Posted by moranis on 4/3/2012 2:36:00 PM (view original):
I have been pleasantly surprised at the recent stretch of games, but the rest of April is brutal.  Should be a solid gauge of this teams potential in the post season.

Disagree.

The difficult of the April schedule is heavily predicated on having a bunch of b2b's.  Our b2b2b is @Toronto, @NJ, @Charlotte which is pretty much the opposite of a gauge for postseason success.  A team like Philly dominates that but will get crushed in the playoffs because their bench is less valuable in the postseason and they can't beat good teams for the life of them.  Celtics are the opposite where their starters are awesome but bench sucks, and the old men get more rest between games in the playoffs + stretched out minutes.  Regardless of what happens in April, Celtics are the 3rd best playoff team in the East when their main cogs are healthy.

Posted by deanod on 4/3/2012 3:14:00 PM (view original):

Posted by moranis on 4/3/2012 2:36:00 PM (view original):
I have been pleasantly surprised at the recent stretch of games, but the rest of April is brutal.  Should be a solid gauge of this teams potential in the post season.

Disagree.

The difficult of the April schedule is heavily predicated on having a bunch of b2b's.  Our b2b2b is @Toronto, @NJ, @Charlotte which is pretty much the opposite of a gauge for postseason success.  A team like Philly dominates that but will get crushed in the playoffs because their bench is less valuable in the postseason and they can't beat good teams for the life of them.  Celtics are the opposite where their starters are awesome but bench sucks, and the old men get more rest between games in the playoffs + stretched out minutes.  Regardless of what happens in April, Celtics are the 3rd best playoff team in the East when their main cogs are healthy.

Fair point, but these are the following games with at least one day of rest prior to the game

San Antonio
@ Indiana
@ Miami
@ Toronto
@ New York
@ Atlanta
Miami
Milwaukee

6 of the 8 against teams in the playoffs right now and 4 of those on the road, 1 of the 2 on the road, and the other against the 9th place team.  Plenty of back to backs and the triple in there, but those 8 games should be a pretty decent gauge given the day off and the quality of the teams in them.

They'll win some of those games and lose a good handful, probably.  As long as they don't go like 4-10 the rest of the way I'm not going to read very much into things.

To be honest I'm not that concerned about much else other than keeping our healthy players healthy and our old dudes rested.  Our odds in the playoffs aren't great but I've seen enough to be comfortable that we have a puncher's chance against anybody.

i think the celtics can go to finish the season 5-3

interesting they went with Bradley to start the game over Allen.  Will be curious to see if that continues going forward.

Looks like the old men have some gas left in the tank afterall.  I will still be surprised if they can beat Miami or Chicago in a 7 game series, but I am much more confident in that ability after the last few weeks than I was at any other point this season.

Posted by moranis on 4/11/2012 8:03:00 PM (view original):
Looks like the old men have some gas left in the tank afterall.  I will still be surprised if they can beat Miami or Chicago in a 7 game series, but I am much more confident in that ability after the last few weeks than I was at any other point this season.

Of course they can beat either team.

let me reiterate how glad i am we did not trade rondo...

Posted by BoSoxBoi on 4/12/2012 6:28:00 PM (view original):
let me reiterate how glad i am we did not trade rondo...

you misspelled "ray allen" who some people (cough, moranis) were suggesting dealing for a late 1st rounder and a cold bowl of dicks.

rajon rondo could have fetched a + return for us that would conceivably make our hand even stronger than it is already.  not that it necessarily would have, but he's still doing his stupid assist whore act in a lot of games.

If Rondo shoots 65% on wide open 15 footers (free throws and jumpers) in the playoffs (and is willing to take them), the Celts are in good shape.

We're also in pretty good shape if Ray Allen shoots 65% on 3's

Which is more likely?

If we're talking about just Rondo's midrange jumpers vs Ray's 3's, I think Ray shooting 65% from 3 is slightly more likely.

WRT Rondo's FT's, it hardly matters.  He's a 60% shooter- I'll take it if he shoots 65%, but that adds like an extra point per playoff series, so it's really not a biggie.

Posted by deanod on 4/13/2012 9:39:00 AM (view original):

Posted by BoSoxBoi on 4/12/2012 6:28:00 PM (view original):
let me reiterate how glad i am we did not trade rondo...

you misspelled "ray allen" who some people (cough, moranis) were suggesting dealing for a late 1st rounder and a cold bowl of dicks.

rajon rondo could have fetched a + return for us that would conceivably make our hand even stronger than it is already.  not that it necessarily would have, but he's still doing his stupid assist whore act in a lot of games.

I still would have traded him.  He is always hurt and even when he plays he is now coming off of the bench.  Thus, I would have been happy getting a late first or a young player for him.  That probably (depending on the player) would have made the Celtics a worse team in the playoffs, but I would have been ok with that given the state of the team and the state of Ray Allen.

I would have moved Rondo in the right trade, but moving Rondo was never a "rebuilding" trade.  If, for example, the Celtics could have gotten Conley and Mayo for Rondo, I would have done that, but I wouldn't have sold him off for scraps or anything.

Posted by deanod on 4/13/2012 2:13:00 PM (view original):
If we're talking about just Rondo's midrange jumpers vs Ray's 3's, I think Ray shooting 65% from 3 is slightly more likely.

WRT Rondo's FT's, it hardly matters.  He's a 60% shooter- I'll take it if he shoots 65%, but that adds like an extra point per playoff series, so it's really not a biggie.

It's not Rondo's percentage that kills the Celts.....it's his lack of attempts because he gets timid and/or doesn't play down the stretch.  If he got the FT attempts of a typical PG (about 6) it would mean much more to the Celts than the extra point or two per game.

And the 15 foot jumpers.....he should be able to hit 60-65% of his wide open 15 footers, provided he's willing to take them.  If he showed that he could/would, teams would actually have to guard him outside of 10 feet and it would make the Celts offense much less anemic.