As the NBA season winds down, WEEI.com’s basketball roundtable discussed the Celtics, the NBA and if anyone can prevent us from enduring a LeBron-Kobe hypefest in the NBA Finals.
1. Who is your Celtics MVP?
Paul Flannery: The numbers tell me it’s Rajon Rondo, but I’m going to go with Paul Pierce, who has been the rock for the Celtics this year. It hasn’t been his best year, but it’s been his important year.
Jessica Camerato: Co-MVP honors go to Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen. Rondo gets the team going and Allen finishes it off.
Kirk Minihane: I’ll go with Rondo. Okay, so he’ll never be Dell Curry. But he can do everything else (and is shooting nearly 51 percent). Three players in the NBA are averaging at least eight assists and five rebounds per game this season -- Rondo, Jason Kidd and Chris Paul. Plus he is a legitimate All-NBA First Team defender. Probably Pierce is the right choice, but Rondo has had a terrific season.
Dan Guttenplan: Paul Pierce. Tommy Heinsohn said so.
Trags (just Trags): Rajon Rondo. He’s been the motor of the high-performance engine all season.
2. Who has been the top bench player?
Flannery: Eddie House has been at times the only scoring option off the bench and his willingness to adapt to several roles makes him the ideal reserve.
Camerato: Glen Davis may have been given a starting role, but Eddie House is a consistent spark plug who has the ability to change the game with a single shot.
Minihane: Leon Powe. He has developed into a solid NBA player. I think he could be a 15-9 guy on the right team (and that team could be the Celtics in 2010-11).
Guttenplan: Big Baby, who really improved his ability to handle Garnett's constructive criticism.
Trags: Eddie House. His threes have singled handedly energized the team at critical times.
3. Who, or what, has been the biggest surprise of the Celtics season?
Flannery: While I always thought it was too early to start wondering about the end of Ray Allen’s career, his season has defied expectations. Shooting guards in their 30’s are not supposed to get better, but Allen has been the Celtics most improved player this season.
Camerato: After coasting by relatively injury-free last season, the Celtics got slammed ... and still managed to win 60 games.
Minihane: For me, it has been a healthy Ray Allen. I had him penciled in for 60-65 games and 16 ppg before the season started. But he’s missed just a single game and has played much better than in 2007-08 (shooting up from 44.5 to 48 percent).
Guttenplan: I'm surprised Kevin McHale didn't hand-deliver a replacement for James Posey.
Trags: The emergence of Big Baby Davis as a go-to player in Doc’s regular rotation.
4. Who, or what, has been the biggest disappointment of the Celtics season?
Flannery: Patrick O’Bryant. He had a chance to be a legitimate player for a contender and he blew it. Honorable mention -- the injuries preventing a great race between the Cavs and Celtics for the top seed.
Camerato: Injuries made it impossible to ever know if the Celtics could have played better than last season.
Minihane: The Garnett injury is a tough break, but that stuff happens. Maybe Marbury? I thought he’d be a decent option off the bench for 15-20 minutes or so. Hasn’t happened.
Guttenplan: Lucky, the Mascot.
Trags: Injuries get in the way of a team that could’ve won 66 games again and home court.
5. What was the best game of 2008-09?
Flannery: The overtime loss to the Lakers in Boston had it all: great individual play, confrontations, controversy, and a playoff atmosphere in the building.
Camerato: Ray Allen's clutch performance in the Celtics double-overtime win against the Charlotte Bobcats was an instant ESPN Classic.
Minihane: Celtics 112, Heat 108 (OT) on March 18. Somehow, a game with no KG, no Ray Allen and no Dwyane Wade made for great theatre, thanks largely to Pierce and his 16 fourth-quarter points. A genuine thriller that was totally unexpected.
Guttenplan: Opening Night. The Celtics received their championship rings and sent an early message to the Cavs.
Trags: This one is easy. The
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