The Celtics are my dream team to a large extent. Defense got them here.
Udoka has a simple formula.
Physical in your face defense with a lot of switching.
Rebound the ball.
Push the ball on every possession.
Look for the 3, and keep the middle open for layups.
That's it.
The Celtics won game 7 in the first quarter with relentless hyper-defense and attacking transitions.
They are not the most talented team in the NBA, but I love watching them play.
They are going to matchup well with Golden State.
The Ws will struggle with the physicality of the Celtics.
Green is going to struggle most of all.
I'm not sure about the Warriors struggling. We saw this before in the past for the Warriors The Mavericks were supposedly a good defensive team, and they were soundly beaten. I think the Celtics have some of the best team chemistry in the NBA these playoffs that I've seen from their starting unit,, so I think its a full 7-game series (barring injuries), but still nodding to the Warriors; yet I'd like to see the Celtics do it. Celtics gonna have the same problems the other teams had - keeping up with scoring mainly. These playoffs, one thing the Celtics do seem to look comfortable in is playing away.
After watching Tatum more closely, I'm not very impressed with his defense - average looking. He actually looks like the weak link defensively on the 1st unit. Smaller players blow by him as he lacks quickness and is averagely aggressive. However he's their best offensive player, so it's a balancing act. Interested to see how Draymond Green does with Tatum. Celtics cannot afford to go down 2-0 o start the series like the Mavericks did.