2017-18 Celtics Season Thread

Okay I was wrong about Kobes first year. Doesn't mean I have no clue though. In fact, it even proves my point that if a player like Kobe can struggle to 7 points a game in his first year, then Ball could easily do that too.

Great, he flashed in one freaking game and then was a complete no show the next with 3 points. Cherry pick all you want but Ball could easily be mediocre or even bad this year.

Kobe was one of the ten or fifteen greatest players in NBA history, so yeah it means something.

You can't brush off one bad game and then move onto the good game and says that means more. That is what being mediocre is. Showing up one night and taking the next night off. He might be great, but he hasn't shown the consistency yet and probably will take a while to do just that, because he is a rookie once again and that comes with the territory of being a rookie.

Kobe is one of the greatest players to ever play. He can be compared to Ball in many aspects, especially since they play in the same exact market.

I agree Ball will help them this year, I agree that he is going to be great in the future. Flashing greatness and being consistently great is completely two different things and Ball isn't there yet. That's what all of his games showed so far and that is the exact opposite of cherry picking there.

You completely just moved the goalposts here. You said "Ball is legit, this year" a few posts ago. Being legit is like being a top 30 player in the NBA this year. I don't think he is that. There's a difference in having a really good rookie season and being legit in the NBA. He could easily have a great rookie season and it could still be mediocre in terms of performance when compared to the best players in this game.

I think you've both had your say on this Ball/Lakers tangent-- let's move on. Thanks.

It is interesting that we spend most of a page about the Celtic's talking about Ball who is a laker. If you are running a comparison of Ball and Tatum I can see the discussion. I know they do not play the same positions. But, both are rookies. Two or three games does not make a good enough data base to make comparisons to ANYONE. Tatum appears to be more physically ready for the NBA. Ball appears not to like the physical part of the NBA game and is definitely not ready for the pounding each night. Both will struggle. The lakers need Ball more and he will pay a heavy price. Ball will have to handle the ball a lot. There will be more guards like Beverly. Driving to the basket takes its toll. Just ask IT with his hip. Tatum will be secondary to Kyrie and will get a chance to rest a little on offense. Ball will have to play the one or the two on defense and get run into a lot of physically demanding screens. Tatum not so much. As your body wears down over the course of a season you are definitely affected mentally. You make more mistakes. Can you fight thru those mistakes and move on. Ball will have lots more chances to make those mistakes and does he have the ability/ heart to fight thru them and still play well. Tatum will not have to handle the ball as much. Tatum I definitely believe will be an all star some day. Ball has many of the skills to play in the NBA, but the mountain for him to climb , for me personally, is can he adjust to the grind and pounding of the everyday NBA game or will he back away and just look like an all star against teams like the Suns. Who knows.

Just to play devils advocate... if DMC were here then you definitely don’t sign Hayward (I realize he got hurt but if he didn’t would you rather DMC or Hayward)? Also, Jaylen Brown likely would have been traded to get him.

As for Noel, the likelihood is on them either having to have traded Rozier or Smart to get him. His cap hold also would have prevented them from signing Hayward or trading even more guys so you don’t have Kyrie with Hayward. So unless you wanted to give up Rozier for a rental of Noel it wouldn’t have matter.

Danny wasn’t a sleep - he was looking ahead knowing that even a good value deal can be the wrong deal because it prevents things down the road that are better.

Brown and Rozier look great.  With no Heyward Brown needs to score.  He will have ups and downs learning how to do that.  Would really like to see more assists from a guy taking that many shots.  Also he needs to improve his D technique. He can make some plays, but he is very inconsistent.   I know it was a huge test,  but LeBron and the Greek Freak just had there way.  It's hard to stop those guys, but you can force bad shots.

Rozier just needs to do some little things.  Like when LeBron is chasing you down, you slam it home, no layups.  At the very least you get free throws.  Also he needs to stop with those fast break quick pull up threes.  Overall you have to love what he is doing.  He is scoring, rebounding and playing great D.  If Brown,  Smart and Tatum continue to start, Rozier is going to be the leader of your bench.  Morris will change things, not sure it he starts or comes off bench.

If Brown and Rozier continue this type of play, we could still be a very good team when we fully gel.

Brown and Rozier will obviously get a lot more minutes and, based on ages and lack of experience, will improve. Smart reminds me of the Sox JBJ.....good defensively but streaky and not to be counted on offensively. I hope that he keeps the weight off and proves more reliable as a finisher. With Crowder, Olynyk, Bradley and Isaiah gone, it's going to take a while. Morris will help some on both sides, but I see this team more in the 45-37 range...based on foregoing and that we overachieved on victory totals last year. Next year should have us back in the mix. We still need high % outside shooting and a more dominant inside presence.

The Lakers won't be 2-5 so FA may be the avenue by necessity.

Rozier starting is an interesting idea. I thought he should have been in the conversation in the preseason and certainly is right now. He can give you more shooting than Smart. It's early, so we'll have to see how things go. So much depends on how Morris changes things and if he can have a good shooting year. Along with the shooting of Rozier, Smart, Brown and Tatum.

Larkin impressed me last game. He seemed to control the offense and his shot looked good. If he can be a 35% plus 3 point shooter he could be a nice bench player and give us some of the shooting we need.

Did anyone else notice when Rozier and Irving played together it seemed Rozier was bringing the ball up and acting like the PG? I noticed the same thing when he played with Smart. I didn't watch 100% of the games, so maybe that wasn't fully the case. I just find it interesting. You would think you want Irving to have the ball as much as possible.

They are experimenting with Kyrie right now. Stevens seems to like to mix up who had the call to change up match ups and give teams more to prepare for.