What are the team's expectations for these playoffs?

[Drucci]

This question occurred to me when I  finished reading this ESPN article.

See this quote from Perk :

"I don't think a lot of people are expecting us to make it past this round," the Celtics' Kendrick Perkins said. "If we make it past this round, I think that's good. But obviously that's not our goal. I think we could really make it to the Eastern Conference finals against the [Cleveland] Cavs, to be honest. And then just give ourselves a chance. Just give ourselves a chance."

Do you think the team has the same expectations as us? To reach the ECF and, with some luck (or KG's possible return) go back to the Finals?

Perkins doesn't seem very optimistic, I can't blame him for that but I'm just wondering if the team is feeling "doomed" in the East or if the players trust themselves and really think that they will repeat. Of course nobody will have the answer but I thought it would be an interesting discussion.

[the TRUTH]

Good question. Maybe some of our guys are starting to doubt themselves after such a grueling series (which is far from over). But knowing the competitors we have on this team, I think within team circles they sincerely believe they will win the title with or without KG. And as elite level athletes, they SHOULD think that. My take is that Perk is just playing into the national media's obsession with a possible Kobe-LeBron Finals, and just purposely laying low. We'll do our talking on the court in Game 1 of the ECF, and not a moment sooner.

[liam]

I think the finals has to be our goal. With a little luck we could get there. This team is in a dog fight with a team that is way better than it's record. That also happened last year. the 1st 2 rounds were the toughest for us and Detroit and LA were pushovers by the time we got there. This hard 1st round will only make us tougher.

[LarBrd33]

Every team wants to win the title, but it's not a realistic option for most teams.  Boston without KG is not a team that realistically has a chance of winning the title.   Even with KG this team probably wasn't going to beat the Cavs. 

[PosImpos]

Realistically this team has to have the ECF set as it's goal, though because they are winners they will surely keep the mindset like they can still win this, that every game is decided on the court and nowhere else.

As fans I think we have to be ecstatic if they end up getting to the ECF and giving Cleveland a decent series.

[BudweiserCeltic]

Championship.