"The Cavalry Is Coming"

Cavalry ?

You better bring the whole batallion Paul. :D

I don’t even know how to feel about this.

This is why we need to make the gasol trade (but keep this years pick and jefferson). Pierce will get us enough wins that we will not be one of the two worst teams in the league.

Losing breeds losing.

I wouldn’t be surprised if we continued to lose at a extreme rate like we are now even with Pierce back.

The guy has missed significant time and will need a while to get back into his groove and say he even does get back into his groove, that may not be enough to matter anymore this season.

he plays 6,8 maybe 10 games tops while he is totally outta shape.he plays 15-20mins and we lose anyway but the foot feels fine.Mission accomplished so we shut him down and we’re set

Groove or no groove, the Celtics haven’t got a snowball’s chance at making the playoffs. They are currently 10 games out of eighth place. Even if Pierce does get back playing by, say, the All-Star break, the team will likely be even further behind with about 30 games to play and an extremely tough 5-game western road trip staring them in the face. If you’re a betting person, their chances of winning the lottery are a heck of a lot better than making the playoffs.

Ainge cannot advise Pierce to sit out the season. What he can do, however, is order Rivers to limit Pierce’s minutes considerably and hope for the best/worst in terms of the W-L record.

Nobody likes to be branded a loser, but that will all be a distant memory come training camp next October when Pierce and Allen are healthy and a stud big man has joined the team.

maybe we will finally get a break from the “its good to loose” crowd.

i for one am looking forward to a couple of wins. with a core of pierce jefferson (our very own lottery quality bigman) and west we will get the ball rolling before the trade deadline.

hopefully it will trigger some response from danny like, “oh yeah, thats what winning feels like”.
then he can go and make the move we’ve been waiting for.

i’m for gasol if it doesn’t cost jeff or, to a lesser extent del.
if gasol is out of range ainge should shop for a big man defensive specialist, it will cost us less then a offensive machine like pau and will relieve us of a big need.

any ideas on d minded big men that could be available.

lemonadesky:
we probably will not make the playoffs but this years giant killer is next years playoff contender.

The real concern for a Pierce return is to not to let him out there until he’s 100% healed. In the lsat few years, the Celtics have let players return from injuries and only caused a further delay in their healing process.

The Celitcs need to do everything possible to insure PP is healthy when the 2007-08 season begins.

What good does it do to have Paul out there, by having Paul returning back to the lineup will only result in us having the 1-3 pick in the draft to the 5-10 pick in the draft. And if that’s the case we end up back to square “1” with this team.

It’s best for Paul and Wally not to return to this team and allow this team to run its course.

Where are your brains? We already are a loser with this team and that’s why many of you are not the GM, thank god for that. Many of you don’t know the intracacys of running a sports team, dealing with the constant, rules, players, and planning.

The most important thing for this team is to allow the West, Jefferson, Green, Rondo, etc to play and gather game experience. How many of you remember Kobe Bryant or Tracy McGrady when they came out of High School and the number of years it took them to develop.

Many of you here need to wake up and see that these kids are developing and require much more time than originally thought.

Dong one trade to bring in a Veteran is not going to help this team.

It’s a different era, and this team needs to hit rock bottom. The true test is once the season is over. That’s when everyone should be up in arms if this team doesn’t somehow bring in the right mix to go forward. Not now where we are almost at the end of the season and we are coming up to our tough schedule.

Just let the kids play!

Everybody wants a win, but a win for what????[/b][b]

With the “jaded” optimism of Pierce returning and understanding the lag in getting one’s conditioning and timing back following injury (note the slow return of Wally, Tony, Perk, Delonte and even Jefferson) isn’t it time we looked back at Danny’s trade of our lottery pick last year? This look-back being mandated by the annoucement of this year’s All Rookie team and Telfair’s performance as a yardstick.

Granted, there were other aspects to the trade (like saving money) but the Ratliff portion, like the Telfair part, have to be considered “duds”! While our team heads for a historic milestone in mediocrity (even allowing for the impact of injuries), where lies our optimism for the future?

True, we have developing players, but what of their upside and that of Pierce who has begun to show the effects of getting older and more vulnerable to injury?

A high lottery pick will help but isn’t it time for us to spend some of those precious dollars saved in Danny’s watch for veteran talent? We’ve been told that we’re clearing salary cap space to resign our promising youth. With our record-setting performance this year who do we expect to be commanding such high resigning salaries? We’re still stuck with marginal, high enery players who seem to have one fatal flaw in their game….can’t shoot, can’t defend, undersized etc……

Where do we go from here and are we making progress on our return to respectability?

we’ll still be a lottery team if paul plays but we probably won’t have a legit shot at durant who I am becoming more and more convinced is the best player in this draft. I think the best we can hope for is that we get lucky in the draft. Danny has already said he won’t trade Pierce so the only deals I see would be ones involving ratliffe’s salary, telfair and wally. Please don’t trade our pick , Danny!!

This is good, we get to see how Pierce and the slightly more experienced youth play with each other. He probably wont be back to another 6-10 games. Then another 10 games to see how it works, and by then I expect some other players sitting due to “injury” and well be the running for the 2-3 pick, and we get Durant.

Its an easier pill to take.

If Pierce is 100%, he should play. Simple as that. You don’t keep a guy from doing what he loves (and is paid to do) just because you want a better draft pick. They will definitely win more games once Pierce gets back, but it’s kinda hard to win less when you go 2-18 without him.

Besides, people are acting like the Celts are gonna pull off a 10-game winning streak once Paul gets back. That’s not gonna happen. I really don’t see the Celtics passing any team that the are currently behind in the standing, except for possibly the Sixers (everyone else has at least 5 more wins than us), in which case they get the 3rd best chance in the lottery. And if I’m not mistaken, I think LeBron’s draft was the first time the team with the worst record got the first pick since the lottery began.

So as much as it would be more comforting to have the most ping pong balls, history shows that it rarely works out that way.

Do the math. We were 43-63 last year and this year before the stress fracture. We are 12-33 now. Best case, we win 40% of our remaining games with Paul Pierce. That adds up to 27-55. Worst case, we win 25%. That adds up to 21-61. It’s not that big a difference. Most likely case, we win 24 or 25, and take our chances wit hthe ping pong balls. IMO, the consolation prizes through pick #5 will be excellent.

Why do people think we will win enough games to not get a top pick once Pierce gets back? Remember we weren’t a good team with Pierce (before the emergence of Tony Allen) and Tony is NOT playing anymore this year. Also, Doc is still the coach. We will still get a lottery pick with Pierce this year, guys. We can stand to win a few games, even if only for the young guys’ psychie(sp). Why do we need to be the worst team when the worst team ALMOST NEVER wins the lottery? Isn’t 2nd or 3rd worst good enough?

I’m glad to have Paul back and cannot wait to get him on the court. The Celtics should play to win at all times and should not even look at the ping pong balls.

Although, I do think we should play anyone who is not 100% such as Perkins or Wally.

Oh please PP, yeah, you’re going to completely turn it around. :D Just sit out the rest of the damn year please. Damn..

It’s kind of vague though. IT doesn’t say really anything about him being 100% or if he’s going to be playing in actual games or practicing or whatever..

Good for Paul giving that money and it is good that his career is not in danger, but I can’t say I am happy to see him coming back. He is going to be angry and play like a man possessed and probably get the Celtics to 30 or 35 wins and a lower pick in the lottery. I am sorry but I can’t see anything good about that. I am more and more convinced that Durant is an instant all-star. I am not sure LaBron James could have put up the numbers that Durant is putting up. Guys like Dwane Wade and Carmelo Anthony certainly didn’t. He might be the greatest freshman since freshman were made eligible. I have never seen anything like it. It makes me so sad to see another great player come through the draft and know now that the Celtics probably won’t get him.

Incidentally, I think the only way a team can gaurantee a top 6 pick is if they have one of the worst 3 records.

The lottery is only for the top 3 picks, then the rest of the field is ranked in order of record, from worst to best.

So, if the Celtics have the 3rd worst record, and by stroke of dumb luck 3 teams that dont have the 3 worst records win 1,2,3, then the rest of the field is in order…Celtics get #6 in this scenario.

Hello everybody….Scottie, I’ve got this one for you. Let’s go Celtics. Ah, the lottery……I think in terms of what is there and what will happen now:

Jefferson, Gomes, Green, Pierce, West….
Kandi, Powe, ARay, Telfair, Rondo….
Perk, Z, Scal…..
Ratliff, TAllen
The first line is undersized, but can compete when in sync….The second line is sketchy, but capable of staying close and creating some havoc. The third line is hurting and slow footed and should not play PERIOD. Allen’s injury was a killer….developing into a great 2 and in some cases a 3 defender. Do need a BIG man to team with Jefferson. Personally, I’d rather see Powe on the first line when Pierce returns.
Green should just free lance and defend 3. He’ll pick off many rebounds. Let Pierce, West, Jefferson, shoot with Powe holding the ground underneath. Gomes is frequently too small especially in the west. Thanks for listening.

It is amazing to read all of these comments urging Pierce not to comeback, regardless of whether he is healthy or not. This is sheer lunacy. The guy is a professional basketball player, is healthy and wants to play.

Today my handle came up as “Matty Free,” whoever that is. Welcome to Bizarro World. :P

A few comments. Those who think we don’t want the worst record in the league because the team with the worst record hasn’t won the lottery very often, are elevating superstition over mathematics. We DO want the worst record in the league.

If he gets the minutes, Pierce WILL “lead” us to 30 wins. That would be a disaster. We lost early this year because Nurse spent the preseason figuring out who the 15th man would be, not getting the team ready to compete. In fact, with our roster basically healthy, we’re a .500 team. 30 wins means eternal mediocrity. 15 wins means a franchise player. Time for Pierce to get his ego under control, and instead of “leading” us to 30 wins, sit and get 120% healthy.

Why trade for a defensive big, at great cost, when there are several at the top of the draft (Splitter and Hawes, as well as Oden).

Pierce rushing back from his stress fracture is a disaster. Phooey!

I have no problem with Pierce coming back so long as he is absolutely, completely 100% healthy. Pierce or no Pierce, all Rivers has to do to insure 60 losses is to (1) keep coaching they way he’s been coaching, and (2) tell Wally to keep shooting, especially when he has 4 guards in the game and there is little or no hope for an offesnive rebound.

The Calvary is coming!

General Custer heard that rumor, look what it got him.
Rest the horses Paul, we need them for next year.

Look at our lottery competition. Memphis is tanking but with Gasol back, they will win at a higher clip than thus far. Philly stinks and will stink for the rest of the season. Atlanta, Charlotte, Seattle, and Sacramento are better than the Celtics even with Pierce. Celts will have 2nd or 3rd most ping pong balls.

Am I the only one looking forward to seeing Paul on the court again? He’s a true Celtic, he’s got some serious heart, and he’s pretty much singlehandedly kept our ship afloat for the past years. At the very least, just be glad to see his foot feeling better.

Reading most of the above posts it seems like people want us to become the Vancouver/Memphis Grizzlies of the NBA. Or the Charlotte Bobcats. We apparently want our youth to be so accustommed to losing that Oden, Durant, Duncan, Bryant…and/or name your favorite NBA coach can’t fix it.

I don’t think flagrantly conceding a 4 possession game with 2 minutes left is the message you send to a young team on a 12 game losing streak. Wrong message to the team, the fans, and the commissioner. When your star does come back he’ll get quintuple teamed every time he touches the ball in crunch time. It won’t matter who else is open.

I hope Paul is completely healed if he’s playing. I completely agree with Vinnie. But I sense that if the tank job is in, they’d better trade Paul….because he’ll have none of it..too much of a warrior.

I know that there are bigger fans than me….but not many. But I hope that if it becomes as obvious as it was against the Lakers that we’re tanking in subsequent games that we lose the draft pick…and worse. When the most storied franchise in sports history resorts to AAU level game coaching and conceding games for higher picks, there isn’t a true fan who should support that at all.

All anyone has to do is look at San Antonio Spurs back when they were losing and Tim Duncan came along.

We are in a similar position but only better, because there is better talent coming out this year then when Duncan came out.

Why can’t anyone in here see why this is good, as far as losing games to have a better shot at a higher draft pick.

How little is everyone’s brain here. Before Paul got injured, this team was riding a 5 game winning streak. What you did was take away one of the top 15 players in the league along with a supporting cast who is injured….aka Wally, Tony, Perkins, Delonte,,, that’s more experience then the guys currently playing…. Jefferson, Rondo, Green and this team has become unexperienced players who need time to grow.

The problem is many of you do not see the big picture here and are worried about wins….. forget about the other teams in years past who are constantly losing….

Without a game plan for the future your not going anywhere. But just to give many of you something to look forward to you have

1.) expiring contracts with Ratliff and Wally within the next 2 years. That’s close to $25,000 off your books

2.) You have youth developing and maturing to someday be in a position of a Kobe or a Duncan

3.) You have probably a franchise player in this years draft that will only add more talent to a team.

You want to be a fan….then support what is happening to this team until the season is over….then we can rationally start to disect this team on its needs and strengths.

ooooooops $25 Million

We want Oden or Durant. Period.

Do we want Oden or Durant? Come on now Paul do what’s best for the team and tank hahahahaha, I’m half joking and I’m half serious, I know it’s sad but it’s the way I feel.

I realize that Paul has been injured but there is not even a mention of him by anyone for an all-star appearance. There is lots of talk about who should have and should not have made it but nowhere does it mention Paul. He was having a great year!! When is everyone gonna get off the Shaq wagon? He’s a “has been” and it’s a joke that he was named a starter. I guess it’s still a popularity contest.

I hope all is well with Paul but it would be nice if he took the year off!!! I don’t think losing to get the 1-2 pick would be a bad thing. What would be different? We have been losing for years. We might as well get something out of it!!!

As I said in another post earlier this week, we aren’t getting Oden or Durant, even if we lose 70 games. David Stern won’t allow it. I’m hoping for Noah or Splitter.

I wish people would stop this “culture of loosing” garbage. Look, talent wins period. The Celtics lost 60 games in 1978. Young guys like Cedric Maxwell had never so much as seen a playoff game and only seen loosing. Then they got some guy named Bird and reversed their record in one year. Yeah, that culture of loosing sure effected people. The Spurs did the same thing when they got David Robinson, 60 losses to 60 wins in one year. The Spurs went from lottery team to winning a championship in two years thanks to getting Tim Duncan. Put Durant on this team and the culture of loosing will go away real quick.

First of all, class act by Pierce. A quarter of a million (despite the tax break, is not chump change). Second, I doubt Pierce alone, and probably out of shape and rhythm, will singlehandedly turn around our season. The schedule ahead isn’t favorable and it takes a while for a team to reintegrate a significant offensive piece, especially one coming off of injury. It will be exciting to see the chemistry and trust develop now that AL is legit. Thirdly, as John Hollinger points out in his recent article on tanking, moving down a couple of spots (hopefully no more than to the fourth worst record) won’t significantly hurt our chances of receiving a high pick. Supposing the C’s do end up with the fourth or fifth best record and get the 4th pick, there is no way of knowing that it would necessarily have gone any better even with the increased probabilities. For example, the chances of a team with the fourth worst record gaining one of the top two picks is approximately 27% while with the second worst record, it is around 38%. The fifth worst record does see a more significant drop in probabilities but no matter what, the Cs have to be lucky, which they weren’t in 97, to get their hands on Oden or Durant. Fourthly, and many may disagree, Noah (not super high on him but he’s good) Horford, and Brandan Wright all could end up being special NBA players. The Cs will certainly make out better than they did last year.

Stern won’t allow us to get Oden or Durant? LOL. You really thinks that he doesn’t value the business possibilities of having a higly marketable Celtics team with bankable stars like PP and an Oden or Durant? The only teams with more fans when they’re good are the Knicks and Lakers. Stern doesn’t get his heart mixed up in business, period. He would never “stop” a team with a national following like the C’s from getting an Oden or Durant. That is utter nonsense..

Ancient Red Said:
All anyone has to do is look at San Antonio Spurs back when they were losing and Tim Duncan came along.
We are in a similar position but only better, because there is better talent coming out this year then when Duncan came out.
Why can’t anyone in here see why this is good, as far as losing games to have a better shot at a higher draft pick.
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The similarities are striking….I agree. The Spurs had an injured David Robinson…a legitimate 50 best player in NBA history. (We have to stress legitimate where they include Iverson and Shaq on that list..before Shaq had accomplished anything) We have an injured Paul Pierce…a great NBA player…but hardly David Robinson. They had a healthy Sean Elliott. We have an injured Wally Sczerbiak. They had a mixture of veterans and youth. I don’t think we have any veterans who play significant minutes…..They had a great NBA coach….We debatably have a great JR High coach. Their best player was never on a losing team and other than the year he was injured had never missed the playoffs. Our best player and most of this roster has spent the last 2 seasons playing for Doc Friggin Rivers…..who seems to be conceding close games.

Other than that , the similarities are striking, Red.

One other small thing….Tim Duncan was a great NBA player with an NBA body coming out of college after 4 years. Greg Oden is a project with an NBA body and NBA athletism. Kevin Durant is an NBA player in a college student’s body. Neither will be at Duncan’s level or James’ level, for that matter for at least a couple of years….and under Doc Rivers, they likely will never be there. You combine them with a culture of losing you sanction building this year….I don’t think it gets you anywhere. Mix in the fact that it appears Doc will unconditionally coach….doesn’t look like he’s going anywhere to me….

I see the bigger picture, Red….You can take Paul, and a player of your choice…mix in 8-10 clueless but talented young players who have never learned to defend a pick and roll and are accustommed to losing…and mix in the coach of your choice…and you still have to gut the roster of the young players who don’t know how to win.

There is NO doubt in my mind that NOW is the time to move Paul Pierce. The injuries this year have moved back this team’s “arrival” schedule. The new way forward will have to be w/o Paul Pierce.
I would be happy to get a youthful 4/5 type (enough w/ the wing players please) who can rebound, defend, score reasonably well, and relatively soon. And of course, we’ll need a 1st round pick. So play next year w/ our existing group of youth, add a Durant or Oden … subtract Pierce’s salary, Ratliff comes off the books, Wally a year later.
Then can Ainge !! I DO NOT want him in charge of re-allocating those freed up dollars. We need quality veterans and the $ spent wisely. Free agents and trades ARE NOT his thing. This is my vision for our collective way forward Boston … I feel we could be relevant again the season after next. Hoping you’re reading this Wyc.

Trading Pierce now is a bad idea- there is NO WAY we would get top dollar for him. It would be like a Corey Maggette type deal and a pick and that really isn’t worth it. At least let him come back and show he can still play. I understand the people who are disgusted with wanting to lose, and I get what you are saying, but geez, this season is already lost. It’s not that we should purposely go out and get destroyed, but we should continue to play our young players most of the time and take it easy on Paul. It would be great if we could get Oden or Durant, and no, there is no guarantee we would get either with a bad record, but what’s the point of winning a few games and getting the 10th pick…just doesn’t rationally make any sense.

Worst
News
Ever

Now my handle is “IowaGuy.” (Too bad the system won’t let me post under these handles that come up, I could cause a lot of mischief!)

I’ll respond to Roy re Splitter. How can you speak of “when he was a young guy with potential” as if you were talking about something that happened 10 years ago, and he was Sabonis or something? Splitter is 22! That’s “young” in my book, especially for a 5. The reason “that potential isn’t being realized” is because he’s had a back injury. True, his frame hasn’t filled out, and so he has a little trouble against some guys down low, but that will change. We should all hope and pray that any of our bigs had Splitter’s face-up shot.

Splitter is a genuine 7-footer, who has a high BBIQ, a great ‘tude, relishes playing defense, and has a decent low-post game AND face-up game. All he needs to do is bulk up some. He would be an ideal complement to Big Al, IMHO. That’s why he gets man-love from me.

I don’t care how good of a guy the Celtics get in the draft, he has got to have someone to play with. If you trade Pierce, the best you can do is get a great player in the draft and you are right back where the Celtics are now, one great player and no one to help him. The best course is hold onto Pierce and hope for the best in the Lottery and then try to trade Theo’s contract and some of the young guys for a quality vet this summer, to go with Pierce and the hopefully great rookie.

Roy Hobbs, where did you get that assessment of Solitter? It’s completely inaccurate.

Earlier in his career, he had the reputation as one of thise international big men who play on the perimeter and don’t like to mix it up inside. But when he went to Tau Ceramica they put him inside and he became one of the best post defenders in Europe. He is a smart, tough and experienced player, a star on one of the best teams in Europe. He also understands how to fit in with another very good post player (Luis Scola). A good comparison might be Andris Biedrins, although Splitter is right handed and more experinced. If you don’t believe me, here is the Draftexpress profile on Splitter: http://www.draftexpress.com/viewprofile.php?p=25

Splitter is not without risk. First he hurt his back this year, I don’t know how serious it was, although he’s back playing. Second there is the “Fran Vasquez” risk: he might decide to stay in Europe. But Splitter is really from this side of the pond (Brazil) so that risk is probably low. His buyout issues have evaporated, since he only has one more year on his deal with Tau.

Personally, I’d like to see the kids start winning a few games. Convincing Pierce to stay off the floor when he’s 100% healthy will have long term effects. The kids will know about it & resent it and Pierce will not be happy.

If PP does come back mid-Feb, there will be 30 odd games left. Maybe half or less are winnable.

25-55 will still get Ainge a high pick. Raps got the #1 with 24 wins. The Bucks got it with 30.

Ancient Red said:
  What good does it do to have Paul out there, by having Paul returning back to the lineup will only result in us having the 1-3 pick in the draft to the 5-10 pick in the draft. And if that’s the case we end up back to square “1” with this team.

It’s best for Paul and Wally not to return to this team and allow this team to run its course.

Where are your brains? We already are a loser with this team and that’s why many of you are not the GM, thank god for that. Many of you don’t know the intracacys of running a sports team, dealing with the constant, rules, players, and planning.

The most important thing for this team is to allow the West, Jefferson, Green, Rondo, etc to play and gather game experience. How many of you remember Kobe Bryant or Tracy McGrady when they came out of High School and the number of years it took them to develop.

Many of you here need to wake up and see that these kids are developing and require much more time than originally thought.

Dong one trade to bring in a Veteran is not going to help this team.

It’s a different era, and this team needs to hit rock bottom. The true test is once the season is over. That’s when everyone should be up in arms if this team doesn’t somehow bring in the right mix to go forward. Not now where we are almost at the end of the season and we are coming up to our tough schedule.

Just let the kids play!

Everybody wants a win, but a win for what????
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Red,

I hear what you’re trying to say, but there’s a major flaw in it…Getting the best pick possible has to be the logical course of action unless Ainge has already found a player that he’s willing to trade for, which is unlikely if we’re talking about trading or disrupting the value of the draft pick.

The team would have to win over 75% of its remaining games to make the playoffs, so a lottery pick is basically a foregone conclusion at this point. I do agree that it would be in the team’s best interest to go for the highest pick possible, but the reality of basketball is that they cannot “shut Pierce down” as he is medically cleared to play and isn’t going to sit for the sake of the lottery…

The important part of Pierce coming back is that its HIS chemistry with the young players that is most important at this time…regardless of draft order, Pierce, Jefferson, Gomes, and West are going to need time together in their current incarnation to find how to play with one another…

Pierce will probably be on a minutes limitation, so he’s not going to be seeing the court more than 25 minutes a night and Rivers isn’t going to exceed it in the risk of losing Pierce again…My guess is Pierce will play the first and 4th quarters of games mainly in the hopes of starting the team off well and finishing well…

If they do this right, they’ll still win only a limited amount of their remaining games and will have a good draft pick while building the on-court chemistry between the current players…

Getting Jefferson and Pierce acclimated to each other is far more important than wasting 40 games in the hopes of increasing the remote chances of getting Oden or Durant…you wind up with Noah, Horford, Hawes, McRoberts, or Splitter, J Wrigth, B Wright…the team will be alright…that STILL leaves the team with all its players to make a trade with…they’ll be a ton of worthwhile top-end veterans on the market this summer…

That’s the thing, our chances of getting Oden or Durant are NOT REMOTE. They’re pretty darn good. For example, let’s say the Grizz win one of the next couple games. We would have a 50-50 chance at Oden or Durant. A flip of the coin is remote? Hardly. It’s fantastic. Let’s not forget what is at stake here. We’re talking about a SERIOUS, LEGITIMATE chance of landing one of two franchise-caliber players here vs. a decent player to add to the pile. That’s nothing to sneeze at..

ThickNThinFan said:
  Do the math. We were 43-63 last year and this year before the stress fracture. We are 12-33 now. Best case, we win 40% of our remaining games with Paul Pierce. That adds up to 27-55. Worst case, we win 25%. That adds up to 21-61. It’s not that big a difference. Most likely case, we win 24 or 25, and take our chances wit hthe ping pong balls. IMO, the consolation prizes through pick #5 will be excellent.

———————————————————————————————————-

With all due respect, that math doesn’t factor in the improvement of any of the players…last year’s Jefferson, Gomes, and West is a lot different from the version we’ve had these past 7 weeks…

…I agree that we shouldn’t be overly concerned with falling out of the top 5 or 6, but not because of the logic you used in your calculation…

EricW

I totally agree with you, I was looking at it selfishly and frustrated with some of the reading. Some people don’t look at it logically.

I’m all for having Paul back and know that he will see limited duty, it might actually help the players confidence by having to play with him and allow them to play better.

Believe me this team needs Paul to win. He instills so much into this team that I find it ludicrous when people want to trade him.

Itâ€â"¢s good to hear your perspective.

People will just have to accept the fact that we have virtually no chance for Oden or Durant. The outcome of the NBA draft lottery is determined by mathematics, but only if David Stern likes the result. If the balls don’t bounce properly, he gives then a nudge. The Celtics will likely pick from 3-5 in this draft no matter how many games they lose.

They can easily afford to win 25-30 games without seriously jeopardizing their draft position.

And I stated and explained why that is complete and utter garbage Brickowski, si we don’t have to “accept” a freaking thing..

Believe what you will, JHTruth. I’ll believe the draft lottery is honest when they show the balls bouncing right on TV, just like they do on the regular state lotteries. No more conducting the lottery in the back room and then delivering the envelopes to the podium.

Brick your getting mileage outta Doc and deservedly so but please drop the "conspiracy theory "….ps- i saw Durant twice and he ain’t no Travis Outlaw

I reserve the right to change my opinion on Durant. I didn’t see his huge game the other night but I’m sure I’ll see him a few more times between now and the draft.

Paul Pierce is a borderline Hall-of-Famer in his prime and has been loyal to the Celtics. Too bad none of the supposed Celtics’ fans trolling this board either appreciate him or reciprocate any of the loyalty that he has shown.

even with pierce coming back, this team is still gonna get the #3 pick at least. atlanta and charlotte are 5 games ahead of us in the standings, and there’s no way the c’s will catch them. even when pierce was healthy we were basically even with them.

it’ll be us, boston and memphis battling it out for the #1 pick.

Eric, I’m with you, but my lowered assumptions take into account my secret weapon; Doc Rivers. IMO, regardless of the development of the young players, and the contribution we can expect from Paul Pierce, my secret weapon will keep our win total in the mid 20’s. :)

ahh crap. what i meant to say is taht it’ll be “us, philly, and memphis battling it out for the #1 pick” lol

Greeeeeeeeeeeeeeeat…..

Kiss Oden or Durant goodbye. THANKS PAUL…………….. >:(

I am glad to see that Paul can return (sic).I do not however believe he can singlehanded stop the b;leeding of the losses piling up for us. The kids will make too mnay mistakes. We will finish in the lottery for sure so, I would not make a trade until the summer. Then we will know where we stand. Pierce’s returm means someone will sit who has been somewaht productice during our losing spell.More than likely eveyone’s shots and points will go down as well.

Paul is our allstar and the games are much more enjoyable to watch with him playing. It will also help our young players not get so discouraged.