I think that this lineup could have beaten the Heat -
Rondo, Stephenson, Pierce, Bass, and Garnett, with Ray as the 6th man because of his injury. We would have beaten them with Bradley, and I see no reason why Lance could not have contributed the same, or more, on both ends. Unlike Avery, Stephenson can guard Lebron and Wade, and, coupled with the contributions of Pietrus, I think that we could have done it, with or without Bosh from game 1, because we were beating Miami convincingly with Bradley. Thoughts?
I'm assuming you're referring to our last trip to the ECF?
Honestly, I think losing AB was the turning point in that playoff run. That team was a terrible offensive team with pretty mediocre talent, and we won every one of those playoff games by grinding it out with hard nosed defence, and pure unrelenting effort. A number of those games were won on 3 or 4 hustle plays from unlikely heroes - some huge clutch defence by Dooling, along with a couple of huge offensive plays by Marquis and Pietrus pretty much was what decided it, that's how close those first two rounds were.
We had to fight on every possession to scrape past Philly in the first round, then Atlanta in the second. Everybody probably remembers how huge Rondo and Garnett were in that playoff run (they basically carried the team) but I think that AB was absolutely huge in that run. His defence was absolutely suffocating, and he contributed significantly on offense too. From memory his +/- stat during that playoff run was among some of the best in the league (and second best on the team after KG). Without AB, I very seriously doubt we'd have made it to the ECF, and we probably never would have faced the Heat.
I really thought AB was going to be the wildcard in that Boston/Miami series. Between Pierce, Marquis and Pietrus we had enough swingmen to throw at Lebron to make his life difficult, KG has always done a nice job on Bosh, and AB had a history of giving Dwyane Wade grief with his defence. We were outdone on talent (remember Pierce and Ray were both playing injured) but I really felt like if we stretched it out to 6 or 7 games, we had a genuine shot of pulling off an upset. Once we lost Bradley with the shoulder injury for the rest of that series, I knew we were done. It forced us to throw guys like Pietrus and Marquis on to D Wade, which left us with not enough bodies to throw at Lebron...and LBJ destroyed us, well and truly.
I don't think we would have fared any better with Stephenson then we would have with AB. In fact I think we would have had a better chance against Miami with a healthy Bradley then we would have with Stephenson, who was a very mediocre player at that time.
Also I'm not so sure I agree with the idea that Stephenson has the size to defend Lebron. Lebron has a good 3" and 30lbs over Stephenson AND he's more athletic. He'd have a better chance against him than AB would, but I still think Lebron would kill him.
I don't know...Lance Stephenson is a talented player, but I think people really underestimate the impact Avery Bradley can have on a game. With his motor, his hustle and his intensity he's the type of player who has the potential to change the outcome of an entire playoff series without having to have a single play called for him.
AB was a