I'd say the '86 Celtics had everything except Akeem, and The Chief wasn't chopped liver. Of course, neither was Ralph. We had a great team that year, but lacking in experience, and had lost our superb point guard to the white powder. Still took them to 6 games. In my opinion, that '86 Celtics team was one of the best in NBA history. Some would say the best. I wouldn't argue it much.
I don't think the best 80s Celtic teams were better than the best Lakers and Phily teams of the same period. The Lakers pretty much owned them, and the period the 6ers had Moses and a healthy Tony (basically 1 year) had a more dominant run than any team in that period at all.
Cut Butler, Reed, and sorry to say it but Novak... if he doesnt show anything in the pre-season then to hell wit him Trade Alston and Sura and find a taker for JLII... then see if Mike Harris is worth the roster spot... to me he seems like he's more worth it than Novak... yes everyteam needs a sharp shooter but when he's more of a liability on the defensive side then why waste a spot and money on him.
We are not strong at the 3 or 4, but merely adequate now. Scola isn't going to rip it up in the NBA...and he may be another Battier - great attitude, but physical limitations keep him as a role-player amongst the competition. What we've done is shore up weaknesses that killed us last year. If Yao and T_mac are trully great players as touted, that should be enough to carry this team to the promised land. I guess we'll find out how good T-mac and Yao really are this year.
In other words, if Yao and T-Mac are truly great, we should be better than San Antonio, Dallas, and Phoenix? I wouldn't jump to that conclusion, without having even seen this team play together.
Absolutely. This isn't an era of super strong teams. It's always been about T-mac and Yao... We couldn't get it done before because we had a bunch of scrubs around T-mac and Yao....at least now we have some players in Francis and Scola. Is Scola pans out as an solid pf - not great, but gets the job done, we'll be good. We're not going to be a great rebounding team with Scola as our pf, but in an offensive minded era, we probably will be fine.
We can't see what we need until season starts. But we need some sport luck that we're lacking and ofcourse health. If someone goes down due to injury we can only dream about something BIG. I'm first talking about Yao,T-Mac,Scola,Battier.On positions where we have no same substitute. But no team in the NBA has everything.
Scola can guard Dirk, Nene well, but there is a question mark for Duncan, and Boozer. Yao may has to spend lots of time on Duncan, which is not goog. As for Hayes, he is just bench player for a regular season, but for the champ. To beat Spurs, you have to play tough, and smart, besides Scola, who are other guys? We need another big, and tough guy to take Rox to another level.
Is Mutombo really going to be ahead of Butler in the rotation? ... And are we really sure he's even a good re-signing? The guy really needed to just retire now, IMO. He can not play on an Adelman team... Anyways, in answer for your question: A true backup C. By the way, calling Yao a "top three center" is an insult.
