Apropos to nothing, but I was reading a Celtics piece at BostonHerald.com this morning. Just reading along, when I came across this gem:
Let's see. 13 of 29 against playoff teams. The deuce you say! The implication being that this represents a DIFFICULT stretch in November and December.
There are 30 teams in the NBA. 16 of them make the playoffs. Boston did NOT make the playoffs, and won't be playing themselves during the season, we shall assume. That means there are 29 potential opponents and 16 of them made the playoffs.
Now, I wasn't a math major in college (oh no, wait, yes I was)... but out of 29 games, I'd say that, on average, you'd play about 16 playoffs teams! So to only play 13 of them is a decidedly SOFT spot in the schedule.
It just makes me crazy. I mean, someone actually bothered to count up playoff opponents in November and December, and then interpreted it completely backwards! Moreover, any idiot could GLANCE at their schedule and see that it is incredibly soft in November and December. They've got BOTH of their Warriors games plus the Blazers (not too many winnable games against the West, and these are three of them) and three each against the Bobcats and the Knicks!
Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go breathe.