Lets take a break from the garbage, and wager some predictions for this year. With the roster finalizing, and with the start of training camp around the corner, this is a good time to see how close we can get at predicting where Doc will take tihs team:

• Celtics win first game vs. Heat
• Green will either start or finish most games by the time we reach the playoffs
• There's a chance Bass moves to the bench and Sullinger starts, however I think that we'll see deminished returns from Bass when he is not paired with Rondo.
• KG remains effective/productive at the 5 so long as he is paired with a shooting 4
• Terry does not get 6th man of the year, but succeeds in his position
• TRADE DEADLINE: IF Danny does trade, its because Bradley is back and contributing more than Lee did, and the trade is some combination of: C. Lee, B. Bass, F. Melo, K. Joseph for an upgraded PF such as J. Smith and any decent backup PG
• Rondo obviously leads in assists, Allstar team, MVP talks (loses ultimately)
• Pierce comes off the bench (during certain games) with Terry
• Celtics lead their division entering Allstar week

Atlantic

1. Celtics

2. Brooklyn

3. Knicks

4. Philly

 

Eastern Conference:

1. Heat              Heat            Heat

2. Celtics           Celtics          Celtics

3. Pacers           Pacers

4. Nets

5. Knicks            Knicks

6. Bulls

7.76ers 

8. Bucks

 

Eastern Conference Finals: Celtics vs. Heat

NBA Finals: Celtics vs. Lakers

NBA Chamions: Celtics

(last three are obviously heavily hopeful, heavily biased, BUT realistic). More realistic is Celtcs vs. OKC ;)

I guess this board HAS been reduced to only LA trolls and troll feeders. Sad.

In response to R9R's comment:

I think that is your best prediction.

Well kirk, that was good zinger, but I think my predictions are all realistic and paint a picture of my expectations. A starting point for others' predictions.

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Some realist predictions and some not so, but Rondo's predictions have to be close if they for them to win it all.  I believe the will win the division and meet Miami in the playoff ECF.  If healthy, with this roster and it's vast improvement and a healthy Bradley we should beat Miami this year.

Chicago will live or die by how healthy Rose is.  He will come back and play but won't be 100% for another year.

In response to BloggetyBloop's comment:

Do you HONESTLY think that the Bulls without Rose will make it to the conference finals? Go ahead and hate on the Celtics all you want in a Celtic board, but common you don't think that at the very least it'll be a real contender like the Pacers or POSSIBLY the Knicks?

Everything you say is uncredible.

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In response to BloggetyBloop's comment:

Do you HONESTLY think that the Bulls without Rose will make it to the conference finals? Go ahead and hate on the Celtics all you want in a Celtic board, but common you don't think that at the very least it'll be a real contender like the Pacers or POSSIBLY the Knicks?

Everything you say is uncredible.

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I am pretty sure that D-Rose will be returning sometime during the season, and when he does, I expect the Bulls will most likely return to last season's form pretty quickly as he will help boost everyone's play considering he is the facilitator for the team. I would definitely not sleep on the Bulls if I were a fan of a team in the Eastern conference.

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OK, you have a point. After some research, it seems like 8-12 month recovery from May 1. The article talked about him having a lot of time where he can't run, but can work on stationary shots. He could come back in May and shoot the lights out. I just don't see him getting back his amazing speed, agility, and ability to switch directions and drive to the basket right away. Its possible, he's young, he'll have the chip from missing the Olympics, and the extra shooting practice.

 

More likely is a monster come-back for 2013-14 with possibly another MVP.

8-12 months RECOVERY. We are not talking about simply recovering, we are talking about playing pg in the nba at an mvp type level. For that its closer to  at least 12 months .  You have to factor the player and the position.  Rose is a player who relies heavily on his physical ability's and also  plays a demanding position with a team who is very dependent on him handling the ball constantly. He can probably play around the 8-10 month but hes not gonna have anywhere near that explosiveness and quickeness at least for 12 months. I expect at least 12 -16 months till hes back to the player he was. 

As for predictions I expect

LAKERS VS OKC

CELTICS VS HEAT

The winners are going to be hard to predict. The lakers have a very good team on paper, but I have big doubts about chemistry. Kobe giving  up control of the ball, dwight staying in line, nash's back and dwights back... so many ?'s. I think okc matches up VERY WELL against them becuz they have 2 players that the lakers have NO ANSWER for in durant and westbrook, plus with perkins on dwight and ibaka on gasol, they can neutralize lakers size. Very tough matchup for the lakers. 

West OKC.

The heat have to be the favorites, simply becuz they are the defending champs and also improved with the additions of ray allen and rashard lewis.  However similiar to the okc and lakers scenario, the celtics match up very well with the heat. Again the heat have no answer for our best player in rondo. The  deciding factor for the celtics to dethrone the heat is  how much better can we defend  dwade and lebron, with the additions of bradley/lee/green. If they can slow them down we have an excellent chance of beating the heat. With that said I still think the heat are too much, they are in their primes while the celtics stars kg and pp are playing on borrowed time. Its a testament to their greatness and heart that they are still all-star type players. The problem is Lebron is in the prime of his career. We have no answer for him, like many other teams. I dont think pp and jgreen are enough to slow down lebron.  Even with their heart and hunger the celtics have now been knocked out 2 years in a row by the heat, look for a 3rd. 

I predict rematch of heat and okc.

With heat winning in 6.

 

I hope im dead wrong and the CS SWEEP THE LAKERS, IN THE FINALS!!!!!!!

In response to gman101019's comment:

To me, the Lakers either gel or they don't, meaning they either do what the Celtics did in '08 or they don't. If they don't, or something happens (lets be honest they are injury prone and vulnerable) I bet they don't get any further than they did this year. I'd watch out for dark horse like the Grizz, or Spurs/Clips. vs OKC.

 

I dont want to be the guy who sleeps on the Spurs. Did we forget that they were unstoppable... until they finally lost the four in a row? They hadn't lost, and they needed some adversity to push them over the top.

 

Ultimately, OKC has the skill, the desire, the chip, and the short window before losing Harden. I still have them as the team to beat in the Finals.