Eastern Conference scout says Boston has no shot

This is probably the perspective of most people that don't bleed green, so I guess I can't fault this scout too much. Still, if you needed some "the doubters are counting us out" bulletin board material, you could do worse than this.

Weekend Dime - ESPN

"I'll buy your [contention] that they're playing happier without him, but when it comes down to the big games, you need a couple a-holes. And Rondo is the leading a-hole Boston has. He affects the game like nobody else. "During the regular season, I agree, he plays for stats too much, but when it comes to the playoffs, he's playing to win the game. He's definitely a diva and he definitely has his issues, but who does Miami have to game-plan for if Rondo isn't there? Paul Pierce is a warrior, but he's only going to be able to play 15 top-level minutes out of 30. [Kevin Garnett] is a defensive specialist at this point in time. The totality of the Heat overtakes the totality of the Celtics when Rondo's not there, but I still think he's in Miami's heads and the Celtics are in the Heat's heads when the teams are at full strength. "Without Rondo, Miami wins that series in five."

Yeah, that's about the thought that I had in the moments just after the announcement that Rondo would miss the season. But I've seen this team make a living proving doubters wrong in the postseason, so I'm not counting them out.

Defense, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett. That's my hope.