This is where we find out what this team is made of

[ItStaysYang]

All season, many Celtic sympathizers have addressed the team's abysmal season by saying "just wait until the playoffs".

While that rationale has held up over the past few seasons (hindsight is 20/20) - last season in particular, does the same mindset apply to the playoffs this year?

Here are some questions I have been asking myself that can only be answered during or after the postseason. Feel free to weigh in.

• Jeff Green has shown he is capable of having big nights against big teams during the regular season. Does he fizzle out under the bright lights of the playoffs or does he continue to improve and ultimately become "the guy" at the end of close contests?
  
  
• Many have said you can never count a team with KG and Pierce out when the playoffs come. However, they are at the tail end of their careers and apparently each is marred by some type of nagging injury respectively. Do these guys have enough steam to win the Finals (assuming everything else goes right), let alone get to the finals?
  
  
• Regarding the bullet above - Pierce and KG had the support of (in my not so humble opinion) the best PG in the NBA. Is this seasons playoff appearance simply a learning experience for the new guys without Rondo?
  
  
• Does Courtney Lee fizzle out or continue to provide solid all around play (as he has shown in flashes during the regular season)?
  
  
• Does AB recover from his abysmal offensive slump? When Rondo was healthy, AB could start based on his defensive merits alone. With limited weapons, AB knows he has to score more - and it seems as if he is feeling the pressure. Is Bradley also an "x-factor"?
  
  
• Should Brandon Bass continue to shoot open jumpers in his spots? Should he focus less on scoring and more on rebounding and defense (especially rotations)? What role should Brandon Bass adopt during the postseason?
  
  
• The new guys - TWill, Randolph, White, Crawford (gulp) - can these guys live up to title expectations and provide reliable minutes under increased pressure?
  
  
• Chemistry - partially in relation to the above bullet - The big 4 is gone. The big 3 is gone. Pierce, KG, Bradley, and Bass have played together in the postseason. Everyone else is new, and often this season it seemed as if there were troubling chemistry issues. Can the team overcome these problems and play like a unit in the games that matter the most, or are we fooling ourselves by thinking that?
  
  
• Jason Terry - the guy has had an abysmal season, and loves to run his mouth. Big disappointment. Recently he stated that the playoffs are a "new season" and he is "exicted for the new season to start". Does this guy live up to the hype he and his signing brought or does he end his first year as a Celtic in embarassment?
  
  
• Rebounding - with Shav getting uncertain minutes, Bass not being a great rebounder, and Wilcox specializing more on the offensive side than the defensive side - can this team get wins while simultaneously being at a rebounding deficit against teams that play big?
  
  

Lastly - do you truly believe the Celtics can beat the Knicks in the first round - regardless of how many games it takes? Does the winner of game one take the series?

I'm sure there are more, but these strike me as the most important. Feel free to add questions of your own to bring more perspective to the enigmatic postseason we are about to experience.

I must say, it's going to be interesting this year, since due to many of the circumstances above, I am indifferent. Go Celtics, can't wait

[Lightskinsmurf]

All season, many Celtic sympathizers have addressed the team's abysmal season by saying "just wait until the playoffs".

While that rationale has held up over the past few seasons (hindsight is 20/20) - last season in particular, does the same mindset apply to the playoffs this year?

Here are some questions I have been asking myself that can only be answered during or after the postseason. Feel free to weigh in.

• Jeff Green has shown he is capable of having big nights against big teams during the regular season. Does he fizzle out under the bright lights of the playoffs or does he continue to improve and ultimately become "the guy" at the end of close contests?
  
  
• Many have said you can never count a team with KG and Pierce out when the playoffs come. However, they are at the tail end of their careers and apparently each is marred by some type of nagging injury respectively. Do these guys have enough steam to win the Finals (assuming everything else goes right), let alone get to the finals?
  
  
• Regarding the bullet above - Pierce and KG had the support of (in my not so humble opinion) the best PG in the NBA. Is this seasons playoff appearance simply a learning experience for the new guys without Rondo?
  
  
• Does Courtney Lee fizzle out or continue to provide solid all around play (as he has shown in flashes during the regular season)?
  
  
• Does AB recover from his abysmal offensive slump? When Rondo was healthy, AB could start based on his defensive merits alone. With limited weapons, AB knows he has to score more - and it seems as if he is feeling the pressure. Is Bradley also an "x-factor"?
  
  
• Should Brandon Bass continue to shoot open jumpers in his spots? Should he focus less on scoring and more on rebounding and defense (especially rotations)? What role should Brandon Bass adopt during the postseason?
  
  
• The new guys - TWill, Randolph, White, Crawford (gulp) - can these guys live up to title expectations and provide reliable minutes under increased pressure?
  
  
• Chemistry - partially in relation to the above bullet - The big 4 is gone. The big 3 is gone. Pierce, KG, Bradley, and Bass have played together in the postseason. Everyone else is new, and often this season it seemed as if there were troubling chemistry issues. Can the team overcome these problems and play like a unit in the games that matter the most, or are we fooling ourselves by thinking that?
  
  
• Jason Terry - the guy has had an abysmal season, and loves to run his mouth. Big disappointment. Recently he stated that the playoffs are a "new season" and he is "exicted for the new season to start". Does this guy live up to the hype he and his signing brought or does he end his first year as a Celtic in embarassment?
  
  
• Rebounding - with Shav getting uncertain minutes, Bass not being a great rebounder, and Wilcox specializing more on the offensive side than the defensive side - can this team get wins while simultaneously being at a rebounding deficit against teams that play big?
  
  

Lastly - do you truly believe the Celtics can beat the Knicks in the first round - regardless of how many games it takes? Does the winner of game one take the series?

I'm sure there are more, but these strike me as the most important. Feel free to add questions of your own to bring more perspective to the enigmatic postseason we are about to experience.

I must say, it's going to be interesting this year, since due to many of the circumstances above, I am indifferent. Go Celtics, can't wait

That's alot of questions there......Ill go in order. Yes I do think green continues his regular season play. Meaning he'll have a couple of big nights and he'll have some nights where he doesn't do much of anything.

Do these guys have enough steam to win the finals? No, I don't think so.

 Is this seasons playoff appearance simply a learning experience for the new guys without Rondo? Sure

Does Courtney Lee fizzle out or continue to provide solid all around play? His biggest contribute will be on the defensive end. He will be SOLID in the playoffs.

Does AB recover from his abysmal offensive slump? He'll have his moments but overall no. His defensive game will be huge for us tho.

Should Brandon Bass continue to shoot open jumpers in his spots? Should he focus less on scoring and more on rebounding and defense? He should focus on all of those things. Not just one or the other, this is the playoffs. We need him to do it all.

The new guys - TWill, Randolph, White, Crawford (gulp) - can these guys live up to title expectations and provide reliable minutes under increased pressure? I have no idea.

Chemistry- Yes I think they can overcome it and play well as a team. They already showed they know how too.

Does jason terry live up to the hype? YES.

Can this team get wins while simultaneously being at a rebounding deficit against teams that play big? Yes, but we have to do everything else well. Defense, making shots, etc.

Lastly - do you truly believe the Celtics can beat the Knicks in the first round? Does the winner of game 1 take the series? Yes I do, and NO. I think the first two games will dictate who wins the series tho. If the celtics lose game 1 but take game 2 they're good. If the knicks win both the celtics are in trouble. If the celtics win both, the knicks are done.

[badshar]

First, your second bullet point is not correct, because its not like KG and Pierce were not at the tail end of their careers last year.

In fact, even though they had Rondo, more than half the team was either not available or playing injured, which is not true this season.

Sure Rondo is out for this year, but we have Jeff Green, Wilcox, Terry, Lee, Bradley etc. this year. Compare that to the quality of support we had last year and you instantly see how much better we are this year.

There is no way Rondo's production equals to that of Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox, Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Avery Bradley and others COMBINED. Not only the production, we have more bodies this year as opposed to last year.

Next, Brandon Bass does not need to focus less on scoring. Its obvious by now that we have trouble scoring sometimes and you want the most consistent player on the team to stop scoring?

As for the new guys, its upon Doc if he decides to let them play legit minutes instead of last 1 minute of a blowout game.

Lastly, Jeff Green's big plays this season have shown that he is not afraid of the spot light. And if he really is not afraid of them, then "bright lights of the playoffs" should not limit him. As for the end of close contests, I still would like to go with Pierce unless we can successfully draw a play that uses Pierce as a decoy and leaves Green wide open for a shot, similar to the game against Pacers.

[Clench123]

The fact that we're going to need Jason Terry to play well makes me cringe

[Lightskinsmurf]

The fact that we're going to need Jason Terry to play well makes me cringe

It shouldn't, without terry dallas doesn't win the championship in 2011. The guy has proven himself on the biggest stage. Why doubt him now?

[slamtheking]

chiche title but it still fits.  expecting a better performance than we've seen so far this season but I think it'll ultimately come up short for the following reasons:
- no Rondo or Sully (obvious difference makers for us)
- JET has sucked all year.  no expectations for more than 1 good game from him
- Green has been inconsistent most of the year although he's been better the past month.
- Avery and Lee can't hit their shots consistently.  C's need everyone hitting to win this series.
- KG is not the 20+ point a game scorer he used to be.  C's will need that kind of offense from him and I don't know if he can produce like that for the full series

[Lightskinsmurf]

chiche title but it still fits.  expecting a better performance than we've seen so far this season but I think it'll ultimately come up short for the following reasons:
- no Rondo or Sully (obvious difference makers for us)
- JET has sucked all year.  no expectations for more than 1 good game from him
- Green has been inconsistent most of the year although he's been better the past month.
- Avery and Lee can't hit their shots consistently.  C's need everyone hitting to win this series.
- KG is not the 20+ point a game scorer he used to be.  C's will need that kind of offense from him and I don't know if he can produce like that for the full series

Lol, so what does this all translate into ? Knicks sweep? Knicks in 5 ? Do the celtics stand a chance at all? *Edit* Not true by the way. Hes been the same guy hes always been.

[GreenFaith1819]

This is what I think this team is made of:



We lost Rondo, Sully and Barbosa...lost KG and Pierce for a few games....waited for Jeff Green to get on track, etc...

But here we are.

The Boston Celtics won't disappoint us. At the very LEAST, we'll give NY a difficult series.

But I'm expecting a LOT more from this team of ours.

[slamtheking]

chiche title but it still fits.  expecting a better performance than we've seen so far this season but I think it'll ultimately come up short for the following reasons:
- no Rondo or Sully (obvious difference makers for us)
- JET has sucked all year.  no expectations for more than 1 good game from him
- Green has been inconsistent most of the year although he's been better the past month.
- Avery and Lee can't hit their shots consistently.  C's need everyone hitting to win this series.
- KG is not the 20+ point a game scorer he used to be.  C's will need that kind of offense from him and I don't know if he can produce like that for the full series

Lol, so what does this all translate into ? Knicks sweep? Knicks in 5 ? Do the celtics stand a chance at all? *Edit* Not true by the way. Hes been the same guy hes always been.

he's sucked all year.  I think it's a pretty clear statement.  he hasn't shown any ability to put together a string of good games. 

it doesn't translate into anything but for what it's worth, I think it'll be the Knicks in 6.  It's not the results I want but i think this team will be hardpressed to even get 2 wins in this series. 

- Melo is capable of scoring as much as PP AND Green in the same game.
- JR Smith is the best scoring guard in the series.
- Chandler, Martin, Copeland are a better defending/rebounding group than KG, Bass, Wilcox and Shavlik.
- Felton's finally looking like a starting quality PG instead of the bust he's looked like early in his career.  Kidd, while not the triple-double threat he once was, is still a very capable backup with lots of playoff experience.
- Novak can get hot with less than a moment's notice.   
- Shumpert is no slouch as a defender or scorer.
- Not that Amare is expected back for this series BUT if he does make an appearance, a he's a definite impact player. 

Not an impossible task for the C's but they've got to shut down Melo and Smith to have a shot. 

[aporel#18]

Grit and balls.

The Knicks will hate the day they clinched the 2nd seed. The Pitbulls will make Prigioni, Kidd and Felton's lives miserable and KG-Pierce-Green will make bucket after bucket. Bass, Crawford and the Jet will try hard on D and will get their points. And if Jeff is X-Factor, T-Will will be Y-Factor. He showed great D against Rudy Gay in Toronto, if he can give us 10-12 minutes of intense D at either guard spot or even SF, our opponents will want no part of the Celtics.

The biggest question mark is rebounding and inside D without KG. Shav and Wilcox need to step up on D, crash the boards and give some hard fouls.

Celtics in 6, they steal game 5 in MSG and then close the series at home.

TP to GreenFaith... spot on with that picture.

Go Celtics!

[Lightskinsmurf]

chiche title but it still fits.  expecting a better performance than we've seen so far this season but I think it'll ultimately come up short for the following reasons:
- no Rondo or Sully (obvious difference makers for us)
- JET has sucked all year.  no expectations for more than 1 good game from him
- Green has been inconsistent most of the year although he's been better the past month.
- Avery and Lee can't hit their shots consistently.  C's need everyone hitting to win this series.
- KG is not the 20+ point a game scorer he used to be.  C's will need that kind of offense from him and I don't know if he can produce like that for the full series

Lol, so what does this all translate into ? Knicks sweep? Knicks in 5 ? Do the celtics stand a chance at all? *Edit* Not true by the way. Hes been the same guy hes always been.

he's sucked all year.  I think it's a pretty clear statement.  he hasn't shown any ability to put together a string of good games. 

it doesn't translate into anything but for what it's worth, I think it'll be the Knicks in 6.  It's not the results I want but i think this team will be hardpressed to even get 2 wins in this series. 

- Melo is capable of scoring as much as PP AND Green in the same game.
- JR Smith is the best scoring guard in the series.
- Chandler, Martin, Copeland are a better defending/rebounding group than KG, Bass, Wilcox and Shavlik.
- Felton's finally looking like a starting quality PG instead of the bust he's looked like early in his career.  Kidd, while not the triple-double threat he once was, is still a very capable backup with lots of playoff experience.
- Novak can get hot with less than a moment's notice.   
- Shumpert is no slouch as a defender or scorer.
- Not that Amare is expected back for this series BUT if he does make an appearance, a he's a definite impact player. 

Not an impossible task for the C's but they've got to shut down Melo and Smith to have a shot.

Its also a false statement. Hes had some really bad games *Especially to end the season* and hes had some good games. Hes always been a streaky shooter. Anyways, we'll see how right you are once the playoffs start. It will be fun comparing predictions.

[Q_FBE]

THe Celtics win this series because the Knicks rely on Melo and three point shooting too much. The key here is Jeff Green on Melo with KG and Pierce playing well and keeping that three point shooting in check.

[bobbyv]

This is a chance for Jeff Green to become a star. What better way than putting up big points in the garden while defending the scoring champion Carmelo Anthony?

[tarheelsxxiii]

This is a chance for Jeff Green to become a star. What better way than putting up big points in the garden while defending the scoring champion Carmelo Anthony?

Seems to be the time he solidifies who he is... no hiding anymore. This is the big stage, and we need him to be big if we're going to advance. Pressure is on... think this series will give us a very good idea of who we have for the next few years down the road in Green.

[ItStaysYang]

One game is a small sample but so far, here is what we have learned

• Jeff Green was NOT "the guy" at the end of a reasonably close contest. Far from it. What happened to this guy in the second half?
  
  
• KG and Pierce were a combined 11 for 35. In the absence of Rondo - and in general - that is unacceptable. KG was 4 for 13 and Pierce was 1 for 7 from deep. Huh?
  
  
• The fourth quarter in game 1 really made it evident how much this team needs Rondo. Before the game, Rondo knew all of New York's sets. Rondo is intelligent. The good outweighs the bad with Rondo, and without his passing, the team looked confused and without confidence. Not sure why another PG was never brought in as opposed to a bunch of scorers, but man, we miss you Rondo
  
  
• In regard to C-Lee "fizzling out". 0-3 in just over twenty minutes. On a team that lacks scoring (especially in pivotal moments), that is unacceptable.
  
  
• Avery looked better tonight, but if one thing is for certain - this guy is not a point guard. Too many terrible passes (some which led to turnovers), and -8 in 35 minutes with 15 points. Played solid D (for the most part) but was far from an "x-factor"
  
  
• Bass' 10 rebounds somewhat makes up for his 4 points. But as I contrasted his need to score vs his need to rebound - I firmly expected him to crash the boards hard if he was going to remain invisible on offense. 10 rebounds is not great in 32 minutes
  
  
• The new guys... Crawford, no shots? DNP's all around elsewhere? Gulp
  
  
• Chemistry - these guys looked terrible out there as a unit tonight. I grew tired of the ball constantly ending up in Pierce's hands and seeing everyone else watch him hoping he would bail them out. Unacceptable.
  
  
• Jason Terry - wow. Maybe it wouldn't sting so much if he hadn't talked so much smack. Unacceptable.
  
  
• Rebounding - 44 a piece per team. Seeing as rebounding is and has been a Celtic weakness, I would have expected more given that it wasn't a problem tonight. Maybe even a closer game, even if not a w?
  
  

Do I believe the Celtics can overcome the Knicks? Not if they play like they did tonight. If the Celtics continue to perform at this level - as embarrassing as it is - I hope NYK makes it painless so I can officially put this season behind me and focus on the years to come with Sully, Bradley, and Green