Boston, already overrated.

[ALong13]

I may get a bit critisim for this post, but it's an opinion on the Boston Celtics. With KG finally coming to town, I would like to first off congratulate Danny Ainge for saving your job, getting in the spotlight now, because it won't last too long in my opinion.

Boston is a 3 man team that's all, they are not a championship team in one night, they send out their starter and back-up PF, their starting and back-up SF(Wally to Seattle earlier in the offseason.). Their back-up PG, and their third string center for an all-star center...Bad Move. These guys are young, and though they haven't blossomed yet, the T-Wolves will love it when they do, now the T-Wolves drop Garnett's huge contract, they can compete in free agency again, they get youth for their rebuilding year, Boston gets a very good center, but that's it. You signed a few guys sure, but they aren't going to jump in and be good, and if one of these three men go down, then you are in a bad position, definitely let's say Garnett goes down for the season 20 games in, Allen's ankle keeps bother him so he has to take 2-3 weeks off, now you have Paul Pierce and who? Nothing really. If you go on PSD you see people already having Boston as the number one team in the Eastern Conference, making them locks for the Finals, well they are wrong. Boston isn't even close to the finals, they need to sign depth and a lot of it, and with Pierce, Allen, and Garnett's huge ass contract they can't do that so much any more...Pierce made 15 million last year, Garnett made 21 , but he'll make 24 this year, and Ray Allen made 14 million last year, and you know the numbers go up this year, so they are already in luxary tax. They are not going to be able to compete for a while, and then their is talk of giving Garnett a 4 year extension that could go to somewhere around 126 million dollars....it's way to much. Garnett is good, but no one is that good. Boston is a 7 seed at best this year unless they get help, and not even a lock to make the playoffs.

[ziggy]

No arguments from me.
Boston will be improved, but they aren't even close to being championship caliber. Behind the aging big 3, they have no depth at all.

[123together]

i think boston has the talent to win the East, but they need to keep all 3 healthy the whole season. if just one gets injured (especially ray allen cuz he'll be shooting open 3s off KG double teams) that could be crushing to them. plus all 3 have to figure out how to work together and fit in with each others style of play

[dav7z]

I dont think its a good move . Be for they have time to jell they will be to old . They have put them self in a NEW YORK cap situation. They may make playoffs for the next year or two but thats as far as they go. Its down hill from thair and it will be hell to trade those big contracts. Those three will never win it all by them self.

[timang]

i think boston has the talent to win the East, but they need to keep all 3 healthy the whole season. if just one gets injured (especially ray allen cuz he'll be shooting open 3s off KG double teams) that could be crushing to them. plus all 3 have to figure out how to work together and fit in with each others style of play

i'm thinking of that problem too... hope to see them gel well, that would be sure fun to watch, in a basketball fan's point of view IMHO, but never as a cats'.

[Jonathanmartin7]

They have played together. not much paul and kg played on a hs championship squad, not sure if it was AAU or what. and Ray and KG played together in SC.
The are all three friends. Health has to be a concern as does depth. But I would have made the trade in a minute. I mean you have 3 of the top 15 players on the same squad. They just have to fill a few holes here and there and the are in biz.
I wouldn't count them out. They have a much better shot at wining it all than we do. And the playoffs are a lock for them, not us.

[dav7z]

John you wright such good post most of the time.But i have to disagree about them having a much better chance to get to the playoffs than us. If any one of the three gets hurt for any lenth of time they screwed. Plus they all in thair 30s whitch gives them a much higher chance of geting hurt. They have no back up at all and a running team is ware them down . Its going to have to be a injery free season and a season where they play a lot of mins ever night will take its tole on them.
As for us we young very deep every where except the 5 and the point whitch i think we address befor season starts. I think we run them three quarters we ware them out. Yes they three of the best players in the east but . We stronger than them at the one two and three . I know Allen, I just think J-RICH is a better player over all than Allen and that will show as the year goes on. Just the age factor. Felton is stronger than any point they can pick up this time of the year. Wallace and Perice is a lot closer in talent than most think. Oakfor is not as strong as K.G. but he will give him a hell of a fight.
Then we have Hermann, Carroll, May, Premoz, Dudley, Hollins, all coming off the beanch . They have nothing. I say we match well against them . And will beat them at least once next year if not take the series.

[dnbman]

I only skimmed the posts, so if I restate things someone else said or miss a part of an argument, let me know!

Boston will be awfully strong. Here's why:

Yes, on the day of the trade, Boston ended up with a very thin roster. However, they can still sign players to the league minimum and have the MLE. That will put them in luxury tax territory, but my guess is they're not going to worry about a couple of extra million if they find the right piece for the team. They can sign a couple of veteran bigs and a veteran pg to fill out the roster. Unless the locker-room issues are a bigger deal than we realized, I think Knight will be a Celtic. As for bigs, Mutombo has already come up, which, all jokes aside, is a pretty good option. He showed in Houston he can still ball, and all they need him to do is play 15-20 minutes a night of solid D. He doesn't have to generate hardly any offense. They could also get Dale Davis to play one year.

Also, they have overlooked depth even if they are thin. Glen Davis will be able to contribute at least a little bit right away. He has to get more athletic, but his size should help him get some boards when he needs to. Tony Allen is a versatile guard who can do a little bit of everything. He's been somewhat hidden in the crazy backcourts that Boston have been working with the last two years. However, when he plays, he's quite good. He should be an effective backup at both guard spots. They've also got some good young players in Pruitt and Wallace.

They've got a few more pieces to acquire, but when they do, they'll have more depth. Today's roster isn't the final roster for the season.

People keep talking about how they're one or two injuries from the lottery. Well, virtually every team in the East is one injury from the lottery. If Sheed or Billups get hurt, Detroit could easily miss the playoffs. If Bosh, Lebron, Howard, Kidd, Wade, or any number of players get injured, their teams will miss the playoffs. As for injuries, I think Allen is the only real concern. Pierce and KG missed a lot of their games after their teams basically shut them down for the year. Pierce scored 32 points the game before he stopped for the season. This year they'll all face immense pressure to succeed, which will likely translate to them being much more serious about taking care of themselves. They also won't have to go all out every night to win like they would have in previous seasons. Some nights, they'll be able to rest a little while the other two handle business. Besides, as long as they're healthy for the playoffs, that's all that really matters as long as they can sneak in.

Also, people have to remember that KG is the PERFECT big to pair with these guys. As one of the best passing bigs in NBA history, he'll have two money scorers on either side of the court to hit for shots. And, since all three players demand double teams, the floor will certainly open up. Rondo is a defensive pg who will just need to be efficient as a general and play great D. They can run the offense inside out a lot, as KG can be the primary facilitator. Perkins is more than serviceable to start at the five, giving them a guy who can get boards and blocks. He averaged 1.3 blocks a game in only 22 minutes.

Pierce, meanwhile, is still one of the best wing players in the game. People think all he can do is score. However, he got about 6 boards and 4 assists a game, being a rebound beast at the beginning of the season. He should be in the conversation with the best wings in the game not named Kobe Bryant. I appreciate the comparison of him to Wallace, but their's really not much comparison. Pierce can take over games with a wide range of offensive abilities. He may not have the defensive game of Wallace, but the difference in their defensive skills is far less than the difference in their offensive skills.

The Celtics definitely will have lots of question marks to face throughout the season. However, saying they're anything less than a serious title contender is overlooking the brilliance of the three players and how they will be able to play off one another. I didn't really think to much of the Ray Allen trade until they got Garnett; he's the missing link to making these two guys synced up. This is team will be sick to watch, and we should all enjoy seeing these three players finally get down to business. And, if they fail, they definitely can't blame on anyone but themselves.

[dvdbumpus]

Could you imagine if they added Chris Webber? Their big men would be the best duo of passing big men in history...or at least in consideration of it. Webber can still play, just not as much anymore. Too bad he's too expensive.

[TheBeagle]

I only skimmed the posts, so if I restate things someone else said or miss a part of an argument, let me know!

Boston will be awfully strong. Here's why:

Yes, on the day of the trade, Boston ended up with a very thin roster. However, they can still sign players to the league minimum and have the MLE. That will put them in luxury tax territory, but my guess is they're not going to worry about a couple of extra million if they find the right piece for the team. They can sign a couple of veteran bigs and a veteran pg to fill out the roster. Unless the locker-room issues are a bigger deal than we realized, I think Knight will be a Celtic. As for bigs, Mutombo has already come up, which, all jokes aside, is a pretty good option. He showed in Houston he can still ball, and all they need him to do is play 15-20 minutes a night of solid D. He doesn't have to generate hardly any offense. They could also get Dale Davis to play one year.

Well, I don't know about you, but the recent signings of Eddie House and Jackie Manuel (WAY TO GO, JACKIE!!!!!)sure gets me thinking the Celtics are going after those veteran PGs and Cs they need!! :P The moves they've made have been a PR coup, but it sure seems like a bunch of fool's gold to me. Neither of these players have had an long-term success as "team leaders." Ray Allen made it to the Conf. Finals with Millwaukee, but Big Dog and Cassell were more of the leaders than he, and more productive for that matter. KG made it there in '04, but once again, Cassell was more of the team leader. As far as I remeber, Pierce has only made it to the conference semis, but I could be wrong on that one. He is a legitimate team leader, but he hasn't experienced any real success at the NBA level. Also, our depth at C and PG, as shoddy as it is right now, is preferable than what the Celtics have. I'm saying it here first: I'll be shocked if the Celtics make it to the conference finals, and surprised if they make it past Round 1.

That said, I wish them all the best as I have fond childhood memories of the '86 Celtics winning the Finals and then drafting Len Bias that summer. As much as I dislike the Red Sox, I wouldn't mind seeing the Celtics win it all, but I can't see any realistic scenario where that happens. But it is cool that Jackie Manuel has made it to the NBA, so I'll give a special "fro" for that!!! If I go see the 'Cats play the Celtics, I wonder if I should break out my Jackie Manuel Fan Club T-shirt