Optimism is what I live for, pessimism is what I live through. I agree on Sheed as 6th man. I do think that the Celts will have the best record in the East. Hudson is 25 and has the body of a NBA player and I do hope and believe he will break into the rotation at some point this season. And (drum roll) we will have the best D in the league! I was pleased to hear PP say how impressed he is with Marquis and how much his presence will help.

While I am the first to say I like the players we have, I guess I am one of the people who can always be counted on to suggest a trade or new player addition. To me it is only common sense to try and upgrade in terms of younger, better players when we get the least chance.

Nocioni will be great. I think it will be a 2 or 3 for 1 deal, if we get the chance to land Spanish Chocolate along with him for a TA, Scal, House package? I gotta do it, especially if Quisy is gettin it done as our pseudo PG.

I agree with much of your prediction list. I do think that if Perk is hurt, Doc will move Sheed into the starting lineup and keep him there even after Perk comes back. Baby is going to see a lot of action this season again because Perk or KG will need a little time off.

(The only thing I don’t like about the front page is that you can’t give TP’s easily. Good Post, Jeff. I am going to go give you a TP now…with much effort, LOL.)

With all due respect, Jeff, I have too much respect for Ainge to think that he would ever do something that stupid. Nocioni is overrated and outrageously overpaid.

If Pierce went down with a season-ending injury I could see it happening out of desperation. Otherwise, no way.

as for the rest well i couldn’t care less if injuries (knock on wood) would render the starting five to be House, TA, Scal (2010 MVP LOL), BBD, and Williams as long as we get banner 18 and beyond!

I agree with everything except the Nocioni guess—too much money for what amounts to about 10 minutes a night. Nocioni only shoot the 3 well—the rest of his game is in major decline. We don’t need him and we’d be wiser to let TA, Scal, et al, all expire (as Roy notes above).

I’m in agreement with Brickowski about him. Maybe I’ve just missed his good games but I don’t see him as much of an upgrade over Scal and this blog goes loony over what we pay Scal.

My prediction is that Rasheed does not lead the league in technical fouls but the Celtics as a team do. I predict that this will be a record year for audible “M-F’s” from my seats.

Right on about Rondo.

My SWAG prediction is that Lester Hudson gets 8-10 mins game by end of Jan.

I certainly haven’t watched Rasheed run through any preseasons in the past, but if anyone else watched that live scrimmage last night…man did he look slow or what? I really hope he’s just going at half speed this early on and that age isn’t rapidly catching up to him…

I don’t know if either Ray or Rondo will make the star team but what matters is that both players play at all star status. Which both players will achieve. Marquis is a young sg that is gifted enough at three positions and for that reason Ray’s yearly ankle woe’s should not surface.

Point guard by committee it is. Danny and Doc both said the 15 spot is not important. But when Doc said we only go 9 deep 12 we can play so for 15, it’s not important. What if some huge injury happened and there’s no spot available .

Nocioni is really not good. The guy is 6’7" 31 yrs. makes $7.5 mil this year two yrs. at 6.5mil and another at $7.5 mil. deals like this we can do without. I almost forgot Nocioni does not even start for the Kings. Someone else mentioned Bo Outlaw who would be a much better fit. Bo is 25yrs athletic and he makes $4mil. I really really like Walker but knee injuries usually continue in some form or fashion.

Sheldon Williams will finally start to be a valuable player. His game is not all around the paint but in the paint. There are not a wealth of players able to play in the paint. Sheldon will start to shine.

Not only will we have the best record in the NBA but we will have one the best records ever in the NBA and the championship. I also believe we will beat the Spurs.

-Rondo: all-star, but Rose starts (fair or not)
-Rondo makes all defensive team
-Rondo averages 2.5 + steals a game
-Rondo won’t win the MVP, of course, but he will be on the top 10 list.
-The 2nd unit puts teams away, and leads league in points and in defense.
-If healthy, the celtics will win 70+ games. I won’t back down from this. I don’t think they will pace themselves. They have the best starting 5 and the best bench in the league.
-We will see a Perk, KG, and Rasheed line-up allot. In fact, teams will have to reconfigure their offensive around this.
-TA will see more consistant minutes.
-Lamar, not Sheed, will win 6th man, but Sheed will be far more important.
-Number one defense hands down.
-The Celtics will give the Magic a full-on smack down everytime they play, same with the Bulls.
-Celtics/Lakers finals: 7-games, and Celtics win!

Rondo will be the only Celtic to make the all star team. The reasoning is, KG will take it easy for atleast the first half of the season, and will not get the numbers to get into the all star game. Ray, because ROndo will take the attention away, and there are a lot of really good guards in the East (Wade, Rose, Harris, Mo Williams, etc.) And Pierce because A) his production will probably drop off a little B) he’s probably the least popular Celtic among other fans. Now that Rondo has the national attention, if he puts up something like 15 ppg, 9-10 apg, 5-6 rpg, 2+ spg (entirely in the realm of possibility) then Rondo’s a shoe-in.

Celtics over Lakers in 5 games {or less}!

They`ve clinched titles at the LA Sports Arena {`63}…The Forum {`68 & `69}.

Time to complete “The Trilogy” ….and clinch inside Staples!

Perfect fit for this team. Especially if it only costs Scal and TA. Come on, that’s a no brainer..

is the fact that Phil Jackson is in the last year of his contract and he has a tendency to do weird things in this position at least with the Lakers.

prediction: tommy will kiss a replacement ref on national tv.

and Ainge Stands Pat with this roster.

I have a really good feeling about this season.