What do the next 4 or 5 top ranked teams need to do

[Texas Chuck]

My point is that whatever Dallas did in the regular season, before or after trades or injuries, in the postseason they ACTUALLY defeated 3 of the top 4 seeds in the West. So they seemed pretty good.

And then the Celtics dominated them.

No disrespect to Dallas, and their late season surge was great but still they are one of the weakest WC champions in recent memory.

And I know it is not Boston's fault that Luka being gassed out (bc of his conditioning and chest wall contusion IMO) but this together with Boston having an easy path the finals due to the injuries contributed to this "domination". Boston is my favorite to win it all next year, and unlike most NBA fans I like watching them, especially White, but the gap vs other teams is smaller than it looked in this playoffs.

I don't know that we know the gap is small or not. Boston had some good fortune in the playoffs to be sure, but they also made quick work of their opponents, losing only 3x and no more than once to any team. Pacers played them tough but Cleveland and Miami combined for one competitive loss out of 8, they got dispatched with ease. Dallas managed two competitive looking scores but one of those required a huge late surge.

So maybe if Boston faced a healthy Bucks or Knicks or Sixers or Heat maybe the gap is small? But we can't say for sure. Maybe one of hte other West contenders matches up better, doesn't have their star battling so many injuries? We can't say for sure.

All we can say, is whomever Boston did face, they had no struggles with. A very dominant playoff run after being by far the best RS team. I would assume the gap is big headed into next season with the entire rotation returning. Now the other teams aren't going to sit back and some of the challengers are going to be able to upgrade their team.

But today if you gave me Boston vs the field, I'd be tempted to take Boston.

[Fencer reregistered]

My point is that whatever Dallas did in the regular season, before or after trades or injuries, in the postseason they ACTUALLY defeated 3 of the top 4 seeds in the West. So they seemed pretty good.

And then the Celtics dominated them.

No disrespect to Dallas, and their late season surge was great but still they are one of the weakest WC champions in recent memory.

And I know it is not Boston's fault that Luka being gassed out (bc of his conditioning and chest wall contusion IMO) but this together with Boston having an easy path the finals due to the injuries contributed to this "domination". Boston is my favorite to win it all next year, and unlike most NBA fans I like watching them, especially White, but the gap vs other teams is smaller than it looked in this playoffs.

That's fair.

Anyhow -- one problem in team building is that you have to prepare to deal with really good offensive bigs. Jokic still exists. Embiid or Porzingis could be healthy any given year. Towns is on a good team. And, of course, Wemby is coming soon.

That's in addition to all the team building you need to do with respect to perimeter players and schemes.

[Fencer reregistered]

My point is that whatever Dallas did in the regular season, before or after trades or injuries, in the postseason they ACTUALLY defeated 3 of the top 4 seeds in the West. So they seemed pretty good.

And then the Celtics dominated them.

No disrespect to Dallas, and their late season surge was great but still they are one of the weakest WC champions in recent memory.

And I know it is not Boston's fault that Luka being gassed out (bc of his conditioning and chest wall contusion IMO) but this together with Boston having an easy path the finals due to the injuries contributed to this "domination". Boston is my favorite to win it all next year, and unlike most NBA fans I like watching them, especially White, but the gap vs other teams is smaller than it looked in this playoffs.

I don't know that we know the gap is small or not. Boston had some good fortune in the playoffs to be sure, but they also made quick work of their opponents, losing only 3x and no more than once to any team. Pacers played them tough but Cleveland and Miami combined for one competitive loss out of 8, they got dispatched with ease. Dallas managed two competitive looking scores but one of those required a huge late surge.

So maybe if Boston faced a healthy Bucks or Knicks or Sixers or Heat maybe the gap is small? But we can't say for sure. Maybe one of hte other West contenders matches up better, doesn't have their star battling so many injuries? We can't say for sure.

All we can say, is whomever Boston did face, they had no struggles with. A very dominant playoff run after being by far the best playoff team. I would assume the gap is big headed into next season with the entire rotation returning. Now the other teams aren't going to sit back and some of the challengers are going to be able to upgrade their team.

But today if you gave me Boston vs the field, I'd be tempted to take Boston.

The best evidence to support Boston being not all THAT dominant is that they went 5-5 in the regular season against the top 5 teams in the West. They just went 59-13 against everybody ELSE. (Also, if you count the Finals that increases to 9-6.)

Anyhow, your argument has a lot of merit, all the more because they were playing without much Porzingis, because there's a good chance Tatum finds his shot again soon, and generally because most of their rotation is still young enough to improve.

[blueberrysticky]

You need to find a way to equal their number of quality 2 way players. And with the CBA coming who knows

A team with six two-way players just beat a team with zero two-way players.

Two-way players are gold. You can probably get away with two offensive stars if your next three or four are two-way players, or an exquisite blend of a stopper and a shooter and a couple of legit two-way guys.

The trouble is, just like there are probably fewer than 10 true #1s to spread among 30 teams, there are only a few dozen true two-way players. Most of the time it's a #3 being paid like a #1, a couple of "3-and-D" wings who shoot 32 percent from three, and a limited rim runner/protector.

Picking up Jrue White and Porz versus their 2022 team is nuts. The difference between 2022 being shaky Celtics and 2024 being the Celtics vs the field.

The Celtics felt uphill as a mavs fan immediately in game 1. I could see all the matchup problems with my eyes. Forget numbers. The same matchups that went our way versus the clippers/thunder/wolves

Never got that feeling vs the 1,3,4 seeds on the west. I went “oh we have Luka we will be fine”. Versus the Celtics it’s “oh we are going to get bombarded from all angles, legit 5-out and Luka is out of gas and bum knees” The Celtics made sure he stayed on fumes.