The myth that we are an improved version of last years team.

[LarBrd33]

...

I'm going out on a limb and saying we're not going to miss what Dooling, Pietrus and Stiesma brought to this team.  Very replaceable players.   

I agree. Just don't call them scrubs. They were a big reason that we pushed the Heat to 7, or even that we made it that far.

Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo were a big reason we finally knocked off Philly in 7 and pushed the champs to the limit.   I'm not giving that credit to bench scrubs.  Sorry.  Stick any NBA players in those slots and they'd be just as valuable.  We didn't win any games because of Stiesma, Dooling and Pietrus.

Don't apologize to me; apologize to them. It's their hard work you're disregarding. No NBA team is complete without backups, and they got it done for us. Yes it was 75% Rondo and Garnett, but not 100%.

And spell Stiemsma right, please.

Honestly... that might have been one of the absolute weakest benches to have ever made it to the ECF.  It was downright terrible.  They got minutes, because it's almost impossible for a starting 5 to play 48 minutes a game.  Rondo sure as hell tried, though (averaged 43 minutes)... and meanwhile two of our starters were playing with significant injuries (Ray with his bone spurs and Pierce with his sprained MCL).  You could have swapped our bench with literally any bench in the NBA and it probably wouldn't have made a lick of difference.  I'm not giving those bums an ounce of credit for what those 5 brave men starting attempted to do against incredible odds.  We won because of KG, Rondo, Pierce, Ray and Bass.  Any contributions our bench made was just an inevitably of forcing minutes to d-leaguers... Highly replaceable and forgettable players who I will not miss.  But if you want to give credit to Pietrus and his amazing 33% shooting (22% from three) and his barely noticable defense... or Dooling and his huge 3 points, 0, 0, 0, 0 a game... or Steezmah and his half block a game... so be it.  That's your choice.  Golly... how dare I disrespect the d-leaguer... For a huge 7 minutes per game... he was a beast, right?  lol

[j804]

Other than our starting 5, there are exactly 0 players on this years team from the squad that was one game away from the finals last season. 
Dooling became Terry
Ray became Lee
Pietrus became Green
Hollins became Wilcox
Stiemsma became Collins
JaJuan became Sullinger
Moore became Smith/B.A.E
Sean Williams became Fab Melo
Pavlovic became Kris Joseph
Daniels became Christmas

That's one heck of an upgrade in talent.  The only step backwards is Ray/Lee, but it can be argued that Lee is a better fit for the role.  Not many teams have 2/3 roster turnover.  We are a radically different team from last year.  We're a much better team.

Well it sounds like it's not a myth then...

Yeah, I'm a little confused.  The thread title, especially the word "myth," implies that we are a worse team but the content of your post makes the point that we are better.

Exactly 

[AB_Celtic]

...

Honestly... that might have been one of the absolute weakest benches to have ever made it to the ECF.  It was downright terrible.  They got minutes, because it's almost impossible for a starting 5 to play 48 minutes a game.  Rondo sure as hell tried, though (averaged 43 minutes)... and meanwhile two of our starters were playing with significant injuries (Ray with his bone spurs and Pierce with his sprained MCL).  You could have swapped our bench with literally any bench in the NBA and it probably wouldn't have made a lick of difference.  I'm not giving those bums an ounce of credit for what those 5 brave men starting attempted to do against incredible odds.  We won because of KG, Rondo, Pierce, Ray and Bass.  Any contributions our bench made was just an inevitably of forcing minutes to d-leaguers... Highly replaceable and forgettable players who I will not miss.

Alright, you're just flat-out not listening to me. I know it was the starters. I'm just asking you to stop insulting these guys as you have here. Dooling is a locker room presence and good defender. Pietrus is actually a good option when he isn't injured. And Stiemsma gave Garnett valuable minutes of rest by playing good defense.

Yes it was a bad bench. But you don't need to insult them for it.

Thank you Dooling, Pietrus, and Stiemsma for taking us to game 7.

[AB_Celtic]

deleted

[LarBrd33]

...

Honestly... that might have been one of the absolute weakest benches to have ever made it to the ECF.  It was downright terrible.  They got minutes, because it's almost impossible for a starting 5 to play 48 minutes a game.  Rondo sure as hell tried, though (averaged 43 minutes)... and meanwhile two of our starters were playing with significant injuries (Ray with his bone spurs and Pierce with his sprained MCL).  You could have swapped our bench with literally any bench in the NBA and it probably wouldn't have made a lick of difference.  I'm not giving those bums an ounce of credit for what those 5 brave men starting attempted to do against incredible odds.  We won because of KG, Rondo, Pierce, Ray and Bass.  Any contributions our bench made was just an inevitably of forcing minutes to d-leaguers... Highly replaceable and forgettable players who I will not miss.

Alright, you're just flat-out not listening to me. I know it was the starters. I'm just asking you to stop insulting these guys as you have here. Dooling is a locker room presence and good defender. Pietrus is actually a good option when he isn't injured. And Stiemsma gave Garnett valuable minutes of rest by playing good defense.

Yes it was a bad bench. But you don't need to insult them for it.

Thank you Dooling, Pietrus, and Stiemsma for taking us to game 7.

Tyrone Lu is supposedly a good locker room presence too, but I'm not giving him credit for our improbable playoff run. 

I hear you, though.  They wore the green so they deserve a tiny bit of credit for being present when the starters knocked off Philly in 7 and made the Heat sweat out a couple games. 

Add me to the list of people who are thrilled we finally added some talent to that bench.  Jeff Green should be starting.  Jason Terry is one of the best bench players in the league.  Either Lee or Bradley will be a big boost off the bench.  A lot of folks have faith Sullinger can be a real talent and we already know that Wilcox can make some contibutions.  Significant upgrade.

[tarheelsxxiii]

...

I'm going out on a limb and saying we're not going to miss what Dooling, Pietrus and Stiesma brought to this team.  Very replaceable players.   

I agree. Just don't call them scrubs. They were a big reason that we pushed the Heat to 7, or even that we made it that far.

Kevin Garnett and Rajon Rondo were a big reason we finally knocked off Philly in 7 and pushed the champs to the limit.   I'm not giving that credit to bench scrubs.  Sorry.  Stick any NBA players in those slots and they'd be just as valuable.  We didn't win any games because of Stiesma, Dooling and Pietrus.

Don't apologize to me; apologize to them. It's their hard work you're disregarding. No NBA team is complete without backups, and they got it done for us. Yes it was 75% Rondo and Garnett, but not 100%.

And spell Stiemsma right, please.

Honestly... that might have been one of the absolute weakest benches to have ever made it to the ECF.  It was downright terrible.  They got minutes, because it's almost impossible for a starting 5 to play 48 minutes a game.  Rondo sure as hell tried, though (averaged 43 minutes)... and meanwhile two of our starters were playing with significant injuries (Ray with his bone spurs and Pierce with his sprained MCL).  You could have swapped our bench with literally any bench in the NBA and it probably wouldn't have made a lick of difference.  I'm not giving those bums an ounce of credit for what those 5 brave men starting attempted to do against incredible odds.  We won because of KG, Rondo, Pierce, Ray and Bass.  Any contributions our bench made was just an inevitably of forcing minutes to d-leaguers... Highly replaceable and forgettable players who I will not miss.  But if you want to give credit to Pietrus and his amazing 33% shooting (22% from three) and his barely noticable defense... or Dooling and his huge 3 points, 0, 0, 0, 0 a game... or Steezmah and his half block a game... so be it.  That's your choice.  Golly... how dare I disrespect the d-leaguer... For a huge 7 minutes per game... he was a beast, right?  lol

Finally! I was hoping to find someone that could explain to me which vets could've replaced Dooling and Pietrus at the min in last year's playoffs, as well as a comparably effective big at Stiemsma's cost during the regular season.

So, which vets would you have preferred to see in place of ours, at the min?

And, did you feel that they - being thrown in a tough position and undoubtedly knowing full well they don't deserve crunch time minutes in the ECF - were the cause of our losses? Or, did they bide time for the starters? Or win a game or 2? Some combination of these?

And when you do return to your bashing, please share your reasons as they pertain relevant, on-court information.. For example, try to avoid Pietrus's shooting % because no one cares what Pietrus's shooting percentage is when Pietrus was put on the court, at that particular time, to defend the best player on the planet. I don't, Doc didn't, and the Celtics didn't.

[AB_Celtic]

...

Finally! I was hoping to find someone that could explain to me which vets could've replaced Dooling and Pietrus at the min in last year's playoffs, and a big for Stiemsma for pennies in the regular season.

So, which vets would you have preferred to see in place of ours, at said price?

And, did you feel that they - being thrown in a tough position and undoubtedly knowing full well they don't deserve crunch time minutes in the ECF - were the cause of our losses? Or, did they bide time for the starters? Or win a game or 2? Some combination of these?

And when you do return to your bashing, please share your reasons as they pertain relevant, on-court information.. For example, try to avoid Pietrus's shooting % because no one cares what Pietrus's shooting percentage is when Pietrus is on the court to defend the best player on the planet. I don't, Doc didn't, and the Celtics didn't.

THANK YOU! TP.

[MBunge]

try to avoid Pietrus's shooting % because no one cares what Pietrus's shooting percentage is when Pietrus was put on the court, at that particular time, to defend the best player on the planet. I don't, Doc didn't, and the Celtics didn't.

If only one thing has been made clear the last two seasons, it should be that this team cannot just rely on defense if it hopes to win another championship.  This team has got to be able to score and throwing the ball to KG or Pierce and asking them to do it isn't cutting the mustard any more.  Playing a guy like Pietrus when he can't score or Hollins when he can't rebound just because they play good "d", won't get it done.

Mike

[kg is king]

...

Honestly... that might have been one of the absolute weakest benches to have ever made it to the ECF.  It was downright terrible.  They got minutes, because it's almost impossible for a starting 5 to play 48 minutes a game.  Rondo sure as hell tried, though (averaged 43 minutes)... and meanwhile two of our starters were playing with significant injuries (Ray with his bone spurs and Pierce with his sprained MCL).  You could have swapped our bench with literally any bench in the NBA and it probably wouldn't have made a lick of difference.  I'm not giving those bums an ounce of credit for what those 5 brave men starting attempted to do against incredible odds.  We won because of KG, Rondo, Pierce, Ray and Bass.  Any contributions our bench made was just an inevitably of forcing minutes to d-leaguers... Highly replaceable and forgettable players who I will not miss.

Alright, you're just flat-out not listening to me. I know it was the starters. I'm just asking you to stop insulting these guys as you have here. Dooling is a locker room presence and good defender. Pietrus is actually a good option when he isn't injured. And Stiemsma gave Garnett valuable minutes of rest by playing good defense.

Yes it was a bad bench. But you don't need to insult them for it.

Thank you Dooling, Pietrus, and Stiemsma for taking us to game 7.

Tyrone Lu is supposedly a good locker room presence too, but I'm not giving him credit for our improbable playoff run. 

I hear you, though.  They wore the green so they deserve a tiny bit of credit for being present when the starters knocked off Philly in 7 and made the Heat sweat out a couple games. 

Add me to the list of people who are thrilled we finally added some talent to that bench.  Jeff Green should be starting.  Jason Terry is one of the best bench players in the league.  Either Lee or Bradley will be a big boost off the bench.  A lot of folks have faith Sullinger can be a real talent and we already know that Wilcox can make some contibutions.  Significant upgrade.

And let me remind you of those clutch offensive rebounds by Pietrus that sealed a very close game for us with Pierced being fouled out. Agree with previous posters. It is one thing to criticize, but it is totally another thing to outright insult them and calling them names such as "scrubs".

[AB_Celtic]

...

And let me remind you of those clutch offensive rebounds by Pietrus that sealed a very close game for us with Pierced being fouled out. Agree with previous posters. It is one thing to criticize, but it is totally another thing to outright insult them and calling them names such as "scrubs".

TP for you. Good to know I'm not alone in this.

[arambone]

Change thread title.

By returning 5 starters, the C's are by definition a version of last year's team. An improved version.

[Yogi]

Change thread title.

By returning 5 starters, the C's are by definition a version of last year's team. An improved version.

Hardly.  First of all, Bradley and Bass didn't even begin the season as a starters.  Second, Bradley didn't even play in the final series against Miami.  We lost the guy who played the second most minutes per game on our team last year in Ray Allen.  Bradley played a little more than 20 min a game last season.  Bass played a little more than 30.  That leaves 45 minutes in the game that was played by guys no longer on our team for every 50 min played by Bradley and Bass.  So instead of making up definitions  why not look at the actual minutes played?

[arambone]

 

Yeah, if it wasn't for the green jersey's, nobody would recognize this team. Especially since Bradley wasn't a starter at the beginning of the year.

Melo replacing Steamer? Whoa, who are these guys?

[AB_Celtic]

Change thread title.

By returning 5 starters, the C's are by definition a version of last year's team. An improved version.

Hardly.  First of all, Bradley and Bass didn't even begin the season as a starters.  Second, Bradley didn't even play in the final series against Miami.  We lost the guy who played the second most minutes per game on our team last year in Ray Allen.  Bradley played a little more than 20 min a game last season.  Bass played a little more than 30.  That leaves 45 minutes in the game that was played by guys no longer on our team for every 50 min played by Bradley and Bass.  So instead of making up definitions  why not look at the actual minutes played?

The core of this team is the same: Rondo, Pierce, Garnett with (to a lesser extent) Bradley and Bass. They'll eat up an average of 30 mins per game at their position (Rondo more, Pierce and Garnett less), leaving an average of 18 to other players. Yes, those other players are different, but this team and this winning strategy is very largely the same.

[scaryjerry]

All depends on KGS season, if he plays at the level he did in the second half and stays healthy we will be in the mix and better than last year but I wouldn't take that for granted