17 incarnation. A six-game win against Chicago and the first trip beyond the first round for a Stevens-coached professional team followed by a seven-game conquering of Washington will be a kiss to the ceiling for this crew.

A trip to the Eastern Conference finals would ensue, and Las Vegas would be very happy to accept your money if you’d wish to place a wager on the Celtics of Boston to defeat the Cleveland LeBrons. (And if you are so inclined, try not to take it too personally when the accountant at the sports book giggles as he accepts your cash and hands you the ticket. Good comedy abounds on the Vegas Strip, but it’s the unexpected moments of humor that sometimes offer a nice rib-tickle, eh?)

If the Celts are good/fortunate tomorrow, they will enter the conference finals a fair deal lighter than in the previous two. They will carry no weight of expectation. They will have nothing to lose as long as they can avoid getting rocked by 39 — or, after the way James Harden and friends got thrashed by that margin in Game 6 against San Antonio, Rocketed. Even then the C’s will be forgiven their trespasses.

Technically the locals would have a “chance,” and the NBA will dutifully hire an atom splitter to decipher their odds to defeat the team known in some circles as the Cavaliers. But all we are sure of at this point is that said final figure will have a lot of numbers to the right of the decimal point and not much on the left.

But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, right? The season is down to one game for the Celtics. Under any circumstances, Stevens would look at it no other way.

The only game that matters is the one in front of you. Control the controllables. Play as well as you can, and the result will take care of itself.

With some, such is naught but coachspeak. But Stevens believes it all, and he is, of course, absolutely correct. The fact he is unwilling to butt in to the dramatic scenarios isn’t great for media sound byte purposes, but it works exceedingly well with his players, which is sort of what counts here.

Brad will tell you the Celtics need to play better to win tomorrow, and if John Wall and Bradley Beal play from the start the way they did in the fourth quarter Friday, he is again on the money.

Then again, if Wall is correct in a statement he has made a few times during this series, the C’s are in good position.

“Role players play better at home,” he has said before and repeated after he’d hit the game-winner in the last affair.

True enough, getting beyond the supporting players in the starting five, the Wizards’ pine people outscored their peers from the Celtics bench, 13-5, on Friday. The Boston reserves made just 2-of-15 shots — and one of the makes was a Markieff Morris goaltend of a Kelly Olynyk attempt.

If the rims are more friendly to the Celts’ subs in the Garden and Thomas gets the proper backing to take advantage of all the attention Washington will throw at him, this will be more than a successful night. It will be a successful season. The Celtics will have achieved all that could be reasonably or even unreasonably expected of them.

And if they lose, what the hell? The draft lottery is on Tuesday, and Greenhearts won’t have time for a second tear. The first one will be dried by the breeze as they swiftly flip the calendar page to 2017-18 and begin envisioning what the roster will look like next season when the ceiling may be a floor or two higher.

bob
MY NOTE: As far as I am concerned they already have had a successful season.

Earned a home court playoff series? Check.
Won a playoff series? Check.
Earn respect in the 2nd playoff series? Check.

Those were my aspirations when we started the season and I'm not going to change them now when nothing material has happened that would justify adjusting them. A major injury? Ok, sure. Trading some spare parts for an all-star? Absolutely we should do better. Otherwise the expectations are the same, we are just overachieving them. Next year? Watch out for us. Another year of experience for Brown. Another year of experience for Rozier. Hopefully Danny can make something happen on the trade and/or free agent market and a top 4 pick. All that on top of a 53 win, #1 in the Eastern Conference season the previous year.

.

.

by **dboss** Sun May 14, 2017 3:28 pm

I agree but a game 7 win in Boston by the Celtics connects this team with the historical past. Despite a most enjoyable season, a loss will leave a foul taste. After all we started 2-0. To then drop 4/5 would not sit well for Celtics Nation.

dboss

by **NYCelt** Sun May 14, 2017 10:20 pm

dboss wrote:I agree but a game 7 win in Boston by the Celtics connects this team with the historical past. Despite a most enjoyable season, a loss will leave a foul taste. After all we started 2-0. To then drop 4/5 would not sit well for Celtics Nation.

dboss

dboss,

True. Being this close and having jumped out to 2 - 0, and then getting it to 3 -2, there's bound to be a letdown if we don't win game 7.

I would have never expected us to be where we are, and I realize that The Wiz have a stronger lineup. Still, I would feel a letdown if we were to lose. We fans are competitive too.

Regards

by **wideclyde** Sun May 14, 2017 10:50 pm

dboss,

EVERY lost game in a 7th game of any series brings a terrible, foul taste for every team.

by **fierce** Sun May 14, 2017 11:43 pm

Brad Stevens' first Game 7 as an NBA head coach.

But I'm more worried about the lottery the day after Game 7.

What happens in the lottery will determine what kind of future this current Boston Celtics team will have.

by **steve3344** Mon May 15, 2017 7:50 am

fierce wrote:Brad Stevens' first Game 7 as an NBA head coach.

But I'm more worried about the lottery the day after Game 7.

What happens in the lottery will determine what kind of future this current Boston Celtics team will have.

Amen.

by **kdp59** Mon May 15, 2017 8:54 am

NYCelt wrote:
dboss wrote:I agree but a game 7 win in Boston by the Celtics connects this team with the historical past. Despite a most enjoyable season, a loss will leave a foul taste. After all we started 2-0. To then drop 4/5 would not sit well for Celtics Nation.

dboss

dboss,

True. Being this close and having jumped out to 2 - 0, and then getting it to 3 -2, there's bound to be a letdown if we don't win game 7.

I would have never expected us to be where we are, and I realize that The Wiz have a stronger lineup. Still, I would feel a letdown if we were to lose. We fans are competitive too.

Regards

I'm not sure why some feel Washington has a "stronger Lineup"......they were the 4th seed in the east, the same east we were 1st seed.

I'm also not buying the "we are team of over achievers" anymore either.

we have an all-star player who was in the top three in the league in scoring

we have a MAX salary Free agent we brought in

we have two recent top 10 draft picks on the roster.

IMO, we are achieving at the level we should be.

I have LOWERED my opinion of how good a HC Stevens is this series to be honest. no timeouts during a historic 26 point run?

having a 5 point lead with less then two minutes left and letting players use hero ball to get the win?

not good.

it's not that I think he's suddenly a bad NBA coach, just that he has much to learn about the big boys game still it seems.

but we shall see tonight, I bet Wall and company come wearing their Black ( I wonder if they have black jerseys?).

by **dboss** Mon May 15, 2017 11:54 am

Washington has a stronger lineup because they have PF Morris. who is our PF that matches up with him. Brad has pretty much been using Crowder since neither Amir or KO have been factors.

Stevens has gone back to Amir but he never should have buried him on the bench.

Agree..timeouts are critical. When we were up 5 with 2 minutes left why not take a timeout to discuss what needs to happen. Brad persists in leaving the team to their own devices.

I hate bad shots and I hate turnovers.

by **NYCelt** Mon May 15, 2017 11:56 am

kdp,

I think "stronger lineup," or not, is a matter of opinion.

For instance, I feel that The Wiz have a stronger starting lineup, man for man. Part of it is their backcourt, and Gortat in the middle as well. Porter/Oubre and Morris aren't weak outs either. Would I, in my opinion, trade our starting five for theirs? Yes.

I don't think it matters that they finished 4th in the east, with us two spots ahead. In other threads I've expressed my opinion that The Wiz have a superior starting five to us, but have, until recently, been dysfunctional as a team. That, among other factors, could easily lead to a stronger team having a lesser record.

I agree Stevens is still learning and has a ways to go, but I think that's to be expected. I think he's too often getting too high a billing. I think he'll get there, just that he's often credited with more than I think he's yet capable. I think he'll become an excellent playoff, and hopefully championship coach. In time.

Regards

by **kdp59** Mon May 15, 2017 12:42 pm

sorry i don't buy that the Wizards have a better roster.

comparisons:

Gortat- Horford ( Horford )
Morris- Amir ( Moriis)
Porter- Crowder (even)
Beal- Bradley ( Even or edge to Bradley)
Wall- Thomas (Wall obviously)

but thats not the whole rotation: I'll match up the bench by positions played mostly

Mahinmi- Kelly (Even or edge to Kelly)
Oubre- Smart ( Smart)
Boddanovich- Jaylen ( Even)
Jennings- Rozier ( Even or edge to Rozier)

so when we look at the rotational players used this series, we see a very EVENLY matched team. Which explains why each team has won every game in their home court.

lets hope it holds one more game.

by **dboss** Mon May 15, 2017 1:37 pm

kdp59 wrote:sorry i don't buy that the Wizards have a better roster.

comparisons:

Gortat- Horford ( Horford )
Morris- Amir ( Moriis)
Porter- Crowder (even)
Beal- Bradley ( Even or edge to Bradley)
Wall- Thomas (Wall obviously)

but thats not the whole rotation: I'll match up the bench by positions played mostly

Mahinmi- Kelly (Even or edge to Kelly)
Oubre- Smart ( Smart)
Boddanovich- Jaylen ( Even)
Jennings- Rozier ( Even or edge to Rozier)

so when we look at the rotational playersby. Which explains why each team has won every game in their home court.

lets hope it holds one more game.

Hard to compare different type of players. You can give Smart the edge but that may be more related to what he does on the defensive end. Offensively Oubre is the superior player.

At this point I would pick Boddonovich over Jalen.

I picked those 2 Wizard players because they know how to put the ball in the basket. Overall the edge goes to their starters over us because of Morris at the PF spot but I would give us a slight edge off the bench but only because of our defense. If our bench does not score we will lose game 7.

dboss

by **bobheckler** Mon May 15, 2017 1:39 pm

kdp59 wrote:sorry i don't buy that the Wizards have a better roster.

comparisons:

Gortat- Horford ( Horford )
Morris- Amir ( Moriis)
Porter- Crowder (even)
Beal- Bradley ( Even or edge to Bradley)
Wall- Thomas (Wall obviously)

but thats not the whole rotation: I'll match up the bench by positions played mostly

Mahinmi- Kelly (Even or edge to Kelly)
Oubre- Smart ( Smart)
Boddanovich- Jaylen ( Even)
Jennings- Rozier ( Even or edge to Rozier)

so when we look at the rotational players used this series, we see a very EVENLY matched team. Which explains why each team has won every game in their home court.

lets hope it holds one more game.

kdp,

My take on your take:

Gortat- Horford ( Horford)
Morris- Amir ( Morris)
Porter- Crowder (even or even edge to Crowder due to his defense)
Beal- Bradley (even or even edge to Bradley but only if he plays game 7 like he has the last few games)
Wall- Thomas (Wall obviously, unless IT drops 50 on his ass)

The back court matchups are weird because Brad has Bradley on Wall and IT on Beal, so it isn't quite as simplistic as this.

Where things get even less clear is with the bench

Mahinmi- Kelly (Even or edge to Kelly, but Kelly doesn't usually plays Mahinmi, in part, because Mahinmi doesn't play much)
Oubre- Smart (Smart, but it's usually Oubre on Kelly or on IT and Smart picks up Beal)
Bogdanovich- Jaylen (Edge to Bogdanovich. Jaylen defends Bogie well but isn't scoring enough)
Jennings- Rozier (edge to Rozier, straight up, if he doesn't let Jennings into his head and that won't happen again)

Then there's bench sniper Bogdanovich - Gerald Green (even, if Green is guarding him, edge to Green if Jaylen is guarding him)
Jonas vs ???

If IT has another 27 point game, like he had in Game 6, but does it shooting a still-anemic 10-24 instead of a truly awful 8-24, we win.

bob

.

by **RosalieTCeltics** Mon May 15, 2017 2:23 pm

After watching game 1 of the Western diviision playoffs, I came away with a little thing that makes me agree with Bob H when he says, Brad is coaching this team with the Greg Popovich system.
Yesterday I watched as GSW pecked away, 3 after 3, at that big lead the Spurs had. I kept saying"when is he going to call a time out?". There is a system in place with them, and he makes them follow that system, win, lose or draw. He has been pretty successful. Of course it did not help that Leonard got hurt and Pop had to go with who was on the bench.

Sound familiar? Granted we do not have a Kawai Leonard, but we do have IT and Al. Brad must have set things up in his time outs to hope that he lead players would make the right decisions and come away with the victory. Did not work for him and yesterday, it did not work for Pop. It is a known fact that Stevens admires Popovich alot and Pop likes Stevens.

We could do alot worse than having a coach who is following such a successful team like the Spurs. There is a system, this is what he is trying to teach these guys. Those turnovers and lost points were learning experiences for this young team. Hopefully tonight, they will have learned from their mistakes and win the right to face Cleveland. Good, bad, or whatever, they have given me one heck of a season to enjoy.

Here's to a win tonight, talk to you all on the flipside!! If I am still alive after this game!

Rosalie

by **Shamrock1000** Mon May 15, 2017 4:18 pm

kdp59 wrote:
NYCelt wrote:
dboss wrote:I agree but a game 7 win in Boston by the Celtics connects this team with the historical past. Despite a most enjoyable season, a loss will leave a foul taste. After all we started 2-0. To then drop 4/5 would not sit well for Celtics Nation.

dboss

dboss,

True. Being this close and having jumped out to 2 - 0, and then getting it to 3 -2, there's bound to be a letdown if we don't win game 7.

I would have never expected us to be where we are, and I realize that The Wiz have a stronger lineup. Still, I would feel a letdown if we were to lose. We fans are competitive too.

Regards

I'm not sure why some feel Washington has a "stronger Lineup"......they were the 4th seed in the east, the same east we were 1st seed.

I'm also not buying the "we are team of over achievers" anymore either.

we have an all-star player who was in the top three in the league in scoring

we have a MAX salary Free agent we brought in

we have two recent top 10 draft picks on the roster.

IMO, we are achieving at the level we should be.

I have LOWERED my opinion of how good a HC Stevens is this series to be honest. no timeouts during a historic 26 point run?

having a 5 point lead with less then two minutes left and letting players use hero ball to get the win?

not good.

it's not that I think he's suddenly a bad NBA coach, just that he has much to learn about the big boys game still it seems.

but we shall see tonight, I bet Wall and company come wearing their Black ( I wonder if they have black jerseys?).

I agree, I feel like Washington's line up is way over-rated. Wall and Beal had to both have other-wordly games and some luck to beat us at their home. The one thing I would add to your list is that we have an all-nba-type defensive player/borderline allstar in AB.

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