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-LIFETIME MEMBER-
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Germany
Age: 22
Posts: 15,198
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Re: How far the East has come
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Originally Posted by LamarButler
- Boston had a lot of young contributors to the championship run- Rondo, Perkins, and Powe, plus Davis and Tony Allen, to a lesser extent. Now that they have a 26 game championship run under their belt, they have invaluable experience and savvy for big moments and pressure situations already as young players. So since they're still young, not only will they get better through experience, but their skills will improve. With the pace Rondo is going with his jumper, he should be able to shoot the 3 with regularity this season, which will do wonders, not to mention he'll be a better decision maker. Perkins, Powe, and Davis will most likely have more polished post games.
Also, the additions of Giddens, Walker, and O'Bryant, plus the increased role for Tony Allen is gonna make the Celtics an athletic team, which was clearly their main weaknesses (see the losses vs Phoenix, Golden State, Denver, the 3 vs Washington, and the 7 game series vs Atlanta). These guys address this weakness perfectly. Giddens has an insane wingspan and vertical, Walker can jump out of the gym, O'Bryant is tall, long, and mobile, and Tony Allen, who won't be wearing his gigantic knee brace is gonna be his former fast, high jumping self. Not only are these guys all athletic, but they all have a lot of potential and talent. All it takes is for one of those four to click and become a stud, and we're a lot better than last season. It's not much of a stretch to say that if one of those guys realizes his potential he can more than replace Posey.
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You can't expect all of those players to get better at the same time, Perkins has already peaked and apart from Rondo their roles on the team aren't going to get bigger. Those are all complementary players who will see limited action, they are expected to feed off of Garnett, Pierce and Allen. Speaking about those three, they are all in for a decline. I'm not talking about a huge drop-off, but their efficiency might take a hit, it's impossible to have the same motivation after winning a title.
Neither of Giddens, Walker or Tony Allen is going to be able to replace Posey as a rookie, that's just unrealistic. As much as I like Bill Walker, he isn't gonna come in as a rookie and replace a veteran savvy James Posey who has been an instrumental part of the championship run. Boston has been winning with their defense and energy, something the role players have understood and accepted, they aren't in the game for scoring purposes. Losing your 4th/5th best player hurts more than adding more depth at the end of the rotation. The Celtics will most likely still finish with the best record (in the East), but if you are a veteran team coming a title you have been fighting for so long, you are in for a natural decline.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LamarButler
- Philly was a lot better than their record indicated this season. After they traded Korver and Young became a key contributor, everything turned around and they went on a tear in the second half of the season. They were beating elite teams at the end of the regular season, and in the playoffs, they took Detroit to six games. That same team just added a 20-10-2 player and top 5 PF in the league to replace friggin Reggie Evans and fill their biggest need. Now they've got a lot of talent to use with their scrappiness. They've got a fine starting lineup- Miller, Iguodala, Young, Brand, and Dalambert is very talented. Brand-Iguodala is one of the better outside-inside presences, and Miller is one of the better PGs. Young has a ton of potential and will become a poor man's Shawn Marion soon. And Dalambert, now that he's playing next to an elite PF, will be a very effective complimentary big man. That lineup will be the reason why the Sixers will be one of the best defensive teams in the league. Everybody in that lineup can play good defense, and all the perimeter players can create turnovers and the bigs can block shots with the best of them. That team is also very strong, long, and athletic. Combine that with their usual scrappiness and they'll play suffocating D. They got rebounders, playmakers, and scorers too. They lack three point shooting, but Williams, Green, Rush, or maybe Marshall can plug in to that lineup and provide them with all they need. Speaking of those guys, that's a great bench. Led by one of the biggest scoring sparks of the bench in Williams, they have guys who will do a great job scoring and feeding off of the starters, plus a terrific hustle guy in Evans. Not many teams have Philly's balance. They've got everything. The only thing they really lack is a go-to player in the clutch and to a small extent, outside shooting.
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Agreed, but that doesn't make them a Top 5 team in the league. They have overachieved a little bit in the second half of the season because they started playing hard and teams took them easy on several occasions. As long as you are in the same season, that's not going to change, but noone is going to underestimate the Sixers anymore. Top 10 maybe, but certainly not Top 5 as long as they have no bench and outside shooting. Brand is going to improve the half-court scoring considerably, however they still need to run on as many opportunistic occasions as possible to score enough points. Defensively Philly is going to be very good and one of the best teams at that end.
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