Celtics 5th in the East

Here we are nearly halfway thru the season and sitting in 5th place. I am not so sure we are going to get out of that place either. When I have watch these teams ahead of them when they are not playing the C's, they all just look like a better team. We don't seem to have any chemistry on this team. If you haven't got any in 38 games I am not so sure you are going to get any. I think we are going to have to make some changes which probably involves a trade. I have always heard that if you continue to do the same thing and expect different results you are living in a fantasy world. I hope I am wrong but I doubt it.

Time to throw in the towel.

Ha

I think we will compete a lot better when we are in a 7 game series . There are just a few things we need to clean up that would make a world of difference. More ball movement which would result in better shooting for one. If the throw in the towel was for me, don't worry I never give up. I just point out what I think I see.

Do you think we have good chemistry?

tardust wrote:I think we will compete a lot better when we are in a 7 game series .   There are just a few things we need to clean up that would make a world of difference.  More ball movement which would  result in better shooting for one.  If the throw in the towel was for me,  don't worry I never give up.   I just point out what I think I see.

Do you think we have good chemistry?

Chemistry is a tough one, kind of a subjective measure. I think when healthy the first unit (Tatum, Kyrie, Morris, Smart and Horford) have chemistry and it is getting better all the time.

I think the more important measure is Identity. What is this team's identity? They can be lock down defenders, but dont stick to it. They can score in spurts and then lose focus. They can rebound when the employ a team effort, but not consistently. They are the most talented team in the East top to bottom. And when they are all up for it, they are capable of beating anyone anytime.

Here is the key IMO and why I am bullish on this team to go to the finals.

They have lost lots of games to a set of nagging injuries and that is very hard for a team that is still building their identity and finding roles. Milwaukee and Toronto are dominated by one star and the rest of the team has generally been in tact and in their current roles for a number of years. This is not the case with the Celtics.

*Jaylen is a starter learning to play off the bench.
*Hayward is a athletic wing that is learning to deal with a body that is dramatically less athletic.
*Rozier is trying to prove he is a stable, steady player and has traded his explosive carefree attitude for a more measured role.
*Baynes has been bounced from starter to bench to injury list.

If I am the rest of the East, I do not want to run into this Celtics team - healthy and ready to go in a 7 game series. Patience.

Good points Kleen, right now our biggest weakness is interior defense and rebounding, but we don’t have Baynes and RW and Horford is still finding his legs/game coming back from injury. If we can get healthy by all star break and get chemistry going, RW gets going, 2 J’s attacking like last years playoffs we should be fine.

Stevens has got to get 2 J’s going

And IMO, Rebounding is one of the few things you can somewhat rectify with a late season add.

You come bring in someone like Kenneth Faried or Kyle O'Quinn to bang on the boards against teams with interior presence - and let them sit against other teams.

We do seem to keep shooting ourselves in the foot each time we have a chance to move up the standings recently. PHI getting blown out by POR would have given us the same number of losses, etc.

TOR and MIL don't seem to be budging and the gap for us to get there is either staying where it is or getting wider as of late. When these two do lose, it is a measured loss against a top tier team.

I'm still a big fan of the now current starting 5. Horford, Tatum, Irving, Smart and Morris. They set the tone early. I would just like to see them start another 15-20 games together and see what results so they can build some chemistry.

db

When Boston won 8 straight games which now seems like ancient history, it somewhat masked underlying weaknesses on this team.  You are supposed to beat up on scrubs.

Since then the Celtics have been playing like a bunch of scrubs themselves.  Al Horford did not play in 4 of those 8 straight wins or in 3 straight losses to Detroit, Phoenix and Milwaukee.  The Celtics have been plagued with the injury bug all years.  They can never seems to find a sustained period of good chemistry.

Over the past 8 games Boston is 3-5.   They begin their longest home stand tonight (4 games) with the Twolves.  Kyrie may not suit up.  TR may start or they may move Marcus over to PG and start JB who is starting to come alive.

I can honestly state that I just do not know what we have here.  I know the saying " see me in April"  is often used but this is not a veteran playoff tested team.  They do not have a veteran playoff switch to turn on and off.  There is no history there to point to.

Rebounding the basketball will be an ongoing concern.

Some good points Kleen. I have a hard time talking about the finals with what I have seen so far this year. Still holding out hope though. The problem you mentioned on the other teams having one superstar is those superstars always seem to eat our sack lunch for us. Seems like the stars on all the teams have huge games on us. I think Brad has got to start trying to take the ball out of some of their hands at times. Throw in some double teams and let someone else make a few shots.

tardust wrote:Some good points Kleen.   I have a hard time talking about the finals with what I have seen so far this year.  Still holding out hope though.   The problem you mentioned on the other teams having one superstar is those superstars always seem to eat our sack lunch for us.  Seems like the stars on all the teams have huge games on us.  I think Brad has got to start trying to take the ball out of some of their hands at times.  Throw in some double teams and let someone else make a few shots.

Agree 100% with this.