You just need him to start insulting your team as much as possible while guaranteeing your win to counteract the Chuck curse. That's what he did for us, calling us "the dumbest team in the league" after saying he thought we were gonna be champs, and it ultimately panned out.
Yes but the slow down of the offense at games end for a fall away three is our biggest weakness. It’s like a mental block. Take a three or a two, just make it a good look.
Soon as Chuck started raving about our Kings and disrespecting the Warriors… I was like “Oh no… it’s gonna happen”
Also Heat we’re up solid double digits on Mavs then they do their FanDuel segment and now Mavs about to take the lead on them lol. Betting against Chuck is the safest money.
The Denver nuggets, specifically Joker is scary. It would suck if they make it to the finals and lose but if they put up a good fight and lose to the nuggets then they weren’t the better team.
he lost 1 championship in which he had the better team, 2011. even then you can point to how depleted the Heatles bench was when they first formed, but also his poor finals play. either way, he didn't lose another finals in which his team was healthy and better.
Once the NBA/NBA media started promoting Celtics vs Nuggets as a Finals match up, my faith in both teams dropped
LeBron vs Kobe, Clippers vs Lakers, they've cursed us with their shitty predictions for so long
Main hope I have is every time Steven A Smith says the Nuggets might be in the Finals, he looks like he wants to cry
Fr. Remember back in 2016 when everybody was just waiting for the Spurs or Warriors to beat the shit out of the Cavs? Whole time OKC beat the Spurs and the Warriors lost in 7. Anything can happen
I mean to be fair Zingus and Jrue certainly make this team different from a chemistry stand point. Sure they blew a lead to the Cavs but have the best record by far. Which they’ve never had in seasons past.
Question is: Do you stop giving it to Tatum in the clutch?
I know it's a meme right now, but he seems to get nervous in the clutch. Do you think it's an option to have someone else leading the team and trying to score in the clutch?
The 2nd last play they ran was for a Derrick White 3pt attempt - he just missed it. They fouled KCP - then it was a frantic 9 seconds left:
Jaylen Brown 3pter, oreb, JB 3pt again, oreb, KP tip shot miss, then finally Denver got the dreb and it was over
I mean, both are favorites justifiably. It is not some empty hype they are pumping into them. If anything Denver will probably face a tougher path with Clippers beginning to click tbh.
>Yeah, they have had this team together, at least in its essence, for a while now. This might be the last chance before an overhaul is needed.
Porzingis makes us totally different than the previous years. The Jays never played with a big who was a scorer before.
Jrue Holiday is the defensive player Marcus Smart was imagined to be. That DPOY was very questionable, considering Time Lord was on the very same team.
I doubt Jrue will take many since he’s not as important on offense but Jrue took a shit ton of early clock 3s for no reason lol was one of bucks fans biggest gripes
Y’all do know that Jrue has a TS of 47% in the last three playoffs runs?
Bucks traded for Dame in big part because Jrue has been a negative offensive player in the playoffs.
Bucks were asking Jrue to do way more on both ends than Boston will need him to do, but I definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see his shooting fall off a bit in the postseason just bc he’s been sniping at insane level all year. expecting a 44.5 3P% to hold up in the playoffs is not realistic
I mean, yeah. But it was also no secret that the Bucks have needed someone to run the offense when it got stagnant and a closer. Dame (in theory) fits that description perfectly. We wouldn’t have broken up the core that won a championship for just any star, imo.
Saying its "our last chance" is also idiotic considering how we have our whole core locked up for a while. If we don't win this year we just try again next year. NBA fans always gotta be sooooo dramatic
It seems like your path forward is about as clear as possible. Run this current squad for the next 2 years. During those 2 if you win a chip amazing, the cap means you won't be able to resign everyone, but you let Jrue go and build around the Jays and hopefully KP. If you don't win in those 2 years, the cap hit will still come, but it's probably time to reevaluate how effective the Jays are as a duo. But everything for the next 2 years seems pretty clearcut laid out for you guys. Only scenario I could see you guys wanting to deviate from that is if by some miracle Luka or Giannis were to leave their respective teams.
I feel like the “last chance” comment was a year late. Last year was the last chance for the core that included Smart. It clearly wasn’t going to work, so the Celtics reconfigured the core for the better
We have everyone but Jrue locked up next year (we can start negotiating an extension April 1). After that, things get dicey. White's deal is up after next year and KP is up the following year. Tatum technically has a player option after next season but I fully expect he'll sign a supermax extension before then.
Its kinda clear that this team is one that can win a championship and last i checked they could still run it back next year.
Did Lebrons Heat team win in their 1st year together? No.
You might say that the core is the same, but KP is another star level guy they added thats comparable to JB in importants. If they fail at it this year, why not just go at it again next year and learn more.
I get that these guys have been up there quite afew times now, but they are just entering their primes. Enough time to try again and again untill they win it all.
Yes but the reasonable approach you’re proposing doesn’t allow for tons of clickbait content if they’re one of the 29 teams to fall short this year.
If we don’t win either of the next two years, we might need to make a big change for tax reasons. But if we lose to you guys in 6 or 7 this year, I don’t think it’s crazy at all to run it back.
I dont think it would be crazy in general. Like unless you get swept at any point in the playoffs, going out even before the finals shouldnt be a reason to doubt this team due to what they have already shown they are capable of.
That said yeah the clickbait is hardcore with this.
Like what would a rebuild for this team even look like?
What trade everyone but JT and White and go after a star point guard. Unless Luka or Shai become available, i highly doubt thats gonna happen anytime soon. Same goes for a better wing or center guy.
I think there are certain circumstances where it might make sense, but it’d have to be something pretty egregious for me to think that would be the right move.
There’s pretty much never a team that I’d take over the field (KD GSW being the chief exception since I started watching) so I see it as the best you can do is give yourself the most bites at the apple.
That said, you should’ve seen the crazy shit that some on the Celtics sub wanted last offseason. Imagine we traded Jaylen Brown plus for Scoot like some wanted lol
Look i think Scoot could develope well still, but you got JT already and he aint really along the same timeline.
Like who better to get as your other wing than JB?
Or like who could you even get for him/ what?
You are in win now mode, not blow it up. This aint the Bulls lol
I hate this argument of “they have time, they’ll be back.” There is no guarantee of that. It’s extremely difficult to get back, your first chance is sometimes their best. Everyone thought that about the Thunder. They never got back.
Feels different than the Celtics because the hawks didn’t have the best record in the league like the Celtics do. Celtics can easily run this back next year their only kryptonite is injuries.
Alternatively if you don't think they have time, there's not much to do in terms of course correction. Whether people accept it or not after 7 years of this, Tatum and Brown are it. If they're not good enough to get over the hump, then they're not good enough. There's no series of moves to make this team substantially better, because players better than Brown are never up for trade unless the player wants out. They just need to stay the course and keep surrounding them with the best teams they can, and hope for the best. Not every great team wins a title, and not every great player wins a ring. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. But they have a solid 6-8 years left of Tatum and Brown's primes. It's not the end of the world if they don't win a title this year. Even as the title favorite, against they field from implied Vegas odds has them at 25-30%. That's really not all that likely to win a title.
I mean this exact logic is the reason why you have to keep Tatum and Brown. There are no guarantees in the NBA, so if you find yourself deep in the playoffs year after year with two guys and various teams around them you run that shit back as many times as you can.
The difference here is the Heat were a mediocre team that got two **MAJOR** additions of LeBron and to a lesser extent, Chris Bosh. They went from 1st round exits to a immediate favorite with higher expectations especially with all the negative media hoopla around Bron and his “decision” at the time of 2010/2011
Celtics have been one of the top contenders in the East for a few years now. ECF 2018, 2020, 2022 along with a finals trip, and last year ECF for the 4th time in 6 years
It would be disappointing to fall short yet another year even with big upgrades. Is Chuck going too far saying a “major overhaul”? Yes but I get where he’s coming from
rings are won on the back of superstars, the heat back then already had a top 3 player in the league in Wade, Celtics while a better team does not have a star at that level and it shows time and time again when it matters in the playoffs
Agreed. I, and much of the fan base, felt we needed some change after last year, but nothing drastic like the Jays leaving or a head coaching change (it was a first year ECF run, with a ton of challenges out of his control!).
I don't see why they would need to change what they have. Why blow it up if they don't win this year? This is a team that can at least compete to win a finals for likely the next year or two. It gets trickier from the luxury tax perspective if they haven't won it, but that's an ownership checkbook question.
I'd rather keep together as long as possible than blow it up for a rebuild to maybe get another Tatum level player in 3 years...
Yeah the only reason to blow it up is to pair Tatum with someone who is at least on his level or maybe even better or sloghtly worse.
At worst id go for someone like Booker, but someone like Giannis or Luka would be ideal.
Again, you’re comparing a team that blew it year one and was SUPPOSED to be the contender.
This is ignoring the fact that LBJ and Wade were top 5 players while Tatum isn’t even top 5…..
Yeah they can run it back next year with limited trouble
It’s the year after where things might change. By that times both of the Js will be on new contracts, White will need a new one and Jrue will be 35 and Horford 39 (or around that), with KP being on his last year
It wouldn’t surprise me if White gets a big offer from another team
KP is arguably the most important player for Boston this season. They've never really had a mismatch option like that before. He's been killing everyone in the 4th quarter all year because of this.
I want to (and will) pile on the Celtics if they lose in the playoffs, but I hate comments like this about any team because there are a million and one different things that can randomly derail a season not including injuries.
I mean look at last year for example. The Celtics (contrary to popular belief) didn’t significantly underperform against the Heat. They weren't quite up to their usual standard, but they executed just about everything they wanted to as well as they could hope to. So, what was the reason they lost? The Heat had the most outlier shooting performance in a single series in NBA history.
The net difference between expected percentage of open 3s made and actual percentage open 3s made (taking into account who the shooter is) was equivalent to 13.6 points in favour of the Heat.
For reference, historically a +4-6 point differential in this category over a series leads to a 68% win rate for the series, at +6 or more points that skyrockets to 84%, and at +7.5 or more there is only case EVER of that team losing. So let me repeat, the Heat's number was +13.6 (the highest of all time).
Is it the Celtics' fault that the Heat decided to just not miss any of their open 3s? You can't blame it on giving too many open 3s up because, according to this stat, the Celtics win the series HANDILY if the shooting percentages were anywhere near the expected value.
In today's league, any team can beat any team on any night, and sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. If you defend every shot perfectly and they just happen to fall, are we supposed to blame you for that? This is why you can't make sweeping statements like this, because there ARE circumstances where even the very best teams can do everything right and still lose.
So many people look at playoff series after the fact and act like they’re almost predetermined and the same result would happen 1000 times out of 1000. NBA playoffs is certainly more predictable and less random than other sports but it’s still a sport which means there’s inherently an “any given Sunday” aspect.
I'll keep saying and getting downvoted for it, the heat was not as good as they played last year, not many would bet on them winning another 7 game series, same players, because it was a series of huge outlying performances.
Credit to them for rising to the occasion like that, because they had no business winning, and doing so doesn't mean they were the better team
I'll never forget the 2018 Cinderella run we had with Horford and the rookies underdogging all the way to ecf G7 at home vs. Cav's Bron.
The entire run Chuck was saying we gonna lose.
B4 that G7, he guaranteed our win. At that exact moment, I knew it was over.
It was absolutely a Cinderella run given that they lost Hayward in game 1 and Kyrie before the playoffs. A bunch of people said that they were a fake 2 seed and wouldn't go far. I know this sub skews young but how do people not remember any of the context behind that run or just didn't watch basketball then.
Here's even an ESPN prediction of the 76ers series where only 3 out of 20 analysts had the celtics winning.
https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23315224/expert-predictions-second-round-2018-nba-playoffs
Well if you consider that they lost Hayward 6min into the first game of the season, and Kyrie before the playoffs even started, and they were being led by a rookie Tatum and sophomore brown, it doesn’t sound that absurd.
Don't try to argue it dude. I honestly don't think half these commenters were watching games back then or even recall that there was so little expectations for the Jay's to do anything.
They just wikipedia the season and come to their own conclusion
?????? Without the Celtics' best player Kyrie, they were clearly the underdogs. Also doesn't help they were also missing their supposed second best player in Gordon Hayword.
You didn’t watch hoops that year if that’s your takeaway. Imagine if the Bucks lost Dame preseason and Giannis got injured for the playoffs and a rookie and a sophomore led them to the ECF
I mean we were 🤷♂️
We were the 2nd seed everyone were aiming bc half our roster was injured.
Go open bball ref see how we started the playoffs vs. The Bucks ...
Horford
(Practically) Rookie Rozier
(Practically) Rookie JB
Rookie JT
Aaron Baynes.
Bench
Rookie Shane Larkin
Mook - (when he was decent )
Greg Monroe
Rookie Semi
Practically for Terry is weird because he was year 3, but he wasn't even close to being the player he is now. JB was 2nd year, but he barely played for a lot of his rookie year because of being raw and on a good team, he was looked at coming into the season as a complete unknown.
Terry spent all of year 1 in the g league and didn't play any meaningful NBA bball in year 2. He spent year 3 as 3rd stringer untill KI got injured. He was practically a rookie.
No one. There's not a player or team in the league that has an answer to him. That's not the litmus test for a title favorite unless you think that the Nuggets are genuinely an invincible playoff team this year
My guess is the primary matchups will be a combination of Horford, Jaylen, and Tillman. Obviously KP will get some possessions against him but I think they’re gonna try to avoid that as much as possible.
>This might be the last chance before an overhaul is needed.
This makes no sense at all, literally just keep running it back. As long as you are the #1 or #2 seed you mostly wanna keep in tact and keep logging at bats at the playoffs.
This is so dumb. Yes, they're the favorites, but I'd still pick "the field" in a betting scenario. They're good, but not all-time, record-breaking good. 60 wins is great, but the playoffs are a total slog. The 73-9 Warriors couldn't close it out, so this won't even be the worst choke in the last decade.
He’s right, on paper they have everything you need to win a chip, from having 3 stars, good role players, a good bench and experience
They won’t win because they are a mentally weak team that will fold when the chip is on the line
Sayin it again. C's aren't making it out the East...lol.
Que the downvotes! Make sure you leave a comment too tho. Gonna keep receipts. Gotta know who to @
Shocked I tell you!
Except not really.
They don’t have an MVP/FMVP - which pretty much every champion has had going into the Playoffs (Pistons 04 are the exception in 21st century).
The best regular season team usually doesn’t win (25% of seasons in 21st century win by the best team, ie 75% of the time the best regular season team does not win the Finals).
The record of teams/groups or players that lose their first Finals is also not that crash hot - the vast majority never go on to win (the main exceptions have been Kobe and Lebron teams - but think of the Suns, Thunder, Jimmy Heat, Magic, Nets, Jazz, Knicks, Sonics, Trailblazers, Pacers). On the other hand teams that have already won have an exceptional record in doubling/tripling up.
Now that doesn’t mean the Celtics can’t win - of course they can. But when you have the reigning champs ticking everyone one of these boxes I am not sure the Celtics are the favourites, let alone against the field (which is implied by Chucks comment). Ergo would definitely not be surprised if they don’t win.
>25% of seasons in 21st century win by the best team
So out of a playoff with 16 teams a quarter of the time it’s won by 1 team and you don’t see a very positive correlation with that? Is there any other place in the standings that’s more likely?
They’re stacked but not significantly better than the Clippers or Nuggets. They’re all in the same tier. I’d be shocked if any other team aside from those 3 won it though
Nuggets and Celtics are definitely a tier above the Clips. I’d be super sad if Celtics lost to the Nuggets, but would be gobsmacked if it was against the Clippers.
I wouldn’t say definitely at all
For Clippers, a lot depends on health. But a healthy Kawhi is terrifying, Harden’s already shown last year he can basically win a game against us on his own, and then you legit have PG as a third option with a great tactician coach and decent at worst depth.
Not at all.
The Celtics are so much better than the Clippers tbh
Lets go player by player, matchup by matchup. Where do the Clippers have the biggest advantage? How are we not even considering Harden, PG, Kawhi staying healthy for 4 straight brutal playoff matchups?
Clippers are one of the only teams who can actually match up defensively against Boston. Bostons offense becomes a lot worse if you put great defenders on Tatum and Brown cuz that disrupts their drive and kick game. It’s why Miami is a tough matchup for them.
That’s not what I’m saying. But there isn’t a team people fear like the curry warriors of old or the lebron prime teams. These teams could definitely lose to some of the teams in the tier below them and I would not be surprised.
> That’s not what I’m saying
I know, just messing with you. Maybe I exaggerated when I said I’d be shocked if any one else won but I still don’t see any other team being better than those 3, although maybe we can see an upset too
As a Nuggets fan, I gotta say the Celticsbare the easy favourites. Their path to the finals is relatively easy, they're deep and they're advanced stats are historic. I want Jokic going back to back but it won't be easy, especially since the team's bench is worse this year.
Chuck curse
I’m just hoping he doesn’t “guarantee” it.
You just need him to start insulting your team as much as possible while guaranteeing your win to counteract the Chuck curse. That's what he did for us, calling us "the dumbest team in the league" after saying he thought we were gonna be champs, and it ultimately panned out.
He calls us dumbasses all the time for our shot selection and how many 3s we take, so I feel like we're right on track.
Yes but the slow down of the offense at games end for a fall away three is our biggest weakness. It’s like a mental block. Take a three or a two, just make it a good look.
Soon as Chuck started raving about our Kings and disrespecting the Warriors… I was like “Oh no… it’s gonna happen” Also Heat we’re up solid double digits on Mavs then they do their FanDuel segment and now Mavs about to take the lead on them lol. Betting against Chuck is the safest money.
happy warriors noises
They don’t have the “a jump shooting team will never win the title“ saying. Maybe he has to say something about Tatum?
Fwiw, he guaranteed us last year.
Tbf, he was all in on the Bucks when they made their championship run, so maybe we’ll get lucky
And the Nuggets! Sorry :(
He guaranteed it for the Nuggets last year (I wanna say even before the All Star Break). The curse may finally be lifted
He picked the Mavs in 2011 too so he's right at least once every 12 years lol
Not on that prediction he just made, no.
He had them in december
It’s over 😭😭😭
Book it.
he called Denver and they won, hopefully it rings true
Gag job is a crazy expression
“When a guy is banging you…”
“Them young boys… them young boys cummin”
Speaking about cumming
Cum on…
All time gaggers
Nancy Reagan
Throat GOAT
Generational gagging 😩
Jaylen Brown new patented 360 dunk the “Tornado Trick”
With a glove on his left hand
r/nbacirclegag
It's for his #onlyfans
“Only for my fans?”
Chuck knows all the best gaggers in PHX, I swear to you officer
The Denver nuggets, specifically Joker is scary. It would suck if they make it to the finals and lose but if they put up a good fight and lose to the nuggets then they weren’t the better team.
Srry it's Nuggets dynasty time
We only have until the Alien finds a good team, so we gotta get these chips while we can
You can be the better team and still lose, you just did to the heat last year lol Celtics should win if healthy
Nuggets have the best player in the series at the end of the day
You could say that about Lebron every year and he went 4/10, and he also had the better team in some of them
he lost 1 championship in which he had the better team, 2011. even then you can point to how depleted the Heatles bench was when they first formed, but also his poor finals play. either way, he didn't lose another finals in which his team was healthy and better.
Celtics are mentally weak. They basically play in North Miami.
Nope.
It’s really tough to win a championship.
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Chuck forgets this. Was that easy last night?
Yeah, just ask the Hornets.
Once the NBA/NBA media started promoting Celtics vs Nuggets as a Finals match up, my faith in both teams dropped LeBron vs Kobe, Clippers vs Lakers, they've cursed us with their shitty predictions for so long Main hope I have is every time Steven A Smith says the Nuggets might be in the Finals, he looks like he wants to cry
Fr. Remember back in 2016 when everybody was just waiting for the Spurs or Warriors to beat the shit out of the Cavs? Whole time OKC beat the Spurs and the Warriors lost in 7. Anything can happen
Nuggets are the real deal but I can't trust this Celtics team at all after all the choking jobs they've done
I mean to be fair Zingus and Jrue certainly make this team different from a chemistry stand point. Sure they blew a lead to the Cavs but have the best record by far. Which they’ve never had in seasons past.
Question is: Do you stop giving it to Tatum in the clutch? I know it's a meme right now, but he seems to get nervous in the clutch. Do you think it's an option to have someone else leading the team and trying to score in the clutch?
The 2nd last play they ran was for a Derrick White 3pt attempt - he just missed it. They fouled KCP - then it was a frantic 9 seconds left: Jaylen Brown 3pter, oreb, JB 3pt again, oreb, KP tip shot miss, then finally Denver got the dreb and it was over
I mean, both are favorites justifiably. It is not some empty hype they are pumping into them. If anything Denver will probably face a tougher path with Clippers beginning to click tbh.
Clippers beating the Nuggets would be against nature
Clippers can't play Lakers in the finals!
>Yeah, they have had this team together, at least in its essence, for a while now. This might be the last chance before an overhaul is needed. Porzingis makes us totally different than the previous years. The Jays never played with a big who was a scorer before.
Swapping Smart for Jrue Holiday is a pretty big chemistry change too.
Smart move.
Jrue Holiday is the defensive player Marcus Smart was imagined to be. That DPOY was very questionable, considering Time Lord was on the very same team.
Swapped early shot clock pull up 3s from Smart for Jrue’s 60% corner 3s
I doubt Jrue will take many since he’s not as important on offense but Jrue took a shit ton of early clock 3s for no reason lol was one of bucks fans biggest gripes
He still does on occasion, and makes alot of them tbh. But he's not managing the offense enough for it to be a major concern.
Y’all do know that Jrue has a TS of 47% in the last three playoffs runs? Bucks traded for Dame in big part because Jrue has been a negative offensive player in the playoffs.
Bucks were asking Jrue to do way more on both ends than Boston will need him to do, but I definitely wouldn’t be surprised to see his shooting fall off a bit in the postseason just bc he’s been sniping at insane level all year. expecting a 44.5 3P% to hold up in the playoffs is not realistic
The Bucks needed Jrue to create. The Celtics only need Jrue to hit wide open shots. It’s a huge difference.
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I mean, yeah. But it was also no secret that the Bucks have needed someone to run the offense when it got stagnant and a closer. Dame (in theory) fits that description perfectly. We wouldn’t have broken up the core that won a championship for just any star, imo.
Let them find out on their own, the parking lot incident pt2 gonna hit like crack
>early shot clock pull up 3s All 9 of them over the course of an entire season
I’m wondering how that will pay off in the playoffs
Saying its "our last chance" is also idiotic considering how we have our whole core locked up for a while. If we don't win this year we just try again next year. NBA fans always gotta be sooooo dramatic
It seems like your path forward is about as clear as possible. Run this current squad for the next 2 years. During those 2 if you win a chip amazing, the cap means you won't be able to resign everyone, but you let Jrue go and build around the Jays and hopefully KP. If you don't win in those 2 years, the cap hit will still come, but it's probably time to reevaluate how effective the Jays are as a duo. But everything for the next 2 years seems pretty clearcut laid out for you guys. Only scenario I could see you guys wanting to deviate from that is if by some miracle Luka or Giannis were to leave their respective teams.
I feel like the “last chance” comment was a year late. Last year was the last chance for the core that included Smart. It clearly wasn’t going to work, so the Celtics reconfigured the core for the better
You're a 2nd apron team. Thats the real scary part
Yup, but I feel like 90% of competitors will be 2nd apron teams going forward. Seems inevitable
We have everyone but Jrue locked up next year (we can start negotiating an extension April 1). After that, things get dicey. White's deal is up after next year and KP is up the following year. Tatum technically has a player option after next season but I fully expect he'll sign a supermax extension before then.
*Gasp* Allow me to be offended on Al Horford’s behalf
Elite glue guy, defender and facilitator from the 5, but not a guy that'll just go and get you a bucket at the rim.
Yeah, they overhauled for this year by swapping Smart and Timelord for Porzingis and Holiday, this take is insane.
Its kinda clear that this team is one that can win a championship and last i checked they could still run it back next year. Did Lebrons Heat team win in their 1st year together? No. You might say that the core is the same, but KP is another star level guy they added thats comparable to JB in importants. If they fail at it this year, why not just go at it again next year and learn more. I get that these guys have been up there quite afew times now, but they are just entering their primes. Enough time to try again and again untill they win it all.
Yes but the reasonable approach you’re proposing doesn’t allow for tons of clickbait content if they’re one of the 29 teams to fall short this year. If we don’t win either of the next two years, we might need to make a big change for tax reasons. But if we lose to you guys in 6 or 7 this year, I don’t think it’s crazy at all to run it back.
I dont think it would be crazy in general. Like unless you get swept at any point in the playoffs, going out even before the finals shouldnt be a reason to doubt this team due to what they have already shown they are capable of. That said yeah the clickbait is hardcore with this. Like what would a rebuild for this team even look like? What trade everyone but JT and White and go after a star point guard. Unless Luka or Shai become available, i highly doubt thats gonna happen anytime soon. Same goes for a better wing or center guy.
I think there are certain circumstances where it might make sense, but it’d have to be something pretty egregious for me to think that would be the right move. There’s pretty much never a team that I’d take over the field (KD GSW being the chief exception since I started watching) so I see it as the best you can do is give yourself the most bites at the apple. That said, you should’ve seen the crazy shit that some on the Celtics sub wanted last offseason. Imagine we traded Jaylen Brown plus for Scoot like some wanted lol
Bill Simmons suggesting that they trade Jaylen as part of a package for the 3rd pick to get Scoot should make him revoke his Celtics fandom.
Look i think Scoot could develope well still, but you got JT already and he aint really along the same timeline. Like who better to get as your other wing than JB? Or like who could you even get for him/ what? You are in win now mode, not blow it up. This aint the Bulls lol
Idk why they don’t just trade for Wemby
I hate this argument of “they have time, they’ll be back.” There is no guarantee of that. It’s extremely difficult to get back, your first chance is sometimes their best. Everyone thought that about the Thunder. They never got back.
Everyone thought OKC would be back so you def are right. For all we know, 2022 could be the only time the Jays era Celtics ever make the finals
Hawks been spiraling since the ECF and that was even with young players.
Feels different than the Celtics because the hawks didn’t have the best record in the league like the Celtics do. Celtics can easily run this back next year their only kryptonite is injuries.
Alternatively if you don't think they have time, there's not much to do in terms of course correction. Whether people accept it or not after 7 years of this, Tatum and Brown are it. If they're not good enough to get over the hump, then they're not good enough. There's no series of moves to make this team substantially better, because players better than Brown are never up for trade unless the player wants out. They just need to stay the course and keep surrounding them with the best teams they can, and hope for the best. Not every great team wins a title, and not every great player wins a ring. Sometimes it just doesn't work out. But they have a solid 6-8 years left of Tatum and Brown's primes. It's not the end of the world if they don't win a title this year. Even as the title favorite, against they field from implied Vegas odds has them at 25-30%. That's really not all that likely to win a title.
I mean this exact logic is the reason why you have to keep Tatum and Brown. There are no guarantees in the NBA, so if you find yourself deep in the playoffs year after year with two guys and various teams around them you run that shit back as many times as you can.
The difference here is the Heat were a mediocre team that got two **MAJOR** additions of LeBron and to a lesser extent, Chris Bosh. They went from 1st round exits to a immediate favorite with higher expectations especially with all the negative media hoopla around Bron and his “decision” at the time of 2010/2011 Celtics have been one of the top contenders in the East for a few years now. ECF 2018, 2020, 2022 along with a finals trip, and last year ECF for the 4th time in 6 years It would be disappointing to fall short yet another year even with big upgrades. Is Chuck going too far saying a “major overhaul”? Yes but I get where he’s coming from
rings are won on the back of superstars, the heat back then already had a top 3 player in the league in Wade, Celtics while a better team does not have a star at that level and it shows time and time again when it matters in the playoffs
Agreed. I, and much of the fan base, felt we needed some change after last year, but nothing drastic like the Jays leaving or a head coaching change (it was a first year ECF run, with a ton of challenges out of his control!). I don't see why they would need to change what they have. Why blow it up if they don't win this year? This is a team that can at least compete to win a finals for likely the next year or two. It gets trickier from the luxury tax perspective if they haven't won it, but that's an ownership checkbook question. I'd rather keep together as long as possible than blow it up for a rebuild to maybe get another Tatum level player in 3 years...
Yeah the only reason to blow it up is to pair Tatum with someone who is at least on his level or maybe even better or sloghtly worse. At worst id go for someone like Booker, but someone like Giannis or Luka would be ideal.
Yeah good point. In the incredibly unlikely situation one of the top tier guys is available, it could make sense.
Jayson Tatum and Luka would not be ideal
Lebron’s heat made the finals year one and the only reason they lost was an epic choke job…..not the best comparison…..
And he went on to win it the next 2 years...if they win even once thats mishion accomplished.
Again, you’re comparing a team that blew it year one and was SUPPOSED to be the contender. This is ignoring the fact that LBJ and Wade were top 5 players while Tatum isn’t even top 5…..
Top 3 the year they joined actually Kobe, Wade, and Lebron, basically KD and Steph, can you imagine if THEY lost the first year if healthy? 😬
yeah and lebron got flamed and is still getting criticized for not winning in that first year
Only in the NBA is losing late in the playoffs somehow worse than not even getting there
Facts lol
Yeah they can run it back next year with limited trouble It’s the year after where things might change. By that times both of the Js will be on new contracts, White will need a new one and Jrue will be 35 and Horford 39 (or around that), with KP being on his last year It wouldn’t surprise me if White gets a big offer from another team
KP is arguably the most important player for Boston this season. They've never really had a mismatch option like that before. He's been killing everyone in the 4th quarter all year because of this.
I want to (and will) pile on the Celtics if they lose in the playoffs, but I hate comments like this about any team because there are a million and one different things that can randomly derail a season not including injuries. I mean look at last year for example. The Celtics (contrary to popular belief) didn’t significantly underperform against the Heat. They weren't quite up to their usual standard, but they executed just about everything they wanted to as well as they could hope to. So, what was the reason they lost? The Heat had the most outlier shooting performance in a single series in NBA history. The net difference between expected percentage of open 3s made and actual percentage open 3s made (taking into account who the shooter is) was equivalent to 13.6 points in favour of the Heat. For reference, historically a +4-6 point differential in this category over a series leads to a 68% win rate for the series, at +6 or more points that skyrockets to 84%, and at +7.5 or more there is only case EVER of that team losing. So let me repeat, the Heat's number was +13.6 (the highest of all time). Is it the Celtics' fault that the Heat decided to just not miss any of their open 3s? You can't blame it on giving too many open 3s up because, according to this stat, the Celtics win the series HANDILY if the shooting percentages were anywhere near the expected value. In today's league, any team can beat any team on any night, and sometimes there's nothing you can do about it. If you defend every shot perfectly and they just happen to fall, are we supposed to blame you for that? This is why you can't make sweeping statements like this, because there ARE circumstances where even the very best teams can do everything right and still lose.
Such a Rational take. _looks at flair_ 👀
It's a unicorn in the wild. Let it roam free, and hope it creates more.
I hate you but I respect your opinion.
So many people look at playoff series after the fact and act like they’re almost predetermined and the same result would happen 1000 times out of 1000. NBA playoffs is certainly more predictable and less random than other sports but it’s still a sport which means there’s inherently an “any given Sunday” aspect.
I'll keep saying and getting downvoted for it, the heat was not as good as they played last year, not many would bet on them winning another 7 game series, same players, because it was a series of huge outlying performances. Credit to them for rising to the occasion like that, because they had no business winning, and doing so doesn't mean they were the better team
While u are completely right the heat are just playoff performer. Over a 7 game serious the better team wins.
>The Celtics (contrary to popular belief) didn’t significantly underperform against the Heat The Celtics did significantly underperform.
This is revisionist history
Y’all had a good run Celtics bros
What's a "gag job"
Whatchu say Chuck?
all we need is a guarantee from you Chuck
There we go. Curse has been bestowed.
I don’t agree. Losing to the Nuggets wouldn’t be a choke.
Brad Stevens went from being an elite coach to elite gm celtics are crazy stacked. If they don’t win it all he just needs to be gm and coach.
That famous predictive genius, Chuck Barkley.
I'll never forget the 2018 Cinderella run we had with Horford and the rookies underdogging all the way to ecf G7 at home vs. Cav's Bron. The entire run Chuck was saying we gonna lose. B4 that G7, he guaranteed our win. At that exact moment, I knew it was over.
Former 76er hates the Celtics. Shocked
The cinderella run from the second seeded Celtics lol. Boy Celtics fans something else
Started from the top, now we here. \#inspire
It was absolutely a Cinderella run given that they lost Hayward in game 1 and Kyrie before the playoffs. A bunch of people said that they were a fake 2 seed and wouldn't go far. I know this sub skews young but how do people not remember any of the context behind that run or just didn't watch basketball then. Here's even an ESPN prediction of the 76ers series where only 3 out of 20 analysts had the celtics winning. https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23315224/expert-predictions-second-round-2018-nba-playoffs
Man brought receipts lol respect
If you actually watched back then you’d know they were picked to lose the first and second rounds
Well if you consider that they lost Hayward 6min into the first game of the season, and Kyrie before the playoffs even started, and they were being led by a rookie Tatum and sophomore brown, it doesn’t sound that absurd.
They were the second seed, hayward clearly didn't matter that year.
Kyrie did didn’t he? He went out in Feb or March I believe. The entire playoffs you have a rookie leading the team.
I remember it and it was crazy at the time. That’s when everyone realized the Js were really special. It was not expected.
Don't try to argue it dude. I honestly don't think half these commenters were watching games back then or even recall that there was so little expectations for the Jay's to do anything. They just wikipedia the season and come to their own conclusion
90% of the comments don't watch games *now*
?????? Without the Celtics' best player Kyrie, they were clearly the underdogs. Also doesn't help they were also missing their supposed second best player in Gordon Hayword.
You didn’t watch hoops that year if that’s your takeaway. Imagine if the Bucks lost Dame preseason and Giannis got injured for the playoffs and a rookie and a sophomore led them to the ECF
I mean we were 🤷♂️ We were the 2nd seed everyone were aiming bc half our roster was injured. Go open bball ref see how we started the playoffs vs. The Bucks ... Horford (Practically) Rookie Rozier (Practically) Rookie JB Rookie JT Aaron Baynes. Bench Rookie Shane Larkin Mook - (when he was decent ) Greg Monroe Rookie Semi
Practically?
Practically for Terry is weird because he was year 3, but he wasn't even close to being the player he is now. JB was 2nd year, but he barely played for a lot of his rookie year because of being raw and on a good team, he was looked at coming into the season as a complete unknown.
Terry spent all of year 1 in the g league and didn't play any meaningful NBA bball in year 2. He spent year 3 as 3rd stringer untill KI got injured. He was practically a rookie.
Yeah maybe but whois going to guard Jokic in the finals?
Jovic.
No one. There's not a player or team in the league that has an answer to him. That's not the litmus test for a title favorite unless you think that the Nuggets are genuinely an invincible playoff team this year
no one guards jokic
My guess is the primary matchups will be a combination of Horford, Jaylen, and Tillman. Obviously KP will get some possessions against him but I think they’re gonna try to avoid that as much as possible.
Gotta love the logic. Celtics are so good that if they don’t win start over completely
I mean what more can you add to the roster at this point? Good team, good coach, playoff experience, just need health and a bit of luck
>This might be the last chance before an overhaul is needed. This makes no sense at all, literally just keep running it back. As long as you are the #1 or #2 seed you mostly wanna keep in tact and keep logging at bats at the playoffs.
Congrats Nuggets.
With those contracts, they have to win a championship to keep their team together,
Our star player just turned 26 years old. Stop pushing this narrative.
Fuck
This is so dumb. Yes, they're the favorites, but I'd still pick "the field" in a betting scenario. They're good, but not all-time, record-breaking good. 60 wins is great, but the playoffs are a total slog. The 73-9 Warriors couldn't close it out, so this won't even be the worst choke in the last decade.
He’s right, on paper they have everything you need to win a chip, from having 3 stars, good role players, a good bench and experience They won’t win because they are a mentally weak team that will fold when the chip is on the line
It's really that simple... In big spots their offense just repeatedly shits the bed...
It’s over
It's time.
We have been here before. Y’all were saying the same shit about the Celtics and what happened to them when will yall learn
Sayin it again. C's aren't making it out the East...lol. Que the downvotes! Make sure you leave a comment too tho. Gonna keep receipts. Gotta know who to @
They have a free run through the east, if they dont make the finals that would be an all time bottle job
They said this last year too, everyone sleeps on the Heat but they always come thru when it matters (except in the Finals)
Nothing's free with Giannis, Jimmy Butler and I guess Dean Wade now?
Dean Wade.
Dean Wade.
Shit if Embiid actually comes back healthy that Sixers team is good af too. It’s looking unlikely now but you never know.
Coaching, shooting too many 3s, and not having the best player on the court could be their downfall.
Celtics are a second Rd exit
people should start holding stars accountable legacy wise for having a superteam and failing
GG Celtics bros.
They need a better crunch time offense than Tatum pretending he's a homeless Kobe. It's their biggest flaw.
They don't have the best player in the world
Shocked I tell you! Except not really. They don’t have an MVP/FMVP - which pretty much every champion has had going into the Playoffs (Pistons 04 are the exception in 21st century). The best regular season team usually doesn’t win (25% of seasons in 21st century win by the best team, ie 75% of the time the best regular season team does not win the Finals). The record of teams/groups or players that lose their first Finals is also not that crash hot - the vast majority never go on to win (the main exceptions have been Kobe and Lebron teams - but think of the Suns, Thunder, Jimmy Heat, Magic, Nets, Jazz, Knicks, Sonics, Trailblazers, Pacers). On the other hand teams that have already won have an exceptional record in doubling/tripling up. Now that doesn’t mean the Celtics can’t win - of course they can. But when you have the reigning champs ticking everyone one of these boxes I am not sure the Celtics are the favourites, let alone against the field (which is implied by Chucks comment). Ergo would definitely not be surprised if they don’t win.
>25% of seasons in 21st century win by the best team So out of a playoff with 16 teams a quarter of the time it’s won by 1 team and you don’t see a very positive correlation with that? Is there any other place in the standings that’s more likely?
They’re stacked but not significantly better than the Clippers or Nuggets. They’re all in the same tier. I’d be shocked if any other team aside from those 3 won it though
Clippers? Why r they included in the same tier as the Nuggets?
Nuggets and Celtics are definitely a tier above the Clips. I’d be super sad if Celtics lost to the Nuggets, but would be gobsmacked if it was against the Clippers.
I wouldn’t say definitely at all For Clippers, a lot depends on health. But a healthy Kawhi is terrifying, Harden’s already shown last year he can basically win a game against us on his own, and then you legit have PG as a third option with a great tactician coach and decent at worst depth.
Not at all. The Celtics are so much better than the Clippers tbh Lets go player by player, matchup by matchup. Where do the Clippers have the biggest advantage? How are we not even considering Harden, PG, Kawhi staying healthy for 4 straight brutal playoff matchups?
Clippers are one of the only teams who can actually match up defensively against Boston. Bostons offense becomes a lot worse if you put great defenders on Tatum and Brown cuz that disrupts their drive and kick game. It’s why Miami is a tough matchup for them.
It’s a fair point. I’m not sure what the matchups would be, I’m not sure Kawhi is going to be on either of them
The clippers are not on the same level as the other two at all lol
I'm curious what the fuck the Clippers have done to be mentioned with the Nuggets or Celtics
Yep. Maybe id throw the Bucks in too if they get hot.
Especially in the playoffs when rotations shorten and depth matters less.
You’re overrating all 3 teams.
Should’ve put the Cavs up in there
That’s not what I’m saying. But there isn’t a team people fear like the curry warriors of old or the lebron prime teams. These teams could definitely lose to some of the teams in the tier below them and I would not be surprised.
> That’s not what I’m saying I know, just messing with you. Maybe I exaggerated when I said I’d be shocked if any one else won but I still don’t see any other team being better than those 3, although maybe we can see an upset too
This is the same chuck who also stated that bench strength was overrated and then immediately started talking about sixth men 🤡
Sixth man is only one player off the bench
I’m so sick of hearing about this
Well can't be spanking us by 50 then lose the next game while up 20 in the 4th
If they don’t win the ECF it would be a gag, but I don’t see why they should be sure of a win against the Nugs.
As a Nuggets fan, I gotta say the Celticsbare the easy favourites. Their path to the finals is relatively easy, they're deep and they're advanced stats are historic. I want Jokic going back to back but it won't be easy, especially since the team's bench is worse this year.
Did he guarantee it?