CelticsStrong
Around the League => Around the NBA => Topic started by: raynman on August 29, 2012, 10:56:14 PM
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http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8305695/2012-nba-summer-forecast-eastern-conference-champions (http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8305695/2012-nba-summer-forecast-eastern-conference-champions)
This is too funny. 100 of us voted on #NBApicks. 96 picked the Heat
96-4? Really? We never get any love from these idiots, do we? And what about the other teams... Philly and NJ can be legit contenders.. (nevermind the Knicks!)
If Lebron or Wade go down, they're done! But we can afford to lose KG, PP or even Rondo for some time because of our depth.. Hell, we would have even won last season's ECF in 6 games if Bosh didn't come back..
Come May and June, we'll see... we'll see!
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im sure the other 4 picked the lakers.
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Why would you not pick the Heat? They had two of thier top 3 guys injured and still won the title. Still beat the Celtics, and Bosh was moving like he had one leg. Personally I'd wait until after the all-star break to ensure Pierce and Garnett were healthy.
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The other 4 were all for the Celtics.
I'd give those 4 a tommy point.
Boston got 4 votes and no one else in the East is any competition for Miami lol shows how dominant Miami is
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Why would you not pick the Heat? They had two of thier top 3 guys injured and still won the title. Still beat the Celtics, and Bosh was moving like he had one leg. Personally I'd wait until after the all-star break to ensure Pierce and Garnett were healthy.
They weren't injured. Don't make excuses, because for the most part they were healthy. Bosh was the only injured and the Celtics had their share of injuries too. Both teams never used injuries as an excuse. The Celtics have a bad habit of not closing games out, simple.
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You just realized ESPN was a Joke! There's nothing else to say about ESPN at this point they're far gone. It is what it is with ESPN. If they favor Miami, then hey, that's their opinion.
I'll say this if Miami is so great as some seem to think, I wouldn't put too much stock into a so-called power team that was pushed 7 games in the ECF, against an aging 2012 Celtics team coming off a 7 gm series against Philly, with no rest, a depleted bench, no Bradley, Wilcox, Green or JO, Pierce(MCL Sprain)and Allen(Bone Spurs. Basically had no business going pass 4 games with a relatively healthy Miami excluding Bosh. Though I still do not believe Bosh wasn't a game changer they some fans and media want others to believe.
Miami won games 1 and 2 without Bosh. Lost game 5 with Bosh in the rotation and I'll keep saying that until blue in the face. Factor in all those it doesn't say much about both teams. Interesting how some choose to ignore those facts. `
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ESPN is a joke but the refs were worse. I don't think the HEAT can beat the Lakers.
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4 people picked the Celtics out of the East?
That's the shocking part.
If the Celtics (or anyone else) knocks off the Heat in the playoffs, it will be an upset.
Not saying the Celtics can not do it, because I believe they can. But it still will be an upset.
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I'm sure if you polled the majority of CelticsBlog authors and staff members, the overwhelming majority would say that the Heat are the favorites in the East, as well.
The Celtics will hopefully be better next year. The Heat should be, too, with a presumably healthier Bosh and Wade, and Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis added to their squad.
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Just out of curiosity, how exactly does picking the reigning champion (who also added 2 major pieces over the summer) make you a joke?
The Celtics do have a puncher's chance, but to say were any sort of favorite at this point is the real joke.
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Agreed, this is just sour green grapes. The Heat absolutely are the favorite to repeat.
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Just out of curiosity, how exactly does picking the reigning champion (who also added 2 major pieces over the summer) make you a joke?
The Celtics do have a puncher's chance, but to say were any sort of favorite at this point is the real joke.
I think "2 major pieces" is somewhat optimistic.
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I don't see how this makes ESPN a joke when the heat are certainly the favorites. How can they not be? They won the championship last year, have two of the worlds top five players and got better in the offseason. The only joke about this is thinking the Nets are a legit contender simply because they added joe Johnson... Not Gunna happen.
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A few things:
Miami adding 2 major pieces? Yeah speechless on that comment
2 of heats top 3 players injured? They were probably as injured as 10 guys on our team and that's not really an exagerration.
96/100 is a ridiculous number . The Heat are definitely favorites but people really can't admit that that is an absurd number? Im sure if you went on a heat blog you wouldn't even get 96% of people saying that. No one said they aren't the favorite, but it is an absurd numbee
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Well, ESPN is a joke but not because of this.
The Heat are the defending champs and look like they improved a bit on paper. They should be the heavy favorite.
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Personally, I'd hoped that it was 100 for 100 betting against BOS.
Probably some of the same folks who didn't see BOS taking MIA to 7 games without AB, Green or Wilcox, either.
Bring on the doubters....I think BOS plays better as the underdog.
MIA is deserving of the believers, I suppose...all the way up until BOS beats them next May or early June 2013.
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Don't know what happened to ESPN it used to be a great network about 14 years ago. But when they partnered with professional sports league, then the network completely changed for the worst. It just seems most people on ESPN are clouded by star-struck or sensationalism.
Of course Miami should be the favorite, because they've been to the NBA Finals the past 2 seasons straight. I don't exactly agree with 96/4 fav, but I'm not surprise that ESPN's so called experts would favor in 96 votes. ESPN had doubted the Celtics since the 2007-2008 season and their views will not change.
Since the arrival of Garnett and Allen the Celtics have remained contenders, 5 straight seasons despite the core superstars aging. It's shows the lack of knowledge of ESPN's basketball experts and other media outlets outside of ESPN; young teams don't win, older teams win.
My advice would be not to go on ESPN's website or ESPN news. If you want NBA related info, then go to SI.com, SBNation.com, slamonline.com, dime.com, redsarmy.com, celticslife.com, realgm.com, or yahoo.com.
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Out West
Lakers - 56
Thunder - 42
Nuggets - 1
Spurs - 1
I see nothing wrong with either the East or the West (except for Denver and San An, those two guys are just odd).
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Out West
Lakers - 56
Thunder - 42
Nuggets - 1
Spurs - 1
I see nothing wrong with either the East or the West (except for Denver and San An, those two guys are just odd).
I can see SA. Not Denver though.
If someone can vote for Denver over LA and OKC I am a little surprised that same person can't vote for Brooklyn, NY, or Philly over Miami or Boston.
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96% chance Heat repeat...I think that sounds about right.
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ESPN is a joke... in other news, Stern and his kids did a great job last postseason against our Celtics. Btw, the sky is blue.
The Heat are the favorites, and the Celtics have a much better roster... on paper. We'll see what happens, but the ESPN so called experts are not very good at predicting who will win. Remember the 2008 Finals?
I hope Doc can manage the minutes for our veterans, and get to the playoffs with a quite healthy roster. In that case, the Cheatles can be the favorites, but the Celtics will crush them. Ray and Rashard will retire next summer, ringless with the Heat.
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Nuggets will be nasty but not sure they're ahead of Memphis.
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When the Heat were healthy, the Celtics whipped their butts twice last season, and that’s not counting the last bench against bench game the C's won. If the Celtics are healthy and KG can still play at a high level, I like their chances. I haven’t seen Rashard Lewis do much since he tested positive for the PED.
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Just out of curiosity, how exactly does picking the reigning champion (who also added 2 major pieces over the summer) make you a joke?
The Celtics do have a puncher's chance, but to say were any sort of favorite at this point is the real joke.
I'm not saying that the Celtics should be the favorites, but 96-4? Come on!
For me, 70-75% would be a realistic percentage.. But their landslide results is just absurd!
And I'm not saying this because I'm a Celtic fan, but as a (knowledgeable) basketball fan! :)
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And just to make sure everyone is on the same page, this poll of 100 ESPN experts was for who would win the Eastern Conference. we are talking the 2 time defending Eastern Conference Champs with arguably the two best players in the whole Eastern Conference on the same team.
I mean Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and James Jones. That's a pretty good team.
Now add the best player in the world and arguably the 4th best player in the world and it becomes increasingly clear that its pretty easy to see that 96% of the people probably should pick them to win the EC. Heck they have done it for the last 2 years and healthy, should easily do it for 3.
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Just out of curiosity, how exactly does picking the reigning champion (who also added 2 major pieces over the summer) make you a joke?
The Celtics do have a puncher's chance, but to say were any sort of favorite at this point is the real joke.
I'm not saying that the Celtics should be the favorites, but 96-4? Come on!
For me, 70-75% would be a realistic percentage.. But their landslide results is just absurd!
And I'm not saying this because I'm a Celtic fan, but as a (knowledgeable) basketball fan! :)
I disagree. 70-75% would be if Bosh was injured or Ray/Lewis didn't go to the Heat.
In an unbiased perspective, would you seriously rather have the Heat roster right now or the Celtics roster?
I'm good with the Celtics having a 4% chance of beating the Heat. We got to the Finals in 2010 with even less than that.
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Am I the only one that doesn't get why the Heat are overwhelming favorites?
Sure, they won the title last year. Did they get better? We'll see how much Ray really helps them. LeBron can't get much better than how he played in the playoffs this past year. He had a lot of time off with the lockout, therefore he was fresher than usual. Add in a full season and his Olympic play, he will be more worn down.
The C's played them tough. We got better. Take that for what it's worth. We got help for DWade (AB and Lee) and LeBron (Green). They got another 3pt specialist, which they have plenty of. We could have beat them in June, and we closed the gap IMO. Not far fetched to see us beating them.
I believe the Thunder simply choked. Another crack at them and I think the results are different (maybe not enough but closer series).
As much as I hate them, I don't see the Lakers losing to Miami. If MWP can do even a decent job on LeBron, and Kobe comes close to matching Wade, what do the Heat do against Nash and Dwight?
I'm fine with them being the favorites. But to consider them overwhelming is foolish. It's not like they dominate the regular season, winning 65+ games a year. The theory of teams getting better in time, building chemistry, is rarely true.
That said, I can't see any team in the East, other than Boston, beating them. 96-4? Typical ESPN. They were a 45/15 epic performance away from getting bounced in 6 by us. Don't talk about injuries to Wade or Bosh. Pierce was hurt, as was Ray, and we were missing several key players.
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Am I the only one that doesn't get why the Heat are overwhelming favorites?
Sure, they won the title last year. Did they get better? We'll see how much Ray really helps them. LeBron can't get much better than how he played in the playoffs this past year. He had a lot of time off with the lockout, therefore he was fresher than usual. Add in a full season and his Olympic play, he will be more worn down.
The C's played them tough. We got better. Take that for what it's worth. We got help for DWade (AB and Lee) and LeBron (Green). They got another 3pt specialist, which they have plenty of. We could have beat them in June, and we closed the gap IMO. Not far fetched to see us beating them.
I believe the Thunder simply choked. Another crack at them and I think the results are different (maybe not enough but closer series).
As much as I hate them, I don't see the Lakers losing to Miami. If MWP can do even a decent job on LeBron, and Kobe comes close to matching Wade, what do the Heat do against Nash and Dwight?
I'm fine with them being the favorites. But to consider them overwhelming is foolish. It's not like they dominate the regular season, winning 65+ games a year. The theory of teams getting better in time, building chemistry, is rarely true.
That said, I can't see any team in the East, other than Boston, beating them. 96-4? Typical ESPN. They were a 45/15 epic performance away from getting bounced in 6 by us. Don't talk about injuries to Wade or Bosh. Pierce was hurt, as was Ray, and we were missing several key players.
While I admit 96-4 might be too much, asking for anything more than 90-10 is too generous.
I predict that the Heat this year will be better than the Heat from last year. Ray Allen will make all those open 3s Battier/Miller/Chalmers miss. You can't really find a better compliment than Ray for the Heat, who was a 15 PPG scorer in the beginning of the season.
But honestly. Would you rather have the the Heat roster or the Celtics roster at this point? I'm hoping you'd rather have LBJ in green than Rondo in green. For what it's worth, I don't think ESPN is THAT biased. The experts simply picked who they thought was the best team in the East (get this - They weren't Celtics fans!).
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Yea, I'm kinda disappointed with the premise of this thread, to be honest. Telling me ESPN's a joke is one thing. Telling me ESPN's a joke because the majority of their experts picked the defending champions to at the bare minimum win the Eastern Conference is kinda pushing it, to put it lightly. To be truly honest, if I was a Heat fan and was reading this, I'd probably be laughing my butt off, and assuming I had the personality of the consensus Heat fan, maybe link the thread on whatever Heat site I visited.
I mean, the Heat essentially have the same core that won the championship last season, got Ray Allen and Rashard Lewis, Lebron may have finally grown a sack or two, and ESPN's biggest crime here is that 99% of their experts may or may not be willing to play devil's advocate?
I mean, dang, the guys who didn't pick the Heat picked the CELTICS. Are we just jumping down throats for jumping's sake or what?
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Just out of curiosity, how exactly does picking the reigning champion (who also added 2 major pieces over the summer) make you a joke?
The Celtics do have a puncher's chance, but to say were any sort of favorite at this point is the real joke.
I'm not saying that the Celtics should be the favorites, but 96-4? Come on!
For me, 70-75% would be a realistic percentage.. But their landslide results is just absurd!
And I'm not saying this because I'm a Celtic fan, but as a (knowledgeable) basketball fan! :)
There is a difference between a realistic percentage and a flat out winner. Maybe all 96 of the people that selected the Heat only slightly favor them and give the Celtics a great shot at winning, but when you have to pick a winner, you are going to pick the team you think has the best chance. So it isn't that that the Heat have a 96% chance at winning, it is just that 96% of the people think they have the best chance, and frankly I don't think that is unreasonable given what happened last season and this off season.
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I mean, dang, the guys who didn't pick the Heat picked the CELTICS. Are we just jumping down throats for jumping's sake or what?
That's pretty much how these threads work. How dare ESPN analysts pick Miami over us! It's not like they've beaten us in the playoffs 2 years in a row and are defending champs or anything. ::)
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And just to make sure everyone is on the same page, this poll of 100 ESPN experts was for who would win the Eastern Conference. we are talking the 2 time defending Eastern Conference Champs with arguably the two best players in the whole Eastern Conference on the same team.
I mean Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and James Jones. That's a pretty good team.
Now add the best player in the world and arguably the 4th best player in the world and it becomes increasingly clear that its pretty easy to see that 96% of the people probably should pick them to win the EC. Heck they have done it for the last 2 years and healthy, should easily do it for 3.
I disagree that is not a good team that is a horrific one. I thought you were being sarcastic.
Anyone the Heat are good for one reason, Lebron. That team is lebron. They would suck plan and simple without him. Wades alright but he is possibly the most overrated "super star" in NBA history. He is a lot closer to Bosh status than Lebron status
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And just to make sure everyone is on the same page, this poll of 100 ESPN experts was for who would win the Eastern Conference. we are talking the 2 time defending Eastern Conference Champs with arguably the two best players in the whole Eastern Conference on the same team.
I mean Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and James Jones. That's a pretty good team.
Now add the best player in the world and arguably the 4th best player in the world and it becomes increasingly clear that its pretty easy to see that 96% of the people probably should pick them to win the EC. Heck they have done it for the last 2 years and healthy, should easily do it for 3.
I disagree that is not a good team that is a horrific one. I thought you were being sarcastic.
Anyone the Heat are good for one reason, Lebron. That team is lebron. They would suck plan and simple without him. Wades alright but he is possibly the most overrated "super star" in NBA history. He is a lot closer to Bosh status than Lebron status
That's fine, although you have to admit that a team with Dwyane Wade as it's 2nd best player is better than a team with Mo being the 2nd best.
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And just to make sure everyone is on the same page, this poll of 100 ESPN experts was for who would win the Eastern Conference. we are talking the 2 time defending Eastern Conference Champs with arguably the two best players in the whole Eastern Conference on the same team.
I mean Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and James Jones. That's a pretty good team.
Now add the best player in the world and arguably the 4th best player in the world and it becomes increasingly clear that its pretty easy to see that 96% of the people probably should pick them to win the EC. Heck they have done it for the last 2 years and healthy, should easily do it for 3.
I disagree that is not a good team that is a horrific one. I thought you were being sarcastic.
Anyone the Heat are good for one reason, Lebron. That team is lebron. They would suck plan and simple without him. Wades alright but he is possibly the most overrated "super star" in NBA history. He is a lot closer to Bosh status than Lebron status
Either way, that horrific team won a championship last season. And now they added some significant pieces to go along with that.
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http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8305695/2012-nba-summer-forecast-eastern-conference-champions (http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/8305695/2012-nba-summer-forecast-eastern-conference-champions)
This is too funny. 100 of us voted on #NBApicks. 96 picked the Heat
96-4? Really? We never get any love from these idiots, do we? And what about the other teams... Philly and NJ can be legit contenders.. (nevermind the Knicks!)
If Lebron or Wade go down, they're done! But we can afford to lose KG, PP or even Rondo for some time because of our depth.. Hell, we would have even won last season's ECF in 6 games if Bosh didn't come back..
Come May and June, we'll see... we'll see!
Perhaps you don't understand what they did. 96 individuals out of 100 picked the Heat as favorites. This does not mean that any one of those individuals believes that the Heat have a 96% chance of winning the east. They might give the Heat a 45% chance, for example, the Celtics a 25% chance, etc - but they still consider the Heat the favorites.
Don't be so sensitive. I would even pick the Heat to win the East. That doesn't mean that there aren't other contenders.
So ESPN is not the joke in this thread.
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96% chance Heat repeat...I think that sounds about right.
Yet, that isn't what the poll is saying.
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Anyone the Heat are good for one reason, Lebron. That team is lebron. They would suck plan and simple without him. Wades alright but he is possibly the most overrated "super star" in NBA history. He is a lot closer to Bosh status than Lebron status
That's fine, although you have to admit that a team with Dwyane Wade as it's 2nd best player is better than a team with Mo being the 2nd best.
The Cav's had Shaq, the Heat don't even have a center.
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And just to make sure everyone is on the same page, this poll of 100 ESPN experts was for who would win the Eastern Conference. we are talking the 2 time defending Eastern Conference Champs with arguably the two best players in the whole Eastern Conference on the same team.
I mean Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and James Jones. That's a pretty good team.
Now add the best player in the world and arguably the 4th best player in the world and it becomes increasingly clear that its pretty easy to see that 96% of the people probably should pick them to win the EC. Heck they have done it for the last 2 years and healthy, should easily do it for 3.
I disagree that is not a good team that is a horrific one. I thought you were being sarcastic.
Anyone the Heat are good for one reason, Lebron. That team is lebron. They would suck plan and simple without him. Wades alright but he is possibly the most overrated "super star" in NBA history. He is a lot closer to Bosh status than Lebron status
Either way, that horrific team won a championship last season. And now they added some significant pieces to go along with that.
Well, no the team that was mentioned didn't have Lebron on it. He is their team.
Also lets not exaggerate saying they added significant pieces. It's just not true. I am a Ray Allen fan and I'll admit that he is a nice piece to add but certainly wouldn't consider him a significant signing. I don't think if we re-signed him people were going to be talking about how vital the signing was.
And Rashard Lewis is just laughable. He is low risk high reward player. Certainly is not a lock at all to be a "significant piece". I'd say his odds of being significant to them are like 10%
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And just to make sure everyone is on the same page, this poll of 100 ESPN experts was for who would win the Eastern Conference. we are talking the 2 time defending Eastern Conference Champs with arguably the two best players in the whole Eastern Conference on the same team.
I mean Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and James Jones. That's a pretty good team.
Now add the best player in the world and arguably the 4th best player in the world and it becomes increasingly clear that its pretty easy to see that 96% of the people probably should pick them to win the EC. Heck they have done it for the last 2 years and healthy, should easily do it for 3.
I disagree that is not a good team that is a horrific one. I thought you were being sarcastic.
Anyone the Heat are good for one reason, Lebron. That team is lebron. They would suck plan and simple without him. Wades alright but he is possibly the most overrated "super star" in NBA history. He is a lot closer to Bosh status than Lebron status
That's fine, although you have to admit that a team with Dwyane Wade as it's 2nd best player is better than a team with Mo being the 2nd best.
And it's kind of funny how when Lebron's second best player was Zydrunas Ilgauskas they made a finals appearance and had several better records than the heat have in the regular season past couple years.
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yep Bron , like always , IS the team , Wade is maybe half as good as he was in the Shaq days.
Bron has finally grown up and now knows how to take over and carry the team , like Kobe once could do to win no matter how sucky the rest of the team is playing.
I think we have enough guys (fouls) to cover Bron this year.
At some point his energy will wane. He can't go full bore 80+ games 40 minutes but so long and something will have to give. Anything less than a 100% game from James everynight and the HEAT are beatable.
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I am a little confused.
If we were all down to our last $100 and were told by a Supreme Being that we had to put it all down on the C's or Heat to win the East --- I bet close to 96% of CBloggers would hold their nose and pick the Heat.
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And just to make sure everyone is on the same page, this poll of 100 ESPN experts was for who would win the Eastern Conference. we are talking the 2 time defending Eastern Conference Champs with arguably the two best players in the whole Eastern Conference on the same team.
I mean Chris Bosh, Ray Allen, Rashard Lewis, Mike Miller, Shane Battier, Mario Chalmers, Norris Cole, Udonis Haslem, Joel Anthony and James Jones. That's a pretty good team.
Now add the best player in the world and arguably the 4th best player in the world and it becomes increasingly clear that its pretty easy to see that 96% of the people probably should pick them to win the EC. Heck they have done it for the last 2 years and healthy, should easily do it for 3.
I disagree that is not a good team that is a horrific one. I thought you were being sarcastic.
Anyone the Heat are good for one reason, Lebron. That team is lebron. They would suck plan and simple without him. Wades alright but he is possibly the most overrated "super star" in NBA history. He is a lot closer to Bosh status than Lebron status
Either way, that horrific team won a championship last season. And now they added some significant pieces to go along with that.
Well, no the team that was mentioned didn't have Lebron on it. He is their team.
Also lets not exaggerate saying they added significant pieces. It's just not true. I am a Ray Allen fan and I'll admit that he is a nice piece to add but certainly wouldn't consider him a significant signing. I don't think if we re-signed him people were going to be talking about how vital the signing was.
And Rashard Lewis is just laughable. He is low risk high reward player. Certainly is not a lock at all to be a "significant piece". I'd say his odds of being significant to them are like 10%
I agree that the team above would be even worse than Bosh's Raptors team. Sadly, that's not the case.
Ray Allen would be a significant piece to any team, especially the Heat (or Lakers/Thunder for that matter). He was a 15 PPG scorer earlier last season and was a critical piece to our scoring. Ray Allen is going to have a huge impact for the Heat offensively - Those curl screens Doc ran for Ray Allen demanded defensive attention. Everybody in the league knows how dangerous he is, and that's why they try their best to not give him open looks. But the problem is : What happens when Lebron and Wade drive to the rim and also demand defensive attention/assistance? Any spot up shooters will thrive playing with the Heat - and it just so happens that Ray is the best spot up shooter in the league. Ray fits in so well with the Heat that it's not fair.
Saying Ray Allen will not be significant for the Heat is like saying Jason Terry's ability to create off the dribble won't be significant for the Celtics.
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Out West
Lakers - 56
Thunder - 42
Nuggets - 1
Spurs - 1
I see nothing wrong with either the East or the West (except for Denver and San An, those two guys are just odd).
I can see SA. Not Denver though.
If someone can vote for Denver over LA and OKC I am a little surprised that same person can't vote for Brooklyn, NY, or Philly over Miami or Boston.
Denver is going to turn some heads this year and be a great team under Karl. I still think they are one veteran playoff tested banger away from contention however. Not this year. And you can never count out the spurs as long as Duncan is in uni.
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With the best player in the game and the 2nd or 3rd best player it would be an embarrassment for the Heat to lose the ECF any year in the next 6 seasons or so.
I just hope it's the Celts dishing out that embarrassment and not anybody else.
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yep Bron , like always , IS the team , Wade is maybe half as good as he was in the Shaq days.
Bron has finally grown up and now knows how to take over and carry the team , like Kobe once could do to win no matter how sucky the rest of the team is playing.
I think we have enough guys (fouls) to cover Bron this year.
At some point his energy will wane. He can't go full bore 80+ games 40 minutes but so long and something will have to give. Anything less than a 100% game from James everynight and the HEAT are beatable.
The guy HAS to be on PEDs. He's bigger than Dwight Howard, faster than Westbrook, jumps higher than McGee, etc., and he doesn't fatigue.
$100 says LeBron James has bacne.
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With the best player in the game and the 2nd or 3rd best player it would be an embarrassment for the Heat to lose the ECF any year in the next 6 seasons or so.
I just hope it's the Celts dishing out that embarrassment and not anybody else.
You think Wade's better than Durant (and every other star in the league)?
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The Heat should be favorites whether or not we like it... the part that makes ESPN a joke in my opinion, however, is that these so called experts have the Lakers above OKC in the West... they put an unproven, hasn't even played a game together yet with a lot of question marks team over proven OKC, forgetting the Lakers have been 2nd round exits the last two seasons...
Last year the Celtics proved, with a worse roster, they could take the Heat to 7 games in the ECF and only receive 4 votes, yet an unproven Lakers squad receives like over 50 against the defending Western Conference champs? That's where the joke comes in...
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Out West
Lakers - 56
Thunder - 42
Nuggets - 1
Spurs - 1
I see nothing wrong with either the East or the West (except for Denver and San An, those two guys are just odd).
I can see SA. Not Denver though.
If someone can vote for Denver over LA and OKC I am a little surprised that same person can't vote for Brooklyn, NY, or Philly over Miami or Boston.
Denver is going to turn some heads this year and be a great team under Karl. I still think they are one veteran playoff tested banger away from contention however. Not this year. And you can never count out the spurs as long as Duncan is in uni.
Oh don't get me wrong, I think Denver has a decent shot, but there is no way they should be favored ahead of LA or OKC, none at all.
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The Heat should be favorites whether or not we like it... the part that makes ESPN a joke in my opinion, however, is that these so called experts have the Lakers above OKC in the West... they put an unproven, hasn't even played a game together yet with a lot of question marks team over proven OKC, forgetting the Lakers have been 2nd round exits the last two seasons...
Last year the Celtics proved, with a worse roster, they could take the Heat to 7 games in the ECF and only receive 4 votes, yet an unproven Lakers squad receives like over 50 against the defending Western Conference champs? That's where the joke comes in...
The Lakers played OKC very tough last year and easily could have won that series if they didn't choke game 2 away. They add the best center in the game and a HOF PG for a young oft injured very immature center. I could easily see why more than half of the writers would pick LA over OKC.
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The Heat should be favorites whether or not we like it... the part that makes ESPN a joke in my opinion, however, is that these so called experts have the Lakers above OKC in the West... they put an unproven, hasn't even played a game together yet with a lot of question marks team over proven OKC, forgetting the Lakers have been 2nd round exits the last two seasons...
Last year the Celtics proved, with a worse roster, they could take the Heat to 7 games in the ECF and only receive 4 votes, yet an unproven Lakers squad receives like over 50 against the defending Western Conference champs? That's where the joke comes in...
The Lakers played OKC very tough last year and easily could have won that series if they didn't choke game 2 away. They add the best center in the game and a HOF PG for a young oft injured very immature center. I could easily see why more than half of the writers would pick LA over OKC.
On paper the teams amazing but at least in my opinion I feel there's too many question marks to rate them higher than OKC and even the Spurs (whom ppl always seem to forget).
Here's a few
1. Nash's age/back
2. D-12's back
3. Kobe playing with a real pg (we saw how well it worked with the Knicks and Melo last year when an iso player plays with a real pg)
4. Mike Brown...
(and those are just internal problems, excluding matchups probs, etc)
I honestly see the Lakers as 2nd or 3rd in the West... I think the media hype is pinning them as number 1 and they honestly could end up being that but ill take the proven rosters first until this one proves itself
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Why would you not pick the Heat? They had two of thier top 3 guys injured and still won the title. Still beat the Celtics, and Bosh was moving like he had one leg. Personally I'd wait until after the all-star break to ensure Pierce and Garnett were healthy.
They weren't injured. Don't make excuses, because for the most part they were healthy. Bosh was the only injured and the Celtics had their share of injuries too. Both teams never used injuries as an excuse. The Celtics have a bad habit of not closing games out, simple.
Unlike the Heat......
The Celtics and Thunder also weren't guaranteed by the NBA to win Game 2 in every round of the playoffs. The officials were wearing Heat uniforms.
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Why would you not pick the Heat? They had two of thier top 3 guys injured and still won the title. Still beat the Celtics, and Bosh was moving like he had one leg. Personally I'd wait until after the all-star break to ensure Pierce and Garnett were healthy.
They weren't injured. Don't make excuses, because for the most part they were healthy. Bosh was the only injured and the Celtics had their share of injuries too. Both teams never used injuries as an excuse. The Celtics have a bad habit of not closing games out, simple.
Dywane Wade put off knee surgery and Chris Bosh could barely move during the Celtics series.
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The Heat should be favorites whether or not we like it... the part that makes ESPN a joke in my opinion, however, is that these so called experts have the Lakers above OKC in the West... they put an unproven, hasn't even played a game together yet with a lot of question marks team over proven OKC, forgetting the Lakers have been 2nd round exits the last two seasons...
Last year the Celtics proved, with a worse roster, they could take the Heat to 7 games in the ECF and only receive 4 votes, yet an unproven Lakers squad receives like over 50 against the defending Western Conference champs? That's where the joke comes in...
The Lakers played OKC very tough last year and easily could have won that series if they didn't choke game 2 away. They add the best center in the game and a HOF PG for a young oft injured very immature center. I could easily see why more than half of the writers would pick LA over OKC.
After the last two years you'd compare Howard's maturity favorably to Bynum's? In what way? He's a better defensive player. But not close to the offensive player Bynum is. Their both divas. I'd say it's close to a wash.
The HOF PG will ultimately turn the team into a train wreck unless Brown, through no fault of his own, gets fired very early on. But I have no idea what Herman Munster, if rehired....Or anybody else does to rectify Los Nash's complete disregard for the defensive end of the court. Their core is aging or have bad backs. None of them, including the best center in the game, can play 2 positions defensively at the same time.
Why would a team with a defensive-oriented head coach bring on the worst defensive player in the NBA? Los Nash's complete disdain for defense will undermine both his coach and ultimately....His team.
I don't see the Lakers having home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs...Or getting out of that round.
This is a rerun of the "fo futur hallafamas" with a grossly mismatched coach.
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The Heat should be favorites whether or not we like it... the part that makes ESPN a joke in my opinion, however, is that these so called experts have the Lakers above OKC in the West... they put an unproven, hasn't even played a game together yet with a lot of question marks team over proven OKC, forgetting the Lakers have been 2nd round exits the last two seasons...
Last year the Celtics proved, with a worse roster, they could take the Heat to 7 games in the ECF and only receive 4 votes, yet an unproven Lakers squad receives like over 50 against the defending Western Conference champs? That's where the joke comes in...
The Lakers played OKC very tough last year and easily could have won that series if they didn't choke game 2 away. They add the best center in the game and a HOF PG for a young oft injured very immature center. I could easily see why more than half of the writers would pick LA over OKC.
After the last two years you'd compare Howard's maturity favorably to Bynum's? In what way? He's a better defensive player. But not close to the offensive player Bynum is. Their both divas. I'd say it's close to a wash.
The HOF PG will ultimately turn the team into a train wreck unless Brown, through no fault of his own, gets fired very early on. But I have no idea what Herman Munster, if rehired....Or anybody else does to rectify Los Nash's complete disregard for the defensive end of the court. Their core is aging or have bad backs. None of them, including the best center in the game, can play 2 positions defensively at the same time.
Why would a team with a defensive-oriented head coach bring on the worst defensive player in the NBA? Los Nash's complete disdain for defense will undermine both his coach and ultimately....His team.
I don't see the Lakers having home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs...Or getting out of that round.
This is a rerun of the "fo futur hallafamas" with a grossly mismatched coach.
Is Nash's defense really worse than Fisher's was. I mean I get that Nash is horrible on the defensive side of the floor, but the Lakers haven't exactly had a defensive stallwart at that position ever.
The Lakers will be a pretty strong defensive team on the whole. Howard is the best defensive center in the league, Artest and Kobe are still very strong defenders on the wing, and even Gasol is much better defensively then he is given credit for. They will overcome Nash's terrible defense and do just fine on the whole. Nash should be able to direct the offense, which should increase Kobe's efficiency and Nash will actually get the ball to Gasol and Howard in the post.
There are plenty of reasons to think the Lakers won't beat OKC, but there are also plenty of them to think they will. And the Lakers will have home court for at least the first round unless Kobe and Gasol both get hurt.
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Why would you not pick the Heat? They had two of thier top 3 guys injured and still won the title. Still beat the Celtics, and Bosh was moving like he had one leg. Personally I'd wait until after the all-star break to ensure Pierce and Garnett were healthy.
They weren't injured. Don't make excuses, because for the most part they were healthy. Bosh was the only injured and the Celtics had their share of injuries too. Both teams never used injuries as an excuse. The Celtics have a bad habit of not closing games out, simple.
Dywane Wade put off knee surgery and Chris Bosh could barely move during the Celtics series.
see, this is what I hate about the argument, you act like the C's top unit was fully healthy out there...Bosh was the one who killed us in the last 2 games...he looked fine out there to me...hard to say he could barely move.
even the C's who were on the court were a walking hospital....the only healthy players on that squad were Rondo/KG/bass/dooling...
Pierce-playing on one leg with a sprained MCL, couldnt hit the backboard.
Ray allen- bone spurs in his ankle, couldnt hit a backboard.
our bench was dooling, half of pietrus and...Ryan hollins...thats bad
it was only the greatness of Rondo/KG that allowed us to push them to 7 games..
I agree that Miami should be favorites, but looking at our additions, I dont see how we shouldnt at least be in the convo...just adding Green/Terry to the bench means that we should score more than 2 points(like the bench did in the 4th quarter)
and lets not forget the added dynamic Avery bradley brings on defense....he's someone who can give wade fits one-on-one. if you dont have to double wade, that means you can focus your defense more on lebron or bosh.
I dont like making excuses for losing, but I HATE when people bring up "oh the Heat were walking injured team" as if they were a walking hospital and the C's were at full strength...then you look at who the C's had injured and of our top 4 players, only 2 could be considered healthy
Miami's big 3 played fine when they were on the court
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Dywane Wade put off knee surgery ...
Pierce had to have his knee drained during the 2010 season and didn’t mention it until months after it ended.
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Is Nash's defense really worse than Fisher's was.
Way worse. In addition to at least waving his arms and trying to stay in front of his man....Fisher's opponents had to be cognisant of his cheapshotting.
The only thing the opponent needs to be cognisant of with los Nash is that they don't get any of the grease of his hair in their eyes when he's constantly brushing it out of his.
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Dywane Wade put off knee surgery ...
Pierce had to have his knee drained during the 2010 season and didn’t mention it until months after it ended.
Not exactly sure what you are trying to say but Wade's surgery became major news because he pulled out of the Olympic team. Had it been a non-Olympic year we probably would have heard about Wade's surgery as we did Ray Allen's surgery this year or Pierce's in 2010
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Miami's big 3 played fine when they were on the court
They overcame their injuries. That is what players are supposed to do.
If people have to try to hard to feel like the Celtics are better than the Heat, than maybe they shouldn't object when most people don't agree. Other people aren't trying to rationalize out a reason to be confident in their favorite team.
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yep Bron , like always , IS the team , Wade is maybe half as good as he was in the Shaq days.
Bron has finally grown up and now knows how to take over and carry the team , like Kobe once could do to win no matter how sucky the rest of the team is playing.
I think we have enough guys (fouls) to cover Bron this year.
At some point his energy will wane. He can't go full bore 80+ games 40 minutes but so long and something will have to give. Anything less than a 100% game from James everynight and the HEAT are beatable.
The guy HAS to be on PEDs. He's bigger than Dwight Howard, faster than Westbrook, jumps higher than McGee, etc., and he doesn't fatigue.
$100 says LeBron James has bacne.
A lotta people on several different sites disagree about Lebron being that fast, let alone faster than Westbrook.
He's fatigued before, remember that game when he was on his knee at the end of the game?
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Miami's big 3 played fine when they were on the court
They overcame their injuries. That is what players are supposed to do.
If people have to try to hard to feel like the Celtics are better than the Heat, than maybe they shouldn't object when most people don't agree. Other people aren't trying to rationalize out a reason to be confident in their favorite team.
Bosh only "overcame" his injury by taking 2 weeks off for it to heal. Pierce didn't do that, and Avery Bradley went as far as he possibly could.
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With the best player in the game and the 2nd or 3rd best player it would be an embarrassment for the Heat to lose the ECF any year in the next 6 seasons or so.
I just hope it's the Celts dishing out that embarrassment and not anybody else.
You think Wade's better than Durant (and every other star in the league)?
Definitely, when not injured. Not sure if he's still better than Durant, notice I said "or 3rd." Durant was better last year, Wade the year before. Have to see both when fully healthy again.
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With the best player in the game and the 2nd or 3rd best player it would be an embarrassment for the Heat to lose the ECF any year in the next 6 seasons or so.
I just hope it's the Celts dishing out that embarrassment and not anybody else.
You think Wade's better than Durant (and every other star in the league)?
Definitely, when not injured. Not sure if he's still better than Durant, notice I said "or 3rd." Durant was better last year, Wade the year before. Have to see both when fully healthy again.
I thought wade showed some pretty clear signs of regressing last year. Consistently throughout the year aswell, not just when he was injured.