Do we really have the firepower to win?

[kp4000]

The offseason has been excellent so far with many great acquisitions and our team looks wonderful and deep. Now that we have reloaded I can't help but to think about our chances of winning it all next season. Now there are a lot of factors that play in to who wins the championship. Injuries, injuries to other team's core players, scheduling, luck, etc. But from a pure speculation perspective I have one slight concern about our chances.

The NBA is a star heavy league and the team that comes out on top every year usually features great starpower. Look at Miami, the Lakers, us in 2008, heck even the Spurs won with arguably the best PF in the league at the time (KG or Duncan is really close, but that's another debate). Which leads me to this, do the C's have the starpower to hang with the super teams (Heat, Lakers if they land Howard)? We do not have a super star on our team anymore, PP is on the decline, KG is not his old self, Rondo is an all-star but not quite at the super star level. I guess the one exception is the Mavs, but those well balanced teams only win once every 10 years or so. What do you guys think?

Considering how far they nearly got last season working with less firepower. The bench disappeared at times during the post-season especially during the Heat/Celtics series. It's possible they have the firepower to win it all. They look good on paper so far though the roster isn't complete. Only time will tell. It's all about chemistry, folks!

Since acquiring, Lee, the haters have flooded twitter. lol

[Mr October]

Very interesting and valid points from everyone. But everyone seems to be speaking from an offensive perspective. Yes, those offensive droughts that were so painful to watch will occur less often. JET and Green will anchor the bench. But how about rebounding? I have a hard time imagining us raising banner 18 if we remain the league's worst rebounding team.

Yeah, I'd say 2 big holes.

1. Rebounding
2. A rim defender when KG rests.

The Celtics are going to have their trademark defense, execution and outside shooting. They'll also be adding more speed with Terry (compared to Dooling), Lee and Green.

[kp4000]

Celtics need to get 2 big men, if that's possible. 

[Quetzalcoatl]

Do other teams really have the firepower to overcome our defense?  I think it is going to be one of the best all time

[Shoot the J]

Very interesting and valid points from everyone. But everyone seems to be speaking from an offensive perspective. Yes, those offensive droughts that were so painful to watch will occur less often. JET and Green will anchor the bench. But how about rebounding? I have a hard time imagining us raising banner 18 if we remain the league's worst rebounding team.

I agree that it would be nice to see one of these last roster spots used for a big. But, if that doesn't happen, can't the Celtics improve their rebounding without adding a big body? I mean, rebounding can be taught, right? Yes it helps to have size. Yes it helps to have leaping ability. But the Celtics aren't all 5'11". I don't claim to know the game any better than anyone else here, but I watch a lot, and I play from time to time....rebounding is as much about position and boxing out as it is about ups. There were so many frustrating points last season where one opponent came down with the board while 3 or 4 Celtics stood and watched. THAT you can improve on. A small improvement from each player could go a long way.

[kozlodoev]

Celtics need to get 2 big men, if that's possible. 

No, they don't. Also, it's not possible.

[TripleOT]

The Cs have been a top defensive team in the KG era.  That shouldn't change.  Over the past five years, the offense has gotten stagnant and less potent. Throughout this time, the bench has always lacked punch, and many a second quarter swoon has turned prospective blowouts into close games.  

Now, with tons of depth, the Celtics can put up more points more easily.  Green, JET, and Lee are all good scorers. None of the new signees will provide the paint toughness and rebounding the Cs desperately need, but hopefully one or both of the rookie first rounders will be able to crack the rotation and help there. I'm thinking Sullinger will be ready to play by game one.  

[snively]

Very interesting and valid points from everyone. But everyone seems to be speaking from an offensive perspective. Yes, those offensive droughts that were so painful to watch will occur less often. JET and Green will anchor the bench. But how about rebounding? I have a hard time imagining us raising banner 18 if we remain the league's worst rebounding team.

Two potential solutions: 1. the non-KG plus-rebounding big men on our roster (Sullinger, Wilcox, maybe another big man addition) play well enough to crack the rotation.  2. We gain such a tremendous offensive benefit from playing small, fast and loose, that crappy rebounding doesn't derail our offensive firepower.

If the latter sounds far fetched, consider the example of the 05/06 Suns (one of my favorite teams to watch ever).  Despite ranking worst in the league in ORB%, they still fielded a top-2 offense, thanks to the open-court wizardry of Steve Nash, a corps of elite shooters (including Nash, Bell, Barbosa, Tim Thomas and Eddie House) and some high quality complementary scorers/playmakers in Marion (open-court finisher/mismatch for other 4s), Barbosa (dynamic combo guard) and Diaw (jack-of-all-trades).

This C's team doesn't have quite that firepower, but it could be in the general ballpark - open-court wizard in Rondo, a smaller but still potent stable of elite shooters (Terry, Lee, Pierce and maybe Bradley if he picks up where he left off before the injuries), a sort of quasi-Marion offensively in Jeff Green, a Barbosa-type bench scorer in Terry, and a Diaw-like jack-of-all-trades in Pierce.  And of course KG.

The big difference offensively, of course, is Rondo's lack of range/efficiency, and the Celtic's reliance on the 18-footer instead of the 3 from their big positions.

[LarBrd33]

we haven't addressed our biggest weakness... size.

Sullinger might turn into a player... maybe.  But I'm not giving my hopes up.  Our biggest need was a starting center to pair with KG and we haven't found one.

[kozlodoev]

We weren't "the league's worst rebounding team" -- and whatever issues we had were not due to personnel. We were the worst offensive rebounding team, which was largely by design. Other than that, we were a middle-of-the-pack defensive rebounding team.

[T-LoDaniels]

we haven't addressed our biggest weakness... size.

Sullinger might turn into a player... maybe.  But I'm not giving my hopes up.  Our biggest need was a starting center to pair with KG and we haven't found one.

KG is probably the 3rd best center in the league. Also, size in itself is HUGELY overrated IMO (excuse the pun). If you look at last season's conference semi-finals, none of the four teams had a "pure center". SA's most effective lineup was with Duncan at 5, Miami's was with Bosh at the 5, Oklahoma with Ibaka at 5 and us with KG at the 5.

Also, Sullinger and Wilcox are both slightly undersized, but are both not afraid to bang around inside.

[Prof. Clutch]

we haven't addressed our biggest weakness... size.

Sullinger might turn into a player... maybe.  But I'm not giving my hopes up.  Our biggest need was a starting center to pair with KG and we haven't found one.

Totally agree.

With the Celtics I'm concerned less with firepower and more with size.  I think we've got a bunch of guys who are talented at putting the ball in the hole.  We're not the biggest/tallest team however and we certainly don't have much length beyond KG.  Depth/size/rim protection at the Center spot is my main concern.

[JOMVP]

The rebounding with this team is something that always drives me crazy. They make it so much harder on themselves when they cannot control the boards on the defensive end, however, I'm the second half of the year with almost the same squad, they improved.

I think Danny Ainge built this team with the idea in mind of trying to stop players from driving from the perimeter. The idea is that they won't need as much presence down low defensively if they have athletic wing defenders who can just stop penetration altogether. Jeff Green and Lee help that.

With that being said, a guy who can come off the bench and block shots is really important. We don't know, but hopefully Fab Melo can develop into that sooner rather than later, but this team would be better off with trying to get Stiemsma back.

[kozlodoev]

we haven't addressed our biggest weakness... size.

Sullinger might turn into a player... maybe.  But I'm not giving my hopes up.  Our biggest need was a starting center to pair with KG and we haven't found one.

Given that Garnett can no longer play PF, I'd say that wasn't a consideration at all going into this offseason.

[wahz]

Cant winning championships 'make stars/superstars'?

If the C's win 18, assumedly on the back of Rondo/Pierce/Garnett, doesnt that both cement the legend status of the 2 vets and in 5 years we look back and say the C's won in 2012/2013 with Rondo as a star?

That said,the only player I see with enough potential to step up and provide the help those 3 need may be Green or Terry in key situations.

we will probably end games with this lineup:

KG
Bass
PP
Terry
Rondo

But it will depend on how Bradley's shooting progresses, how Rondos shooting progresses and how Green, Lee and Sullinger play this year. I agree with the concept that we need to have the best 5 and we won't, but we possibly have 3 hall of famers in the game...is that not enough??