in my opinion only team we cant beat is the HEAT

[jbaerg]

Honestly and I know this might be a bit of a stretch, but what if we played JJJ at center against the heat? I think he could definitely match up well with their centers and he's definitely able to effectively stretch a D. I know we have a small sample size and he'd need to get the defense down too. But i think he could be that difference maker at the 5 against the heat

[Interceptor]

Sure... in THEORY you can beat any team at any given time... but in my opinion we can't beat a contender in a playoff series.

Not until a starting center drops out of the sky, at least.

Why do we need a better starting center? Celtics straight-up embarrassed the team with the best Center in the entire league. JO is just as productive as Perkins was, and five-by-committee with KG/Wilcox seems to work well enough for the remaining minutes. We're not going up against Shaq in the prime of his career, here.

Haven't thought much about the zone but it would likely be the only chance we have, especially because Ray simply can't handle wade at all.

I say zone D, just so that I can watch Wade brick long two's all day long, but that aside, why not put Rondo on him? Or Pietrus?

[droopdog7]

Sure... in THEORY you can beat any team at any given time... but in my opinion we can't beat a contender in a playoff series.

Not until a starting center drops out of the sky, at least.

Why do we need a better starting center? Celtics straight-up embarrassed the team with the best Center in the entire league. JO is just as productive as Perkins was, and five-by-committee with KG/Wilcox seems to work well enough for the remaining minutes. We're not going up against Shaq in the prime of his career, here.

Haven't thought much about the zone but it would likely be the only chance we have, especially because Ray simply can't handle wade at all.

I say zone D, just so that I can watch Wade brick long two's all day long, but that aside, why not put Rondo on him? Or Pietrus?

You know, I have long been a proponent of putting Rondo on Wade.  Not everyone has agreed but frankly, watching Ray try and guard wade is quite painful.  We did it some the last few games but I wonder whather Doc will go to it more?  Not sure.  As for Pietrus, I'm sure he'd do a fien job as well.  But that would likely mean less time for Ray.  Not sure Doc would go there either.

But in the end, I think any move that will limit the time Ray has to guard wade would be a good one. 

And I'm not hating on Ray.  I think he does a fine job against most guys.  Heck, he's always done a better than average job against kobe.  He's done a decent job on lebron even.  But wade makes Ray look bad all the time.

[timpiker]

there's no such thing as "can't'...maybe less likely, etc are the words to use...  but to me it is doable IF we are healthy and hungry and playing as a team and rebounding and diving for loose balls and playing tough D....all things we do occasionally but in the playoffs against a Miami we'll need to do it 3 out of 4 games.....

I think the key to beating Miami is to make them play halfcourt - slow it down, rebound every defensive rebound, get back and do't let them run.  make LeBum and Wade "the guy that should've gone to prison for the Rondo hack", shoot from the outside and not drive to the basket and get in the paint.....

[Fafnir]

And I'm not hating on Ray.  I think he does a fine job against most guys.  Heck, he's always done a better than average job against kobe.  He's done a decent job on lebron even.  But wade makes Ray look bad all the time.

A lot of Wade's damage on Ray is done in the post though, Rondo's not gonig to do any better there against him. Against the moving and the cuts Rondo clearly has more speed to keep up with him, but less length.

I don't know, tough call about how to deal with things. Having Rondo on the PG who is far less dangerous than Wade allows him to help more as well...

[Tgro]

That's too bad, because we're going to play them in the first round

If the season ended today we would, but I think we finish the season higher than the 7th seed.

I think we've got a shot at beating pretty much anybody. I wouldn't say we'd be favorites but I think we have it within us to steal it. Especially if these guys keep coming together as a team and players get their minutes and we continue gelling.

I keep thinking our team playing together will be greater than their players expecting to win as superstars.

Not sure we can go all the way but I do think we're going to be in bar fights until the end.   

Our play has picked up a bit recently. I think the old dogs may have one last run left in them, but Rondo has to start taking care of the ball better.

Totally agree....

Rondo needs to pick it up and work on his game as well, just like the bench. We'd need everybody's 'A' game to beat these guys. We're capable of it. We just need to work on the kinks now....

[Interceptor]

You know, I have long been a proponent of putting Rondo on Wade.  Not everyone has agreed but frankly, watching Ray try and guard wade is quite painful.  We did it some the last few games but I wonder whather Doc will go to it more?  Not sure.  As for Pietrus, I'm sure he'd do a fien job as well.  But that would likely mean less time for Ray.  Not sure Doc would go there either.

But in the end, I think any move that will limit the time Ray has to guard wade would be a good one. 

And I'm not hating on Ray.  I think he does a fine job against most guys.  Heck, he's always done a better than average job against kobe.  He's done a decent job on lebron even.  But wade makes Ray look bad all the time.

A lot of Wade's damage on Ray is done in the post though, Rondo's not gonig to do any better there against him. Against the moving and the cuts Rondo clearly has more speed to keep up with him, but less length.

I don't know, tough call about how to deal with things. Having Rondo on the PG who is far less dangerous than Wade allows him to help more as well...

Seems like it's worth a try to put Rondo on him. If Rondo doesn't do any better than Ray in the post, he probably couldn't do much worse. But that's with us playing man-to-man. We're going to have to be creative with assignments regardless, because Pierce isn't 27 years old anymore, and he's not playing 44 MPG like LBJ.

[SHAQATTACK]

We are better equipped for the heat than last year...but not sure that is going to make a diff. 

LBJ is 6'9 runs and jumps like a 6' 3 guard. , but weights 240....

I would pack it in tight , and make them beat us from outside, no Wade dunks. Thats about the only hope I see , is to hope for them to shoot cold at the end of the game or LBJ foul out .

The Clips and Trailblazzers and maybe the fakers will give the Heat the most trouble.

[stylo617617]

my idea for this team to be a true contender even in the pessimist's eyes

Pierce runs half court offence
rondo runs transistion/run & gun offence

keep playing the way were playing on defence & add a quality center to the mix

if we can somehow someway get j.r. smith or wilson chandler(petrus would play backup 2 or 3 ) WATCH OUT !!!

but i really like what avery is doing as back up pg & should get more mins as a SG ,i tend to think doc feels the same so another wing may not be added

[cman88]

even though its not the celtics bread and butter defense, go to the zone occasionally...the key to beating the heat is to turn them into a jumpshooting team.

if you look at the way Ainge built the team this year, its slightly mirrored after Dallas(3 point shooters in pietrus, dooling, moore, pavlovic)

and he's gone small/athletic at the center position because we are going to be going alot of small ball against miami where a traditional center would be too slow.

[BASS_THUMPER]

http://www.youtube.com/v/TAKWiRZlmFo?version=3&hl=en_US&rel=0

if kg plays half this good we will be ok

[LB3533]

Play E.T. Moore more minutes and have him drain 3's like he's Brandon Jennings....then we can beat the Heat!!!

Fear the Green Deer!

[mctyson]

We are better equipped for the heat than last year...but not sure that is going to make a diff. 

People talk like the Celtics got blown out by the Heat last year.  If I remember correctly, Miami won two of those games in the last 1-2 minutes, because our offense collapsed, and Lebron hit miracle threes.

Our team is better this year.  Our bench is WAY better.  Pietrus is a huge addition.  Bass is a huge addition (remember how horrible BBD played against the Heat - probably the main reason we lost.)  We have young guys in Bradley, Moore, and maybe JJJ that can add something positive (defense/shooting/athleticism), instead of taking stuff away.  We still have the best shooter (imo) in NBA history, one of the best defenders of the past 15 years, and a captain who at the very least is one of the best clutch scorers of my lifetime.

But it all comes down to one guy - # 9.  Even with the matchup problems, LBJ and Wade, BBDs horrible series...if Rondo's elbow isn't sabotaged I think we take that series to 7 games at least. 

If he plays lights out in the playoffs, the Celtics can contend for the EC and NBA Finals.  If not, we are doomed.

[bfrombleacher]

We are better equipped for the heat than last year...but not sure that is going to make a diff. 

People talk like the Celtics got blown out by the Heat last year.  If I remember correctly, Miami won two of those games in the last 1-2 minutes, because our offense collapsed, and Lebron hit miracle threes.

Our team is better this year.  Our bench is WAY better.  Pietrus is a huge addition.  Bass is a huge addition (remember how horrible BBD played against the Heat - probably the main reason we lost.)  We have young guys in Bradley, Moore, and maybe JJJ that can add something positive (defense/shooting/athleticism), instead of taking stuff away.  We still have the best shooter (imo) in NBA history, one of the best defenders of the past 15 years, and a captain who at the very least is one of the best clutch scorers of my lifetime.

But it all comes down to one guy - # 9.  Even with the matchup problems, LBJ and Wade, BBDs horrible series...if Rondo's elbow isn't sabotaged I think we take that series to 7 games at least. 

If he plays lights out in the playoffs, the Celtics can contend for the EC and NBA Finals.  If not, we are doomed.

Prepare to be bombarded with like a hundred thousand no's

But TP

[LooseCannon]

People talk like the Celtics got blown out by the Heat last year.  If I remember correctly, Miami won two of those games in the last 1-2 minutes, because our offense collapsed, and Lebron hit miracle threes.

Yup.  Lots of people seem to be incapable of understanding there is a vast middle between "the Celtics are favorites over the Heat" and "the Celtics have no chance against the Heat".