ESPN *cough* Experts: Are the Celtics better than the Heat?

[Donoghus]

Some interesting answers.  Hollinger cracks me up again.  Question sounded pretty direct to me.

3. Are the Celtics better than the Heat?



Abbott: Is this finely tuned team, with three seasons together, working together better than the hastily assembled team playing its ninth game! Heck yes! They've played way better. Not sure how much that tells us about the Eastern Conference finals, though.



Adande: Yes, for now and for the rest of the season. The Heat can't instantly duplicate the chemistry the Celtics have developed, nor can they match their depth.



Arnovitz: Define better. Are they more disciplined? Yes. A more cohesive unit? Absolutely. More tested? No doubt. More talented? No.



Haberstroh: Right now, yes. But that has as much to do with familiarity as anything else. The Heat simply haven't had the sheer number of repetitions they need to compete. Check back in March.



Hollinger: Better in what way? I still expect Miami to win more games. But we've seen that Boston presents some matchup problems for the Heat that could prove troublesome in a playoff series.



Sheridan: Absolutely, yes, which is why I picked them to come out of the East (and lose to the Lakers). The Celtics have been playing together as a unit for three-plus years now, while the Heat haven't even put three weeks of the regular season in their rearview mirror. And when the Celtics get Kendrick Perkins back, they'll be even better.



Wallace: The obvious answer is yes. What part of 2-0 against the Heat doesn't make that clear at this point in the season? Boston's chemistry, experience, toughness and superior play at the point and in the post keep the Celtics ahead of the Heat right now.



Windhorst: They are a better functioning and balanced unit, and that means a ton. But I believe Miami has more talent.

[Kwhit10]

Are (most of) these people taking LeBron's "threat" of taking mental notes on all his doubters seriously?

Why do these posers have to half and half the answer, I think it's pretty clear right now the Celtics are better than the Heat.

All these answers that relate to they aren't more talented.  That wasn't even the question. 

[Greenbean]

Some interesting answers.  Hollinger cracks me up again.  Question soundes pretty direct to me.

Haha!

Basically Hollinger is saying, If by better you mean the Celtics can beat the Heat when they play each other than yes. However, when the Heat are not playing the Celtics, they are pretty good.

Regarding the rest of the analysis, pretty sopt on with alot of guys realizing that they have more talent at the top of their roster but beyond that, we have the advantage everywhere else.

[fairweatherfan]

What is with the "Miami is more talented" crap?  Yes, Miami's top 3 are more talented than ours, at this stage in their careers.  But top to bottom?  It's no contest, our roster has much more talent than theirs.  That's why we keep beating them - we have 10-12 championship-caliber players and they have 3 (4 if you count Haslem, who is solid).

Interesting that Adande is one of only a couple with an unequivocal "yes".  If there's one thing this whole Heat hype circus has done, it's made Celtics and Lakers fans respect one another a lot more.

[Prof. Clutch]

Very interesting comments.  TP for posting.  

I really don't like the "Heat have more talent" comment that keeps getting thrown out there.  I understand where it comes from when you're talking about the those three "great" players that the Miami team has.  But if you're really talking about talent, I think the Celtics far exceed the Heat's talent with the depth of impact players on their team.  I would venture to say the C's are the more overall talented team between the two, and it certainly doesn't help them that Bosh is not playing like a third impact player.

I also think that all the analysts keep alluding to repetition, familiarity, etc. as being the problem with the Heat.  I think the Heat's biggest issue is that their star players still need to figure out how they can transform their games into making them a better combination of players and a more dangerous team.  Wade and Lebron's games are still way too similar to each other, and neither of those styles really employs the use of Bosh.  Most of the time, and without either having a reliable jumps shot, Wade and Lebron just take turns slashing to the basket with the ball in their hands and Bosh hopes he'll be able to feed off the scraps, which is not gonna be enough to get it done.  Each of the C's big three had to sacrifice a lot of their previous games when they joined forces here in Boston for the betterment of the team, and it's worked out and it's made them into a dynasty level team.

The Heat don't yet appear to have made those same sacrifices, and until they make that commitment, all the repetition and time in the world won't help them win a championship.

[BballTim]

  They keep trying to pawn off everything on the Heat being new together and the Celts having three years of chemistry. The Celts big three, in the first month of their first season together, were probably better than anything we'll see from Miami before 2012 at the earliest.

[footey]

Most of these guys are so egotistical, they can't acknowledge they were wrong in their pre-season forecasts. They fall back on the old "more talented" angle when all else fails. "Talent" and two bucks gets you a ride on the subway these days. I'll take being less "talented" any day of the week so long as we keep owning them.

[Tgro]

I don't know what they was watching, but I was seeing more talent on the Celtics side of the ball. You add up all the talent that the Celtics have against all the talent that the Heat have and you want to say the Heat have more talent?

We've got a lot of talent just sitting on the bench.

[MBunge]

The Celts are better and there's one main reason for it - Rondo.  Not Rondo's talent, though that certainly helps, but that Boston's New Big 3 had to learn to play within an offensive system run by their point guard.  The Heat, meanwhile, have basically relegated their point guards to standing around and waiting to shoot and seem to think Bron can run the team.  I think the Cavs' flameouts in the playoffs proved that he can't.

Mike

[Prof. Clutch]

Most of these guys are so egotistical, they can't acknowledge they were wrong in their pre-season forecasts. They fall back on the old "more talented" angle when all else fails. "Talent" and two bucks gets you a ride on the subway these days. I'll take being less "talented" any day of the week so long as we keep owning them.

Dang!  I need talent to ride the subway now?!  Looks like i'm walking wherever I go now. 

[BballTim]

  Kind of an aside, but every time I hear about a greatly talented team that hasn't put it all together yet I'm reminded of the pre-Moses 76ers.

[Drucci]

I don't read the "experts" (frankly I wonder how they got such titles...) anymore on ESPN. They are a joke.

Their typical "they're more cohesive as a unit but are less talented than the other theam" answer is just ridiculous. Guess what? Having a cohesive team, with a real collective game and multiple threats always beats talents. It's kind of the point of playing basketball, a teams sport.

Also, I remember reading the same speeches last year about Cleveland, that they were more talented, etc. We've seen how it played out.

Plus, the Heat isn't even more talented. Sure, from an individual standpoint LeBron and Wade are probably better than any of our guys but the real question is this one : would you rather have the so called "Big Three" of Miami on your team of a team with Rondo, Ray, Paul, KG and Shaq? Easy to answer for me.

[indeedproceed]

THat article is hilarious. I am always leery of anyone people say has a 'personal' bias against the C's. People say Hollinger does, people say Kelly Dwyer does. I can accept that the Celtics might not be their favorite team, but usually they don't let that get in the way of their analysis.

Well, no longer. Henry Abbott, bless his bald soul, is a Celtics hater. John Hollinger doesn't hate the Celtics, but he does hate any team that makes his statistical models look silly, which the Celtics do. Tom Haberstroh and Kevin Arvonitz, both members of the ridiculous "Heat Index" ESPN "News" team, hate the rest of the league not called the Miami Heat.

LeBron is not the only one who can take notes, ESPN!

[Birdbrain]

Some interesting answers.  Hollinger cracks me up again.  Question sounded pretty direct to me.

3. Are the Celtics better than the Heat?



Abbott: Is this finely tuned team, with three seasons together, working together better than the hastily assembled team playing its ninth game! Heck yes! They've played way better. Not sure how much that tells us about the Eastern Conference finals, though.



Adande: Yes, for now and for the rest of the season. The Heat can't instantly duplicate the chemistry the Celtics have developed, nor can they match their depth.



Arnovitz: Define better. Are they more disciplined? Yes. A more cohesive unit? Absolutely. More tested? No doubt. More talented? No.



Haberstroh: Right now, yes. But that has as much to do with familiarity as anything else. The Heat simply haven't had the sheer number of repetitions they need to compete. Check back in March.



Hollinger: Better in what way? I still expect Miami to win more games. But we've seen that Boston presents some matchup problems for the Heat that could prove troublesome in a playoff series.



Sheridan: Absolutely, yes, which is why I picked them to come out of the East (and lose to the Lakers). The Celtics have been playing together as a unit for three-plus years now, while the Heat haven't even put three weeks of the regular season in their rearview mirror. And when the Celtics get Kendrick Perkins back, they'll be even better.



Wallace: The obvious answer is yes. What part of 2-0 against the Heat doesn't make that clear at this point in the season? Boston's chemistry, experience, toughness and superior play at the point and in the post keep the Celtics ahead of the Heat right now.



Windhorst: They are a better functioning and balanced unit, and that means a ton. But I believe Miami has more talent.

More talent oh well.. Maybe our 'cohesion' will help us in the end.  When the C's end up beating the Heat (rather easily) in this year's playoffs it will be wait until next year when they get some 'cohesion'.

Define better.. PER and PT diff amiright?

It's both sad and pathetic to think that Chris Broussard might be one of the more intelligent experts they have.

[Birdbrain]

Are (most of) these people taking LeBron's "threat" of taking mental notes on all his doubters seriously?

Why do these posers have to half and half the answer, I think it's pretty clear right now the Celtics are better than the Heat.

All these answers that relate to they aren't more talented.  That wasn't even the question. 

Why do you think?

2 reasons

1. Their horrible pre season picks. 
2. ESPN is using the ' Heat Index '  to pay their salaries.