how much mileage does boston celtics have?  

i agree with you about rondo taking command as of late. also, this is a different boston team that won it all 2 years ago. the big 3 are slowing down. i dont think they would go that far. i think next year, boston is done being the season's face of the east

if they want to stop the cavs, then they just need to do what orlando did last season, contain james, guard the other four guys and abuse their defensive lapses. if nate can do what eddie house did before, then that shouldnt be a problem and if sheed plays better, then theres no beating these guys.

yes, and they should be rejuvenated and revitalized in the playoffs or else, their age will hurt them..playoffs is a long series, they must have huge amount of gas tanks in their stuff. also, they have to keep up their energy.

true... chemistry is an issue. they need to have that or they will be the next detroit pistons.

by the way, you forgot sheed

I don't think it's a chemistry issue with Boston though. The core of this team has been to the Finals and won it all two years back. KG is definitely the moral leader of the team. If any indication, last year's playoffs run of Boston would have been more successful had KG been healthy. Pierce has always been the go-to-guy in crunch time for Boston and the undisputed team captain.

True there are new guys like Sheed and Nate but these guys are NBA veterans and role players. Boston's offense is not as hard as to learn as, let's say, Laker's triangle or the Sixers Princeton offense.

Boston's problem is time. Father time is quickly catching up to the Big 3. Not to mention Sheed who is also aging. The struggle to produce big games while maintaining their body is the key to whether or not the Boston Celtics get another ring before one of their main guys retire. I would say that this is year their biggest shot at the title.

it is different from the time the season started and their current chemistry. they seemed to be unbeateable and deadly early, even declaring them they best team when healthy. it is obvious that they are troubled now. they may have lost a step now but they are still deadly

The thing is, they had lots of different problems from key role players missing out to even the big 3 having health problems. When you say chemistry is a problem, you mean players not playing comfortably with each other. Guys hogging the ball, tons of turnovers and stuff like that. The Celtics assist-to-turnover ratio has not dipped which means they are playing good ball together. Chemistry is not an issue, health is the culprit here.

if that would have happened, KG will be the tim duncan that time...

there are a lot of good players that play in bad teams. as for the franchise, i pity kevin garnett. he resurrected the franchise with his own power

KG had some good teams in Minnesota. At one point he was playing alongside Szczerbiak, Cassel and Sprewell. He also had Billups and Marbury at different times. The only problem during the height of the KG era in Minnesota was the abundance of strong teams like Kobe-Shaq lead Lakers, C-Webb's Kings, Duncan's Spurs etc. Minnesota back then was a sure lock Playoff team.

well, minnesota just cant find the right pieces that KG can play with to contend for the finals. spree and cassell were that piece that ended horribly. c-webb was surrounded by plyers he can play with. shaq-kobe and duncan-robinson were the dominating force in the post-jordan era but they were surrounded with good role players like glen rice, horry, shaw and the such for the lakers while spurs have the likes of elliott, avery early and parker, manu, finley and umm horry in the late stages. kg and spree would have been good if they played longer and maybe earlier. kg and wally obviously didnt blend well, and wally was just given a lot of touches. he realyl wasnt that sidekick that shaq and duncan have and to make things worse, they dont have good role players as well. what makes minnesotta a strong team in the west that time was just because garnett was a total beast

I would have to disagree. The 03-04 Timberwolves went to the Western Conference Finals but lost to the overpowered Lakers. You have got to love that team. They went 58-24 for the season (the best record in the western conference, yes, better than the Lakers). It was not just a decent team, they dominated the season. They lost gamely to the hugely favored Lakers who at that time had "the all star team" or something with Shaq/Kobe/Malone/Payton. IMO, not even a young Pierce/Allen/KG triumvirate could have beaten the Lakers. Ofcourse we all know what happened, "the band of role players" Detroit won the title.

BTW, before Garnett had Spree and Cassel, he never made it past the 1st round of the playoffs. What made Minnesota a strong team in the west was the fact that they DID have a decent lineup. The reason their play was cut short was Spree's arrogance, he declined a 21-million/3 year extension deal, if my memory serves me right. He never played in the NBA since.

i really won't consider it luck since they took lebron james to the limits. they went toe-to-toe with paul pierce and i would say it was one of the best games ever. but the cavaliers crumbled in the end and the celtics were able to capitalize on it.

they virtually dismantled detroit that year that ended the great reign of the postions. they showed poise and confidence when it mattered most.

they were able to contain kobe bryant, lamar odom and pau gasol in the finals. no one was able to stop the run and gun lakers that time until they bumped by boston. it would have been much better if bynum was there.

but i believe this year is their best and last chance in winning it all once more. problem is they are not that same celtics 2 years ago

if chemistry and experience is an issue, boston has better chemistry compared to cavs and magic. they just formed this new team this year. boston just added up lost spots left by other players like powe, house and posey. if talent was an issue then boston will not win a single game.

this year, they have a good chance, but 2 years plus... nah!

every team does bit of the same things. bench players in teams like cleveand, orlando, lakers have more minutes. come playoff time, you will see a lot of DNP's in the box score, lebron, kobe, dwight n others will not rest more than 5 minutes in the playoffs. i would think of them as contenders this postseason.if they can contain dwight, i love how the lakers contained howard in the finals, and they do the same thing that time or they neutralize lebron like they did 2 years ago or if they can play at least 5 times in the playoff series with them advancing, then they will be fine.

but i think that wont be the case since they are a step slower, they cant contain dwight and lebron who are at their best games as of today. i think it takes a miracle and the old games back to win this, and i think its only this season they can do that.

There is a slight difference when you have an aging lineup. Notice how the Celtics keep some players (especially KG) from playing back-to-back road games (even when healthy). Something you would not see Cleveland do to Lebron nor would the Lakers do to Kobe. The reason being, they know how precious KG is and how fragile he is at this moment in his career. They would sacrifice a few season games without him to ensure that he is in top shape when he is needed (post season). Of course we cannot anticipate when or where injuries may strike but then again this precautionary measure is necessary to minimize the possibility of injuries.

Unlike other elite teams like the Cavs and Lakers, the Celtics' aim is a bit different. While Cavs and Lakers eye for the best record in their respective conferences, Boston's aim is to ensure they have a complete lineup for the post season, thus sacrificing a few games, but not as much as to jeopardize their position in the standings. Just an opinion though, based on how i see them play.