I understand the comparison. However, the biggest difference between the 2008 Celtics and the 2018 Rockets is that the Celtics team lacked a player (in 2008) nearly as good as James Harden is right now. At worse James Harden is the second best basketball player in the world (LeBron is turning it on and is going to have an insane usage and VORP). The Celtics didn't have anyone in the top 10. It is hard for me to compare this Rockets team to previous ones.
A sweep does not mean as much to me as to others. The Raptors might have swept us in the regular season, and they aint sweeping us in a series. I still think the Warriors are going to be a heavy favorite next year. Being swept or not. Blowouts and sweeps happen too often in these times when everyone tries to score 120 and more. The Warriors dun seem to be as hungry for the title as in previous years. I agree this would be a good opportunity as any. Still would put no money on it.
By WS, KG and Paul Pierce were #8 and #9. WS/48 reflected even better, with Pierce at 9th and Garnett second only behind Chris Paul. KG was also only 2nd in DWS, only .2 behind Dwight Howard that year. Mind you, Garnett only played 71 games. Garnett was also 4th in BPM that year, with Pierce at 11th.
I understand that, but none of those Celtics players were capable of carrying the type of load that Harden and LeBron James can.
I never said that 08 KG was as good as 18 Harden, I just rebuked your "No one in the top 10" claim by showing that KG was the second best player in the NBA.
Yeah... I don’t think Garnett was the second best player in the NBA in 2008 and I am a huge Garnett fan.
I'm just repeating what the stats said . 2nd in WS/48, with the best defensive rating in the league at NINTEY-THREE. I stiff firmly believe he should have won Finals MVP over pierce.
With all due respect to the OP, put me in the "those aren't the Old Celtics" group. Ten years ago is a fairly recent team, in my opinion. When I think of the Old Celtics, I think of the teams that laid waste to the Association seemingly forever. It seemed like it at the time, anyway. Boy, I hated those Celtics teams. Hated, envied, and admired them, the bastards.
Perhaps these Rockets are those Celtics which will beat the 76'ers this year in their surprise run to the finals, which would be like the old Rockets of the Sampson/Akeem era. Something like that.
What about Capela ? They've won games without EG , Ryno and even CP3 ..... but when Harden or Capela are out , the numbers speak for themselves.
We need to temper our optimism and, in my opinion, do what we can to promote good luck for the Rockets going into the playoffs. Do things like put on all your gear, go out in your front yard, or patio, and do a good luck dance for our heroes while playing that Queen song we all know and love, a song we would all like to give a boost to by making it relevant in the 21st Century for the only team that truly deserves the honor. A song everyone knows, but I won't mention its title because I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. Crank it up, and if the neighbors complain, offer them something to drink, a Mars Bar, and ask them to dance. (if you get arrested doing all of that because maybe it's 3am, don't mention who gave you the idea!) You could do what I've done. Make a little altar promoting good juju for the Rockets. I won't describe again what mine is made up of, since the description's around here somewhere a couple of times. There's something I want to clear up, though. I haven't resorted to sticking pins in a doll representing "My ego is bigger than your ego" Slippery Steph Curry. I swear! His current problems are simply bad juju, brought on by a collection of towering egos being led by Koach "Krappy" Kerr. I had nothing to do with it! Any problems Curry or anyone else on that team are having now are all a coincidence. Any bad juju they're experiencing they brought on themselves by being too cocky. At this point, I would like to point out that James and Chris and everyone else, except for Clint, are being careful to underplay this season's success. That's doing it the right way! I wish Clint wasn't so optimistic, but he's Swiss, so that explains everything. I wouldn't mind a Finals match between the Celtics and the Rockets this year, assuming both teams make it. Boston, despite injury problems of their own, has had a good season. They can't be counted out, although Toronto looks like the team to beat in the West, in my opinion, followed by Cleveland because of LeBron. Philadelphia and Indianapolis are fighting it out for home court and the 4th spot, and either could get on a hot streak and make things interesting in the East. Honestly, I don't care who we would face in the Finals. I'm more worried about making the Finals. Spoilered so I don't look too optimistic: Spoiler I honestly believe this team to be capable of beating anyone, if we can stay healthy. Something like that.
