WALTHAM, Mass. -- The Boston Celtics were getting set to reconvene for training camp when Brad Stevens huddled his coaching staff in mid-September to finalize plans for the upcoming season. Amid the excitement and anticipation of the new campaign, the conversation kept reverting back to one word, one month: November.
If you include Wednesday's season-opener against the Brooklyn Nets, Boston's first full month of action features 14 games over a leisurely 33 days, including nine games at home, and only one back-to-back. That's where the good news ends. That slate includes 13 potential playoff teams, headlined by teams that might be dubbed championship-caliber opponents like Chicago (twice), Oklahoma City, Cleveland, and San Antonio.
Stevens often downplays the schedule, even recalled the famous Larry Bird quote -- "41 home, 41 away, looks right to me" -- and suggests that no game is more important than the next one.
But Stevens isn't naive. These young Celtics, coming off a 25-win season, are getting thrust right into the fire and it won't take long to figure out what they are made of. It's a dangerous slate, particularly because losses could potentially be deflating for a team whose confidence has been refreshed by the onset of a new season.
"We're just going to have to play really well," shrugged Stevens. "But we can't get too high or too low. That's going to be huge early on.
"It's something that, ever since we had that full staff meeting in the middle of September, right when we had that, we knew it. We can't get too high or too low. We get a big win, we're going to have to stay the course, because there's a lot of tough ones coming. We get beat in a close game that we play really well in, we gotta analyze it for what it is."
Celtics brass has steered clear of setting goals for this team. No good can come from setting the bar too low or too high. Everyone from Stevens to president of basketball operations Danny Ainge has encouraged players to draft their own expectations -- and hope always springs eternal in the NBA this time of year -- but it's still impossible to know what this team is capable of.
Point guard Rajon Rondo missed the entire preseason slate after undergoing hand surgery (though he might be back for opening night). Rookie Marcus Smart displayed NBA-ready defense, but few are immune to the rookie roller coaster. Can Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk take the next step in their developments? What can we expect from Jeff Green? How will newcomers like Evan Turner, Marcus Thornton, and Tyler Zeller impact Boston's rotation?