Boston won't be back next year.
This was their year from Day One, and the same edge won't quite be there again. Kevin Garnett has been a career loser ... he has his one championship from riding Paul Pierce's coat tails. Ray Allen will decline a bit further. Pierce and the aforementioned and overrated Garnett will likely have trouble staying healthy for the full season.
Their bench will return to earth. Glenn "Big Baby" Davis ... stinks. He played part of one game in this year's finals. Leon Powe ... OK, but as good now as he will ever be. House ... forget it. Sam Cassell ... gone or a non-factor. P.J. Brown ... gone or a non-factor. Brian Scalabrine ... he's a joke. James Posey will re-sign. He hit his peak, too. Tony Allen ... he'll at least bring more value. Who else ... Alonzo Mourning? Robert Horry? Michael Finley?
Barring significant injury, the Lakers look to have the best chance again from the West. The roster that ended the season adds Andrew Bynum and Trevor Ariza (who really wasn't back despite playing a bit in the last two series). That's like having a top-three pick and a mid-first rounder already having proven NBA ability joining the squad. Both upgrade the defense considerably ... inside and out.
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In addition, they will likely re-sign Sasha Vujacic and Ronny Turiaf ... at least Vujacic. And, who knows, they may be able to deal Luke Walton or Vladimir Radmanovic. They have only two players over 30 (and one is Kobe). That's a young team that now has championship experience ... and all the motivation it needs from watching Boston's disgraceful and classless celebratory behavior down the stretch of Game Six.
And the Finals weren't exactly the dismantling as many have portrayed. That perception is largely because of the meltdown in Game Six (in Boston, where the Celtics were nearly unbeatable). The Lakers won two games in the series, after all.
They weren't swept away like the Cavaliers in 2007. The Lakers should have won Game Four, of course (up by 20 with 18 minutes left) and Games One and Two were winnable by either team ... Boston prevailing, as always, on its home court. Nevertheless, Boston was certainly the better, MORE EXPERIENCED and more poised team ... but not a great team by historical standards (3-9 on the road in the playoffs).
In the West ... San Antonio will be no better and no worse. Golden State? ... Worse. Denver? ... Worse. Phoenix? ... Worse. Utah? ... Same as this year. New Orleans? ... A little better. Houston? ... Has a shot, but that McGrady/Yao combination still spells playoff elimination. Portland? ... Better, but too young to win the West. The Blazers replace the Nuggets in the top-eight seeds, though. Other than the Blazers, the non-playoff teams in the West this past season will still be the lottery teams next year.
So the Lakers have the inside track right now in the West for 2008-09. The East? Pistons? Cavs? Magic? Raptors? HEAT? Bulls? Bucks? Wizards? Am I leaving anyone out?
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2 months ago
Here's the thing: Your list at the end also seems like it could have those same ellipses followed by shrug-off statements discarding each team's chances to contend against the Celtics.
As the Vegas odds reflect, both the Celtics AND Lakers have the best chance to be back next year. The C's will have their whole core back and aren't getting any worse. (If anything, both teams will improve as they play together more and the young players gain experience.) There ain't much difference between 30 and 31 or 31 and 32. It's three-to-five years from now when this group won't quite be enough anymore due to excessive mileage.
If you think injuries are a concern for the Celtics, I think it's just as likely Bryant, Bynum, Ariza or certainly Gasol could be injured next year. Those guys have all dealt with issues in the recent past, as well.
Good article on the whole, cuz it should inspire comments like this. Just wanted to put the opposing viewpoint out there.
2 months ago
I AM A LAKER FAN HOWEVER UNLIKE LEONARD'S OPINION I HAVE INTELLIGENCE AND PREDICT
THAT BOSTON WILL REPEAT AS THE NBA CHAMPIONS ONCE AGAIN.
AS A LAKER FAN I SEE BOSTON EVEN GETTING STRONGER AFTER THEY HUJMILIATED THE CELTICS ESPECIALLY COMING FOR 24 POINT DEFICIT TO 39 POINTS MASSACRE OF THE THE LAKERS.
CELTICS WILL REPEAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
2 months ago
THE BIG 3 WILL GET BETTER AND THE BENCH WITH LEON POWE AND BIG BABY WILL SCORE AND REBOUND MORE. NOW THEY JR GIDDENS, A SLEEPER FROM UNIVERSITY OF NEW MEXICO WILL SURPRISE EVERYONE.
2 months ago
Um, didn't the Celtics beat the Lakers WITH Bynum?? The Lakers will be the same soft, whimpy team that they were this year against the Celtics next season. Bynum changes nothing. He was a nonfactor against the Celtics in the regular season. Keep dreaming Lenny, that's about all you have to look forward to for next years Lakers. Shaq is right. Kobe cannot do without him.
2 months ago
"P.J. Brown ... gone or a non-factor"
This one line tells me you have no idea what you're talking about.
2 months ago
Wow, are you serious Maureen. Yes, the Celtics beat the Lakers with Bynum, but the other big man on the team was Kwame Brown not Pau Gasol. Nice joke. The Celtics shouldn't have even won this year with the Lakers having no experience and no Bynum or Ariza. They also had home court advantage, which they won't have next year as the Lakers will have 65-70 wins. Here is the lineup for the Lakers next year: Fisher, Kobe, Odom, Pau, Bynum with Farmar, Sasha, Ariza, Luke, Vlade, Turiaf and Mihm off the bench. Can't be stopped.
2 months ago
you people act as if the league drew names out of a hat and gave the celtics home court advantage. note to dillusional laker fans in denial. the celtics had the best team all year long. they won 66 games. i believe no one was within 7 games of that. they beat the lakers 4 out of 6 in the finals (and to be fair, they did not truly have home court in the finals, 3 games were in LA, 3 were in boston). they swept them during the regular season. they were 8-0, and 28-3. they were the best team in the nba and it culminated with an absolute thrashing of a patheitc gutless laker team that quit on national tv during an nba finals.
oh, and leonard, since you are against "disgraceful and classless"acts at the end of games, i thought you might want to watch this clip of lamar odom.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ZsWAa3V6zU
sweet 17 gets sweeter and sweeter listening to patheitc laker fans.
2 months ago
AS A LAKER FAN I WILL SAY THIS AGAIN.
THE CELTICS WILL BE BETTER NEXT YEAR BECAUSE THEY WILL HAVE MORE EXPERIENCE AS
A GROUP. THEY MIGHT NOT WIN 66 GAMES BUT THEY WILL REPEAT AND BEAT MY LAKERS AGAIN.
WAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!WAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
2 months ago
To Marcel,
The players you have listed as your 65-70 win team next year are the same players that got crushed by the Celtics team this year. Out of those players, maybe 3 of them play defense. Sasha got taken to school by Ray Allen, as he watched him blow past him, breaking his ankles on the way. What makes you think that the same losing Laker team of this year will beat the Celtics next year? Without defense to boot. They were stopped this year and will be stopped next year as well. And as Andy intelligently put it, the Celtics were not handed home court advantage, they earned it.
2 months ago
Tim - good comments. I agree that the Lakers are very likely to have injuries next year. They aren't the most durable group. My feeling with the Celtics is that they won't maintain that edge they had all this year. They were hungry from day 1. It will be tough to repeat ... especially when they really were not as good as their record (again, noting the 3-9 on the road in the playoffs ... almost 0-3 vs. the Lakers). I do think the Lakers have the best shot at coming out of the West next year ... based on today. All they lack is the psychology of playing Eastern Conference playoff style basketball. They have been burned before (1984, 2004, 2008). They did something about it in 1985. I think they will respond somehow for 2009.
Rick - You cannot possibly be a Laker fan. Regarding Leon Powe, he's a solid role player (and happily, one of the increasing number of Pac-10 standouts in the NBA). But, he really only had one big game in the Finals. He's not exceptional. The key with him was really that his counterpart, Ronny Turiaf, was a non-factor (like P.J. Brown of 2009). Big Baby? ... Big Bust. He's Oliver Miller without the skills. But, time will tell.
Maureen - I suspect you enjoyed the Shaq rap. That would speak volumes about you. That aside, Kobe was in the finals this year. Shaq was not ... and not close. Phoenix has a chance of missing the playoffs next year. Any way you cut it, it's over for Shaq (except for his obsession with Kobe ... which no one but him cares about).
Andy - you're right that the Celtics were clearly the best team in the league this year. Earning home court advantage was the biggest single factor in their ability to win it. They went 3-0 against the Lakers at home, but they almost went 0-3 in L.A. The game 4 collapse was the second biggest factor in the Celtics winning it. But, as Paul Popovich says, the winner of a 7-game series is the better team. No argument there. Also, point taken on the Odom clip from earlier this year ... I had forgotten about that. It was a bit of a Robert Horry move, without the attempt at feigning innocence. However, Odom probably had enough of the classless Celtic trash talk by the late stage of that game, and as is often the case with him, it got the better of him mentally. Anyway, had that been a Celtic laying out a Laker in the Finals, it would have been admired as physical play.
2 months ago
The Celtics had never played together in the playoffs before, and it showed when they went on the road. They will not go 3-9 on the road in the playoffs next season, they will win roughly the same amount of games next season, and repeat, barring multiple injuries. Even if they have one or two major injuries, they will win 60+ games. The Celtics this year lost (I believe) only three or four games by 12 points or more. That is an insane stat, that a team is able to stay that close. The Jazz were the only team to really "blow out" the C's this past year.
2 months ago
This article is just one of many that fall into the general category of "wait until next year", written by fans of teams who failed to achieve what was expected of them.
Here's the deal: Celtics fans do not have to "wait until next year". They are champions now.
Furthermore, your assessments of players skills leaves something to be desired. Here's what you said about Glen Davis: "stinks" and "Big Bust". Funny, because I thought the same words applied to Bryant during the Finals against the Celtics.
2 months ago
How will Boston be worse next year. A full year of playing together...Team chemistry...the C's had to build team chemistry on the fly. All three guys go from being the Center blocks of their respective franchises to role players on 1 team and they won the championship. Remember the Lakers team in 04 with Payton, Malone, Shaq and Kobe...and whoever else (doesnt even matter)...they underachieved. When that team was assembled, it was supposed to be an instant championship. The Celtics did what they were supposed to from the beginning of the season, even when everyone jumped on the Laker's bandwagon after the all star break. Back to them being worse next year....How? All 3 are arguably in their primes still. Chances are, night in and night out, no matter what team they'll play they'll still have the top 3 of 5 players on the court. Rondo will be better....U understand that if he knocks down a 17 footer consistently they could win 66 games again? Eddie House...please? Please what? He's a knock down shooter, Period. He's not losing that in the offseason. And its funny how you're writing off these other teams in the West...New Orleans i think would have beaten L.A in a seven games series. Their pick and roll defense in the finals was horrendous and no one in the league runs it like Chris Paul. Whats gonna be the Lakers answer for that? Kobe on Paul? Right. Pierce penetrating and picking his spots...Ray Allen keeping the defense honest and Garnett being Garnett...i mean , its not like these guys are all of sudden too old to perform. Truth is they're getting better looks at shots than they ever did as superstars of there aforementioned teams. Right them off if u want. Ill go out on a limb and say that a shift of power is coming this season or next with competition in the East compared to the West. Atlanta, Chicago, Miami, Toronto and New York will all make major improvements from last year in terms of win/loss percentage
2 months ago
Boston has been pathetic for many years ... until this year. The Lakers, as well as the Spurs, Pistons, and others, on the other hand have had many years of success. So, the success of this year should be put into perspective. They were able to put an immediate champion with trade-able low draft picks and expiring contracts. Nothing wrong with that. But, that Celtic tradition that everyone still likes to talk about ran its course by 1987 (losing the Finals, which is apparently now something shameful). I agree that their run as a contender isn't over, I just don't think they will repeat. Everything lined up for them this year. The East will improve next year, as Brandon notes. That improvement is relative to the Celtics too ... which is more important than how the East fares relative to the West. What the West teams must face up to is that they cannot presently overcome the best team(s) in the East and the physical play they bring to the playoffs. It should be interesting.
By the way, the 2004 Lakers were headed down the same path as the Celtics this year. The key to their loss was the injury to Malone. However, that Laker team was not as much of a team unit as the Celtics were this year, either. Detroit was the better "team" ... and thus deserved to win.
from 2 months ago
Leonard wrote: "Everything lined up for them this year."
How did everything "line up" for the Celtics? They lost Ray Allen for an extended period during the regular season. They still won. They lost Garnett for an extended period during the regular season. They still won (can you seriously imagine the Lakers winning if Bryant falls prey to a serious injury?) Pierce, Rondo and Perk (3 of 5 starters) carried serious injuries into key games during the finals. They still won.
If you think the Celtics got an "easy buy" to the finals by playing weaker teams in the East, then think again. Both the Hawks and Cavs did something the Lakers could not do: force the Celtics to a game 7. The Pistons did something the Lakers could not do: win in Boston. During the regular season, the Celtics had a better winning percentage against teams from the West (including a sweep of the Lakers) than they did against the East. For the Celtics, the biggest challenges came from the East during the regular and post-seasons. Again, please tell us how things "lined up" for the Celtics this year.
The Eastern Conference will improve overall, but so will the Celtics. Their core players will be better for having played a season and won a championship together. Their bench will improve through the continued development of Davis, Powe and Tony Allen (coming off a knee injury this past season). Both Rondo and Perkins will continue to improve as they enter their 3rd seasons in the NBA. And the acquisition of key players in the draft (Giddens & Walker) will enable Doc to rest his starters even more next season (Pierce, Allen and Garnett played career low minutes/game last season).
If things "lined up" for any team, it was the Lakers. The mid-season "gift" of Pau Gasol and the "gift" of a last-second "no-call" in a decisive game against the Spurs (which the NBA later said was a missed call) are just two instances that come to mind. I know, like all Laker fans, you'll tell me that the Lakers would have won with Bynum. You'd think this guy was the next Wilt Chamberlain, Bill Russell and Michael Jordan combined by the way Lakers fans pound their chests about next season. For his sake, I hope Bynum can play near the expectations placed on him, even though that would mean putting up career high numbers in every statistical category. Please remember that Bynum will be returning from serious injury and it may take him several months (all season?) to get back to where Lakers fans imagined he was. Tony Allen, a rising Celtics star 18 months ago, was a shell of his former self this past season. Unfortunately, a knee injury has turned him from a potential starter into a free agent who will be lucky to keep his spot on the team for next season. I sincerely hope Bynum's fate is not the same.
2 months ago
Lenny,
It was hard not to view the Shaq rap seeing that it was on every station for all to view, not necessarily enjoying it as you eloquently put it. I never stated that I enjoyed the ridiculous rap. I merely agreed that the point made was valid. I'm sure you viewed it as well. I think that your obsession with Kobe Bryant along with every ESPN so called analyst, shows that you and the so called experts are upset that you were wrong about your precious Laker team, and angry that the Celtics were the better team this year. Thus, you were all proven wrong. Don't be angry and resentful. Admit that the better team won, the team that came to play all year long, including the finals where it mattered most.
2 months ago
HEY LENNY I SEE YOUR GREEN WITH ENVY WHAT ARE YOU SMOKING MAN LOL CHAMPIONSHIP RUN THROUGH BOSTON GET USED TO IT YOUR JELOUSY IS PRICELESS
2 months ago
OMG I just love the way your write buddy. I am about to click that button and become your fan.
Well now let's talk about the article. I disagree with you on only one thing. And that is James Posey, that guy is solid man. He is really good, but he needs a drive and motivation from stars. Now if Garnett and Pierce start off good in the beginning of the year, that will give loads of motivation to the bench. I think they won't be back but they do have a good chance because Pierce.
And you hit it so right when saying Garnett is overrated, that guy sucks, he is at best Dirk the softy. But Garnett sure is better then Pau Gasol.
Well I don't give a jack about the east and Boston, they can come back I don't care. All I know is Lakers will be the champions next year, and that is because we are really upgrading our team and Phil Jackson ain't letting this team look back. We will only move forward. Laker rock
2 months ago
C'mon laker fans you're still California dreaming. When Bynum was in the lineup against the 17 time World Champion Celtics he scored 4 points and 8 points, got 9 rebounds and 2 rebounds and you LOST by 13 pts and 19 pts. Some beast. One thing the CELTICS and lakers have in common is that the CELTICS have WON the most (17 CHAMPIONSHIP Series) and the lakers have lost the most (15 championship series, 9-2 vs the Celtics)
We OWN you and will continue to own you next year.
2 months ago
Maureen ... sorry about the Shaq rap reference. But, Kobe can win without Shaq (now that he has matured as a player). He just hasn't done it yet. And, I did not think the Lakers would win the championship at any point this season. I was expecting them to lose to San Antonio, until that series started, and it was clear the Lakers were the better team. But, I was sure Boston would win. The only thing that surprised me about Boston was their behavior during their early celebration in game 6. They had seemed like a Celtic team unlike its predecessors to that point ... actually showing some class. But, that went out the window in the end. That's really the only thing that bothers me about the outcome of this season.
Gaz ... by things "lining up" for the Celtics, I don't mean that as a criticism or sour grapes. They got through their injuries ... and were at essentially full strength in the playoffs (all their important players). Yes, the Lakers were given a gift in the Gasol trade. Also, Kevin McHale, perhaps the worst GM in the league (not counting Isiah Thomas and now that Ainge isn't anymore) ... "gifted" the Celtics. The Lakers actually had a better offer in place for Garnett. Seattle, looking to start over, gave Allen away (but that was a good deal for Seattle too). There is nothing wrong with any of that ... the Celtics had the opportunities and made those great deals. Signing Posey, etc. was big too, of course. My point is that this was their year ... the stars were aligned for them. They just don't quite strike me as the continuing championship-type of team (just as the Lakers didn't strike me as a championship team this year).
Rizwan ... appreciate the non-green comments.
2 months ago
As a guy who is a fan of neither team,and who really hates kobe. I can honestly say i see the fakers back there before the celtics. The celtics remind me of the 06' heat. Game 2 was a disgrace by the ref's,and the fakers basically lost the series by losing game 4. Difference was when the fakers started melting in game 4 the ref's didn't help them,but they helped the celtics when they started melting in game 2. Next year I see king james crushing the celtics. He could have done it this year if he had some help. Only homer boston fans think they will repeat. Boston bought their one ring this year. Look for king james to reign supreme in the east for years to come. Also to those bangwagon boston fans please quit talking like you are a great franchise. A great franchise doesn't take 22 years to win a ring. Your big three were all losers when they were by themselves. Give lebron that kind of help and he wins every year. Say what you want about kome but the guy took a young team to the finals in the toughest west probably ever.
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