Championship repeat chances looking great

[BballTim]

this is how i rank the top 5 teams in each conference

east
1. celtics
2. cavs
3. pistons
4. wizards
5. philly

Toronto and Orlando close by after

west
1. Lakers
2. New Orleans
3. Spurs
4. Utah
5. Clippers

Teams i wouldn't like to face are washington and new orleans

Hey Triboy, I'm kinda wondering about your picks.  Top 4 in both conferences make sense to me, but I'm really baffeled by your #5 picks in both conferences. 

Clippers #5? They added Baron and Camby, but lost Brand and Maggette, sounds like a wash to me (not completely, but that's another argument)

  I don't like the Clips that much, but Brand hardly played last year. It's more like losing Maggette and adding Davis and Camby.

[Triboy16]

this is how i rank the top 5 teams in each conference

east
1. celtics
2. cavs
3. pistons
4. wizards
5. philly

Toronto and Orlando close by after

west
1. Lakers
2. New Orleans
3. Spurs
4. Utah
5. Clippers

Teams i wouldn't like to face are washington and new orleans

Hey Triboy, I'm kinda wondering about your picks.  Top 4 in both conferences make sense to me, but I'm really baffeled by your #5 picks in both conferences. 

Clippers #5? They added Baron and Camby, but lost Brand and Maggette, sounds like a wash to me (not completely, but that's another argument), you really think they are gonna go from 23 wins to 50+? (I'm just assuming they'd have to win 50+ to be considered a top 5 threat in the West).  I just don't see it, but then again I haven't watched alot of Clipper ball and haven't been paying much attention to them so maybe I'm just missing something.  I know they had injuries, but then are you really expecting Camby and Davis, two guys who have been notoriously injury prone throughout their careers, to stay healthy?

And you're more scared of Philly than Orlando?  I guess I'm not really baffled by the Philly pick though, just really disagree with that one.  I'm way more scared of Orlando.  Dwight Howard may be the most unstopable player after Lebron and Kobe, I could even see him being more dominant then either next year or soon thereafter, Howard is just a beast.  Philly doesn't scare me at all, I like Brand, but I just don't think he puts any team (short of an already stacked team) over the top.  I'm scared of Orlando because 2 quick fouls by Perk and we're really in trouble, plus with their ability to hit the 3 with guys like Rashard and Turk , that's a pretty tough inside-outside threat.  Of their 4 returing startes, 3 of them averaged 40% or better from behind the arc, the other being Howard.  Their core is back and is only getting better or at least isn't declining yet (unlike stars on the C's, Piston's, Sun's, Spurs, etc who are on the decline).  Add in JJ Redick and I think you can see why I'm concerned.  (Ok that last line is a joke, I'm serious about the other stuff though).

Well you know the problem with orlando the past few years is that they just don't know how to win close games. Howard is a great player but he can easily get frustrated by a weaker but smarter players like rasheed wallace. His offense is also brutal in my opinion. Orlando also lacks a player like a pierce, arenas, mcgrady. You know those players when it doesn't matter if you play on the road or have refs against you, they will get you 40 points and sneak a win for you.

With Philly i really like their team this year. They were really hot when the season finished and just didn't have the experience to compete in the playoffs. They have delambert and brand upfront, plus iguadala has potential to be a guy who can get you that 30 or 40 point on the road. So even though orlando might be better during the regular season, they will get ousted in the first round again this year. I see philly though as a team nobody really would want to face

Also just my opinion that clippers are #5 and not teams like the mavs or nuggets. Clippers have two good centers in camby and kaman. So as long as one is playing they could really try anyone decent in the pf. Then it gets good, cuz they have al thornton(who i believe will break out this year) and baron davis of course. Baron davis and al thornton are the type of guys who can get you 30-40 points on any given night. I like how they have the 1 and 5 down , plus a guy like thornton(eric gordon could be suprising).

[ma11l]

We definitely have to be the favorites to come out of the East.  It'll be interesting to see what Detroit does, and of course there is always LeBron.  However I still see us back in the Finals next year.


I like The Big Three and Doc (yeah, I said it, he did just outcoach a legend) in a 7 game series against anyone.  I like our chances right now.

[Green182009]

[Edited] The chances are great!  No other team has a Big 3 like our Big 3! ...

Spurs will play Celtics in the Finals ...


=============================

I deleted most of your post, and edited the rest.  We don't allow all-caps posts here.  -R.H.

[JBcat]

I'm not sure if I agree 100% with theory our chemistry will be better because we had a year to build on it.  Last year we started off 29-3 and our point differential at that time was almost 20 a game.  If anything we tailed off slightly after that fast start.   So if you buy into the theory 100% then we probably shouldn't have started off so great last year.  However I still think we have a chance to be as good if not better not so much about chemistry but  I expect a real breakout season from Rondo and continued improved play from Perkins, Powe, Davis, Tony Allen, an unexpected nice surprise out of the O'Byrant, Giddens, Walker, Pruitt group, and not much of a decline if any at all from the big 3. 

[zerophase]

i'm really worried about orlando and washington. we had trouble with the wizards last year and i see those problems persisting onto this year. the wizards are an amazing shooting team and we really have no answer to their 3 pointers. next orlando is a problem because of howard. we really have no one to bang with him. perkins is strong enough but not athletic enough. next you have lewis playing the 4, and garnett has a touch time guarding on the perimeter.

[Jon]

I'm not that worried about Orlando and Washington.  While I'm not going to look it up right now, I'm fairly certain at least some of the losses we had against them came with either Allen or Garnett out. 

I might be in the minority here, but I don't think Bynum is going to help the Lakers nearly as much as some do.  Yes, he should make them have a better interior defense; however, it may not be as much as some think.  He's still very young and it remains to be seen if he can grasp the concept of team defense like a guy like Perkins.  And that's not even factoring in whether a guy like Gasol or Odom can buy into it as well.  Offensively, I think Bynum is actually going to make them worse.  Throwing him into the mix, takes Radmanovic out.  And while I think Radmanovic is a bum, he did spread the floor with his range.  Now, the Lakers will most likely start a front court of Bynum/Gasol/Odom.  None of them have range.  It's going to make it very easy for opposing teams to pack the defense in the middle, making it hard for any of them to post up and hard for Kobe to get to the hoop.  I think their dynamic offense of last year could really stall as a result of this. 

As many of you said, the Cavs probably worry me the most.  LeBron is a tough cover, and he was probably the one player that Posey was most useful against, so that hurts.  They also have good outside shooters, which makes it hard to clog the middle.  On top of all of that, they have excellent size up front in Z, Wallace, Smith, and Varejo.  That really hurt us last year: they shot over us at times and our guys had trouble finishing around the hoop. 

Still, when it comes down to it, I think the Celtics still have the best starting lineup in basketball.  Rondo should take it to a new level this year, as should Perk.  If they can all stay healthy, we should be able to get by with our bench, regardless of how it pans out. 

[ScoobyDoo]

Any team with leBron on it worries me...

1. Cleveland
2. Washington ( if Healthy )
3. Detroit
4. Philly
5. Toronto and Orlando

[wiley]

More worried about Philly with a healthy Brand, Speights as a backup and the rest of their team coming back, than anyone else.  Worried in order:

1. Philly
2. Cleveland
3. Atlanta (everyone but Childress returning)
4. Orlando
5. Detroit
6. Toronto

From the West, I think the Hornets will edge L.A. to get to the finals.

philly hasent signed AI yet, without him they'll be mediocre.

how can you rank atlanta, who hasen't resigned josh smith yet, above orlando?

im sorry, orlando is much better than atlanta.

Wasn't really saying one team was better than another, just thinking more about matchups, and also the element of surprise (understimating a team, etc...)

Of course Philly without AI and Atlanta without Josh Smith are complete non-threats......

I was worried about Orlando last year because Dwight Howard scares me, and then they went ker-plop.......Will they be better this year?  Maybe if Courtney Lee is Rookie-of-the-yearish.....

Cleveland's extra year playing together will do nothing for them.  They need to get rid of their deep supporting cast in order to get a bonafide talent or two playing with James.  I'm not saying they're bad.  They're [dang] good, but not good enough.  Still worthy of fear, however.

Philly could give us more problems in a similar way that Atlanta was tough on us....I"m scared of young athletic teams that don't know any better (with a vet PG in Philly's case), which is not to say they are better than the Detroits and Clevelands of the conference...Orlando still needs a big-time leader......they don't have a Joe Johnson type on that team...Orlando may be a better team than Atlanta, but not by much....

I forgot all about Washington.....I don't know where to put them, probably after Cleveland and ahead of Atlanta in fear factor.....

Agree completely that Celtics are the best team in the East and will have the best record in the East......

[BillfromBoston]

...Boston just added a ton of young, athletic talent to their club too...Powe/TA/Rondo is a pretty athletic bunch and the C's May just throw in O'Bryant/Giddens/Walker situationally as well...there's a long time to go before the playoffs folks...i'm not going to freak out about other teams until I watch this one take the floor...

[fan33]

Indeed!

I can see overall improvement as a team having met all challenges last year presented and having overcome! Trust leadership and coaching should be better focused with the experience gained both positives and the negatives, as a team and on the individual level having knowable expectations.

I also do like the addition of more atheletic (even if raw), tallents to mix into and grow from being on the floor with our Champions. Yes, it rubs off and average players are made to look and play better with seasoned tallents, its infectious !

With some luck in terms of health/injurys(as always, but never a given), I expect ECFC and first seed once again and without hesitation the World Champinon Celtics winning it again to repeat against any and all in a 7 game series

-Go Celtics-