2019-2020 Celtics Regular Season Thread

NomarsFool

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 21, 2001
8,157
This team seems to have a real tough time with playing down to their opponents. This and Toronto (with the players out in both games) were really pathetic opponents. The C's should have been able to walk over them and get some starters some rest.
 

OurF'ingCity

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
This team seems to have a real tough time with playing down to their opponents. This and Toronto (with the players out in both games) were really pathetic opponents. The C's should have been able to walk over them and get some starters some rest.
The Wizards are a weird team because they have now beaten the Celtics, Heat, Sixers, and Nuggets, and I certainly wouldn't call the Raptors a "pathetic" opponent even with injuries - Lowry and FVV were integral pieces of a championship team and Ibaka is a very solid player as well. Not that that really explains the Celtics' performance last night but it does suggest trying to draw much from 1-2 games over the course of an NBA season is generally a fool's errand.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,840
Something John Karalis has mentioned recently--since the Celtics seem to start slow, lately Kemba had been more aggressive in the first quarter, allowing the team to stay even early then letting GH, JT, and JB to take over. With him missing the last 3 games, the Celtics have continued to start slow and haven't had Kemba there to help out.

I haven't seen the numbers on this, but he's mentioned it a few places.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
Something John Karalis has mentioned recently--since the Celtics seem to start slow, lately Kemba had been more aggressive in the first quarter, allowing the team to stay even early then letting GH, JT, and JB to take over. With him missing the last 3 games, the Celtics have continued to start slow and haven't had Kemba there to help out.

I haven't seen the numbers on this, but he's mentioned it a few places.
I mean, the real explanation is that but simpler: the Celtics have been a great offensive team with Kemba on the floor, and a bad one with him off, and that has continued with him hurt.

They can cobble together Tatum-led 2nd units, but that’s not enough offense for 48 minutes against starters.

The Wizards zone killed them, and Kemba busts zones with relative ease.
 

NomarsFool

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 21, 2001
8,157
Not that that really explains the Celtics' performance last night but it does suggest trying to draw much from 1-2 games over the course of an NBA season is generally a fool's errand.
This isn't the first time, though. There have been a few other nail biting wins against really awful teams.
 

Jimbodandy

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 31, 2006
11,405
around the way
Something John Karalis has mentioned recently--since the Celtics seem to start slow, lately Kemba had been more aggressive in the first quarter, allowing the team to stay even early then letting GH, JT, and JB to take over. With him missing the last 3 games, the Celtics have continued to start slow and haven't had Kemba there to help out.

I haven't seen the numbers on this, but he's mentioned it a few places.
That's what I see too FWIW. Kemba has been aggressive in Q1 and also in Q4 when they need a killshot and kinda conceding Q2 and Q3 to the Js.

The Cs are 8-2 in their last ten and shot just poorly enough to lose on the road in their third game in four nights. Seems like a normal thing.
 

bakahump

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jan 8, 2001
7,520
Maine
Tommy made a comment a few nights before Williams finally hit his 1st 3pt shot.

Something like "I will bet money he shoots 33% from 3 for the season!"
I like Williams but at the time (0-21 or something the night of the comment) I laughed hysterically.

Since that shot heard round the Bench, Williams is at 40%! (7/20) But still only 17.8 for the season.

I might eat my hat, laughing the whole time, if Tommy is proved correct.
 

Jed Zeppelin

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 23, 2008
51,291
This isn't the first time, though. There have been a few other nail biting wins against really awful teams.
Their point differential is 2nd best in the league so unless it can be shown they are any worse in this regard than any other team, I don't think there is a real problem. Nobody shows up for all 82.
 

Eddie Jurak

canderson-lite
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2002
44,475
Melrose, MA
This team seems to have a real tough time with playing down to their opponents. This and Toronto (with the players out in both games) were really pathetic opponents. The C's should have been able to walk over them and get some starters some rest.
Well, they did “rest” one starter (Kemba) and played another who is still working back into form (Smart). Of course, Washington played without Beal.

Clearly this team has some work to do, especially when Kemba is not available.
 

OurF'ingCity

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
Clearly this team has some work to do, especially when Kemba is not available.
I guess, but they are 2-1 (admittedly against bad teams) on this recent Kemba-less stretch (and 3-1 overall when Kemba hasn't played), and I'm not sure it's particularly surprising that the team's performance declines when one of its best players is not playing. That is like saying the Clippers "have work to do" when Kawhi doesn't play because the Clippers are 5-5 when Kawhi hasn't played, including losses to the Pelicans and Bulls.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
I guess, but they are 2-1 (admittedly against bad teams) on this recent Kemba-less stretch (and 3-1 overall when Kemba hasn't played), and I'm not sure it's particularly surprising that the team's performance declines when one of its best players is not playing. That is like saying the Clippers "have work to do" when Kawhi doesn't play because the Clippers are 5-5 when Kawhi hasn't played, including losses to the Pelicans and Bulls.
Yeah, I think Kemba’s impact is/was underestimated by many here, myself included, because he doesn’t put up the video game numbers that a lot of superstars are now. But he’s an utterly critical offensive piece because of the space he creates even when he’s not the guy who ultimately receives the DHO.

I think this is what they imagined Kyrie would be, and what he couldn’t be for a variety of reasons.

This also isn’t anything new for Kemba: he took a trash Hornets team to the #11 offense last year. This year, even with DeVonte playing great, they’re in the 20s with basically the same team.
 

DeJesus Built My Hotrod

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 24, 2002
48,205
Their point differential is 2nd best in the league so unless it can be shown they are any worse in this regard than any other team, I don't think there is a real problem. Nobody shows up for all 82.
As everyone knows, single game outcomes are fluky and production varies, even over larger sample sizes. Reacting to how the team looks without its primary ball handler in Walker or how the team looks with or without Hayward, who is still working his way back or how Marcus Smart looks five games back from what was a pretty significant eye condition seems a bit rushed in terms of analysis. That doesn't mean that there aren't issues or that some of the flaws we are seeing aren't worth highlighting. Its just more of a game-thread type observation than a - "hey this is an issue as highlighted by this set of data and it could hurt the team down the road".

I would simply suggest that it may make sense to give it time - the C's are playing really well on balance and as you note, they are doing so in impressive fashion statistically. Drawing conclusions from "last night's game" (in the generic sense) is unlikely to yield any real insights beyond "x happened in this single sequence/game etc."
 

Big John

New Member
Dec 9, 2016
2,086
As Doc Rivers was fond of saying, it's a make or miss league. Teams that shoot poorly tend to lose. And when you play zone to cut down on penetration to the rim by the opponents, a hot shooter can hurt you.
They have two games against better teams on Wednesday and Thursday. Let's see how they respond.
 

luckiestman

Son of the Harpy
SoSH Member
Jul 15, 2005
32,620
Anytime I get too worked up about a loss I remember the Cs beat the Heat in Miami during Brad’s first year
27931
 

amarshal2

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 25, 2005
4,913
As everyone knows, single game outcomes are fluky and production varies, even over larger sample sizes. Reacting to how the team looks without its primary ball handler in Walker or how the team looks with or without Hayward, who is still working his way back or how Marcus Smart looks five games back from what was a pretty significant eye condition seems a bit rushed in terms of analysis. That doesn't mean that there aren't issues or that some of the flaws we are seeing aren't worth highlighting. Its just more of a game-thread type observation than a - "hey this is an issue as highlighted by this set of data and it could hurt the team down the road".

I would simply suggest that it may make sense to give it time - the C's are playing really well on balance and as you note, they are doing so in impressive fashion statistically. Drawing conclusions from "last night's game" (in the generic sense) is unlikely to yield any real insights beyond "x happened in this single sequence/game etc."
Yeah -- I think a lot of the recent close game stretch could be summed up as "they missed open shots." They're obviously going to be a better offensive team with Kemba on the floor, but probably not as dramatic as it's looked.
 

Euclis20

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 3, 2004
8,014
Imaginationland
Tommy made a comment a few nights before Williams finally hit his 1st 3pt shot.

Something like "I will bet money he shoots 33% from 3 for the season!"
I like Williams but at the time (0-21 or something the night of the comment) I laughed hysterically.

Since that shot heard round the Bench, Williams is at 40%! (7/20) But still only 17.8 for the season.

I might eat my hat, laughing the whole time, if Tommy is proved correct.
He's on pace for about 115 3s, which would mean would need to hit 38 of them to average 33% for the year. He would need to shoot about 43% the rest of the way (30/70) to hit that mark. Got a long way to go.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
That was completely insane. I honestly just stopped watching the game after that--what's the point?

The NBA needs to get a handle on these dudes: a first year ref completely ruined an entertaining game in the span of 20 seconds because someone said a mean wordsie.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,756
Pittsburgh, PA
That was completely insane. I honestly just stopped watching the game after that--what's the point?

The NBA needs to get a handle on these dudes: a first year ref completely ruined an entertaining game in the span of 20 seconds because someone said a mean wordsie.
The NBA, like soccer, badly needs a penalty-box concept a la hockey. You there! Go chill out for 5 minutes, think about what you've done / said, then let's get back to it.
 

HowBoutDemSox

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 12, 2009
10,103
The NBA, like soccer, badly needs a penalty-box concept a la hockey. You there! Go chill out for 5 minutes, think about what you've done / said, then let's get back to it.
That’s a neat idea, but will there only be two refs out there during that time, or is there a replacement ref that gets to put on a whistle until the offender is back on the court?
 

the moops

Member
SoSH Member
Jan 19, 2016
4,700
Saint Paul, MN
Um, I think he’s referring the players...
Yes. It is a decent idea I think. You get a technical, you sit out 5 minutes or until the next scheduled TV timeout, or something. No arguing allowed or you are tossed. But you get that first fuck off to the ref in return for a 5 minute penalty
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
The NBA, like soccer, badly needs a penalty-box concept a la hockey. You there! Go chill out for 5 minutes, think about what you've done / said, then let's get back to it.
Or the refs could, you know, not be incredibly thin-skinned dipshits. It's almost like Adam Silver could fix this if he wanted to...
 

joe dokes

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 18, 2005
30,238
Yes. It is a decent idea I think. You get a technical, you sit out 5 minutes or until the next scheduled TV timeout, or something. No arguing allowed or you are tossed. But you get that first fuck off to the ref in return for a 5 minute penalty
Its good in theory, but with teams having somewhat regular rotations, a player knowing he's about to come out anyway could turn into a Reg Dunlap - Hanrahan dustup with no real consequence.
 

lexrageorge

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2007
18,096
I typically have no problem with the officials ringing up a player with a technical. Rules are rules, and the officials do need to keep things under control and have to make the decisions in real time. Scream profanities at the official a-la Kemba, and you get the T.

However, once that's done, the officials should learn to expect that in some cases, the player is only going to get more pissed off. Emotions are high, and no-one really wants to get a technical foul. The officials need to learn to walk away and let the player vent for a minute while his coaches and teammates get him back to the bench. Typically, 30 seconds later and the player is still ticked off, but usually realizes there's still a game to be played and subsequently cools down. If the player is still confronting the official a minute later, then, fine, it's time to go to the locker room; that's on the player.
 

HowBoutDemSox

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 12, 2009
10,103
Um, I think he’s referring the players...
Duh. I was being facetious and playing off the idea that in this instance it had very little to do with a player needing to calm down and everything to do with a ref needing to.
Just like NFL coaches, find us better refs somewhere
How about modifying behavior through incentives? If this guys got suspended for a couple weeks or so, maybe he wouldn’t have a hair trigger next time. Even if we accept the idea that these are the best refs in the world, there can still be improvements to the system.
 

benhogan

Granite Truther
SoSH Member
Nov 2, 2007
20,112
Santa Monica
I typically have no problem with the officials ringing up a player with a technical. Rules are rules, and the officials do need to keep things under control and have to make the decisions in real time. Scream profanities at the official a-la Kemba, and you get the T.
Typically, 30 seconds later and the player is still ticked off, but usually realizes there's still a game to be played and subsequently cools down. If the player is still confronting the official a minute later, then, fine, it's time to go to the locker room; that's on the player.
agreed. The 2nd tech on Kemba was incredibly quick, rookie ref. Sucks. Live and learn with this guy (irrational trigger), would rather experience this now, in a January game, than a playoff game.

Move on to Philly, a win away from home would re-energize the C's.
 

bakahump

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Jan 8, 2001
7,520
Maine
Of course a smart Ref uses Techs in just that way.

I make a call. You dont like my call so you bitch. I say knock it off. I make another call you dont like. You cross a line, I T you up. You continue to bitch and grumble. I glare (maybe even say knock it off again or have a fellow ref say it.), but pretend to ignore you. You again cross a line, I glare for just a few seconds. You continue. I T you up again. Go sit.

If an NBA player cant live by that code then they deserve to be ejected. Of course I am assuming (probably wrongly) that the Refs can also abide by this unwritten social norm.

80-90s teams/refs would do this all the time.

At the end of the day the entire business model is built on people wanting to see Kemba play...not the refs call fouls.
 

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
SoSH Member
Jan 15, 2004
30,096
Such an interesting game tonight. Two "good" teams who are struggling to maximize their ability for various reasons. We know the Philly story but they seem to be a tough matchup for us as their length seems to affect us more than it does other teams for whatever reason. No Embiid changes things but I can't get a feel for how the Sixers (and us) react. Thybulle returns to Philly's second unit......will this be a rusty Thybulle who was god awful the first month of the season or the vastly improved version prior to the injury?

I was high on this Celtics team to begin the year but I am cooling for a couple of reasons. From an unbiased viewer they seem like paper tigers who have feasted on the leagues easiest schedule up to this point. Their holes are also pretty glaring with the lack of backcourt depth and reliance upon so many young players.


* From wagering perspective 7.5 is a lot of points to give in a high profile division matchup so I'd lean the Celtics to keep things close but not enough for an investment. Honestly though, nothing would surprise me here. I do have my wonderful +370 Atlantic Division crown play on the Celtics which was in large part to my fade on the overrated Sixers. However, I hedged some last week with the Raptors who I snagged at +285 (Boston was a -140 favorite prior to these last two losses based on the Celtics W/L pct adjusting to their strength of schedule the rest of way and my continued non-belief into the Sixers at least during the regular season prior to the trade deadline. Feel real good about my spot here.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,756
Pittsburgh, PA
Or the refs could, you know, not be incredibly thin-skinned dipshits. It's almost like Adam Silver could fix this if he wanted to...
There's no perfect balancing between the needs to let the players compete and if needed vent in a high pressure environment, vs to have an entertainment spectacle that's professional, clean and not farcical, with both the game and the officials respected. If you don't give wide error bars to your officials who are trying to balance all that in real time, you're not going to have any officials.

I'm just saying they need a tool to employ that's in between "walking away" and "ejecting the player". Right now all they got is techs, and a second one is an automatic ejection. They can only work with what they're given.

How about modifying behavior through incentives? If this guys got suspended for a couple weeks or so, maybe he wouldn’t have a hair trigger next time. Even if we accept the idea that these are the best refs in the world, there can still be improvements to the system.
That's just not how human psychology works, nevermind the psychology of extreme humans who are as revved up and intense as possible. They're not thinking of the consequences 5 seconds later in that moment, nevermind the next 3 weeks. It's like why criminal deterrence (as a motivating goal of a justice system) doesn't work for crimes of passion.
 

NomarsFool

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 21, 2001
8,157
I would also like to see the refs take a breather before assigning the technical (which, I think, they often do). When someone is really angry, giving them the technical in that second, is just going to make them even angrier. Especially if the ref does it an angrily demonstrative way (which, biased fan that I am, felt like it was the case last night). If a player mouths off, count to 10, and then give them the technical. Honestly, I think they do that a lot. Not last night, unfortunately.

As the other poster mentioned, I turned off the game at that point. I just didn't want to watch anymore. Some stupid ref ruined a very enjoyable entertainment event for many people.
 

HowBoutDemSox

Member
SoSH Member
Aug 12, 2009
10,103
That's just not how human psychology works, nevermind the psychology of extreme humans who are as revved up and intense as possible. They're not thinking of the consequences 5 seconds later in that moment, nevermind the next 3 weeks. It's like why criminal deterrence (as a motivating goal of a justice system) doesn't work for crimes of passion.
This seems like a fairly absolute statement for a subject that has a lot of research on it. I’m far from an expert but my understanding of deterrence is that it correlates somewhat with the certainty of punishment (and less so with the nature of the punishment).

I’m also not sure I agree with the characterization of refs as “extreme humans who are as revved up and intense as possible.” Being able to keep their cool should be a selected for trait in refs, far more so than for players.
 

lovegtm

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 30, 2013
11,997
There's no perfect balancing between the needs to let the players compete and if needed vent in a high pressure environment, vs to have an entertainment spectacle that's professional, clean and not farcical, with both the game and the officials respected. If you don't give wide error bars to your officials who are trying to balance all that in real time, you're not going to have any officials.

I'm just saying they need a tool to employ that's in between "walking away" and "ejecting the player". Right now all they got is techs, and a second one is an automatic ejection. They can only work with what they're given.
Yeah, I guess my disagreement is that very few refs seem to have trouble walking that particular line. The "two techs within 5 seconds" is very rare. This was "Crawford ejecting Duncan" levels of bad. I'm fine to T up a guy for using profanity, but if you're an NBA ref and you're going to just lose it at the word "fuck", this probably isn't the job for you.

Evan Scott has also only been doing this at the NBA level for a few months...so it's entirely possible that this just isn't the job for him.
 

lexrageorge

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 31, 2007
18,096
As there are 3 officials on the court, one thing that could be done is that the league privately instructs their officials to avoid situations where a single official issues back-to-back T's. For example, if official 1 T's up a player, he or she should generally let the other 2 officials decide if and when to issue a 2nd technical. The other officials are not "in the moment", if you will, and would hopefully give the player more leeway to cool down.

It cannot be a hard and fast rule; there are going to be cases where an immediate double T is warranted. For example, any attempt to bump the official should be dealt with quickly.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,840
I was high on this Celtics team to begin the year but I am cooling for a couple of reasons. From an unbiased viewer they seem like paper tigers who have feasted on the leagues easiest schedule up to this point.
The Celtics are one of only 3 teams in the Eastern Conference that have a better than .500 record against teams over .500. The Heat and Bucks are the other 2. Only 7 teams in the NBA win more than they lose against over .500 teams.

Contrast that with the Raptors, who are 5-12 against those teams and 20-1 against below .500 teams.
 

128

Member
SoSH Member
May 4, 2019
10,016
The Celtics are one of only 3 teams in the Eastern Conference that have a better than .500 record against teams over .500. The Heat and Bucks are the other 2. Only 7 teams in the NBA win more than they lose against over .500 teams.

Contrast that with the Raptors, who are 5-12 against those teams and 20-1 against below .500 teams.
Thanks. I was too lazy to look the numbers up, but the assertion that the C's have faced the NBA's easiest schedule didn't ring true.
 

Eddie Jurak

canderson-lite
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Dec 12, 2002
44,475
Melrose, MA
As there are 3 officials on the court, one thing that could be done is that the league privately instructs their officials to avoid situations where a single official issues back-to-back T's. For example, if official 1 T's up a player, he or she should generally let the other 2 officials decide if and when to issue a 2nd technical. The other officials are not "in the moment", if you will, and would hopefully give the player more leeway to cool down.

It cannot be a hard and fast rule; there are going to be cases where an immediate double T is warranted. For example, any attempt to bump the official should be dealt with quickly.
That is a really good idea.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,756
Pittsburgh, PA
This seems like a fairly absolute statement for a subject that has a lot of research on it. I’m far from an expert but my understanding of deterrence is that it correlates somewhat with the certainty of punishment (and less so with the nature of the punishment).
From having now read several of these articles, a lot of them distinguish between "crimes of passion" where the actor is not thinking rationally and has no opportunity to consider likelihood and severity of consequence, vs say economic crimes like burglary and theft. That's the distinction I'm talking about too. We're talking about situations where the "Certainty of apprehension" is 100%, because they're on TV and the refs are looking right at them. If the players don't have an opportunity to first calm down before making a cooler-headed decision on whether to continue complaining or not, then a second tech is just capriciously adjusting the extent to which they're punished for the same impulsive acts of whining or making a scene.

We can go down this rabbit hole if you like. I don't think I'm making any claims about human nature and psychology that aren't common sense and widely understood. If there's research otherwise on deterrence for crimes of passion specifically, then it's possible you've got me and I'm interested to learn something counterintuitive. But we gotta narrow down to that lane.

I’m also not sure I agree with the characterization of refs as “extreme humans who are as revved up and intense as possible.” Being able to keep their cool should be a selected for trait in refs, far more so than for players.
I realize you're joking - again, after having explained the same joke the first time you made it - but the issue is not in "refs keeping their cool" but in players not letting it go and keeping up the hissy fits long after most of us would have calmed down. I'm saying this is normal for the emotional state they're in. I agree that maybe there should be a rule that a ref can't give a second tech within (say) a minute of giving the first one to a player, no matter what they do, unless it's something insta-ejectable like punching someone or physically harming an official. But I still think giving a timeout to someone who's behaving like a toddler would solve a large class of these incidents right now in a fairly elegant way.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,756
Pittsburgh, PA
It cannot be a hard and fast rule; there are going to be cases where an immediate double T is warranted. For example, any attempt to bump the official should be dealt with quickly.
Yes, there are immediately-ejectable acts, but I think every NBA player knows that complaining, screaming and potty mouth are not among them.

I can only think of one instance in which a soccer player talked so much shit for so long, after getting a yellow card, that the ref eventually had no choice but to give them a second yellow and send them off. Maybe bigger fans than I am have seen more of it. But it's rare. I happen to think euro soccer refs are TOO tolerant and as a result the players routinely make a farce of the notion of an officiated contest... but one thing they certainly don't have is an itchy trigger finger. If you have a thin skin, I agree it's not going to be the job for you, except maybe something tamer with rarer conflicts and only rare physical contact between players, like in baseball.

Frankly I don't know how the female refs in NBA / NCAA basketball put up with it, because the amount of patronizing talking-down-to they get on top of the usual whining (and I saw it all the time with Violet Palmer) must be absolutely abominable.
 

JakeRae

Member
SoSH Member
Jul 21, 2005
8,125
New York, NY
Thanks. I was too lazy to look the numbers up, but the assertion that the C's have faced the NBA's easiest schedule didn't ring true.
ESPN currently has the Celtics as having faced the second easiest schedule so far, ahead of only Charlotte. Tankathon has the forward looking schedule ranked as 9th hardest. Denver is the only good team with a tougher schedule the rest of the way.
 

DJnVa

Dorito Dawg
SoSH Member
Dec 16, 2010
53,840
The discrepancy is that they haven’t faced as many “good” teams. But they are still winning more than they lose against them. Which is rare.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,756
Pittsburgh, PA
He’s pretty obviously hilariously bad at his job...
your proof accepted on this count...

...and the NBA is too busy planning mid-season tournaments no one asked for to control the quality of its product.
whoa whoa. No one asked for Naismith to nail a hoop to the wall of his gym, either. No one asked for the ABA to invent a 3-point line, they just did it because they thought it'd be more exciting. But having seen it proposed, I'm damn excited to see a single-elimination NBA tournament come to life and become another part of the awesome sequence of NBA stuff.

Sports young and old are getting tweaked - in their playing rules, league formats, CBAs, etc - all the time. Criticize a specific proposal if you like, but the concept of experimenting isn't just a good one, it's essential.
 

HomeRunBaker

bet squelcher
SoSH Member
Jan 15, 2004
30,096
Thanks. I was too lazy to look the numbers up, but the assertion that the C's have faced the NBA's easiest schedule didn't ring true.
http://powerrankingsguru.com/nba/strength-of-schedule.php
This is one of a couple metrics who rank them last. I’ve seen others in the high 20’s.





The Celtics are one of only 3 teams in the Eastern Conference that have a better than .500 record against teams over .500. The Heat and Bucks are the other 2. Only 7 teams in the NBA win more than they lose against over .500 teams.

Contrast that with the Raptors, who are 5-12 against those teams and 20-1 against below .500 teams.
One theory for the Celtics success vs >.500 teams could be the easy schedule allowing them to get up for the tougher games.......the Bucks SOS is one notch above Boston in these rankings at 29 and Miami is at 23.