Is This Team Better Than The 07-08 Team?

[LarBrd33]

Sheed is a massive massive addition.  I really underestimated him.  I don't even care about the threes.  Those are nice and Posey-esque, but that's not even what I'm talking about.  The main reason Boston is successful is because of their defense.  The core of our defense is Kevin Garnett.  What he does for us with his length and quickness and savvy is the biggest part of our team.  This is why when you replace Kevin Garnett with some fat 2nd rounder... the team suddenly gives up 20 extra points a game, can barely beat the Bulls and ends up losing to the Orlando Magic.    What Sheed does is basically makes it so that we have Kevin Garnett's defensive impact for the entire length of the game.  We don't lose anything.  We seem to give up nothing when the bench comes in, because we are maintaining our defensive effectiveness for 4 quarters.

Way too early to really know what's going to happen with this team.  Injuries could derail us.  But it appears we are seeing a really special ballclub right now.  They have a chance to be historically good if they can remain healthy.  No way to compare this team to 08 until the dust settles... but I'd say that at this very moment it at least appears are playing on a level that surpasses anything over the last 3 years.  We'll see if they can sustain it.

Did Glen Davis do something to your family?

No... I'm just sayin that it's a freefall in talent dropoff.  The first 5 games have reiterated what makes our team so effective.  You can't take a quick 7 footer with ridiculous wingspan and defensive genius and replace him with a 6'6 fat kid and expect to have anywhere near the same kind of success. It wasn't Obese's fault he got thrown into that role.  Obese was solid as a 3rd string big man. 

So not only is KG back, but there is a MASSIVE upgrade as his backup with Sheed joining the team.  The team's defense no longer tanks with KG on the bench.  Sheed is filling in perfectly... we continue to get a ton of stops/deflections/forced missed shots with Sheed out there.  It makes our team dangerous for 48 minutes.   

[Celtsette]

I think it's really too soon to tell - you can't really compare teams realistically until the season is over. If you had to compare the two teams at this exact point in time, then yes, I think this ones better.

[wdleehi]

Stronger bench. 


But the only way this team can be better is if KG get back to playing as well and as consistent as he was that year. 


Mind you I think he will.  It just isn't a given yet. 



But you can throw out all the improvements of the younger players and the extra bench talent; KG is the key to the Celtics title hopes. 

[NextCeltic34]

We are better.

[Drucci]

We are better.

Definitely. The bench is just great. We may not have Orlando's depth but our 3 guys from the 2nd unit are just excellent, and have a great chemistry.

[clover]

PJ only played 11 minutes a game.  Sheed is much more valuable than Brown was. 

Danny prepared for the worst, in which Sheed would have to fill in for KG, and got the best--both of them healthy and playing.

[Fafnir]

Sheed is a massive massive addition.  I really underestimated him.  I don't even care about the threes.  Those are nice and Posey-esque, but that's not even what I'm talking about.  The main reason Boston is successful is because of their defense.  The core of our defense is Kevin Garnett.  What he does for us with his length and quickness and savvy is the biggest part of our team.  This is why when you replace Kevin Garnett with some fat 2nd rounder... the team suddenly gives up 20 extra points a game, can barely beat the Bulls and ends up losing to the Orlando Magic.    What Sheed does is basically makes it so that we have Kevin Garnett's defensive impact for the entire length of the game.  We don't lose anything.  We seem to give up nothing when the bench comes in, because we are maintaining our defensive effectiveness for 4 quarters.

Way too early to really know what's going to happen with this team.  Injuries could derail us.  But it appears we are seeing a really special ballclub right now.  They have a chance to be historically good if they can remain healthy.  No way to compare this team to 08 until the dust settles... but I'd say that at this very moment it at least appears are playing on a level that surpasses anything over the last 3 years.  We'll see if they can sustain it.

Did Glen Davis do something to your family?

No... I'm just sayin that it's a freefall in talent dropoff.  The first 5 games have reiterated what makes our team so effective.  You can't take a quick 7 footer with ridiculous wingspan and defensive genius and replace him with a 6'6 fat kid and expect to have anywhere near the same kind of success. It wasn't Obese's fault he got thrown into that role.  Obese was solid as a 3rd string big man. 

So not only is KG back, but there is a MASSIVE upgrade as his backup with Sheed joining the team.  The team's defense no longer tanks with KG on the bench.  Sheed is filling in perfectly... we continue to get a ton of stops/deflections/forced missed shots with Sheed out there.  It makes our team dangerous for 48 minutes.   

I think its the tone of your post he's shocked by. Its fairly easy to point out that BBD isn't anywhere near KG's level without making a fat joke per paragraph...

[Bankshot]

I think we're better.

But, I don't know if KG is hurt or he just had a bad game.   It didn't look like he was running well.

[Fafnir]

I think we're better.

But, I don't know if KG is hurt or he just had a bad game.   It didn't look like he was running well.

I thought he looked good running and defensively. But offensively he was a complete mess. He fumbled passes, rushed things, missed shots, and couldn't elevate inside to avoid strips/blocks.

[Reyquila]

NOW I believe we have a better team than last year. Rasheed has been more than I espected. Shelden has been a very good steady performer and the bench i general is better than last year. I would have liked Powe to be with us; he is still a better offensive player underneath than Shelden, but Shelden bigger and is ok. I dont think Powe will last long with only one leg. I would have liked to have Tony playing the way he did once, but C'est la vie. House is unconcious with his treys. Allen has reached his peak and is no longer what he once was, but we can live with that this year; his future replacement has to be groomed; whoever he might be. Yes. We have a better team; just more prone to injury and that amigos, will decide how far we can go. Injuries is the X-factor over which we have no control. We can only keep our fingers crossed.  

[Reyquila]

I forgot to mention that Big Baby is better now offensively than last year. I knew nothing about Daniels and though he has not been the offensive threat that I had read about, he has been adequate. We do need wing layers in the 6-4 6-6 6-8 range that can defend and score. If Jr cannot fill that role, Daniels can. And best of all; we have our own extremely secret jack of all trades weapon: Big Scal. Yes, we are definitely better than 2007-08. Just a little older, for some players; which is good for some,not so good for others. lol

[Donoghus]

Too early to tell so far, for me.  However, I'm definitely encouraged early on by the depth of this team.   If this team can stay healthy and stay hungry, they should go down as better than '07-08.  I certainly see the potential there but it is a loooong season to battle through plus playoffs.  There are still a lot of variables that can happen.  Right now, my biggest concern is health and complacency.

[Kwhit10]

Looking at individual stats one might not think so but so far this team is KILLING IT!!  The load is shared very well among the starters and the bench.  This team is deeper IMO.

Just look at the Team stats through the first 5 games.

Boston is 4th in OFF efficiency
Boston is 1st in DEF efficiency at 85.2 == 2nd closest team is Dallas at 92.0

Boston leads the league in assists at 19.2 == 2nd team Orlando is at 16.2 Charlotte last at 10.2.  This is  a HUGE gap comparing the numbers.

What makes this assist number even better looking so far is that we make these 19 assists on 92 possession a game (25th slowest in the league)

Boston assists per possession = .208
Orlando A/Pos: .173
Cleveland A/pos: .170
Lakers A/Pos: .136
Spurs A/pos: .167
Denver A/pos: .152
Charlotte A/pos: .114

Those numbers are staggering so far.  This team is passing a lot and doing it very well.  With the way our team is stacked for perimeter shooting as long as we keep up the passing this team will get A LOT of open looks.  If we can shoot even at a good percentage there is no stopping this team.

Oh yea we lead the league in Eff FG% (58.4) and TS% (61.4)

I know it's early but this team is scary good!