You think i care about some computer standings? lmao.

This is the same picture over and over. Teams having great regular season games and when it comes down to the playoffs against Lebron, they CHOKE.

We saw it with that Hawks team a few years ago, saw it with Toronto a few years ago, saw it LAST year with Boston lol.

It's ok to be a fanboy of the regular season, but just know when they playoffs come, it's an entire new ballgame.

It's easy to beat a team once and then not have to see them until a few weeks or months.

It's hard to beat a team FOUR times in a week or two, especially a team with the best player in the world.

Trust me when I say this, if Lebron feels like the Cavs aren't at a high level, then expect traded to happen to push them to that level.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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It's easy to beat a team once and then not have to see them until a few weeks or months.

It's hard to beat a team FOUR times in a week or two, especially a team with the best player in the world.

Trust me when I say this, if Lebron feels like the Cavs aren't at a high level, then expect traded to happen to push them to that level.

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now you are banking on a trade to get them where they need to be? Interesting.

Fozzie said:

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BaylorBears_254 said:

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It's easy to beat a team once and then not have to see them until a few weeks or months.

It's hard to beat a team FOUR times in a week or two, especially a team with the best player in the world.

Trust me when I say this, if Lebron feels like the Cavs aren't at a high level, then expect traded to happen to push them to that level.

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now you are banking on a trade to get them where they need to be? Interesting.

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The Cavs can beat/win against any team in the East with the current roster now, especially in a 7 game series.

I just expect them to make a move to get better. Nothing wrong with trading and getting even better.

Side note: If they wanted to, I'm sure the Cavs could go out right now and pull off a huge trade that would boost them to an entire new level, but it would have to involve the Nets pick that they aren't willing to trade because of Lebron's uncertainty.

Btw Fozzie, you speak of the Celtics getting Davis.

if the Celtics were really in on that deal, you know they would have to part with Brown or Tatum, Hortford, Smart or Rozier and a 1st pick right? Is Boston really willing to give up those assets?

BaylorBears_254 said:

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You think i care about some computer standings? lmao.

This is the same picture over and over. Teams having great regular season games and when it comes down to the playoffs against Lebron, they CHOKE.

We saw it with that Hawks team a few years ago, saw it with Toronto a few years ago, saw it LAST year with Boston lol.

It's ok to be a fanboy of the regular season, but just know when they playoffs come, it's an entire new ballgame.

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You must not count the finals as the "playoffs" because you know who chokes in the Finals.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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You think i care about some computer standings? lmao.

This is the same picture over and over. Teams having great regular season games and when it comes down to the playoffs against Lebron, they CHOKE.

We saw it with that Hawks team a few years ago, saw it with Toronto a few years ago, saw it LAST year with Boston lol.

It's ok to be a fanboy of the regular season, but just know when they playoffs come, it's an entire new ballgame.

---

Boston did not choke in Cleveland last year. The number one seed was an amazing accomplishment for that team. Even with the number 1 seed, most people knew that Boston overachieved last year. They were all heart. Even Ainge understood that and imploded the team because he knew the team fundamentally needed more talent.

I'm not one who thinks that winning the East this year will be a cakewalk. I believe that Boston has improved, and Cleveland has regressed to some extent . . . maybe IT will change that. Based on the teams playing on the court right now, I think the odds look good for Boston though. I don't think anyone is heads and shoulders better than everyone else such that winning a series is a foregone conclusion.

Teams are good, but teams like the Cavs and Warriors also take it to a new level in the playoffs.

Boston is a great team, they definitely exceeded my expectations.

But I've been watching basketball for so long to know that I can't judge this Cavs team by the regular season, especially since they haven't even been able to go a full game with their full roster.

One reason why I'm so confident in the playoffs against these teams, including Boston is because of Lebron. Last year I thought Boston would possibly take us to 6 games, and then we blew them out and it just seemed like Lebron was toying with them.

Many people were saying that that Boston team could dethrone the Cavs, so this "overachieving" thing you are saying is bs. No one said that.

As long as Lebron is healthy and playing at a high level, I'm taking him and his team over the others.

Tell me, what Finals did Lebron choke?

Outside of the Mavs series, which other NBA finals did he not show up in? Stop the bs Roughneck lol.

Roughneck and Fozzie: Fanboys of Boston, that only appear when the Cavs lose and win the Celtics win. Are nowhere to be found when the Celtics lose and Cavs win.

You guys are some true trolls lol, but I like entertaining this because I know you guys are trolling.

I can see it now, if the Celtics get knocked out the playoffs, you guys won't even comment. That's sad.

That was an impressive conversation you just had with yourself.

Thank you sir, it was just a general post.

Fozzie and Roughneck see my post, but they rarely respond to the actual post, they just blue star each other.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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Teams are good, but teams like the Cavs and Warriors also take it to a new level in the playoffs.

Boston is a great team, they definitely exceeded my expectations.

But I've been watching basketball for so long to know that I can't judge this Cavs team by the regular season, especially since they haven't even been able to go a full game with their full roster.

One reason why I'm so confident in the playoffs against these teams, including Boston is because of Lebron. Last year I thought Boston would possibly take us to 6 games, and then we blew them out and it just seemed like Lebron was toying with them.

Many people were saying that that Boston team could dethrone the Cavs, so this "overachieving" thing you are saying is bs. No one said that.

As long as Lebron is healthy and playing at a high level, I'm taking him and his team over the others.

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Why would Ainge scrap last year's team if he thought they could beat the Cavs or Golden State? He obviously didn't think it likely or he would have stayed the course.

He didn't scrape them. He was adding on to that team, but he just made trades.
He was very confident in that team, but when a guy like Kyrie becomes available, and you have pieces to get him, you go get him, even if it means giving up a 29 Ppg player, a great role player, and the Nets pick.

Had Kyrie not asked for a trade, Boston would still have at least 2 or 3 out of the 5 starters from last year to go along with Hayward and Tatum.

Avery Bradley was traded because of the contract he will be demanding after this year. Other than that, they would've kept him.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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Teams are good, but teams like the Cavs and Warriors also take it to a new level in the playoffs.

Boston is a great team, they definitely exceeded my expectations.

But I've been watching basketball for so long to know that I can't judge this Cavs team by the regular season, especially since they haven't even been able to go a full game with their full roster.

One reason why I'm so confident in the playoffs against these teams, including Boston is because of Lebron. Last year I thought Boston would possibly take us to 6 games, and then we blew them out and it just seemed like Lebron was toying with them.

Many people were saying that that Boston team could dethrone the Cavs, so this "overachieving" thing you are saying is bs. No one said that.

As long as Lebron is healthy and playing at a high level, I'm taking him and his team over the others.

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Not sure where you get info to develop your opinions. Here's an article from last May before the finals series with Cleveland that describes the consensus among experts and Celtics fans alike that the Celtics were huge underdogs:

https://www.celticsblog.com/2017/5/16/15645902/the-boston-celtics-have-nothing-to-lose-against-the-cleveland-cavaliers-eastern-conference-finals

This article is pretty typical of the thinking at the time. Everything I was reading at the time basically aligned with this thinking. Celtics fans hoped to win, but it wasn't expected. If you don't believe me, articles are archived on this site, and you can see for yourself.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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He didn't scrape them. He was adding on to that team, but he just made trades.
He was very confident in that team, but when a guy like Kyrie becomes available, and you have pieces to get him, you go get him, even if it means giving up a 29 Ppg player, a great role player, and the Nets pick.

Had Kyrie not asked for a trade, Boston would still have at least 2 or 3 out of the 5 starters from last year to go along with Hayward and Tatum.

Avery Bradley was traded because of the contract he will be demanding after this year. Other than that, they would've kept him.

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He only brought back 4 guys . . . all still in their rookie contracts. I think that qualifies as a complete overhaul.

My info comes from watching sports analysts say this stuff. If you're telling me that the Celtics team knew they couldn't beat the Cavs, then you're crazy. Those guys were confident, but got a rude awakening in the playoffs.

Last year, the Celtics defeated the Cavs twice in the regular season, and got the #1 seed. Many people were saying that they could beat the Cavs or at best go the distance.

I see this season going the exact same way. Id hate to see these same "blogs" stating the Celtics wont win, but are hyping them up in the regular season to dethrone the Cavs. in the playoffs.

Exactly. Ainge doesn't want to pay those guys.

He knew Bradley, IT (who would demand close to max) would somewhat ruin his plan for the franchise, so he traded them. It had nothing to do with them not being able to compete with the Warriors and Cavs, because just like now, he was building that team up to compete with the other two.

He knows Kyrie is locked up until 2-3 more years so he doesn't have to worry about him. He knows that he has 4 players on those rookie contracts. He just locked up Gordon for 4-5 years. And he knows he still has 1st round picks available that wint require them to break bank.

Pretty much what I'm saying is, he traded those guys for mainly contract reasons, and you can't pass a guy like Kyrie up so that was just like a win-win for both teams.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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Exactly. Ainge doesn't want to pay those guys.

He knew Bradley, IT (who would demand close to max) would somewhat ruin his plan for the franchise, so he traded them. It had nothing to do with them not being able to compete with the Warriors and Cavs, because just like now, he was building that team up to compete with the other two.

He knows Kyrie is locked up until 2-3 more years so he doesn't have to worry about him. He knows that he has 4 players on those rookie contracts. He just locked up Gordon for 4-5 years. And he knows he still has 1st round picks available that wint require them to break bank.

Pretty much what I'm saying is, he traded those guys for mainly contract reasons, and you can't pass a guy like Kyrie up so that was just like a win-win for both teams.

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Ainge knows to keep teams that can contend together - i.e. Pierce, Garnett, and Allen. He held that group together until it became obvious they had passed their window of opportunity. He was shopping everyone on last year's team other than the guys on cheap contracts with upside (and even some of them were likely available for the right price). He traded away or released 11 guys. He knew he had to shake things up.

Here's another article talking about the low expectations for the Celtics at the end of the Washington series last year:

https://www.celticsblog.com/2017/5/14/15639680/the-celtics-ceiling-is-the-roof-michael-jordan-lebron-james-cavaliers

. . . if you even care to entertain any other opinion

Chuckroast said:

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BaylorBears_254 said:

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Exactly. Ainge doesn't want to pay those guys.

He knew Bradley, IT (who would demand close to max) would somewhat ruin his plan for the franchise, so he traded them. It had nothing to do with them not being able to compete with the Warriors and Cavs, because just like now, he was building that team up to compete with the other two.

He knows Kyrie is locked up until 2-3 more years so he doesn't have to worry about him. He knows that he has 4 players on those rookie contracts. He just locked up Gordon for 4-5 years. And he knows he still has 1st round picks available that wint require them to break bank.

Pretty much what I'm saying is, he traded those guys for mainly contract reasons, and you can't pass a guy like Kyrie up so that was just like a win-win for both teams.

---

Ainge knows to keep teams that can contend together - i.e. Pierce, Garnett, and Allen. He held that group together until it became obvious they had passed their window of opportunity. He was shopping everyone on last year's team other than the guys on cheap contracts with upside (and even some of them were likely available for the right price). He traded away or released 11 guys. He knew he had to shake things up.

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I just don't believe he had to shake things up. He saw that these better players were becoming available during his players contract years and he just made a move.

Hayward was a Boston lean from the start of free agency. Tatum was a great pick up. Kyrie just happened to become available at the right time for them.

I feel like contracts played a huge part tho. He knew had he kept Bradley and IT that it would most likely ruin his plan that he had for the future because those two were going to demand over 100mill.

3-4 players on your roster with over 100mill on their contracts, with Smarts rookie contract ending soon and him possibly asking for north of 60mill, that just would've ruined his plan for the Celtics, so he blew it up, and lucky for him, he got great players back so it didn't seem like much of a blow up

I just don't read much into the blogs because I know for a fact the Celtics and many people around the sports world felt like they could beat the Cavs or at least give them a run.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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I just don't read much into the blogs because I know for a fact the Celtics and many people around the sports world felt like they could beat the Cavs or at least give them a run.

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How do you know this for a fact when others are posting written information to the contrary? Legitimately curious. Thus far you've backed up your opinions with......your opinions.

Dubbicans said:

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BaylorBears_254 said:

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I just don't read much into the blogs because I know for a fact the Celtics and many people around the sports world felt like they could beat the Cavs or at least give them a run.

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How do you know this for a fact when others are posting written information to the contrary? Legitimately curious. Thus far you've backed up your opinions with......your opinions.

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It's a Celtics Blog. It's their opinions. They don't have quotes directly from anyone, it's just what they feel. They aren't speaking for the entire Celtics team, they aren't speaking for many sports analysts, they aren't speaking for many fans like Roughneck and Fozzie. They're speaking for themselves.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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Dubbicans said:

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BaylorBears_254 said:

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I just don't read much into the blogs because I know for a fact the Celtics and many people around the sports world felt like they could beat the Cavs or at least give them a run.

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How do you know this for a fact when others are posting written information to the contrary? Legitimately curious. Thus far you've backed up your opinions with......your opinions.

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It's a Celtics Blog. It's their opinions. They don't have quotes directly from anyone, it's just what they feel. They aren't speaking for the entire Celtics team, they aren't speaking for many sports analysts, they aren't speaking for many fans like Roughneck and Fozzie. They're speaking for themselves.

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So Ainge dismantled a team he thought could contend because of a couple of contracts that would be expiring in a year or two? whatever

Chuckroast said:

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BaylorBears_254 said:

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Dubbicans said:

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BaylorBears_254 said:

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I just don't read much into the blogs because I know for a fact the Celtics and many people around the sports world felt like they could beat the Cavs or at least give them a run.

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How do you know this for a fact when others are posting written information to the contrary? Legitimately curious. Thus far you've backed up your opinions with......your opinions.

---

It's a Celtics Blog. It's their opinions. They don't have quotes directly from anyone, it's just what they feel. They aren't speaking for the entire Celtics team, they aren't speaking for many sports analysts, they aren't speaking for many fans like Roughneck and Fozzie. They're speaking for themselves.

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So Ainge dismantled a team he thought could contend because of a couple of contracts that would be expiring in a year or two? whatever

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You're not getting it, but ooook.

I literally wrote it out for you. Are you going to pay 3-4 players 100mill that aren't even superstars? No.

So if you have a chance to trade one guy who will be demanding north of 90mill to Detroit and get 2 solid big man role players back in exchange with decent contracts, you do it.

If you have a guy who WILL demand the max or close to it, but another guy becomes available who is on the verge of becoming a Superstar and is actually better and also has a contract that is decent. You do it.

So now you have a superstar on your team in Kyrie who is locked up for 2-3 years on a very friendly contract.
You have Hayward locked down with his 100mill dollar contract, and also Hortford with a 100mill dollar contract. You have Tatum, Brown, Smart, Rozier all under their rookie contracts. And you have Morris and Baynes under solid contracts as well.

VS

Going into next season having to deal with resigning IT (who will want the max), dealing with Avery Bradley(who will want north of 90mill). Neither which are superstars.

Contracts definitely make a huge difference, especially if you're able to get valuable pieces back.

Boston knew they could compete and build off IT and Bradley, but it would be very costly

Boston will definitely be the future of the Eastern conference and the NBA, but when those rookie contracts end for guys like Brown, Tatum, Smart, and Rozier. They're going to have make some choices.

Of those 4 guys above, 2 of them will definitely be 100mill guys in the future with Smart most likely demanding close to it.

Kyrie-100 plus mill
Hayward- 100 plus mill
Hortford- 100 plus mill (tradable tho)
Brown and Tatum- 100 plus mill
Smart and Rozier- North of 60-70 mill


Can Boston retain all these guys in the future? We will see.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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Chuckroast said:

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BaylorBears_254 said:

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Dubbicans said:

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BaylorBears_254 said:

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I just don't read much into the blogs because I know for a fact the Celtics and many people around the sports world felt like they could beat the Cavs or at least give them a run.

---

How do you know this for a fact when others are posting written information to the contrary? Legitimately curious. Thus far you've backed up your opinions with......your opinions.

---

It's a Celtics Blog. It's their opinions. They don't have quotes directly from anyone, it's just what they feel. They aren't speaking for the entire Celtics team, they aren't speaking for many sports analysts, they aren't speaking for many fans like Roughneck and Fozzie. They're speaking for themselves.

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So Ainge dismantled a team he thought could contend because of a couple of contracts that would be expiring in a year or two? whatever

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You're not getting it, but ooook.

I literally wrote it out for you. Are you going to pay 3-4 players 100mill that aren't even superstars? No.

So if you have a chance to trade one guy who will be demanding north of 90mill to Detroit and get 2 solid big man role players back in exchange with decent contracts, you do it.

If you have a guy who WILL demand the max or close to it, but another guy becomes available who is on the verge of becoming a Superstar and is actually better and also has a contract that is decent. You do it.

So now you have a superstar on your team in Kyrie who is locked up for 2-3 years on a very friendly contract.
You have Hayward locked down with his 100mill dollar contract, and also Hortford with a 100mill dollar contract. You have Tatum, Brown, Smart, Rozier all under their rookie contracts. And you have Morris and Baynes under solid contracts as well.

VS

Going into next season having to deal with resigning IT (who will want the max), dealing with Avery Bradley(who will want north of 90mill). Neither which are superstars.

Contracts definitely make a huge difference, especially if you're able to get valuable pieces back.

Boston knew they could compete and build off IT and Bradley, but it would be very

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I agree with your logic here, but I interpret it differently, Ainge knew his team last year was good but not good enough. He wasn't satisfied with just making the playoffs and possibly advancing a round or two. He knew he had to try to get something for players with soon to expire contracts while he could. If he thought he could have won a championship or even made it to the championship finals with those guys, I think he would have ridden it out, I still think his eye is down the road. He's trying to improve his team to a championship caliber team. I still think they have some improvement to make and possibly still a missing piece or two (Hayward may be one of them), but I think the ceiling is a lot higher with the current team.

I can agree with that last part. Future is definitely brighter with this team and that's why I said he made those trades, because he knew they would be brighter.

The reason I brought cap space and salary into this is because he knew he would be limited in the future had he kept those current players, he now as flexibility but it's going to be crazy and hard for him to keep it all in the future.

I still stand by the statement that he could win with the old team, that's why he added Hayward and was going to add more pieces as well. The Kyrie fallout was just a blessing for him tho, came out of nowhere.

Also, as I said before, Ainge has his eyes set on a big. Idk if it's Anthony Davis or what, but he wants a big that is a game changer.

BaylorBears_254 said:

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I can agree with that last part. Future is definitely brighter with this team and that's why I said he made those trades, because he knew they would be brighter.

The reason I brought cap space and salary into this is because he knew he would be limited in the future had he kept those current players, he now as flexibility but it's going to be crazy and hard for him to keep it all in the future.

I still stand by the statement that he could win with the old team, that's why he added Hayward and was going to add more pieces as well. The Kyrie fallout was just a blessing for him tho, came out of nowhere.

Also, as I said before, Ainge has his eyes set on a big. Idk if it's Anthony Davis or what, but he wants a big that is a game changer.

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I agree that they do seem interested in a big guy . . . just not sure what they would have to give up to get one.

This thread is absolutely hilarious. We've got some genius puppet masters on this board.

what in the H E double hockey sticks is going on in Minneapolis tonight? Lebron, Isaiah, Kevin and DWade not playing? Let me check.

Oh my they are playing. We have a 69-42 halftime score. Hopefully the Cavs can save some face in the second half. They are getting worser and worser.

Fozzie, you only show up when the Cavs are losing or lose. Just stop lol.

If you can't say anything when they win or when Boston loses, there is no need to acknowledge you.

No one said they were going to put it together in one month. IT hasn't played in 7months and he's just now getting the feel for the game.

T Wolves are playing really good tonight at home.

I'm not worried at all, you can enjoy these regular season games all you want lol, but don't get your feelings hurt when the playoffs come and the Cavs are on a new level.

Oh yeah. Give me those excuses fanboy.