D's Celtics Thread

[Direckshun]

So...

Paul Pierce.

Ray Allen.

Kevin freakin' Garnett.

Can this team get to the NBA Finals. Thoughts.

[HolmeZz]

They obviously have weaknesses and definitely aren't unbeatable. Who's said the opposite? Don't act like they're supposed to go 82-0.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by HolmeZz

They obviously have weaknesses and definitely aren't unbeatable. Who's said the opposite? Don't act like they're supposed to go 82-0.

The mere fact that people are predicting a team that they've never seen play to win the NBA championship screams unfounded hype to me. I hope that the Raptors will at the very least break some of that up, and knock them down some spots on a few power rankings.

[KC_Connection]

And while a loss may not get the media and the Celtics fans' heads out of the clouds, I'll enjoy it anyway.

[KC_Connection]

I'm just watching the opening to Sportscenter, and the first thing they show in their opening highlight montage thing is a guy in a Celtics jersey with a sign showing "82-0?"

Hilarious.

[HolmeZz]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

I'm just watching the opening to Sportscenter, and the first thing they show in their opening highlight montage thing is a guy in a Celtics jersey with a sign showing "82-0?"

Hilarious.

I could've swore you said you watched the game. They showed that guy a handful of times throughout the telecast.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by HolmeZz

I could've swore you said you watched the game. They showed that guy a handful of times throughout the telecast.

Well most of my attention was devoted to the Raptors on my Slingbox for the first 2-3 quarters. An epic game tonight, biggest road blowout in the history of the franchise.

Still, wouldn't you agree it's quite hilarious that we were just talking nobody suggesting 82-0, and the first thing on ESPN Sportscenter is a guy holding the sign showing that?

[HolmeZz]

No, because I don't take signs people have in the crowd seriously.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by HolmeZz

No, because I don't take signs people have in the crowd seriously.

It's a sign of the hype I've been talking about, that was the entire point from the beginning. How do you not understand this?

[RedThat]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

The mere fact that people are predicting a team that they've never seen play to win the NBA championship screams unfounded hype to me. I hope that the Raptors will at the very least break some of that up, and knock them down some spots on a few power rankings.

I live in T.O. I get to watch most of the Raptor games. Let me tell ya, I agree with you. They are a great team.

A lot of people aren't talking about the Raptors. But that's ok, that's good. They'll get respect, it'll only be a matter of time. They are a 50-60 win team. I think the big reason the Celtics are getting the attention is because mostly of the names KG, RA, and PP. But when you think of it, as a team, I think the Raps take em.

I love this team. They're the most exciting team I've watched in a while. No real superstars. Well, Bosh can be considered a star, but, he doesn't draw the attention like the other stars of the league. This team has balance. they can do everything. Their scoring has got to be the most balanced throughout the league. All the guys on that team are unselfish players. You wanna talk about a bench? they got the best bench in the league.

A lot of guys on that team have character, and the thing I like about the Raptors is there is not one guy on that team that specializes in one particular thing, everybody chips in and there are guys that can do a little bit of everything. They play like a team and their is chemistry.

I think Bargnani is growing as a player. If he develops, looks like he is, watch out. This team will win the east. Sam Mitchell is growing as a coach. I got nothing but praise for this team. They're going to be tough to beat. Their offense looks like it will be unstoppable.

[HolmeZz]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

It's a sign of the hype I've been talking about, that was the entire point from the beginning. How do you not understand this?

You were talking about media hype, not some Celtic fan with a sign. You could find reeruned signs like that at any game you go to.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by RedBull

I live in T.O. I get to watch most of the Raptor games. Let me tell ya, I agree with you. They are a great team.

A lot of people aren't talking about the Raptors. But that's ok, that's good. They'll get respect, it'll only be a matter of time. They are a 50-60 win team. I think the big reason the Celtics are getting the attention is because mostly of the names KG, RA, and PP. But when you think of it, as a team, I think the Raps take em.

I love this team. They're the most exciting team I've watched in a while. No real superstars. Well, Bosh can be considered a star, but, he doesn't draw the attention like the other stars of the league. This team has balance. they can do everything. Their scoring has got to be the most balanced throughout the league. All the guys on that team are unselfish players. You wanna talk about a bench? they got the best bench in the league.

A lot of guys on that team have character, and the thing I like about the Raptors is there is not one guy on that team that specializes in one particular thing, everybody chips in and there are guys that can do a little bit of everything. They play like a team and their is chemistry.

I think Bargnani is growing as a player. If he develops, looks like he is, watch out. This team will win the east. Sam Mitchell is growing as a coach. I got nothing but praise for this team. They're going to be tough to beat. Their offense looks like it will be unstoppable.

It is amazing how much depth the Raptors have. On any given day, anybody on our roster can step up and have a huge game that can make a big difference (an example would be Juan Dixon tonight). It is an extremely efficient offense, centered around two stars, Bosh and Bargnani (I know he's not really a star yet, especially in the US, nobody knows who he is, but he certainly is one of the most talented young players I've seen in a while, his ceiling is higher than Bosh's), with TJ Ford and Jose Calderon as the playmakers. With Parker and Kapono on the outside, open shots will be made at a rate comparable to the Suns I expect. Offense will not be a problem for them.

Also, if they can play defense anywhere near as well as they did tonight for the rest of the season, this will be a 50-60 win team. That will be the difference between them being simply a good team, and one of the top teams in the league.

Also, I can't say enough about Brian Colangelo. He just keeps making great moves. Getting Carlos Delfino, a guy who projects to be a 25-30M player in our rotation, for 2 2nd round picks was an incredible steal. Delfino has been instrumental in our 2 victories thus far, he shut down Vince tonight, and made some great plays on Wednesday.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by HolmeZz

You were talking about media hype, not some Celtic fan with a sign. You could find reeruned signs like that at any game you go to.

I didn't say media hype, I just said hype. Fans go into that as well. Do you not remember me writing that I was hoping that the media and the Celtics fans would get their heads out of the clouds?

[RedThat]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

It is amazing how much depth the Raptors have. On any given day, anybody on our roster can step up and have a huge game that can make a big difference (an example would be Juan Dixon tonight). It is an extremely efficient offense, centered around two stars, Bosh and Bargnani (I know he's not really a star yet, especially in the US, nobody knows who he is, but he certainly is one of the most talented young players I've seen in a while, his ceiling is higher than Bosh's), with TJ Ford and Jose Calderon as the playmakers. With Parker and Kapono on the outside, open shots will be made at a rate comparable to the Suns I expect. Offense will not be a problem for them.

Also, if they can play defense anywhere near as well as they did tonight for the rest of the season, this will be a 50-60 win team. That will be the difference between them being simply a good team, and one of the top teams in the league.

I agree, offense won't be a problem.

But the key for this team is Bargnani. I think he is going to get better. Once he does, he'll open up Bosh's game a bit inside the paint. Notice last year, teams were double, and triple covering Bosh a lot. Plus, when you have 2 good players in the paint it forces defenses to draw more attention to those guys Bosh and Bargnani. Enter Kapono. Great 3 point shooter beyond the arc. Just another move imo that shows how smart Colangelo is. They got threats everywhere.

And the funny thing is, Bargnani is also a 3 point threat too...lol

I think there are guys on the bench that can start for other teams hands down.

I think as long as they can hold teams to a respectable 95-99 points a night they'll be fine. As long as they hold up that way they'll be alright. Because on most nights this team is going to score over 100 points.

But here's the thing, there are guys on this team that can play defense, and there are a few scrappers, along with rebounders too.

I think Bosh, Bargnani, Nesterovic, Humphries, and Garbohosa will help on the boards. And so will Parker and Delphino. Delphino and Parker are really solid defensive players. So is Bosh too. Bargnani needs to work on his defense. Calderon is an adequate defensive player too. A lot of guys on this team can play defense adequately.

[KC_Connection]

Originally Posted by RedBull

I agree, offense won't be a problem.

But the key for this team is Bargnani. I think he is going to get better. Once he does, he'll open up Bosh's game a bit inside the paint. Notice last year, teams were double, and triple covering Bosh a lot. Plus, when you have 2 good players in the paint it forces defenses to draw more attention to those guys Bosh and Bargnani. Enter Kapono. Great 3 point shooter beyond the arc. Just another move imo that shows how smart Colangelo is. They got threats everywhere.

And the funny thing is, Bargnani is also a 3 point threat too...lol

I think there are guys on the bench that can start for other teams hands down.

I think as long as they can hold teams to a respectable 95-99 points a night they'll be fine. As long as they hold up that way they'll be alright. Because on most nights this team is going to score over 100 points.

But here's the thing, there are guys on this team that can play defense, and there are a few scrappers, along with rebounders too.

I think Bosh, Bargnani, Nesterovic, Humphries, and Garbohosa will help on the boards. And so will Parker and Delphino. Delphino and Parker are really solid defensive players. So is Bosh too. Bargnani needs to work on his defense. Calderon is an adequate defensive player too. A lot of guys on this team can play defense adequately.

Bargnani needs to work on quite a few things, but right now I'm fine with him taking his jump shots and going to his face up game. Once he starts learning how to score on the post-up, you're right, that's when this team will take a huge step. His rebounding seems to have improved, and the guy isn't too bad a defensive player. He definitely is capable of blocking a few shots a night.

I'm also beginning to believe Delfino should be starting in front of Kapono, simply because Carlos can play defense at a high level, but I suppose it doesn't really matter if he gets the majority of the minutes when it matters most agaisnt good offensive players like Vince Carter. That isn't to say Kapono is a poor player at all, though. He definitely serves his purpose through his jump shot, but Delfino is overall the better player. It's just going to be tough to find minutes for everybody.

In the blowout game tonight, they had Delfino, Nesterovic, Garbo, Graham, and Humphries on the court at the end. For a few minutes I was wondering why the scrubs weren't in by now to prevent injuries, and then I realized that these guys were the worst players on our active roster, .

[RedThat]

Originally Posted by KC_Connection

Bargnani needs to work on quite a few things, but right now I'm fine with him taking his jump shots and going to his face up game. Once he starts learning how to score on the post-up, you're right, that's when this team will take a huge step. His rebounding seems to have improved, and the guy isn't too bad a defensive player. He definitely is capable of blocking a few shots a night.

I'm also beginning to believe Delfino should be starting in front of Kapono, simply because Carlos can play defense at a high level, but I suppose it doesn't really matter if he gets the majority of the minutes when it matters most agaisnt good offensive players like Vince Carter. That isn't to say Kapono is a poor player at all, though. He definitely serves his purpose through his jump shot, but Delfino is overall the better player. It's just going to be tough to find minutes for everybody.

In the blowout game tonight, they had Delfino, Nesterovic, Garbo, Graham, and Humphries on the court at the end. For a few minutes I was wondering why the scrubs weren't in by now to prevent injuries, and then I realized that these guys were the worst players on our active roster, .

lol....funny when you think of it? And those guys are good players too.

I agree man. Delphino should be a starter mainly because he brings defense to the table. That's what matters. You have Parker who can also play defense also combine that with good rebounding from Bosh and Bargnani. Rebounding and defense should get better.