Everyone's counting the Celtics out again... at their own peril

[PseudoElite]

http://espn.go.com/nba/news/story?page=5-on-5-110415

Just one of the many links where everyone is predicting a Lakers/Bulls or Lakers/Heat final.

Does this remind anyone of anything? Like uh.. last year?  

I'll admit that this year looks a lot tougher than last, Bulls and Heat are dangerous. And lately the Celtics have looked terrible, a lot of new pieces to fit in. But I think completely overlooking the Celtics is foolish.  

The Heat crushed the Celtics in that last game and now they think they can win it all? Please. Since when did 1 game define everything, the Heat bench isn't going to show up like that every night and Boston isn't going to play that horribly all the time.

Bulls on the other hand look very dangerous and have beaten us soundly twice, we won't have HCA either, Celtics should be very wary.

Teams are going to regret it if they count the Celtics out frankly. Bulls fans already assuming they've won the title without any real playoff experience. Get there first then I'll be convinced. We saw what last year's "MVP" team did.

Heat bandwagoners (and trust me, the bandwagon will empty out quickly once they lose) are convinced that their "WHITE HOT HEAT" will win it all because of a good stretch. Good luck having Bosh/Wade/LeBron score 80% of your points every night, your starting PG Mike Bibby and your best bench player being Mike Miller

Are the Celtics guaranteed to win it all? Absolutely not, it's gonna be a very difficult journey, one that may not end well. But it ain't over till it's over.

Anyways, on with the playoffs, go Celtics!

[stylo617617]

the celtics wouldnt have it any other way

[Assassin70]

When it comes to the Celts and the new big 3 era.

They have proven the regular season is irrelevant.

I look forward to see what they have in store for us this time around.

[Marcus13]

We did it to ourselves.  We put ourselves in the position to where we have to prove everyone wrong.  Let's pray we can do it again!

[jdpapa3]

Before the season, everyone was expecting Boston to win in the low to mid 50s for games, probably start off fast and then finish weakly to save legs for the playoffs.

It actually goes down like this and then everyone can't escape the moment and look at the bigger picture.

[GreenEnvy]

I don't know how much better these potential opponents are than last year.

The Bulls and Heat aren't clearly better than the Cavs (best record) and (then defending Eastern Conference champion) Magic. Both of those teams were also more experienced in big games.

And I think the Lakers have significantly bigger question marks this season, and THEIR road looks much more difficult after the first round.

The Knicks may be a little tougher of a first round opponent, or not. We shall see.

[garz]

I think there's a good chance Chicago loses in the second round to Orlando, especially with the way they seem to be overconfident and underestimating everyone. They'll be even more high on themselves after the first round.

San Antonio is also being disrespected and I think they'll destroy Memphis.

[hpantazo]

I think there's a good chance Chicago loses in the second round to Orlando, especially with the way they seem to be overconfident and underestimating everyone. They'll be even more high on themselves after the first round.

San Antonio is also being disrespected and I think they'll destroy Memphis.

I agree on both predictions

[Yogi]

   If we had not made the trade, or if we had the best record in the league, we would still be considered underdogs against the Heat and Bulls.  Look at San Antonio... How many "analysts" have them as favorites in the west?  4 rings and #1 seed still is not enough to get them the proper respect.  The Spurs even swept the regular season series against OKC.  Does that stop these "experts" from predicting an OKC win in the second round?

[Rondo2287]

   If we had not made the trade, or if we had the best record in the league, we would still be considered underdogs against the Heat and Bulls.  Look at San Antonio... How many "analysts" have them as favorites in the west?  4 rings and #1 seed still is not enough to get them the proper respect.  The Spurs even swept the regular season series against OKC.  Does that stop these "experts" from predicting an OKC win in the second round?

Very very good point yogi. TP

[SHAQATTACK]

I think there's a good chance Chicago loses in the second round to Orlando, especially with the way they seem to be overconfident and underestimating everyone. They'll be even more high on themselves after the first round.

San Antonio is also being disrespected and I think they'll destroy Memphis.

I agree on both predictions

+1 ... DA Bulls may eventually prevail over Orlando , but as long as DH gives 100% and punishs the Bulls inside with no mercy it works to our advantage. The Bulls are liable to come out of this series at least pretty beat up . Which will have the effect of softening them up for the Celtics.  DH will beat on Noah  like a little red headed step child.

The playoffs I feel favor the older /wiser/ better shooting teams.  We can start the the series without Shaq.... but, eventually I think he has to play by no latter the second  to reach the finals. Ever game the Celtics can pull out without Shaq is bonus.  If the C's can just get him to the finals...  He wants nothing more than to meet and beat his old LA team and go out a champion. He'll have the rest of his life to recover from injuries.  The BIG DIESEL has ONE MORE STOP to make...  

[Spilling Green Dye]

I think there's a good chance Chicago loses in the second round to Orlando, especially with the way they seem to be overconfident and underestimating everyone. They'll be even more high on themselves after the first round.

San Antonio is also being disrespected and I think they'll destroy Memphis.

I agree on both predictions

While I agree that San Antonio is actually underrated at this point, I don't see Chicago beating Orlando.  The Magic are worse this year than last, and Tom Thibs definitely knows how to beat them.  Unfortunately I don't think SVG is a good coach, because I'd love for the Magic to beat Chicago!

[Jon]

I agree.  This isn't really that much different than last year.  In fact, it's not as bad as last year.  The slide last year was much worse and much longer.  Furthermore, this year's KG is leaps and bounds better than last year's KG. 

I really think this whole "the Perk trade killed our chemistry" is a bunch of crap.  If Perk was the magical cure to all chemistry problems, the '09-10 team wouldn't have gone 27-27 to finish the season. 

Now again, as I've said time and again, that doesn't mean we won't miss Perk's interior defense at some point in the playoffs.  But that's completely different than this "chemistry" argument. 

Also, as far as counting people out, I really think that JO is going to surprise a lot of people.  Doc really limited him in the games he played; however, in the Knicks game he clearly showed that he still can play big minutes and put up big numbers (albeit against subpar competition).  I think he can play 30 mpg if need be and provide most of what Perk provided defensively and significantly more than Perk could provide offensively. 

[Yvette]

Let them say what they want... I love being the underdog anyway... Less pressure... 

[JSD]

I'm not. I have them winning it all.