The better team will win in a 7 game series

[cman88]

i cant really understand such negativity when the celtics havent played a single playoff game. People say8ing the celtics will get embarrased by the knicks, crushed by the Heat..

I can understand that the last month of games coupled with shaqs injuries has been a dissapointment...but the playoffs are a different beast, and I expect the "big 4" to come out with the effort they did at the beginning of the year...lets not forget we had the #2 record in the nba for 3/4 of the season most of which WITHOUT Perk, Shaq, JO...with semih erden as our starting center! certainly that wasnt because Semih was such a force in the middle...but because the big 4 were clicking and playing on all cylinders.

One game can be an anomoly of how a team is playing on a given night. However, over the course of a 7 game series, usually the better and deeper team wins. and if one thing has taught me anything, dont count out these celtics. If they're playing on all cylinders, they can beat anybody...when Rondo is being agressive and drivging to the hoop(something he stopped doing the past month on a consistent basis) they are tough to beat..some positives I can take of the celtics going into the playoffs is this


1. KG is closer to the KG of 2008 than the KG of last year...and that team still made it to the finals...Pierce and Ray are having statistical years shooting the basket

2. Our bench is better...last year we had tony allen and BBD as our 2 main guys off the bench..now we've got delonte west, baby, green

3. JO was able to play 37minutes against washington, taking charges and according to him felt fine. A healthy JO certainly while not totally replace perkins, give us alot of what he did. Defense, setting picks.

4. Shaq is Injured Now, doesnt necessarily mean he will be this whole playoff series(or even all the games vs. the knicks). They said they will monitor him every day. No use to bring the big guy out only to play 5minutes before injuring something


maybe im being an optimist, but I want to see what the celtics look like giving 110% effort and rondo driving agressively to the hoop before I count these guys out.

[vinnie]

Weren't the Celtics 29-7 with Shaq as the starting center?
I think the Celts will squeeze by the Knicks in 6 or 7, even without Shaq, but after that, no Shaq = no winning another series.

[cman88]

But, unless it was an anomaly, didnt we beat the heat 3/4 times??...and one time was with a 7 man rotation where pierce went 0-10...sure both teams are different..but the heat suffer from the same problem they always had..lack of depth. their big "3" put up a combined 63points today and they struggled to put down the 76rs...I find it hard to believe that theyd all of a sudden find a way to stop rondo and fix their depth issues..spoelstra even admitted the game they blew out the celtics...it was just rondos lack of effort, nothing they did differently to him

While I think we do need shaq to beat the Heat, I think people are discounting what a healthy JO can give us...if we can get 25-30minutes out of him, were good at the center

[PseudoElite]

Shaq is still injured smh. We really need him in the playoffs.

[Senninsage]

This team can win a championship without Shaq. It will obviously just be more difficult to do.

I watch tomorrow's game as a Celtics fan who has faith in their ability to get the job done. If they lose tomorrow's game, then they have other opportunities to right the ship.

The better team will come out on top. If the Knicks win tomorrow, then it will be because they were the better team on that day. If the Knicks win the series, it will be because they were the better team. The opposite will also be true for the Celtics.

The Celtics just need to go out there tomorrow and be the team we all know they can be. They also can't make too many mental mistakes that they effectively take themselves out of the game.

[KungPoweChicken]

If it weren't for the refs, the better team would always win.

[celtics2]

In our case the healthier team will win. Knicks could steal this round.

[cman88]

I think people are underestimating what JO brings to the table to the C's....we never really got a taste of what JO in the starting lineup can bring because he was injured, and doc limited his minutes after he returned...but now hes healthy, hes probably more versatile than shaq and can bring that defensive presence in the post that we need...

JO/Kristic surely are just as good/better than Joel anthony/Big Z....and delonte,green,baby neutralize anyone on their bench...its just that shaq would make the series easier...I think our depth would win out though