All The Reasons You Should Be Excited For 2016-17 Boston Celtics
By Matthew Geagan, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- The 2016-17 season tips off for the Boston Celtics tonight at the TD Garden, and this year is much different from the previous three years under Brad Stevens.
While the C's are far from being what the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors are, they are legit contenders for that next tier of NBA teams -- ones hopeful they'll get a chance to knock off either (or both) of those two power houses. There are actual expectations surrounding this Celtics team this season, and plenty of hype to go with it.
All of those expectations and hype are warranted, and though they can be dangerous if the team lets them, it's further proof that the Celtics have taken that next step on paper. Now they have to go and prove it on the floor over the next six-plus months.
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That won't be easy. They're not afraid to let the world know they think they belong in the same conversation of the best teams and aren't afraid to go toe-to-toe with anyone, but the Celtics aren't going to sneak up on teams like they have the last two seasons. With all the offseason chatter and preseason hype comes a bullseye on their backs, with teams eager to prove that the Celtics aren't all they're built up to be.
All of that should make for a fun regular season, and hopefully a much more fun postseason. Here's all that you should be getting excited for when the ball tips tonight:
Brad The Mastermind
Brad Stevens has another NBA season and six more NBA playoff games under his belt, not to mention his first two playoff wins. But this year, a pair of postseason wins is not going to cut it, so Brad will have to take his hardwood sorcery to the next level. It's no secret that he's one of the best minds in the game, and now he's got a solid roster to get the most of every night.
It will be interesting to see how he balances that roster, finding minutes for everyone while getting the most out of whatever lineup/rotation he trots out each night. Boston's small lineup will be extremely intriguing when Marcus Smart gets back and Stevens can send out a Thomas-Bradley-Smart-Crowder-Horford concoction to run around everyone and play some solid D.
And of course, it's always fun to watch Stevens scribble away on his clipboard to come up with an out-of-timeout play that will have opposing teams scrambling (or plagiarizing him later in the year) and fans rewatching the highlights a handful of times.
It's not the end goal, but if his squad lives up to the hype there's a darn good chance Stevens takes home his first Coach of the Year award at the end of the season.
Another Level For Isaiah?
He put up ridiculous numbers without much help last season (22.2 points per game off 43 percent shooting), and while it would be a lot to expect an even better season out of IT, he's got another weapon to help. Thomas will be able to utilize the pick-and-roll, or he can be the helper on the pick-and-pop, much better with Al Horford in the mix.
The 5-foot-9 guard wants to be an All-Star again and a member of the All-NBA team, but most of all he wants to win a playoff round. The Celtics will need their little man to stand tall once again, but with some more help around him, he should be able to accomplish at least two of those goals.
Horford Will Fit In Just Fine
It's not going to take long for Tommy Heinsohn to change his tune on Al Horford.
The versatile big man got a big payday to leave Atlanta, and while things should be greener (on a lot of different fronts) now that he's in Boston, he has some lofty expectations of his own to live up to.
Horford isn't the dominating player that fans wanted, but he's going to do a lot of good things that will help the Celtics win night-in and night-out. Not all of that will show up on the stat sheet, like how much he'll help the pick-and-roll offense, but his impact will be there for those who play close enough attention. He's a big body that will clog the paint, and even if he isn't the one pulling down rebounds, those opportunities will be there for others. He can start the fastbreak and is an excellent passer, and there's little doubt Brad Stevens will find ways to make Horford even more effective.
The grade on the Horford signing shouldn't be based on his individual numbers, but the success of the team in his four years in Boston.
Deeee-Fense
The Celtics have talked a lot about their goal of being the best defensive team in the NBA, and they'll need that if they want to compete with the best teams in the league. They finished last season sixth in the NBA in defensive rating, and adding Horford to clog the paint should help. His new teammates have praised Horford's ability to quarterback them on the defensive end, giving the team a whole new level of confidence on that side of the floor.
The Celtics have above-average defenders everywhere on the roster, from Bradley and Crowder in the starting rotation to Smart off the bench, so their hope of being one of the best defensive teams in the league should be an attainable goal when it's all said and done.
For Threeeeeeeeeee!
The Celtics took a whole lot of threes last season, hoisting up 2,142 shots from downtown, roughly 26 per game. Unfortunately, those strikes from beyond the arc weren't a very good tool for them, as the C's only made a woeful 33.5 percent of those shots.
You can't fall out of a basement window, so the Celtics have to be better from three-point range this season, right? They need players to space the floor to open things up for Thomas to drive to the hoop, so it's imperative that Bradley continues to get better from beyond the arc (he attempted a career-high 5.4 triples per game last season, hitting 36 percent of them), Kelly Olynyk continues to hit shots (he led the team with 41 percent shooting from downtown last season) and everyone else who hoists up a bid from long distance hits them at a semi-respectable rate. Smart, who shot a disgusting 25 percent while taking at least four threes a game, has to get better, or has to stop putting up those lollipop shots.
The three pointer is going to be a big part of the Celtics one way or another. It's either going to develop into a deadly weapon or cause massive bouts of hysteria. Let's just hope it's part of their overall game that improves this season -- because it really can't get much worse.
The Bench
The starting five appears to be set, and pretty darn solid with Thomas, Bradley, Crowder, Horford and Amir Johnson. The bench is also looking strong, though they have a big void to fill with Evan Turner now in Portland.
Smart will be the first guy off the pine and will provide plenty of defense, but it will be up to Terry Rozier to fill the hole left by Turner's departure. He looked poised to make a big leap in his second NBA season during summer league and preseason action, but the regular season is a much different animal. Rozier will have to stay aggressive, hit some shots and keep other teams' second unit from doing much damage.
It's not all on Rozier. Gerald Green is back where his NBA career started, looking to make an impact off the bench. His offense could prove to be a valuable spark for the second unit, along with Kelly Olynyk's shooting and Jordan Mickey's athleticism. If those players can play up to their abilities, the Boston bench should do just fine and be a valuable asset to Stevens' squad.
The Rook
Not mentioned above was rookie Jaylen Brown, the third-overall pick by the Celtics last June. He too will be a big part of the bench's success, a perfect spot for him to ease his way into the NBA game.
Brown was impressive during the preseason, which will earn him some immediate minutes to start his NBA career. He's a phenomenal athlete who can run the floor, go to the basket with authority and deliver a highlight or two every game. His shot needs some work (a lot of work) and his free throw shooting will make you cringe throughout the season, but those are areas that can improve over time.
For those who hated the pick on draft night, fearing that Brown would essentially turn into another Jeff Green, he proved in the preseason that he not another Jeff Green. Brown may surprise us all as a key contributor off the C's bench.
Battle Of The Atlantic
The Knicks grabbed headlines when the acquired Derrick Rose and then signed Joakim Noah from the Bulls, but the Toronto Raptors remain Boston's biggest rival in the Atlantic. They've won the division each of the last three seasons, but the Celtics should contend for a division crown this season. Toronto remains a very talented team with Kyle Lowrie and DeMar DeRozan and the favorites to land the No. 2 spot in the East only adding Jared Sullinger to the mix (now out 2-3 months after undergoing foot surgery), so the C's appear to have closed the gap a bit with the addition of Horford.
The Raptors took three of four from the Celtics during the regular season last year, so they'll have to be much more competitive head-to-head if they want to win their first division title since the days of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett.
The Nets Will Be Really, Really Bad Again
Speaking of that pair, their trade to the Nets is the gift that keeps on giving for the Celtics. Boston owns the right to swap picks with the Nets in June's draft, and there's a chance it could be even better than the third overall pick that was gifted to them four months ago. The Nets are going to be bad again. Really, really bad.
The C's can't have a repeat of their season series with Brooklyn last year, when they dropped a pair of games to one of the worst teams in the league.
The Big One?
Trade rumors were deafening during the summer, but turned out to be a whole lot of hot air. That isn't going to change throughout the season with Danny Ainge armed with his pair of future Brooklyn picks and young stars on the roster.
They may like their team at the moment, but if a super star becomes available at any point in the season, the Celtics have a great shot at pulling off a big deal. If DeMarcus Cousins decides he's had enough of the nonsense out in Sacramento, Ainge can pounce. If the Rajon Rondo-Dwyane Wade pairing gets too toxic for Jimmy Butler in Chicago, Ainge can make a strong pitch.
Don't expect the rumors to go away any time soon, but this time, some of them may actually come to fruition.
Celtics On A National Stage
The C's will make 22 appearances on national TV this season, a 300 percent increase from last year's slate. They're even back on the Christmas Day slate with a matinée showdown with the New York Knicks, kicking off the NBA's marquee day.
So hopefully you enjoy late nights and longer commercial breaks (and Jeff Van Gundy), because you're getting that quite a few times this season. That's just the product of being an entertaining team.
All That Hype
This season is unlike any other for Stevens and his team, as there are actual lofty expectations for them to live up to. The postseason was a bonus two years ago, and while it was expected they'd be back in the mix when last season started, it wasn't until mid-season that people started to think they could be one of the final four teams in the mix.
Those expectations were premature, obviously, as the team fell to the Hawks in the first round. But now, it's essentially Eastern Conference Finals or bust. Those gambling folks out in Vegas have projected win totals as high as 53, with others hovering around the 50-win mark. Getting to 50 wins isn't an impossible task, but it's not an easy one either.
Expectations are not a bad thing, but having such a focused view on the finish line before the race even starts can be dangerous. The Celtics have already done a lot of talking about the postseason, which is what the good/great teams do, but they are still a team that really needs to focus on the 82 games of the regular season first. They lost focus a handful of times last season, and it led to some disappointing losses, including two to the Nets and one to the Lakers. Those kinds of nights cannot happen this season.
The Celtics are inching closer to that upper echelon of NBA teams not named the Cavaliers or Warriors, and the season won't be graded on their win total in the regular season but what they do in April and, hopefully, May. But they can't lose focus on what will get them there, which is a strong regular season where they iron out all the wrinkles and develop into the contender they want to be.
The hype? The expectations? Having that around your team is a good thing. Now the big question is, can the Celtics live up to it all? Anything less than finishing a top 3 team in the East and making the Eastern Conference Finals (aside from an ousting by Cleveland) will be seen as a disappointment, so we'll see how much that weighs on the team throughout the regular season and the playoffs.
