Is the 2008-2009 Celtics that good... ?

[mrautobahn]

Or is the league really THAT bad?

I know it is really early... but somehow it seems that a lot of teams that should be doing better this year... are worst...

Quite frankly, I totally expected Philadelphia and Toronto to give the Celtics a run for their money for the Atlantic division... and right now... both of them are bottom dwellers.

I'm not too sure if it is because so many of the GM thought they could be brilliant like DA too... and made trades that didn't deliver... see Elton Brand or Jermaine O'Neal...

So what is it? Bad league or the Celtics are playing very, very well?

[Truthiracy]

Well, a combo of both, wouldn't common sense tell you that?

[SonicYouth34]

Both. We're nasty, but lots of teams are stinking.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Both. We are dominating, and we're also one of only a handful of teams who are not disappointing preseason expectations...

[Dave_From_NB]

I have to exclude the first game of the season against the Cavs, it would appear they were still working out the new lineup. I don't think we'll know how good this team is until some games against the Lakers and Cavs have been played. Really awesome record so far, and the Celtics have done what needed to be done. But I think the statement games are still to come.

[Athanacropolis]

Both. We are dominating, and we're also one of only a handful of teams who are not disappointing preseason expectations...

Yup. A lot of teams tried to make big trades for veteran stars to keep up with Boston (Philly, Phoenix, Dallas, Detroit, Houston) and most of them failed. That accounts for some of the disappointment.

And then you have perennial bottom-of-the-barrel teams (Oklahoma City, Minnesota, Memphis, L.A. Clippers) that continue to suck, and surprisingly awful teams like Washington. Then there are some teams that are surprisingly mediocre-to-good, like New Jersey and New York. So it's an odd year, but I still say that the Celtics are really, really awesome this year.

[djdjdj28]

With the emergence of Rondo this team went from very good last year to great this year. Hopefully Rondo keeps improving.

[mrautobahn]

Yup. A lot of teams tried to make big trades for veteran stars to keep up with Boston (Philly, Phoenix, Dallas, Detroit, Houston) and most of them failed. That accounts for some of the disappointment

Actually, I would give Detroit a little leeway here because the McDyess just rejoined with them. OTOH, someone doesn't like to practice which is a big red flag to me...

Other than that, it does seem that many of the trades were predicated on the fact that DA created a green monster making bold trades for star veterans. I think all the other GMs kinda forgot that KG, Ray and Paul are very similar professionals. They are very competitive, they have the right approach to the game and they all get along well.

[MyInsatiableOne]

^^^But do you seriously think McDyess will push Detroit over the top and make them contenders again? I don't...

[humblebum]

The Pistons are not getting back to contender status with McDyess. Chauncey was more or less the linchpin of that team... Iverson is an overrated chucker who destroys offensive continuity, and furthermore he's a sieve on the defensive end. The Pistons have predicated their game on getting all of their players to buy into a defined role, to share the ball, and to play solid, consistent, positional defense. All of those things suffer with Allen Iverson as a PG which is just about as crazy as putting Ray Allen full time at PG. And still yet they have Stuckey as the backup at PG who's essentially a more in-control and slightly more polished perimeter offensive version of Tony Allen.

Sheed is in decline for sure and they still lack a true center on the roster... no Kwame doesn't qualify because he's not capable of playing a large role (no pun intended) on a championship contender. The move for AI was made PURELY for financial reasons.