Celtics Title Town

This writer makes it sound like a cake walk,and that the Celtics have no chance making the NBA finals. He say's the Celtics will have issues getting past Chicago,and Miami. What about the Lakers getting past the new champs? What about the Thunder who appear on the verge of taking the Western Conference. I understand he's being his team,but even without Perkins,or a real center at this point. I love the Celtics in a match-up with the Lakers. Here is some of the article.

Why the Lakers are a threat to the Celtics: Boston will continue to be haunted by trading away Kendrick Perkins to Oklahoma City for Jeff Green. Add in Shaq's retirement, and the Celtics not only lack a center to compete with the Lakers, they lack a definitive center, period. Obviously, that's item No. 1 on Danny Ainge's agenda, but it's unlikely the Celtics can acquire the kind of post presence that can offset what the Lakers bring in Andrew Bynum. 

Verdict: If the Lakers make it to the NBA Finals, it's more than likely they won't face Boston. The Celtics will have enough trouble escaping out of the Eastern Conference against Miami and Chicago. But should another classic Lakers-Celtics Finals matchup come up, the purple & gold will take it.

 

 

 

The Celtics clearly have some front court issues,but can Danny add some bigs next season that will give a presence inside? The free agent market is light,but he's got some choices. I think the size of the Lakers is played out. I think many teams last season found ways to beat the Lakers despite the length of their front court. I don't see the same pop from the Lakers anymore,and I didn't last season when the Mavs tore them apart in the second round. The Lakers bench is clearly week,and the Celtics have a weak bench now,but it's still a little better than the Lakers. Let's run down a list of reasons why the Lakers aren't unbeatable to the Celtics.

 

1) Coach Brown is the obviuous reason for me. Losing a coach like Phil is a big blow for an old team,and a team that had glory with the Hall of Fame coach. Brown is a young coach,and a coach who had issues with a big name star in Cleveland. I think Brown over achived in Cleveland,but he was unable to win it all with a team in 2010 that ran the league in the regular season. Coach Brown will change the make-up of this team,and if the season is short,and camp is cut short. The Lakers will be hurting. Kobe won't be able to carry this team with a mediocre coach,and especially not at his age.

 

2) The age of Fisher,and Artest losing a lot of steps in his game. Fisher isn't on the same level as a Jason Kidd who at age 38 still has much game left,and he proved that when he helped the Mavs win the title this year. Fisher will be older this coming season,and you can see it on the floor that he's not the same player. You could say that age could catch up with the Celtics. It has a little,but overall the big three still play at a high level. Artest is only 31,and he will be 32 once the season starts. He had an awful season with stats,but he only played 29 minutes per game. He didn't give the same effort last season,and he seemed tamed.

 

3) The bench of the Lakers didn't perform as expected last season. Blake,and Barnes had up,and down seasons,and Brown had somewhat of a break out season off the bench. Odom seems like he's not interested anymore. The bench is a none factor,and with the Lakers well over the cap,and with the new CBA agreement. The Lakers have no flex to improve their roster.

 

4) Can Kobe still carry a team by himself? Jordan did at his age,but Kobe isn't Jordan,and Kobe has played in the NBA since he was 18. Kobe also has dealed with more little injuries than Jordan. How will Kobe win without the Zen master as his coach? Kobe is still a top five player,and he still wants to win,but can he keep his other teammates fired up. Kobe could come back stronger next season,or he might be victim of great players falling down the totem pole a bit.

 

5) Can Gasol return to form? Will the personal issues go away in the Laker locker room between him,and whoever. He's playing another season over seas in the FIBA games. Will that continue to hurt him as the season drags on. Lucky for him he may not have to worry about that with the lockout. What about Bynum? Will he finally have an injury free season? If you go by his history you can expect a full season out of Bynum.

 

 

Overall I think the Celtics,and Lakers are in the same boat. It's hard to say at this point who is better than the other. I think the Celtics have the edge because of Rondo,and because the big three stayed steady last season,and we didn't see a big decline from them like we saw from two of the Lakers key parts. I think the biggest gap is the coaching. Doc is clearly a better coach,and he's out coached Brown before. Will have to see until the free agent period starts,and when the season actually gets under way.

 

 

Link to story from LA times