Despite missing starting center Kristaps Porzingis so far this fall and also having All-Star wing Jaylen Brown unavailable for multiple games, the 7-2 Celtics have picked up right where they left off after winning a title last season.
Tim Bontemps of ESPN even sees similarities between this year’s loaded Celtics squad and the 73-win Warriors of 2015/16, noting that Boston is similarly deep in its roster construction and three-point heavy in its shot diet — the C’s are also looking to quiet critics who may have thought their first championship was a bit of fluke.
All-NBA Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, for one, is aiming to win multiple titles during his tenure in Boston. The Warriors won four championships with their core of Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green. Thompson departed the team this summer to join the Mavericks.
“It was never just about trying to just win one,” Tatum said. “All the guys I looked up to growing up won at least one championship. Now it’s just a conversation of, ‘How great are you trying to be?'”
Could this Celtics club win 73 or even 74 games this season? Odds seem slight, given this extended Porzingis absence.
There’s more out of Boston:
- On the heels of his second title with the franchise, Celtics owner Wyc Grousbeck made the surprise announcement that he was looking to sell his controlling interest in the team. Mike Vorkunov of The Athletic observes that this impending potential sale represents part of a growing trend. Several longtime owners have cashed out while team valuations have soared over the past few years. “Most owners that have been in for a while in any of the sports leagues are sort of asset rich and cash poor,” an investor observed. “Most of the long-term standing owners, I think, if you ask them, I think in their wildest dreams, they could never have imagined that these teams would become these mini-Disneys as I call them, or these phenomenal entities that have tremendous economic capacity.”
- Celtics rookie swingman Baylor Scheierman has been assigned to the club’s G League affiliate, the Maine Celtics, with the NBAGL season slated to tip off soon, writes Brian Robb of MassLive. Scheierman had been competing for rotation minutes during the team’s preseason, but was ultimately pushed out by Jordan Walsh for the opportunity. Scheierman has instead suited up for just three NBA games, logging 18 total minutes, and should have an opportunity for more reps in Maine.
- Celtics All-Star Jayson Tatum‘s father, Justin Tatum, recently reflected on his son’s underwhelming gold medal run with Team USA this summer, per Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Tatum was a DNP-CD in multiple games and was up and down when he did play. “He wasn’t in the room pouting or throwing chairs around or it was a topic of conversation at dinner,” Justin, currently the head coach of the NBL’s Illawarra Hawks in Australia, said. “He said he could’ve stayed with his family, stayed home or done this… But he was happy to be out there winning the gold.”
Dub Nation standing tall this season, hope all the Warriors fans in here are enjoying these games as much as I am! That C’s game was so much fun to watch, I know the C’s weren’t at full strength but neither were the Warriors, and these are supposed to be two of top 5 teams in terms of depth, so…
Strength in Numbers remains the best use of Curry – 2015–>2022–>2025 no one is stopping this train! 65+ wins incoming…
Tatum and his dad whining about the olympics like hes a 12 year old getting dnpcd in little league. Team USA man you played you suxt you sat get over it already…
Chap , you tell ‘em! 3 months later, the Tatum family act (Jason, Mom, and Dad) continue to whine about not having a bigger role in winning the Gold Medal.
Times have changed. Imagine a Gold Medal 1992 Dream Team, where HoF’ers like David Robinson, Karl Malone and Scottie Pippen complain to the press about their lack of PT and starts. Not!
Where do you get the idea he is whining about playing time?
“He wasn’t in the room pouting or throwing chairs around or it was a topic of conversation at dinner,”…Huh? How do you get that he was whining about a lack of playing time or starts out of that statement?…”But he was happy to be out there winning the gold”…How does that sound like he is whining?
Thanks, an unbiased clear view.
For someone who doesn’t care about his playing time in the Olympics he sure spends a lot of time talking about his playing time in the Olympics.
Would be understandable if he cared. Maybe he should just be a man and say it honestly.
Its more of the Boston media making a big deal of it and the sport reporters. What else do they have to talk about but try and make this into a story. Real Celtics fans know Tatum was burned out and needed to rest so it worked out for him to rest.
I honestly dont know why everyone cares so much, no one on earth thinks Tatum is better than Bron, Steph or KD. He took on less chances to get hurt in a game, while getting a gold medal. Seems chill.
What are you whining about? Where did you read that Jayson was whining about his minutes in the Olympics? If you read the article, you would have noticed that a sport writer was interviewing his father, a coach in Australia. Could you be a man and admit you are making stuff up.
If you want me to teach you critical thinking skills I can give you my cashapp. Otherwise you’ll have to figure it out for yourself. I don’t work for free. Good luck!
Critical Thinking? Show me where in the article Jayson Tatum makes a statement about his playing time in the Olympics. It isn’t there. So, why make something up? I did that for free because it was so easy.
Do you think this is the only article to ever exist in the history of the internet? You do realize there are other ones right? Tatum has even done interviews before.
And yet you can’t seem to share any of them with us…hmmm
Because that isn’t my job. If you aren’t aware of his many interviews then that’s ok. You don’t need to be aware of everything. And if you want to find them then go look for them.
Happy to see Coach Joe playing Neemias Queta and Jordan Walsh early in the season and for real minutes! Celts can’t just stand pat. And it’s easy to see why Coach Kerr didn’t play Jason a lot in the Olympics. One of Jason’s talents is one on one driving which is good but is easily double or triple teamed. And Coach Joe needs to do something which avoids GS’s double team up high near the half court line. Killed us last night. Go Celtics!
Thank you, another unbiased clear view. Yes love to see Walsh out there. He’s a runner and looks good on defense. When his shot comes around he’ll be real good. I think he’s still very young so there’s plenty of room to grow. Nice pickup by the Celtics. Bat and the young big man looked good too. Fresh legs and youth utilized early in the season.
I never noticed what you mentioned about Jason Tatum. But thinking about it I guess you’re right.
He has so much talent he can just take the ball and score whenever he wants but as teams adjust to his less than Elite vision, perhaps double teaming can be effective? Maybe it’s not Tatum’s vision and it’s lack of movement by the other players, so it’s on coach?
Whatever it is that’s a good assessment. But 7-2 is a great start and as many of us have mentioned, there’s more than one title in this group.
It’s definitely gotten a lot better. I agreed with his playmaking being a huge problem in 2022 and earlier. Last year the C’s really emphasized faster decisions and it was a struggle thru most of the regular season. But by the playoffs he was doing well. Much lower turnovers and fewer dead balls.
Only the most delulu Boston fan would think Kerr would play Tatum over KD, which is who they are specifically talking about, like, ok if you do play Tatum, who leaves? It’s KD. Nope. Not happening.
After 1/10 f the season:
– Celtics remain team to beat if Porzingis gets healthy.
– If not, OKC looks best, even without Hartenstein.
– Cleveland, Phoenix, and Dallas are clearly contenders.
The next 3 GSW games — Cleveland, OKC, and Dalllas — are a chance for Dubs to make a big statement.
After 1/10 several teams want to f the season !!
I look forward to Klay’s return next week. It will be a resounding Standing Ovation for a key component to 4 championships. Can’t wait.
I’m not a believer in Cleveland just yet. Mitchell gets hurt or is somewhat unreliable when push comes to shove. He’ll go three for 16 in a playoff game too often for my liking. Jarett Allen is also someone I would not hitch my trailer to. He’ll disappear though he’s a great player.
Not sold on Phoenix either. They’re old and too many of their starters get dinged up from time to time. Their Center will probably miss 20-30 games for some reason or other, and so could Durant and Bradley Beal very easily.
Gary , excellent point on Phoenix injury likelihood. And add Booker to Durant and Beal as somebody who will probably misses significant stretches.
Keep your eye on Cleveland. You can count on them continuing to improve every year because they are still so damn young. Mobley and Okoro are 23, Garland is 24, Allen is 25, Mitchell is 28. Like OKC last year, there is much more swagger.
Big road win for Golden State against the defending champs. I know KP and JB were out but still you had to show up and hoop. I see no selfishness or ego on this team. I still think it’s too early and they might need to go after someone in Jan/Feb but it looks promising for this year. If Wiggins plays motivated this year, they will be a tough team to beat in the springtime.
Sidenote what about trading Looney and GP II who are maknig a combined $17M this year, for possibly one of these guys?
Tim Hardaway (FA end of the year)
Richaun Holmes ($13M next year)
Steven Adams (FA end of the year)
Bruce Brown (FA end of the year)
Chris Boucher (FA end of the year)
Nobody is world beater but it does help them in May/June.
Crap
Crap
Rather have both than Adams especially on a min restriction
Crap and hurt a lot lateley
Crap
None of those players are as good as Loon. He had a down year but has come back looking the best he ever has, and theres a reason he started in BOS when they won the title. GPII is better than all of them if hes healthy too, which has been a struggle the last few years, but he was just key to beating BOS.
I get it they have the contracts you want to trade, but we know they can play Warriors basketball. Also you just did a whole list of a whos who of used to be a name guys 4 years ago. If you dealt Loon for a non big the front court depth gets real sketchy real quick too.
If they make a trade it will be for a bigger star than any of those.
I like your last line Chapman because of their great start. Since this is working out so well I don’t think they’ll break it up for a sideways move.
Only if a star becomes available will they make a trade at this point.
Things may change by February but watching that cohesion and defense last night was promising.
Real big road win raz. I can’t wait to see what happens with Cleveland and OKC this week. More defense and a chance to win? Pretty tough on the road but fingers crossed.
Plus this is the defense without Melton and Podski, who are pretty good Defenders also.