Which Team Are You More Confident In: Bruins Or Celtics?
BOSTON (CBS) -- Boston's winter sports teams are about to get their seasons underway, and while the expectations for both the Bruins and Celtics aren't very high, there is still excitement surrounding the two teams.
After missing the postseason last year, it's unclear if the Bruins will be one of the eight best teams in the Eastern Conference this season. They traded Dougie Hamilton and Milan Lucic in the offseason, adding forwards Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes to the mix. They still have David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron leading the way and Tuukka Rask in net, but their depth on the blue line is downright frightening. And while Claude Julien received a shot of confidence from Cam Neely on Thursday, if the Bruins get off to a bumpy start, they may have a new man on the bench before the season is over.
Meanwhile, the Celtics are hoping to return to the playoffs after claiming the seventh seed in the East last season, only to get swept by LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers. They've added solid rebounders in Amir Johnson and David Lee, and while head coach Brad Stevens will have his hands full trying to figuring out his rotation, he should have a set roster -- a benefit he didn't have for much of last season.
The oddsmakers in Las Vegas set the over/under for the Bruins and Celtics win total at 42.5 for both teams, leading Adam Jones and Rich Keefe to discuss which team they are more confident in for the upcoming season.
Both have much more confidence in the Celtics than the Bruins.
"I think the Celtics are a playoff team and the Bruins aren't," said Jones. "By that definition alone, I'm more confident in the Celtics this season. Don't get either confused as a true championship contender, because they're not. But I wouldn't be surprised if the Celtics took a minor step forward this year."
Jones says winning the Atlantic Division is a reasonable goal for the Celtics this season.
"The Celtics feel like they're ascending, and the Bruins feel like they're going the other way," added Jones.
"I don't think either team has a real chance of smashing that over/under. I think it will be pretty close for both," said Keefe. "I do expect [the Celtics] to be better than last year. It's a full year, assuming health, with Isaiah Thomas, which means a full year of having an actual scorer on the team. When you get to the playoffs and play against real teams playing real defense, you may not go that far. But over the course of a long season, with the back-to-backs, to have that type of player, which you lacked for the first half of last season, that's going to be a change."
Keefe also expects Stevens to get better in his third year on the Boston bench.
"I think he maybe gets to 43-45 wins, somewhere in there, and really locks hold of, not the top three seeds in the East, but after that it's wide open," said Keefe. "He has a better chance at that than the Bruins, because so much of it will depend on Tuukka and Bergeron playing out of their minds and a few other guys stepping up. The Celtics, they go 10-11 deep and if one player struggles a little, it's not the end of the world.
"I think the Bruins can be a playoff team," added Keefe, "but they're going to have to sweat it out."
