[Orlando Sentinel] 11 NBA experts rank the Eastern Conference

Well Kelly, 6 of your colleagues ranked Boston 1st, 4 ranked them 3rd, and 1 ranked them 2nd. So your opinion is in the minority here.

As to how anyone could rank Boston 1st without knowing Garnett's health, remember that they took eventual east champs Orlando to 7 without Garnett. They were playing baby and Scalabrine on Lewis and Howard at times! Lets add Rasheed Wallace and Daniels to that Boston team last year, wouldn't they have beaten Orlando (I don't think they would have beaten Cleveland though).

 

One thing I've learned over the years is to not take age into consideration until I see an actual, perceptible decline in a player's play. Can the player's on the Celtics still play? I think yes, especially considering they took the Magic to 7 without Garnett or Powe. The only real question mark I see is whether Garnett's knee holds up. That championship Celtics team was built around defense, and Garnett is the anchor.

Honestly though, with the all question marks between Cleveland, Boston, and Orlando, you could probably shuffle either team in the 1-3 spots in the East during the preseason.

 

Ray allen might be getting old but lets not forget about the 51 points he put up against the bulls i cant believe they lost that game after all those clutch shots he made and the amazing ones, that night i almost wondered if that man was 24 not 34

 

Fluke game, which the rest of the playoffs proved. Judge him by the 1/12, 2/12, 2/11, 3/11 and 3/13 playoff games more than the 51 point game. They were more indicative. He shot 34%/19% against the Magic, a team that had a clue on defense unlike the Bulls, who were coached by a guy way over his head.

 

true he did have alot of bad shooting nights and kind to think of it i remember he had a 0 point night vs one team and was like 0-11 or somthing like that.

 

It took him 3 OT to get there, not exactly shocking.

 

Here are 17 guys in the East I would take before rickety Ray Allen, including 6 who play SG. This is taking candy from a baby. If Ray Allen is an All-Star this coming season, they may as well cancel the real game and play it on NBA Live. Tell me seriously you can't find 12 players below who are better.

1 Wade
2 LeBron
3 Granger
4 Bosh
5 Howard
6 Joe Johnson
7 Antawn Jamison
8 Devin Harris
9 Vince Carter
10 Ben Gordon
11 Iguodala
12 Rashard Lewis
13 Derek Rose
14 Turkey-Glue
15 Jameer Nelson
16 Mo Williams
17 Gerald Wallace

Ray Allen isn't even the 3rd best player on his own team. Rondo is (assuming KG is healthy enough).

 

Guys I would take over Allen:

1 Wade
2 LeBron
3 Granger
4 Bosh
5 Howard
6 Joe Johnson
7 Antawn Jamison Debatable
8 Devin Harris
9 Vince Carter
10 Ben Gordon Debatable
11 Iguodala
12 Rashard Lewis Debatable
13 Derek Rose
14 Turkey-Glue Debatable
15 Jameer Nelson Debatable
16 Mo Williams
17 Gerald Wallace Debatable

The real question is can you find 12 you'd take over Rondo.

 

1 Wade - Worse
2 LeBron - Worse
3 Granger - Worse
4 Bosh - Worse
5 Howard - Worse
6 Joe Johnson - Worse
7 Antawn Jamison - Debatable
8 Devin Harris - Worse
9 Vince Carter - Debatable
10 Ben Gordon - Is this a joke? Better
11 Iguodala - Better
12 Rashard Lewis - Better
13 Derek Rose - Better
14 Turkey-Glue - Better
15 Jameer Nelson - Depends if he returns to all-star form
16 Mo Williams - Not even close, Better
17 Gerald Wallace - Better but debatable.

You must be a Ray hater but it's all good, It's your opinion anyways I see no response for my can the Magic matchup against the Celtics argument.

 

Let me add something I should have said at the beginning: My main beef with Ray Allen is his playoff dropoffs. It also happened a year ago but he righted the ship. If he averages 35 mins/game all next season, he will dropoff again. Unless Tony Allen steps it up big (which is possible I suppose), the Celts don't have any choice but to give him heavy minutes. This will bite them when the real season starts.

I feel the same way about the Cavs. LeBron + Shaq and mediocre fluff during the regular season might mean a great regular season record, but come playoff time, the fluff will blow away and they will be exposed. If the Celts are healthy, I could see them beating the Cavs in the playoffs. If the Magic are healthy, I pick them as the team to beat in the East.

 

Here was what I said about Celtics-Magic matchup

Keep in mind, Kendrick Perkins absolutely neutralized him in the series and now the Celtics have Sheed who is another player known to stop Dwight.

 

It's not possible for Tony Allen to step up, they want to get rid of TA anyway, Giddens or Walker have a shot at taking some minutes though.

Ray doesn't drop off in the playoffs, good defensive teams have just figured out how to play him. Basically Ray's man sticks to him no matter what and that will take Ray out of his game, the Celtics really don't run too many plays for him and it's just hard for him to get going. His success came against the Lakers and the Bulls, teams that weren't as disciplined (the Lakers missed Ariza 2 years ago). The strategy does have some cost as the rest of the defense plays 4 on 4, but Rondo can't shoot so it's ok to double off Rondo.

 

Don't bring the "hater" stuff with me. I actually like Ray Allen and the way he carries himself. Either way, you'll discover with time that I can objectively discuss players I dislike. The Kobe or LeBron or Wade haters (and others) who refuse to give them any credit on anything are just silly.

Going Celts vs Magic line by line in the 2010 playoffs is hard to do. I'll just say this:

Magic beat the Celts this past season missing Jameer Nelson while the Celts missed KG. The Celts missed KG more than the Magic missed Nelson. IMO, the only reason the series was close was because the Magic lacked a killer instinct and didn't play hard every game. I basically questioned their manhood after game 2. That series was a matter of the Magic playing down to the Celts level. The true measure of the Celts team was how it took them 7 games to beat a headless Bulls team. If the Bulls had a coach that actually deserved the gig, they would have beaten the Celts in 5 or 6 games. It was a tragedy they lost that series. Pin the tail on pathetic and clueless "coach" Vinny.

Nelson will be back healthy. KG is a very big question mark. The Celts also added Rasheed, who is good but is clearly in decline. The Magic switched Turkey-Glue & Courtney Lee for Brandon Bass & Vince Carter. You may not agree, but that makes them a better, more balanced team. Perkins is the only guy on the Celts that can guard Howard. Howard destroys KG and will do the same to Rasheed.

I understand your points about individual player vs. player matchups in a playoff series, but things often don't turn out that way after a long season. You also dismiss age as a factor and I think it will hurt the Celts. Ray Allen (34), KG (33), Rasheed (35) & PP (32) will be pretty old. One or two of those guys will be below par.

As far as Perkins "absolutely neutralizing" Howard, is giving up 18/17 vs. his season average of 21/14 doing that?

I'll do the player vs. player in the post-season stuff at the end of the regular season.

 

Actually I would say it's the other way around about the Injuries. There is no guarantee at all Jameer Nelson will return to his All-Star caliber form next season. No guarantee at all, It could look like a fluke season or he could return back. Who knows? Kevin Garnett is a question mark, but he's had injuries before and he influences the game defensively not offensively so I could see KG coming back fine, not so much about Jameer.

Howard has never destroyed Sheed ever..... See 2008 NBA playoffs Magic vs Pistons for proof, though Maxiell neutralized him most of the time.

I just don't see much of a way for the Magic to win, maybe use Vince Carter to outplay Ray-Ray? That's all I see.