Is it me, or does this Celtics team remind me of the 2001 Patriots?

Need a superstar to put them over the top.

All in on Durant.

But yeah, I love watching these guys compete.

aluminum seats said:

It wouldn't have been Carr...I remember thinking how the guy deserved credit for taking the bullet w/the tanking season--don't think the plan was ever for him to coach a real team. Pitino sucked though.

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I remember Lobel saying if the C's landed Duncan landed ML would have landed. Who knows if he was right.

Patsfanin Philly said:

37.8% of top 3 and 11.9% of top pick...I think since Nets are 4th now, one game out of 3rd, 5th is the worst they could pick.... Tankathon | NBA Draft Order & Lottery Simulator

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I think fourth is the lowest they can pick though, because there's no way they'll get as many wins as Minnesota.

I think they're pretty much locked in, except I guess we should be rooting for the Suns to win a game or two. (Unlikely.)

robertweathers said:

That still pisses me off. I remember exactly where I was when it happened. My cousin had a party after getting his MBA and he and I were watching the lottery show.

With that said I'm not sure I would have entrusted the Tim Duncan era to ML Carr or Rick Pitino.

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I don't think that, in theory, the lottery is necessarily a horrible idea but:

1. Do it honestly. Quite clearly they don't. Cleveland win it 3 years in a row? C'mon!

2. Penalize losing streaks to discourage tanking. You lose 10 games in a row, you lose ping pong balls (or whatever . . . ahem "secret" . . . method they use now).

YOUGOTMOSSED said:

I don't think that, in theory, the lottery is necessarily a horrible idea but:

1. Do it honestly. Quite clearly they don't. Cleveland win it 3 years in a row? C'mon!

2. Penalize losing streaks to discourage tanking. You lose 10 games in a row, you lose ping pong balls (or whatever . . . ahem "secret" . . . method they use now).

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The Cavs have better luck in the lottery than Whitey Bulger did.

It is totally is rigged. The 1985 Knicks and that league hack Dave Debusschere to get Patrick Ewing started it all. The Celts absolutely should have won the 97 lottery. It was a conspiracy to keep Duncan away from the Celtics.

The NBA league office hates the Celtics- just like the NFL is anti New England. David Stern HATED the Celtics and Red. It's terminal hatred.

Its just like the NFL. The league wants balance and parity. It also wants big stars in big towns.

I will bet my bottom dollar that when come mid-May the Celts/Nets pick slot will be a disappointment.

KontradictioN said:

I think it's going to be between Boston and Miami for Durant.

As for the Celtics? As a Heat fan, they are the one team I don't want to play in the playoffs. They are very scrappy and very well coached. Stevens has been a revelation. They are one superstar (Durant?) away from legitimately contending for the Eastern Conference. Isaiah Thomas and Kevin Durant would be a very formidable 1-2 punch.

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Your lips to God's ears!

YOUGOTMOSSED said:

I know, right. What were the odds of us landing Tim Duncan back in 1997?

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Not that great. Just better than anyone else. It was something like a 21 percent chance.

YOUGOTMOSSED said:

I don't think that, in theory, the lottery is necessarily a horrible idea but:

1. Do it honestly. Quite clearly they don't. Cleveland win it 3 years in a row? C'mon!

2. Penalize losing streaks to discourage tanking. You lose 10 games in a row, you lose ping pong balls (or whatever . . . ahem "secret" . . . method they use now).

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I disagree. I can't think of anything that points to it being played straight than Cleveland getting number 1 three years in a row. Cleveland is close to the last city the NBA would want to help. Get back to me when NY or LA pull three number 1s in a row.

robertweathers said:

The Cavs have better luck in the lottery than Whitey Bulger did.

It is totally is rigged. The 1985 Knicks and that league hack Dave Debusschere to get Patrick Ewing started it all. The Celts absolutely should have won the 97 lottery. It was a conspiracy to keep Duncan away from the Celtics.

The NBA league office hates the Celtics- just like the NFL is anti New England. David Stern HATED the Celtics and Red. It's terminal hatred.

Its just like the NFL. The league wants balance and parity. It also wants big stars in big towns.

I will bet my bottom dollar that when come mid-May the Celts/Nets pick slot will be a disappointment.

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You realize that the 97 Celts only had a 22 percent chance of winning the lottery right?

rochrist said:

I disagree. I can't think of anything that points to it being played straight than Cleveland getting number 1 three years in a row. Cleveland is close to the last city the NBA would want to help. Get back to me when NY or LA pull three number 1s in a row.

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Bailing out a struggling team would be a perfect reason to help Cleveland.

And we already know about NY conveniently winning the Ewing lottery.

rochrist said:

You realize that the 97 Celts only had a 22 percent chance of winning the lottery right?

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It was actually 27.1%.

You point is taken and there is plenty of evidence of the NBA f-ing over the Celtics.

NBA.com: Year-by-Year Lottery Probabilities

rochrist said:

You realize that the 97 Celts only had a 22 percent chance of winning the lottery right?

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Boston had a 36% chance of getting the #1 pick in that draft.

rochrist said:

I disagree. I can't think of anything that points to it being played straight than Cleveland getting number 1 three years in a row. Cleveland is close to the last city the NBA would want to help. Get back to me when NY or LA pull three number 1s in a row.

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A cynical person may say that this was calculated to get Lebron back to Cleveland to offset the PR disaster of "the Decision."

YOUGOTMOSSED said:

A cynical person may say that this was calculated to get Lebron back to Cleveland to offset the PR disaster of "the Decision."

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Plus there were some rumblings that Gilbert wanted to move the team and the league didn't want that to happen.

If they can get to the ECF, that will make them more attractive to free agents.

FA 1 - Horford. Wow now Boston looks legit.
FA 2 - Durant. Wow Boston are contenders.
Trade for - Blake Griffin. Book the championship!

1 IT
2 AB
3 Durant
4 Griffin
5 Horford

robertweathers said:

I love this Celtics team.

Unlike the NFL, in the NBA talent wins out.

I think as long as they avoid CLE early they have a shot to make it to the ECFs.

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Beat me to it. I've watched enough NBA to guarantee you the celtics are not winning it all. That being said they might make some noise.

*Edit* I also agree that as long as they avoid CLE they may have a shot against anyone else in the east.

VJCPatriot said:

If they can get to the ECF, that will make them more attractive to free agents.

FA 1 - Horford. Wow now Boston looks legit.
FA 2 - Durant. Wow Boston are contenders.
Trade for - Blake Griffin. Book the championship!

1 IT
2 AB
3 Durant
4 Griffin
5 Horford

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Horford and Durant area package deal.

LightSkinSmurf said:

Beat me to it. I've watched enough NBA to guarantee you the celtics are not winning it all. That being said they might make some noise.

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Yea they play hard every night and but their ass. Thats all you can ask for.

They can't match CLE's talent in a 7 game series.

Froob said:

Basketball is also the least flukiest sport. The flukiest thing that can happen is a team going nuts from 3 and that's still just one game. And a turnover in basketball is not like a couple bad fumbles or something. You might have a turnover or two but, it's nowhere near as bad as giving up a bad goal in hockey or one blown assignment in football.

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You're right, but there's an exception -- because so few guys play, fluke injuries are an even bigger deal than in other team sports. I was going to make an exception for QBs, but even that is debatable -- Denver just won the Super Bowl despite their QB melting down, and Jeff Hostetler was once Super Bowl MVP.

JoeSixPat said:

And geeze, how many do they have including the 2nds round?

People may have their hopes up but seeing as they could draft half the roster in terms of numbers, I expect you'll see a few developmental players drafted, likely from overseas, who are sent back to Europe to further develop

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Right. Ainge doesn't have much of a track record in drafting international stashes. But if he hasn't staffed up to scout the world this season, then that is likely to prove a costly management failure.