ESPN round table talks about how the east will shake out.

[Joebiscuit]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/stor ... table-East

Seems like they still believe that the Cavs are the team to beat. Some do not seem to high on the celtics. I found this interesting:

Marc Stein, ESPN.com: It's the same nightmare scenario for both. The Cavs are already in the Pistons' heads and I'm quite sure Boston is rooting hard for Cleveland to pass Orlando in the East standings, wanting no part of trying to contain LeBron in Round 2 having already struggled to do so in the teams' regular-season encounters.

Wanting no part? C's lost game 1 because RA missed 2 FT, James was not playing in game 2. KG was not in game 3 and they only lost by 1 or 2 points. Game 4 the c's won.

[freakon0mics]

What I'm wishing for is that Cleveland, Orlando, and Detroit struggle a bit in the 1st round. Hopefully there could be an upset.

[Cyclical]

Thanks for the link Joe. Well, it's not so bad -- 4 out of the 6 guys still think the Celts are coming out of the east, including Stein. Cleveland is extremely dangerous. If they keep the game close in the 4th, they've proven they can win against almost any team. LeBron can just explode on you. Orlando and the Raps are definitely not half as intimidating. I'd rather avoid them if possible or at the very least get them bruised up after a Pistons 2nd round. Still, I think we're the better team and regardless who we face we'll come out of the east this year.

[floyd]

Cleveland doesn't scare me nearly as much as Detroit. Lebron is great, but their roster is just unbalanced. They've got no one to cover Rondo, Ray, or KG. And they've got no one to really make those guys work. Over a series we'll be able to throw the kitchen sink at Lebron with doubles and multiple bodies. I don't see those other guys beating you.

[TheSheriff]

Ray, Sam, and Kevin will own the Cavs. Who is going to cover them? Wally? Gibson? Delonte? Ben Wallace won't want to come out the perimeter to cover KG. Mean while the Celtics can let Lebron have his 25 to 30 points and still easily win.

One of those ESPN guys said Lebron alone can match the scoring of the big three. Really? He is going to average close SIXTY points for a series? REALLY?!

[Celtics_85]

They are just doing what they are suppose to do. They all can't just give it to the Celtics or there won't be any hype. The playoffs are another season, we will see the true makeup of this team then.
But really, don't we have the best defense in the league? Don't we have three very hungry stars? Don't we have the best defensive coach in the league? Isn't there seven game series to be played? Answer these questions and as Celtics fans we can come up with our chances at the Title. We don't need anylists that don't see this team as we do answering this question. We are the underdog till we prove differently, which this team is good at doing.

[Bleeding Green]

Toronto is getting no love. If those shooters get even remotely hot they could make quick work of any team in the league. They can put out a starting 5 of guys who shoot over 40% from 3 as a group.

Remember when they went 15-21 from 3 and beat the Celtics despite the Celtics dominating in every other aspect of the game?

It's Boston and Detroit and then everyone else anyway. Cleveland? Please.

[Fencer reregistered]

3. Doc Rivers: His willingness to set his ego aside and let assistant Tom Thibodeau scream the entire game has helped make Boston's defense the league's best; next test is his ability to slot new pickups Cassell and Brown into an already effective rotation.

I've said it before -- in the areas where being a good human being actually MATTERS to success, Doc excels. Reasonable people can disagree about how many or how big such areas are, and I'm not necessarily one of the people with a high estimate there. But being a really good guy does count.

[Big Baby Burger]

Celtics fans should be rooting for Cleveland to pull ahead of Orlando in the standings. I'll take the easiest road to the finals, please. kthx

[GuyClinch]

Cleveland is a one man team - maybe Lebron can go for 69 ala Jordan but his team isn't any better then that sad team..

I mean did you seem the get spanked by the Bulls tonight? The announcers tried to talk up the Bulls but I ain't buying it.

Pete

[Rasheeed!!!]

Cleveland is still a threat to everyone. If they hadn't had injuries to Varajao, Pavlovic, Z, Gibson, LBJ they would have 40+ wins by now and right in the mix with Boston and Detroit.

Secondly, Cleveland has enough of a team to hang with anyone for 3 Q's, and then James can take over. Their roster may look weak, but their D and rebounding is enough to make them a hard team to beat.

[floyd]

Secondly, Cleveland has enough of a team to hang with anyone for 3 Q's, and then James can take over. Their roster may look weak, but their D and rebounding is enough to make them a hard team to beat.

Did you watch the last Celts vs Cavs game? Wally was trying to guard Ray and he was 3 steps behind him the whole game.
And who's gonna keep Rondo out of the paint?
I just don't see it. Even Jordan had Scottie.

[Red2]

it's ahuge mistake to verlook cleveland. they have the best player in the league or the 2nd best if you favor kobe over lebron and that is huge especially in the playoffs. Lebron though is a volume shooter and needs lots of shots so it reminds me a little of MJ early in his career. he may score 63 against us but we have a better overall team. I like the additions they made but wally doesn't scare me and delonte while a nice player doesn't demand a double team. wallace can't shoot and appears to be on the decline and joe smith is a steady guy but again no threat one on one. so we can stay at home on those guys and basically it comes down to whether Lebron can beat you by himself.

[Rasheeed!!!]

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Did you watch the last Celts vs Cavs game? Wally was trying to guard Ray and he was 3 steps behind him the whole game.
And who's gonna keep Rondo out of the paint?
I just don't see it. Even Jordan had Scottie.

1 game doesn't make a series that will be 2+ months away......and I doubt that Rondo is the Cavs biggest concern. He's no Tony Parker for sure.

[humblebum]

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1 game doesn't make a series that will be 2+ months away......and I doubt that Rondo is the Cavs biggest concern. He's no Tony Parker for sure.

The C's have big mismatches at PF and PG, with Wallace trying to check KG and Gibson, West trying to check Rondo. I actually think that the Cavs do have two players to guard Ray and Paul in Pavlovic and Lebron. The problem with that is that Lebron has to do sooo soo much offensively that he might not have the gas to really do a good job on Pierce at the other end.

In regards to Rondo, teams in the playoffs will begin to understand Rondo's importance to the team and will react accordingly. He'll get more attention than you think Rasheed!! because he can dominate one on one matchups with his speed and ball handling. Rondo has to be schemed out of the offense by sending two guys his way to take away penetration. In a series with Cleveland I believe you would even see a lot of Lebron trying to check Rondo, with the understanding that the PG's in Cleveland have NO chance of stopping or slowing Rajon.

[TheSheriff]

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I just don't see it. Even Jordan had Scottie.

Before he had Scottie he dropped 63 in the Garden and lost to the old Big Three.

[Man_Up]

I don't think anyteam want's to deal with the Cleveland Lebron's in anyround. He can make a series a lot longer than it has too be.

[GreenOkie]

has anyone noticed that there is not a team in the east that is mathematically out of the playoffs? even miami with its 11 wins...