Really need one of Walsh/Baylor/Hugo to become a playoff level starter and White to regain some of his offensive mojo if we want to make a run, let alone out of the first round.

Agreed. Though if this is what bridging the title year to a healthy cap with future flexibility looks like, I’ll take it. They were wildly entertaining on a nightly basis last season, and look to be the same this year.

They’re giving themselves a puncher’s chance in the playoffs, and the fans an enjoyable product - which is way better than the way most teams manage their up and down cycles. In Brad I trust.

While that definitely might be true, is that not the point of trying to get those guys out there everyday? Which of the role/bench guys listed has the best chance of reaching a playoff passable level?

Last year’s playoffs saw Derrick White be atrocious scoring the ball (³²⁄₂₇ splits), Jayson Tatum missed game 7 and looked like he was running out of gas late in games recovering from that injury, Jaylen Brown was mistake after mistake, and then Queta/Vooch got tore apart by Embiid.

So you’re right, the top end talent struggled last year in the playoffs. I think our big man depth is better, you’d hope Derrick White isn’t as bad, and Tatum is longer removed from that injury. But also, anything can happen - besides Tatum we were very healthy last year, who knows if that will continue.

We’re still going to need to see the young wings in Hugo, Baylor, and Walsh improve. I think they’ll get more run as the season progresses.

I think they gotta trust their bench in the playoffs. They didn’t last year and they kept starters in even though they were playing line doodoo

Yeah that’s my read of it too. Really hope they can prove us wrong.

I think Pritchard in particular has to step up against high quality defenses.

Maybe. I think the center position is shored up to serviceable or good this year. Does Paul George have it in him (mostly health) to give them a top end lite talent to use in the playoffs? And does one of the young wings jump up in performance come playoff time?

These things might not happen, but I don’t think they are off the table. And if they win the health lottery compared to other eastern team ls they could fare better than last year.

It’s a bit too early to tell. 4 games in and wins against nets bulls and Knicks who all haven’t look good yet.

Eh, it’s a better deeper team. And healthy JT running the show makes a massive difference.

Besides, don’t get too caught up in the randomness of the postseason. What if Celtics don’t shoot sub-30% from deep in all of games 5-7? What if Tatum doesn’t get pulled from Game 7 as a precaution? What if Embiid plays half dead against Boston like he did against NY? So many tiny things that choked a 3-1 lead.

This Celtics team is not dominant enough to pencil in a title by any means, but it is good enough to have a shot at it.

Imagine doubting playoff p

The problem isn’t lack of talent, it’s that we still play the numbers game with shooting 3s no matter the situation, even once we take a lead, so we can just bomb ourselves into oblivion while a team comes back on us.

When you look at our record based on our 3pt shooting % in a game, it’s crazy how much we are basically playing solitaire. Like even just look at the 76ers series… 36% (W), 26% (L), 43% (W), 45% (W), 28% (L), 29% (L), 27% (L)

One of the biggest problems last postseason was going away from the young wings when Walsh was our best Maxey defender and Hugo was an x-factor off the bench. When Joe finally used Hugo he flipped the 2nd quarter on its head after a disastrous 1st quarter.

this is how i feel so much about the team, i think if they kept brown for just one more year, id have them with a stronger chance of going far

Well….they had the top end talent, they really lost that series because they didn’t utilize their depth more than anything, and Jaylen wasn’t very good

It seems that a major focal point with this roster is to have players out there that can win the rebounding and turnover battles throughout the game. With enough quality shooters involved with a team that manages to get a few extra possessions per game over their opponent I think that should be a good recipe for success.

Health is going to be the biggest question mark because a deep playoff run likely hinges on Paul George’s availability and effectiveness… which is a very legit question mark. As they are currently I don’t see any reason for them to not be able to battle any team in this league in a 7 game series

Tatum MVP in the 2 seed this year.

Jokic Tatum chip next year.

We ride.

Fully healthy Tatum almost never loses in the playoffs

Agree

I mean you guys had tons of top end talent. You just didn’t want to keep paying for it. Bold strategy Cotton. We’ll see how it works out for them

Well that includes one OT game and two other big conference games that went down to wire. Before last night he was at 29.

I suspect he settles down to 27-28 or so once the season gets rolling.

Is might shorthand for minutes a night?

The schedule has been spread out with days off. Once they start regularly playing games on one night’s rest I expect we’ll see him play less.

(Knocks on wood for the jinx reversal)

I think with Pritchard it has more to do with keeping steady firepower coming off the bench. So far Walsh has started every game which I think is a solid fit as his defense can help keep some of the other starters out of foul trouble if we continue to give him the tougher matchups(such as putting him on Cade in game 1)

Fine with me. It’s year two of resetting the tax, they’re not gunning for the title this year.

I’m not gonna take health lectures from the guy who decided to build his house out of Anthony Davis and Trae Young

If any team loses its best player its over

Depth doesn’t mean you can contend without your best player.

Pistons have had 8 players play in all 4 games. Thompson (missed Philly game), Isaiah Joe (missed NY game) and Tolu Smith (didn’t play vs Boston) have only played in 3. Duren has missed the last 2 games.

You’re either a bot, don’t understand the post, or didn’t bother to check yourself.