Comparing this team to last year's

[BC1996]

I can vividly remember going into last year's postseason without the same confidence that I've always had.  The bench was a cast of characters who hadn't been with us very long (with the exception of Big Baby)and they clearly didn't know how to play "Celtics Basketball".  The knowledge of our defense system was lacking and the intangibles were nonexistent.  On top of that we have a malcontent Big Baby who completely forgot what made him such a reliable contributor in the past.  100% of the pressure was shifted onto the starting lineup.

Thankfully the 2012 Celtics are quite the opposite of this group.  I always had a quiet confidence about this team, which started once the Mickael Pietrus signing was made.  Dooling, Bass, and Mickael have all been in the league for a while and it was quickly apparent that their attitudes meshed with the Celtics mentality.  Friends often accuse me of having blind faith, but I argued with them that this team was going to be far better than last year's once the post-season arrived. 

Simply put, Doc Rivers was able to go into the season with a group that placed the teams goals above everything else.

I will always believe that conditioning was the only thing that held this team back early in the season.  It always seemed like a pointless argument to make because even my dad would counter with "Garnett is washed up" or "nothing has been done to improve the bench".

I'll end this by saying the little things ARE the big things in sports.  How many times will it take for this group to rise to the occasion before people start valuing heart, determination, and intangibles?  The NBA is primarily filled with teams that lack in these areas.  It's been one of the Celtics greatest equalizers over the past few years.

As fans we always seem to include them AFTER the fact.  Why don't we start considering them long before the post-season arrives?

[Greenbean]

I agree with everything you are saying.

I just want to add one thing.

If Jermaine Oneal never had surgery, this team would not be half as good as they are now. He was the last domino to fall before they could start playing team ball and defining consistent roles for everyone.

[Roy H.]

Last year's team was kind of the opposite of this one.  We had a team that was dominant early, that looked like a clear title favorite.  They were flying high, until the trading deadline when a lot of their heart was taken from them.

This year, we started terribly, and looked like a fringe playoff team early.  The team played like it was dispirited, until it gathered itself and started playing with more energy and heart.

As an aside, last year's team with a healthy Shaq was possibly the best Celtics team of this era.  It's amazing how much the removal of one aging veteran, and the trading of another player who hadn't contributed a lot last year, totally tanked our season. 

[BballTim]

  One of our biggest problems last year was Rondo constantly struggling with injuries.

[BudweiserCeltic]

To me last year's team was the best one we've had in this run, but it was also the one hardest hit by injuries.

This year's team is making a good case, and it's been mostly about what Rondo has shown me in the past 3 games. If he can be consistent throughout, then it would be hard to argue against this year's team and how we've gotten here despite the injuries.

[paintitgreen]

08's team was the best Celtics team of the run and it's not close - that was the best team the NBA has had since the 05 Spurs. Until KG's injury, 2009's team was right there too because improvement by Rondo and Perk, Baby's emergence as an actual NBA player and better chemistry among the starting five made up for the diminished bench. It's easy to forget but Garnett was a top-5 player in the league those two seasons until his knee gave out. That makes a huge difference. If that injury hadn't happened, they would've cruised through the playoffs easier than they did in 2008.

I would agree last year's team was better than 2010 barring injuries. Hard to compare to this year, though, considering KG was just not as good last year as he was/is this year and he's always been the lynchpin to this team. KG should've been 2nd Team All-NBA and First Team All-Defensive this year. His best season since the injury.

I'd also argue this year's team was on the whole harder hit by injury than last year's, but last year had by far the most impactful injury with Rondo's elbow dislocation. That knocked them out of the playoffs. Not to say they would've won rings if he hadn't been hurt, as they were still down 2-1, and beating Miami only would have put them in the Conference Finals facing a Chicago team that seemed to have Boston's number. Otherwise, though, Shaq and Jermaine got hurt, but that's predictable. And Perk was out to start the year but was fine by midseason, so he didn't miss anything that mattered. Rondo had some nagging injuries last year, but also did for stretches this year. This year added a significant injury to Ray, season-ending injuries to Green, Bradley, Wilcox and O'Neal, lesser but still impactful injuries to Pierce and Pietrus (he's not close to 100%). They simply had better depth this year. And got luckier with Rose and Howard going down taking out Chicago, pushing Orlando from 3 to 6 and thus knocking Indiana out of our bracket. If those two guys were healthy, the Celtics would've had a path of Indiana-Chicago instead of Atlanta-Philly.

[mctyson]

I think they are very different teams, but also the same team, if you catch my drift.

I agree with Roy Hobbs that the 10-11 team with a functional Shaq at center was our best team of the past 5 years, on a talent level.  That's a squad with 4 future Hall-of-Famers and an All-Star PG.  When they were on the court together they were as good as any team in the NBA over the past few years.

Danny made the critical choice to beef up our roster at the 3/4 to defend against Carmelo and Lebron, and sacrifice our center depth (Perkins) with the hope that Shaq returned to the team functional by playoff time.  That did not happen, and the rest is history.

We went into this season with basically the same team, with what we thought at the time was an upgraded bench.  We all know what happened to our bench.  But what we didn't know was that we had an All-NBA defensive guard in the making waiting for his opportunity to shine (Avery Bradley), and we had one of the best centers in the league already on our team, Kevin Garnett.

What we also didn't know, that we now know, is that the 2 people who killed our team last year were Jermaine O'Neal and BBD.  It wasn't the loss of Shaq or Perkins that hurt.

Could KG have moved to the 5 last year with BBD starting at PF?  I don't think Doc would have trusted BBD with the responsibility.  So we played out the post-season with a valiant but otherwise ineffective Jermain O'neal play center, KG at his normal PF.  Which is basically the team we started with this year, and you saw the results.

By inserting a reliable PF into our rotation (Bass) and getting rid of the ineffective O'neal, the team solved its deficiencies.  The addition of Bradley put us over the top. He is hurt now, but he wasn't the major change that turned our season around.

[cman88]

well, a big difference is that KG has been more consistent these playoffs.

also, Rondo has 2 arms and is much better. Once rondo went down in game 2, I knew it was over. Even if we won another game or 2.

with Rondo/KG playing like superstars and Pierce/Ray allen playing well we have a shot against anyone IMO