So, How About Miami?
by Jeff Clark on Apr 6, 2010 7:03 AM EDT
in Boston Celtics Articles
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PrintRemember when we were sure that the Bucks were a lock for the 5th seed and thus getting the 3rd seed was important because we would like to avoid catching such a hot team in the first round? Yeah, that's all different now.
For one thing, Andrew Bogut's gruesome injury changes everything. Not only does it make the Bucks much more mortal in the postseason, it also makes them much less likely to grab the 5th seed. They now trail the Heat by a half game (and it would seem reasonable to expect that trend to continue). There's also an outside chance that someone from the Charlotte, Toronto, Chicago group could move up to the 5th or 6th seed. The bottom line is that we don't yet know how this is going to play out.
But if the playoffs started tomorrow we'd be playing the Miami Heat in the first round. As Scott Souza pointed out on CSL the other day, if you thought Kevin Durant got calls like Michael ...ahem... Jordan, wait till you get a load of the Dwyane Wade show. Besides, the Heat would be entering the series with the best player on the court.
The good news, of course, is that they are as close to a one-man team as you'll see in the playoffs. Wade leads the team in points, assists, steals, free throws (327 ahead of the next highest), turnovers, T-Mobile commercials, Gold Medals, improperly spelled first names, and so on.
The next two best players on the team are a space cadet kid (Beasley) and a broken down vet (O'Neal ...or Haslem if you prefer). So they can and should be beat by a good defense. I think we still have a good defense, even they have occasional bouts of amnesia.
Still, I think I'd rather face the Bucks because the Bogut injury is such a big negative impact on their team. Don't just take my word for it. See what Brew Hoop says:
I usually don't let myself make grim predictions on par with Chicken Little, but with Bogut out for the forseeable future, the Bucks' sky has fallen. With only six games left in the season, I would be shocked if the Bucks finished any better than 2-4. And regardless of their first round opponent, Bogut's absence all but guarantees the Bucks being on the wrong side of a first-round sweep. Maybe Atlanta's poor performance on the road could allow the team to steal one at the Bradley Center, but remember: Dan Gadzuric and/or Primoz Brezec will be playing more than a handful of minutes at the 5. Almost as frightening as the injury itself.
So yeah, maybe the Bucks would be a good first round matchup. In truth though, it really shouldn't matter. We should be able to beat either the Bucks or the Heat (and if we don't, then what hope was there anyway?).
Furthermore, I'm not sure if it matters if we play the Cavs or the Magic in the 2nd round. Both would present difficult challenges and we'll have to face one of them or the Hawks in the ECFs and none of those matchups would be easy.
So let the chips fall where they may. If this team has what it takes, they'll have to prove it against the best. If we play as bad as we have at times this season, it will be another 7 game series in the first round that I'm not so sure we can get out of this time. If we play as good as we have at times this season, and keep it up for the rest of the playoffs (no easy feat with this consistently inconsistent team) then there's no limit to what they can do.
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Doesn´t matter
We will beat them, anyway.
I think there´s a good chance that we can win #18 this year.
Go Celtics.
I like your enthusiasm
As I share the same enthusiastic outlook.
The only 1st round matchup that worried me were the Bucks. Without Bogut, they are no different from the other bottom teams. None of these teams are really very good. Sure, Miami has Wade, but even still they are barely above .500. As for Cleveland and Orlando, we still matchup well with both of them. Neither possess the athleticism that gives us fits. It will come down to execution vs. Cle/Orl, and in that deptarment I like our chances.
by KG's Knee on Apr 6, 2010 7:35 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Heat on an 8-game win streak...
I agree that none of these teams are great, but the list of elite teams the Heat have defeated is impressive (Hawks 3X, Magic 2X, Suns, Lakers, Nugs, Jazz). Their toughest remaining opponent is the Knicks, they “should” win out (vs 76ers, Pistons, @ Knicks, @76ers, Nets).
Obviously it would be better to overtake the Hawks by being 1 game better in the 6 games remaining (Hawks @ Bcats tonight could do it), and if the C’s are really title-worthy (no comment), they should win out as well…
by nba is the worst on Apr 6, 2010 9:14 AM EDT up reply actions
+1
For optimism.
We have about the same chance as 12 other teams, but I put my money on the c’s. If our effort is there we can beat anybody, as long as the refs don’t do us in
by Warrior Spirit on Apr 6, 2010 9:14 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
anybody but Wade
I wanted the Bucks with Bogut over Miami ,Charlotte or Toronto…now the Bucks for sure….Wade is a nightmare,a poor mans James
Personally I think Wade is better than jas
But I realize there is a lot to debate there
by Warrior Spirit on Apr 6, 2010 9:05 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Wade and Pierce get about an equal number of free passes.
Wade travels every time he has posession of the basketball. Pierce travels about half the time. Neither gets called for it to speak of. Pierce gets by with the upfake and barrelling through a defender going straight up every time.
Stalemate where the officiating is concerned between those two if they play the same number of minutes.
If this was a few years ago when Stern was clearly scared to death of J.O’Neal after he sued to get reinstated..(and he played for the Heat then) I’d be worried. But now it looks like O’Neal gets picked on by the officials as much as Perk. Back after O’Neal was reinstated I remember a game where the Pacers played us and O’Neal was treated like the messiah.
Heat would probably concern me the least. Long athletic teams bother us. The Heat ain’t that.
by Finkelskyhook on Apr 6, 2010 10:21 AM EDT up reply actions
poor man's James?
talk about an understatement.
If The C's win Banner 18, Stern should cancel the regular season
Doc Rivers likes to talk about homecourt advantage being important, but in the next breath he’ll say he’d rather his team is playing well going into the playoffs and then he likes their chances. For every 7-game series against a Chicag or Atlanta, you’ll find Orlando knocking off the Cavs last year and many other examples of how home court is not worth anything if your team is not playing better than your opponent.
The Celtics have sleepwalked their way through the regular season. All teams have been struck by injuries, even the top two, the Lakers and Cavs. So saying that’s the reason for the inconsistencies of the Celtics is naive. Rasheed Wallace may have claimed this team was built to win 72 or more, but as we know by now what Rasheed says you can basically ignore. It doesn’t mean anything except in his unusual mind.
Matchups can carry weight if both teams are playing well. That’s about it.
The first round opponent doesn’t really matter. We should beat any of them.
However the second round does. If the Cs meet the Cavs in the 2nd round that will be the end of the season. They are just too strong. We barely beat them and Varejao was out.
The defense, though improved, still nowhere close where it was until Christmas, KG is a mere shell of his formal self, Sheed is so far a mistake and I didn’t mention the lack of focus for 48 minutes. 6 games left if they can solve those problems and miraculously turn it on for the po then doesn’t matter who the opponent is gonna be. But Sheed is Sheed and KG is not gonna be younger.
After the past two years ...
I’m expecting a 7-game first round series again, with the Cs still not flipping the proverbial “switch.” If they let Miami hang around any given game, Wade can do his magic at the end.
Miami concerns me. The Cs playing down to the competition against a team with a Wade-level talent on it is a recipe for disaster.
"People don't understand, if you can't live the rest of your life off one year in the NBA, you can't live off 21." -- Keon Clark
miami doesn't scare me
Games versus Miami =
- 11/29, W @ Miami
- 01/06, W @ Miami
- 02/03, W @ Boston
Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk
Same Logic Applies to Hawks Magic and Cavs?
Regular season meetings is a silly barometer for success.
Magic were 2-0 against Lakers last year in regular season(with a healthy All Star Jameer)
We all know how the Finals turned out…
"Morning yall up early w/ the babies watchn Dora. Seems Lamar can't keep my name out his mouth maby I need 2 put my sons shitty diaper n it"~Matt Barnes
The scary thing about Miami is that it’s still D-wade. He can carry his team, and the C’s just cannot get any complacent. (This first round matchup is a recipe for complacency) You know how these types of superstars always get a chance to go for a game-winner? It can always reach that point if we have a series against Miami. I’d rather take a team that has an alpha dog named Stephen Jackson, John Salmons, or even Chris Bosh. (just because Toronto doesn’t play any defense)
from si
What to expect from Jermaine O’Neal
The streaking Heat is about to return its No. 1 center, but five regular season games isn’t a lot of pre-playoff work. Jermaine O’Neal’s hyperextended right knee has healed enough to allow the Heat center to return to practice this week, and depending on how he feels Tuesday, he might take the floor Wednesday night, when Miami plays host to Philadelphia. O’Neal participated in about half of Monday’s practice before working on his post game with Heat coaches. “Strength-wise, I’m a lot further ahead than I thought I was. I’m probably at like 90 percent,” said O’Neal, who has appeared in 67 games this year, the most he has played since the 2006-07 season. “The swelling is almost completely gone, but we want to get back out there to get some kind of a rhythm.”
Don't fake the funk on a nasty dunk
Not the Heat
I think if we face the Heat, this season will be over. And you can expect a LOT of changes for next year. Sure the heat are a one man team with Wade being their man. But we’ve seen it over and over again, particularly with the NBA finals in 06, he can win a game on his own. But, the Heat’s defense as of late has been absolutely staggering (1st in the league). And we simply haven’t had the best offense as of late, to be honest. And the defense hasn’t been all that great either. I don’t think Pierce can hold Wade under 30 and 8.
Also don’t forget that the Heat are on an 8 game winstreak right now, and can possibly end the season on a 13 game streak (considering they have games left against all teams that have lost at least 50 games). And that will play a very big part in their minds, they will be very confident, and thinking that they can beat anybody. Complacency and confidence for us will be a problem. Let’s hope we get the Bogut-less bucks, and still we should fear them, cause Delfino, Salmons and Jennings are gonna push this team pretty far I think.
Our only hope is that Ray Allen is hitting his 3s and Rajon Rondo absolutely takes over the series. Otherwise its gonna be a long a painful one.
One step at a time...
- take care of business at the Knicks, and hope the Bobcats do the same vs the Hawks, and it’s back to the third seed. Much better 1st round matchup.
by nba is the worst on Apr 6, 2010 12:13 PM EDT reply actions
At this point the Bucks are the better match-up. Bogut was their best player.
And Bogut or no Bogut, a look at the schedules made it appear highly likely that Miami was going to get the 5th slot a month ago after the Heat pulled off back-to-back wins against the Lakers and Hawks. After that they only had 3 or 4 tough games while the Bucks had a very tough schedule.
no reason to fear the heat fellas
wade may be a big banana, but if we cant beat him, then we are no champion. yes if we have the 4th seed , I hope for a swift series, and for cleveland to have a long one.
but I fear no team except an unmotivated unhealthy tired celtics team (and the refs). and I dont feel as though we will see that
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