Things that you found out about this Celtics team

[EJPLAYA]

Considering Powe won't be recovered until the All-Star break, we will have to make a decision long before that. I think that Powe will sign with us for a 2 year vet minimum contract and hope to play his way back and into a big contract when that runs up. I think we should be thrilled we are going to get him in that range and the chance is well worth it. He deserves it.

[LarBrd33]

I learned that the team goes from world class championship team to middle-of-the-road team simply by removing KG.   Forget the record without KG and forget the fact they took Orlando to 7 games... that is the sign of a OVERACHIEVING team.   Kevin Garnett is the Boston Celtics like Tim Duncan is the Spurs.  If the Spurs got to the 2nd round and took a team to 7 games without Duncan, people would flip.

I also learned that Rondo and Perk are going to make a very nice core for our future.  Perk is underrated and his defense limiting Dwight was the main reason we were able to take Orlando to 7.  He's serviceable offensively and capable of defending anyone.  Solid starting center. Meanwhile, Rondo seems to have allstar potential.  We have the two most important positions covered for the next decade.  Not bad.

I learned Marbury has almost nothing left at this point and probably has been overrated (Antoine Walker syndrome) for his entire career.

I learned this team truly had the heart of a champion, but without KG didn't have the talent of a champion. 

... and we need to make major improvements to our bench.

   

[drza44]

I found out that without KG, the Celtics...

[Dennis Green] are who I THOUGHT they were!!!  OK?!?! [/Dennis Green]

These are some snips of what I wrote in a thread on April 13, before the playoffs began ( http://forums.celticsblog.com/index.php?topic=27060.msg461017#msg461017 ):

Without KG the team identity has blurred to a more offensive focus, and the team relies much more on big individual efforts to win.  See, here's the thing.  The Celtics now, without KG are still a good team.  They have 3 very strong perimeter players, a solid defensive center, good and experienced role players and championship swagger.

But this isn't rocket science, nor is it a case of putting the individual above the team. It is simply true that removing KG from this team is a huge, wonkingly glaring bullet to be taken out of the gun.  Without him this team could still win games, but it goes from super-elite to simply good.  A similar historic example is the '93 and '94 Bulls.  The '93 Bulls won 57 games and their third straight title, then Jordan retired.  The '94 Bulls won 55 games without Jordan (only 2 fewer wins), but they couldn't make it out of the second round.  Without Jordan a crew of Pippen and a bunch of solid playoff-tested vets were still a very good team, but no longer super elite.  To me, that is what this year's Cs remind me of.

I didn't see a single thing in these playoffs to make me alter these opinions one iota. 

I think people now are being slightly over-critical of Pierce and Allen because they hoped for more, but if anything Pierce and Allen played BETTER through 2 rounds this postseason than they did through 2 rounds last year.  It's not that the suddenly got old, or were overly tired...who they were in this playoffs, is who they were in last year's playoffs, is who they are.  The reason that last year they were hailed as heroes (especially Pierce) while this year they are "older" or "tired" is that last year they were options 2 and 3 instead of options 1 and 2, which helped hide their weaknesses and accentuate their strengths.  The good news with that is that it isn't that suddenly 2 of our best players are worse players, but the bad news is that it really puts a lot of pressure on our best player's knee and health next season if we want to field a contender.

Rondo and Perk were much, MUCH better this year than they were last year, but neither of them are (quite) ready to be a foundation-level contributor to a contender.  Rondo may get there by as soon as next year, though, and Perk has firmly established himself as one of the better young centers in the NBA.  If they can go back to their roles next season, the Cs have a good chance to be much better moving forward.

I was impressed by Baby as a solid back-up PF.  I would like to see the Cs bring back both Marbury and House as back-up guards for next season, and if they do I think their PG position will be fine.  They desperately need a back-up SF, so a decision needs to be made on whether Walker (and/or Giddens) are ready for legitimate PT next year or whether to bring in another vet and basically punt on the kids.  The Cs also need a legitimate 7-footer off the bench that they can rely upon to play solid minutes.

But the biggest question, by far, is KG's knee.  IF (huge IF) KG is healthy next season, everyone gets to go back to their roles and the Cs are still deadly. Rondo and Perk are still on the upward arc of their career, Pierce is still at the end of his physical prime, and Allen should be fine as the 3rd scorer/assassin for years to come.  If KG can no longer be KG, then those that worry about the window closing may indeed have valid concerns.

[guava_wrench]

I learned that the team goes from world class championship team to middle-of-the-road team simply by removing KG.   Forget the record without KG and forget the fact they took Orlando to 7 games... that is the sign of a OVERACHIEVING team.   Kevin Garnett is the Boston Celtics like Tim Duncan is the Spurs.  If the Spurs got to the 2nd round and took a team to 7 games without Duncan, people would flip.

I also learned that Rondo and Perk are going to make a very nice core for our future.  Perk is underrated and his defense limiting Dwight was the main reason we were able to take Orlando to 7.  He's serviceable offensively and capable of defending anyone.  Solid starting center. Meanwhile, Rondo seems to have allstar potential.  We have the two most important positions covered for the next decade.  Not bad.

I learned Marbury has almost nothing left at this point and probably has been overrated (Antoine Walker syndrome) for his entire career.

I learned this team truly had the heart of a champion, but without KG didn't have the talent of a champion. 

... and we need to make major improvements to our bench.

   

How can you learn anything about Marbury's career from this season?

Too bad Marbury couldn't get in shape before the last few games. He was actually looking very fast last night.