Two Tiers In Oden/Durant Race

That sounds about right except I think Philly might still win moe than us even with Pierce back. We still would have a shot at the brass ring!

I meant more than us. Ugh!!

I think it would be better to hold off on predictions until after the trade deadline. Memphis and Seattle might unload talent and the Trailblazers are looking to deal Magloire, which will probably end up neither helping nor hurting their record this season.

It does seem likely that the Celtics will finish no “worse” than third, however. I can live with that, even though I’d still like as many ping-pong balls as we can muster.

The next 20 games are “crucial”, because EVERYBODY will be dumping like made the last month of the season. Thankfully, Doc will do his typical job and not play the best players at the right time during games, but if Pierce and Wally are really healthy, Boston could easily end up with the 3rd worst record.

Which raises the question, if the Cs get the third pick, what do they do? I think they have to trade it, either with Ratliff’s salary for Gasol or packaged with Al or Gerald for KG.

Mike

Pierce healthy or close to it means the Cs chances of getting a top 2 pick diminishes.

Does anyone seriously think the Celtics will go 12-19 the rest of the way with their tough schedule and with Rivers on the bench? I certainly don’t.

7-24 is what I would predict.

While Pierce (& Wally & Allen) was out Rondo, West, BigAl, Perk, Gomes and Green (despite Doc reducing his minutes) have gained valuable playing time. Over the next 31 games, we should see some team improvement. But like Brick points out “with their tough schedule and with Rivers on the bench” going 12-19 is a dream – my words not Bricks. Let’s hope 7-24 is good enough for a lot of ping pong balls.

Sorry, I hate to be the grammar Nazi, but it’s “tier” not “teir.” If it were a post in one of the forums, no big deal. But posts on the main page deserve a little more scrutiny, in my opinion.

Especially when the mistake is there twice ;) You know, “I before E except after C” :)

No way I want Oden with Perk already on the roster :’(

theres room for two centers

I think you have that reversed ucn33. There’s little or no room for Perkins with Oden on the roster.

LOL. 12 more wins is asking for a miracle..

I disagree that Philly will only win 5 games the rest of the way. They’re bad, but they’re fairly competitve. 8-23 seems much more likely to me.

As for the Celts, I see them ending up with the 2nd or 3rd worst record.

Lastly, am I alone in thinking that if we can’t get Oden or Durant, that Horford would be a great fit? Great NBA body, you can pencil him into the 4 and feel really good about it, he’s a classic 4. Most importantly, I consider him far more NBA ready than Brendan Wright, who is soft for his size. Gotta say, I like the idea of Horford in a C’s uni.

With Paul & Wally healthy, and not withstanding Doc, we’re probably going to end up with the 3rd or 4th worst record. I don’t know if that’s being optimistic or pessimistic at this point.

ESPN’s Chad Ford had some interesting speculation today about the availability of Ray Allen and Boston is a potential suitor. But I don’t think Danny’s going to improve the team until the offseason. He wants as many ping pong balls as possible.

It’s already been posted, but why is Philly going to finish losing 24 of it’s last 29? Does the writer foresee injuries? Preposterous notion.

It looks to me like Milwaukee is the one team that has a chance to push Boston or Memphis out of the top 2.

I may be biased because I am a UConn fan, but I would LOVE to see Ray Allen in a Cs uniform. While not as good a player as Wally (cough), he is one of the leagues best shooters and would be a terrific complement to both Pierce and Big Al. A Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Al, and ??? starting lineup in the future could be special.

That being said, I am having a difficult time thinking of how the Cs could clear enough cap space to bring in Rays MONSTER contract. Wally and probably Theo would have to be involved, and no way does this deal get done without giving up our draft pick and maybe one of the 3 guards (Bassy, Rondo-hopefully not, and West).

Doubtful this deal has a chance…but heres to dreaming.

Can’t understand all this optimism just because we won 1 game in the last 19 games. Although our sole win was convincing, let’s not forget that it was against a struggling, injury depleted team.

Unless I’m wrong, even with the return of Pierce and Wally, this team will have to rebuild chemistry in response to our fluctuating depth chart.

Still clinging to the observation that our team is young and full of potential improvement if not for the fact that we’re deeply flawed in balance and nearly all of our personnel are one dimensional in production and/or lacking in basketball I.Q..

As a center, Jefferson is undersized and struggles defensively. West lacks handles and has decision-making difficulties in seeking his offense. Rondo has raw talent but is offensively challenged. Wally is a defensive liability because he’s undersized and lacks athleticism. Gerald Green is just beginning to develop a basketball I.Q……etc., etc., etc.

So why the optimism about our possible resurgence as an NBA team?

   In MLB or the NFL, one man can make a slight difference, but not much. Maybe win one more game? In the NBA, one BIG man can make a HUGE, MONSTROUS difference. EG: If you added a young Shaq to ANY team in the NBA, they would be a favorite to win their division. Is Oden that good? I am certainly not qualified to judge. But, I’d sure like to give it a try!
Failing getting Oden or Oden failing to be a TRUE stud, what would Durant give us? A young MJordan? (It took Jordan a few years to become a real difference maker). Other then REAL BIG men, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson are the only ones I can remember who IMMEDIATELY made their teams winners.

O.K. Jeff, perhaps I wasn’t clear in my use of “one dimensional”. I did not mean “One Positional” but rather lacking in one or more offensive or defensive capabilities. A “balanced” player would have NBA calibre defensive and offensive capabilities. Most of our players are limited offensively or defensively, lack athleticism or size and because of our youth lack a well developed basketball I.Q.

I know it’s “begging the question”, but a PG, for example, in a more perfect world, needs size, great athleticism, a high basketball I.Q., great handles and instinctively great offensive and defensive skills.

Do we have such a player? While only superstars are gifted with all of the above PLUS creative INTANGIBLES, we as yet, have no one that even approaches these assets.

This is embarrassing, but I forgot to look at the Charlotte Bobcats, currently in tier two with thirty-three losses.

…unfortunately for Celtics and ’76ers fans, they could be knocking on the door of the top three by the end of season. Where are the wins going to come from? This is a team that has a top flight interior defedender in Okafor, but that struggles to score.

Prediction of the final standings:

Memphis Grizzlies 21-61
Philadelphia ’76ers 22-60
Boston Celtics 25-57
Charlotte Bobcats 27-55
Portland Trail Blazers 29-53
Milwaukee Bucks 30-52
Seattle SuperSonics 31-51