We're not far off....

[TheReaLPuba]

Bring back a healthy Shaq/JO...some stop gap at Center to spell them. Heck Kristic could do this with training camp and more practice time.

Add a couple shooters and a Shane Battier type off the bench.

Green will improve...I still don't think he will start. His defense isn't good enough.

We need more specialists and more defined roles.

In '08 we had Posey/House as spot up long range bombers.

We had Tony Allen as a defensive stopper off the bench.

Powe/Baby brought us energy and toughness.

Pierce was our 4th quarter scorer.

This year we had so many players coming and going...never could figure out who was suppose to do what.

Our 4th quarter scoring problems is not a problem of talent...it's a problem of indecision and starting our offense late with 10-13 seconds on the shot clock...plus dumb turnovers.

With a healthy Shaq...we still have the best starting 5 in all of basketball.

We'll get leads...we need a bench to maintain that lead and help give our starters rest for the end of games.

[Surferdad]

I like the title of this thread. 

I agree the team is not far off, and given the fact that Danny's hands are tied with the Big Three contracts, I think it is VERY LIKELY that the core of this team is coming back and off-season moves will be bench tweaks only.

A healthy Shaq appears to be a pipe dream.  The guy can barely walk.  He might retire.  JO returning is more likely than Shaq.  That said, JO is AT BEST a backup center at this point.

The following are likely gone:  Baby, Kristic, Murphy, Pavlovic.

I would pursue Leon Powe. He's got the toughness and a better "mindset" than Baby.  The Glen Davis experiment in Boston is over.  Now let's go with the alternative (remember the debates we had a few years ago on Baby vs. Powe?) which means a little less scoring, but better defense and rebounding.

Avery Bradley should be permanently promoted to the big club and should be the 2nd guard off the bench after West.

Jeff Green needs to work hard on his defense this off-season.  He should get 25 minutes off the bench as sixth man.

Filler/picks/min contracts for the remaining roster spots.

That's my very realistic proposal.

[nyceltsfan]

Our best bet is to bring one of the Big 3 off the bench.  With Jeff Green here, the likely answer would be Pierce, and honestly, I think his versatility makes him a prime candidate for super-6th man.  However, I don't think management and Rivers will allow the captain to come off the bench, so I am wondering if the team will consider one of the following options:

1. Start West at SG and bring Allen off the bench - this will bring pure offense off the bench and will give Rondo a more athletic partner in the backcourt, who can defend and get to loose balls.

2. Start Green at SF and Pierce at SG - this would give the Celts a size advantage at 2 positions and can increase the movement towards the hoop.  With Rondo and Pierce in the backcourt, there are 2 players that can take it to the rim and Green is capable as well.  This will allow Garnett to play his offensive game more seamlessly.

[RyNye]

1. Start West at SG and bring Allen off the bench - this will bring pure offense off the bench and will give Rondo a more athletic partner in the backcourt, who can defend and get to loose balls.

I do like the idea of the Rondo/West combo. They are both good defenders and have quick hands. West had some shining moments going for loose balls and steals in the Heat series. I can see the two of them doing well. Ray Allen is the only one of the Big 3 I could see acting off the bench.

2. Start Green at SF and Pierce at SG - this would give the Celts a size advantage at 2 positions and can increase the movement towards the hoop.  With Rondo and Pierce in the backcourt, there are 2 players that can take it to the rim and Green is capable as well.  This will allow Garnett to play his offensive game more seamlessly.

The problem with Pierce starting at SG is he won't be able to keep up with a lot of the faster, younger guards in the league. He can play SG for stretches of time, but not as a starter.

[Marcus13]

Yeah, let's count on a 40 year old 400 pounder...we saw how well that worked for us this year

[slamtheking]

We may not be far off, but with our current roster and payroll situation, I'd be surprised if Danny can get us back on top if we play next year.

C's need a starting center.  Period.  Shaq's toast.  JO and Krstic are fine as backups but neither is really a quality starter.  I'm actually reluctant to rely on JO at all for even backup duty due to his health and then being left with just Krstic. This is the biggest need the team has IMO and I'm not sure what means Danny will have available to address it or, just as importantly, who will be available to plug in there that will be a quality player.  This player will need to both defend and rebound well.  Some scoring would be a bonus.

C's need a real back up PF with size that can defend, rebound and score adequately.  Someone that can bring energy off the bench. BBD doesn't have the size or rebounding skill to get this done.  Adios muchacho.  someone who's a 4/5 would be ideal.
I see this as need number 2.  I don't see Murphy as the guy for this role but he's worth bringing to camp to see if he can be the 3rd string PF.

C's need to figure out what to do with Green.  Danny gave up Perk for him so he's got to be used productively going forward.  This could include putting him in as a starter and using either Ray or PP as the 6th man.  Between the 3 of them, they should be eating all the minutes at SG and SF.  I'd bring back Wafer (or someone of similar skill) to be the 4th wing.  See ya Sasha.  A defensive wing off the bench that can hit a 3 would be a nice pickup.

PG is Rondo.  Get him practicing his FTs and shots from 18 feet and in.  Needs to get to better than 70% FT shooting this year so he's not a liability with the ball at the end.  Bring back Delonte as his backup.  Delonte can also put some time in at SG which is a plus although I think he passes up too many open looks in that role.  Arroyo is gone and I think the C's need a legit back up to West since I wouldn't depend on him for a full season.  Bradley is again D league material-->build him into something for the following year unless he absolutely shows leaps and bounds of progress during camp (if that ever happens).

Coaching--please dear god now that we're stuck with Doc for 5 more years, get him working on better team motivation, focus and play execution.  There's no reason for this roster to have so much trouble finishing out games and in particular, scoring points.  NONE!

C's have lots of quality parts but as I said to start this season, they're their own worst enemies.  For this year, it was their health and lack of smart, quality execution down the stretches of games that knocked them out.  Miami played very well but not head-and-shoulders above the C's.  With better health and smarter play (which should be expected from this group of veterans), they would still be playing for the title this year.

[Evantime34]

1. If Shaq, JO and Krstic come back I am not that upset about our center position. JO showed what he can do in the playoffs, Shaq showed what he can do to start the season, and Krstic showed what he can do when he first got here. Obviously we need one more guys who can play minutes when these guys get hurt.

2. After much thought I am on the Jeff Green starting Pierce of the bench bandwagon. Jeff plays better with the starters because he is unselfish to a fault. With  the bench players he is just one of 5 that is unwilling to initiate offense. Pierce would be perfect for the second unit because he has no problem creating his own shot. It would lower his minutes and leave him fresher for extended minutes in the playoffs. Green will further improve with an entire offseason learning his natural position (the 3) and with prodding from the other starters become a more willing aggressor on offense.

3. I would love to see an athletic big with the MLE (if there is one) but I don't see the guy that would fit at that spot for the MLE. To me this means we have to go hard after JR Smith or Jamal Crawford. Doc was great at making Pierce more efficient when he first got to Boston and a lot of guys who had been known as bad defenders have gotten better. I believe that both Smith and Crawford would take better shots and play better defense for us all the while giving us a good scorer off the bench. JR specifically would be appealing because he could be a bridge to the future replacing Ray eventually (replacing as in getting the exact shots he takes now, not just playing his position).

4. Give Bradley and our first this year room to grow. If we are to get better as the big 3 fade we need a young player to step up. Bradley needs to be given minutes to keep the legs of the vets fresh. The less miles on the big 3 during the season the better they will perform in the playoffs. If he isn't ready this year that's fine but he needs the opportunity to see what he can do in games.

5. Rondo needs to be healthy. Of course his jump shot could get better, but do we really want him taking jump shots? At the start of the season he was attacking the hole and creating open looks for the big 3. Then a variety of injuries started to slow him down and he didn't attack the hoop as often. At this stage in their careers the big 3 are excellent finishers but are not great creators. We need Rondo to feel healthy enough to attack the basket to create open shots, because he's really the only one on our team that can do it.

6. We need to play our bench regardless of how they do and we need durable bench players. This ties in to giving Bradley and our rookie a try as back ups.

7. If you wanted to know how close we were just look at earlier in the year when we were playing like the best team in the league. If we can have most of our important players healthy we can match that, but the key is being able to peak during the playoffs not a few games in. To peak late in the year we need to ride the bench hard.

[CelticG1]

Avery Bradley should be permanently promoted to the big club and should be the 2nd guard off the bench after West.

Would love for bradley to get some burn. I actually thought he looked pretty decent when he go some normal minutes in games. I don't know if they are just grooming him to be a PG but why not give him some minutes at SG. He's not that tall but he is super strong and I think he could definitely defend a good amount of 2's. I think he should be able to find a sort of Tony Allen role for this team if given the opportunity except TA defended 2's and 3's and Bradley could defend 1's and 2's

[Bahku]

1. If Shaq, JO and Krstic come back I am not that upset about our center position. JO showed what he can do in the playoffs, Shaq showed what he can do to start the season, and Krstic showed what he can do when he first got here. Obviously we need one more guys who can play minutes when these guys get hurt.

2. After much thought I am on the Jeff Green starting Pierce of the bench bandwagon. Jeff plays better with the starters because he is unselfish to a fault. With  the bench players he is just one of 5 that is unwilling to initiate offense. Pierce would be perfect for the second unit because he has no problem creating his own shot. It would lower his minutes and leave him fresher for extended minutes in the playoffs. Green will further improve with an entire offseason learning his natural position (the 3) and with prodding from the other starters become a more willing aggressor on offense.

3. I would love to see an athletic big with the MLE (if there is one) but I don't see the guy that would fit at that spot for the MLE. To me this means we have to go hard after JR Smith or Jamal Crawford. Doc was great at making Pierce more efficient when he first got to Boston and a lot of guys who had been known as bad defenders have gotten better. I believe that both Smith and Crawford would take better shots and play better defense for us all the while giving us a good scorer off the bench. JR specifically would be appealing because he could be a bridge to the future replacing Ray eventually (replacing as in getting the exact shots he takes now, not just playing his position).

4. Give Bradley and our first this year room to grow. If we are to get better as the big 3 fade we need a young player to step up. Bradley needs to be given minutes to keep the legs of the vets fresh. The less miles on the big 3 during the season the better they will perform in the playoffs. If he isn't ready this year that's fine but he needs the opportunity to see what he can do in games.

5. Rondo needs to be healthy. Of course his jump shot could get better, but do we really want him taking jump shots? At the start of the season he was attacking the hole and creating open looks for the big 3. Then a variety of injuries started to slow him down and he didn't attack the hoop as often. At this stage in their careers the big 3 are excellent finishers but are not great creators. We need Rondo to feel healthy enough to attack the basket to create open shots, because he's really the only one on our team that can do it.

6. We need to play our bench regardless of how they do and we need durable bench players. This ties in to giving Bradley and our rookie a try as back ups.

7. If you wanted to know how close we were just look at earlier in the year when we were playing like the best team in the league. If we can have most of our important players healthy we can match that, but the key is being able to peak during the playoffs not a few games in. To peak late in the year we need to ride the bench hard.

As usual, I agree with almost everything you say here, E34, (TP), but I have to take exception to bringing The Truth off the bench and starting Green. Paul is our number one clutch player, he's the guy you want with the ball when things are at their toughest, and he has proven over the years that he's the one who can back it up.

Green has not proven anything to me at this point, other than he has under-performed since he got here. Paul is also our Captain, and bringing the Captain off the bench, the guy who leads this team and has led it on and off the floor for longer than anyone in green, would be extremely detrimental to the core chemistry of this club.

Whatever happens to this club in the next couple of years, Pierce should remain a Celtic until he retires, should remain the Captain until he does so, and should always remain a starter, anything else just simply undermines what this team has used to ignite Ubuntu, selfless play, and defense-first priority.

Jeff Green has done nothing to earn a starting spot on this team, and certainly is not close to the caliber of player or leader that The Truth is. He is not a "clutch" shooter, does not have the defensive prowess or experience that Paul has, and has next to no chemistry established with the other starters.

You have to remember, whatever else people may think, when it comes down to it, Pierce is the one even KG looks up to for the lead and the clutch plays ... what happens to him and the rest when their leader, Captain, and emotional foundation becomes a pine-warmer?

It's just personal opinion, but that's one Bandwagon I just could never see my way onto.

[Surferdad]

1. If Shaq, JO and Krstic come back I am not that upset about our center position. JO showed what he can do in the playoffs, Shaq showed what he can do to start the season, and Krstic showed what he can do when he first got here. Obviously we need one more guys who can play minutes when these guys get hurt.

2. After much thought I am on the Jeff Green starting Pierce of the bench bandwagon. Jeff plays better with the starters because he is unselfish to a fault. With  the bench players he is just one of 5 that is unwilling to initiate offense. Pierce would be perfect for the second unit because he has no problem creating his own shot. It would lower his minutes and leave him fresher for extended minutes in the playoffs. Green will further improve with an entire offseason learning his natural position (the 3) and with prodding from the other starters become a more willing aggressor on offense.

3. I would love to see an athletic big with the MLE (if there is one) but I don't see the guy that would fit at that spot for the MLE. To me this means we have to go hard after JR Smith or Jamal Crawford. Doc was great at making Pierce more efficient when he first got to Boston and a lot of guys who had been known as bad defenders have gotten better. I believe that both Smith and Crawford would take better shots and play better defense for us all the while giving us a good scorer off the bench. JR specifically would be appealing because he could be a bridge to the future replacing Ray eventually (replacing as in getting the exact shots he takes now, not just playing his position).

4. Give Bradley and our first this year room to grow. If we are to get better as the big 3 fade we need a young player to step up. Bradley needs to be given minutes to keep the legs of the vets fresh. The less miles on the big 3 during the season the better they will perform in the playoffs. If he isn't ready this year that's fine but he needs the opportunity to see what he can do in games.

5. Rondo needs to be healthy. Of course his jump shot could get better, but do we really want him taking jump shots? At the start of the season he was attacking the hole and creating open looks for the big 3. Then a variety of injuries started to slow him down and he didn't attack the hoop as often. At this stage in their careers the big 3 are excellent finishers but are not great creators. We need Rondo to feel healthy enough to attack the basket to create open shots, because he's really the only one on our team that can do it.

6. We need to play our bench regardless of how they do and we need durable bench players. This ties in to giving Bradley and our rookie a try as back ups.

7. If you wanted to know how close we were just look at earlier in the year when we were playing like the best team in the league. If we can have most of our important players healthy we can match that, but the key is being able to peak during the playoffs not a few games in. To peak late in the year we need to ride the bench hard.

As usual, I agree with almost everything you say here, E34, (TP), but I have to take exception to bringing The Truth off the bench and starting Green. Paul is our number one clutch player, he's the guy you want with the ball when things are at their toughest, and he has proven over the years that he's the one who can back it up.

Green has not proven anything to me at this point, other than he has under-performed since he got here. Paul is also our Captain, and bringing the Captain off the bench, the guy who leads this team and has led it on and off the floor for longer than anyone in green, would be extremely detrimental to the core chemistry of this club.

Whatever happens to this club in the next couple of years, Pierce should remain a Celtic until he retires, should remain the Captain until he does so, and should always remain a starter, anything else just simply undermines what this team has used to ignite Ubuntu, selfless play, and defense-first priority.

Jeff Green has done nothing to earn a starting spot on this team, and certainly is not close to the caliber of player or leader that The Truth is. He is not a "clutch" shooter, does not have the defensive prowess or experience that Paul has, and has next to no chemistry established with the other starters.

You have to remember, whatever else people may think, when it comes down to it, Pierce is the one even KG looks up to for the lead and the clutch plays ... what happens to him and the rest when their leader, Captain, and emotional foundation becomes a pine-warmer?

It's just personal opinion, but that's one Bandwagon I just could never see my way onto.

Right on, Bahku.  No point in upsetting team chemistry.  Folks are getting hung up on the "who starts" question yet again.  That is not the issue since a good sixth man can put in as many minutes as a starter, especially with the C's who have a history of great sixth men, Havlicek and McHale to name two.

Ainge has said that Bradley would be a top-5 pick this year if he had stayed in school.  That might be a reflectino of a weak top-end in this year's draft, but top-5 is top-5.  Avery should see more minutes next season.  That said, I would still bring back West and Wafer.  Both of these guys, along with Bradley and Green are excellent athletes who can learn to play better defense.  The problem with the bench last year was giving back leads built by the starters.  Our bench defense must improve.

[rondohondo]

1. If Shaq, JO and Krstic come back I am not that upset about our center position. JO showed what he can do in the playoffs, Shaq showed what he can do to start the season, and Krstic showed what he can do when he first got here. Obviously we need one more guys who can play minutes when these guys get hurt.

2. After much thought I am on the Jeff Green starting Pierce of the bench bandwagon. Jeff plays better with the starters because he is unselfish to a fault. With  the bench players he is just one of 5 that is unwilling to initiate offense. Pierce would be perfect for the second unit because he has no problem creating his own shot. It would lower his minutes and leave him fresher for extended minutes in the playoffs. Green will further improve with an entire offseason learning his natural position (the 3) and with prodding from the other starters become a more willing aggressor on offense.

3. I would love to see an athletic big with the MLE (if there is one) but I don't see the guy that would fit at that spot for the MLE. To me this means we have to go hard after JR Smith or Jamal Crawford. Doc was great at making Pierce more efficient when he first got to Boston and a lot of guys who had been known as bad defenders have gotten better. I believe that both Smith and Crawford would take better shots and play better defense for us all the while giving us a good scorer off the bench. JR specifically would be appealing because he could be a bridge to the future replacing Ray eventually (replacing as in getting the exact shots he takes now, not just playing his position).

4. Give Bradley and our first this year room to grow. If we are to get better as the big 3 fade we need a young player to step up. Bradley needs to be given minutes to keep the legs of the vets fresh. The less miles on the big 3 during the season the better they will perform in the playoffs. If he isn't ready this year that's fine but he needs the opportunity to see what he can do in games.

5. Rondo needs to be healthy. Of course his jump shot could get better, but do we really want him taking jump shots? At the start of the season he was attacking the hole and creating open looks for the big 3. Then a variety of injuries started to slow him down and he didn't attack the hoop as often. At this stage in their careers the big 3 are excellent finishers but are not great creators. We need Rondo to feel healthy enough to attack the basket to create open shots, because he's really the only one on our team that can do it.

6. We need to play our bench regardless of how they do and we need durable bench players. This ties in to giving Bradley and our rookie a try as back ups.

7. If you wanted to know how close we were just look at earlier in the year when we were playing like the best team in the league. If we can have most of our important players healthy we can match that, but the key is being able to peak during the playoffs not a few games in. To peak late in the year we need to ride the bench hard.

As usual, I agree with almost everything you say here, E34, (TP), but I have to take exception to bringing The Truth off the bench and starting Green. Paul is our number one clutch player, he's the guy you want with the ball when things are at their toughest, and he has proven over the years that he's the one who can back it up.

Green has not proven anything to me at this point, other than he has under-performed since he got here. Paul is also our Captain, and bringing the Captain off the bench, the guy who leads this team and has led it on and off the floor for longer than anyone in green, would be extremely detrimental to the core chemistry of this club.

Whatever happens to this club in the next couple of years, Pierce should remain a Celtic until he retires, should remain the Captain until he does so, and should always remain a starter, anything else just simply undermines what this team has used to ignite Ubuntu, selfless play, and defense-first priority.

Jeff Green has done nothing to earn a starting spot on this team, and certainly is not close to the caliber of player or leader that The Truth is. He is not a "clutch" shooter, does not have the defensive prowess or experience that Paul has, and has next to no chemistry established with the other starters.

You have to remember, whatever else people may think, when it comes down to it, Pierce is the one even KG looks up to for the lead and the clutch plays ... what happens to him and the rest when their leader, Captain, and emotional foundation becomes a pine-warmer?

It's just personal opinion, but that's one Bandwagon I just could never see my way onto.

I understand where you are coming from not wanting to move Pul Pierce to the bench , but IMO it would balance the team out perfectly and take a lot of pressure off of Jeff Green.

With Green in the starting lineup he would be surrounded by 3 other all-stars. Ray still provides the spacing that the starting lineup needs, and green would be able to post up just about any SF in the league( not named Lebron). The c's are desperate for low post scoring on offense and from what I have seen while he has been here Green is very effective with the jump hook when he posts up . The other 3 all-stars in the starting lineup allow Green to be the 3rd or 4th option on offense( instead of having to be the main scorer off the bench)

Also another big reason why Jeff Green would be a good fit in the starting lineup is because of his speed and athleticism. He constantly beat his man up the floor on fast breaks. That is really going to be a perfect fit alongside Rondo. We  need to take advantage of Rondo's strengths , the biggest one being able to get out on the fast break and get easy offense. It's clear that in the half court offense Rondo isn't nearly as effective because of his inability to shoot, so why not get some athletes out there that can run with Rondo and finish on the break?


As far as PP goes, why couldn't he do it ? or why wouldn't he want to if it will help the team be more balanced and take advantage of their strengths ? John Havlicek perfected the role of 6th man and he was the celtics captain( I believe) . Havlicek is someone PP really looks up to and you could see it on "The Association " program .

Like I said before Jeff Green can't be expected to be your # 1 go to scorer off the bench when the rest of the big 3 is tired or he is surrounded by other bench players. PP can do this though. He would absolutely destroy other teams 2nd stringers and tired 1st stringers . He would be the man and set up the offense just like he used to do when he 1st came in the league and his most talented teammate was Antoine .

PP can still get 35 mins a game by backing up Jeff Green and Ray

Jeff Green plays 25 mins at sf and 10 at PF = much more effective with playing time and being surrounded by all-stars .

PP plays 23 mins backing up Jeff at SF , Play 10-15 mins backing up Ray at SG


This to me would be a great way to balance out the team

Plus it's not who starts , its who finishes and I can guarantee you that even if PP became 6th man he would be finishing games with the starters, but would be much more well rested making him even for deadly in crunch time .

[mostofusrsad]

I can not believe there is actual discussion about bringing shaq, JO, and Kristic as center....that is a recipe for another season like the one we just had, except they are all 1 year older...
the big 3 are NOT the big 3 anymore...they are not athletic enough to win a title anymore...we gotta get real here, we need to revamp the team in order to compete, make some major changes.

[Chris]

I can not believe there is actual discussion about bringing shaq, JO, and Kristic as center....that is a recipe for another season like the one we just had, except they are all 1 year older...
the big 3 are NOT the big 3 anymore...they are not athletic enough to win a title anymore...we gotta get real here, we need to revamp the team in order to compete, make some major changes.

A season where we have the 3rd best record in the East, and were a generous bounce away (or a slightly less injured elbow away) from going back to Miami tied 2-2 with Lebron questioning himself after nearly giving away the game?

I am OK with that.  Considering another option high on a lot of lists is playing for the lottery, I can handle another season where we have a chance to win it all. 

Yes, this team needs to make improvements, but I just don't get this idea that they are suddenly so far off.  A couple minor tweaks, and a little luck, and this team is a true contender again next season.

[mostofusrsad]

I can not believe there is actual discussion about bringing shaq, JO, and Kristic as center....that is a recipe for another season like the one we just had, except they are all 1 year older...
the big 3 are NOT the big 3 anymore...they are not athletic enough to win a title anymore...we gotta get real here, we need to revamp the team in order to compete, make some major changes.

A season where we have the 3rd best record in the East, and were a generous bounce away (or a slightly less injured elbow away) from going back to Miami tied 2-2 with Lebron questioning himself after nearly giving away the game?

I am OK with that.  Considering another option high on a lot of lists is playing for the lottery, I can handle another season where we have a chance to win it all. 

Yes, this team needs to make improvements, but I just don't get this idea that they are suddenly so far off.  A couple minor tweaks, and a little luck, and this team is a true contender again next season.

I don't think we were THAT close this year to begin with.  It was a lot more than a couple bad bounces away.  Add another year to everybody and we will be even farther off next year...it is time to have a rebuild or at least a very significant trade or two.

[RyNye]

the big 3 are NOT the big 3 anymore...they are not athletic enough to win a title anymore...we gotta get real here, we need to revamp the team in order to compete, make some major changes.

The Big 3 had their best collective season this year since we won a championship. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce had career seasons, and KG was, statistically, our team's most efficient player (and high on the list of the most efficient players in the league). They all made the All-Star Team, and PP was named All-NBA Defensive 1st.

Do we need to make changes? Yes. Our shortcomings have been thoroughly documented. We need a starting big and an explosive sixth man.

don't think we were THAT close this year to begin with.  It was a lot more than a couple bad bounces away.  Add another year to everybody and we will be even farther off next year...it is time to have a rebuild or at least a very significant trade or two.

We were 1st in the East, and 2nd in the NBA, for the majority of the season. We peaked too early, and slumped after the All-Star Break. Even so, we were still 3rd in the East, and the series against the Heat was really [dang]ed close. Only one of the 5 games was lopsided. The rest of the losses all came down to 4th quarter execution. And, let's face it, Miami's 3 played better than anyone could have reasonably expected them too (Bosh went off, Lebron had unusually good 3 point shooting for him, etc.).