ESPN "Experts" Unanimously Choose the Celtic's Opponent...Again

[Fafnir]

Also, read what Hollinger says, its a riot -- he's literally the biggest Celtic hater ever.

No. Hollinger is just overly influenced by the statistical data from the regular season. The Celtics will be real outliers if they win in view of their regular season performance.

EDIT: Find another way to say you disagree with something besides calling it idiotic.
-IP

  Hollinger just posted this on twitter:

  @johnhollinger Think you meant "Paul Pierce" there RT @sportsguy33 Unofficial Vegas odds: "Will V Carter make it thru series without getting carried off?" about an hour ago

Now he's just talking crap...like a magic fan. or just someone who hates the celtics. Doesn't sound like statistics to me.

Or he was just making a joke?

It was the type of quasi-friendly joke that you make when you have an axe to grind.

Yeah, I don't know if Hollinger dislikes the Celtics or not, but he certainly doesn't like them.  You'd think a stat-head like him would like our disciplined team based around sharing the ball and playing hard-nosed defense, but he doesn't seem to appreciate that.  Or at least he appreciates it on the Magic a whole lot more.

He liked us plenty in 2007-2008, when we smoked the league.

Hollinger sticks to his stats for the most part, and the stats favor the Magic by a large margin. I don't see why people take it as a personal slight against the Celtics.

Like it or not both VC and PP have a reputation for milking injuries. Pierce basically picked up that rep immediately after game 1 of the Finals. Funny how one 5 minutes stretch turned a guy who played without his teeth into a "wuss" and an "actor".

[PosImpos]

Also, read what Hollinger says, its a riot -- he's literally the biggest Celtic hater ever.

No. Hollinger is just overly influenced by the statistical data from the regular season. The Celtics will be real outliers if they win in view of their regular season performance.

EDIT: Find another way to say you disagree with something besides calling it idiotic.
-IP

  Hollinger just posted this on twitter:

  @johnhollinger Think you meant "Paul Pierce" there RT @sportsguy33 Unofficial Vegas odds: "Will V Carter make it thru series without getting carried off?" about an hour ago

Now he's just talking crap...like a magic fan. or just someone who hates the celtics. Doesn't sound like statistics to me.

Or he was just making a joke?

It was the type of quasi-friendly joke that you make when you have an axe to grind.

Yeah, I don't know if Hollinger dislikes the Celtics or not, but he certainly doesn't like them.  You'd think a stat-head like him would like our disciplined team based around sharing the ball and playing hard-nosed defense, but he doesn't seem to appreciate that.  Or at least he appreciates it on the Magic a whole lot more.

He liked us plenty in 2007-2008, when we smoked the league.

Hollinger sticks to his stats for the most part, and the stats favor the Magic by a large margin. I don't see why people take it as a personal slight against the Celtics.

Like it or not both VC and PP have a reputation for milking injuries. Pierce basically picked up that rep immediately after game 1 of the Finals. Funny how one 5 minutes stretch turned a guy who played without his teeth into a "wuss" and an "actor".

My point was that I never see Hollinger giving the Celtics benefit of the doubt with regards to the stats, or doing a good job pointing out the variables that undermine the reliability of his statistics especially as it relates to the Celtics.  The fact that he didn't even mention that KG was missing in '08 when the teams last faced each other in the post-season is a good example.  His statement that Nelson is playing better than Rondo in the post-season is another one.  I don't think Hollinger is biased against the Celtics, and I don't think his pick is a "slight."  I just think it's clear he's not a fan of them either.

[makaveli]

Celtics are gonna do all the talking on the court and win this series just like against Cavs

[Frezz]

http://espn.go.com/nba/dailydime/_/page/sundaydime-100516/abc-sunday-dime

I found it particularly funny when Henry Abbott said:

"Orlando. Boston manages to make every playoff series it ever plays in into a dogfight with that most honorable effort on defense"

Funny that wasn't his story last series when he picked the Cavs to SWEEP! I mean really, how do these guys get these jobs? Can I have one? I can talk out of both sides of my mouth too. And you don't even have to pay me as much.

[RebusRankin]

Is Hollinger ever correct?

[PosImpos]

Is Hollinger ever correct?

Actually, he's done a very good job predicting the playoffs so far (he predicted the Suns to make the Finals).  I think his stats just get him into trouble when it comes to predicting series that are close and the most important factors are ones that don't show up on stat sheets.

[EJPLAYA]

I don't think this is that much of a stretch though considering they have swept both series so far in impressive fashion, and have won 28 of their last 31 games. If I were putting my house payment on it I would be putting money on them as well. That being said, I think we have a very good chance at this series if Perk can stay out of foul trouble on Howard and Rondo can keep Nelson in check.  Thinking about it, we also need to keep Carter and Lewis in check as well…

This will be a tough series, but definitely not a done deal!

[Roy Hobbs]

I don't think this is that much of a stretch though considering they have swept both series so far in impressive fashion, and have won 28 of their last 31 games. If I were putting my house payment on it I would be putting money on them as well. That being said, I think we have a very good chance at this series if Perk can stay out of foul trouble on Howard and Rondo can keep Nelson in check.  Thinking about it, we also need to keep Carter and Lewis in check as well…

This will be a tough series, but definitely not a done deal!

Of course, last season the Cavs swept the first eight games of the playoffs, and won 30 of their last 34 games. 

[ManchesterCelticsFan]

The Celtics might as well record their NBA Finals Shuffle right now.

[houseonfire09]

Is Hollinger ever correct?

Actually, the most frequently wrong NBA talking head is still Jim "Cavs in 4" Abbott

[PosImpos]

Is Hollinger ever correct?

Actually, the most frequently wrong NBA talking head is still Jim "Cavs in 4" Abbott

It's Henry Abott.

The Celtics might as well record their NBA Finals Shuffle right now.

Whoa there.  Winning game 1 on the road doesn't mean a whole lot...what you do from there matters.  Just ask Portland.  That Game 1 defeat of the Suns didn't mean a whole heck of a lot in the long run of that series.

[guava_wrench]

Also, read what Hollinger says, its a riot -- he's literally the biggest Celtic hater ever.

No. Hollinger is just overly influenced by the statistical data from the regular season. The Celtics will be real outliers if they win in view of their regular season performance.

EDIT: Find another way to say you disagree with something besides calling it idiotic.
-IP

  Hollinger just posted this on twitter:

  @johnhollinger Think you meant "Paul Pierce" there RT @sportsguy33 Unofficial Vegas odds: "Will V Carter make it thru series without getting carried off?" about an hour ago

Now he's just talking crap...like a magic fan. or just someone who hates the celtics. Doesn't sound like statistics to me.

Or he was just making a joke?

It was the type of quasi-friendly joke that you make when you have an axe to grind.

Yeah, I don't know if Hollinger dislikes the Celtics or not, but he certainly doesn't like them.  You'd think a stat-head like him would like our disciplined team based around sharing the ball and playing hard-nosed defense, but he doesn't seem to appreciate that.  Or at least he appreciates it on the Magic a whole lot more.

He liked us plenty in 2007-2008, when we smoked the league.

Hollinger sticks to his stats for the most part, and the stats favor the Magic by a large margin. I don't see why people take it as a personal slight against the Celtics.

Like it or not both VC and PP have a reputation for milking injuries. Pierce basically picked up that rep immediately after game 1 of the Finals. Funny how one 5 minutes stretch turned a guy who played without his teeth into a "wuss" and an "actor".

Some people are just very defensive and insecure, always searching for perceived slights.

[Rondo_is_better]

Also, read what Hollinger says, its a riot -- he's literally the biggest Celtic hater ever.

No. Hollinger is just overly influenced by the statistical data from the regular season. The Celtics will be real outliers if they win in view of their regular season performance.

EDIT: Find another way to say you disagree with something besides calling it idiotic.
-IP

  Hollinger just posted this on twitter:

  @johnhollinger Think you meant "Paul Pierce" there RT @sportsguy33 Unofficial Vegas odds: "Will V Carter make it thru series without getting carried off?" about an hour ago

Now he's just talking crap...like a magic fan. or just someone who hates the celtics. Doesn't sound like statistics to me.

Or he was just making a joke?

It was the type of quasi-friendly joke that you make when you have an axe to grind.

Yeah, I don't know if Hollinger dislikes the Celtics or not, but he certainly doesn't like them.  You'd think a stat-head like him would like our disciplined team based around sharing the ball and playing hard-nosed defense, but he doesn't seem to appreciate that.  Or at least he appreciates it on the Magic a whole lot more.

He liked us plenty in 2007-2008, when we smoked the league.

Hollinger sticks to his stats for the most part, and the stats favor the Magic by a large margin. I don't see why people take it as a personal slight against the Celtics.

Like it or not both VC and PP have a reputation for milking injuries. Pierce basically picked up that rep immediately after game 1 of the Finals. Funny how one 5 minutes stretch turned a guy who played without his teeth into a "wuss" and an "actor".

Some people are just very defensive and insecure, always searching for perceived slights.

Yeah that's me. You know me really well, too, so I trust you.

[Mizzy21390]

Stein: Orlando in six. The Magic's offensive prowess will trump Boston's suffocating D.

And here I was thinking it was defense that mattered.


etc. etc. I can go on and on. If I turned in papers with this kind of sloppy analysis I'd have flunked out of grad school by now.
[/quote]


I don't get it.. Since when does offense trump D? You start and end with defense.. That's how you win games, by getting stops and playing great D against a team... then the offense comes with it. I don't see how offense can beat defense. If our defense is so "suffocating" as Marc Stein quotes, then how can offense beat it?

I guess Stein is trying to say that you can still score even if the defense blocks your shot? Or that the layups prowess is just too good for the block. lol.. I don't know, he doesn't make sense.

I guess they really don't think before they submit their opinions. They react on reflex to pick the "hot" team. Yes, I know they have a reason to not pick us because we were 3-1 with Magic in the reg season. But come the playoffs, things change. Take Cavs series for instance.

Saying that offense is just too powerful against suffocating defense is almost like saying really ice cold water, though it is iced, is too powerful for intensely hot fire...

[JHTruth]

Rooting for Celtics is fun this playoffs. Probably rightfully so, no one gave the C's a prayer coming into the playoffs. We were supposed to go down to the Heat and no one, I mean NO ONE thought we could beat the Cavs. Now most thought we didn't have a prayer against the Magic. Now we take game one and continue to punch the doubters in the face.

I love it. Just keep winning and this could be the most satisfying postseason ever..