88 replies to this topic

[zelsound]

Spoken like a true celtic. You sound awfully confident zelsound. And I believe you are mistaken. The celtics already hosted their 18th banner, which was blank, BEFORE last season because they were so confident they would win and then went on to lose to us, no big surprise. You can hang up all the blank banners you want, but you guys won't be hanging up another real banner for a long, long time.

Oh yes we will

[MDI]

And the injuries are mounting. Pierce sprained his wrist and has a foot problem. MRI tomorrow.

[zelsound]

Good points. Boston fans are expecting to lose on Sunday, that's a fact. See, Boston is geting all this hype because they started so great. Heck they have done that 4 years running now and have one finals win and the biggest game 7 finals choke in NBA history to show for it. However, if you stop and look at reality you can see more of the truth. Boston got a 3-2 finals lead and lost. If it wasn't a 2-3-2 format they may have lost in 6, or definitely in 7. So they want home court advantage over us in 2011. They may get it, they may not. However, it's a long season and I think they peaked too early. I too have been expecting the Celtics to get there again, but lately, I am not so certain. They have a dogfight on their hands, even more so than they have had yet, and so do we. It's no automatic for them. Also, under the radar is Chicago, as is Dallas. The first seed in both conferences probably avoid them, and I know Boston fans don't want to play the Bulls in the playoffs.

The Bulls?? We arent concerned with NO TEAM... except the lakers

[NYCLakerfan]

I don't look at it that way at all. Boston has injuries and 2 people off the bench outplayed the Heat bench (granted, the Heat's bench is terrible). Pierce scored 1 point but Rondo and KG stepped up. Rondo guarded LeBron and locked him up in the 3rd quarter. Wade's turnovers were a killer, and he played pretty bad offensively also. I still see glaring problems with Miami. Defensively they are a great team but in the half court and at the end of games they are down right terrible. Miami loves to pick and roll, and Boston is great at defending it. I still believe that a healthy Boston team is better.

Agreed at the end of the day Boston is a far better more complete team than Miami, I really can't imagine Miami beating them in a 7 game series this year. I was surprised at Rondo shutting Brown down but I have noticed he's struggles for stretches when you can put a good ball hawk on him that really pressures him like Tony Allen, Kobe a few years ago, Rondo today, and idk if anyone noticed but Felton the last time Miami played NY for a few plays. As for Wade so far this year he hasn't proved to be effective against Boston at all I know it's still the regular season but he looks horrible against their D.

[UKUGA]

James locked Pierce up better than Artest did (and Pierce was throwing up before the Lakers/Celtics game), so it's something to consider as well.

Might wanna consider this as well . . .

BOSTON -- After being held without a field goal over nearly 40 minutes in Sunday's win over the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics captain Paul Pierce revealed that he is battling pain in his right hand and left ankle, the latter of which will require an MRI on Monday.

"I sprained my hand in practice [Saturday] and I hit it today," said Pierce. "I just got to get my foot checked out [Monday], I'm going to get an MRI on it and go from there."

http://sports.espn.go.com/boston/nba/news/story?id=6119036

Edited by UKUGA, February 13, 2011 - 08:17 PM.

[NYCLakerfan]

Not even hating on Lebron or anything but it did not look like he played spectacular D against Peirce to me it just looked like PP was having a horrible game he did miss several wide open shots.

[L.A.K.E.R]

PP definitely looked out of it, knew something was up. It wasn't really LeBron's unbelievable lockdown defense that held him in check, just seemed like something was bothering. Apparently, according to UKUGA's post, he's got some injuries going on right now.

[LakersChamps243]

Oh yes we will

Why you rolling your eyes? You know all that stuff is true And I disagree.

Edited by LakersChamps243, February 13, 2011 - 09:35 PM.

[KittenPuncher]

The Bulls?? We arent concerned with NO TEAM... except the lakers

You should be.. Because you won't beat us on a 7 game series even with HCA.

[Lakers_55]

Time to bump this up. zelsound has pulled one of his infamous vanishing acts on us again.

zelsound: Last Active: Feb 16 2011 06:16 PM

He left last year when Boston went into their mid season swoon, only to come back promising a finals win when the Celtics finally flipped the switch in round 1 of the playoffs. Now, it isn't personal against zelsound, but I do like to discuss these two teams with a Boston fan, and he's the only one we have here. So, tag, he's it!

Here is his congratulations to us last year, when he finally admitted what we told him all along, the Lakers were the better team.

I picked Boston in 6. I came close but no cigar. You guys out played us when it mattered and the BEST TEAM WON. It was so much closer than lots of people thought and it may go down as one of the more competitive game 7's ever. Congrats Lake Show.

Before I get into quoting his posts, a lot has changed since he was last here. The Perkins trade, what's his take? See, this is one of the biggest mistakes in Celtics franchise history. He was absolutely needed against the Lakers in a potential 2011 finals. Boston can't count on the old and imjury prone O'Neal brothers. But before I deal with zelsounds earlier posts, let's take a few minutes and analyze the truth about the Celtics and the hype zelsound and other Celtics fans have bought into.

See, it all goes back to Boston losing in game 7 of the finals. Doc hyped his "Our starting lineup never lost a series" garbage. Perkins said if he plays that game, Lakers lose. However, to clearly see the truth better, we need to analyze just what Boston accomplished in those playoffs. The hype says they won 3 series, 2 without HCA, beating in turn Wade, LeBron, and Dwight. Then, they took a 3-2 lead on the defending champs, succumbing in game 7 without Perkins. The hype incresaed because the Celtics led most of the way, the last 6 minutes did them in. And all those fouls, game wasn't called fairly. Well, working backwards, the Boston players ran out of gas, and couldn't move their legs; only their arms, and they fouled a lot, more so than were called. Anyway, as mentioned above, there were only 2 reasons Boston got the 3-2 advantage. First is game 5 was in Boston, not LA. The other is Bryant and Bynum were not 100%. If they were, series is a sweep, 5 games at most.

The first round win against Miami was to be expected. Boston trailed badly at halftime and came out in the second half with their patented lockdown defense and rolled the rest of the way. The wins against the Cavs and Magic are way overrated. First, the Cavs. That team was in turmoil. News broke of Delonte West having an affair with LeBron's mother. The way LeBron quit, it is obvious now, he had his mind made up to team with his friends, Wade and Bosh. Orlando has been in decline since 2009. They also failed to adjust to Boston's game plan after the first game and fell behind 0-2. The Magic came back valiantly, trying to be the first team to recover from down 0-3. They won 2, but ran out of gas, Now, if you compare Bostno's chief opposition this year to last, it's quite clear that Chicago and Miami are far sperior to Last year's Cavs and Magic. It's looking likely that Boston won't get home court against either the Bulls or Heat and the odds of getting by both are a longshot, at best. THen the finals loom, once again without HCA.

See, more of the hype is if the 2010 finals game 7 was played in Boston., Celtics win. So, they rushed out to secure the best record for 2011. Problem is, they burned out trying. Now, it's all about saving whoever they can and getting the injured players back. Nothing will change the fact the key Boston players, Pierce, Allen, Garnett, and the O'Neals are older and susceptible to imjury/ Rondo is young, but obviously he is still hurt by Perkin's departure.

I've summarized this before, it needs repeating:

2008 Celtics > 2009 Celtics > 2010 Celtics > 2011 Celtics
2008 Lakers < 2009 Lakers < 2010 Lakers < 2011 Lakers
2008 Celtics > 2009 Lakers
2009 Lakers > 2009 Celtics
2010 Lakers > 2010 Celtics
2011 Lakers > 2011 Celtics

Also, 2011 Bulls and Heat > 2010 Cavs and Magic.

We will win the East period. Our schedule is super soft after sunday and we will start getting guys healthy and it'll be on. So, like I said Congrats. You guys out played us last night BUT, The CELTICS will host Banner 18 this year..............................BOOK IT

Most Celtics fans disagree with you. They agree Boston has a chance, but the outlook is grim. Note, people have already handed the title to the Celtics, Spurs and the Heat this year. Now the nod is going to the Lakers. Things change, but they are really going downhill for Boston. Besides, you already have 18 banners: http://lakernation.c...18-banners-pic/

Not making excuses for last night at all, in fact, im over last night. Im saying "the best has yet to come" and were still 2nd in the NBA 1st in the East and we have done this at 70% capacity!!!

Well, you always tell us regular season doesn't matter, and are using regular season results to validate your team. The standings have changed a lot since, as well.

+Thats the whole point. They arent supposed to play 40+ minutes. Look, once we get healthy those minutes will drop down to the low 30's/high 20's especially considering our schedule. There will be lots of blow outs where D-West, Big Baby, and a Oneal will get a bunch of minutes. The CELTICS didnt need that win as much as LA did "physcologically". I will be concerned when we have all our players playing and we are 5-5. But I seriously doubt that will happen.

Those guys aren't back yet, last i saw. When? How quickly will they go down again? I see Boston fans say the O'Neals will give 6 hard fouls each. It just takes one for them to tear a ligament, hamstring, or achilles tendon.

NO, NO,NO Im not making excuses for last night. Last night is irrelevant to me. Im saying, that over the past 50 games we havent once put our full team on the floor and we STILL have the 2nd best record in the league. By the way, our schedule gets SUPER soft after sunday, so that means we have played most of the best teams in the league at least twice and we have the best record in the East. Smooth sailing after the ALL-Star break

That supersoft schedule really worked out well, now didn't it? You got the smooth sailing after the All Star break correct, just chose the wrong team. Hint, they wear purple and gold.

Not with upcoming schedule we dont....

Wrong!

Here we go.... LOL. I did comeback and left messeges for members here. I gave congrats to them, and told them I would see them next year.

Yes you did and we expect you back this year. The sooner,the better to help your credibility as a true fan, and not a fairweather fan.

Spoken like a true celtic. You sound awfully confident zelsound. And I believe you are mistaken. The celtics already hosted their 18th banner, which was blank, BEFORE last season because they were so confident they would win and then went on to lose to us, no big surprise. You can hang up all the blank banners you want, but you guys won't be hanging up another real banner for a long, long time.

Oh yes we will

Oh no you won't. One and done, headed for lottery land soon, or more first round playoff exits.

The Bulls?? We arent concerned with NO TEAM... except the lakers

You had better be concerned with the Bulls, if you get by the Sixers likely, then the Heat. If somehow you do, we have you right where we want you. Beating you 2-1 again, as in the 80's and sending you to oblivion for 22 years. It will be so great if we can wn #17 on your court. Lakers over Celtics, 5 games at the most. However, as much as we want to beat you, I don't think you make it.

zelsound, looking for your take on all the above.

[UKUGA]

Nice bumpage.

[bigvee]

That post was EPIC. Good work Laker_55

[Real Deal]

Good points most of the way, but I'll disagree with a few things. Just nitpicking, of course, because neither really have anything to do with the Celtics, but I can't say this 2011 Lakers team is better than the 2010 team yet, mainly because we haven't won it all. Plus, that 2010 team was a better defensive squad the entire year through. You also have to consider the fact that Kobe was injured, and playing BADLY, in the second half of the season last year. Had that not happened, our record would've been amazing, and I'm not even sure if the Thunder would've lasted five games, let alone the very close six they gave us.

Also, as much as I hate LeBron James, he didn't quit on the Cavaliers. He logged a triple-double in the final game of that series, and a great amount of effort was put on the glass (19 rebounds). Early in the fourth, he dropped two consecutive threes to bring the game to within four. He also bulldozed his way to the rim with about two minutes to go in the 4th, getting a dunk out of a half court set and a screen. I've got it on my DVR, and I've watched that game probably three times since it happened, and I don't see where he quit on the team. If anything, Boston prevented him from getting what he wanted, and even though he took 21 shots, only eight of them fell, and he had 12 attempts at the free throw line, also.

---------

As for Boston, they were looking like the team coming out of the East until they made the Perk trade. I can't exactly go at zelsound because he never commented on it. Had he told us the Celtics were still the favorites to win it all, well, I would take advantage of that. What if we traded Gasol for JJ Hickson back in February?

But, aside from that, Boston is going to be in trouble. The Bulls are playing their best defense since the Jordan era, and despite popular opinion, the Heat are actually a threat. Can't sleep on Orlando either, because nobody in the league can contain Dwight Howard. I would be more surprised to see Boston come out of the East now, than to see the Bulls OR Heat make the Finals. Can they do it? Sure. The only problem is, they will more than likely have to beat both Chicago and Miami to get there, because Boston probably isn't going to have the #1 seed going into the playoffs this season, and they could have it tough if they are forced to play the Knicks in the first round (they can't defend, but their scoring will keep Boston on their toes the same way Phoenix has with the Lakers).

Nine games left, just 2.5 games behind the Bulls for the top seed. I'm not going to rule it out, but the way Chicago and Miami are playing, it'll be a tough task to grab that #1 seed in the East. If the Celts don't get it, that road to the Finals is going to be ugly.

[True Lakers Fan]

Lakers 55 is like the God of Lakers fans

[Lakers_55]

Well, still no zelsound. So, I'll have to substitute for him, not with homerism for Boston of course, but to attempt evaluate what Boston can do from here. With the win over the Spurs last night, it got me thinking, have the Celtics flipped the switch as the Lakers did right after the all-star break? Clearly both San Antonio and Boston were in a funk and both needed a win. Reality says it's just one game, they are still the same teams, win or lose that game. A few weeks earlier, I had that game penciled in as a win for the Spurs.

We know if the Lakers win their last 8 games, they will get the best record in the NBA unless both Chicago and San Antonio win all their games. San Antonio can lose to LA but no more than that. What happens if Boston wins their final 8 games? The schedule is tough, let's have a look:

Friday, Apr 1 @Hawks 8:00 pm
Sunday, Apr 3 Pistons 6:00 pm
Tuesday, Apr 5 76ers 7:30 pm
Thursday, Apr 7 @Bulls 8:00 pm
Friday, Apr 8 Wizards 7:30 pm
Sunday, Apr 10 @Heat 3:30 pm
Monday, Apr 11 @Wizards 7:00 pm
Wednesday, Apr 13 Knicks 8:00 pm

Clearly Chicago wants to win the final meeting to keep ahead of Boston and tie the season series at 2-2, and Miami doesn't want to go 0-4 against Boston. As with the Spurs, these are games that could be penciled in as losses for the Celtics. Even the Knicks would like to avoid an 0-4 record against the Celtics. Boston has 3 back-to-backs left, and have done poorly in the 2nd game of them all season. However, for the purpose of this post, Celtics win them all. If so, there is a good chance the Celtics win the east. They would by force finish ahead of Miami, and one more Chicago loss means Boston has the tiebreaks, 3-1 regular season record. Winning the east means Boston avoids both Chicago and Miami, until the ECF. As I have shown elsewhere, Boston has 18 HCA series lost in playoff history, but at least in this case they would be the favorites, especially riding their season ending momentum. Boston at 60-22 would find it difficult to get HCA against two of the top three western teams, but heck, anything can happen. Spurs would only need to go 4-3, (Boston has tiebreak). Lakers would need 6-2, and Dallas 7-0. Both the Lakers and the Mavs hold tiebreaks over the Celtics. Of course health will remain an issue once the playoffs start, but that's not the point. The point is can Boston get the number 1 seed in the east and avoid playing both Miami and Chicago, and only have to play one of them, in the ECF.

C'mon back zelsound, we need you!

[Cowboys&LakersFan]

Celtics Fans are so delusional. They're even worse than Heat fans. Boston isn't beating the Bulls, even if they somehow did they don't stand a chance against L.A.

[Lakers_55]

Celtics Fans are so delusional. They're even worse than Heat fans. Boston isn't beating the Bulls, even if they somehow did they don't stand a chance against L.A.

Oh, I agree with everything, especially the delusional part. Smart Celtics fans realize it won't happen. I don't think Boston beats the Bulls either. Maybe not even the Heat. However, we do have a Celtics fan who has disappeared, just like last year when things went sour after he promised us Boston would beat LA in the finals. If Boston fades, he may be back to congratulate us. If they turn on the juice as my hypothetical implies, you know he'll be back. See, point is, he should be here all along, and stop jumping on and off the bandwagon. We know Boston turned it on last year. Let's see if they can do it again, with a weaker, older, and more beaten up team. If we didn't have a Celtics fan posting here, no need to discuss any of this. Celtics are done, until they prove us wrong. THey could get to the finals, but they won't beat us, especially without HCA. And they aren't going to get it either, our magic number is 6 and we have the tiebreak.

[Windu]

I think Boston could take Chicago in a seven game series. However, I wouldn't be surprised either way.

[Lakers_55]

Last night I watched the JV game on the ESPN doubleheader between Boston and Atlanta, which preceded the marquee matchup between the Lakers and Jazz. Just last season the Hawks defeated Boston all 4 games, and yet this year were down 0-2. To me, the game seemed Boston's for the taking. Once again, they fell apart in the fourth quarter, giving up the lead they had played so well to attain. So much, for now, of the question I posed about Boston flipping the switch and winning out their season. That's still possbile, but this loss was costly. They can still finish 2nd by winning out if they defeat Miami, and can even sustain one more loss. However catching Chicago is doubtful now. Boston needs to win out and hope Chicago loses 2 more games. I can't see Chicago going 4-3 to end the season. Hey, they have road games in New York and Orlando, Maybe.

However, there is one other bit of "Hype" about the Celtics that needs to be addressed and refuted, because people are buying into it. Seems Doc "Cry me a"
Rivers was whining about all the times the Celtics lost 2nd game of a back to back and said something like "All I know is if we didn't have to play back-to-backs, we would have the best record in the league." I did a quick check and it seems Boston is 8-10 on the second game, pretty sad. This has led to the hype. Everyone is saying now, once the playoffs start, there are no back to backs. If what Doc says is true, this translates to a lot more Celtics wins. This is such flawed logic, it isn't even funny. First, everyone plays back to backs. 40 years ago, teams played 5 games in 7 days and travelled commercial airlines. 50 years ago, they often played every day. If the Lakers are about equal to Boston in talent and age, why are we 11-2 on the 2nd game?

Ok, here's what's wrong with Doc's statement. He has, in effect, eliminated 10 losses from the Celtics record. First, he's keeping the 8 wins! Nice cherry picking Doc, if you get your losses back, you give back the wins too. What's painfuly wrong is, he has nothing to say about when those 10 losses actually get played! Maybe Boston would lose them regardless! Nice way to add 10 wins to your season and whining like a little girl while at it. The other glaring weakness with Doc's statement is how many teams lost to Boston on the second game of a back to back for them? If we don't count the Boston losses per Doc, then we can't count the Boston wins over teams with the same handicap. I also recall Doc complained to the league about the schedule where they had to fly to Portland, then play Phoenix the next night, and then playing the Hawks right after the Spurs. What a crybaby. Karma got you Doc, you lost both the second games.

Of course, a whiner like Doc will lead the blind where he wants them to go.

Celtics are all hype. I want the Lakers to beat them in the finals, but I don't see how they get there, the odds are too long. Meanwhile, zelsound alert. I am pretty certain I called him a bandwagon fan last year when he took off when luck turned against Boston midseason. If he doesn't return soon, I suggest this thread be retitled "Lakers_55 smashes the Celtics franchise around, again", and I'll do exactly that for as long as people want! You know I am the master of that.

[True Lakers Fan]

Last night I watched the JV game on the ESPN doubleheader between Boston and Atlanta, which preceded the marquee matchup between the Lakers and Jazz. Just last season the Hawks defeated Boston all 4 games, and yet this year were down 0-2. To me, the game seemed Boston's for the taking. Once again, they fell apart in the fourth quarter, giving up the lead they had played so well to attain. So much, for now, of the question I posed about Boston flipping the switch and winning out their season. That's still possbile, but this loss was costly. They can still finish 2nd by winning out if they defeat Miami, and can even sustain one more loss. However catching Chicago is doubtful now. Boston needs to win out and hope Chicago loses 2 more games. I can't see Chicago going 4-3 to end the season. Hey, they have road games in New York and Orlando, Maybe.

However, there is one other bit of "Hype" about the Celtics that needs to be addressed and refuted, because people are buying into it. Seems Doc "Cry me a"
Rivers was whining about all the times the Celtics lost 2nd game of a back to back and said something like "All I know is if we didn't have to play back-to-backs, we would have the best record in the league." I did a quick check and it seems Boston is 8-10 on the second game, pretty sad. This has led to the hype. Everyone is saying now, once the playoffs start, there are no back to backs. If what Doc says is true, this translates to a lot more Celtics wins. This is such flawed logic, it isn't even funny. First, everyone plays back to backs. 40 years ago, teams played 5 games in 7 days and travelled commercial airlines. 50 years ago, they often played every day. If the Lakers are about equal to Boston in talent and age, why are we 11-2 on the 2nd game?

Ok, here's what's wrong with Doc's statement. He has, in effect, eliminated 10 losses from the Celtics record. First, he's keeping the 8 wins! Nice cherry picking Doc, if you get your losses back, you give back the wins too. What's painfuly wrong is, he has nothing to say about when those 10 losses actually get played! Maybe Boston would lose them regardless! Nice way to add 10 wins to your season and whining like a little girl while at it. The other glaring weakness with Doc's statement is how many teams lost to Boston on the second game of a back to back for them? If we don't count the Boston losses per Doc, then we can't count the Boston wins over teams with the same handicap. I also recall Doc complained to the league about the schedule where they had to fly to Portland, then play Phoenix the next night, and then playing the Hawks right after the Spurs. What a crybaby. Karma got you Doc, you lost both the second games.

Of course, a whiner like Doc will lead the blind where he wants them to go.

Celtics are all hype. I want the Lakers to beat them in the finals, but I don't see how they get there, the odds are too long. Meanwhile, zelsound alert. I am pretty certain I called him a bandwagon fan last year when he took off when luck turned against Boston midseason. If he doesn't return soon, I suggest this thread be retitled "Lakers_55 smashes the Celtics franchise around, again", and I'll do exactly that for as long as people want! You know I am the master of that.

You seriously hate the C's i love it