How do we match up with Cleveland?

[Roy Hobbs]

C:  Shaq / Big Z
PF: Varejao / Hickson / (Powe)
SF: Lebron / Moon
SG: Delonte / Parker
PG: Williams / Gibson

C:  Perk / Rasheed
PF: KG / BBD / Scal
SF: Pierce / Daniels
SG: Ray / House
PG: Rondo / (?)

Both teams are fairly stacked.  On paper, which team is better, and why will we beat them in a playoff series?

[BudweiserCeltic]

The real question is... how does Cleveland match up with us?

Don't worry, we got them under control.

[footey]

C:  Shaq / Big Z
PF: Varejao / Hickson / (Powe)
SF: Lebron / Moon
SG: Delonte / Parker
PG: Williams / Gibson

C:  Perk / Rasheed
PF: KG / BBD / Scal
SF: Pierce / Daniels
SG: Ray / House
PG: Rondo / (?)

Both teams are fairly stacked.  On paper, which team is better, and why will we beat them in a playoff series?

I think we are better because we are more balanced, and will play better team ball, defensively and offensively, and move the ball better.  I feel that fact that we won a championship with this group, for the most part, and won 62 games despite losing our best player to injury last year, and have added a major front court player, will give us an edge. Finally, we may have the best PG in the Eastern Conference.  Certainly better than MW.

[Spilling Green Dye]

I don't think us winning this matchup is any sort of guarantee.  Last season we did not look good against Cleveland, and that was even with KG.  I think if the Celtics can execute the following key strategies, then a win will be very likely:

-Single cover on their Centers.  Orlando was able to do this very well, and still can.  Perkins was great, but now we have more firepower than last year.

-Defend the slash & kick by drawing offensive fouls and being quick to pop back out to the perimter.  Lebron's driving and passing to an open Wally/Delonte/Mo-Williams at the 3 point line was effective against the Celts.  Hopefully the Celtics get quicker feet.

-Abuse Cleveland on the pick and roll.  Rasheed is an enormous advantage against Cleveland due to the pick and roll and his ability to step out to the 3point line to shoot or facilitate the offense.

[BudweiserCeltic]

So who starts? Shaq or Big Z?

I'll let you know why this is particularly important. Perk is better guarding Shaq than Big Z. If they move Big Z to the bench, we can almost guarantee that we'll have Sheed or Garnett guarding him. So Big Z who has usually been a matchup problem for us, no longer is one.

[wdleehi]

Boston's advantages:

They have no one who can guard KG except maybe Lebron.  (but that would really wear on him in a 7 game series)

Rays's height difference over West means he shouldn't need as much room to get his shot off.

Shaq is not a threat outside so Perk will not be pulled from the basket.



Clev advantages

Lebron

If Shaq is in the low post, Perk will not be able to help on Lebrons drives as much or Shaq is going to dunk the Celtics to death.





In the end, I think the KG mismatch is what wins the battle for the Celtics.

[clover]

C:  Shaq / Big Z
PF: Varejao / Hickson / (Powe)
SF: Lebron / Moon
SG: Delonte / Parker
PG: Williams / Gibson

C:  Perk / Rasheed
PF: KG / BBD / Scal
SF: Pierce / Daniels
SG: Ray / House
PG: Rondo / (?)

Both teams are fairly stacked.  On paper, which team is better, and why will we beat them in a playoff series?

Is Scal going to be ahead of Shelden Williams after Clifford Ray's had his turn with him?  I don't know.

[Mike-Dub]

C:  Shaq / Big Z
PF: Varejao / Hickson / (Powe)
SF: Lebron / Moon
SG: Delonte / Parker
PG: Williams / Gibson

C:  Perk / Rasheed
PF: KG / BBD / Scal
SF: Pierce / Daniels
SG: Ray / House
PG: Rondo / (?)

Both teams are fairly stacked.  On paper, which team is better, and why will we beat them in a playoff series?

 C: Even
PF: Us EASILY
SF: Cavs barely
SG: Us but not by a whole lot
PG: Undetermined - Right now Cavs because we don't have one... (but when we get one... If it is a veteran back up pg and not Lester Hudson unless he proves himself and grows as a player over the seaon but for the start of the year they will have the edge if Lester is our back-up... If we sign a decent backup pg we will have the edge).

But Roy you forgot one HUGE IMPORTANT THING

Coach: Mike Brown

Coach: Doc Rivers

AND IN COACHING WE HAVE  A HUGE, HUGE, HUGE, HUGE EGE!

On paper I'd say we are barely better if not even because we don't know exactly how the acquisition of Shaq will effect they're starting five when we know we have the best five in the league and we don't have a backup PG.

We will beat them in a playoff series because we have been there before, Rondo and Perk will just continue to get better, we are the better defensive team, we are more of a team and not about 1 or 2 players, and WE HAVE THE MUCH BETTER COACHING AND OF COURSE "UNBUNTU"!

[the_Bird]

Cleveland's big addition was Shaq, of course.  I'll take my chances with the Perk/'Sheed/Landlord combination over virtually any other three big men in the league to keep him in check.  They're all strong enough to make like difficult for him.

Perhaps more importantly, how on earth is Cleveland going to defend KG and 'Sheed on the court together?  Is Shaq going to defend one of those guys on the perimiter?  While Perk should be able to handle Shaq one-on-one as well as anyone in the league, I suspect those Cleveland games may be ones where we see a lot of 'Sheed.  Our big men will be open ALL DAY.  Even if we have BBD in there, any advantage Shaq may have on offense will be offset by the disadvantage he'll be at on D.  Open jumpers ALL GAME LONG.

I'm still a little concerned about our ability to defend against good outside shooters like Mo Williams.  If he gets hot, I'm not sure how much I like Ray Allen being forced to guard him, and I *know* I don't want Eddie House having to check him.  If Mo and Delonte are connecting from downtown, that's a potential X factor, we just don't have an excess of athleticism at the wing spots anymore.  Daniels is the big X factor here.

[Who]

For now, I think Orlando and Boston are both comfortably ahead of the Cavs.

I'm not sure what to make of the Cavs. I'll have to see the improvement on the court before I'm convinced they've improved. I really just don't know how well Shaq will fit in there.

[Brendan]

I'd say our depth chart is:

Perk / Sheed
KG / BBD / Sheldon
Pierce / Scal
Ray / Daniels / Tony
Rondo / House

Sheed has some of the same Q's that Z and Shaq have, but Perk may be the best of the four. KG / BBD smoke their PFs. CLE has the better small forwards and as good as PP is, its not really close. In fact Moon and Parker let LBJ play PF, which would be a real tough matchup. Shoting guard I'd say is us. Point guard as well. Neither by a big margin.

I think it comes down to how well Brown uses the players he has, if he uses them well CLE wins. He won't though.

[Who]

As for matchups, I think Ray Allen and Paul Pierce have obliterated Anthony Parker + Jamario Moon over the past 2-3 years and don't see them as capable defenders against either player. I reckon that'll force LeBron to remain as a small forward in order to defend Pierce, leaving the Cavs with a more traditional lineup.

I also think the Cavs declining pick and roll defense makes them more vulnerable towards both Rondo + Pierce, and also to KG who's a superb pick and roll/pop big man.

I was more concerned about the Cavs last year, and the year before that, than this coming season.

[Michael Anthony]

C:  Shaq / Big Z
PF: Varejao / Hickson / (Powe)
SF: Lebron / Moon
SG: Delonte / Parker
PG: Williams / Gibson

C:  Perk / Rasheed
PF: KG / BBD / Scal
SF: Pierce / Daniels
SG: Ray / House
PG: Rondo / (?)

Both teams are fairly stacked.  On paper, which team is better, and why will we beat them in a playoff series?

 C: Even
PF: Us EASILY
SF: Cavs barely
SG: Us but not by a whole lot
PG: Undetermined

But Roy you forgot one HUGE IMPORTANT THING
Coach: Mike Brown
Coach: Doc Rivers

I think we get a slight nod a center because Perk-Shaq is even and Sheed-Z is favorable.

You might be exagerating the gap between Garnett and Varejao while minimizing the gap between Pierce and Lebron. Combined, we are a wash at forward.

Ray holds an advantage over West, but does not dominate him. Similarly, Rondo has an advantage over Williams, but does not dominate their either. Guards are a push.

Backups along the perimeter are pretty even, and we have a little more depth underneath.

I think you are right to point out the coaching advantage, but it is not because of Doc - it is because of our Assistant Head Coach.

Also, nobody on Cleveland is going to improve, while Boston is likely to see improvement from Rondo and Perk.

Slight edge Boston.

[Roy Hobbs]

I'm not completely sure that Perk and Shaq are a wash.  It will be interesting to see how Shaq fits in with Cleveland and their offense, but overall, he still has a lot left in the tank.

I think he'll be able to stop Perk one on one and slightly outrebound him.  Shaq's issue will be on pick-and-roll defense, I think.

[the_Bird]

I'm not completely sure that Perk and Shaq are a wash.  It will be interesting to see how Shaq fits in with Cleveland and their offense, but overall, he still has a lot left in the tank.

I think he'll be able to stop Perk one on one and slightly outrebound him.  Shaq's issue will be on pick-and-roll defense, I think.

If Doc plays 'Sheed at the 5, I don't think they can keep Shaq on the court.  'Sheed and KG will have open jumpers all day long; if they're hitting, I don't care what advantage Shaq may have when the ball's in his hands, they'll need to play Sideshow Bob just to have SOMEONE who can cover our perimiter bigs.  If our bigs are hitting their shots, Shaq's collecting splinters.