RealGM

Who you got in a 7 game series?

Not adjusted to era, obviously Celtics '24 easily (~comparable in overall talent with much more advanced game).

Adjusted to era, hard to assess Celtics' 24 with their question marks on offense (lack of offensive anchor) in the playoffs.

Celtics' 08 needed best game of PPs career to advance over Cavs '08 - yes, they were also +6 net in the playoffs overall after super strong RS performance and their defense was legendary, but they also had 'only' +2 ORTG offense and once they started to slump, they were really at the brink of elimination due to these limitations against much inferior team. Hard to ignore being outscored in the series by team with 33yo Ilgauskas (?) as the 2nd-best player.

I can imagine Celtics winning a title this year without such 'question mark' after phenomenal regular season (+11 SRS), but we'll see.

Do the 2008 Celtics have time to acclimate themselves to the current league?

If not, the 2024 Celtics would just bombard them with threes.

The Master wrote:Not adjusted to era, obviously Celtics '24 easily (~comparable in overall talent with much more advanced game).

Adjusted to era, hard to assess Celtics' 24 with their question marks on offense (lack of offensive anchor) in the playoffs.

Celtics' 08 needed best game of PPs career to advance over Cavs '08 - yes, they were also +6 net in the playoffs overall after super strong RS performance and their defense was legendary, but they also had 'only' +2 ORTG offense and once they started to slump, they were really at the brink of elimination due to these limitations against much inferior team. Hard to ignore being outscored in the series by team with 33yo Ilgauskas (?) as the 2nd-best player.

I can imagine Celtics winning a title this year without such 'question mark' after phenomenal regular season (+11 SRS), but we'll see.

True, but they also trounced a pretty good Laker team in the finals.

Kobe's 08 playoff run was looking special until he ran into that Celtics defense.

TheGOATRises007 wrote:Do the 2008 Celtics have time to acclimate themselves to the current league?

If not, the 2024 Celtics would just bombard them with threes.

Taking tons of 3's isn't an automatic path to victory. I know everyone acts like it is when they match teams from the last 10 years against teams from earlier but its not a magic I win button. Rule sets are also another factor.

Cavsfansince84 wrote:

TheGOATRises007 wrote:Do the 2008 Celtics have time to acclimate themselves to the current league?

If not, the 2024 Celtics would just bombard them with threes.

Taking tons of 3's isn't an automatic path to victory. I know everyone acts like it is when they match teams from the last 10 years against teams from earlier but its not a magic I win button. Rule sets are also another factor.

The sheer volume discrepancy is too hard to overlook in this case.

Especially when the Celtics make them at a high percentage.

TheGOATRises007 wrote:True, but they also trounced a pretty good Laker team in the finals.

Sure, my point is their 'low' was almost fatal to their championship chances, their 'high' was obviously very high.

In @Sansterre's top100 teams of alltime, they were outside of top50 due to these struggles, so even from statistical standpoint despite fantastic regular season Celtics '08 were ~average championship team. I can imagine Celtics '24 topping this comfortably, especially after +11 SRS regular season.

TheGOATRises007 wrote:
The sheer volume discrepancy is too hard to overlook in this case.

Especially when the Celtics make them at a high percentage.

Not a given that they make them at a high % against that Celtics d though which has an argument for greatest non Russell defense of all time.

Cavsfansince84 wrote:

TheGOATRises007 wrote:Do the 2008 Celtics have time to acclimate themselves to the current league?

If not, the 2024 Celtics would just bombard them with threes.

Taking tons of 3's isn't an automatic path to victory. I know everyone acts like it is when they match teams from the last 10 years against teams from earlier but its not a magic I win button. Rule sets are also another factor.

Nothing’s an automatic win but if the opposition isn’t taking threes and the Celtics are taking 45+ with rotation players 1-10 able to shoot them, well, the paths to victory will be limited.

The Celtics are currently on pace to be one of the best teams ever. I don't put the 2008 Celtics in the upper echelons of teams historically.