Could the current Celtics finals team beat anyone of the 16 Celtic Championship teams in a 7 game series? This team has a great defense and 3 superstars, but those teams were stacked.
Instead of poster all of those rosters here are the links to the team pages.
1957
1959
1960
1961
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1968
1969
1974
1976
1981
1984
1986
The 2008 celtics vs the 16 championship teams
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The 2008 celtics vs the 16 championship teams
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TheSheriff
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Silk Wilkes
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Hard to say, those teams were stacked but as you can tell from guys like LeBron and Dwight Howard, players are evolving physically. The problem is, this team was taken to game 7 twice in these playoffs already. Those teams were dynasties. I can't say anything convincingly. Simulate in in 2K and see what happens, lol.
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BigHands
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I watched all those Celtic teams except the the one in 1957.
A similar discussion was had in 1986 when the Celtics had arguably the best team of all time.
Back then Havlicek said it best when he said the 86 team would have beaten his 74 and 76 team but that for any team to say it was better than a Bill Russell squad would have to prove it on the court as far as Hondo was concerned.
I would never bet against a Russell-led team.
I would certainly pick the 84 and 86 Celtics.
The 81 Celtics lacked Dennis Johnson so that team is weaker but still, Garnet could not guard both Parish and McHale and as much as I respect Pierce the best he could do with Bird is make him work hard - which Bird did anyway.
The match ups with the 74 and 76 teams I find fascinating.
Cowens versus Garnett
Havlicek versus Pierce
Chaney or Charlie Scott versus Ray Allen
Silas would school Perkins and Jojo White would be too much for the young Rondo.
The post defense was better back then IMO but the perimeter is guarded far more aggressively in todays game.
The presence or absence of the 3-point shot would make a big difference.
Scott, White, Sam Jones, and Bill Sharman could all shoot from the outside but without the incentive of the extra point it made no sense for them to even practicing shooting from out there.
We might revisit this if the Celtics beat the Lakers. If the Lakers prevail then the question has been answered conclusively.
A similar discussion was had in 1986 when the Celtics had arguably the best team of all time.
Back then Havlicek said it best when he said the 86 team would have beaten his 74 and 76 team but that for any team to say it was better than a Bill Russell squad would have to prove it on the court as far as Hondo was concerned.
I would never bet against a Russell-led team.
I would certainly pick the 84 and 86 Celtics.
The 81 Celtics lacked Dennis Johnson so that team is weaker but still, Garnet could not guard both Parish and McHale and as much as I respect Pierce the best he could do with Bird is make him work hard - which Bird did anyway.
The match ups with the 74 and 76 teams I find fascinating.
Cowens versus Garnett
Havlicek versus Pierce
Chaney or Charlie Scott versus Ray Allen
Silas would school Perkins and Jojo White would be too much for the young Rondo.
The post defense was better back then IMO but the perimeter is guarded far more aggressively in todays game.
The presence or absence of the 3-point shot would make a big difference.
Scott, White, Sam Jones, and Bill Sharman could all shoot from the outside but without the incentive of the extra point it made no sense for them to even practicing shooting from out there.
We might revisit this if the Celtics beat the Lakers. If the Lakers prevail then the question has been answered conclusively.
"Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being run by smart people who are putting us on, or by imbeciles who really mean it." - Mark Twain