Remember in the late 80's into the 90's when the NBA was ran by the eastern conference? From the 88 season all the way up to the new millennium it was almost a guarantee that the NBA championship went through the East, Yes, the 87-88 season ended with Magic's Lakers celebrating their 11th franchise title. Soon after that (The very next year after) began the changing of the guard so to speak, from the "bad boy" Pistons sweeping the Lakers the very next year, to Jordan's Bulls dominating in the 90's it was the East that sold out stadiums. The Pistons took two back to back in the beginning of that decade, and then it was Michael and Bulls taking almost everyone after that. The West managed to sneak two in during the middle of the decade when the Rockets took advantage of a brief Michael Jordan retirement, but once MJ returned the Bulls picked right up where they left off establishing the East dominance with an outstanding 32-20 record in the NBA Finals.
Fast forward to 2010, The guard seems to be changing once again in favor of the Eastern conference. With the Spurs and Lakers being responsible for 9 of the last 12 championships, the East has been looking for the chance to snatch the power of the league back, Enter the Miami Heat. The Heat follow the trend that has been set by the 2008 Boston Celtics, go into free agency with an open checkbook and get the 3 best players you can get on one team. The thing is when Boston did it they walked away carrying the trophy, the Heat look to do the same grabbing the three biggest names in free agency in the NBA, Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade and Lebron James look to follow in the footsteps of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce. Not to mention this years champion Lakers with their own version of the big three in Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol and Ron Artest.
With the Lakers clearly being the most dominate team in the western conference, the east is making it look plenty difficult for the champs to 3peat. With the Miami Heat not only grabbing their own superstar back they put the most under the radar star next to him and "arguably" the leagues best player; combined that with the shooters Pat Riley placed with them and the Heat look to challenge the Bulls league record of 72 wins, but thats not all, A'mare to the Knicks with Chris Paul and Carmelo Anthony possibly following him next year makes New York a team that people will soon have to take serious. And then with "the band" back together in Boston they look to give it one more try to raise the Larry O' Brien trophy for an 18th time in franchise history, they have one of the best point guards in the NBA in Rajon Rando so I believe more will be placed onto his shoulders then in years past.
It will be difficult at first with Kendrick Perkins being out for a while with that knee, but the additions of Jermaine O'Neal and "The Big Shamrock" Shaquille O'Neal the front court still has Kevin Garnett so they should be fine. It may be a front court of age but also of experience and how could we forget the Orlando Magic? You can't! Let's not forget this is a team that destroyed the Celtics a few years ago to get to the finals, and don't forget the young guns of the east the Atlanta Hawks and Chicago Bulls. The Hawks keep the core of their team and look to be better with the experience they've gained and the Bulls add experience with Carlos Boozer and good shooting with Kyle Kover to an already talented roster led by Derrick Rose, Loul Deng and Joakim Noah with these moves these teams are showing that the East is back.
I personally have the Heat winning the east, with their shooting and perhaps the best big three the NBA has seen in a long time I don't see how the age of the Celtics, talent level of the Magic, or youth of the Bulls can compete with this team. These three got together for one purpose and except for the Lakers I don't see anyone getting in their way. One thing is for sure, the NBA is slowly making their return it may not be the NFL but they have a product to be proud of.
I don't think anybody is going to beat the Celtics simply because of their bench scoring potential. They arguably have two solid starting lineups with the Jason Terry X factor. I mean the guy can play ANY spot on the floor. LeBron, Chris, and Dwayne, gonna have to sit down evenentually and when they do the Celtics bench (or whoever is in for that matter) can tee off on the Heat. The Lakers stand a bit of a better chance because of the way they work their rotation but end the end I think they will fall victim to fatigue. With the roster the Celtics have they can do anything. Run the floor, play halfcourt, they got all the 3pt shooters they need, and the depth to provide bench production. As long as they can get this team full of superstars working together they'll be unstoppable...they're only improving upon the championship team they've had for years.
ReplyDeleteOk the strongest argument i can make is that the Boston celtics didnt show up in the nba finals. They were almost a none factor to that laker team. They got dominated by the lakers in the paint, not to metion in the playoffs the celtics bench scored an average of 10 - 15 points a game.Ray allens best game who is there best 3 point shooter had 1 good game the entire series. the most consistent was rajon rondo, through the whole finals. Kevin garnett is 34,paul pierce is 32, ray allen is 35. Even with the addition of Shaquille O’Neal who is 39 that doesn't make them better. The miami heat may not have an extreme amount of depth on there roster. But at this point an time there younger and more talented then the celtics which put them on the path to become a championship team.
ReplyDeleteI can't argue with that but I really think the reason they got beat down like that is because they were beat down. Even though they have a bunch of old timers they gonna have a bunch more coming off the bench. And lets not forget the whole two starting teams part. I'm not expecting them to 3peat with this team but I think they will get this one.
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