Boston will win the 2010 NBA championship

[FatjohnReturns]

"Suns are a hard matchup - the C's have been imposing their will on teams, Suns will be a hard team to do that to."

Sorry Suns are going to lose big time. 4-0, 4-1

"I don't think that LA did anything during the season to show that they were better than Cleveland, Orlando or us."

Ah we didnt do much during the regular season either. Kinda obvious the postseason is a differnt game. They are the champs untill we beat them they are still the champs. So I really dont get your rational.?

 
 

[BballTim]

"Suns are a hard matchup - the C's have been imposing their will on teams, Suns will be a hard team to do that to."

Sorry Suns are going to lose big time. 4-0, 4-1

"I don't think that LA did anything during the season to show that they were better than Cleveland, Orlando or us."

Ah we didnt do much during the regular season either. Kinda obvious the postseason is a differnt game. They are the champs untill we beat them they are still the champs. So I really dont get your rational.?

 
 

  I don't get yours either. Are you saying that they're much better than Orlando or Cleveland simply because they won the title last year?

[GreenFaith1819]

As Optimistic as I normally am, I just want to take it one series at a time here. I must agree with the thread to the point that The Boston Celtics Will win it all - as long as they play the same level of Defense and put forth the same effort.

ORL will still be a tough out. Cannot take them lightly at all. They are still smarting from Pierces' "Poodle Comment" he Tweeted during the playoffs last year.

[RockinRyA]

last year orl had hedo, lee, alston. this year they have barnes, carter, jameer.

last year bos had moore, scal, marbury,house plus i think ray allen injured his hamstring during the chi series. this year they have kg, sheed, ta, nate

[TitleMaster]

Lakers do not have the heart of a champion! Last year was a contract year for both Ariza and Odom; both men played their hearts out. Now, Ariza's got a cushy contract in Houston and Odom's back to his usual non-contributing self.

The real champs were the Celtics and they were missing it in '09, due to the KG/Powe knee, Starbury curse, and Mikki *no* Moore. Thus, due to karma, we're not looking at a threepeat today.

Now, those ailments are gone and Operation Fo' Fo' Fo' in in effect!

[RAcker]

Lakers do not have the heart of a champion! Last year was a contract year for both Ariza and Odom; both men played their hearts out. Now, Ariza's got a cushy contract in Houston and Odom's back to his usual non-contributing self.

The real champs were the Celtics and they were missing it in '09, due to the KG/Powe knee, Starbury curse, and Mikki *no* Moore. Thus, due to karma, we're not looking at a threepeat today.

Now, those ailments are gone and Operation Fo' Fo' Fo' in in effect!

Fo' Fo' Fo' is still going!

[Witch-King]

The Celtics road to the Finals has been much easier this year when compared with 2008. We haven't had a Game 7 series yet, though in the earlier years following Y2K the Lakers could decimate their entire conference without dropping a single game at one point...Thankfully we don't have to worry about Shaq + Kobe in this era but unfortunately a duo like that is only one trade away come summer-time.

Just look at how the Big 3 were in their first season together, it was like buying an entire living room's worth of furniture from IKEA that magically assembled itself before the first game of the season even started...

[GreenFaith1819]

Lakers do not have the heart of a champion! Last year was a contract year for both Ariza and Odom; both men played their hearts out. Now, Ariza's got a cushy contract in Houston and Odom's back to his usual non-contributing self.

The real champs were the Celtics and they were missing it in '09, due to the KG/Powe knee, Starbury curse, and Mikki *no* Moore. Thus, due to karma, we're not looking at a threepeat today.

Now, those ailments are gone and Operation Fo' Fo' Fo' in in effect!

Funny you mention LA. I was visiting their Blog last night after our win, and they had a 1500+ Thread on the Game.

The Vast Majority of them want LA to play Boston. They want "Revenge" they say. They also believe that with CLE gone, their path to Repeating is easier.

They see Our Celtics as "The Lesser Threat."

I love it.

[libermaniac]

I'm getting the same feeling. I can't present x's and o's and things of that sort, but i do know what a championship calibur team looks like. This Celtic team appears as though they're poised to win it all. It's also good to know that we have not lost a playoff series yet when everybody is healthy.

Spicoli, TP for your handle and image.  Fast Times is my all-time favorite movie!  Good stuff.

[PosImpos]

There's not a team out there that can beat us if we play like we did in the Cleveland series.

LA is a much much better team than Cleveland or Orlando. Sure we beat them in 08 but that was without Bynum or Artest. They match up equal to us in length and depth in the frontcourt. They have Artest to defend Pierce and still have the four time champ Kobe.
We will not be able to shut them out defensivly like we did the Cavs.

 That said I still like our chances. Go Celtics.

I think you're overrating the Lakers.  

Yeah.  If you look at the body of work of what the Lakers and the Suns have done over the past 30 games or so, you'd have to conclude that the Suns are actually the better team.

Honestly, I think we'd match up better with the Lakers, too, given the Suns' speed and athleticism.  On the other hand, teams with no Finals experience have a history of melting in the spotlight (see: Orlando last year).  I have to imagine that the Suns could very well do the same thing if they faced the Celtics (or the Magic).

We'll see what happens, though.  This team will win the championship if they keep playing like they are now; they are entirely capable of doing so.  I feel good.

[FatjohnReturns]

"Suns are a hard matchup - the C's have been imposing their will on teams, Suns will be a hard team to do that to."

Sorry Suns are going to lose big time. 4-0, 4-1

"I don't think that LA did anything during the season to show that they were better than Cleveland, Orlando or us."

Ah we didnt do much during the regular season either. Kinda obvious the postseason is a differnt game. They are the champs untill we beat them they are still the champs. So I really dont get your rational.?

 
 

  I don't get yours either. Are you saying that they're much better than Orlando or Cleveland simply because they won the title last year?

"simply because they won the title last year?"

They have championship experience. Does Orlando? Does Cleveland?
Why is that so hard to understand? You would think after watching Bos dismantle Cleveland it would be obvious. I am not saying we cant beat them I just think its going to be a very hard fought series.

[Fafnir]

There's not a team out there that can beat us if we play like we did in the Cleveland series.

LA is a much much better team than Cleveland or Orlando. Sure we beat them in 08 but that was without Bynum or Artest. They match up equal to us in length and depth in the frontcourt. They have Artest to defend Pierce and still have the four time champ Kobe.
We will not be able to shut them out defensivly like we did the Cavs.

 That said I still like our chances. Go Celtics.

I think you're overrating the Lakers.   

Nah. You ever see that NBA promo where Pierce keeps saying "We never give up" " We never give in" "Never underestimate the heart of a champion"?

Well the Lakers are still the champs. They have made the finals the last two consecutive years. You cant overrate the champions. Everyone in Cleveland is realizing that this morning.

  I don't think that LA did anything during the season to show that they were better than Cleveland, Orlando or us. Plus, if you're going to talk about matchups vs the Lakers, don't forget Rondo/Fisher. That's likely the most lopsided matchup in the series.

Yes but Kobe guards Rondo and Fisher does an okay job on Ray.

[Who]

There's not a team out there that can beat us if we play like we did in the Cleveland series.

LA is a much much better team than Cleveland or Orlando. Sure we beat them in 08 but that was without Bynum or Artest. They match up equal to us in length and depth in the frontcourt. They have Artest to defend Pierce and still have the four time champ Kobe.
We will not be able to shut them out defensivly like we did the Cavs.

 That said I still like our chances. Go Celtics.

I think you're overrating the Lakers.   

Nah. You ever see that NBA promo where Pierce keeps saying "We never give up" " We never give in" "Never underestimate the heart of a champion"?

Well the Lakers are still the champs. They have made the finals the last two consecutive years. You cant overrate the champions. Everyone in Cleveland is realizing that this morning.

  I don't think that LA did anything during the season to show that they were better than Cleveland, Orlando or us. Plus, if you're going to talk about matchups vs the Lakers, don't forget Rondo/Fisher. That's likely the most lopsided matchup in the series.

Yes but Kobe guards Rondo and Fisher does an okay job on Ray.

I don't think Fisher defends Ray Allen well. I like the shooting opportunities Ray gets against Fisher.

I think that matchup is the most one-sided out of the main players.

[Mr October]

There's not a team out there that can beat us if we play like we did in the Cleveland series.

LA is a much much better team than Cleveland or Orlando. Sure we beat them in 08 but that was without Bynum or Artest. They match up equal to us in length and depth in the frontcourt. They have Artest to defend Pierce and still have the four time champ Kobe.
We will not be able to shut them out defensivly like we did the Cavs.

 That said I still like our chances. Go Celtics.

I think you're overrating the Lakers.   

Nah. You ever see that NBA promo where Pierce keeps saying "We never give up" " We never give in" "Never underestimate the heart of a champion"?

Well the Lakers are still the champs. They have made the finals the last two consecutive years. You cant overrate the champions. Everyone in Cleveland is realizing that this morning.

The Lakers are also in their hangover year, if you know what I mean...

Odom, Gasol, Bynum, etc don't have that same urgency this year. Heck even Kobe has backed off. He was a maniac in 2009.

That is what makes them vulnerable. How will they respond when a really talented opponent punches them in the mouth?

The Lakers are for sure the favorites now that Cleveland has flamed out. Yet they are vulnerable, just like Orlando is, just like Boston is.

[Mr October]

I don't think LAL is better than ORL or CLE.

In terms of the CLE team the Celts beat - maybe that team was built for the regular season and not the post season. A lot of turn over, an over reliance on one guy to get his offense (Hollinger had an article about this w/r/t Roy and JJ) - no backup star, just a cast of good bench players. I can buy that this type of setup translates poorly to the post season generally - but they still were that same team from the regular season. Gotta give some credit to the C's who appear to have turned things up since game 82.

LAL's Bynum has some sort of knee injury and Artest is VASTLY overrated at this point.... it's not like Ariza lit things up in HOU, but I think he was a better overall fit.

Suns are a hard matchup - the C's have been imposing their will on teams, Suns will be a hard team to do that to.

Good points about Bynum and Artest.

Bynum in 2009 is better than Bynum in 2010.
Ariza is better than Artest.