"Miami does not want to play Boston" -- Bucher

[Smitty77]

Anyone that has watched the Knicks knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are not top defensive team.  Carmelo a top defender?  Are you serious?  Jeremy Lin a great stopper?  Please!!  Amare an elite defender???  Come on!!  

I gave you stats proving that the Knicks are NOT an elite defensive team.  If you don't buy that, watch them play.

Chandler winning Def. Player of the Year is a bigger heist than Rose getting MVP last year.  How in the holy crap Ibaka didn't run away with this award is beyond me.  How many games did OKC win compared to the mighty Knicks??

But, we all know the league is rigged to make sure that the big market teams get those awards of late.  Thanks Mr. Stern.

Smitty77

[lightspeed5]

i agree. i dont get how chandler deserved dpoy. i just dont.

[Fafnir]

Anyone that has watched the Knicks knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are not top defensive team.  Carmelo a top defender?  Are you serious?  Jeremy Lin a great stopper?  Please!!  Amare an elite defender???  Come on!!  

I gave you stats proving that the Knicks are NOT an elite defensive team.  If you don't buy that, watch them play.

Chandler winning Def. Player of the Year is a bigger heist than Rose getting MVP last year.  How in the holy crap Ibaka didn't run away with this award is beyond me.  How many games did OKC win compared to the mighty Knicks??

But, we all know the league is rigged to make sure that the big market teams get those awards of late.  Thanks Mr. Stern.

Smitty77

I addressed your citation of statistics, along with showing you that the best overall measure of defense, points per possession has the Knicks ranked fifth in the league. Right around as good as the Grizzlies/THunder who are a very similar defensive teams.

But since you've completely ignored my rebuttal, I guess you don't have a response beyond your own preconceptions of how the Knicks play along with vague conspiracy nonsense.

[esel1000]

the heat are definitely scared of the celtics... though I think I'd rather see celtics/pacers in the ecf. At least then I can root for whichever team comes out of the east. I'd obviously want the celts, but wouldnt mind larry bird's pacers in the finals if not us.

[nickagneta]

Anyone that has watched the Knicks knows beyond a shadow of a doubt that they are not top defensive team.  Carmelo a top defender?  Are you serious?  Jeremy Lin a great stopper?  Please!!  Amare an elite defender???  Come on!!  

I gave you stats proving that the Knicks are NOT an elite defensive team.  If you don't buy that, watch them play.

Chandler winning Def. Player of the Year is a bigger heist than Rose getting MVP last year.  How in the holy crap Ibaka didn't run away with this award is beyond me.  How many games did OKC win compared to the mighty Knicks??

But, we all know the league is rigged to make sure that the big market teams get those awards of late.  Thanks Mr. Stern.

Smitty77

I think you are truly beholden to bad stats and preconceptions.

Ibaka's blocks aside, he isn't nearly the overall defensive player that Chandler is. KG is a better overall defender than Ibaka as well. Block shots do not equal best defender, no matter how much that metric has been used in the past to give the DPOY Award away.

I also agree that the defensive efficiency that takes into account pace of game and the equal footing base of 100 possessions is the best statistical tool to measure team defense.

Lastly, you don't have to have a team full of elite defensive players to have an very good defensive team. The '10 Bucks team is a perfect example. That team was probably the 2nd or 3rd best defensive team in the league that year. Does that make Brandon Jennings, Charlie Bell, Ersan Ilyasova, or John Salmons elite defenders? None of them are. Ilyasova then had a horrible year and this year looked much better defensively, but never elite. The others? Please.

heck, Ray Allen has never been considered a very good defender but put into the right system with the right players alongside and all buying onto the same philosophy and putting in the effort and suddenly Ray is looking like a very good defender for a couple years.

New york is a very good defensive team. After Boston, Miami, and Chicago, they are probably in a group of about 4-5 teams that are right there as the 4th to 5th best defensive teams in the league.

[cman88]

Nycs problem is that they turn the ball over like its nobodies business and have a horrible offense. Its. Painful to watch them run iso after iso play.

That being said I think they have been horrible defensively this series...just so many missed assignments and lapses of judgement. They may be a top 5 defensive team in stats but clearly boston is on aother level

[Celtics18]

Nycs problem is that they turn the ball over like its nobodies business and have a horrible offense. Its. Painful to watch them run iso after iso play.

That being said I think they have been horrible defensively this series...just so many missed assignments and lapses of judgement. They may be a top 5 defensive team in stats but clearly boston is on aother level

Well, the Celtics are a top 1 defensive team.  The Knicks are decent defensively, I guess, but, no, there's no comparison.

[Moranis]

Sadly I don't think it matters.  The Heat are just too good.

Bit of a deafeatest attitude, no?  

Hes not the most positive poster, hes been trying to get rid of Rondo for a bag of chips all year, even suggested trading him for Jose Calderon, just to get him off the team.

not actually the trade I proposed or the reason I suggested trading him and has no bearing on my opinion in the Miami series. 

Miami is just better than Boston.  They have the two best players in that series by a wide margin and have a much deeper and better bench then they did last year when they easily defeated Boston.  Miami is just a terrible match-up for Boston. 

[Moranis]

Sadly I don't think it matters.  The Heat are just too good.

I bet I could find a lot of people making the same comments prior to the Dallas series.  

exactly, and i'd like to think we are a better team defensively than the knicks...

the Heat have NO answer for Rajon rondo or Kevin garnett(with the way he has been playing)

id like to think a series vs. the heat could go either way....and this time we actually have wing defenders in bradley/pietrus we can throw at wade/lebron

Chris Bosh matches up very well with Kevin Garnett.  Last year in the playoffs they were about even and both were well below their season averages in the series.  KG was nominally better in game 5 and was significantly better in game 3 (the only game Boston won), the other 3 games Bosh out played Garnett.  Now I realize, Bosh and KG aren't always matched up head to head, but they generally played each other and they will do so again this year (if that series happens), while Anthony will take Bass (a much better match-up for the Heat - though I would like to think Bass will still be able to find range).

The only spot the Celtics have any sort of real advantage is Rondo against Chalmers and even Chalmers has had pretty solid success against Rondo (comparatively speaking anyway) because Chalmers is one of the few players in the league fast enough to stay with Rondo.  The last two years the rotations of Arroyo/Chalmers and Bibby/Chalmers has basically held Rondo in check in the playoffs (I know Rondo was injured last year so that is a bit skewed).  

The reality is Miami is a horrid match-up for Boston.  

[Josh88]

Miami is a horrible matchup for any team. The Celtics still went 3-1 against them in the regular season and have a much better chance to beat them than anyone else in the east now that the Bulls are no longer a contender.

[Roy H.]

Fafnir,

What in the world makes you state the NY is a top five defensive team??

NY ranked 27th in blocks.
NY ranked 10th in points allowed per game.
NY 10th in FG% allowed.
NY ranked 18th in rebounds.

They did rank 2nd in steals:-))

That HARDLY, by any stretch of the imagination, equated to a top five defensive team.

Smitty77

Pace matters, they play faster than most other top defensive squads that is why their PPG is high.

They are the second best in the league at forcing turnovers while also being solid in eFG% and DRB%.

Blocks don't actually correlate very much to good defense, they actually are typically a sign that you have a shot blocker and give up a lot of shots at the rim. The Bobcats only blocked one fewer shot than the Celtics.

This is all true.  At the same time, I've always thought that teams that rely on forcing turnovers are susceptible to defensive slumps more than teams that rank highly in FG%- / eFG%-allowed.  I'd be curious if there's anything to that.

Are certain statistically-good defensive teams more likely to collapse when they play good competition than others?  My guess would be yes.  My speculation is that teams that rank near the top in eFG% allowed (this season, the Bulls and Celtics) are least likely to collapse against good teams.

But yeah, the Knicks aren't a bad or terrible defensive team by any stretch.

[Kuberski1]

I think what the Heat really feared in the East was a healthy, more experienced Bulls team with HCA.   Strong interior play, tough D, and looking for revenge...if I was Miami, that would have been enemy #1.  But that's done.

The Cs will pose problems for the Heat.  But I have to believe if they play their A game, they will be extremely tough for us.  In the land of Coulda/Shoulda/Woulda.....if we had Green, DWest, and Wilcox (with JO leading the cheers ala ML Carr), then I think we could have been favorites to knock them off.

[CelticHooligan3]

Sadly I don't think it matters.  The Heat are just too good.

I bet I could find a lot of people making the same comments prior to the Dallas series.  

exactly, and i'd like to think we are a better team defensively than the knicks...

the Heat have NO answer for Rajon rondo or Kevin garnett(with the way he has been playing)

id like to think a series vs. the heat could go either way....and this time we actually have wing defenders in bradley/pietrus we can throw at wade/lebron

Chris Bosh matches up very well with Kevin Garnett.  Last year in the playoffs they were about even and both were well below their season averages in the series.  KG was nominally better in game 5 and was significantly better in game 3 (the only game Boston won), the other 3 games Bosh out played Garnett.  Now I realize, Bosh and KG aren't always matched up head to head, but they generally played each other and they will do so again this year (if that series happens), while Anthony will take Bass (a much better match-up for the Heat - though I would like to think Bass will still be able to find range).

The only spot the Celtics have any sort of real advantage is Rondo against Chalmers and even Chalmers has had pretty solid success against Rondo (comparatively speaking anyway) because Chalmers is one of the few players in the league fast enough to stay with Rondo.  The last two years the rotations of Arroyo/Chalmers and Bibby/Chalmers has basically held Rondo in check in the playoffs (I know Rondo was injured last year so that is a bit skewed).  

The reality is Miami is a horrid match-up for Boston.  

One knock i keep hearing about the heat from commentators is they have no real discernable offense. It's basically give the ball to Wade or lebron iso's and get the heck out of the way. I think that plays right into our team defense concepts and puts us at the advantage.

[Cman]

JINX!
Stop these threads now!!!!

[Moranis]

Sadly I don't think it matters.  The Heat are just too good.

I bet I could find a lot of people making the same comments prior to the Dallas series.  

exactly, and i'd like to think we are a better team defensively than the knicks...

the Heat have NO answer for Rajon rondo or Kevin garnett(with the way he has been playing)

id like to think a series vs. the heat could go either way....and this time we actually have wing defenders in bradley/pietrus we can throw at wade/lebron

Chris Bosh matches up very well with Kevin Garnett.  Last year in the playoffs they were about even and both were well below their season averages in the series.  KG was nominally better in game 5 and was significantly better in game 3 (the only game Boston won), the other 3 games Bosh out played Garnett.  Now I realize, Bosh and KG aren't always matched up head to head, but they generally played each other and they will do so again this year (if that series happens), while Anthony will take Bass (a much better match-up for the Heat - though I would like to think Bass will still be able to find range).

The only spot the Celtics have any sort of real advantage is Rondo against Chalmers and even Chalmers has had pretty solid success against Rondo (comparatively speaking anyway) because Chalmers is one of the few players in the league fast enough to stay with Rondo.  The last two years the rotations of Arroyo/Chalmers and Bibby/Chalmers has basically held Rondo in check in the playoffs (I know Rondo was injured last year so that is a bit skewed).  

The reality is Miami is a horrid match-up for Boston.  

One knock i keep hearing about the heat from commentators is they have no real discernable offense. It's basically give the ball to Wade or lebron iso's and get the heck out of the way. I think that plays right into our team defense concepts and puts us at the advantage.

that was the knock on them last year too and they beat boston in 5 games with a lot less quality depth/health.  Pierce isn't fast enough, strong enough, etc. anymore to consistently be able to give James fits (he has his moments, but they are too few and too far between to make a real difference defensively), and Wade should be able to get his looks against Rondo and Bradley (Allen can't slow him down at all anymore).  Now that they have Miller and Battier (and still have Chalmers and Jones), they will be able to kick out and have much more effective looks.  Even Bosh is a pretty solid outside shooter (not at the three line, but foul line extended he is excellent).  They have the pieces there that weren't around last year and Boston could do nothing against them last year. 

Boston's only realistic shot at beating Miami is a Lebron James injury.