Celtics

[oxcoug]

What is this dreck about the Lakers having their own thread but the team w/ the most NBA titles not having one?

Even if Boston's age now catches up with it and they let the Heat win in 7, the Big Four have given Celtic faithful one more great ride this post-season. I'd love to see them wrap it up on Thursday and make a series out of the Finals. But at this point they've already exceeded my expectations given how banged up they are.

W/ Avery Bradley and Jeff Green around this could be an even better story.

[Jacob]

What is this dreck about the Lakers having their own thread but the team w/ the most NBA titles not having one?

Even if Boston's age now catches up with it and they let the Heat win in 7, the Big Four have given Celtic faithful one more great ride this post-season. I'd love to see them wrap it up on Thursday and make a series out of the Finals. But at this point they've already exceeded my expectations given how banged up they are.

W/ Avery Bradley and Jeff Green around this could be an even better story.

As long as Bosh and Rose were still injured.
For some reason, I've turned on Boston this year. Probably because I can't stand Garnett's posing and cheap shots. And Bill Simmons' homerism.

[TripletDaddy]

you like the celtics?

[Donuthole]

As long as Bosh and Rose were still injured.
For some reason, I've turned on Boston this year. Probably because I can't stand Garnett's posing and cheap shots. And Bill Simmons' homerism.

You are about 5 years late, but I welcome you anyway.

[Pelado]

What is this dreck about the Lakers having their own thread but the team w/ the most NBA titles not having one?

Even if Boston's age now catches up with it and they let the Heat win in 7, the Big Four have given Celtic faithful one more great ride this post-season. I'd love to see them wrap it up on Thursday and make a series out of the Finals. But at this point they've already exceeded my expectations given how banged up they are.

W/ Avery Bradley and Jeff Green around this could be an even better story.

Disappointed in your thread title. I've come to expect much more from you.

[MartyFunkhouser]

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Go Boston (until you beat the Heat and then I hope you get destroyed).

[Jacob]

You are about 5 years late, but I welcome you anyway.

I probably turned earlier. But I wasn't forced to pay too much attention to them because they didn't get as far in the playoffs a year ago. That and they used to be battling the Lakers. I'd still put up with Garnett's antics if he were playing the Lakers. But now I'm rooting for the Heat. Probably because everybody else hates them.

[Donuthole]

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. Go Heat (until you beat the Celtics and then I hope you get destroyed).

Agreed

[oxcoug]

Disappointed in your thread title. I've come to expect much more from you.

Yes, the simplicity was deliberate, I decided it needed no embellishment.

[RC Vikings]

To bad they still don't have Perkins in the middle.

[oxcoug]

To bad they still don't have Perkins in the middle.

Geez no doubt - that would make the diff this year. Facing him instead of having him is likely to be one critical difference in them losing to OKC.

[oxcoug]

Getting Sully and Melo w/ 21 and 22 is pretty exceptional.

Even w/ the risk of Sullinger's back being a serious problem - which seems to be low - you get an NBA-ready talent w/ high IQ, mid range game, can play with his back to the basket, great hands and effective rebounder - easily a lottery talent with the 21 pick.

Plenty of people were down on the Melo pick - I think it's strong. Athletic 7-footers don't grow on trees. All he has to do is become a credible defensive presence to make this pick pay off. Given that the kid has only played hoops for 3.5 years, there's reason to believe he's a long way from his ceiling.

Having these two makes resigning KG a huge deal - we've already seen his intensity and work ethic remake other teammates (not the least of them being Paul Pierce) and the word on Melo is that he needs a mentor to make him work. Now he's got one.

Now crossing my fingers to get Brandon Bass back - far far bigger deal than Ray Ray, IMO (as much as it wld pain me to see Ray playing for the heat).

[oxcoug]

The C's overall offseason has me pretty amped, which I never thought I'd say given

* Resigning KG who looked reborn late last season was huge
* Signing Jet -gives Boston a premiere bench piece
* Courtney Lee is a bigger deal than I think some realize - he's a VERY tough defender and very effective/efficient in team offense - great fit for Boston
* Not gonna do back flips on this one but Jason Collins as a backup center who can play D effectively against most bigs in the leagues is a bigger deal than people realize
* Sully and Melo both have time to develop under some veteran tutelage

Once Bradley is back from his surgery this is going to be an exceptionally deep backcourt.

And w/ KG/Bass/Pierce the front court is going to be tough for other teams to play. Front court depth isn't inspiring between a dinged up rookie (Sullinger) and an offensively useless center (Collins) but cld be worse.

I'm not going to get too crazy with the predictions but at the very least Ainge has put together a team that's going to be fun to watch and has potential to be in contention late in the postseason.

[oxcoug]

In my ongoing homer conversation with myself:

Starting:
Rondo - 1- just now entering his prime - if he can finally start hitting consistently from distance he'll be as difficult to guard as anyone in the league. As it is there's personnel around him that makes him deadly.
Lee* - 2 - bigger pickup for Boston than most people think, Lee is a complete player and gives them time for Avery Bradley to heal. By the time Bradley is back Boston shld have a deep, talented guard rotation. Lee is an above average defender, a 38-40% 3-pt shooter, and is athletic enough to create his own shot. He'll give Doc an option of having a 2 on the floor who can spot up and slash - which really wasn't the case even w/ Ray anymore.
Pierce - 3 - The age is beginning to show but the guy is still a scoring machine at times, tenacious all the time and if his minutes are managed can be playing well in the post-season.
Bass - 4 - made huge strides late in the season - diligent defender, increasingly consistent mid-range shooter, looks like he cld evolve into an upper tier NBA player and I'd expect him to pick up some scoring slack from Pierce this year.
KG - 5 - the KG of old came back late last season - if Boston can keep him fresh this year it will be a huge deal. KG is the biggest "if" in the equation for Boston. If he doesn't sustain a high level into the playoffs they can't get very far.

Bench rotation:

Bradley* - 2/1 - defensive ace, out for the first two months, when he comes back is likely to replace Lee as a starter - though Lee cld change that if he's stellar in the first two months.
Terry - 2/1 - Huge addition for Boston, gives them real scoring punch off the bench, an outside presence that has to be respected, and can also spell Rondo without completely killing the offense.
Green - 3 - provides some credible scoring punch off the bench, needs to get tougher on D but seems extremely motivated right now to go out and prove himself. My gut feeling is that people are going to be surprised at how good Green can be when he puts together a full season.
Sullinger - 4/3 - the steal of the draft, IMO, assuming, of course, that he stays healthy. But if he does, this is a guy that comes w/ an NBA-ready tool set. Can play with his back to or facing the basket, excellent instinctive rebounder with great hands, big wide body for blocking the lane and a very mature mindset.
Collins - 5 - he'd miss the side of a barn from five feet away but Collins is an important piece of the puzzle. The bottom line is that he's a 7 footer who is a capable defender who will allow Boston to occasionally take KG off the other team's most dangerous big, save KG some foul issues and occasionally sit KG without worrying that the D will completely go south.
Dooling - 1/2 - KD is more of a locker room / team chemistry add that anything else but he will occasionally pop in the guard rotation and manage to do so without totally sucking.
Melo - with KG and Collins taking up the bulk of the 5 minutes, Melo has time to learn and be mentored by two real veterans - and the Big East's defensive POY has the raw athleticism to become a major defensive presence. People are skeptical but I think this is another possible draft steal for Boston - athletic 7-footers don't grow on trees and this guy has played basketball for less than four years - i.e. he's very far from reaching his ceiling. And now he's got Doc and KG to teach him the ropes.

Miami and Chicago will still be favored in the East but I expect the C's to be there with a shot to win out at the end.

[BGRTHNUMEGO]

Collins - 5 - he'd miss the side of a barn from five feet away but Collins is an important piece of the puzzle. The bottom line is that he's a 7 footer who is a capable defender who will allow Boston to occasionally take KG off the other team's most dangerous big, save KG some foul issues and occasionally sit KG without worrying that the D will completely go south.

I had to make sure this was indeed referencing Jason Collins. It does look like Jason Collins signed with Boston, and that you remarked that Collins might somehow contribute to an NBA team.

That makes it awfully hard to value anything else you write in this thread.