Day three of ESPN Boston's Celtics Summer Forecast is upon us. Today, the panel of eighteen experts from eight top Celtics blogs including Gino's Jungle, tackled the question of how far the Celtics will go.
The majority of bloggers felt that the C's will reach the conference finals, at the least. While some were positive that the guys in green could get by an Eastern Conference Finals matchup against Miami, others like myself were unsure of what to expect once they reach the ECF.
Here's my response to the question:
Brandon Paul, Gino's Jungle (NBA Finals)
This is a very tough question to answer because we don't know how the Celtics are going to come together. Although they have the same core group of players, quite a bit has changed. If the new additions (Shaquille O'Neal, Jermaine O'Neal, and the rookies) end up meshing well, the sky is the limit for this team.
When I originally answered this question I tried not to give a straight forward answer, as there are many factors that could figure into how far the team will go. Will Shaq really be the team player he is talking about? Will Perk come back healthy? Will KG, Pierce, and Ray be able to stay healthy for another solid playoff run?
These are all questions that really wont' be answered until the end of the regular season. After answering the original question without a straight forward answer, Chris sent me an email asking me how far I thought they would go.
Trying to stay optimistic about the team's chances I replied with "NBA Finals Champions". Why? Because I have to assume everything is going to go right. Given the playoff experience and depth of this team I can't go against them. That would just be wrong.
You can call me a homer, or tell me to take the green goggles off, but when it comes down to it you can NEVER count this team out. Remember last year when they were supposed to lose to Cleveland and Orlando, too? I sure do. And for that reason I will never give up on this group of guys!
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