Re: Post Game Thread - Preseason, vs Nets

by **cowens/oldschool** Mon Dec 21, 2020 1:14 am

While I’m not crazy about Randle, also a borderline starter, but a rotation piece. He never defended or did enough dirty work things for me. He can score in the paint and drive a little, but he really doesn’t have a perimeter stroke or enough defensive ability to get serious minutes.

by **cowens/oldschool** Mon Dec 21, 2020 1:40 am

worcester wrote:If lucky we may go 4-6 to start the year. If really lucky, 6-4. No way do we beat the Bucks, the Nets, Miami, and then Indy twice. Once maybe, not twice.
We will adjust and then get better.

Yeah after seeing first 2 preseason games, I am also not seeing a fast start this year. Agree completely 6-4, 4-6 is a realistic start this year, then see how things develop. Preseason may not define this team, but preseason can have big impacts too, don’t say preseason means nothing. Did you know Larry Bird had a coming out party in his rookie year and it was the 2nd preseason game in the 79-80 season. He poured in 36 points in the Mecca at that time of the NBA, yep Madison Square Garden, in only his 2nd game ever, I saw that game. It was only preseason, but Bird killed it, put on a clinic and the writers all said it was a coming out party and that he’s arrived and a lot sooner than anyone thought. That he is gonna take over the NBA and that game was the start of the Bird era. They said he made it look too easy, none of the writers were expecting that performance at all. All those were somewhat quotes that I remembered reading in the Post the next day as Bird really nailed it.

by **kdp59** Mon Dec 21, 2020 7:46 am

worcester wrote:If lucky we may go 4-6 to start the year. If really lucky, 6-4. No way do we beat the Bucks, the Nets, Miami, and then Indy twice. Once maybe, not twice.
We will adjust and then get better.

I'll go a bit deeper in the Schedule and say we'll be VERY lucky if we are 10-10 after 20 games.

Probably gonna be a lot of stories early on about "what's wrong with the Boston Celtics".

by **Vankisa** Mon Dec 21, 2020 8:48 am

kdp59 wrote:
worcester wrote:If lucky we may go 4-6 to start the year. If really lucky, 6-4. No way do we beat the Bucks, the Nets, Miami, and then Indy twice. Once maybe, not twice.
We will adjust and then get better.

I'll go a bit deeper in the Schedule and say we'll be VERY lucky if we are 10-10 after 20 games.

Probably gonna be a lot of stories early on about "what's wrong with the Boston Celtics".

A very good point I forgot to put in - I think it is safe to say in this shortened season that even if every single thing we hope for is accomplished by Brad and the Team later in the season, after a 10-10 start I see no realistic way for the Celtics to finish in the top 3 teams in the East.

by **dboss** Mon Dec 21, 2020 9:21 am

We should expect KW to be out at least 3-4 months. The schedule through the end of January has several sets of BTB games against the same team. If we go 10-10 right out of the gate I would be okay. Lot of competition on the schedule.

by **dbrown4** Mon Dec 21, 2020 11:03 am

dboss,

I thought KW was only going to be out for the first couple of games this season (back in January) and that the total time missed was 3-4 months from date of surgery/stem cell injection. This would put him into mid-January at the latest.

If this is the latest news, that really sucks. The new guys will be thrown into the fire. No time or place for repeat CE experiments. These guys will need to act and produce like Top 5 lottery picks.

db

by **worcester** Mon Dec 21, 2020 11:34 am

If I were Kemba's doctor, I would let him start tuning up in February but delay his entry into full on game play until March 11, after the All Star break. We need Kemba healthy for the playoffs, not really before. The PRP starts to work after six weeks, but it takes a while to really get right. Besides the PRP Kemba should be doing strengthening AND stretching exercises, preferably Active Isolated Stretching (AIS). My trainer Terry Simes has trained over 20 Olympic Gold Medal winning track athletes and Patrick Ewing using AIS, and it makes a world of difference when combined with proper strengthening exercises. Terry got booted from the Knicks training staff for using AIS, because the Knicks head trainer felt threatened. That's the way it is in sports medicine. Often the trainers are more concerned about protecting their fiefdoms than exploring what might actually work best for the athletes. I miss Eddie LaCerte, my favorite.

https://www.usab.com/basketball/staff/l/lacerte-ed.aspx

Back to Kemba. Here's an enlightening article from Forbes. I think Danny would be ok with Kemba taking longer to recover. https://www.forbes.com/sites/seandeveney/2020/12/01/for-the-boston-celtics-kemba-walkers-knee-problem-is-all-their-own/?sh=296e48603f25

by **NYCelt** Mon Dec 21, 2020 2:43 pm

gyso wrote:
NYCelt wrote:
dbrown4 wrote:I am going to predict with great accuracy that one of these 5 teams is not going to finish in the the Top 5 of the East.

Milwaukee, Miami, Boston, Brooklyn and Philadelphia.

If the first two preseason games were it for the sample space, it would be us hands down.

You can pretty much narrow it down to 4 barring anything funky going on in MIL. They will be present and accounted for in the ECF 2021.

db

I won't bet against you on that one. One of those teams could fall out of the top 5. The Hawks and maybe even the Wizards may also have some dark-horse surprises to hand out.

Besides, I still owe gyso a beer from a previous bet. Worse yet, owning him that beer, I saw him, had dinner with him and completely forgot about it. Now I still owe him one and don't want to owe others as well!

You mat be sad because you still owe me a beer, but that sadness may have gone away because your Bills have clinched their first AFC East title since 1995.

https://sports.yahoo.com/josh-allen-shines-again-bills-clinch-first-afc-east-title-since-1995-with-win-over-broncos-005044991.html

Congratulations!!!

Thanks gyso!

by **dboss** Mon Dec 21, 2020 4:38 pm

dbrown4 wrote:dboss,

I thought KW was only going to be out for the first couple of games this season (back in January) and that the total time missed was 3-4 months from date of surgery/stem cell injection. This would put him into mid-January at the latest.

If this is the latest news, that really sucks. The new guys will be thrown into the fire. No time or place for repeat CE experiments. These guys will need to act and produce like Top 5 lottery picks.

db

db

I read where it takes 3-4 months for the the stem cell injection to work, I believe he had it done in October but I am not sure of the date. Danny seems to be taking a more cautious attitude because of what happened when he came back in the bubble, We have to hope that the injection stimulates some tissue growth in the knee and Kemba is able to strengthen the knee. I do not expect to see him back in January. There is a real opportunity for Teague and Pritchard at the point.

by **dbrown4** Tue Dec 22, 2020 9:51 am

dboss,

Agreed. We are no stranger to being down players at any point during the season and/or playoffs and looking down the bench for stars to emerge. This will be no different. I like our chances here with this crop of newbies.

db

by **bobheckler** Tue Dec 22, 2020 2:08 pm

John Karalis @RedsArmy_John
about 49 minutes ago
Kemba Walker is "still a long way away" but he's on the court doing 1 on 1 stuff with coaches. No cutting, nothing to stress the knee

Jared Weiss
Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 49 minutes ago
Tristan Thompson looked fine today in the walkthrough, but Brad Stevens doesn't know if he'll play tomorrow yet. Kemba Walker is doing solo work on the court now, but no live action yet.

Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
about 46 minutes ago
Brad Stevens: "Our whole team, we need to increase our efficiency...we need to get to the rim and the foul line and probe for open 3s."

Jay King @ByJayKing
about 44 minutes ago
You know the regular season is coming because Brad Stevens has grown cagey about his starting lineup.

Brian Robb
Brian Robb @BrianTRobb
about 44 minutes ago
Brad Stevens on his starting five: "We will probably alternate it some."

John Karalis
John Karalis @RedsArmy_John
about 45 minutes ago
Brad Stevens is REALLY hammering home that the 3's he wants are inside-out 3's.... drive and kicks. I don't think I've heard him use that term much but he's saying it nearly every day. Emphasizing attacking off the dribble a lot

Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
about 26 minutes ago
Daniel Theis says his back is good to go -- had no issues during the Nets game.

Chris Grenham
Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
about 27 minutes ago
Daniel Theis: "We still have a ways to go. We gotta find a rhythm." Added that Tristan Thompson will help, but it could take him some time to get used to the Celtics system once he enters the lineup.

Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 21 minutes ago
Daniel Theis said his biggest focus this offseason has been improving his shot. He really felt teams sagging off him when he shot poorly in the playoffs and wants to make sure he's a 3 point threat this year. Went from 38.8% on 1.0 3PG in '19 to 33.3% on 1.5 3PG in '20.

Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
about 14 minutes ago
Payton Pritchard says he can help the team by bringing intensity and grit on both ends of the floor. Said he'll look to bring a spark off the bench.

Chris Grenham @chrisgrenham
about 9 minutes ago
Payton Pritchard on the Celtics' high expectations: "It's what I'm used to. I've never been to a program that wasn't about winning ... I want to be a part of a culture and organization like this that takes winning seriously and wants to win every year. ... I'm glad to be here."

Bob
MY NOTE: This may be the last "pre-season" update on this thread, or maybe tomorrow before the game will be. From then on there will be regular season threads.

.

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