"Experts" aren't sold on Celtics winning the Atlantic

[coco]

Is perfectly understandable - that the experts are not sold on the Cs.  No hard feelings.  Knicks do have a very talented frount line....and younger.  The addition of BDavis should help them too.  The question to answer is: can the Knicks make stops when they have to?

Anyways,  I like our bench - provided ABradley isn't getting more mins than EMoore. 

Assuming the Knicks are the team to beat in the Atlantic, we should give them a run for their money.

[guava_wrench]

Well, the knicks may have put together a tough team.....no one on the celts has shown they can stop melo..stoudamire....well he can do some things...he is tough, chandler is a better center than we have, and baron davis is a tricky veteran..with PP already hurting....PP may be that series x factor...well not really but he is hard for them to cover..could work over melo.....at least match him..would need bass to do some tough rebounding.....

Everyone on the Celtics has shown they can stop Melo. Melo is completely not scary. We have a hard time with Amare, but not Melo. Melo is easy because he is all iso plays. Pierce can easily defend a guy who stands still and we can clog the lane quite well, limiting Melo's options.

Perhaps if Melo started listening to coaches he would be scary. Hasn't happened yet though.

[Inside-Out]

I think in the end, the margin in depth will make the difference.

If we can make up for the loss of JGreen by signing Pietrus and Bogans, then swell.  I think we can outlast most teams this season.

And I predict the march to the finals will be a war of attrition.

[manl_lui]

well I'm not sold on these so called "experts"

are you kidding me, Ray Allen and Rondo will destroy their guard lineup

KG and Amar'e cancels out and Pierce and Melo also

Melo can't play D

JO and Tyson, well idk about that matchup

ok now lets move on to bench, their bench is made up of scrubs, whereas our bench have Marquis, Bass and friends

they might split the season game 2-2 with us, but in the playoffs, I still take our Celtics over Knicks in 6 games

[chambers]

We may not win it.
Green being out really effects us in they eyes of our critics.

people are giving the Knicks a good shot because they are comparing them to the Heat last year.
They've rebuilt with some top notch players, and although the chemistry won't be there early on- it will be better than the Heat's last year.

They are a team of good players who, if staying healthy, should be able to crush most mediocre teams and beat a lot of top tier teams, even without a strong/deep bench.

Would not be surprised if we meet these guys in the playoffs and go a long, brutal series with them.

Doc might feel comfortable just coasting to the playoffs and letting the old guys rest, considering how deep our bench is this year. Realistically if we finish 3rd or 4th, we gotta play the Heat or the Bulls so it's trivial really who wins the division. I can't see us taking home court advantage against either of these teams unless our bench performs above expectations.

Dunno what they are thinking about Philly, I mean they have improved with a great young core, but they can't beat NYC, BOS, CHI or MIA in a 7 game series- maybe us if we had a serious injury to a starter.

[Celtics4ever]

ESPN has experts?  You could have fooled me...

[jpk2000]

You consider ESPN experts? Not one of these guys has ever played a game except for guys like Jalen Rose, Jon Barry and Tim Legler, but I wouldn't consider them experts because they were mediocre players. These so-called experts are bases these predictions of the Celtics being a veteran team and compacted 66 gm schedule with back to backs.

Some feeling that veteran teams like the Celtics, Spurs and Lakers will be able to handle 66 gm schedule like some of the younger teams. At this point w/the Celtics they have nothing to prove because they're proven. I try not to read too much into any news that comes from ESPN.

 

[j804]

well I'm not sold on these so called "experts"

are you kidding me, Ray Allen and Rondo will destroy their guard lineup

KG and Amar'e cancels out and Pierce and Melo also

Melo can't play D

JO and Tyson, well idk about that matchup

ok now lets move on to bench, their bench is made up of scrubs, whereas our bench have Marquis, Bass and friends

they might split the season game 2-2 with us, but in the playoffs, I still take our Celtics over Knicks in 6 games

Agreed

[BballTim]

ESPN has experts?  You could have fooled me...

  Well, experts compared to their other personnel maybe...

[LooseCannon]

You consider ESPN experts? Not one of these guys has ever played a game except for guys like Jalen Rose, Jon Barry and Tim Legler, but I wouldn't consider them experts because they were mediocre players.

Does that mean that no GM who never played in the NBA could possibly understand basketball and how to build a winning team better than Isaiah Thomas?

[jpk2000]

You consider ESPN experts? Not one of these guys has ever played a game except for guys like Jalen Rose, Jon Barry and Tim Legler, but I wouldn't consider them experts because they were mediocre players.

Does that mean that no GM who never played in the NBA could possibly understand basketball and how to build a winning team better than Isaiah Thomas?

Yup that's why there's so many bad teams in the NBA right now.

[PosImpos]

You consider ESPN experts? Not one of these guys has ever played a game except for guys like Jalen Rose, Jon Barry and Tim Legler, but I wouldn't consider them experts because they were mediocre players.

Does that mean that no GM who never played in the NBA could possibly understand basketball and how to build a winning team better than Isaiah Thomas?

Yup that's why there's so many bad teams in the NBA right now.

Red Auerbach was never a great NBA player, as far as I can remember.  Was he an expert on the NBA?

[chambers]

Looking at all the picks, does anyone but myself find it really strange that no one thinks anything of Memphis' chances this year?  They lost Battier, but still have TA as that defensive presence and now they will have Gay, who at minimum is their second best player, and they are young and improving just like OKC is.  I don't get it.  I like Memphis chances to win the West qutie a bit.

A lot of people are picking Memphis to finish highly in the West this season.

Losing Darrel Arthur (who was their third big man) really hurts though. They'll have to find someone to take his minutes to contend.

I know people think they will be good but it's just they lost to OKC in the series by one game and they didn't have Gay.  I don't get why not one person picked them and so many picked OKC to win (and two picked the Lakers which have a very inferior team IMO).

The Arthur loss is big but at last I saw they were talking about getting Speights who could be a nice fit for them.  He has never capitalized on his potential but it's still there and Memphis has been able to get great play out of their bigs.

The Grizzlies are the sleeper team of the year, again.
I have a large bet on them to win the championship at odds of 65-1.
Can you believe that?
they get their leading scorer back, sign both big guys and Mike Conley to long term deals, and they are still at 45-1 odds on some sportsbetting sites.
It's a long shot but they are a legitimate contender with their inside/outside game.

[manl_lui]

Looking at all the picks, does anyone but myself find it really strange that no one thinks anything of Memphis' chances this year?  They lost Battier, but still have TA as that defensive presence and now they will have Gay, who at minimum is their second best player, and they are young and improving just like OKC is.  I don't get it.  I like Memphis chances to win the West qutie a bit.

A lot of people are picking Memphis to finish highly in the West this season.

Losing Darrel Arthur (who was their third big man) really hurts though. They'll have to find someone to take his minutes to contend.

I know people think they will be good but it's just they lost to OKC in the series by one game and they didn't have Gay.  I don't get why not one person picked them and so many picked OKC to win (and two picked the Lakers which have a very inferior team IMO).

The Arthur loss is big but at last I saw they were talking about getting Speights who could be a nice fit for them.  He has never capitalized on his potential but it's still there and Memphis has been able to get great play out of their bigs.

The Grizzlies are the sleeper team of the year, again.
I have a large bet on them to win the championship at odds of 65-1.
Can you believe that?
they get their leading scorer back, sign both big guys and Mike Conley to long term deals, and they are still at 45-1 odds on some sportsbetting sites.
It's a long shot but they are a legitimate contender with their inside/outside game.

I agree, don't count the Griz out, though they did lose Battier, but that team could still surprise a lot of people

[nickagneta]

I seem to remember experts thinking the C's couldn't win it all in 2007-08 and wouldn't get out of the first round in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

So much for experts.