The Celtics

[Boon 0]

Yes, the Celtics.

 

Winners of 7 out of their last 8, all close games including wins over LA, Phoenix and Detroit. They only lost to Minnesota by two after a buzzer beater. They've moved up to #11 in the power rankings and have a 4 game lead over Philly for the #3 spot in the East. Granted, they're playing in the worst division in the league, but if they can keep playing the way they are, they could beat Chicago and maybe make a run back to the Eastern Conference finals. The rookies are playing great, they got Antoine Walker for practically nothing, and pressure is taken off Paul Pierce.

 

Nobody in Boston is thinking the NBA title, but the C's are starting to spark a little bit of interest come playoff time.

 

Thoughts?

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

NBA title? Forget it. That's not gonna happen this year anyways. They're too soft in the middle and with Shaq, The Wallace Boys, Big Z and even the Bulls big men hanging around, they'd be in a lot of trouble. All Marc Blount can do is hack the christ out of Shaq or even Eddy Curry(who is playing his formerly fat ass off by the way) and send them to the line. They've got no real bigs or mean bastards to lay into Lebron James or Dwyane Wade when they penetrate.

 

They can make a run though. They're certainly deep and can score, but I don't really see them making any significant push. Second round loss is what I'm going with.

[Guest Failed Mascot]

I think the Heat are terribly over-rated. They have no real depth and rely on Shaq and D-Wade for everything.

 

The Celtics have a mean guy. His name is Kendrik Perkins, he's 19, and he'll throw people to the ground without caring.

[alfdogg 0]

That didn't stop them from getting rid of Brandon Hunter.

[Guest Failed Mascot]

They lost him in the expansion draft. Not like they traded him. Not to mention Hunter was a PF while Perkins is a Center. If Hunter was still here he wouldn't see any minutes anyways.

[alfdogg 0]

I know, I was being sarcastic referring to Hunter going at O'Neal last year in the playoffs.

[Guest Mindless_Aggression]

Miami will get slaughtered by most western conference powers. But they can handle most of the East, outside of Detroit and maybe a few others. But they'd kill Boston.

 

Perkins doesn't even see 10 minutes a game, I'd consider him a non-factor in most playoff games. He's an okay bruiser, but a complete liability in other areas.

[Guest Vitamin X]

I was going to make a thread noting the Celtics' recent rise. There was an article on how interesting the Webber and Antoine Walker trade have worked out, in the worst and best case scenarios obviously.

 

I'm happy to see a bit more competition in the East, quite frankly, though I feel bad for the Sixers because I love watching Allen Iverson play. I also feel the Heat are terribly overrated and said so to this group of guys who sarcastically asked me who I thought was going to win the NBA Championship. I told them that unless it was Detroit, certainly nobody from the East. I can just picture Shaq huffin and puffin up and down the court trying to keep up with the Suns' fastbreak pace, or Wade running around trying to stop Seattle's outside shooting, or either of them defending the Spurs' surgeonic precision. There's a reason why Shaq was traded to the Heat, and the Heat, even though they own the NBA's best record and the Lakers are fighting to get in the playoffs, get the shit end of the deal considering the aging, injury prone center who got worked in the playoffs last year and could still probably get worked by the Pistons, Celts, or hell even the Bulls this time around.

 

Man, I can't stand the Heat in this city, whether I'm talking about the team or the actual thing. I do like Wade though.

[Precious Roy 0]

Sounds like a bitter Lakers fan, no reason to have ill will towards Shaq....

 

I'm thinking 2nd round loss for the Celtics too, but it's tough to call the East right now, so much playoff positioning is still up for grabs. I like them the most outside of Miami and Detroit. I think they match up better against Detroit, but it wouldn't surprise me to see them beat Miami in a 7 game series, if Rivers can outcoach Van Gundy.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Not bitter here. Quite a few people here would know I was never a fan of his, I disliked him quite a bit actually.

[Guest Failed Mascot]

I'm just happy New Jersey won't be in the playoffs. They could have Jason Kidd and a bunch of special olympic athletes and the Celts would still lose to them.

[Ripper 0]

Vita, Shaq was the only Laker that played worth a damn in the finals last year. Give him the ball and we were looking at another Laker championship.

[nl5xsk1 0]

I think that the Celtics should win their first round match-up and - depending on the match-up - have a legitimate shot at winning the second round, too. It'd be incredibly lucky for them to win the East, to say nothing about the championship, but they can hold their own against most of the middle-of-the-pack teams in the East, and thus their getting to the Eastern Finals wouldn't surprise me at all.

[Guest Failed Mascot]

Vita, Shaq was the only Laker that played worth a damn in the finals last year. Give him the ball and we were looking at another Laker championship.

He was so winded from the Pistons fast break that he wasn't a factor. I remember thinking he was going to collapse on the court a few times after watching him huff and puff and sweat buckets too.

[Boon 0]

I think that the Celtics should win their first round match-up and - depending on the match-up - have a legitimate shot at winning the second round, too. It'd be incredibly lucky for them to win the East, to say nothing about the championship, but they can hold their own against most of the middle-of-the-pack teams in the East, and thus their getting to the Eastern Finals wouldn't surprise me at all.

That's my hope for the team. I really want to see them just get to the Eastern conference finals- I'd be impressed if they could.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Vita, Shaq was the only Laker that played worth a damn in the finals last year. Give him the ball and we were looking at another Laker championship.

That's because the Pistons were letting him get his points while focusing on shutting down the rest of the team. They were triple-teaming Kobe, for christ's sake. Shaq was pretty nonexistant except for a game here and there in the rest of the playoffs as well. I think we had discussed this in the NBA playoffs thread last year though, and agreed. The Pistons didn't care if Kobe and Shaq were going to put up 60, 70 points combined because they were going to shut down the rest of the team since the Lakers lacked depth and the athletic ability to match the Pistons going up and down the court and play through their defense. Flowing the offense through Shaq, combined with Jackson's stubbornness to give up the triangle, is exactly what played into Detroit's hands to get them the championship.

[mike546 0]

I was going to make a thread noting the Celtics' recent rise. There was an article on how interesting the Webber and Antoine Walker trade have worked out, in the worst and best case scenarios obviously.

 

I'm happy to see a bit more competition in the East, quite frankly, though I feel bad for the Sixers because I love watching Allen Iverson play. I also feel the Heat are terribly overrated and said so to this group of guys who sarcastically asked me who I thought was going to win the NBA Championship. I told them that unless it was Detroit, certainly nobody from the East. I can just picture Shaq huffin and puffin up and down the court trying to keep up with the Suns' fastbreak pace, or Wade running around trying to stop Seattle's outside shooting, or either of them defending the Spurs' surgeonic precision. There's a reason why Shaq was traded to the Heat, and the Heat, even though they own the NBA's best record and the Lakers are fighting to get in the playoffs, get the shit end of the deal considering the aging, injury prone center who got worked in the playoffs last year and could still probably get worked by the Pistons, Celts, or hell even the Bulls this time around.

 

Man, I can't stand the Heat in this city, whether I'm talking about the team or the actual thing. I do like Wade though.

Look, the KNICKS of all teams held the Sonics to 90 points yesterday, and thats with a 10-1 run to end the game for the Sonics. If the KNICKS can stop the Sonics, the Heat can.

[Guest Vitamin X]

Yeah the Sonics are slipping quite a bit lately. Must suck to be a Seattle sports fan.

[Precious Roy 0]

The Sonics and Suns won't get it done in the playoffs. I think Dallas, with a healthy Dampier, is the only team that has a serious chance to go to the finals besides San Antonio.