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Posted by Sekou Smith
HANG TIME HEADQUARTERS – A quick rundown of the favorites to win the NBA title this season includes the two-time defending champion Los Angeles Lakers from the Western Conference and the complete team makeover Miami Heat from the Eastern Conference, with several others considered contenders but not necessarily favorites.
It might be time to tinker with that list now that the Boston Celtics are on the verge of clearing up the only remaining hole on their roster. The addition of the league’s only active O’Neals (Jermaine O’Neal was added weeks ago and Shaquille O’Neal could have his deal completed as early as today) pushes the Celtics right back into the thick of the chase.
The Heat no doubt boast one of the best superstar trios in the league in Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh. And the Lakers are obviously stacked with Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, Ron Artest, Andrew Bynum, Derek Fisher and Lamar Odom leading the charge.
The Celtics still have the original Big 3 — and despite evidence to the contrary early on in the 2010 NBA Finals, Kevin Garnett still has plenty of game left. But it’s not just the addition of Shaq that puts the Celtics in a great place. It’s the sum of their summer activity (Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and the underrated Nate Robinson kept in the fold, the quality draft night additions of Avery Bradley and Luke Harangody and the all-important Doc Rivers coming back for another season, etc.) that keeps them around the top spot in the East.
And thanks to the schedule-makers, we won’t have to wait long to see how the Heat and Celtics match up since the Heat will open against the defending Eastern Conference champ Celtics in Boston on TNT Oct. 26. (The Lakers and Rockets will handle the nightcap on TNT on opening night.)
Go ahead and circle the date now, because it’s entirely possible that we will get an Eastern Conference finals preview on opening night, though we’re sure Orlando and Chicago expect to have a say in who makes it that far.
As star-studded as the Heat crew is, it’s hard to fathom a more complete team (when healthy) than the Celtics. Their collective experience and the shared championship experiences gives them an edge that only the Lakers can match, in terms of seasoned veterans with championship experience (and the Celtics actually might have the edge there).
If their aging legs hold up and the chemistry is right, we might need to make room for the Celtics in the VIP section of Club NBA this season.
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Looking good for now, make a guess, the eastern conference finals could be between the Celts and the Heats judging from now. But all will only reveal when the season is up. All the questions will be clear, whether the young big 3s are going to work well together? Are the Celts too old for the playoffs? Will Orlando form a better chemistry? and from the West, are the Lakers up for the challenge? Besides all the questions ready to be unfold, i intend to see a stronger Celtic team this season.
keep a watchful eye on the young thunder out the west…not saying they are going to win it all but they will be in the race to come out of the west…
yea yea im with you on that thunder tip!!! kd & russ gunna come out destroying the west!!!!
Man…everyone really is trying to beat LA! The Lakers by far are still the gauge for all of the NBA. If the Shaq experiment materializes for Boston, it will give them a legitimate shot against the Lakers in the finals. I’ve said it before & I will stand by my predictions again. LA & the Celts will have a third & final match come June. It will be a rubber match since their current series is tied at 1 a piece.It will be the last hurrah for the celts but unfortunately, LA will still come out on top & take their series…Thus completing another 3peat. Phil Will have his 12th moving ahead of red in total championships..Kobe will have his 6th, tying MJ in the process and LA on the verge of overtaking the celts & having the most championships in the league. This season unfortunately is not the Heat’s…They will wait til 2012 to get their crack against the lakers. Even so, Kobe will have his most motivation ever as LA will try to make a run at a 4peat…and the mamba earning his 7th in the process thus cementing his legacy as the greatest…Phil will be back for this ultimate last run as a 4peat is something he has not accomplished giving him that motivation. Finally in 2012, LA will get their 18th making them THE winningest franchise in the league. That will be KObe & the Lakers final stand & only then will the heat team reign supreme. Orlando has had their run & peaked already & i think they’ve went as far as they can go already as the heat experiment will be unstopable by then…for the rest of the teams…Im sorry to say but the ugly truth is there aint much room at the top & a large space is already occupied by the current heat squad who will start making their run on their 3rd season together after Kobe 1 the lakers step down from their throne… Welcome to fantasy basketball ladies & gentlemen…
Nah if the Lakers succed and win the 3peat Phil will retire. He’d rather retire on top, wouldn’t you?
hahahahahahaha!!!! dream on dog!!!! kobe winning it’s 6th? and being the greatest? are you a 11 years old kid? mj is the greatest ever player in the NBA.. kobe won it’s 5th title but only winning it’s 2nd FINALS MVP.. JORDAN have 6 championships and 6 FINALS MVP.. KOBE had only 1 season MVP, jordan has 5 season MVP.. although their tie in all-star game mvp, jordan has the record of only player that had triple-double in an all-star game.. last thing.. 2 seasons jordan all got the MVP’s, ALLSTAR GAME, SEASON, and FINALS MVP both in 95-96 season and 97-98.. how can you be sure that kobe can do that? tell me your fantasy basketball KID…
spoken like a true laker robot!! kobe ain’t gonna be seein no more rings! ya hear me? miami takin it over! kobe’s gonna need some REAL talent to help him! and no gasol and artest don’t make the cut. i’m talking a true star
Sorry but lakers r pretty overrated right now. Yes keep an eye on OKC Thunder. Not to mention LA’s alter-ego, The Clippers are looking nice too. Maybe not a challenge yet for the top spot in the West but still. Not to mention if Denver can get their coach back, they’re a major threat. East is looking pretty crazy right now, most of the talent is over there right now unfortunately, me being a WEST kinda guy. But i gotta say, i’m really looking forward to the Bos-Miami game, looks good
well said my man, i do believe the lakers will come back for the 3peat idk about 4peat though…idk maybe the heat will get in rhythm this year and take the championship who knows…im just excited to witness next year and the years to come for a great basketball season(s)
colt they’re not overated even though i do hate them they are still a good team
not quitw as good as miami will be though
@kb24 – u oughta b ashamed of urself 4 putting the mamba’s name in vain…if u dont like him,y d heck do u go by his name? Your arguments about MJ r solid & i do believe that he is untouchable… I may have been carried away by my statement about kobe but no1 can deny the fact that he is the closest thing to his airness in this generation & the one’s to come. Not even the Lebrons who’s game aint the same with MJ…same goes with the durants who may have a huge upside but just the same,his game is nowhere close to being similar that of MJ’s. Wade maybe the next closest but teaming up with lbj i firmly believe has put him out of the conversation with mj & kb24.Which makes my case for the mamba…the thing is…he aint done yet. When he decides to hang it up, maybe we can speak again.
@jojo – yo dude… Y’all just keep on hating on kobe & the lakeshow coz he keeps on whoopin’ ur players & teams butts! Lol
You Lakers fans need to get back in touch with reality. You are the defending champs, but come October you are NOT the team to beat. Last year should have belonged to the Celtics had it not been for our big center missing Game 7, and 2010-11 belongs to either the Heat or the Celtics.
“Man…everyone really is trying to beat LA!”
NO, YOU’RE ABSOLUTELY WRONG. THE THREE AMIGOS DID NOT AGREE TO PLAY TOGETHER TO BEAT DRAMA QUEEN KOBEY AND HER PUPPETS. THE THREE AMIGOS CAME TOGETHER TO PUT THE HEAT FRANCHISE ON THE MAP AS A DYNASTY TEAM. THEY COULD CARE LESS FOR THE LAKERS, GET YOUR FACTS TOGETHER BEFORE POSTING YOUR COMMENTS. DO YOUR HOMEWORK FIRST AS TO PRECLUDE YOURSELF FROM EMBARRASMENT.
Actually I think the Celtics have a very good chance of beating the Lakers if they were to meet in the Finals.. I think they would have won last season if Perkins wasnt injured.. now with Shaq and Jermaine O neal… Pau and Bynum are gonna have a hard time.. thanks to Bynums knee I think Shaq will be able to take Bynum and there is Garnett and Pau or Jermaine against Pau.. but now it makes the Celtics less athletic on fastbreak… meaning the Heats have a HUGE advantage over them when it comes to fast break.. only Rondo can keep up with Wade and Lebron but I am sure there will be alleyoops flying around alot lol… Celtics will lose in any game if the other team has a lot of fastbreaks
i like how you say LA. Last time i counted LA as having 11 championships since 5 of those were won in Minneapolis but I,m quite sure all you LA fans would still be Laker fans if they moved back to Minneapolis, right!
@mike – yo mike…I do agree with u that the Celts have the best chance against LA than any team right now…not even the heat. They can match up well against them pound 4 pound…and then some. Boston right now has the biggest, baddest, meanest, nastiest, most experienced frontline & whole team for that matter in the whole of NBA. Imagine KG, Perk, Shaq, J.O. & Sheed? That’s 5 kick ass 7 footers! Even LA’s frontcourt dominance is questionable against the giants of Boston. It’s gonna be a dogfight come June…I live & breath LA but man the celts big guys are scary! I’d still take the lakers by a hair over Boston but if their series becomes ugly & scrappy…the C’s will go take it.
@flashking57 – as for miami… LA couldnt care less of the heat. The Lakers aint scared of this make over team… and u can take that to the bank! Most experts will tell u that LA has gotten better over the summer & they still have a better, deeper & more cohesive unit than that of Miami. Kobe aint intimidated of this so called 3 stooges (that’s what they’ll be called if they dont win it all…a laughing stock!) & so does the rest of LA. Get over it kiddo… the heat wont even get past boston. The celts will kill ‘em for sure! As for the dynasty..yeah sure…but now is not their time… Get real! LA is the dynasty! 3 straight finals appearances & 2 straight championships…aint that enough facts for u? Now tell me the Heat & the rest of the NBA arent trying to BEAT LA!
But really, Shaq is just having those moments playing for 12 min, c’mon. it does look like a good squad but it is still not enough for them to win it all this season, yes they might reach the eastern conference finals but all the way nahhhh. the Heat will definetly rely on team chemistry cos the way things are, everyone is just looking @ three players so chemistry for them is still key. Lakers to pull it off Yeahhhhhhhhh. threepeats….
uhm, kb24… jordan is the one who’s overrated… by whom? by you… FYI, he’s not the only player to record a 3ple double in an all star, I don’y know all of them but i definitely know another 1. SCOTTIE PIPEN, I remember it very well, y? he missed his own shot and bounce it off the board to get his 10th reb, his 3rd double of the game… just shows how much you love the game, focus on just 1 player alone and think he’s the only person to have the stats the he can… lol
another thing, i never thought he was the greatest, let alone great… he just shot the ball A LOT!
miami with a team chemistry i’d like to see that happen! lol
THE LAKERS ARE THE KINGS OF THE NBA. Plain and simple. The LAKERS are the greatest team in the history of the NBA.They have the most wins.The most playoff wins.At the end of this season they will be tied for the most championships. They have had most of the greatest players of all time. The greatest coach of all time, and the greatest player of all time in KOBE BRYANT. Aside from Derek Fisher the core of the team is in there primes. Besides they are always looking to get better. What player would not want to join the two time defending NBA CHAMPIONS. Don’t be surprised if the LAKERS pull off a deal to further seperate them from everyone else.
The challenge for the Celtics is whether or not they can control ‘the Big Ego’ and keep him healthy come playoff time. If any team runs at Boston while Shaq is in place then the Celtics will be at a disadvantage. Despite being at the end of his career, Shaq still is a formidable presence at center and can still match up with many of the best. Whether he still has enough in his tank for the likes of Howard and Bynum remains to be seen, but as for Miami, he can still ‘out center’ any person they currently have at the 5 spot. The Celtics are not going to go gently into the night.
Actually the teams to watch (i.e. the ones that might sneak up on everyone) is the Bulls in the East and Portland in the West (depending on Odom’s health).
they thing about howard is he is a defense machine…he has not arrived yet with his offense so dont think that match up will be to diff for shaq to handle…bynum kinda works on both ends thats were he going to have to refuel but having both O’neal’s will work out fine for BOS…
I think you mean Oden not Odom but I agree with you.
Why is everyone so high on Chicago? They may be the 4th or 5th best in the East with Atlanta but they are no better than the Jazz have been the past couple years and they have been destroyed by the Lakers both times. The players surrounding Boozer, Brewer and Korver now are relatively equal to Jazz when they were there.
Williams >> Rose
Okur > Taj Gibson
Sloan >>>>> T Thib (ROOKIE COACH!!)
Don’t get me wrong, i really like this team, there’s isn’t much they don’t have as a unit but they are a step down from Orlando, Celtics and Heat. Rose would have to steal like Rondo and shoot 3′s like Nash in an MVP like season for them to challenge at the top.
You forget about Noah dude.. so Bulls have 4 good players while Jazz had three..
@ Zzanzabar – Bro, I think you meant Greg ‘Oden”.
All these big name free agent signings made a lot of these teams better than they were last year but the most significant signing was made in the city of Angels. Matt Barnes and Theo Ratliff made a pretty good defensive Lakers team better. And Making the defending champs better defensively than they were last year is bad news for everyone else.
Finally someone said something reasonable about the lakers other than LAKERS will kick everyone’s ***, you have a good point there sting, even though I am an anti laker fan they did some pretty good moves on the offseason that will make them tougher to beat. Ratliff is old but still a big shot blocker and barnes will score 10 or 12 points every now and then but he can guard pretty much everyone on the 2 spot or at least drive them nuts.
Steve Blake on the other hand is nowhere near a good defensive player but he is inteligent enough to back up Fisher and put 5 or 6 assists per game on the board.
Watch out for the Lakers, I hope they loose but I know they will be a tough bone to chew.
And thank you for being a non biased fan. Too many people bash the Lakers and their fickle glory hunting fans and forget that some of us are reasonable and intelligent people.
Barnes replacing Morrison in the squad will give us better defensive backup and scoring as said above.
Blake will offer a more consistent shot that any PG we had last season although will struggle against the quicker guards like we did last season.
I’m not sure about Ratliff, i haven’t seen much of him but his blocking stats look impressive and seems to be an improvement on Powell or Mbenga
I just hope to get Shannon Brown back as we may need some athleticism as we have next to no pace through the team and he could help guard bigger PG’s like DWills or Tyreke etc.
this off season get more weird as each day goes by…..but, MIA better watch out!
How do you spell L O A D E D. You have to put the players on the floor every game in the NBA. This summer we have seen the talent spread a bit more. From October ’til the playoffs begin you have got to have at least a solid ten guys. The top teams are reinforcing across the board. All the players have egos if they want to stick around.
“Their collective experience and the shared championship experiences gives them an edge that only the Lakers can match, in terms of seasoned veterans with championship experience (and the Celtics actually might have the edge there).”
Seriously? Do you want to count the rings here? Do you want to count playoff games? (And please don’t forget who’s at the bench commanding it all…)
You do realise the only guys on lakers team serious playoffs experience are bryant and fisher…meanwhile on celtics there are kg,pierce,allen,jermaine oneal etc. plus if they add shaq…
Man, how can u say that? Odom, Bynum and Gasol have more rings that the Big 3 of Boston! Garnett just went on striking in offseason since hes on the Boston squad, besides one Conference Final lost to the Lakers in 2004. And Shaq got that winning experience in L.A. But i do agree that the Celts have a great group, second best team in the NBA.Im really excited to watch another 7games series between those 2 heavy weigthers next summer cause The 2011 Finalists will be the Lakers and the Celtics guarantee
Dude he said playoff experience sir not number of rings….meaning how many times they have actually played in a playoff series over the years…smart guy
Please learn to spell.
Also, Kobe and D Fish arent the ONLY Lakers with at least 2 years + in championship runs, you silly but ignorant guy. The squad last year was nearly identical to the year before that, minus Artest.
and if you are still wondering about the spelling its not realise, its realize.
Paul Pierce Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were not consistently going to the playoffs until they all joined in Boston. Keep that in mind.
hill324- RINGS ARE PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE. Rings mean you WON 16 playoff games in a year. Rings mean you made it through 4 rounds of playoffs. So in fact, any way you want to look at it, the Lakers have played more playoff games and WON more playoffs games than the Celtics team. Phil Jackson has as many championships as the WHOLE Boston team combined. Think about that or not.
watch the celtics get their redemption next year even if shaq’s not on board or the heat dont take it all!
Jesse says:
August 4, 2010 at 2:23 pm
Please learn to spell.
Also, Kobe and D Fish arent the ONLY Lakers with at least 2 years + in championship runs, you silly but ignorant guy. The squad last year was nearly identical to the year before that, minus Artest.
and if you are still wondering about the spelling its not realise, its realize.
@Jesse the English teacher
Realise and realize are both correct spellings. The English spell it with an “S” and the Americans spell it with a “Z”. However, considering British English (otherwise known as Queen’s English) is more universally spoken than American English, I think the spelling REALISE is more universally accepted as correct than REALIZE.
Try really hard to resist the urge to thank me for that free lesson.
@ Jesse – Do you not REALISE that it is spelt with an S not a Z? We English spawned the language so don’t try and correct us when you use a different alternative.
This is a basketball discussion and not a spelling bee.
Lakers have more playoff experience than the Celtics. Rings are not solely important but as the Lakers have been to the finals 3 years in a row with the same core of the team. How can any team be more experienced than that? The Celtics with the O’Neals have a lot of playoff experience but not all together as a team. There is virtually no difference between the respective playoff experiences.
An L.A. take that says Angelenos still love the Diesel, but I know that sportstalk and letters to the editor, etc, show nothing but vitriol and hate? Your take? http://bit.ly/dhHQUC
SPURS will reach finals conference en beat L.A. and then beat the magic.. GO SPURS!!
Spurs wont be seeing another title for some time buddy. Calm down with the dumb talk.
with amare and boozer on the east the only remaining teams that can run for a title inthe west are LA an okc but okc still dont have a strong post player and if richard jefferson this year start to play like he knows the spurs can make to the finals easy… tim still have his talent, manu ended the season playing a great basketball and tony still can run the offense. Spurs can make it happen this year..
SPURS is great, I ready want SPURS can go to conference final, but very sorry, the winner is Lakers,
Shaq may be having trouble being with teams right now, but still one thing is constant, he’s still better during playoffs… so he’ll be more useful when that time comes
the celtics will use the year developing rondo more (the Celtics would be his in a year or two, so he’d better step-up now as the team’s leader, not just the quarterback… i don’t see allen and KG be having problems with that, hopefully pierce would embrace the thought)… they’ll also give healthy amounts of playing time to the new members (plus nate and big baby), since the bench will be boston’s greatest weapon during the playoffs.
boston is definitely old right now, so the best way for them to win it all is to play as a Team, 12-man deep…
San Antonio has the same case on the other conference.
ONE LAST HURRAH!!!
well you are so wrong miami had a good bench and cast support than u rhinks(haslem-house-miller-ilgauskas-magloire)
to beat la lets go for real this seasin champs are the heat
With LeGone on the team, Miami will definitely have the number one dance team. But Dwight will still give them a run in Orlando.
HA-HA-HA!!!!!! look at those names you just named, really? are you serious? come on man… you can say that with your three superstars your team is good but don’t come tell me your bench is good that’s just dumb… your frontcourt depth (excluding LeBum) is so terrible in terms of defense that the Celtics, Magic, and Lakers can beat this team EASY… Miller and House won’t stop anyone either… enjoy the highlight reels maybe they’ll give the Heat a ring for that but not for being champions…
You can subtract Maglorie and ilgauskas from that equation. Come on dude they both suck! Besides the three miami aint got much. It takes a team to win, not three guys.
miami actually will just be riding on the supremes… true, the other players are good (they’re in the NBA so they have the talent), but still they wouldnt pack the punch the boston bench have without their big 3… if you argued PHX or Spurs’ bench, i wouldve approved
think says:
August 4, 2010 at 12:54 pm
Shaq may be having trouble being with teams right now, but still one thing is constant, he’s still better during playoffs… so he’ll be more useful when that time comes
Seriously??? Just like he did last year….
I would calm down if i were you, b/c i do agree with think he is still a big machine to get by on the defensive end.
The C’s are going to have the deepest bigman rotation the league has ever seen, and thats assuming ‘sheed retires. if he doesnt, they will have 6 starter quality big men in the playoffs if they all stay healthy (perk, KG, baby, JO, shaq, sheed…not to mention harongody looks decent) and rondo is going to be the unquestioned leader this year.
the bulls are the only team that looks as complete as the c’s. my eastern conference predictions is 1.C’s, 2.Bulls, 3.MIA, 4.ORL
Anyone and i say anyone who has teh bulls finishing above miami or sayign its bulls adn boston only is sick. I know poeple want miami to lose but come on you knwo this team is going to win a bunch of games. Tehy are goign to finish first in the east then the magic or bulls or celtics. teh playoffs a different story because everyone has a chance but to mention the bulls before miami is just ignorant as a basketball fan.
Until Miami plays AT LEAST oONE game together nothing can be assumed. How many minutes do you expect the 3 stars to play for the Heat? 48? They have to sit down sometime and who knows what happns then? Boston and Chicago have added some quality pieces. Miami has added more than half of their team. They are basically a brand new team. They do have some star players, but there is no telling how they will do until they ACTUALLY PLAY TOGETHER. Who would’ve thought USA basketball would lose a couple of years ago? They did.
Well from top to bottom, the Bulls do have a better team than miami. Yea i know you have the three in miami. But the point guard position is a lot better with the Bulls, the center position is better with the bulls. The added Carlos Boozer, they have a better bench. And the also have a head coach who helpled win a ring. So i wouldnt say its ignorant to believe the Bulls can finish above miami.
ya know!!!
Bulls also did a great job during the offseason but despite the fact that Brewer Korver and Boozer can put some points on the board none of them except Brewer can defend either.
Noah is not that defensive cuz he is still weak comparing him to stronger post players, now Rose is a universe ahead comparing him against Arroyo or Chalmers.
Tyrus Thomas is out of Chicago since last year, Deng spends lots of time injured, Chicago does not have a worth to mention defense either.
Boston on the other hand might be old but they are one of the hardest team speaking of defense, as someone said Shaq still can outcenter almost anyone, Garnett when healthy can Block 130 shots a season, Rondo’s one of the steal leaders in the league, Allen is not that bad, and Big Baby is a young big bag of rocks underneath that basket. Let’s not discard the C’s this season
Regarding the heat defense, not only Lebron can defend, Wade has been part of the second defensive team on the NBA, and Haslem is probably the most energetic guy on the league, He is the one that maybe will put some resistance against Howard, Garnett or Boozer despite he is less taller and heavier. If Bosh learns how to defend or at least compete against top posts, then they will get 5 more wins this year.
My prediction, Heat or Orlando no.1 and 2
C’s and Chicago 3 n’ 4
For the rest of the eastern teams… don’t think there’s much to talk about, probably Bobcats will jump to 5th if they can find a PG, Toronto might get the 8 spot this season, Atlanta will remain 6th or 7th.
Miami and Orlando will finish 1 and 2 in whatever order for sure. Celtics finished 4th in the East last year and i see them doing similar again this year until it really matters come playoffs.
Bulls just aren’t as good as the others but should finish top 5 without a problem and Atlanta rounding out the top 5 as the team hasn’t changed from a 3rd place finish.
One thing i don’t understand is how so many people are saying the Knicks are back in the fold for playoffs as if it’s automatic. Where will the rebounds and assists come from? I would have a bet that the Cavs finish ahead of them cos i’m sure the way everyone else is thinking, i would get really good odds.
I wonder…….why aren’t anyone given the Houston Rockets, ANY chance to do some damage. This is a team that played a 7-game playoff series with the Lakers a couple years ago with no Yao…no Mutumbo…no T-Mac, and last season with a 6’6″ Hayes, and 6’9″ Scola in the middle, STILL were a few games from the playoffs. Now you have a starting 5 with Yao (who at 75% healthy, WOULD STILL be one of the top 2 or 3 centers in the league…if not the best. BUT AT 95-100% HEALTIY…MY GOD!!!), Luis Scola (who is a VERY underrated PF), Shane Battier, Kevin Martin ( to give the score punch that even T-Mac didn’t give the last year he WAS healthy, before missing that playoffs a couple years ago), and the mighty mouse Aaron Brooks. Then off the bench, we still have the hard-nosed Chuck Hayes to move back to PF, because we FINALLY have a true & proven backup C w/ Brad Miller, PLUS Trevor Ariza, Chase Budinger, Kyle Lowry, Jermaine Taylor, Jordan Hill, Jered Jeffries, and the rookie from Kentucky, Patrick Patterson. Our team is as deep as most……and should be a More than formidable force in the West, and the whole League. Your thoughts, People…..
With Yao out, the best player on the Rockets 2 years ago was probably Artest. Not only is he gone, but he is on the Lakers. Bynum was out during that series. The Lakers are coming off back to back championships and have actually gotten better during the offseason. On the other hand the Rockets didn’t even make the playoffs last year. So although they have a good chance to get back to the playoffs, it would be premature to consider them favorites to even get past the first round.
Agreed with tata. Your team is a good team but the west is still a very deep conference (more elite in East 3-1 West but beyond top 5 East teams, they wouldnt make West playoffs)
Yao played early in that Lakers series you mentioned and looked no better/worse than with him in the team. I know that’s only a small sample but his injuries have hampered him and he will struggle more than ever to keep up to pace.
You also have a lot of very good role players like Brooks, Ariza, Martin, Scola and beyond. as deep as Rockets are, 1 or 2 players would have to take a leap in quality for you to challenge high up.
Hehe what kind of super team would this Boston be if it was formed 7 years ago, all big names in its prime
.
I really cant wait for this season to start, eats is so exiting now, Miami, Boston, Bulls, Orlando, just pick any! We will have great season to watch I just hope there will be no major injuries!
On the other hand I dont see that Lakers have real competition in west. I wont be surprised if Oklahoma become 2nd best team in west. As for Spurs I hope they have some more fuel in their tanks!
agree with crzybr! lakers have the edge in championship experience lol. even the coach.
can’t wait till it’s Christmas!
L.A. coach has more experience then anyone on the floor, but the article said playoff experience in general thats diff…talking about playoff experience boston has the edge there….
How could the Septics have an edge in playoff experience when the Lakers have been to the NBA Finals 3 years in a row? That means half of the team has 3 Finals to the “Old 3′s” 2 appearances. And Kobe and Fish have been to the Finals 7 times each while Boston wasn’t even in the playoffs during the early 2000′s. Boston has one title in the same time that LA has won 5 with the current coach. The only thing Boston has going for them is that everyone will be rooting for them over the South Beach Wannabes.
Gentleman, before Lakers turned into the champs they are right now Garnett led the T’wolves to Western conference playoffs like 3 or 4 times altough they did not win anything signifficant.
Allen has been in the playoffs at least one time before going to boston, Pierce and Walker led Boston to playoffs several ocasions, Counting Sheed’s experience and titles, and now the experience Perkins, Davis, and Rondo have they might have not won that many rings (one actually) but they certainly are almost as experienced as the Lakers in terms of playoffs games disputed. Add Shaq to that equation and the amount of finals is almost the same than Kobe and Fisher, he got to the finals with Orlando, Won with Lakers and Won with the Heat, J’Oneal has also his share of PO games on his back.
When did the Grizzlies get to the Playoffs while Gasol was there? When did the Hawks get to the Playoffs when Ratliff was there? How many times did the Clips get to the playoffs when Odom was there? Bynum experience in playoffs counted until this season because he actually got to play. I totally agree that the Lakers are reigning champs but elderly sometimes means wisdom.
Oh and talking about Phil’s experience, definetely no one is as good as he is but in terms of quality coaches Doc is one of the best if not the second best coach on NBA behind the Zen master.
We will probably see another version of the C’s Lakers this year.
The Lakers are the obvious favorites to win the West. They don’t really have any competition there. I’m undecided now between Miami and Boston for the East. The Celtics need at least one more outside shooter coming off the bench. This was clear in the Finals. I think this is the last year the Celtics have a chance at winning the title. It would be good for the NBA to have the Finals be Lakers vs Celtics this year and next year Lakers vs Heat.
i think for the “one more shooter coming off the bench” it should be T-mac……….if they sign him. then it’ll just be all the more wisdom for boston from shaq’s and t-mac’s prime times.
Build A Time Machine Go Back In Time And Make Sure The Cs Draft Those Big 3 And You Would Have An Unstoppable Big 3
this season, shaq and the celtics will bring miami down then they will be responsible for giving kobe his sixth ring. WESTERN CONFERENCE FINALS FT OKC THUNDER VS LA LAKERS
ALL of u r wrong in so many ways. seriously the celtics got no chance against the heat. if u ask me i think the lakers r growing old. kobe isnt productive as he was and every1 else is just there to watch kobe take them to the playoffs. but now we know that portland got a good team and so does the thunder so i dont think lakers will get to the finals. and talking bout the MIA- BOS game, MIA will kill the celtics. if dwade alone can push a 6 game series in the PLAYOFFS, what makes u think the celtics got a chance against the HEAT dynasty? u guys r all wack go learn the game
MIA vs BOS series only went to 5 games and MIA barely won they only game they won. and let’s not mention KG wasn’t in one of those games.
And do not forget that a Dinasty only becomes that after you prove you can leave behind a legacy…Miami will not be a dinasty until they get at least 1 title.
Deary me, i hope someone in the East shuts up these Heat fans. Rondo, Rose, Jameer will all burn the Heat and Shaq/Jermaine, Dwight will kill any C on Heat roster. Allen and Pierce will do a decent job on Wade and James and Garnett will show Bosh up for the self-overrated overconfident turd that he is.
i agree with celtic girl…………i love dwade and the way he plays, but c’mon let’s get real. Bos schooled them in the playoffs.
How can you say kobe is not as productive as he was…. 10 out of 11 game stretch from the start of the 2nd round through to the finals he scores 30+ points.. and the only game he didnt he gets 13 assists effectively finishing off the suns.Dominating game 1 of the finals. Scoring 17 points in five minutes in the third quarter of game 5. Making the right decisions 90% of the time on offense all whilst playing through injuries Gasol is still much better than bosh on both ends of the floor. Artest, Kobe and Barns alternate defending wade and lebron. Fisher n Blake bring experienxe and 3 point shooting and an ever improving Bynum. Lakers will handle the west easily and will win the championship again. How can you call the Heat a dynasty when they havent won anything?
Miami is great on paper but that doesn’t guarantee that they’ll take out other teams. Lakers and Celtics are the obvious defending champions which have retained the majority of their teams from last season’s Finals so to allow Miami to be in the same boat as these two teams is just ignorant. Besides, both teams did upgrades on their rosters which make them that much stronger. Next you have Orlando with the reigning defensive player over the past two seasons who made the Eastern Conference Finals the past 2 seasons too. So until the Heat can get to at least the level that Boston, Orlando and LA are at within one season (that’s not to say they can’t but it needs to be shown in games they play), the Heat aren’t a dynasty so maybe you need to be more mature before claiming they are. They might be in the future when they put some banners up but until then, the two existing dynasties are in Boston and LA.
kill the celtics you say? hmm lets see the starting lineups with the playoffs in mind
rajon rondo vs mike miller
rajon rondo will just drive in repeatedly in, while mike miller wont even be able to shoot given rondos stealing ability
ray allen vs dwyane wade
have you seen the defense this guy plays on kobe? the worlds greatest player? if he can do that, surely he can handle wade plus wade will have to spend his energy chasing allen around screens
lebron james vs paul pierce
this is probably the only matchup that miami will be able to somewhat exploit, however dont underestimate pierces defensive abilities and his own skills. also remember that lebron has never played to his beastly potential in the playoffs when push comes to shove. especially against the celtics [remember last years playoffs?]
chris bosh vs kevin garnett
lololol this is one of the best matchups to watch, on the defensive end, these two are total opposites, one plays extremely well, the other looks like a fool. chris bosh will have a very hard time putting up points in the playoffs, but kevin garnett will easily get his stuff out due to bosh’s lack of defense
shaquile o neal vs joel anthony/zydundras illgauskas
lol did i say that the last matchup was funny? well look here, you have one of the most dominant players ever to play the game that is still putting it up at age 38 vs who? zydundras? joel anthony? please.
6th man
since rasheed has retired ill put nate robinson in to represent the celtics and im guessing that either of the two centers mentioned above for the heat that isnt in the starting lineup will be the 6th man, now as we all saw in this years finals nate robinson is a underated guard that could put up points when called for in the playoffs, are you going to say that joel anthony or zydundras will do the same? i dont think so
role players
eddie house and carlos arroyo vs glen davis and avery bradley
ok here we have 2 veterans for the heat that have never played together and probably think that their only role is to watch lbj dwade and bosh play together and beast, which we have seen is not going to happen vs glen davis who knows how to put points on the board and avery bradley, the best defensive guard in the draft. who do you choose?
coach
doc rivers vs erik spoelestra
not much to be said here except, who was able to mesh the different personalities like garneet pierce and allen into a championship team will surely beat some other run and gun coach
overall i believe we can see that the heat wont beat the celtics, at least not “easily”. so the heat and their fans better not continue thinking that just because bron betrayed his kingdom and became a piece to wades dynasty means that the heat will breeze through their competition, even orlando will give them a tough time, not to mention the lakers which will practically destroy the heat even in the reg season. so until the heat actually overcome these obstacles, you cant boast about them
Like it!
i cant wait for the heat to hammer the crap out of boston, orlando and the bulls – they are not even close to Miami – bron and wade will win it this year and then the next 4 years to prove they are better than all those other wannabes out there – cant wait to watch them destroy the lakers too…..
I think in general that most of the already good teams have improved in some way over last year’s incarnations. And I think that it is a little bit presumptuous of LeBron et al to assume that they will win multiples titles, let alone one in the near future. Boston, Orlando, and Chicago would seem to be in the mix in the eastern conference along with the so-called prohibitive favorite of Miami. One thing that I think is funny is the way most everyone has ignored the fact that the Lakers have improved more than just a little bit. By ridding themselves of Mbenga, Farmar, and Powel, they have improved. Then by replacing those positions with Blake, Barnes, and Ratclif they have improved with better ball control (Blake), added security, clogging the middle and shot blocking (Ratclif), and perimeter shooting, and defensive intensity (Barnes) that will definitely make them better at controlling the tempo of games, and make an outstanding overall defensive team. And that is considering that they were not too bad last year. So, I cannot wait until next year’s NBA season to begin. It should be even better than last year, Go Lakers! Oh, and notice I praised the Lakers without having to badmouth anyone else.
Good point Dave, let’s see if Kobe’s ego can lead the certainly improved Lakers this year to another title.
The East is going to be way more interesting this year and the west will be just as close as last year. It’ll make for some great basketball. Look for the Nuggets and Thunder to make some noise this year!
Bosh didn’t even make the playoffs last year. Wade was eliminated in the first round. LeGone was eliminated in the second round. Put them all together and it is somehow an instant championship without even playing one game? I think the teams like Boston and Orlando that ACTUALL made it to the finals might be in position to say something about it. And the Chicago Jazz are looking pretty good this year too….on paper.
dummy u cnt deny tht lebron wade and bosh r great players. just because they didnt have a great team doesnt mean they werent great players.
True the fact that LB,D-Wade and CB dont do well last year in the play off. But, its unfair to assume that they will not do well next year. Remember when the “Big Three” join forces for the first time in 2008? They won the Championship in their very first attempt. If i remember correctly, Neither of the “Big Three” did well in the year before they teamed up. In fact, neither made the playoff. Thus, to just eliminate the Heat because the Three new super stary dis not play well last year is obselutely WRONG!!
however, i still tink that the LAKERS will definately win the whole thing this year. They have the superstars that have the power and hunger to BRING back the championship to LA!!! GOO LAKERS!!!
dude lakers r done for. okc will knock them off. sure blakes a good point guard. but compared to westbrook hes a nobody. look at green and durant and then look at barnes. barnes is just a old useless trash talking bag of horse crap. he shouldve stayed with the suns. instead he’s a bandwagon leaving like every team and joining the lakers cuz they got back to back peats. anyways dave keep dreaming lakers wont win a 3rd straight championships. ill admit even if the heat dont win the eastern champs, whoever is the eastern champs will be the champs.
A little history for you. Phil Jackson has won all of his championships in streaks of 3. With the additions the lakers have added this year, makes them an even tougher team than what they already were. I agree with you about the Thunder. They in fact will be a force in the west, but getting past the experienced Lakers won’t be an easy task. Oh and to what you said about Kobe, how could you say that he isn’t as productive anymore. Did you not see what he did last year with the injuries he indured? I can only imagine if he was completely healthy, what he would have done last year. That’s bold statement to make about Kobe. Come on pro give the the guy some props! He is an amazing ball player that makes each and every player around him better. Any player that has been Kobe’s teamate have all said that his work ethic and straight will to win is unbelievable, and that includes Lebron James!
Go lakers!
This upcoming NBA season should be great one!
A TEAM LIKE NEW JERSY WHO BASICALLY WASTED THEIR CAP SPACE AFTER NOT ACQUIRING LEBRON JAMES SHOULD HAVE MADE THERE OWN BIG THREE…TRACY MCGRADY, ALLLEN IVERSON, AND SHAQ (A NEW JERSY NATIVE) WOULD PUT FAN IN THE SEATS AND GIVE THE FANS SOMETHING TO PONDER ABOUT. I FEEL SOME TEAM IN THE LEAGUE SHOULD ACQUIRE THOSE THREE GUYS ON THE SAME TEAM BEAUSE IF YOU THINK ABOUT IT SHAQ IS THE ONLY ONE WHOSE REALLY UP THERE IN AGE T-MAC IS ONLY 31 AND ALL THOSE GUYS ARE HUNGERY AND I BELIEVE WILL PUT ON A SHOW AND TAKE A TEAM TO THE PLAYOFFS. IF I WAS A GM I WOULD DO IT AT THIS POINT IN THE OFF SEASION, WHY NOT? I MEAN IF YOUR NEW JERSY YOU WON ONLY 12 GAMES SO WHAT DO YOU REALLY HAVE TO LOSE THE GUYS THEY GOT NOW CAN BE GREAT BACK-UPS TO THOSE THREE FUTURE HALL A FAME PLAYERS. THINK ABOUT IT THE STARTING LINEUP:
CENTER: SHAQ
POWER FORWARD: BROOCK LOPEZ (MOVE HIME TO THE 4; SEE WHAT HAPPENS)
SMALL FORWARD: TRACY MCGRADY
SHOOTING GUARD: ALLEN IVERSON
POINT GUARD: DEVIN HARRIS
I MEAN COME ON GIVE IT A TRY AND IF IT DON’T WORK OUT YOU STIILL HAVE A GOOD YOUNG CORE GROUP OF GUYS. THAT YOUNG CORE CAN GAIN KNOWLEDGE FROM THOSE 3 PLAYERS. THE LEAGUE IS NOT THINKING LOGICALLY. I MEAN WHAT DO THE NETS REALLY HAVE TO LOSE? PPL WOULD ACTUALLY WATCH THEIR GAMES THEN…
Very Very good point. They had nothing to lose…except games anyway
okc will beat the lakers. they will meet up with either celtics or heat in the finals. my prediction..
SORRY MAN OKC AIN’T BEATING THE LAKERS SORRY THEY OWN THE WESTERN CONFERENCE!
THIS WILL BE A GREAT SEASON THATS 4 SURE
uhh celtics we all know that its gna be the heat…. dwade pushed the celtics to a 6 game series by himself. i mean what chance do the celts have against lebron bosh and wade? idc how many bigs celts got they can only put 2 at a time. and ur rite bout okc though
heat got beat in 5, they only won 1 game with d wade last season. its goin to be a good game between them two im goin for the heat but you cant count out the celtics
With the addition of ‘The Big Leprechaun’, I believe that the Celtics are another step closer in solidfying the NBA championship of 2011. Even though everyone says that teams such as Miami or chicago had a great off-season, don’t forget the celtics. Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, Nate Robinson were all up as free agents who could have possibly moved to another team. Yet, they still made their way back onto the C’s roster. although they did lose a key bench player in tony allen, they did follow up on the rebound with the likes of their draft choice Avery Bradley, who could do what t can and even more. Secondly, don’t forget that JO is in the mix. He is a good backup for Perk, but not great. And with Rasheed possibly retiring, Shaq would be a great mix into the Celtics roster. for me. Then the question is, the celtics are just another year older, are they too old? True. But aren’t the other teams another year older as well?
Most of what you said makes sense but everyone else getting 1 year older aswell?? yeh but apart from the Lakers, that’s a good thing as they are the right side of 30…
The Celtics should also get T-Mac who can play both SG & SF and would make a very nice back up for Pierce & Allen
heck while your at it…y dont they get AI as well & form their own ex-all stars team.
BBALL PRO your a joke. Didn’t someone already correct you on that false statement you gave “Dwade took the celtic’s to a 6 game series all on his own” Once again and for the last time, it was a “5″ game series not six and KG did miss game. The fact that you say OKC will beat the lakers only shows how much of a hater you are and not how much knowledge you have for the game. Anything can happen, I do like the thunder my self, their exciting to watch and they will continue to get better, but last season everyone thought the Nuggets would knock out the lakers and look at what happened. Unfortunately coach Karl missed the playoffs and I believe that was the biggest reason Denver got put out early. My point is that although OKC will improve, up to this day they have still only had one good run, can they prove them selfs to be in the elite of the westtern conference once again? Can they be consistent like the likes of the spurs, Mavs, suns, etc… all these teams have proven year after year that they are not just a fluke. OKC is like the bulls a few years ago.
SHUT UP LAKERS FAN !!! SHUT UP! CELTICS IS GOING TO TAKE THIS TITLE THIS YEAR FROM THE SORRY LAKERS.
LeGone is not going to win the title this year, boston and orlando are gonna destroy the cHEAT this year. Starting form the opening game. “HEY LEBRON, IT DOESNT MATTER.. IN CLEVELAND OR IN MIAMI PIERCE IS GOING TO EAT YOUR LUNCH ANYWAY” LOL
lol all u lebron haters make me laugh. dude pierce cnt hold lebron so juust stop right there. AND they hav wade!? 2 of the best slashers in the league right there. slow old celtics cnt keep up especially if they add shaq. 3 shot blockers on the heat lebron wade and joel anthony. the heat will b pretty solid on defense
by ‘THE BBALL PRO’ s logic, the heat will lose in the first round winning 3 games, because if dwade can win one then so can bosh and lebron.. that equals 3 wins and last time i checked it takes 4 to win a series
and ur especially stupid sayin the 1st round? lol obviously a angry cleveland fan
It’s all about staying healthy for the C’s. getting like the third seed is what they should aim for and they just need to limit their injuries and during the game, their turnovers. When they are 100% healthy they are almost unbeatable because of how unselfish the entire team is. They are however, going to miss Tony Allen for his athleticism
Attention! Every B-ball fan with a post on this blog Please excuse The BBall pro & his retarded remarks about b-ball
its obvious he rode the other yellow special ed school bus. Because if not, then he would know that it takes a team to win a ring & that is inclusive of the coach. Bballpro About the heat from the top down there, are still so many question marks surrounding the heat,#1 we dont know if they will play together as a team, or if Lebron will get fame or money hungry & continually shot jack wade for his like he did in the all star game tanking the whole team in the process. #2 the coach sucks whats more is he has no playoff coaching experience & is the youngest coach in the league need I remind you about the Mike Brown fiasco where he clearly let everyone know he didnt know what he was doing.it looks like a likely scenario that will repeat itself. # 3 Weve all heard this broken record, if the Celtics get the diesel which they, he will continually waltz in the paint all season including the playoffs because the only legit center they have is Bosh but has been continually batted around if not broken like a twig by Shaq since his induction into the league . # 4 Chemistry the Celtics are a proven group of players that play well together & have gone deep into the playoffs the last 3 years. #5 Experience, The celtics have played the best teams in the league during the playoffs & have continually proven themselves a superior team by beating the teams senseless & the odds against them excluding the Lakers which are still better then everyone else & will win it again for another 3peat in another dramatic duel with the celts! In which the basketball world will surely say Lakers are BACK 2 BACK 2 BACK CHAMPIONS in 2010-11!!!!!!!
I love that the LA & Boston fans are now teaming up against the Heat. Good times. Never thought I would see the day. But don’t you all think its funny that during the year LA Lakers have the WORST bench in the league and they wouldn’t even beat OKC because of our horrible bench but when we win the championship we’re all of a sudden stacked and its not fair? I love reading these forums
you r so right.
during the season every body were making laugh about lakers bench… but now they go through the playoff and win it all, every body say lakers have the best team and a big heavy bench team with odom artest fisher, those same player that every body were putting in the trash due to their irregularity …
soooo easy to say so after the title…
Odom was the only role player (everyone except Kobe and Pau) that got ANY credit last year and he was 1 of our worst performers game in and game out. Farmar, Brown, Bynum, Fisher, Artest and even Vujacic showed they all offered something for us. Walton would also big a contributor without the back problems.
The Celtics will win it all, and Shaq’s and Jermaine’s additions will be the difference,
not to mention the coming of Tiny Nate and the new rookies for this year. The
Lakers will lose in the west final to one of the Texas teams, and there will be some
chemistry problems with hot-head Artest. Phil Jackson will regret returning to the
bench as he could have retired as a winner. Sorry Kobe, you’ll stay at 5 rings.
Miami has size, and an amazing supporting cast to help the Super Friends! Since Dwyane Wade, Lebron James, and Chris Bosh and they score 30+ points against the Magic, Lakers, and Celtics, they will have an even better chance to defeat the 3 teams because they are combining their offensive power together with the amazing role players that they have. Also on the defensive end, you have guys like Lebron and Wade that will run in transition to get chasedown blocks and Bosh will defend the paint! For all you trash talkers that say that the 3 guys can’t play together, just lookat the teamwork and bond that the 3 had during the 2008 Beijing Olympics, they even won gold!
Wow! You sure know you’re history kid. You forgot to mention who else was on the team on that Olympic Squad. Point guards, D Will and CP3, reigning 2 time NBA Finals MVP Kobe, reigning 2 time Defensive Player of the Year Superman Howard, Carmelo are just to name a few who contributed to that Gold Medal. How often were the Miami trio on the court at the same time? Yeah, that’s what I thought. And then look at the competition. People know that the NBA has an extremely high standard in terms of competition. Not taking away anything from the Olympic teams and international competition but LBJ, D Wade and Bosh won’t score 30+ a piece if that’s what you were intending. If they didn’t do that on the international squad, what makes you so sure they will be able to accomplish that against the NBA’s elite? They haven’t played together as a collective unit against any of the NBA teams yet!
the lakers are gud the celtics r gud but the heat are wanting it more there are young players who want more then a ring there trying to put they self out there as the greatest there real hungry u seen the first year when the cletics got there when either one of the guys didn’t have a ring what they did there first year be looking out for the new and approve heat to put they foot down 4 out of there six years
How can you say that the celtics have more championship experience than the lakers? Lets look at the starting five for the Celtics. Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, and Perkins all have one ring and been to the finals twice. For the lakers: Fisher and Bryant each have five rings and have been to the finals at least seven times. artest has a ring, gasol has two rings and three appearances as well as bynum. And don’t even get me started on the head coaches. now how can anyone say that the celtics have more championship experience than the lakers, its pretty clear how wins that battle.
No one said championship experience, they said PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE! No one is questioning the championship experience of the Lakers. They are talking about PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE. Do you understand what PLAYOFF EXPERIENCE is? Boston definitely has the edge in this category as someone has pointed out before that collectively, all the players have had that experience on the teams they were on prior to being on a collective Celtics unit. If you can understand that, then hopefully you can stop going on about championship experience.
did you even read the article? playoff experience isnt mentioned at all. let me quote from the article, “the shared championship experiences gives them an edge that only the Lakers can match, in terms of seasoned veterans with championship experience (and the Celtics actually might have the edge there)” this is what i was addressing when i left my comment. sure maybe the celtics have more playoff experience but the article wasnt talking about that and neither was i
I love this deal! Boston just need 1 back up swingman to give Pirece some rest. Reguardless of Age, the Celtics now have the best front court in the NBA. Doc River have a coaches Dream: A team full seasoned Legends and a few Rising Stars (Rondo, Robinson, & Davis) focused on winning the 18th NBA Title for the Celtics.
I love This Move!! Welcome Shaq!!
GO BOSTON! kg is my all time favorite player.
Lakers has the thoughest defense entering the season by aquiring barnes and theo! Lakers 3peat! ! !
i doesn’t really matter if the heat or celtics win the eastern conference finals… they will be beaten up by the lakers in the finals!!!
be koo main…this year it’s all finna be diffrent yo… my kings finna be in the playoffs, laker’s wont win it again…neither will the heat… SACTOWN baby f the rest
gusshh guys.
chill yah all down..
try to be logical this time..weeew..
okc and lakers for west finals for sure..at east, either heat, magic or celts will meet..
HEAT has a good offseason, they got 3 of the best players in the league, including the reigning MVP.
BUt as long as the season still at sigth, you can’t predict who will win the championship this season..
The game has’nt start dude. Even though they have a good bench, you can’t tell if they will REALLY win championship.
OKc, a young team with young players. K Durant will be a spark on the team, and he shows his mystical skill in USA basketball team..you can’t judge him yet. Watch out for him. HIs still young with lots of talent.
LA will be much tougher, with Barnes, Blake and Ratliff on them, defense wll be the key for them..
remember, “GOOD OFFENSE STARTS WITH A SOLID DEFENSE”.
CELTS..they have big names in their team, with big age..
seems like they can still run for another championship, with the help of LUCK..
But still can’t tell the ending of this story..
Always remember guys, “THE BALL IS ROUND AND SPHERICAL. YOU CAN’T SEE THE END OF IT”
BALL IS ROUND AND SPHERICAL, NO END IN SIGHT.
WE DON’T KNOE THE ENDING OF THIS STORY..
heat, lakers on “10 FINALS..
sure to watch..
take heed buds..
LOL
With Shaq joining the C’s, they will make it back to the finals and beat the Lakers. You Laker fans can argue all you want, but face it, had Perkins not gotten injured in game 6 it would of been over in game 6. Kobe won’t be as lucky this year because Boston made sure they will have enough bigs in rotation by adding Shaq. This year belongs to the Celtics and Redemption is the keyword.
If I’m the Lakers, I’d try enticing Dwight Howard to join the team in 2012. If Kobe is to win his 6th title he’s going to need superman!
EXACTLY!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mavs could make a run maybe this year. They solidify their frontcourt by adding haywood last season and now Chandler in replacement of the aging Dampier. They can at least match the frontcourt of the Lakers in Bynum and Gasol. But again, Im a laker fan and that won’t matter to me. .
kill the celtics you say? hmm lets see the starting lineups with the playoffs in mind
rajon rondo vs mike miller
rajon rondo will just drive in repeatedly in, while mike miller wont even be able to shoot given rondos stealing ability
ray allen vs dwyane wade
have you seen the defense this guy plays on kobe? the worlds greatest player? if he can do that, surely he can handle wade plus wade will have to spend his energy chasing allen around screens
lebron james vs paul pierce
this is probably the only matchup that miami will be able to somewhat exploit, however dont underestimate pierces defensive abilities and his own skills. also remember that lebron has never played to his beastly potential in the playoffs when push comes to shove. especially against the celtics [remember last years playoffs?]
chris bosh vs kevin garnett
lololol this is one of the best matchups to watch, on the defensive end, these two are total opposites, one plays extremely well, the other looks like a fool. chris bosh will have a very hard time putting up points in the playoffs, but kevin garnett will easily get his stuff out due to bosh’s lack of defense
shaquile o neal vs joel anthony/zydundras illgauskas
lol did i say that the last matchup was funny? well look here, you have one of the most dominant players ever to play the game that is still putting it up at age 38 vs who? zydundras? joel anthony? please.
6th man
since rasheed has retired ill put nate robinson in to represent the celtics and im guessing that either of the two centers mentioned above for the heat that isnt in the starting lineup will be the 6th man, now as we all saw in this years finals nate robinson is a underated guard that could put up points when called for in the playoffs, are you going to say that joel anthony or zydundras will do the same? i dont think so
role players
eddie house and carlos arroyo vs glen davis and avery bradley
ok here we have 2 veterans for the heat that have never played together and probably think that their only role is to watch lbj dwade and bosh play together and beast, which we have seen is not going to happen vs glen davis who knows how to put points on the board and avery bradley, the best defensive guard in the draft. who do you choose?
coach
doc rivers vs erik spoelestra
not much to be said here except, who was able to mesh the different personalities like garneet pierce and allen into a championship team will surely beat some other run and gun coach
overall i believe we can see that the heat wont beat the celtics, at least not “easily”. so the heat and their fans better not continue thinking that just because bron betrayed his kingdom and became a piece to wades dynasty means that the heat will breeze through their competition, even orlando will give them a tough time, not to mention the lakers which will practically destroy the heat even in the reg season. so until the heat actually overcome these obstacles, you cant boast about them
kill the celtics you say? hmm lets see the starting lineups with the playoffs in mind
rajon rondo vs mike miller
rajon rondo will just drive in repeatedly in, while mike miller wont even be able to shoot given rondos stealing ability
ray allen vs dwyane wade
have you seen the defense this guy plays on kobe? the worlds greatest player? if he can do that, surely he can handle wade plus wade will have to spend his energy chasing allen around screens
lebron james vs paul pierce
this is probably the only matchup that miami will be able to somewhat exploit, however dont underestimate pierces defensive abilities and his own skills. also remember that lebron has never played to his beastly potential in the playoffs when push comes to shove. especially against the celtics [remember last years playoffs?]
chris bosh vs kevin garnett
lololol this is one of the best matchups to watch, on the defensive end, these two are total opposites, one plays extremely well, the other looks like a fool. chris bosh will have a very hard time putting up points in the playoffs, but kevin garnett will easily get his stuff out due to bosh’s lack of defense
shaquile o neal vs joel anthony/zydundras illgauskas
lol did i say that the last matchup was funny? well look here, you have one of the most dominant players ever to play the game that is still putting it up at age 38 vs who? zydundras? joel anthony? please.
6th man
since rasheed has retired ill put nate robinson in to represent the celtics and im guessing that either of the two centers mentioned above for the heat that isnt in the starting lineup will be the 6th man, now as we all saw in this years finals nate robinson is a underated guard that could put up points when called for in the playoffs, are you going to say that joel anthony or zydundras will do the same? i dont think so
role players
eddie house and carlos arroyo vs glen davis and avery bradley
ok here we have 2 veterans for the heat that have never played together and probably think that their only role is to watch lbj dwade and bosh play together and beast, which we have seen is not going to happen vs glen davis who knows how to put points on the board and avery bradley, the best defensive guard in the draft. who do you choose?
coach
doc rivers vs erik spoelestra
not much to be said here except, who was able to mesh the different personalities like garneet pierce and allen into a championship team will surely beat some other run and gun coach
overall i believe we can see that the heat wont beat the celtics, at least not “easily”. so the heat and their fans better not continue thinking that just because bron betrayed his kingdom and became a piece to wades dynasty means that the heat will breeze through their competition, even orlando will give them a tough time, not to mention the lakers which will practically destroy the heat even in the reg season. so until the heat actually overcome these obstacles, you cant boast about them
lol u doubt joel anthony’s shot blockin ability and shaqs not the same person. wade lebron and anthony are all shot blockers. allen cnt hold down wade cause wade is a pure slasher and lebron as well. KG is gettin up in age so it wont b too difficult for bosh. just face it the celtics best days r behind them. they r gonna break down and get injured b4 the playoffs even start
seems like you doubt shaqs post game ability, ive watched joel anthony play, and im not afraid to say that someone like bynum or even nenad krstic will be able to play him up, as for the celtics not being able to stop wade bron and bosh, do you forget the playoffs that just happened about how the celtics were able to hold wade down until the 4th game?, do you forget about how the celtics were able to hold bron and kick the first placed team in the nba out of the playoffs? have you actually witnessed kg ability to play defense, and how he was able to somewhat negate pau gasol? all this btw is coming from a laker fan that actually watches and respects the game. do u?
awts shaq in boston…. i think miami need to add solid center that they can rely on or add an experince point guard like Allen Iverson and add Tracy Mcgrady for another shoter this 2 veterans can help them pls miami listen to me get AI and Tmc for another point maker and leader i know they can help u a lot think about this Bosh,LBJ,Tmc,Wade,Ai omplete all star package it can help alot 3 rising star + 2 veteran superstar Tmc and Ai can help in many way leadership,Points,assits…pls miami get 2 add vetran superstar to get sure NBA title!!!!
some one wrote with shaq that boston would be a legite shot to beat la in the finals. they lost by 4 points in game 7 withought there starting center. celtics were always a legite shot especialy with jermaine oneal giving them depth. there not to old at all. kg is gonna get plenty of rest with the big man depth, the best group of defensive big men in the nba. if marquis come back from injury and plays some decent defence then hel give paul and ray a rest too along with bradley. and rondo, no one is mentioning him. noone on miami can gaurd him, not not even lebron as shown in the playoffs. and derek fisher definalty cant gaurd him. IT will be interesting season thats for sure
no one can guard rondo? i think matt barnes, which the lakers picked up, will show rondo some good defense.
I’m sorry, i think it’s gonna be the other way around. HECK WHEN BARNES WAS WITH ORLANDO JAMEER NELSON COULDN”T STOP RONDO AND I DON”T THINK BARNES HAS MUCH OF A CHANCE!!!!
also tingy man u forgot to even mention jermaine oneal
ur completely right. jermaine o’neal is yet another piece that the celtics have against the possible matchup of the heat in the playoffs. i think that jermaine o’neal as the 6th man instead of robinson gives the celtics plenty of depth defensively, something the heat lack with bosh
i am a 100% laker hater cuz im a mavs fan and i got 2 admit dat they reloaded nicely their roster but i seriously believe the celts can beat the heat and lakers IF they find a SG-SF just as tony allen if they do dat i think they are a sure bet for the finals if healthy but i must admit that u want 2 beleive it or not miami will probably have the best team in the regular season yes i know they have bull$#!t centers but u rarely play back 2 back games with teams with a great center and i think dat in the regular season they shoul be #1 now i believe dat they will lose to the celts in 6 inda east finals if the celts stay healthy but i may sound crazy but orlando cant beat them becuz they have a better center but the heat outmatch them in every other position exept the point but if and its a big IF the C’s are healthy they could win it all obiously im rootin for my mavs GO DALLAS
i agree with you completely but i hate to break it to ya, but the mavs aint going anywhere. tyson chandler for erick dampier their biggest move of the summer aside from resigning dirk? haha what a joke
Why is everyone so pumped up about the newly looked Heat? By my understanding, they have no size and will get by someone like Howard, Shaq or Gasol if they even make it that fer.
Heat, with wade2, more powerful more advance is something, with back-up android who can patrol the fence, whew awesome! However this is not war picture whom both wade1 and wade 2 can unleash firepower at the same time. Hell this is basketball, the only advantage is that they both can be in two different offensive and defensive places but at the end of the day they will surely share the ball, rebounds and the points. The untiring wade is the presence in heat for sure. However, their only weakness is themselves and it is disastrous.
Rajon Rondo vs. Mike Miller? in what position your talking about? Rajon Rondo plays in the point guard position while Mike Miller plays as shooting guard or small forward. Starting point guard for the Heat will be Marrio Chalmers or Carlos Arroyo. That’s it.
i chose mike miller for that comparison because mike is the better of those 3 guards, i mean, who will u choose. arroyo or rondo?
adding shaq to celts line up makes them more good… like the jeat putting lebron and chris with wade in heat…. but stil… they have to BEAT LA… first to call them champ,,,, GO LAL
wow you are such a biased blogger its ridiculously obvious that you hate the magic as you never right more than 3 words about them, lakers are still the best team though through there chemistry and talent , im feeling the heat to make it far but seeing an upset in the conferance finals by the bulls magic or celtics, as for the magic its all up to dwight howard and if he developed his offensive game ,he need to be able to consistantly drop 40 points a game if hes defended laksadasically like last season , i really wish he would try to learn something from shaq, until he does tht orlando arnt winning a championship , watch out for the thunder too! i think within 2 years if the thunder make a bisigning of a all star big man they can be title contenders , thts why i really thought they shouldv e signed david lee this season ,but i guess they’re playing the waiting game
@ bosnian
i cant believe im seeing this ignorance. dwight howard defendded lackawhat? he was the DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR. do you watch this game?
Hey sperms fans you aint going nowhere with tim dunkin donut and tony parker and youre coach PAPA BITCH YES HIS A BITCH.IS ALL ABOUT L.A LAKERS THE CHAMPS AND THEY HAVE MORE RINGS HAHAHA YOU SUCK SPERMS.LAKERS ARE STILL STRONG TEAM I DONT CARE THAT CELTICS HAVE SHAQ CELTICS SUCKS BRING IT ON LEPRACHAUNS, WITH PAUL GASOL AND ANDREW BYNUM AND THE MAN KOBE.NONE OF THOSE TEAMS SCARE THE LAKERS REMEMBER THAT THE LAKERS ARE CHAMPS BECAUSE THERES NO FEAR AT ALL THERES CONFIDENT ALL THE WAY L.A BABY THE BEST STATE EVER AND CITY CALIFORNIA,LOS ANGELES THE EAST IS BORING AND THE LAKERS ARE FUN TO WATCH 2010 CHAMPS
LAKERS ARE THE BEST AND THE CELTICS ARE THE OLDEST TEAM NO FUTURE FOR SHAQ . KOBE IS LIVING CHAMP LIFE HAHAHA CELTICS SUCKS. REMEMBER TO BE L.A CHAMPS 2010
they should sign t-mac and iverson too
but damn they have perkins, garnett, JO and shaq and if rasheed stays…..damn thats boshs nightmare right there
AMEN BRO AMEN! i love how you put it (damn that’s bosh’s nightmare right there)
It’s quite good additional for Celtics to have Shaq so if in case that Perkins is in Foul trouble,
Shaq will take some minutes in the court… Smart Move for Celtics
heat will dominate this season and for the coming years, i mean, cmon guys, how many times have ya’ll seen lebron in conf. finals or even in every round of the playoffs?? and now with wade in bosh? sory for not mentioning the rest of their teammate but this supreme team will destroy the dreams of any team.. cmon, think again..
SOME OF THESE COMMENTS ARE JUST OPINIONS, SOME MAKE SENSE AND SOME ARE NOT. MIAMI’S BIG 3 REMAINS TO BE SEEN. HOW THEY DO IN THIS SEASON AND PLAYOFF WE REALLY DON’T KNOW YET BUT IT IS NATURAL TO SAY THAT LAKERS OR BOSTON OR MIAMI WILL WIN THE NEXT CHAMPIONSHIPif you are a real fan.
These are my opinion
1. Miami has a chance to be the champion this 2011 finals, but it all depends how they glue to one another.
2. Lakers went on game 7 to beat the Boston, without Perkins and they were beaten by Boston before. Lakers for me will still be west champion again but it will be a rough sail if they will meet the nuggets. OKH and blazers are not to be ignored.
3. Boston vs Miami in playoffs will be the most interesting series to watch..
OK this is my prediction and I am in title to do my opinion.. if you dont like it, make your own predictions then and I will respect it.
Finals Lakers vs Boston or Heat
if
Lakers Vs Heat = Lakers
but
Lakers Vs Boston= Boston
in my humble prediction
Common Sense – If everyone just took a step back and looked at the teams for what they are not who they go for we might just go five minutes without some knob going on about kobe or LBJ. A quick look at the east – Celtics again have presented to the league a championship team 2 big questions is 1 will they be healthy enough to make it to the finals and 2 if the make the championship will the battle in the east run them to tired for the finals. Cause lets face it whether it be Miami, Chicago, Boston or Orlando which make it to the finals you can be certain it is going to be a hell of a fight to get there. Don’t expect any team this season to go 4-0 in any of the finals games in the east. Next east contender is Miami let’s face on paper great team but will they work well together – well i think boston 2 years ago proved a big 3 can. But will Miamis bench be able to the handle the benches of the other teams – I guess we will find out soon enough. Orlando have the same core and know each other better but need superman to be the offensive giant he can be. And finally my underdog this year is the bulls. They are a young team with great talent if not this year other the next 3 you will see them raise to to many eastern finals. On the west yes every1 goes on about the lakers and yes the have a great chance of making the finals but if the faced either boston or miami with fresh legs in the finals they would lose. Their only chance is the battle that will be the east. OKC, portland and yes I am going to say it and can’t believe I am the Clippers have great potential to make the western finals will they make the championship this year most likely not. Next season though different matter – but i guess that is the concept of building a team. In most cases (exc boston) it does not happen over night.
This season is going to be a season to remember. I have a funny feeling Boston will start strong slump in the middle everyone will write them off then come back strong at the end. Miami is going to be a rollercoaster to watch whether the come out and set a 76-6 season or a 52-30 season i guess we will have to wait. Oh and for all you Kobe fans out there – I never liked Jordan as a player but I will be the first to admit after Magic and Bird bought life back to the game Jordan raised the level of quality. He was the main man for all his championships. Shaq carried Kobe for the first 3 rings. Kobe is a great player and a hall of famer. But he has not shaped the way the game has been played like players such as Magic, Bird, Jordan, Kareem, Russel, West. Its not how many rings you have which is a sign of greatness cause if that is the case Robert Horry would have to be in the top ten players of all time. And I am sure I would rate Bird over Horry anyday.
Its a huge relief that Boston came up with two great players to cover for Perkins while he’s injured. There is never any harm in adding more size to a team either. I honestly think that Shaq has potential to be a great fit for the Celtics. They don’t need him to score or really be there offensively (they never asked that of Perk either), they just need him to take up space on D. If Shaq does his part, goes with the team first mentality, the Boston defence is only going to be more stifling. I know there is some potential for things to get a little messy with so many big guys vying for minutes, but I think Doc is a mastermind in dealing with egos. Plus, Perk was often in foul trouble. These additions mean more big guys and more physical play to throw at you. I just gotta say, regardless of who is on the team and whether they even go far, the thing I love about Boston is the heart and gristle they bring to the game each and every night. They hear everyone asking them if they are too old, but come playoffs, they flip the on switch and nobody sees what hit them. I’m psyched to see Miami, what they can do, and will be happy for them if they win, but Boston is my team. These guys don’t quit.
Here are my thoughts i think if shaq or perkins was there last year than the lakers would have had a tougher time than they did in game 7. The only problem i see with the celtics is that when perk comes back he’s not going on the bench so who gets the back up minutes and if it is shaq and they let jermaine oneal backup kg then you stunt the growth of a budding star in glendavis. Me personally i am a D. wade fan not a heat fan but wade is my favorite player and i feel as though erik spoelstra will install the same defensive principles miami had before so if bosh can pick up on all the rotations and things then offensively you guys already know what they are capable of. Miami’s biggest challenge is with boston because of the addition of oneal anf their lack of size at the five spot as somoen stated earlier joel anthony is nowhere near wnough to do really anything as a starter. I will say this though if perhaps orlando and the celtics match up or somehow someon else takes care of the heat then i feel they will have their shot at whoever else comes out top in the west. The reason im not giving it hands down to the lakers is because the west definitley have some teams thay could get the lakers (via. Nuggets and Thunder etc.). My prediction Celtics V.S. somebody in the finals.
With the C’s signing Shaq, they only got older. They do have a Big 3…Pierce, Garnett, and…….Rondo. Ray Allen is not the shooter he was back in his bucks and sonics time. Game 2 of the finals…he set a record of most bombs in a game..going 8 out of 11 from downtown. then what? he shot poorly and didn’t recover from that slump. hope this Shaq experiment wouldn’t work. Shaq should have signed back West…some aspirants to go deep in the playoffs are really thin at the middle. Denver is a nice place to play. Billups, Anthony, Harringotn and Nene…Shaq could share minutes with Nene. I was personally hoping he will be The Big Nugget.
why is everyone saying okc ? wat about phoenix, denver, portland, those teams ?? okc has good young talent but 2 players cant do it alone + they played la in the first round when La was coming off a rough season they used the thunder to find their rhythm for the rest of the playoffs. If theres any team in the west that can beat la thats denver.
TWO WORDS PHOENIX SUNS
6 rings Micheal who??? 5 rings Kobe what?? who are they???? Haven’t you heard about Bill Russell? 11 rings…. heat trio knows that the great team didn’t exist during the time of jordan magic and bird!!! thats the legacy they want!!! not jordan.
6 rings legacy… nobody wants that maybe kobe content with that. All yours kobe who care? Wade and Lebron want to follow a great basketball player and a greatest team ever that won 11champions …. so all u haters start counting the years to come living in hatefull world… the Maimi Heat world…..
know what guys, i just thnk that all ur thots cud happen and also reasonable. but u see hir, the big difference between lakers and all other contenders that can be considered as strong competitors for the lakers are:
1) Lakers already build there composure as a team.-so that can be consider as a big factor for them, unlike other teams like miami, they maybe have the “dynamic batchmates” of draft class of 2003 but the question is, wud thiere game connect with each other’s? i mean, lebron and wade kinda like bringing the ball to the hoop with theyre own hands, and bosh also cause they hve been leaders of thier own past team so they have been used to make thier own plays as a superstars so it cud affect thier daily games, cudnt it? the same case wud apply to the boston celtics not mentioning thier crowded superstar lineup. can doc rivers be able to use all of them in the ryt tym? “dont know for now.” and
2)i know that it wud be bias to tell that i only believe on lakers power to dominate the game. but givng chances also to other team, i think lakers wud be the hardest team to catch in this season for they themselvs all know that they urgently need to win this years championship for thier reputation that is being question all over the world so they wud do everything i think to accomplish this.
i cant believe the garbage i read right now on this page about the lakers. kobe needs another ‘star’? the lakers are overrated? this is all the same b.s that wasnt being said beginning of last season. kobe and pau ARE the stars, they both dominated (for the lakers) in the finals against the celts. they added matt barnes who isnt a star but isnt bad either (someone quite similar to ariza), steve blake who is a fitting (not better or worse) replacement for farmar and ratiffe whos reliable on d. these arent blockbusting deals compared to miami, chicago etc but theyve strengthend their roster and i think ikts pretty stupid to underestimate them, theyv won two championships in a row for christs sake. lakers remain the favourites for that very reason with miami on their heels.
other than the heat, the celtics, in adding shaq, have become the main threat to the lakers. theyre a tough team with or without perkins but adding shaq definately gives them something in the middle. the other oneal im not so sure about. his d is a huge liability (didnt show up for 1st round to say the least) and its a mystery how he’ll work out in a team like boston who pride themselves for being a tough defensively.
I have to storngly disagree, kobe is a star, but if you bring pau into the picture…….that just hanges everything.
lets be serious Celtics lost only cause Perkins was injured now they have 2 centers for backup Lakers Dont Have A Chance
Ps. – I live near L.A
How are the Lakers overrated if they have won back-to-back titles? You better know your stuff before you start talking sh** you freaking idiot.
Calm down there son! it’s not about how many championships you win, it’s about the talent you got. kobe’s got great talent but not as a team………by himself. Boston got great talent as a team. so let’s face it basketball is a team sport. SO U BETTER KNOW UR STUFF!!!!!!!!!!111
alex – your not a fan your what everyone calls a laker radical. remember kobe raped a chick with like 6 other dudes…
this is ugly.. a former laker player will end his career in the boston celtics.. well yeah! for me thats not so pretty move by shaq. (i think this will be shaq’s last season)
Kobe the greatest?! Greater than MJ? You gotta be kidding me!!! MJ never lost a championship series, and MJ never got slapped around and lost by 39 points in a title clinching game.
U IDIOTS R SMOKIN CRACK IF U THINK BOSTON IS GANNA BEAT MIAMI…
WHAT IF MIAMI GOES WITH THIS LINEUPP..
DWYANE WADE VS RJON RONDO…
MIKE MILER VS RAY ALLEN…
LEBRON JAMES VS PAUL PIERCE..
CHRIS BOSH VS KEVIN GARNETT
JOEL ANTHONY VS SHAQ
NOW TELL ME HOW THA FREAK CELTICS R GANNA BEAT THA HEAT…
Are u kidding me man? Joel Anthony? Your putting his name in this conversation. Wow, what an idiot.
first of all, it’s either chalmers or arroyo goin against rondo and second joel anthony? r u kidding me? comparing him against shaq? don’t even get me started on how shaq’s gonna school him! and pierce against lejoke? i’m pretty sure u were’nt living under a rock during the second round of the finals last year? d-wade against allen? don’t get me wrong………..i love wade, but u saw last year’s finals. SO THATS HOW C’S R GUNNA BEAT THE CRAP OUTTA MIAMI!!
lakers will win their third straight man!!! sure thing. go kobe!!!
Lakers are the odds on favorite to win the Championship again. The Thunder has a good team but they need to improve in the paint to beat the lakers. The only team in the west that seems to be a problem on paper would be portland. As for the East its gonna be a showdown between Boston and Miami. I think Boston will win that series due to playoff experience, TEAM CHEMISTRY, and team depth. If it comes down to lakers vs Boston again Lakers will win it in 6 again
Shaq is the last puzzle!
shaq is goin to make the rethreaded celtics even slower the old big three is not as good as they used to be,only Rondo is fast enough to keep up with the HEAT’s THREE KINGS, jermaine o’neal never did anything in the playoffs with MIAMI,leaving WADE to do it himself.
I’m a true Boston fan….been with them since the 70′s. 1st lets get 1 thing straight, ALL CHAMPIONSHIPS STAY WITH THE CITY. That being said LA Lakers are still short a few Championships on my Celtics. The 1st 5 Championships belong to Minneapolis, not LA, next…………….Congratulations on ur win this past season, but all know IF we had Perkins in da game, it was done 4u guys, but good win (i really dont mean it)…….3rd Kobe will not get another ring, and for all u haters out there thinking because the Heat got Lebron, GET REAL. The signing of Shaq was an insurance policy, which was a very good 1. Not worried about LA, HEAT, BULLS, THUNDER or DA MAGIC. Better be worried about us. La
CELTICS ARE STILL BEASTS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The Celtics have nothing on the Lakers. Get real here. The Celtics will be pretty good in the East this year, but if the Lakers and Celtics meet again it will be the same result as this past year. The CELTICS will LOSE.
sorry bud i think u need to reword ur sentences, LAKERS WILL LOSE!!!!!!!! with the two o’neals and hopefully perk, we are gunna get la thinking about how to get around these guys let alone winning a championship!
what do you reckon about the Mavs? we still got Dirk, and hes still putting up the numbers year after year, J.Kidds still running the team and we have got an alright supporting cast: Terry, Marion, Chandler, Haywood and Barea not to mention Dominique Jones and Roddy Beaubois are players to watch in the future. what are the chances of shaking the playoff curse and going onto conference finals, maybe even the finals against celtics?
the CELTICS will sure be a dark horse this 2010-2011 season!
Celtics will be a serious contender than the Heat. Shaq in the middle will still be a force. The big question is ‘can he jive with the group’. From what’s been written, he’s seemed to be a problem when he doesn’t get his minutes. And it only takes one person to mess the team.
COLT.
Are you freaking serious? That’s the most idiotic statement I think I’ve ever heard by you saying the Lakers are overrated. Back to back championships and favorites to win another. The Lakers are better now then they were whenever they won the title 2 months. You are so stupid. And don’t forget about Kobe Bryant, the best basketball player on the planet. I can’t wait for the Lakers to get their 3-peat this year. What an idiot, you shouldn’t even be allowed to comment on these things. Go back to being an idiotic CHUMP that you are.
insurance policy or not, Shaq ain’t gonna help the celtic’s that much. Trust me they won’t be able to ride rando all the way and people are starting to realize that this team doesnt seperate themselve’s far from a lot of teams in the league. This game has become a young man, run and gun, get back and swat that S*&^% out the air kinda game. The celtics will most likely make the play off’s but final’s against LA..I don’t think that’s gonna happen. Not to mention they only gotta get past the HEAT..and that for sure ain’t happening at all. People are worried about the chemistry of those dudes..they built it in bejing which equaled a gold medal, Gave a taste at the all star game, and they are actually friends. They are gonna be the team to beat this year hands down. As for LA…they might get their ish handed to them by the thunder cause that team is a up and coming team…bottom line..Boston might not see a ring for a while..Lakers are strongest in the west and the HEAT are my squad to take it all.
Deuces
you’re having a nightmare! wake up! haha
i agree with shaQ ataQ, u r having a nightmare. time to wake up little man, it’s the REAL world
i think its not gonna be easy for celtics to come up with something…most r getting too old nd they do have something to prove but not like maiami….which got talents,stars,toughness nd even more…they got wade nd james,the chmistry betwee them is so much high i mean chek out the last east west game..nd the USA team,they got somthing togehter..nd both of them can do alot on his own…never forget about BOSH.,..the working hard guy…
miami was so suck last season but still they made it to the finals…nd no need to talk about lebron nd clevland
comin to the lakers,,,wont say much but kobe needs some real help with him in team
i mean he can do it but not all the way..
still there r teams comin up,i dont think its gonna be a stars season only but also new will be born
i would have liked to see shaq in denver and its hard to believe that he is joining the celts. you wont see another player like him for a long time. with shaq at center and Jermaine at forward when Garnett is resting would be a tough box game. right now celts easily have the best front court depth in the league, lots of big guys that will have plenty of time to rest. 3 great centers and perkins is the only one who has never been an all star. boston finals again – heat, maybe next year most of the teams that rebuild like that dont take it all the way but man they are fun to watch.
Ive been telling my friends here in the phils that the celtics should sign shaq in order to add more size to their team since I am a big celtics fan.Thank God they heard me.Shaq’s size is really of big help to the celts.Go go go go celtics.
A lot of people are talking bout the HEAT, about jeremy lin and john wall. But fact is on opening night everybody will tune on their tv hoping to watch the heat play. America’s gonna see how the heat melts in boston. we gladly be taken as the dark horses.
its gonna be lakers vs celtics in the NBA finals again this season. This is gonna provide more sparks than any other teams right now in NBA. Lakers forever \m/
The two O’neals will just be of big help to the big 3.Lets see what will happen next season.Celttics you’re the best.lakers won game 7 bec kendrick was injured in game 6.Hope nobody gets injured on next year’s finals.I hate to say this but LA is of no match to the Boston Cetics if everyone is healthy.Age is not factor to the celts since they are still playing extremely well but time is not on their side they should be the world champions next nba season.
I became a Celtics fan in the last years because of their strong mind. Every body knew that Lakers had the most talented team last season and counted the celtics out. Even I did. But the Celtics gave them a run for their money. They almost take it all. The Lakers should give thanks to Perkins enjury. BUT,,,,. watch out for Miami. even without a dominant center. lebron an Wade in the same team with a little help of Chis Bosch is more than enough to shake things around. this is the team to watch. I said that many times. I´ll keep saying that this whole season.This team without questions wil go all the way to the eastern conference finals. Next year same day same time we’ll talk about this… BUT I like the Celtics move this summer . Signing Shaq and Oneil. make them the stongest team this year. Specialy in the playoffs and the finals. For me T.Mack would be a better fit than Shaq.
Maybe I´m wrong, But time will tell.. And I´m only a fan that enjoy the game..
!But the problem with the HEAT TRIO is that they dont seem to compliment each other. You know, MIAMI is D-Wades Team, they dont compliment each other. It’s too strong that D-Wade and LBJ23 might think of doing it on there own. Theres just no balance with the two superstars game. So I think LA will still win it all pal. The Shaq thing may or may not work. He might just be a liability for the Celts. Look at what happened to the last two teams he went when they try to add him as a piece (PHOENIX- got worse with him around because of the style of play) (CLEVELAND – they wanted him there coz Dwight Howard has eaten them alive prior to that season – early 2nd round exit). Shaaq’s just looking like a liability out there with the spacing of the floor. LA is just a balance team and there just in it to win it guyz. Ima lookin for an LA- MIami Finals on this one. And lastly guyz, MJ 23 was at his best during his time, did they have Lebron during his time? or D-Wade and a KB24 during his prime years? He didnt face them. He came back and just messed his record with the Wizards. So come on Kobe Bryant is the best player in the planet of this time. Peace out!- JC Ong, Laker fan for life)
Big move for Shaq. Even if Boston didt get him. The Lakers still SUCK
Hey Alexzo… you seem like you have been drinking on the job, Kobe choked in game seven… Perkins got hurt and the Celtics were short handed…. that is the ONLY reason they won. Get the story straight!! i know you are in love with kobe but Gasol should have won the MVP not Kobe. Kobe is afraid of Shaq and does not want to see him. It will be the Celtics and the lakers and the lakers has nobody in the city of LA that can deal with an angry and hungry Shaq. He will get his 5th title this year. Sorry to break it to you but keep praying because that is what it will take.
I’ve liked the Bulls since the 91-92 year, I’ve always thought they made their run years ago and were done for a while, now they seem to be getting back on the map, no, not winning it all, but making a name for them selves.
About the Lakers/Celtics/Heat, my opinion this year: Lakers win it, while Heat finish 2nd/3rd best in the league record wise. They are missing a true PG and C, two most important positions. Lakers had a better offseason than Heat, they didn’t loose anyone but Farmar and gained Barnes and Ratlif, hella good defenders!! Celtics came short last year due to injury…well, Bynum was hurt as well, he was able to play thru injury but was not himself, that’s the league, that’s how it works, ask Yao Ming and Greg Oden (also look into Penny Hardaway, Tracy McGrady, that’s just the was the cookie cumbles).
One more thing Kobe will forever be indebted to Shaq because 3 of his 5 rings were compliments of Shaq…. the city of LA would have nothing to talk about without Shaq had being a Laker there. People are so ignorant…lol Kobe a great player but he is just a shell of MJ…keep it real please.
all we need is player like diaw or battier,with a good deffense,shooting and rebounder,a missing link for c’s
I bet my house that Boston will beat the Heat if they meet in the playoffs, it will be blowout almost every game, the Heat will be lucky to make it a five game series. On paper, Miami looks has three superstars and an bunch cheer leaders. I can’t wait to see Shaq knocks Wade, Lebron, and Bosh every time they come down the paint. Shaq will average 40 points in the series, it will be a dunking exhibition. Pierce and Lebron basicly cancel each other (see last year playoffs). Ray Allen and match up well with Wade. Then Bosh will foul out during first or second quarter, he can’t defend Boston’s front line. Rondo will be running and dishing to Shaq, KG, Perkin all night long.
What is up with all you boston bean dip lovers saying “c’mon laker fans, admitt the only reason why u won is bcus perkins was injured”??? You guys talk about “get real” well, the reality is that the lakers beat you guys and are the champions. All of a sudden Perkins is the reason why you lost, what about your other players?? How come they choked, they pretty much led the whole game and then gave up the lead. Did you guys really think you were gonna beat the lakers at home on a game 7?? WTF!!! Sheed had a way better game then perkins would have had in that game 7 so stop crying and get over it.
And for the moron who said the Heat are chasing that old old I mean old boston record of 11titles, man u must be 11yrs old. Let me tell you something from experience, when the lakers won their 1st ring during the shaq/kobe era everyone in LA assumed we had atleast a 5 peat on da way, when LBJ came out saying their gonna win atleast 7 all I thought was man, their in for a big surprise. BTW, the only reason why the celtics won so many titles and 8 in a row was do to lack of competition,( I now that sounds negative but I’m really not trying to take credit away from the celtics, I beleive thats where all the celtic pride comes from) the league is way more competitive now a days so no one will ever win 8 in a row again!!
just wanted to say M.J. is the best guard to ever play the game not taken anything away from kobe . but M.J. change the game and kobe has not done that as a fan i love the moves boston has made .let’s just see if it all works for us fan’s .
as a high school coach here in chicago it is hard to have so many good players at one time because of ego’s and yes they have them in high school too so think about how it is in the pro’s doc rivers will have his hands full along with that mass in south beach i don’t think that everyone understand what it’s going to take for the heat to win this year who going to give up part of there game for the sake of winning like k.g and ray have had to give up in boston?
WHAT IS U TLKIN BOUT KOBE IS NOT THE BEST PLAYER IN THE LEAAGUE IT DONT MATTER HOW MANY CHAMPIONSHIPS U GOT ITS MATTER HOW MUCH EFORT U PUT IN THE GAME BUT LET ME TELL U THIS LIKE LEBORN SAID THE HEAT IS BACK GUESS WHAT THE CELTCIS ARE BACK 2 DONT FORGET ABOUT US WE STILL IS IN IT TO WIN IT
im a deep C’s fan, but when we won in 2008, Bynum was gone. In 2010, kp was out. 2011 finals hopefully wont have any injuires.
my opinion is that chris bosh isn’t that good. He is OK. He barely has any playoff expirence. Kg will abuse him easily. When D-wade drives, he will get packed by one of the O’neals. or kendrick. Go celtics
As much as i hate the gold and purple, it’s true that Lakers are definitely in the best position to win.
The Lakers’ only obvious weakness in 09/10 was the bench, and that has been solved. Blake (PG), Brown (SG), Barnes (SF), Ratliff, Odom (PF/C)… these guys can already match up well against lower tier teams as starters.
Boston added on toughness and depth in the frontcourt, which should give them an edge over LA in crunchtime, but they are thin in the backcourt. Tony Allen was a very decent defensive stopper, they no longer have that. Putting Pierce on Kobe will expose Artest who, now we all know, can change the game. Nate and VonWafer are offensive options, but Celtics usually win through DEFENSE.
Hell, they might not even be able to stop the HEat with that backcourt.
If Perkins wasn’t injured, it makes you think what could have happened for Boston in this offseason…. it’s a sad thought for us fans….