the last thing I want to do is tout the Celtics, I would prefer they all go down in a fiery plane crash over making the playoffs, but if someone held a gun to my head and made me pick who would have a better season this year under penalty of death, Boston or NY, it would not take me much time to answer Boston.

jon abbey:
Boston was playing without Avery Bradley and Jeff Green, both of whom are back, plus they added Jason Terry and Jared Sullinger and Courtney Lee. combine them with the exisiting core of Garnett/Pierce/Rondo plus Brandon Bass plus Pietrus and that’s the second best team in the East if they stay healthy.

and Rondo is a 26 year old who has consistently shown an ability to raise his level of play in big games, I wouldn’t be so sure that he played a “once in a lifetime” series.

True, Bradley makes some difference, but consider that Mike Miller could barely move inthat series.

They are worse with Terry than they were with Allen.

Lee is a solid player, but doesn’t address their issues rebounding and scoring where they were bottom 3 in the NBA.
Most would be surprised if Sullinger is as effective as Stiemsma was last year. If Garnett and Pierce had smaller roles I might buy it….but last years run was a function of lucking out with their seed and not having to face the one guy who could exploit them inside.

They will be solid, but Rondo and an aging core will only take them so far.

and Rondo is a 26 year old who has consistently shown an ability to raise his level of play in big games, I wouldn’t be so sure that he played a “once in a lifetime” series.

Juany8: The Knicks aren’t making the Finals, and they certainly won’t be the second best eastern team in the playoffs, but because Boston doesn’t care about the regular season and Rose is injured, I see the Knicks as a contender for the second seed along with the Pacers, Celtics, and possibly Sixers. We do also happen to have certain match up advantages against Miami that no other team in the East really possesses, but that just means maybe the Knicks slow them down before they inevitably make the Finals (no team in the East other than Miami is all that good)

Also, why is Chicago clearly a top playoff team when they’ve underperformed two years in a row,, just lost their best shooter, their second best defensive big, their second best perimeter wing, and their steady pg, and replaced them with players who don’t even fit their system.

Chciago’s biggest strength was its defense and rebounding depth, they’ve lost much of it, and will likely get much worse offensively.

That’s another 7 seed the Knicks should want to face.

Juany8: The Knicks aren’t making the Finals, and they certainly won’t be the second best eastern team in the playoffs, but because Boston doesn’t care about the regular season and Rose is injured, I see the Knicks as a contender for the second seed along with the Pacers, Celtics, and possibly Sixers. We do also happen to have certain match up advantages against Miami that no other team in the East really possesses, but that just means maybe the Knicks slow them down before they inevitably make the Finals (no team in the East other than Miami is all that good)

The Heat were 12-2 in the playoffs last year WITH BOSH……who was statistically their second best player in the playoffs last season, and only legitimate inside prescence who could play more than 20 minutes.

The Heat were 5-5 in the playoffs WITHOUT Bosh.

The Celtics won three straight games against Miami with BOSH out, and out-rebounded the Heat by the following percentages in those 3 games: 16.3, 5, (-12)

The Heat were unable to exploit the Celtics biggest weakness (rebounding) , and turned it into a strength.

Boston won those three games by a total of 16 points.

Boston’s four losses were by a combined 51 points. When Bosh was in the lineup, Boston lost by 32 combined points in the final two games of the series.

It took them seven games to beat Philadelphia (they could have easily lost game 1) and 6 (including one OT win) to beat Atlanta.

I fail to see what was so impressive about their run last year. Their best shooter is gone, their best interior bench player is gone, and they’re asking KG and Pierce to carry the same load they did last year in a full 82 game schedule.

The Knicks will take that 7th seed match-up every day.

Jafa:
Wow!Finally some people on this board (THCJ, ess-dog, Frank, yoda, jon abbey) who can see what I see:We are good, but not that good!We will kill it on defense and be average on offense, will win between 45-50 games and be seeded between #3 and #5 in the playoffs.Felton is not a good PG and should not start over 39 year old Kidd (that’s how bad Felton is).Only alarming thing you guys said was JR should be starting (oh the nightmare).

But man, I was getting depressed reading Z-man, ruru and juany8 fawn endlessly about our team and how we are the 2nd best team in the East and should give Miami a run for their money.Like you guys said, we will be very lucky to get past the 2nd round and we will all exhale when the Knicks get past the 1st round.

In the words of Jim Mora: “Finals? Finals? Dont talk to me about Finals!We just trying to win a playoff series!”

The Knicks aren’t making the Finals, and they certainly won’t be the second best eastern team in the playoffs, but because Boston doesn’t care about the regular season and Rose is injured, I see the Knicks as a contender for the second seed along with the Pacers, Celtics, and possibly Sixers. We do also happen to have certain match up advantages against Miami that no other team in the East really possesses, but that just means maybe the Knicks slow them down before they inevitably make the Finals (no team in the East other than Miami is all that good)

But man, I was getting depressed reading Z-man, ruru and juany8 fawn endlessly about our team and how we are the 2nd best team in the East and should give Miami a run for their money. Like you guys said, we will be very lucky to get past the 2nd round and we will all exhale when the Knicks get past the 1st round.

In the words of Jim Mora: “Finals? Finals? Dont talk to me about Finals! We just trying to win a playoff series!”