Yeah you're probably correct there, but consider: most of the Celtics would make a pretty excellent second unit, and we're stomping Milano accordingly.
A fair call, to be honest I think that's our greatest strength.
I look at a team like the 76ers and I would say they are at most 4 deep - you have Noel, Okafor, Wroten and (MAYBE) Landry. Those are really the only guys on the roster who you could consider to be 'borderline starter' quality or better.
You look at the Brooklyn Nets, then by that definition they are about 4 deep - Joe Johnson, Brook Lopez, Theddeus Young, Jarrett Jack. Even if you put Bargnani and Bogdanovic on that list (I wouldn't, personally) that's still only 6 deep.
Look at the Knicks and a simlar deal - Melo, Lopez, Afflalo and at a stretch Calderon (4 deep).
When teams like that sit their top 4 guys, you basically have D-League level of talent coming in to replace them. The drop off is huge.
You look at the Celtics based on that same definition and our roster is about 12 deep. We can sub out all 5 of our starters, and not regress one iota. In fact we may even get better, as we did today when Isaiah and Amir came in. At the Poewr Forward spot we can go three deep and we'd still be bringing in a guy who could start for many teams (Sully, Johnson or Lee).
Even if a team like Brooklyn can go toe-to-toe with us while their starters are out there, how on earth can they possible keep up once the bench comes in? The level of talent isn't nearly comparable. Same with the Knicks and the 76ers. Hell, it's probably even true for some of the playoff teams out there.
Our depth gives us the unique ability to have fresh legs on the court for 48 minutes without any drop off in production. I think that brings us a far bigger advantage than most people realise.
I feel like that's actually a big reason why we were so dominant today, to be honest. They were sticking without starters for the first few minutes - when the second units came in we crushed them.
I predict we'll be seeing much of the same in the regular season, especially as we get in to the second half of the season when other teams are nursing injuries and fatigue - we should still be as fresh then as we are in the first game of the season.
Huge advantage.
Topic: Celtics (0-0) at Olimpia Milano (0-0) 10/6/15 Preasason Game 1 (Read 37964 times)