Do you know of a single person who honestly thought that the Big Three would still be viable title contenders in year 5 of a 3 year plan? I don't. Not a single one.
What is the single biggest and most important reason why they were still a viable title contenders a full two seasons after anyone thought they would be? The development of Rajon Rondo into the NBA's premiere facilitator.
Did a single person think Nash would be playing at the level he still is? How about Duncan after some slowed years? How have they managed without a Rondo? Instead of saying Rondo is engineering their continued relevance, how about giving Pierce, Garnett and Ray some more credit. That's all. Sure they've slowed down but their craftiness, skill level and dedication to their jobs plays a big part in keeping them viable. When Rondo's been out, these creaky future HOFs haven't exactly wilted.
More than Rondo, the single biggest player keeping the Celtics viable has been Garnett because while their offense has devolved into an inefficient machine the last three years, they've still been good to great because of their defense. Since Garnett is the biggest reason for the D, I think he deserves a pretty big share of the credit.
Steve Nash is an anomaly and has only been half a player for almost a decade because he plays absolutely NO DEFENSE. How many playoff series has he won?
Duncan's situation is very similar to the Big Three's. He is nowhere near the player he once was but he is still viable because they brought in younger player to play with him and he plays with an outstanding PG.
KG (and Allen for that matter)cannot create his own shot. Pierce can but not at anywhere near the level he once could. They are scoring as efficiently as they are due to playing alongside the best facilitating PG in the NBA today. I find it outrageous that anyone would even suggest otherwise.
That doesn't mean KG and Pierce aren't still very valuable members of the Boston Celtics it only means they aren't the players they were a few years ago which to me isn't even debatable. They can certainly have games and even stretches of the season where the resemble the players they once were but the problem with age is they cannot maintain that level of play consistently over the long haul. They certainly had stretches of last season where they looked old, even too old to compete.
