NBA At the Half

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by Pillow Pants

The Spurs are a better team than Boston. They could lose Duncan and still win and have proven so. If the Celtics lost Garnett they wouldn't have a shot.

And really you're eating chalk picking the Celtics. They're a bad chalk IMO.

If the Celtics lost Garnett, no, they wouldn't be favored to win the East. But with Pierce and Allen, I still think they'd win their division. If the Spurs lost Duncan, they could survive for a short period. They would have ZERO shot of winning their division, their conference or any league championships.

The point is that any assumptions that anyone makes are based on players staying healthy. I think it goes without saying that if you take major players off of any team, it completely changes the dynamics of things. Even look at the Pistons. As good and balanced as they are, if you take Rasheed Wallace or Chauncey Billups off of that team, they have no shot to beat the Celtics. So yeah, the Celtics are an injury away but then so is everyone else.

Originally Posted by King Glorious

If the Celtics lost Garnett, no, they wouldn't be favored to win the East. But with Pierce and Allen, I still think they'd win their division. If the Spurs lost Duncan, they could survive for a short period. They would have ZERO shot of winning their division, their conference or any league championships.

The point is that any assumptions that anyone makes are based on players staying healthy. I think it goes without saying that if you take major players off of any team, it completely changes the dynamics of things. Even look at the Pistons. As good and balanced as they are, if you take Rasheed Wallace or Chauncey Billups off of that team, they have no shot to beat the Celtics. So yeah, the Celtics are an injury away but then so is everyone else.

Even if the Celtics stay healthy, and that's a big if, they still have to get past Cleveland and/or Detroit. Two teams that have a nucleus that's been together for a few years.

I've maybe watched two NBA games this year so my opinion is probably a bad one...but historically teams that stack all-star players don't typically win a championship their first season together. I'm not convinced Garnett, Allen and Pierce have the mental toughness to battle a team like Detroit in a 7 game series.

I'll say Detroit in the East. Spurs/Jazz (depending on seed) in the west.

[King Glorious]

Originally Posted by Pillow Pants

Even if the Celtics stay healthy, and that's a big if, they still have to get past Cleveland and/or Detroit. Two teams that have a nucleus that's been together for a few years.

I've maybe watched two NBA games this year so my opinion is probably a bad one...but historically teams that stack all-star players don't typically win a championship their first season together. I'm not convinced Garnett, Allen and Pierce have the mental toughness to battle a team like Detroit in a 7 game series.

I'll say Detroit in the East. Spurs/Jazz (depending on seed) in the west.

I can agree with that assessment. Detroit is the team to beat because they've been there before. But the thing the Celtics have in their favor is that they aren't young players that are just coming along and haven't been in pressure situations. Garnett has played for the Western Conference title. Pierce has played for the Eastern Conference title. Allen has played for national titles, I believe. And remember, in the East, it doesn't take much to get there. Remember that LeBron almost single-handedly beat Detroit last year.

If they stay healthy, it's by no means going to be easy. But I think they have enough to get the job done.