Boston Celtics

A Historical Look At NBA Pre-Season Odds

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With another season fast approaching, we are reminded that most teams enter the season with optimism about their chances to have a successful season, if not necessarily win a title.  Sometimes the optimism comes from good planning and other times from pipe dreams.   I was wondering what was the most objectively optimistic time for each franchise entering a season.  To that end, I thought a nice objective measure of legitimate optimism would be pre-season odds to win a … [Read more...] about A Historical Look At NBA Pre-Season Odds

Ranking The 2023-24 Celtics

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How historically great were the 2023-24 Celtics?  It’s nearly impossible to compare teams from different eras on a head-to-head matchup basis because the rules and strategies have changed so much between generations.  It is not an apples-to-apples comparison when one wonders how the 1995-96 Bulls would play if they were magically teleported to the 2024 NBA.  There is also the thorny issue of whether the players are just better today, though I’m confident that the good players of … [Read more...] about Ranking The 2023-24 Celtics

Bill Russell v. Tom Heinsohn and the 1956-57 ROY

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With the recent passing of the great Bill Russell, I was thinking about his beginning.  Though he was an instant star, Russell did not win Rookie of the Year.  Let’s do a moderate dive into how this happened and whether it should’ve happened. It’s clear that the Olympics robbed Russell of the ROY.  Russell missed several months of his rookie year because he was playing in the 1956 Olympics in Sydney and did not debut with Boston until December 22, 1956, 24 games into the … [Read more...] about Bill Russell v. Tom Heinsohn and the 1956-57 ROY

Miami/Boston and ECF Game 7s

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1.            We’ve Got a Game 7!: While these payoffs have had some fun moments, we haven’t really had any epic series.  The two Game 7s we have had (Boston/Milwaukee and Dallas/Phoenix) were blow outs.  I’m moderately hopeful that tonight’s Boston/Miami Game 7 could get us the epic Game 7 we all want a la Milwaukee/Brooklyn last year.    What should we expect from a Game 7 here?  Well, the series has been a … [Read more...] about Miami/Boston and ECF Game 7s

Eastern Conference Finals Preview: Celtics/Heat

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In the season that has lasted forever, we are finally to the Eastern Conference Finals.  Oddly, the teams playing are the three seed (Boston) and the five seed (Miami).  As an initial note, it looks like Boston is the slight favorite, even though the Heat is 8-1 in the playoffs, and convincingly beaten the best team in the NBA last round.   Shouldn’t Miami’s excellent play in the bubble mean something more?  Maybe.  I thought we could breakdown the series and see … [Read more...] about Eastern Conference Finals Preview: Celtics/Heat

Playoff Quick Thoughts

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We made it through the seeding round and now we have actual playoffs!  The playoffs, like everything else in the Bubble, will feel slightly unsatisfying but still much, much better than nothing.  The playoff predictions we made pre-Bubble (Bucks over Clippers) still hold in my mind.  Instead of running through the predictions again, thought we could dig through some quick observations that were on my mind… -Dallas’ O:  Yes, Dallas had the best offensive rating off All-Time … [Read more...] about Playoff Quick Thoughts

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