Matt 1Are Boston a legitimate title chance?
December 13th 2007 05:37
The last time there was this much excitement in Boston, it was because Ted Danson was running a bar where he knew everyone's name. For the first time since the Bird, McHale and Parrish era, the Celtics look to be a genuine title threat. Their Big Three of Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are getting it done, with a little help from their friends. At 18-2 they look unstoppable but whether their run will transcend through to the playoffs is another story.
The thing about the 1980 era Celtics is that they had the talents of one man in particular: Larry Bird. Bird should go down as being in the Top 5 best basketballers of all time and there is a strong case for him to be number one. He turned a 29-53 1978-79 Celtics team into a 61-21 team in 1979-80. Acquiring Robert Parrish from Golden State and drafting Kevin McHale from the University of Minnesota for the following season saw the original Big Three come together, contesting and winning 3 titles together. They were consistently winning playoff games for 10 years.
As good as Kevin Garnett is, he ain't no Larry Bird. However, you could argue that Allen and Pierce are more productive than McHale and Parrish were. Allen is as good a shooter as you will find anywhere in the league and has proven it for years. He had averaged 20 points per game for 10 seasons prior to this year, but like Garnett, the playoffs have hardly been his forte. Sure, you can argue that both of them have never have been in championship calibre teams but Allen has only made the playoffs 4 times in 12 seasons and Garnett only once getting beyond the first round in 8 attempts. This hardly makes good reading when the newly acquired pair head towards the 2007/08 playoffs with the burden of expectation.
The forgotten man in all this is Paul Pierce. I've felt sorry for Pierce for years. Okay, he loves to put up shots, including the odd fade-away 3-pointer with three hands in his face, but he has been stuck in Beantown for years with rubbish teams. Season after season he's been the Lone Ranger without Tonto or Silver with only the troubled and selfish Antione Walker to kick the ball to - but Walker never passed it back. Only once way back in 2001/02 did Pierce do any damage at the end of the season. He deserves better this time.
A big positive for the Celtics is their bench. "Big Baby" is having a superb rookie season, Rondo and Perkins have stepped up and journeyman Eddie House and James Posey are providing valuable minutes as substitutions. There is no doubt Danny Ainge chased Posey because he's been there before, getting a ring with Miami only two years ago. But there really are no impact scorers off the bench, say like a Ginobili in San Antonio.
2007/08 could be their year in Boston, and they've certainly started with a bang. The problem I have is whether the three superstar egos, who have so far played exciting team basketball, will play for each other in 5-6 months time. And, will their previous playoff failures come back to haunt them? Danny Ainge has invested a lot of money hoping the answer is no.
But I'd be happy to put a bit of money on Garnett, Allen and Pierce not having rings in July.
The thing about the 1980 era Celtics is that they had the talents of one man in particular: Larry Bird. Bird should go down as being in the Top 5 best basketballers of all time and there is a strong case for him to be number one. He turned a 29-53 1978-79 Celtics team into a 61-21 team in 1979-80. Acquiring Robert Parrish from Golden State and drafting Kevin McHale from the University of Minnesota for the following season saw the original Big Three come together, contesting and winning 3 titles together. They were consistently winning playoff games for 10 years.
As good as Kevin Garnett is, he ain't no Larry Bird. However, you could argue that Allen and Pierce are more productive than McHale and Parrish were. Allen is as good a shooter as you will find anywhere in the league and has proven it for years. He had averaged 20 points per game for 10 seasons prior to this year, but like Garnett, the playoffs have hardly been his forte. Sure, you can argue that both of them have never have been in championship calibre teams but Allen has only made the playoffs 4 times in 12 seasons and Garnett only once getting beyond the first round in 8 attempts. This hardly makes good reading when the newly acquired pair head towards the 2007/08 playoffs with the burden of expectation.
The forgotten man in all this is Paul Pierce. I've felt sorry for Pierce for years. Okay, he loves to put up shots, including the odd fade-away 3-pointer with three hands in his face, but he has been stuck in Beantown for years with rubbish teams. Season after season he's been the Lone Ranger without Tonto or Silver with only the troubled and selfish Antione Walker to kick the ball to - but Walker never passed it back. Only once way back in 2001/02 did Pierce do any damage at the end of the season. He deserves better this time.
A big positive for the Celtics is their bench. "Big Baby" is having a superb rookie season, Rondo and Perkins have stepped up and journeyman Eddie House and James Posey are providing valuable minutes as substitutions. There is no doubt Danny Ainge chased Posey because he's been there before, getting a ring with Miami only two years ago. But there really are no impact scorers off the bench, say like a Ginobili in San Antonio.
2007/08 could be their year in Boston, and they've certainly started with a bang. The problem I have is whether the three superstar egos, who have so far played exciting team basketball, will play for each other in 5-6 months time. And, will their previous playoff failures come back to haunt them? Danny Ainge has invested a lot of money hoping the answer is no.
But I'd be happy to put a bit of money on Garnett, Allen and Pierce not having rings in July.
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