Celtics Post All-Star Break History

David Butler – USA Today Sports

The Celtics have been under the microscope in the East ever since they emerged as potential contenders again under Brad Stevens. They were obviously in a rebuilding stage when the Celtics parted ways with long time coach Doc Rivers, who saw only one championship with them in 2008. It did not come as a surprise when Brad Stevens, the former Butler head coach that brought the team to their first Final Four in school history, went 25-57 in his first year. The actual surprise was the Celtics never missing the playoffs every season after that. Brad Stevens is remarkable at utilizing the players he has and setting them up to succeed through well-crafted play calling. As his roster grew each year with more and more talent, he was able to improve their playoff success. With the All-Star break over and the playoff push in full effect, I wanted to see how the Celtics have fared in the past five years during this time; the pattern is surprising.

Who to Watch (February 8 – February 14)

Credit: Michael Dwyer/AP

Welcome back to Who to Watch! Before we begin, we just want you to know about the changes we’re making.

With the NFL season now over, we’re scaling back the writers who participate on Who to Watch so we don’t overwhelm people with takes.  Since we primarily focus on basketball, football, and baseball (soccer coming soon, keep an eye out for that), that means it’d be all basketball, all the time, and too much of a good thing isn’t a good thing at all.  So between now and the start of baseball season, we’ll rotate Fredy, Andy, Mike, Kerm, and Nick by having three of those lovely gentlemen write a player to buy and sell. Don’t worry, you won’t go more than a week without seeing one of their pieces (we did the math).

Back to sports.

We just saw the Patriots cap of yet another Super Bowl season, their third in 5 seasons, and 6th since 2001… sounds like Mike was right about McVay (and Fredy was W-R-O-N-G about Goff).  In the NBA, TRADES galore! The following players were traded since we last met: Tobias Harris, Marc Gasol, Markelle Fultz, Harrison Barnes, Otto Porter, Nikola Mirotic, Markieff Morris, Bobby Portis, Jabari Parker, Iman Shumpert, Zach Randolph, BOBAN, Michael Beasley (sorry Kerm), and ANTHONY DA— oh wait… he wasn’t.  With the trades behind us, the season will now intensify, and we’ve got you covered, starting here.

Who to Watch (December 14 – December 20)

Credit: David Eulitt/Getty Images

Welcome back to Who to Watch!  Just last night we witnessed a GREAT football game between the Chargers and Chiefs, as Los Angles came back to win 29-28.  Dwyane Wade and LeBron James faced off for the final time, the Celtics winning streak continued, and the Raptors DESTROYED Golden State… WITHOUT KAWHI.  In the NFL, the Patriots lost in the final seconds to Miami after a miracle succession of laterals and inferior defense (WHY WAS GRONK OUT THERE!?), the Steelers lost (again), and the Cowboys won (again).

The Patriots and Steelers face off this Sunday in what will surely be another classic game between the two, but other good games across the NBA and NFL are on the docket for the next week.

Here’s who we’re watching in those games.