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chumdawg · 03-31-2005, 01:14 PM

I don't mean to take anything away from the great Larry Bird, but on the subject of playoffs and championships...

There is an interesting thread that runs through Bird's Celtics teams of the 80's: they never beat anybody they weren't "supposed" to beat. The three titles they won were over a 40-win Houston team, a 51-win Houston team, and a 54-win Lakers team (in a year the Celtics won 62).

Granted, they were favored in most all the series they played. But five times in nine years, they lost in the playoffs to a team with an inferior record. The one year they did go to the finals as an underdog ('87, against the Lakers), they lost that one, too.

When you look at it that way, you have to wonder if Boston's three titles weren't a little worse than they well could have been. Don't you?

03-31-2005, 01:14 PM	#17
chumdawg Guru Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: Cowboys Country Posts: 23,336	RE: Dirk vs Bird... I don't mean to take anything away from the great Larry Bird, but on the subject of playoffs and championships... There is an interesting thread that runs through Bird's Celtics teams of the 80's: they never beat anybody they weren't "supposed" to beat. The three titles they won were over a 40-win Houston team, a 51-win Houston team, and a 54-win Lakers team (in a year the Celtics won 62). Granted, they were favored in most all the series they played. But five times in nine years, they lost in the playoffs to a team with an inferior record. The one year they did go to the finals as an underdog ('87, against the Lakers), they lost that one, too. When you look at it that way, you have to wonder if Boston's three titles weren't a little worse than they well could have been. Don't you?