Boston is coming back!

[Colin]

Good news for all you Celtics fans. That Antoine trade has benefited them hugely. They have won 6 of their last 7 games with Antoine defeating the Suns ( :@ ) and the Pistons in the process.

What do you guys think about the team now?

I haven't had the chance to watch any of their games, but the general feeling I get from highlights and such is that everyone around is overall playing better. Pierce had 38 and 12 boards last night, Ricky had 23, and even Mark Blount crawled out from under his rock to score 17 (and get a mere 4 rebounds, but that's not the point). Hopefully I get a couple Celtics games shown up here in the near future.

[Matthew]

They were in first place of their division before the trade, so they are in the same spot. The trade helped them alot. Danny Ainge went from one of the worst gm's to one of the better ones in one day. They have alot of depth at the moment.

[fgrep15]

The biggest thing for me was Antione shutting down Al Harrington down the stretch against the Hawks. The Raptors just experienced some Al Harrington and Tyronn Lue domination last night, so maybe Antione could've helped just for one game to put the clamps on Harrington down the stretch .

Antione is still his shot jacking self, but noticable differences as a Celtic he's attempting 2.9 three's a game as opposed to 5.1 as a Hawk, and his turnovers are down about 0.3 per minute. He's also shooting 44.8% right now, which will likely go down, but s'all good for now. They're definately a very talented team though.

I hope Philly doesn't make the playoffs, not because I don't like them, but because the Raptors get their pick, and it would be nice for it to be lottery, and likely 12th pick if Philly doesn't make it.

[-BHZMAFIA-]

I knew they would win the division easily after they got Walker back. Especially sicne they have Payton back, they will no doubt win the division. If they would've kept the same team, I wouldn't see them still winning for some reason even though they were already winning. They should be 7-0 with Walker, but the Twolves barely beat them. I think the Celtics cna make it to the Eastern Conference Finals as well because they have a good chance at beating the Pistons in a series. If they play the Heat, I'm not too sure they can beat them, but they do have the depth which the Heat don't have.

[Sauru]

the biggest thing with the walker trade is attitude. the attitude in boston has changed so much since the deal went down. its funny really, when he was traded most of boston was singing for joy and now that he has returned we are singing the same damn song. i think the trade also helped walker grow as a player and person so i am damn glad to see him back. infact i hope they work out a deal to resign him, to a much lesser dollar amount of course.

[Fresh8]

BOston has a deep deep roster. the fact that Walker used to play with the Celtics really impacts on their success. But the team is good. That undeniable. And they want to win- even better!

And did someoen say my man Lue domianted???

[Amphatoast]

hmm could the celtics actually be a real number 3 seed behind miami and detriot? ( meaning being the 3rd best team in the east)

[Fresh8]

I think they are better than Miami...

1. Detroit
2. Boston
3. Miami
4. Washignton

[fgrep15]

And did someoen say my man Lue domianted???

Yes he scored 29 points on some high shooting, I think he had 28 in the game before that too.

I think they are better than Miami...

I think Miami is better than all of those teams:

1) Miami
2) Detroit
3) Washington
4) Boston
5) Cleveland

Miami has proved they're good, it's an insult to what they're been doing all year to not list them as the best team in the East, whether you like them or not, and putting Boston over them, that's too much.

I put Washington ahead of Boston because Washington has been injured a lot, first Kwame, Etan and Blake earilier, and then now Jamison, Dixon and Hayes. A fully healthy Wizards team is better.

[Fresh8]

I really think Detroit is the best team in the Eastern Conference. Washington has potential to be awesome but injuries as u said have held them back. Miami is good no doubt but I am really not sure if Shaq can play playoff basketball anymore.. .we will see!

Cleveland is on a slide... but I think they could be a Top 4 team. But thats only me and if only Indiana got the whole squad lol...

[Sauru]

detroit is a team built for the grind of the playoffs and they have been there before. i would not want to play them if i was any of the other 7 teams in the east. on the other hand i think the celtics also have a chance to really upset someone. they are playing alot better now and i expect it too keep up, but come playoff time if walker gets hot it wont matter who we play. now you may laugh at that statement but when ever walker was on for us the game was over, the problem with him was he always thought he was on.

[Strike Freedom]

i don't think Detroit is the best team....
too bad Indiana had injury problems...
i wouldn't think Indiana would lose if Artest and O'neal were healthy..
Cuz Detroit only beat them by little margin..
same as Lakers... who had the injury problems..
if Horace Grant.. and Malone were healthy..
outcome would'd been different..
as well as .. the ..ref's call....
--
i just didn't approve Detroit's a good team..
but..larry brown hadn't have a chance to prove himself
as the best headcoach in the world..
cuz he lost the world basketball with the best team in the world..

[jwill2]

i don't think Detroit is the best team....
too bad Indiana had injury problems...
i wouldn't think Indiana would lose if Artest and O'neal were healthy..
Cuz Detroit only beat them by little margin..
same as Lakers... who had the injury problems..
if Horace Grant.. and Malone were healthy..
outcome would'd been different..
as well as .. the ..ref's call....
--
i just didn't approve Detroit's a good team..
but..larry brown hadn't have a chance to prove himself
as the best headcoach in the world..
cuz he lost the world basketball with the best team in the world..

guessing what team is the best in the east is pretty much a crapshoot. i don't care that you don't think detroit's a good team, but heck, don't diss my man larry brown. he went to the olympics with only 3/4 players that gave a shit (iverson, duncan, come to mind). they did a piss poor job of picking players.

[Strike Freedom]

Phil Jackson is better..

[8-Hype]

I think Miami is better than all of those teams:

1) Miami
2) Detroit
3) Washington
4) Boston
5) Cleveland

Right, but:

1) Miami
2) Boston
3) Detroit
4) Washington

And generally I think they can come big in the Playoffs. They won against the Suns and Pistons, maybe this is only the begining of a fabolous season. They're just hot right now, but I told you before.

[Fresh8]

Larry Brown had prob the third best team they could get... if he lost with KG, Tmac, Shaq, Kobe, Kidd, TD, Jermaine O'neal, Ben Wallace, Ray Allen, Ron Artest... i would say he was a crap coach!

[Andrew]

I anticipated a closer battle for the Atlantic Division after the trade deadline, but things aren't working out in Philadelphia and Boston is running away with the third seed. Right now, the Sixers have a bit too much ground to cover, especially with the Celtics playing as well as they are.

[Matt]

PP is a new man with Walker on board. I'm wondering what will happen to Walker at the end of the season.

don't think Detroit is the best team....
too bad Indiana had injury problems...
i wouldn't think Indiana would lose if Artest and O'neal were healthy..
Cuz Detroit only beat them by little margin..
same as Lakers... who had the injury problems..
if Horace Grant.. and Malone were healthy..
outcome would'd been different..
as well as .. the ..ref's call....

I'm guessing your talking about last season right.....the one in which Detroit beat Indiana 4-2 w/o homecourt advantage....you can list injuries all you want but that's what happens in the playoffs, Rasheed Wallace played with plantar fascitis the entire playoffs. As far as the Lakers go, Shaq & Kobe were healthy and that's all they needed to win 3 rings....getting beaten 1-4 is no fluke. The Nets were the biggest problem for the Pistons for obvious reasons.

anyways, the 2 most dangerous teams not named Detroit or Miami are washington and boston. Washington dont have a good record against the top East teams but they still look very dangerous. Boston could knock out Detroit or Miami, although i don't see it happening, but they could stretch them to 7.

[Fresh8]

The East is jsut better than it was last season... great matchups!

[Amphatoast]

and the power starting to shift a little East now
(addition of Shaq, Webber, Jamison, Francis, Walker [hawks is a NCAA team].. subtraction of McGrady)

[Andrew]

The West boasts better records 1 through 10, though the East teams aren't too far behind and right now the top eight teams in both conferences have at least 30 wins. It's definitely much more even these days.

[Matt]

as long as the East's top teams match up to Wests top teams then i think everything is OK. Certainly Miami & Detroit are up to the Wests level.

[Matthew]

As for all the hype about how uneven the conferences have been, only two season (1999 and 2002) have the finals not been a rollercoaster ride. It wasn't as bad as people made out, and thank god detroit kicked the shit out of the lakers last year so people will start to realise this.

[Sauru]

i don't think Detroit is the best team....
too bad Indiana had injury problems...
i wouldn't think Indiana would lose if Artest and O'neal were healthy..
Cuz Detroit only beat them by little margin..
same as Lakers... who had the injury problems..
if Horace Grant.. and Malone were healthy..
outcome would'd been different..
as well as .. the ..ref's call....
--
i just didn't approve Detroit's a good team..
but..larry brown hadn't have a chance to prove himself
as the best headcoach in the world..
cuz he lost the world basketball with the best team in the world..

first of all the ref thing is stupid. secondly, all teams face injuries in the playoffs, its the team that overcomes them that wins. like said earlier, shaq and kobe were healthy and they still only won a single game and they barely won that game. infact they never should have won if detroit would have just fouled shaq the second he touched the ball.

[Matthew]

If Malone was healthy though, it changes the whole structure of detroits defense. They wouldnt have been able to collapse on kobes penetration, and malone posting with shaq cutting is simply unstopable. Im not making excuses, but dont discount how big of a loss malone's absence was.