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Ok, so at the beginning of the season, lets say after the Posey/House/(and sake of argument Pollard) signings did you think we were going to win #17 THIS year? How about after the Cassell/Brown signings? Was Rondo going to look awesome playing alongside three all-stars? Was Perk going to be a weak link?

Before Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett... did you think Ainge was on the verge of making this 4-5 year plan work? Wow.

To be honest I had no idea what to expect from this Celtics team in 2007-2008. Honestly, the hot start surprised me completely. I thought we had a chance to win the east, but the early dominantion was unexpected. I figured teams needed a few months to really gel and get in the groove. What were we like 40-6 at one point (probably wrong you can correct me). Eventually the team hit some tough spots with a few losses to Cleveland and Washington. I knew something was special when we were like 18-0 against the Western Conference at one point. By the end of the season at 66-16 I thought we had the best shot at a title out of all the teams. The first two games going 7 games however may have changed my mind. Honestly, I would have been happy to make it to the Finals and lose to LA or San Antonio in 6 games and call it a season. I didn't think the guys had gelled well enough. I knew we had the talent, but I think myself as well as other Cs fans realized that this team may be running on empty and just were playoff battle ready.

Then I think everythign changed after stealing Game 3 on the road in Detroit after dropping our first road game. Right then, I realized that we could do this. So I guess you could say I was a believer. Of course halftime of Game 4 of the finals was the pivotal point. We could have been down 3-2 coming back to Boston which as well as we play at home, we still could have lost.

I am glad to be proved wrong, but all season long I never stopped rooting for the Cs. Even last year. Last year my dad, who's witnessed the great teams of the 70's and 80s in his time in Boston asked why I bothered with such a bad team. Me and my buddy would get tickets off scalpers after the 1st quarter just so we coudl get them cheap and watch the development of guys like Big Al, Gomes and Gerald. I was a big part of the rebuilding. Lots of injuries offset what I think our actual record woudl have been last year without the injuries. Honestly, I thought we were a .500 team at full strength. With a top pick in the draft looming, I thought we could build on that .500 and possibly make a decent playoff push - without KG, without Allen, without Posey or House.

Well, things changed very drastically, but it was all part of the plan - which the national (and even local) media refuses to understand. Walker, Battie, Eric Williams and Walter McCarty was not going to turn into KG and Ray overnight. Great Job Ainge, Great job Doc (who i outright criticized and hated in the past, but managed to outcoach the great PJ on the grandest stage). And most of all congrats Paul Pierce. You can't help but feel for the guy. Green #17... whether you saw it coming or not, here it is. I love this town.

I thought the Cs were the single most likely team to win the championship, every step of the way once they had that great season-opening run.

I didn't actually think the probability was >50% until the Detroit series was over, or at least "over". That's just the way the numbers work.

I really did think they would win it all. In the predictions thread I predicted 65+ wins - and I firmly believe that 60+ teams are in the running for a championship more often then not. The Dallas loss was more of an abberation..then a trend.

I used the PP logic.. I figure if Pierce + Walker (and assorted mediocre roleplayers) = ECF. Then what could Pierce do with KG and RA? I think the only answer to that question is CHAMPIONSHIP. And yes it really is Pierce's team.

I will say the bench surprised me some. I didn't know how useful Posey and Brown could be. OTOH I overstimated the talents of Sam Cassell. I did like the bench from the fact it was composed of veteran guys who (to steal a line) 'play to their strengths".. With House being the perfect example..

This is far superior for winning then having a bunch of young mediocre players trying to find their way in the league and believing that they are destined for greatness..

Pete

Yep.

This is far superior for winning then having a bunch of young mediocre players trying to find their way in the league and believing that they are destined for greatness..

It was the perfect blend/balance of experience and youth, which leaves all the veteran/youth partisans from bygone years half-right and half-wrong, and everyone completely elated.

I thought we were among the handful of teams that had a chance from the beginning, it was the texas triangle sweep that pushed me to - yes this is the best team in the league and they will win it all. I never doubted that even through the two 7 game series, the only time I gave up was when PP was carried off, I was devastated because I thought after everything the season was going to fall short on an injury

but that turned out ok

Honestly, I can't remember if I thought they would win it all, but I definitely thought that they could, and I said that to anyone who would listen.

Most people told me that they didn't have a shot. Obviously, I've reminded a couple of those people this week of our preseason conversations.

My brother and I for years have been saying put Pierce and KG together and you have a championship, we were right since we did win a championship but without Ray/Posey/Perk etc I think we wouldve been wrong, regardless I thought championship since I heard about the KG trade

I thought we would when we traded for KG due to one thing that the "experts" overlooked all season and throughout the playoffs:

We have 3 superstars in a superstar driven league.

NO other team has that! Sure, there are some very good trios around the league but a team with 3 HOFers is unheard of in today's NBA. Not to mention all of them were hungry for their first ring. The role players came up huge no doubt and the big 3 couldn't have done it alone but we still one BECAUSE we have 3 superstars and the only team who could put a REAL scare into us was Cleveland because they have LeBron AND play some very tough defense.

We will be the best team in the league for at least the next 2 years or until Danny Ferry actually puts somebody worth a damn next to LBJ (doubtful b/c he's a moron).

My pick in Nov. was Boston over San Antonio. Close!

Yes. Never stopped believing.

Congratulations Boston, it was good to see Pierce, Garnett, and Allen get a ring. All Great Players. Your town is blessed, and to think if you guys actually won the lottery last year their would be no Championship for the Celtics this year. You would have had Greg Oden, would have never traded him for Allen and then Garnett would not have come to your team. I bet most of you were upset that you did not get one of the top two picks last year? Well, it worked out pretty well for you, Ainge deserves a ton of credit.

I just want my Mavs to win one Championship

After preseason I knew we would be unbeatable. I predicted 60 wins, and was pleased to have underestimated things.

I thought we gave up too much in the KG trade. I expected us to get to the conference finals, but I didn't think it was possible for us to win the title this quick. I knew Rondo could handle the PG position, but I didn't expect PErkins to be able to hold his own the way he has. I fully expected Doc to be fired at the end of the season, but... well... ya know. He's here.

All in all, Danny Ainge is smarter than me and he created a championship team when I thought he had absolutely no clue. The dude owned me. End of discussion.

I thought we'd win the East, and have a chance at the championship (I thought we'd have had a pretty good shot at the East before the KG trade). I was a little skeptical of our chances to win it all this season, though in fairness if you told me we would be playing the Lakers in the championship series I would have been less skeptical.

When the KG trade happened, I was honestly a little pissed at the time, though I had come around to see the logic before we signed Posey and got preseason underway.

I still kinda think DA gave up too much in the KG trade, as I still don't think we had to give up so much. But who knows, and who cares right now

threrf23 wrote:I thought we'd win the East, and have a chance at the championship (I thought we'd have had a pretty good shot at the East before the KG trade). I was a little skeptical of our chances to win it all this season, though in fairness if you told me we would be playing the Lakers in the championship series I would have been less skeptical.

When the KG trade happened, I was honestly a little pissed at the time, though I had come around to see the logic before we signed Posey and got preseason underway.

I still kinda think DA gave up too much in the KG trade, as I still don't think we had to give up so much. But who knows, and who cares right now

I was so mad when i finally realized that Big Al was gone. I was so on his bandwagon. I did realize what a player KG was, it was just a shock. After a while I started to realize that trading young talent for the real deal was not even a risk... I mean just look what happened.

Yes. Especially after we started 29-3.

But I have to admit I was getting nervous in the playoffs against the Hawks and Cavs. Then Ray woke up right after I changed my avatar from Big Baby to Ray Allen. The rest was history.

No, I didn't think we'd win a title this season. I thought it would be next season. I expected an ECF appearance, I thought it was 50-50 they'd reach the Finals, and even less that they'd actually beat the WC team (who I figured would be stronger). I just didn't think it was possible for a team thrown together from scratch in the offseason to win a title in its first season, especially (for all my support of Doc) with a coach who had never won a playoff series.

I'm rarely so happy to be wrong.

The most surprising thing to me was the Celtics D. Just the whole team D was phenomenal all year. It surprised me because I knew KG and Rondo would be fine, but I wasn't sure Perk would play enough minutes and avoid foul trouble enough to be an impact player. I had no idea Posey was such a good defender. I was really worried about Ray and to only a slightly less extent Paul. Both where outstanding defensively. I thought the loss of TA would hurt our defense a lot off the bench, and I didn't see a big man who could defend on the bench (pollard i figured sucked too much to play). So overall I was really surprised how well it came together. Even guys who didn't play D gave such effort (like House) that it made up for their shortcomings.

I thought we had the championship won once we won Game 3 in Detroit. Once we pulled that off, got the road monkey off our back, I figured that was it, there was no way Detroit could beat us. And amazingly, I wasn't scared of the WC team at all. Either the Lakers or Spurs would have been easy meat. The ECF was the Finals. The Spurs would have been slightly tougher but I wasn't worried about the Lakers at all. Teams that defend that poorly almost never win championships.

ParticleMan wrote:The most surprising thing to me was the Celtics D. Just the whole team D was phenomenal all year. It surprised me because I knew KG and Rondo would be fine, but I wasn't sure Perk would play enough minutes and avoid foul trouble enough to be an impact player. I had no idea Posey was such a good defender. I was really worried about Ray and to only a slightly less extent Paul. Both where outstanding defensively. I thought the loss of TA would hurt our defense a lot off the bench, and I didn't see a big man who could defend on the bench (pollard i figured sucked too much to play). So overall I was really surprised how well it came together. Even guys who didn't play D gave such effort (like House) that it made up for their shortcomings.

House even tried on D. He's not a great defender but you could tell even he was busting his but on the defensive end. Everytime he got criticized for just being a shooter and nothign else, he'd make a steal or a great pass. I think we used him to his full potential.

On a side note is anyone else having trouble staying logged in? I check the box to keep me logged in and every time I nav away from RealGM I have to go to the stupid login page. I can't reply with quote when I'm logged out too which is very annoying.