How Do They Stop Detroit Power?

With six straight trips to the Eastern Conference Finals, the Bad Boys of Detroit are competing against a team us New Englanders like to think of as “wicked” good. The Big Three will be matched up against practically an all star team in Billups, Wallace, Hamilton, and Prince.

In the first two series for the Celtics this postseason, major problems occurred such as nonexistent road wins, inconsistency, and getting to the free throw line. All caused major problems, but luckily with home court advantage, the Celtics were able to maintain a flawless home record to survive Lebron and Company.
A few key factors to a Boston success in this Detroit matchup will decide whether they go home for the year or continue on to the NBA finals in their race for their 17th franchise championship. First of all, Garnett must continue to be our dominant force down low defensively while still creating that offensive spark. Pierce, although not as consistent as usual, must maintain an offensive force while containing Tayshaun Prince, a powerful offensive threat. Prince is the kind of player who can shoot from outside while at the same time an extremely underrated post up player. If Pierce cannot contain Prince, this could lead to a massive surge in scoring for the D-town crew.

Mr. R. Allen could use a little help in this postseason. While averaging less than 10 points for the Cleveland series, this is nothing to be worried about. The reason for this is that we have so many weapons that when one fails, we can cover each other in many different ways. However, facing a team such as Detroit, who also has many weapons to use in return, the margin for error shrinks for our beloved Boston Celtics.

One of the main headlines through this postseason has been the development of Rajon Rondo, our point guard out of the University of Kentucky. Only in the second year of his NBA career, Rondo has developed as a playmaker, dominant defender, and has begun to develop an offensive game that people hadn’t expected. With solid play on both ends of the court, Rondo gives the Celtics more hope in reaching 17.

With hope that we have enough power to make it to the NBA finals defeating Detroit on the way, another major factor in determining success is the caliber of play our bench provides. Consistent relief out of Posey, Powe, House, and veterans Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown will play a major role in providing bench points as well as allowing starters to take a breather. Throughout the rest of the postseason, consistent dominant play will lead us to the NBA Finals where Doc and his team can forget the past two decades of losses with another banner in the garden.