Boston Celtics: Would Heat or Magic Be a Better Opponent for the Second Round?
I am going to preface this article with a full aside/rant:
SportsCenter recently aired a “signs of aging?” headline in which they displayed stats of a steady decline in the Celtics' winning percentage in the last few months. I am going to quickly pick that apart and then we will move on.
Not only are we seeing the same type of media scrutiny that has gone on during lulls in past seasons, but we are also seeing the same type of issues that have caused these rotten stints before with only one of the issues having anything to do with age.
- Resting – Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have been seeing some larger gaps in playing time and may continue to see more time off heading into the postseason.
Injuries – Garnett and Rondo have both taken some significant time off to nurse injuries, not to mention both O'Neal's missing the majority of the season along with Delonte West but we won't go too far into that. Let's just say that the Celtics have been overcoming more injuries than any team this season (which we expected...for the most part).
Reformation – The Celtics are working on putting their new pieces together while awaiting the impending return of Shaq and JO. The vital components may not be all playing together until the first round.
Looking Forward – We saw the same thing last year. The Celtics, regardless of their big game intensity, tend to be on autopilot towards the end of the season and rightfully so. Come this time of the year, the Celtics are gearing up for the potential two-month push that is the NBA playoffs and, for better or worse, tend to fall asleep for stretches while playing the Bobcats. The Celtics have a tendency to play down to their competition.
My concerns about the Celtics have nothing to do with age. It is more the new teammates and the health of the physical interior that has me slightly worried.
Thoughts have been mainly concentrated on the Bulls and the Lakers (the Lakers being the more concerning of the two). If the time should come, hopefully Shaq can play out of his skin against his nemesis. Hell, this was really what it was all about for Diesel, right?
If I had my druthers, the choice of playing either the Magic or the Heat in the second round is fairly difficult for several reasons.
We'll save the best for last. First, the Magic.
Besides the most freakishly good center of our times, the Magic remind me of a slightly less capable Celtics team (with Nelson as Rondo, Turkoglu as Pierce, Richardson (Jason) as Allen, old superman as young superman and...OK, Bass as Garnett just doesn't fit).
The Celtics simply operate on a higher level than these players.
With Gilbert Arenas now a member of the Magic bench, and Ryan Anderson increasingly coming into his own as a rebounder and outside threat, the Magic are slightly more scary than they were before.
The talent on the Celtics bench is a cause for optimism but the fluidity isn't there yet. I have little doubt that Garnett will have West and co. fuming with intensity come playoff time (the type of intensity that Stan Van Gundy has struggled to instill in his players—though Howard seems to have finally gotten it).
Obviously, Howard is the ultimate concern. Kendrick Perkins was a key piece in minimizing his damage and Shaq, along with Glen Davis and Nenad Krstic, will be major components in filling that gap (I am speculative about JO's ability to contribute).
I have little doubt that the Celtics would get beyond the Magic. Besides Howard, I firmly believe that the Celtics have the edge in nearly every other category.
The series would be about limiting Howard and staying competitive in the rebounding battle.
Now, how about the Heat?
What a fantastic time for me to rag on the Heat a bit. Well, LeBron anyways. I will be brief.
For those who don't know, before the Heat's final game with the Cavs this season, LeBron attempted to arrive at the arena with an entourage that had not been cleared for entrance (pretty humorous, considering this would never have been an issue a year ago).
Then, LeBron didn't come out for his pregame introduction (to raining boos, naturally), claiming in the postgame that he was “using the restroom. Am I allowed to do that?”
All this was almost as good as watching Cleveland celebrate it's version of a championship game.
It's a known fact that LeBron loves the spotlight based on how he carries himself in off-court activities, but it is the competitive, the clutch spotlight, that LeBron seems to have trouble with.
For some reason, LeBron is the player that has the ball in his hands in crunch-time, when Dwyane Wade has proven his ability to hit the big shot over and over again.
LeBron's ego and his difficulties operating within the flow of the game will greatly contribute to Miami's demise. (Given the negative feedback that will likely come from my declarations, can I send out invites to a separate “I told you so” blog area when the time comes?)
The sad thing is that even if LeBron plays out of his mind during the playoffs (which he probably will...statistically), the Heat still won't win.
Although Mike Bibby is appearing to have filled the “you can shoot and you're a solid ball-handler, now hand that ball to me” void in the Heat offense, the Heat probably have the worst collection of role players of the top teams. OK, they are the worst.
Whether it is a contagious feeling of “choke” or something else, Eddie House struggles to consistently knock down shots like he did in Boston, Mike Miller has been incompetent in big-shot situations (hand problems, of course), while James Jones and Mario Chalmers operate under slightly better inconsistencies. At least Miller can rebound.
The Heat must (I repeat, must) have Udonis Haslem back for the playoffs to have any chance of closing their big man gap.
Joel Anthony, Erick Dampier, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Juwan Howard just aren't going to cut it at center. The Heat have enough players to fill the position but none of them are all that serviceable.
The brief glimpse of an inside out power-forward that knows how to attack the rim and wants the rock seems to have vanished, once again. Chris Bosh is making it clear that he has effort-consistency issues.
The Heat have had nearly a full season to overcome their “learning process” and it hasn't happened yet. They have yet to become a cohesive unit and continue to have long periods of extremely talented disorganization.
If you can't figure out who I would rather the Celtics play, you haven't been reading.
The thought of watching the Celtics knock the Heat out of the playoffs is far too intriguing, anyways.
