The Celtics aren't that good

For the record-The Celtics aren't that good. For the past couple weeks, all I have heard is how great the Celtics are. National media outlets, mainly ESPN, are beginning to sing the praises of the defending champs. It's not hard to see why. When a team wins 18 games in a row, it deserves some accolades. However, I've been hearing a lot of "better than last year" or "greatest team ever" comments. This makes my stomach turn.

Anyone who has watched this team will say that there is a great disparity between the starters and the bench. While the starters have improved exponentially with the emergence of Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins as legitimate NBA players, the bench has become weaker and less deep. As a result, it seems that every game, the starters build a big lead and the bench gives it right back.

Doc Rivers, this year more than last, has used the bench as a unit rather than inserting players in with the starters. As a result, against better teams, the Celtics have lacked the same intensity and maturity that the starters bring on the court. Thus, the bench has always been a negative +/-:

CHI: +120 (starters), -31 (bench)
ATL: +38, -22
UTJ: +47, -2
IND: +37, -12
POR: +110, -35
IND: +118, -39
ORL: +100, -5

Now, I don't believe +/- shows the entire story, but it does show how well the unit plays defense when the player is on the floor. As you can see, while a lot of these games were blow outs, the fact that the bench is negative does not speak highly of the team's depth.

The Celtics are really lacking in terms of a defensive big man of the bench as well as a small forward to back up Pierce. Glen Davis and Leon Powe are nice players, but unfortunately, they are not the best defensive players. They play hard and score points, but they give up their share of points as well. Furthermore, the Celtics have no one to fill the role of the small forward as James Posey did last year. Tony Allen has been very good this year, but he doesn't have the size to deal with a Lebron James.

There are some glaring weaknesses that the Celtics have that sooner or later will be exploited. However, the starters have been so great thus far, that we have yet to see those weaknesses show. Although there's been considerably more success in this regular season than last season (to date), Danny Ainge will have to address these issues to sure up a chance at another championship run.