Happy New Year! So, it's been a good two months (yikes!!) since my last post, so I figured it was about time to dust off the keyboard and get back to it. The college bowl season is almost over (thank God), as it left us with very little excitement, and more questions than answers, as usual. So, as another calendar year gets underway, we find something that we haven't seen in some time: two heavyweight foes battling it out in the EASTERN Conference. You'd have to go back to the days when Jordan ruled the court to find the last time all the NBA chatter has been about the East. Boston, with the addition of the Big 3, is making a run at MJ's 72 win Bulls team. The Pistons, meanwhile, seem to be flying under the radar, while playing their best TEAM ball since the championship team. Sure, Flip Saunders and company flirted with 70 wins two seasons ago, but it resulted in a tired starting 5, and an underdeveloped bench. This season has been just the opposite. The starters are averaging more than two less minutes per game, while the bench has not only maintained an advantage when coming into games, they've actually increased the lead numerous times. The growth of Jason Maxiell, now in his 3rd year, has been tremendous. He's grown into a solid 6th man before our very eyes. The energy and tenacity he brings on a nightly basis is something to behold. Jarvis Hayes has proven his 4 average years with the Wizards might have been a fluke, as he has found his shooting touch, providing a "micro-wave" like scorer off the bench. Not to be forgotten, rookies Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo have also been solid, if not spectacular, at certain points this season. The Pistons are one of the few NBA teams that are actually 12 deep, and still have Flip Murray and Lindsey Hunter in street clothes on most nights. The Celtics, meanwhile, have the best defense in the NBA right now, not to mention the largest average margin of victory. Rajon Rando continues to develop, although his biggest progression will have to come on the defensive end if the Celtics hope to stop the Pistons in a 7-game series. Either way, Boston is the real deal, making it feel like 1987 all over again, as the Pistons and Celtics are once again battling it out for Eastern Conference Supremecy. While it doesn't mean much in January, it at least makes things interesting once again in the much-maligned East, and should have us NBA fans salivating come playoff time.
I havebeen watching NBA since back in the Bird days, the Reffing is terrible, both ways. What the hay has happened to the NBA reffs, they really suck. I dont care who you root for. We NEED some standards.
Can we now dispense with the "Celtics haven't played anybody" talk. It was a Great game, Pistons are real tough. I think we can now say after all this time that the Celtics are for REAL. Time to move them to #1 in the power rankings
Dasboot
You are so right it is time for all of these haters to recognize the Celtics and their return to greatness. The only three teams left to beat are the Suns, Spurs and Mavs. I might think about the Trailblazers just in case.
Last edited by bostontiger1 on January 5th at 10:49 PM.
Nobody took seriuosly celtics bench before season started. But now C's bench has prooved themselves to the point when they can beat even Pistons, who certainly have the deepest roaster in the NBA. It simply means that people underestimated C's bench they are much better then evrybody expected, admit it people.
Sorry Detroit fans But Celts are now New Beast of the East. Big Baby + is just rookie but what a fabulous performance. See what's gonna happen next: Spurs, Mav's, Sun's - all of them will be beaten by New Celts. Go Celts!!!!
See everyone keeps saying that Detroit is developing it's bench. They keep forgetting that Boston is developing it's big 3. They're still getting used to playing together. Their bench is still spectacular however. Glen Davis has shown that he can throw down with the best of them. Once the celtics start developing their bench, I think Baby will be moved to startin Center. It may end up being the fantastic 4..lol. Either way, the Celtics are for real. Next date: Jan 31
As the season began - all everyone (well most everyone) could say about the Celts was that their bench was weak. Sure, they had the "Big 3" but NOONE after that. Well, as often happens in sports - the arrival of strong leader(s) can have a "trickle down" effect. The whole team practices harder. When they get into the game they DO NOT want to let down KG, RA, or PP - so they have up'd their game. Many writers and anti-fans forgot to even give this occasionally observed phenomenon a consideration.
Celtics #1, baby! No make that, Big Baby! Where's the hype? When the C's lost three weeks ago, all we got was how great the Pistons were. Now they've avenged themselves, we're still getting how great the Pistons are. Some one has to tell Bill Walton & Tony Meija at CBS that things are going to be different now!
We will see soon enough. Iam in Detroit, but one thing is for sure, lets root on the east and beat those west coast teams! Go Pistons, Boston and Cleveland
give it up to the east, and Boston celtics. Garnet is a blessing because he has influenced the team in so many ways. Thanks once more time for beating the Piston and proving your critics wrong.
"Can the C's win out west? They answered that question with a 4-0 trip as Paul Pierce, in particular, rose to the occasion. Boston can take over the top spot with a win in Detroit on Saturday". The celtics have accomplshed this task. Can you please move them up to the #1 spot, and give honor to whom it is due?
Last edited by olson434 on January 6th at 1:43 PM.
most of u guys r ######## s...the pistons beat the celtics the first meeting so dont go right away and talk bout how the celtics need to be numba 1 in power rankings...i will laugh when the pistons make it to thier sixth eastern conference championship in six years and then blow away the celtics with their lack of playoff experience...
Where are all the bloggers who kept saying the CELTICS are a JV TEAM and don't play any REAL NBA TEAMS now. Amazing how they have suddently vanished!
CELTICS are ONLY GETTING BETTER with each game and will be a force the entire season if they stay healthy.
The CELTICS were even critized for NOT HAVING A BENCH....well, these CELTIC CRITICS must not be actually WATCHING their games because THEIR BENCH is more than holding their own....POSEY, HOUSE, TONY ALLEN, BIG BABY have been GREAT COMING OFF THE BENCH.
AND, for the BOSTON HATERS, the RED SOX, PATRIOTS AND CELTICS are a combined 52 WINS AND 3 LOSSES SINCE OCTOBER 18TH, 2007. "NO OTHER CITY" can match that RECORD.....BOSTON SPORTS DOMINATE!
This is a continuation of a legacy. Not a dynasty. Patriots is dynasty. Celtics is a legacy.
Best of the East? Yes. I think Celts proved that not only last night but by only lossing three games this season by a combind points of five.
We keep talking about the, "BIG 3" but there are more Big players on this team who deserve credit.
The Celtics have 50 games left. If they win only half of them, they would have 54 wins. That's probably enough to win their division and the 2nd or 3rd best record in the East. I started paying attention in the Bird-Magic era. Boy did I get spoiled. I'd be surprised if they don't win at least 65 games. As for passing 72 everything would have to go right and some lucky breaks would have to go their way. It's going to be a dogfight in the West. I'm glad my Celtics are going to have a somewhat easier time of it. I remember when it was the other way around and the Lakers had a cakewalk to the finals. How sweet it is. Go Celtics.
Its all funny to me, where were all you Boston fans last year? All three of your "big Three" are in fact great players. It is very clear to me that they will try to chase 72 or even 70 wins just as Detroit did two seasons ago. In doing so (just as they have done so far) Boston will over work the Boston three party! Come playoff time that matters, that is what hurt our Pistons so much the last two seasons. The bench is way under rated in the NBA! So your Celtics may have a better record at the end of the season.... But this aint the NHL.... No presidents cup! Playoffs are what counts, n for that ur starters need to be rested n u must have a bench. One game from baby doesn't qualify as a bench!
As for ur Patriots , can't agree more... They rock! Hey where is Brady from? Oh yeah University of Michigan!
Ball dont Lie!
JayRC,
Your analysis is way off. Like other haters, you have hopped aboard the "Big 3 play too many minutes" Bandwagon. The minutes issue is far more complex than you realize. You can't just look at a team and conclude the one whose starters are getting the most rest will go deep into the playoffs. First off, some players can handle more minutes than others. Mr. Pierce and Mr. Garnett, please step forward. Second, when you play on a team with so many options, you don't take much of a beating as you do when you're the only option. You can't say that a minute on the Celtics is just as bad as a minute on the Sonics or on the Wolves, say.
So many Pistons fans said before this game that if Boston could take out the Pistons in Detroit, they'd start to respect the Celtics. Yet here we are, after Boston's convincing victory in Detroit, led by that "terrible Celtics bench."
So why don't you and other haters just man up and admit you were wrong about the Celtics, that they are better than you thought they were and are a legit championship contender, instead of coming up with yet another fanciful excuse why a 29-3 team is terrible.
Goodbye Detroit. Go hop on Eminem's nuts with the rest of you fake gangsters. Detroit plays Boston once more that's it, Pistons ain't even makin it to the East finals they're washed up lethargic dirty crappy players. The refs did everything they could to change the outcome and we wasted them. First foul on Garnett against Maxiell was nonsense, all ball. Imagine a call like that against Jordan, what's the difference KG is MVP also. Third foul on KG was bullshi*. Foul on Perkins which caused a T by Doc was phony never even touched Billups. Blocking foul on Davis at end with Billups again was garbage. Not even one questionalby close call went Boston's way. Eat it. 79-3 basically season is over Boston should rest the big three so they can raise the 18th, 17th should already be hanging up there its over. Talent wise its not even close. Pistons play little baby ball waiting for other guys to make mistakes. Boston is a freakin monster. Everybody is talented. D-troit don't even want it and they shouldn't who are they to continue the racism the NBA has bought against sportsmanship.
Just thought i would point out that Detroit has not won 6 eastern conferences in the past 6 years. Do you forget that Miami did win a championship and to get there they had to beat the pistions. Hate to burst you bubble but whatever.
OMG...I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CELTIC FANS GLOATING IN YOUR REFEREE INSPIRED WIN! THAT'S RIGHT...REFEREE INSPIRED...KINDA HARD NOT TO WIN WITH A 8 MAN TEAM ON THE FLOOR. I'VE BEEN WATCHING BASKETBALL FOR OVER 40 YEARS AND HAVE NEVER SEEN A MORE BIASED ONE SIDED CALLED GAME IN MY LIFE. IT ALMOST LOOK LIKE THE NBA PUT THE FIX IN FOR BOSTON ( NAW...THEY WOULD'NT DO THAT...LOOK AT LAST YEAR WITH CLEVELAND...LOL) I THINK BEFORE YOU CELTIC FANS START HOISTING YOUR CHAMPIONSHIP BANNER AND SELF PROCLAIMING YOURSELVES THE BEAST OF THE EAST...YOU NEED TO PROVE IT A LITTLE MORE THAN JUST WITH 1 FLAWED WIN...LOL
Yea I guess the Celts really didn't deserve to win that game. I'm thinkin the refs probably won the other 28 games for them to. They don't deserve any credit at all. Another Piston fan in denial. If you've been watchin for 40 years then who were you a fan of before Bird stole the ball cause the Pistons were non existent. The Celtics have pretty much sucked for the last 17 years so why don't you give us a break, let us enjoy what we have while we have it.
Irishrandy what are you talking about? Ref's were biased towards Celt's??? This is most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. I think it's exactly opposite - celt's got more wrong calls then Detroit. It's funny that now you, Detroit fans are talikng about bias against Detroit from ref's - I have not heard any complaints when Detroit pulled off a win in last second in Boston. Be fair, admit it - Celt's were better Saturday, they found good defensive weapon against Pistons, that why they won. You can find millions various arguments why Celts won, but it's gonna be nothing more then lying to yourself. Pistons are no longer the only Beast of the East, CELTS ARE
boston fans enjoy this now. you will be singing a different tune after the playoffs. Detroit in 6 by the way. You might as well go back to baseball oh wait the tigers are gonna crush you there. Alright hockey then go bruins oh yeah they su.ck. red wings own. At least we in michigan were kind enough to give you tom brady. We cant have our cake and eat it too. the lions are terrible. Go patriots??
I Lick watermelons- Don't be mad cause the Tigers fell apart at the end of the year and now the Pistons will be dethroned as the best team in the East. The Celts have three legit allstars and an underrated bench that can beat any team in a 7 game series. And to be honest the Spurs and Dallas pose more of threat than the Pistons ever will.
#48(The sixth man) on Boston should've been credited with 10 assists...
I was there, the officiating was AWFUL...Still the Pistons had opportunities to win the game and didn't capitalize...
Boston is good, but take away KG or Allen You have a belowe avg. team.
Big Baby did a heck of a job. I don't know if He'll ever score 20 again, nonetheless He played Great !!!
See You CHOWDERHEADS in the Eastern Finals when We sweep you, and the Shamrocks are dismanteled...
You celtic fans are hilarious!You talk like the championship is already yours!!!NEWSFLASH!!!You have to go through,detroit,cleveland,,san anton,the suns,mavs,etc....none of your "big three"has ever won a fuking thing!
I'm not a fan of either team, so am not biased. The refs were pretty consistent in this game, no big free throw discrepancy, plenty of poor calls in both directions.
Boston continues to outrebound their opponents consistently, and play strong defense consistently. If they stay healthy they have a great shot at the record, as well as the title. The theory that Detroit's loss to the Cavs last year was due to fatigue from too many minutes during the regular season is debatable, but I agree it is a good idea to not burn out the starters chasing the regular season record. Here's hoping that both teams are healthy and give us a great Eastern conference championship series!
All these comments from Detroit fans are valid.
Two things are overlooked.
1. The first victory by Detroit was by two free throws with .1 sec left. Not exactly dominance.
2. The Pistons are very, very good. But they have kind of reached a high plateau. The Celts are still learning and improving and they have already reached the NBA elite group.
Look for a terrific playoff season for a few years to come. How can you not love this?
Hold your horses Detroit fans. Now you talking about demolishing Celts in palyoffs!!! Two days ago nobody of you could even imagine that your lovely Pistons could loose the game to Celts. Now you don't have doubts that Pistons will beat Celts in 6 in east finals. Don't you forget that Pistons were beaten by not so great Cav's last season? Celts are better then Cav's last year, so be worry!!!
sail away i THINK YOU ARE OVERLOOKING A FEW KEY THINGS the pistons won by 2 but ray allen got 3 points for a clear 2 pointer and they had to hit how many miracle 3s. are you saying the cs blew out detroit, had they been credited for a 3 when it was a 2 and hit 2 miracle 3s it wouldve been tied. As far as detroit plateauing I think you got it backwards. The pistons have been working on their bench for the future how many years will the cs be good before another 17 year drought?? THe Cs remind me of the pistons the last couple of years, One injury- season done,,, cold streak -season done,, Detroit didnt have same starting 5 what the first 6 games they are just starting to gel. Couldnt agree with you more on some great series coming up though. Whatever happens we got to beat the west
Last edited by i_kick_watermelons on January 7th at 9:08 AM.
Enough with all the testosterone already, Yes I'm a Celtic fan. No the Celts didn't blow the Pistons out and visa a versa. What I saw were 2 very good teams playing very exciting basketball. The refereeing favors no one, it just plain sucks. Lets everyone just enjoy what we have and hope we both get a chance to meet in the conference finals and see more of what we already have witnessed which is great basketball.
Hi, I'm Ryan Field of FSN Detroit, a correspondent on PISTONS LIVE, TIGERS LIVE and RED WINGS LIVE. My blog is primarily about the Pistons, although I also enjoy talking college football and basketball, so I hope you'll enjoy blogging with me about those topics.
Before joining FSN, I was a sports reporter at WJBK-TV (FOX 2) in Detroit (2000-03) and provided sports updates on WDFN Radio (1130 AM). Before that, I was sports director and previously weekend sports anchor at WSYM-TV (FOX 47) in Lansing. My television work began in 1996 as a sports intern at WILX-TV, the NBC affiliate in Lansing.
I'm a native of Troy, Mich., and a proud graduate of Michigan State University.
