Sorry Folks the ride is over.

[mgent]

Why are people worried about new York? We gave them a year long whitewash last season. 8 games to nil. That much will not change in one year.

i think they will be better once they have a full training camp/offseason to "gel".  getting melo 1/2way through the season changed dynamics.  i think they will be good, but not an elite eastern team.

A lot of it depends on whether they continue to be one of the worst defensive teams in the league.  If they become an average defensive team, they could be pretty good.

[FatjohnReturns]

When Perkins was injured as the start of last year we had Garnett,Shaq,Baby to play 80 minutes

Then after Shaq got hurt we briefly had Garnett,Perkins,Baby.

Post trade we manned the 4/5 with Garnett,Krstic,Baby.

And then playoffs was mostly Garnett,Jermaine,Baby.

Now Perkins,Shaq,Krstic are gone and Baby has one foot out the door. Last I heard Jermaine was thinking about retirement.
This team is no way deep enough at the 4/5 to sniff at contending. You people thinking we are significantly better than Orlando and Atlanta are dreaming.

They are both significantly stronger and younger at the bigs than us. Orlando with Dwight,Bass,Anderson and Atlanta with Collins,Horford,Smith,ZaZa

Garnett and O'Neil are at the twilight of their careers. Its over folks Sorry

[chambers]

When Perkins was injured as the start of last year we had Garnett,Shaq,Baby to play 80 minutes

Then after Shaq got hurt we briefly had Garnett,Perkins,Baby.

Post trade we manned the 4/5 with Garnett,Krstic,Baby.

And then playoffs was mostly Garnett,Jermaine,Baby.

Now Perkins,Shaq,Krstic are gone and Baby has one foot out the door. Last I heard Jermaine was thinking about retirement.
This team is no way deep enough at the 4/5 to sniff at contending. You people thinking we are significantly better than Orlando and Atlanta are dreaming.

They are both significantly stronger and younger at the bigs than us. Orlando with Dwight,Bass,Anderson and Atlanta with Collins,Horford,Smith,ZaZa

Garnett and O'Neil are at the twilight of their careers. Its over folks Sorry

I didn't realise that we beat all these teams before because of Kendrick Perkins and our depth at the center spot with Erden backing him up. I guess our other starters, in particular the PF, SG, PG and SF are all scrubs?

I guess the reason the Heat beat all these teams was the mighty combo of Ilgauskas and Joel Anthony clogging the paint.

Nice in theory, but the argument doesn't cut it. We are still the best defensive team in the league and have a core that's been together the longest.
The ride isn't over at all. You gotta at least see the final roster before you make any big calls like that.
Ainge and Doc are doing everything they can to match up perfectly with the Heat and Bulls come playoff time. Wait till we see the final squad and then jump off the train.

[jdz101]

Why are people worried about new York? We gave them a year long whitewash last season. 8 games to nil. That much will not change in one year.

i think they will be better once they have a full training camp/offseason to "gel".  getting melo 1/2way through the season changed dynamics.  i think they will be good, but not an elite eastern team.

A lot of it depends on whether they continue to be one of the worst defensive teams in the league.  If they become an average defensive team, they could be pretty good.

Not under that system with that coach. Sorry. I just cant see it happening.

Especially when your two "superstar" players (the commas are for melo aka 'the donut king') are fairly weak defensively. They need a coach who cares about defense and leaders on the court who care about defense. New York have neither of those things.

[bfrombleacher]

Why are people worried about new York? We gave them a year long whitewash last season. 8 games to nil. That much will not change in one year.

i think they will be better once they have a full training camp/offseason to "gel".  getting melo 1/2way through the season changed dynamics.  i think they will be good, but not an elite eastern team.

A lot of it depends on whether they continue to be one of the worst defensive teams in the league.  If they become an average defensive team, they could be pretty good.

Not under that system with that coach. Sorry. I just cant see it happening.

Especially when your two "superstar" players (the commas are for melo aka 'the donut king') are fairly weak defensively. They need a coach who cares about defense and leaders on the court who care about defense. New York have neither of those things.

The Celtics also didn't have time to "gel".

[mgent]

Why are people worried about new York? We gave them a year long whitewash last season. 8 games to nil. That much will not change in one year.

i think they will be better once they have a full training camp/offseason to "gel".  getting melo 1/2way through the season changed dynamics.  i think they will be good, but not an elite eastern team.

A lot of it depends on whether they continue to be one of the worst defensive teams in the league.  If they become an average defensive team, they could be pretty good.

Not under that system with that coach. Sorry. I just cant see it happening.

Especially when your two "superstar" players (the commas are for melo aka 'the donut king') are fairly weak defensively. They need a coach who cares about defense and leaders on the court who care about defense. New York have neither of those things.

Me either.  New coach is a necessary first step.

[greg_kite]

I would not put my money on the C's winning this year either, but they will be contenders.  Who would have bet on Dallas?

As long as they are one of the 5 top teams in the league it will be a very entertaining season.  If they stay healthy they have an excellent starting 5 still.

All they need is an injury to Lebron and the C's can still win it all.  They could still beat Chicago, who overachieved last year.

They still have some holes on the bench, and they would need J.O. to be healthy in the playoffs, which is a longshot, but I would definitely not put the nail in the coffin yet.

[FatjohnReturns]

When Perkins was injured as the start of last year we had Garnett,Shaq,Baby to play 80 minutes

Then after Shaq got hurt we briefly had Garnett,Perkins,Baby.

Post trade we manned the 4/5 with Garnett,Krstic,Baby.

And then playoffs was mostly Garnett,Jermaine,Baby.

Now Perkins,Shaq,Krstic are gone and Baby has one foot out the door. Last I heard Jermaine was thinking about retirement.
This team is no way deep enough at the 4/5 to sniff at contending. You people thinking we are significantly better than Orlando and Atlanta are dreaming.

They are both significantly stronger and younger at the bigs than us. Orlando with Dwight,Bass,Anderson and Atlanta with Collins,Horford,Smith,ZaZa

Garnett and O'Neil are at the twilight of their careers. Its over folks Sorry

I didn't realise that we beat all these teams before because of Kendrick Perkins and our depth at the center spot with Erden backing him up. I guess our other starters, in particular the PF, SG, PG and SF are all scrubs?

I guess the reason the Heat beat all these teams was the mighty combo of Ilgauskas and Joel Anthony clogging the paint.

Nice in theory, but the argument doesn't cut it. We are still the best defensive team in the league and have a core that's been together the longest.
The ride isn't over at all. You gotta at least see the final roster before you make any big calls like that.
Ainge and Doc are doing everything they can to match up perfectly with the Heat and Bulls come playoff time. Wait till we see the final squad and then jump off the train.

The final roster is going to be what we have now + rookies and players similar to Scott Pollard or Mikki Moore. Under the old CBA rules we were over the cap right? Didint Jermaine take the MLE for 2 years. So if there is a season we would have had the had the LLE. You cannot get a difference maker with the LLE.

[cman88]

we'll likely also have the MLE (assuming it stays in the new CBA) which we could split between some centers..

we won with Kristic and erden starting for us..

we dont really need a "difference maker" but someone who can clog the paint, grab rebounds and lay it in/dunk when occasionally open...Kwame brown is someone in our price range, then maybe a vet  or someone younger/more athletic

problem with us in the playoffs is we had JO(who played Great defense for us) but then rotated centers to BBD who is undersized and not as good defensively  and Kristic never played...but he was lacking defensively..when facing Miami, or even chicago what we need is someone who can stop Bron/Wade/rose from driving and force them to shoot

[TheTruthFot18]

rondo/west/bradley
Ray/west/Redd
PP/ (insert a backup please)/ J.Green/redd
KG/(insert backup please)J.Green/Johnson
JO/Kwame/(insert some Vet min center)



Please No BBD No more

Love this lineup. Mostly for Redd at backup 2/3 which would allow Green to get a few more 4 spot minutes in instead of Pierces minutes. Kwame is good too behind JO.

BUT as much as I am indifferent towards BBD and his future here, until we can find a suitable backup 4 thats not JJJ, Green or (insert here) it would be in our best interest (and his) to keep him. But hey, I heard Lamarcus Aldridge and JSmoove would under bid each other to come here for ~MLE :p

TP non the less


Also OP, 7th in the east? Really? Geez those IND/NYK/ORL teams really show the potential next year to get a better regular season record. ATL too. It;s still us, CHI, MIA, as the top three. Worst case we go 4th behind ORL

[cman88]

another thing, im not so convinced that the Heat will be "that much" better next year UNLESS Lebron/wade change the way they play totally around.....they dominate the ball so much(and can only thrive when doing so) and play 40minutes a night that it doesnt really matter who they sign as roleplayers...theyll all be reduced to spot up shooters.

you look at a team like the bulls and can see that they need a SG who can take the scoring burden off of rose...but I look at the heat and the problem is that wade/lebron can only be effective when handling the ball...hence why they score 80% of the teams points

[xmuscularghandix]

I agree that the ride is probably over, but Danny didn't trade Perk for Krstic and let him walk. He traded Perk for Jeff Green.

Perkins isn't the reason the Celtics lost in 2010, and he wasn't a HUGE reason they won in '07.

[Bahku]

Come on, any ride with KG, Rondo, Pierce, and Ray, behind the wheel is very far from "over". Ray is one of the best in the league at moving off the ball, shooting free-throws, and three-pointers, Pierce is still one of the league's best clutch players, and KG had better mobility and athleticism this last season than he did the year before. Rondo is also still one of the best passers and PG's in the NBA, and while he needs a jump-shot and outside threat, he's a force at the point that almost any other team would drool for. Very far from over, this "ride".

[chambers]

Come on, any ride with KG, Rondo, Pierce, and Ray, behind the wheel is very far from "over". Ray is one of the best in the league at moving off the ball, shooting free-throws, and three-pointers, Pierce is still one of the league's best clutch players, and KG had better mobility and athleticism this last season than he did the year before. Rondo is also still one of the best passers and PG's in the NBA, and while he needs a jump-shot and outside threat, he's a force at the point that almost any other team would drool for. Very far from over, this "ride".

All of the above, and the fact that Danny is going to stack the bench with healthy blood to make sure the old guys go into the playoffs without too many extra miles on the tires.

Just as a side note, did anyone see that Etaun Moore scored over 20 points and hit 5 three pointers in Italy?
Would love to see some of that off the bench for us this year.

[Marcus13]

For this roster, yeah it's over.

But that doesn't mean Danny won't make a move to supplement the Big Three enough for one last run