Are the new look Celtics better than the Bulls?

Not necessarily top to bottom, but this team has the potential to beat anyone in a seven game series. That's all that really matters.

 

Pistons maybe because that team has been losing depth for the last couple of years and this up coming year they'll be as thin as they've been in quite a while.

The Bulls on the other hand are deep, IMO, and young. They made some major strides last year and keeping that core group together will pay dividends this upcoming season. It tough to call but I think the Bulls are a notch above the Celts mainly because of their youth and depth

 

I think a lot of people are underestimating just how bad defensively a 2/3 duo of Allen and Pierce is really going to be. Any normal 2/3 that averages 17-20 PPG should be able to go off for 30 a night against Boston. That being said, I just can't see how they would be able to slow down Gordon and Deng enough to win a seven game series.

 

The Bulls could have been an Eastern Conference Dynasty. They trade Tyson Chandler for PJ Brown's expiring contract and then simply let it expire? I don't get it. It's as confusing as the Knicks buying out Jalen Rose's expiring contract and then turning around and piling on more bloated deals later in the year.

 

They traded Chandler away so they could "take on" the salary of Ben Wallace basically. That move was strictly to matchup against Shaq.

And they still have to pay Luol Deng, Hinrich and Gordon. They are going to run up on some hard decisions soon much like the Suns have had to do.

 

All they need to fill in their other spots are a few average role players and the Euroleagues and NBDL are full of those kind of dudes. Not to mention they can pick up a few scrubs here and there that other teams don't want to resurrect their careers. They will be good enough for the Celts to win.

 

If Celtics won't make it to the Finals this season, expect a new coach. I hope it will be jeff fire gundy.

 

If they had someone to initiate the offense, as well as be a threat with the ball in his hands (hinrich), then I would be worried about the Celtics. IMO, the Bulls are too deep for a Boston team that won't play much defense. The resurrection of this rivalry will be something I root for, though.

 

I voted based on who I'd least like the Rocket to face - Celtics or Bulls. I'd rather play the Bulls. Celtics 3 are rather fearsome. It may take some time for them to learn how to play together vs the Bulls already have some experience, but once they get it together I think they will be hard to stop.

 

Ben Wallace may be primarily to match up against Shaq, but they probably felt it was a mortal blow to Detroit at the same time, and look how that turned out. Heck, I thought the Bulls were going the Finals from the point of the Wallace signing and until they got eliminated

 

I expect Tyrus Thomas to explode next year. His motor and enthusiasm are unmatched. The defensive impact he will invoke will make the Bulls so dangerous. On top of that his offensive game is slowly budding.

 

I think the Bulls will win a few more games, not much. But I do need to say this:

Over the last three seasons, Hinrich and Deng have been freakishly good playing Ray Allen and Paul Pierce defensively. If I had to pick one superstar both play brilliantly against, it would be those two. It's a nice co-incidence (for me) that they both ended up on the same team.

 

I probably watched significant parts of nearly 65 Pistons regular season games last year, and each one of their playoff games (some were re-watched, nearly all the playoff games have been re-watched). The two games they played against the Bulls in Gms 1 and 2 of the ECS were BY FAR the two best games they played all season.

 

Maybe this is the year Deng/Gordon/Hinrich/Nocioni all improve to another level and the Bulls will grab the Eastern Conference crown with authority. But part of me thinks something is missing and I just can't put my finger on it. If they don't mature and make the Finals, it's time to put Skiles on the hot seat. I realize an inside scorer would help.

It's too early to say about the Celtics. It takes more than 3 to be a contender and Ainge has a ways to go in filling the remaining roster spots.

 

I don't think skiles can cut it for prime time. He's too much of a egotistical b*stard for his players to trust him.

 

I think the Bulls still have a donut in the middle on offense. Basically no playoff caliber low post threat. They don't have a Wade or Nash or Lebron caliber playmaker on the outside either.

I think they are very good, can play excellent defense and get good perimeter offense, but they don't have the beast offensively to consistently break down quality opposing defenses.

So right now I'd say edge Boston between these two teams. But it is dependent on KG having an MVP caliber season. That said, neither is as good as Cleveland, with possibly Detroit and Miami (if they get their act together and add some athletes) in the mix.

 

i've been giving this a lot of thought lately, which is funny since i guess i'm not the only one.

here's what i've decided:

there are 2 ways to think about this. the first is during the regular season marathon. 82 games without a real bench will prove difficult. just ask yao and tmac. sure, they didn't have a 3rd superstar, but you get the point. i don't expect the celtics to have a better record than the pistons, cavs, or bulls because of that.

now the second half of my thinking...the playoffs. assuming they win their division i expect them to get to the second round. the second round means a series with either the pistons, bulls or cavs. i think the ONLY team the C's can beat out of this bunch is the bulls. here's why:

against the pistons: while neither bench is great, the C's face a huge dissadvantage at PG. billups will pick apart rondo like kidd did to ford in the playoffs. and we see how that turned out for toronto

against the cavs: the C's starters will be able to hold thier own, it's just the bench that will cost them points against a deep cavs team. remember rockets/jazz last year?

against the bulls: the C's face the same bepth however, they have a clear advantage at SG. gordon is too small to guard ray allen's lights out shooting. on the other end, gordon is just a jumpshooter himself, rarely posting up or driving to the paint. this advantage is what should win them the series.

 

Cleveland is still as overrated as ever. They would have lost in the first round had they played Miami the way it should have been. Detroit, Boston, Chicago and possibly Toronto are all still better than Cleveland, IMO.