With both O'Neals, we match up well w/Lakers

[birdwatcher]

Maybe my kool-aid is spiked, but the more I look at matching up with the Lakers, I feel pretty good about it, even without Perk. If we can get to the finals and we do play LA, and we can have both O'Neals available, I think we should be okay.

Losing Nenad isn't great, but many would argue that he wouldn't see a lot of time and would get situational minutes--for fouls and trying to extend the floor.

I may be too confident here, but I wouldn't mind seeing Green on Odom at times, and I think KG on Gasol is the most important frontcourt match up. I'm confident KG can hold his own there, so next up is Bynum. With a combo of Shaq and JO, I think that can be a wash.  Plus, we got other guys--I didn't account for Baby, and Murphy's 6 fouls and height have to factor in somewhere too if we need him.

I am on my first cup of coffee, so maybe I should have finished it before I posted this, but what do you think?

[Jeff]

we need all the bigs we can get - Krstic is still very important

[jsingh1699]

green is going to be more important for kobe defense, unless odom rips apart bbd (which he could). we need somebody with size to guard kobe so he cant abuse people like allen and wafer in the post.

[birdwatcher]

green is going to be more important for kobe defense, unless odom rips apart bbd (which he could). we need somebody with size to guard kobe so he cant abuse people like allen and wafer in the post.

I think Allen can do a solid job on Kobe--but I think we'll need his energy to score and make people chase/defend him. I also wouldn't mind seeing Rondo guard Kobe here and there--I think he could do a great job just denying him the ball.

But maybe we're getting too ahead of ourselves...

[RebusRankin]

OKC may take out the Lakers.

[Chris]

I have always felt that JO was the key to the matchup with the Lakers, whether we had Perk or not.  JO is the only big man we have, other than KG who can matchup with the Lakers length and quickness defensively, while also being able to provide spacing offensively.

The Lakers play off Rondo more than any team in the league (other than maybe Detroit).  They basically play a zone with his man (ussually Kobe), and try to take away all of his passing angles and driving angles.  They would also do the same thing with Perkins.  So, when those guys were both on the floor, they had two guys shadowing the passing lanes, and helping to deny the ball to the Big 3, making it really hard for the C's to run anything close to their normal offense.

With a guy like JO, it opens things up a lot more, because of his ability to hit that 10 footer, and the need to respect him in the post.

And defensively, he just matches up much better than anyone else against Bynum and Gasol because of his length and quick feet.  Those guys cannot be shut down like Howard, by leaning on them.  You need to really challenge their shots, and that is something JO can really do.

[vinnie]

Lakers are currently the best team in the league. I believe they are 16-1 since the all star break. Jeff Green will get destroyed by Lamar Odom.

I agree that if the Celts have Shaq and JO healthy their chances improve significantly against the Lakers, however I don't want Jeff Green spending much time guarding Lamar Odom.

[Who]

Jeff Green will get destroyed by Lamar Odom.

Yeah, I don't like that matchup either.

Lamar Odom can actually defend and rebound his position unlike Jeff Green at the power forward spot. The team defense and rebounding that Odom will supply against Green gives LA the advantage.

Odom also has the right blend of size and speed to effectively defend a quick forward like Green so Green's usual matchup advantages (offensively) don't really apply in this specific matchup.

[OsirusCeltics]

Honestly, I don't think Lakers are gonna get that far

But I've always liked the Celtic's chances even without Perk
Lakers only have a 3 man rotation of Gasol, Odom, and Bynum which is very fragile if one goes down for an injury

While the Celtics have KG, Big Baby, Shaq, JO, Murphy, Kristic, and Jeff Green when he plays the 4. That is more than enough

[SHAQATTACK]

we need all the bigs we can get - Krstic is still very important

Agreed. He has moments where he is good and can fill in minutes to give Shaq a break.

If Shaqs foot wasn't an issue even being old , he could still make it hard on Bynum and GASOL to operate like their use to playing shorter defenders every night.....GASol SUCKS when he has to play somebody his own height or bigger....he just can't do it....he relys totally on being the tallest guy on the court.. I'm telling ya... Shaq can still play D in the paint. 

[droopdog7]

Jeff Green will get destroyed by Lamar Odom.

Yeah, I don't like that matchup either.

Lamar Odom can actually defend and rebound his position unlike Jeff Green at the power forward spot. The team defense and rebounding that Odom will supply against Green gives LA the advantage.

Odom also has the right blend of size and speed to effectively defend a quick forward like Green so Green's usual matchup advantages (offensively) don't really apply in this specific matchup.

Odom is a better player than Green so he would certainly have the edge.  But I wouldn't call it a landslide.  They match up fine against each other.

But I would expect to see BBD matching against Odom a lot (like he has in the past).  In that match up, BBD can at least punish Odom in the paint.  And stay in front of him with his surprisingly quick feet.

[BballTim]

Lakers are currently the best team in the league. I believe they are 16-1 since the all star break. Jeff Green will get destroyed by Lamar Odom.

I agree that if the Celts have Shaq and JO healthy their chances improve significantly against the Lakers, however I don't want Jeff Green spending much time guarding Lamar Odom.

  The Lakers are currently playing the best, a claim that Boston/Chicago/San Antonio/Miami have all made at different times this season, and possibly Dallas for short stretches. It has nothing more to do with June than any other team's stint at the top.

[Q_FBE]

I really don't have any evidence that the O'Neals would give  the Celtics a matchup advantage at Center and even if it did, Perkins was our best bet to get rebounds and plug up the middle on Bynum. Maybe OKC can benefit it round 3