Celtics Green is one again participating in CelticsBlog's team previews. I have to admit that I often see the Celtics through green colored glasses. Kevin Garnett's exclamation after winning the championship that "Anything is Possible" pretty much sums up my entire Celtics fandom. I always believe that anything is possible for the Celtics in any given year. In keeping with my always rosy view of the team, I am expecting big things this season. Here is my take on the Celtics upcoming season.
Team Name: Boston Celtics
Last Year's Record: 48-34
Key Losses: Evan Turner, Jared Sullinger
Key Additions: Al Horford, Jaylen Brown, Gerald Green
Other Additions through the draft: :Guerschon Yabusele, Ante Zizic, Demetrius Jackson, Ben Bentil, Abdel Nader
1. What Significant Moves were made during the off-season?
The most significant move was luring the second best free agent this off season to Boston. Al Horford will make a big difference. His game will fit seamlessly with the Celtics system and players. The Celtics also drafted Jaylen Brown, who has the potential to be a star, although he may have a learning curve to go through. . The Celtics also brought back Gerald Green, who can be instant offense off the bench.
With a team this young, bringing back the same players may be considered a significant move in that most of those players are going to come back better than they were the previous season. Danny has brought in a group of very hard working and self motivated players and I'm excited to see how much each has improved over the off season.
Another of their strengths will be their depth. They have a deep bench with quality players at every position and will definitely have an advantage against most of the other benches in the league. Celtics Assistant GM, Mike Zarren posted this in a tweet while watching some of the players playing a pick up game: "Watching the guys play pickup has me super excited for this season! There's no deeper team..." And, he may be right.
3. What are the team's biggest weaknesses? The Celtics are still looking for that rim protector. Al Horford will help with defense at the center spot, but he's not a rim protector per se. It's possible that Jordan Mickey may step into that role this season but so far, this is still a need for the team. The Celtics also lacked a go to scorer and they were near the bottom of the league in 3 point percentage, although they were at the top in 3 pointers taken. Adding Gerald Green may help in that area as may improvement from the returning Celtics.
4. What are the goals for this team? The ultimate goal for the Celtics will always be a championship. The Celtics have been stopped in the first round the last two seasons and getting past the first round would be a first goal for them. They were swept two years ago and improved to winning 2 games last season and the natural progression would be to win their first round matchup. I don't believe this team will be happy just making it out of the first round, though. I think their goal is to win the Eastern Conference finals and make it to the NBA Finals.
5. What makes this team tick? I would say that it is their unity and their versatility. Last season, Jae Crowder gave the Celtics their mantra when people questioned the Celtics' lack of a superstar. The players bonded together proclaiming that they were "One Superstar." and that their strength was in playing as one. The Celtics are a versatile bunch and Brad Stevens groups players into playmakers, wings, swings and bigs.
The more of these categories that the players fit in, the more they fit into Brad's system and most of the players fit into at least 2 or 3 of those groups. This allows the Celtics to keep teams off balance by throwing unconventional lineups at them. The Celtics pride themselves on defense, on having each others' backs and on playing as one. Their versatility, their willingness to play as a team and do whatever it takes to get a win will help the Celtics continue to improve and take that next step this season.
6. What, if anything, can derail the Celtics this season? The most obvious thing that could derail this team's goals would be injuries. We saw how the injury to Avery Bradley in the playoffs last year hurt the team. A major injury would be a big setback. Both of the contenders in last year's finals managed to avoid major injuries throughout the year, and especially in the playoffs. The Celtics had several injuries that affected the team - Amir's plantar fasciitis, Kelly's shoulder, Avery's hamstring. Hopefully they can avoid the injury bug this season.
But another, more subtle thing could stop the Celtics from reaching their potential this season, and that could be jealousy. The Celtics' lone All Star last season will be making just $6.587 million.this season. The Celtics' most important player last season, Jae Crowder, is making just $6.286 million this season. In the meantime, a little used player last season, Tyler Zeller, will be making $8 million dollars this year. After watching lesser players get huge contracts last season, Isaiah commented that they better bring the Brinks truck to his next contract negotiations. I'm sure that others felt the same way while watching the players rake in the dough this summer. We can only hope that these players will continue to play as "one superstar" and not let contract details and money get in the way of that.
7. Will any of the young guys step up this season? After watching Terry Rozier in Summer League, we have to think that he is poised to earn a spot in the rotation and take a big step forward in his development. Kelly Olynyk was playing very well last season before he was derailed by the shoulder injury. Coming back healthy this season, he may have a break out season.
Jordan Mickey has shown flashes of his potential in the D-League, averaging 17.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.4 blocks last season. He also showed that he had range for a big man by shooting 35% from beyond the arc. If given minutes with the Celtics, he may show that he's ready to play with the big boys.
Finally, RJ Hunter has struggled to show the shooting touch that made him successful in college. It seemed like the game was going too fast for him last season. Hopefully, after a season in the league, the game may have slowed down for him a bit and he can regain his shooting touch. If not, he may end up on the outside looking in.
8. What are my predictions for the Celtics this year? The Celtics will finish 54-28 this season, continuing the pattern of improving each season since Brad Stevens took over the team. They will take back the Atlantic Division and go deep into the playoffs. So deep, in fact, that they will end up in the Eastern Conference Finals. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!
[Discuss on CG Forums!]
Is it just me or is anyone else puzzled by the release of Sully? My Spidey Sense is telling me there may have been something else going on behind the scenes...something other than Sully's conditioning issues. Tyler Zeller was signed this summer to an 8 million dollar contract while Sully was sent packing to Toronto to receive a 'measly' 6 million dollars. Last season I thought the pecking order of the Celtics Centers was Amir, Sully, then Zeller and wasn't Sully the best rebounder on a team we all agree needs rebounding? Yes, he had weight problems but at 6'9" he also used that heft to box out and grab those rebounds. Now we bid farewell to Jared.. Alas, we hardly knew ye (or why Trader Danny didn't even get a second rounder for ye.) ... Who knows the real story?
ReplyDeleteI think that during the season he gained back most of the weight he lost last summer, so that by the end of the season and into the playoffs he just wasn't an effective player carrying that extra weight (in contrast to the beginning of the season when he went from the bench to the starting line-up with less weight). The result was the Celtics feeling like he couldn't be trusted to keep the weight off and hence to be an effective player when it counted. The irony is that is appears Sully has again lost weight over this summer and maybe being dropped by the Celtics will now be the motivation for him to keep it off and he'll be effective in Toronto through the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your thoughts and agree, Ronald. It still has me a bit puzzled. Even with his weight problems, I thought Sully was ahead of Zeller in player value and team rotation.
ReplyDeleteYeah, it is a bit puzzling. I know that Sully came into camp last season in good shape but by the playoffs was back up over 300 lbs and struggled. Even then he was the best rebounder on the team. I have to think that maybe there was something behind the scenes that led up to his release. Sully, even at 300 lbs was better than Zeller. But then again, Zeller never complained and rarely made mistakes when he was in. So maybe there was some complaining or attitude from Sully that didn't sit right with the front office. We may never know the whole story.
ReplyDeleteI think you nailed it, FlCeltsFan. Something in Sully's attitude behind the scenes could have bothered Brad and Danny enough to pull the plug. ...Maybe having to have Zach Sullinger on speed dial forced them to decided it was time to move on. Though I thought Sully had grown up. From the outside there was no indication he had any other problems than weight. I can't pin point the exact moment but in the last days of the season there was something Sully said that made me think he had already been told they wouldn't take him back ...and Sully's absence in the Hamptons was conspicuous. I know Al will do extraordinary things for the team but I'll miss Sully. He had some great moments and I thought, for the most part, he played with heart.
DeletePersonally, I'll miss him and believe he'll come back to haunt us when we play Toronto.