"Think like an analyst"?  O.K.  The Heat are the clear favorites to win the East and the NBA championship.  No dispute there.

Can we beat them?  There's a sliver of possibility there in my mind.  I'm hanging on to that until this team is eliminated.

First and foremost, this isn't a knee-jerk thread. I've been considering the scenario for the past several weeks, and it's time to call it as it is.

It's no one's fault in particular. The diminishing returns on the Big 3 glory days have brought not only a ring, but a second finals appearance, and playoff appearances every year since. Last year was rough, but with the "Big 4" (RIP) still intact, albeit loosely with Allen's bone spurs, you could never count us out - and I was in full agreement.

This year? No Ray, no Rondo. No "veterans" aside from Pierce, KG, and Terry (who isn't going to be miraculous in the playoffs, despite what anyone thinks). Chemistry changes on the reg - with the newest pieces all being added within recent weeks.

The glory days are over folks. Would have been a different story sans the Rondo injury, as I still believe Green, Lee, and whoever else would have began playing better sooner or later. But without the best point guard in the league (ha) and with all of these new guys who seem to have trouble closing out games on the road, it's hard to be realistic about this team getting out of the second round alive, or maybe even the first depending on the match up.

Miami has won 27 straight games. Anyone who thinks this squad can beat the heat in 7 games in whatever round needs to start thinking less like a homer and more like an analyst, or you will be thoroughly disappointed.

Let's hope Pierce and KG hang it up at the end of this year so we can get serious about the future. And let's hope this club doesn't return to mediocrity while the heat win 6 straight rings

ive seen this thread every year since 2008. it was pretty funny when it was posted in 2010 for sure.

Quote from: Atzar on March 25, 2013, 11:22:37 PM

I've mentioned this in another thread.

I'd almost prefer to see this team drop to the 8 seed so they get Miami right off the bat.  That's the only matchup this team cares about, and I honestly don't know if they'd make it through a series with another tough team to get to them.

Let them throw everything they've got at Miami.  I don't think they'll win, and as depleted as they are I'm not sure they can even really test them.  But that won't stop them from trying.

I agree with you.  Also, from a future-looking perspective, without KG they C's could well drop to the worst record making the playoffs--and, if I understand correctly, climb up to the 12th pick in the draft.

Also, from a fan perspective, I don't expect more than one playoff series from this team, so we might as well have Miami as the match up.