Next Season... Key-Notes pt.1

[Rtpas11]

The next season will be the most interesting of them all. The 07-08 season is not going to be as exciting as this one. I'm still not sure if we'll be better than that roster of players, but we will be a very good team. I honestly still believe we need a big long range shooter (Troy Murphy, James Posey etc...) but i think the dominance of the inside game this roster will display will make up for that lost asset.

Defensively i'm not too worried (especially in the post area). Our perimeter defense is still pretty good (lacking Tony Allen's presence), but I believe we were all ready to ship him out of here when because of the emergence of Marquis Daniels.

Key Notes For Next Season:

Kevin Garnett = More healthier than he's been in the past 2 seasons. He'll be even more motivated because of the new but familiar surrounding peers/parts. He just ended his Adidas contract and signed with a Chinese shoemaker (Anta) so he has to play top level Basketball to sell his brand. K.G. will be great if he stays healthy!

Paul Pierce = Will be Paul Pierce. I remember a few years back before the Garnett signing, Paul said "the only way he sees himself winning a championship is if he had Shaq" and then chuckled. Pierce now has Jermaine O'neal, Shaquille O'neal, Kevin Garnett and possibly Rasheed Wallace. Paul will be great if he stays healthy!

Shaquille O'neal = I believe Shaq this year will be motivated also. Being around his peers K.G., J.O., PP, RA, Doc etc... will get him going. The run in Cleveland failed simply because of 2 reasons (Cleveland had to play Boston once again, and Lebron James can't shoot). Shaq will also be playing with a true pass 1st point guard in Rajon Rondo, whom is also lightning quick. Shaq will come off the bench this year so his line up will be with (Nate Robinson, Von Wafer, Marquis Daniels, and Glen Davis). Add Pierce instead of Marquis and he's surrounded by 4 shooters and 4 scorers. Shaq will be great if he stays healthy!

Nat Robinson = You all may not agree to this statement but I believe Nate Robinson is the most important piece to a title run. Last year Kobe played off Rondo and our offense depleted. When Nate or when House was in the game teams could not play off of them. Nate last year was extremely uncomfortable running the Celtics offense that Doc had to steal a page out of Mike Dantoni's play-book. That play worked at times but still wasn't fluid enough resulting in Doc not trusting Nate on the floor. Nate was simply not Nate. There glimpses but not the New York Nate we imagined we were getting in return for Eddie House. He hardly penetrated and, and rarely did he create shots for himself or others. With 1 year now under his belt and a full training camp to experience Nate will be Nate, and the Celtics bench will be great!

Von Wafer = An underrated players who's looking to be noticed. Von is very skilled and I believe he's the perfect upgrade from Tony Allen. He's about the same size in length, could dribble far better, can shoot lights out, penetrate, create for others and take over when needs to. The Celtics leads will be so greater than the opposing teams that his lack of individual defensive skills will be unnoticeable. Von is in a contract/prove yourself year that, that alone is enough of a motivational tool to play great. We got a steal with this pick-up!

[LilRip]

i think KG will be better this year than last year. Shaq will be an interesting fit. I still think we need to pick up one more reliable wing, hopefully before training camp. If we do, i hope we don't trade for anyone midseason anymore either. Training camp matters!

and as always, the biggest issue is Health. If we can be healthy come playoff time, then i think we put ourselves in a good position.



- LilRip

[manl_lui]

The next season will be the most interesting of them all. The 07-08 season is not going to be as exciting as this one. I'm still not sure if we'll be better than that roster of players, but we will be a very good team. I honestly still believe we need a big long range shooter (Troy Murphy, James Posey etc...) but i think the dominance of the inside game this roster will display will make up for that lost asset.

Defensively i'm not too worried (especially in the post area). Our perimeter defense is still pretty good (lacking Tony Allen's presence), but I believe we were all ready to ship him out of here when because of the emergence of Marquis Daniels.

Key Notes For Next Season:

Kevin Garnett = More healthier than he's been in the past 2 seasons. He'll be even more motivated because of the new but familiar surrounding peers/parts. He just ended his Adidas contract and signed with a Chinese shoemaker (Anta) so he has to play top level Basketball to sell his brand. K.G. will be great if he stays healthy!

Paul Pierce = Will be Paul Pierce. I remember a few years back before the Garnett signing, Paul said "the only way he sees himself winning a championship is if he had Shaq" and then chuckled. Pierce now has Jermaine O'neal, Shaquille O'neal, Kevin Garnett and possibly Rasheed Wallace. Paul will be great if he stays healthy!

Shaquille O'neal = I believe Shaq this year will be motivated also. Being around his peers K.G., J.O., PP, RA, Doc etc... will get him going. The run in Cleveland failed simply because of 2 reasons (Cleveland had to play Boston once again, and Lebron James can't shoot). Shaq will also be playing with a true pass 1st point guard in Rajon Rondo, whom is also lightning quick. Shaq will come off the bench this year so his line up will be with (Nate Robinson, Von Wafer, Marquis Daniels, and Glen Davis). Add Pierce instead of Marquis and he's surrounded by 4 shooters and 4 scorers. Shaq will be great if he stays healthy!

Nat Robinson = You all may not agree to this statement but I believe Nate Robinson is the most important piece to a title run. Last year Kobe played off Rondo and our offense depleted. When Nate or when House was in the game teams could not play off of them. Nate last year was extremely uncomfortable running the Celtics offense that Doc had to steal a page out of Mike Dantoni's play-book. That play worked at times but still wasn't fluid enough resulting in Doc not trusting Nate on the floor. Nate was simply not Nate. There glimpses but not the New York Nate we imagined we were getting in return for Eddie House. He hardly penetrated and, and rarely did he create shots for himself or others. With 1 year now under his belt and a full training camp to experience Nate will be Nate, and the Celtics bench will be great!

Von Wafer = An underrated players who's looking to be noticed. Von is very skilled and I believe he's the perfect upgrade from Tony Allen. He's about the same size in length, could dribble far better, can shoot lights out, penetrate, create for others and take over when needs to. The Celtics leads will be so greater than the opposing teams that his lack of individual defensive skills will be unnoticeable. Von is in a contract/prove yourself year that, that alone is enough of a motivational tool to play great. We got a steal with this pick-up!

great write-up, I think Shaq would be more motivated than he was in Cle and PHX, hes surrounded by 4 future HOF

Rondo after coming back from US FIBA, will be stronger and better...

Ray and Paul will be themselves

KG will return stronger, his legs should be fresh
JO's ankle would be better

now if Shaq loses 20 lbs 
if sheed comes back, we are unstoppable in the front court

though i like to believe Marquis can be the backup wing, some part of me is hoping for one more wing upgrade

[Bring Back Antoine]

I agree this is definitely going to be a very interesting season to watch. If we can start off strong, as we did last year, we'll be in great shape. Getting Perk back in December or January will be a huge boost around the time we started to struggle with injuries last season.

At a minimum, Shaq, BBD and Nate on the bench together will be a hilarious trio to watch.

[Celtics4ever]

We may be the under dog but no one has our depth and mental toughness.  We almost beat the Lakers without our C and blatant pro laker reffing.

[manl_lui]

We may be the under dog but no one has our depth and mental toughness.  We almost beat the Lakers without our C and blatant pro laker reffing.

this is one reason why i hate the lakers even more, the NBA practically handed them their 16th championship!

its not fair, im still bitter about it

its like "O hey Perkins is out, Lakers should win now and take advantage...

O hey Celtics are up by 14, let the cheating begin!...

4th quarter.."hey Lakers, give me a couple million and ill give you 21 FTs""

[ducksawce]

I am very optimistic about this upcoming year.  The reason is the team's depth.  The biggest lingering problem last year was injuries to key players like KG and Paul.  THESE injuries were caused by over-exertion and heavy minutes during November and December (when the team went an impressive 23-5!).

Why did they get injured at the same time in late December?...because we had almost no productive players on the bench.  Sheed was bombing away at -25% from 3, and never going inside.  Eddie was in a slump.  TA and Baby were out for the first 3 months.  Marquis got injured in late Fall as well.  At one point in December, we only had 2 legitimate second string options on the bench (Sheldon doesn't count...and when Sheed is considered to be ONE of those options in the regular season...then you're in trouble).  As a result, our starters had to play huge minutes early on in the season.

This year, we'll have Nate (with a full training camp under his belt).  Whoever here said that Nate will be a HUGE key this year...I agree wholeheartedly...it was Eddie in 2008 that got us through offensive slumps in the playoffs and finals...and this year it'll be Nate.  We'll have a potential #2 sparkplug sitting next to Nate...Von Wafer.  Marquis will be one year more familiar with the Celtics system.  Arguably most importantly, Baby and Shaq will serve as PERMANENT big man bench solutions for KG and Jermaine.  Our bigs next year will have the ultimate luxury of being able to play lower minutes at higher intensity.

This is not even considering the good possibility that we may either get Rudy Fernandez soon (obvious up-sides with offensive capabilities), keep Sheed for ultimate bigs-insurance/flexibility, or trade Sheed at the deadline for somebody REALLY worth it like Shane Battier (he'll probably write a 50 pg. book on how best to guard Lebron...that's the type of guy we need!)

Finally, our existing starters will benefit heavily from this.  As most real Celtics fans know (and most outside New England don't consider), KG will actually be far stronger this year, 1.5 years removed from injury.  Rondo's acceleration in improvement (especially in shooting) may very well still be in high gear...perhaps he'll finally make that jump permanently into the "top 3 point guards" discussion...not sporadically...permanently.  Ray will be Ray (especially without rumours of his trade lurking around the corner....and Paul will be Paul.  These two have been models of offensive officiency the past 3 years.

Perhaps most importantly, Jermaine will provide high-level defense (perhaps at least approximating 75% of what Perk gave us), but also give us a HUGE lift offensively.  Perk made him look bad, but this was a 14/7 guy last year!  That's KG numbers!  Plop Shaq in there periodically, and all of a sudden you've got a foul-drawing machine on the offense.  Getting teams in the penalty (a weak-point of the team this past year) will actually be a strength this year.

In summary, MUCH is different than last year.  4 things majorly so...
1. KG more than a year removed from injury
2. Rondo accelerating WAY beyond what we thought was possible at the beginning of last year
3. Major bench depth   
4. Actual offensive options at the 5 (with relatively little lost on defense...perhaps a gain on rebounds though).

[manl_lui]

I am very optimistic about this upcoming year.  The reason is the team's depth.  The biggest lingering problem last year was injuries to key players like KG and Paul.  THESE injuries were caused by over-exertion and heavy minutes during November and December (when the team went an impressive 23-5!).

Why did they get injured at the same time in late December?...because we had almost no productive players on the bench.  Sheed was bombing away at -25% from 3, and never going inside.  Eddie was in a slump.  TA and Baby were out for the first 3 months.  Marquis got injured in late Fall as well.  At one point in December, we only had 2 legitimate second string options on the bench (Sheldon doesn't count...and when Sheed is considered to be ONE of those options in the regular season...then you're in trouble).  As a result, our starters had to play huge minutes early on in the season.

This year, we'll have Nate (with a full training camp under his belt).  Whoever here said that Nate will be a HUGE key this year...I agree wholeheartedly...it was Eddie in 2008 that got us through offensive slumps in the playoffs and finals...and this year it'll be Nate.  We'll have a potential #2 sparkplug sitting next to Nate...Von Wafer.  Marquis will be one year more familiar with the Celtics system.  Arguably most importantly, Baby and Shaq will serve as PERMANENT big man bench solutions for KG and Jermaine.  Our bigs next year will have the ultimate luxury of being able to play lower minutes at higher intensity.

This is not even considering the good possibility that we may either get Rudy Fernandez soon (obvious up-sides with offensive capabilities), keep Sheed for ultimate bigs-insurance/flexibility, or trade Sheed at the deadline for somebody REALLY worth it like Shane Battier (he'll probably write a 50 pg. book on how best to guard Lebron...that's the type of guy we need!)

Finally, our existing starters will benefit heavily from this.  As most real Celtics fans know (and most outside New England don't consider), KG will actually be far stronger this year, 1.5 years removed from injury.  Rondo's acceleration in improvement (especially in shooting) may very well still be in high gear...perhaps he'll finally make that jump permanently into the "top 3 point guards" discussion...not sporadically...permanently.  Ray will be Ray (especially without rumours of his trade lurking around the corner....and Paul will be Paul.  These two have been models of offensive officiency the past 3 years.

Perhaps most importantly, Jermaine will provide high-level defense (perhaps at least approximating 75% of what Perk gave us), but also give us a HUGE lift offensively.  Perk made him look bad, but this was a 14/7 guy last year!  That's KG numbers!  Plop Shaq in there periodically, and all of a sudden you've got a foul-drawing machine on the offense.  Getting teams in the penalty (a weak-point of the team this past year) will actually be a strength this year.

In summary, MUCH is different than last year.  4 things majorly so...
1. KG more than a year removed from injury
2. Rondo accelerating WAY beyond what we thought was possible at the beginning of last year
3. Major bench depth   
4. Actual offensive options at the 5 (with relatively little lost on defense...perhaps a gain on rebounds though).

i see banner 18!!

[Celtics4ever]

I think we got cheated but we still almost pulled it off.