Apr 26 2012; Boston, MA USA; Boston Celtics shooting guard Avery Bradley (0) shoots the ball against Milwaukee Bucks center Larry Sanders (8) in the second half at the TD Banknorth Garden. The Celtics defeated the Bucks 87-74. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-US PRESSWIRE

The Milwaukee Bucks are a team that traditionally gives the Celtics trouble. Over each team’s lifespan they’ve played 188 games against each other. The Celtics have a 97-91 lifetime record vs. the Bucks counting the postseason. The Bucks have never been an easy opponent for the Celtics.

Over the last few seasons, the Celtics have been largely dominant. They’ve had a few close calls with those guys, but are 8-2 in their last 10. These two teams are very similar because of the defensive emphasis that they’ve placed on their personnel but they’ve gone in totally different directions.

That will show in this team comparison as well. These teams have a large discrepancy in talent and it shows. With how deep of a team the Celtics are it isn’t even close.

Position by position analysis

Point Guard:  Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, Jamar Smith vs. Brandon Jennings, Beno Udrih, and Orien Greene

Rajon Rondo is an All-Star player an has been for the passed three years. There’s no question that he’s the best player out of this group of guys that we’re comparing here. He led the league in assists last season with 11.7 assists per game while also averaging 11.2 points and shooting 44% from the field.

That 44% is something that Jennings hasn’t even come close to in his career.

Brandon Jennings has proven to be an inefficient shot taker throughout his career. He’s only shot over 40% one time in his career and that was last season. Before that his percentages were all in the 30′s. Last season it was a lowly 41.8%. Check out this basketball reference chart of his career numbers below.

As you can see, Jennings numbers aren’t very inspiring. As the starting point guard of a team, if you’re going to be score first you have to at least be efficient. That’s something that Jennings has managed to avoid doing and it has been costly to his team for the last few years.

Backup point guard is where this gets tricky. Beno Udrih has been a very serviceable point guard throughout his career. On the Celtics end, we haven’t really seen much of Avery Bradley at the point guard position. Doc doesn’t seem to have very much trust in him running the team unless he has to.

More often than not, when Rondo is out Paul Pierce takes over the workload of handling the ball and initiating the offense. With Jamar Smith behind Bradley, the Celtics really have nothing backing Rondo up.

Orien Greene isn’t a very good back up either but he’s great defensively. He’s got nice size, unlike all of the C’s point guards, and can guard the two position as well.

I’d say that this ends up being a wash in the end.

Shooting Guard: Avery Bradley, Courtney Lee, Jason Terry vs. Monta Ellis, Doron Lamb, and Mike Dunleavy

Avery Bradley is a defensive monster. He’s able to guard on and off of the ball and that’s such a valuable skill to have. Not many players–especially at his size–can do that. Though he didn’t finish the year out in the playoffs, he had a pretty productive season. He ended up taking that starting role from Ray Allen and the rest is history.

As a duo, he and Rondo function very well with each other. Bradley moves very well off of the ball and is very fast. His corner three is a dangerous shot when left open and he knows when and when not to cut to the basket.

Monta Ellis, on the other hand, is a player who can score in all types of ways. Unlike Bradley, he’s got a jumper even when he’s on the move. He knows how to be a playmaker for his team and also how to wait until a play is made for him.

He moves off of the ball like a snake and can break anyone down off the dribble when catching it. He’s a 20 point per game scorer in the NBA and those are extremely hard to come by.

Backing Bradley up is Courtney Lee, who shot 40% from beyond the arch last season. His goal is to bring what Ray Allen brought to the Celtics for all of these years and be a spot up shooter for the C’s. They’ll need to be able to spread the floor for Rondo to go to work.

The Bucks have a spot up shooter behind Ellis as well in Mike Dunleavy. Coming off of his 9th season, Dunleavy is shooting 40% from beyond the arch as well. That’s an awesome asset to have if you’re either one of these teams.

Jason Terry is another one of the Celtics starting caliber shooting guards. They went from being a team that had no depth at shooting guard to going three or four deep depending on a few other players.  They’ve got options and Terry is a great one.

He’s a very good ball handler and he always has been–he ran the point for Atlanta years ago if you all remember correctly. Terry is good at the pick and roll game as well. He’s good as the screener, especially for his size, and as the ball handler, too. A very versatile player to have in your lineup, no doubt.

As their third off guard, the Bucks have Doron Lamb. Lamb is a rookie coming off of a national championship season with Kentucky. At Kentucky he was a player that was very versatile. He could run the point, create for himself and others, and play off of the ball. This is why the Bucks drafted him.

He’s got a lot of potential, but we don’t really know what he’ll bring to the table as an NBA guard. It looks like a good pick on the surface but it may not be.

We know that the Celtics have three starting caliber shooting guards in their possession. That’s way more than the Bucks have to offer here so we’re going with the Celtics.

Small Forward: Paul Pierce, Dionte Christmas, Kris Joseph vs. Luc Mbah a Moute and Marquis Daniels

The Celtics Paul Pierce is one of the most versatile forwards in the game. He’s one of the most reliable guys in the NBA and knows how to get his own shot. His production didn’t fall off a bit last year as he averaged 19.4 points per game on 44% shooting last season.

He can still, even at the age of 34, create his own shot. He knows how to work the elbow masterfully and still draws fouls as if he were 24. Pierces is still a top 25 player in the NBA>

Dionte Christmas and Kris Joseph, on the other hand, aren’t really ready for the NBA game just yet. I think that they both may end up in the D League before the season starts. We don’t know how much consistency either one will give and if they’ll even be good defenders in the NBA.

On the other end, we have Luc Richard Mbah a Moute who is one of the best defenders in the NBA and Marquis Daniels who is more than serviceable here. You can put each of them on any wing in the league and you’ll see a dip in the production of the opposing players.

I’m going with the Bucks here.

Power Forward: Brandon Bass and Jeff Green vs. Ersan Illyasova, Tobias Harris, John Henson and Drew Gooden.

Brandon Bass and Jeff Green are going to play the role of the stretch four for the Celtics this season. I don’t know how good Green will be necessarily, but if he can get anywhere close to his sophomore season production of 16.5 points per game the Celtics will be okay.

We know what we’re getting in Bass. He does all of the little things well. These include rebounding, boxing out, defending, rim protecting, and one on one defense. You name it and Bass will do it. No, he’s not the best at anything but he’s good at everything.

One thing that Bass is really good at is shooting the midrange jumper. He shot 48 percent from that range last season and was deadly in PnR with Rondo. That’s an element that many teams don’t have and that’s what makes Bass invaluable to the Celtics.

On the Bucks end, they have a very nice stretch four of their own in Ersan Illyasova. He shot 45 percent from deep last year while pulling in 8.8 rebounds per game. Illyasova is one of the best offensive rebounders in the NBA as well. If you aren’t boxing him out he’s getting the board. Its that simple. Think of him as a poor man’s Kevin Love.

Behind him there isn’t really anything but potential. You’ve got John Henson who could be molded into a Serge Ibaka type player. He has the ability to stretch the floor and also block shots with his length at 6-10. He’s unbelievable athletically.

You’ve got Tobias Harris there also who’s a very good hustle player. He brings a lot of what Henson brings with length and defensive ability.

Last, but not least, you’ve got Drew Gooden. He’s a good rebounder and rim protector, but he sometimes gets carried away with his jumpshot. He struggles to finish on the inside an at the rim.

With that being said, I’m going with the Celtics forwards here. What they don’t have in numbers they make up for in skill. They’ve got very skilled power forwards who can play either the three or the four position depending on what lineup they’re in.

Center: Kevin Garnett, Fab Melo, Chris Wilcox, and Darko Milicic vs. Joel Pryzbilla, Samuel Dalembert, and Ekpe Udoh

Kevin Garnett moved to the center position last year and averaged 15 and 8. Him moving to the center position was pivotal for the Celtics because of the way that they spread the floor with him. Like Bass, he shot 48% from 16-23 feet last year. He was also in the running for defensive player of the year.

We don’t know what they have in Fab Melo, but Darko Milicic will provide some height and some fouls for the Celtics. The same can be said for Chris Wilcox.

The Bucks have Samuel Dalembert who is an expert at rim protection but offers very little offensively. That’s their best threat at center. Joel Pryzbilla is going to be someone who’s going to be a body for them as well. He’s got height to work with and is an average rim protector.

I’m going with the C’s here.

Coaching Comparison

The comparison between Doc Rivers and Scott Skiles is a pretty good one. They’re both great coaches, and have been good players, in their lifetime. Their basketball IQs are through the roof, really. Its just that one has a title and the other one doesn’t.

Skiles is a coach that’s going to preach defense to his team up and down. If you aren’t defending then you aren’t staying on the floor. His teams have been in the top 10 defensively for the passed three years aside from this last season. He’s always been a good teach of defense.

Skiles one downfall is that he isn’t very creative offensively. That’s pretty weird seeing as though Skiles was a point guard in his NBA career and has the record for assists in a game. There is really no reason why he shouldn’t know how to put together a solid offense.

Rivers preaches defense also, but is a better teacher than Skiles. He brings teams together and motivates them to work collectively as a unit. He has all of his players–high rank or low–believing that if they fail individually then they fail as a team. Everyone is accountable for each other.

That’s something that Skiles hasn’t been able to do yet and Rivers has a championship to show for it.

With that being said, I’m going with Rivers here.

Conclusion

The Celtics and the Bucks aren’t very similar at all. The Celtics have a lot more talent than the Bucks do and the coaching is a lot better there as well. The Celtics are a team that’s united as one while the Bucks are a team that’s just finding out how to pass the ball.

The Celtics are clearly the better team here, by far. They have three ECF appearances and a championship to show for it.

Mar 3, 2012; Washington, DC, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers point guard Kyrie Irving (2) passes the ball defended by Washington Wizards point guard John Wall (2) during the second half at the Verizon Center. The Wizards defeated the Cavaliers 101 – 98. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-US PRESSWIRE

The Cleveland Cavaliers and the Washington Wizards have been compared for years. It all started with the rivalry that developed between the Gilbert Arenas led Wizards and the LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers. As your local Wizards fan on the Hardwood Houdini staff, I’ll admit that I had some hate for the Cavaliers and James for quite some time.

Year after year the Cavs would put the Wizards out of the playoffs. Each time it was a competitive series and it also got chippy. And with each loss that was even more spite I had for James and that team.

Since the 2008 playoffs–the final time these teams played and the last time the Wizards made the postseason–both teams have taken two dramatically different paths. The Cavaliers continued to have success up until the 2010 season where LeBron made his infamous decision.

The Wizards, on the other hand, couldn’t keep any of their star trio of Gilbert Arenas, Antawn Jamison and Caron butler on the floor. That core would end up being broken up throughout the next few seasons and replaced with much younger guys.

The Wizards eventually drafted John Wall with their number one overall pick in the 2010 draft. Wall came into the league with such high expectation. This was after Derrick Rose and Russell Westbrook had shown promise in situations like the one Wall was about to be in. He still has a lot to prove as a Wizard.

The same season, the Cavaliers went onto becoming the worst team in the NBA with a 19-63 record. They won the lottery and got the number one pick in the 2011 draft after the Wizards did the previous year.

They, too, would end up drafting a point guard with plenty of talent to give in Kyrie Irving. Irving would prove to be a stud in his rookie year as he shot amazing percentages from the field.

Now the two up-and-comers are compared and contrasted throughout NBA circles all the time. It seems as though these two teams can’t get enough of each other and are fated to meet again someday.

That brings us into our comparison. The Wizards vs. The Cavaliers.

Position by Position Comparison

Point Guard

Feb. 20, 2012; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Washington Wizards guard John Wall during game against the Phoenix Suns at the US Airways Center. The Suns defeated the Wizards 104-88. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-US PRESSWIRE

On the surface, you’ve got two young studs at point guard for each team. They both play two very different brands of basketball.

John Wall is a fast pace, athletic blur on the floor.Many people say he plays at one pace–though he’s improved on that tremendously with the help of NeNe.

On the other hand you have Kyrie Irving who is a slow, smooth kind of player. He’ll slither through a defense in the half-court and knife his way to the bucket for a score.

Wall’s averages were 16.8 ppg and 8.0 apg to Irving’s 18.5 ppg and 5.2 apg. On the surface, it appears as though Wall has Irving beat but its much closer of a race than that. Take a look at the chart below via basketball reference.

As you can see, Kyrie Irving was much better from the field than John Wall. Also, John Wall’s three point shooting percentage took a steep drop and was one of the worst in the NBA.

Irving is a much more versatile scorer than Wall and it really shows when they play. Wall may be a better passer, but he needs to step it up when it comes to putting the ball in the hoop efficiently.

Irving’s PER is 21.8 compared to Wall’s 17.7 as well. Wall was wildly inconsistent last year and seemed to lose confidence in his scoring ability as the season went on.

The great part about it is he’s still just learning and he managed to stay healthy for a full season. I’d say that Irving is much more advanced as a scorer than Wall, but not as a point guard. Though, he isn’t far off.

Behind them both isn’t much. John Wall has A.J Price and Shelvin Mack who don’t really bring much to the table. Irving faces the same dilemma with his backup point guards being Donald Sloan, Daniel Gibson, and Jeremy Pargo. Though Pargo has shown some promise, I wouldn’t say that anything is guaranteed here at the backup position.

With all of that being said, I’d take the Cavaliers point guards here. Wall isn’t as advanced or as smooth in the half court–where point guards should dominate–as Irving is. I believe it will come, but its just not there yet.

Shooting Guard

Both teams are relatively weak at this position. The Wizards have Jordan Crawford who is known for chucking up shots until the day that he’s 6 feet under.

He’s not a very efficient player by any means, but he’s a serviceable shooting guard. I don’t know if he’d be a good starter to have on a good team but he gets the job done.

The Wizards also drafted Bradley Beal. Beal should be able to spread the floor for the Wizards like he was known for at Florida.

In the summer league, Beal also showcased some playmaking ability that many didn’t know he had. He looks very promising for the third pick in the draft. Beal will bolster the shooting guard position with Crawford for the Wizards.

The Cavaliers really have nothing to offer at shooting guard. They just signed C.J Miles who is coming off of a disappointing season and Kelenna Azibuke who was out of the NBA last season.

Dion Waiters shows promise as a two guard, but will likely come off of the bench and handle the ball for the second unit. In Syracuse, he led them in scoring but is known to throw up some head-scratchers himself. The Cavaliers have to get better here.

I’m going with the Wizards.

Small Forward

The Wizards recently drafted Chris Singleton with the 18th pcik of the 2011 draft. Singleton could be a steal if he pans out to be the elite defender the Wizards think he will be.

They also bolstered the small forward position with the trade of Rashard Lewis for Trevor Ariza and Emeka Okafor. Ariza will bring some experience and skill to the small forward position that the Wizards have lacked since Caron Butler left.

Ariza is known for his defensive tenacity and his ability to spread the floor with his three point shooting. He’s a player who has championship experience and that’s invaluable to a young team like Washington.

They also feature floor spacers in Cartier Martin and Martell Webster.

The Cavaliers have Alonzo Gee, Luke Walton, and Omri Casspi at this position. All have proven to be serviceable players in the NBA, but I don’t think that any of them are starters. Gee was a D-League prospect for a while, Walton has never really been productive, and Casspi hasn’t looked very good since his rookie year.

I’m going with the Wizards here as well.

Power Forward

The Wizards have plenty of depth at power forward. Last season it seemed like they shuffled a different one into the line-up almost every week. Kevin Seraphin made strides last season and looked like a starting caliber power forward last year. Jan Vesely has shown that he’ll need to continue to develop and the same can be said for Trevor Booker.

NeNe will be a solid option at the power forward spot as well if he can stay healthy because of the acquisition of Emeka Okafor.

The Cavaliers have plenty of depth here , too. They’ve got Anderson Varejao who will make every hustle play in the world for his team and get under the oppositions skin. Celtics fans know him all too well.

July 19, 2012; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves forward Mike Harris (33) guards Cleveland Cavaliers forward Tristan Thompson (14) during the first half of the game at the Cox Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIREall too well. He may not put up huge numbers but his production goes beyond the stat sheet. He’s a great one on one defender and a good rebounder.

Tristan Thompson is the very same way. He’s a player that will do all of the dirty work for your team while not putting up huge numbers. Defensively he’s a monster whether its help defense or one on one defense.

Luke Harangody was a popular player coming out of college but hasn’t really seen the floor for the Cavaliers much at all. I’m sure they’ll look to factor him in at some point during this season.

Both teams have some talent at this position so I’m going to say its a push between them both. NeNe almost gives Washington the edge but you never know how he’ll turn out health-wise. Its always a gamble.

Center

The center position for Washington isn’t very deep at all. They feature Emeka Okafor, who is a very good center, and NeNe depending on the line-up.

Okafor is someone who almost has a double double for his career and is a good all around defender. That’s what Washington was missing with Javale McGee. He’d only block shots–one on one defense wasn’t his thing.

Earl Barron is an available option but, lets face it, by the end of camp he may not be on the team.

The Cavaliers have Tyler Zeller in the fold as their new up and coming center. He’ll bring a much needed offensive presence to their front court and will specialize in getting down the floor on the fastbreak.

Samardo Samuel is also an available option.

Both teams are paper thin here, but I’m going Wizards.

Coach Comparison

Apr 23, 2012; Memphis, TN, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Byron Scott during the second half against the Memphis Grizzlies at the FedEx Forum. Memphis Grizzlies defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers 109-101. Mandatory Credit: Spruce Derden-US PRESSWIRE

In case you all didn’t know, Byron Scott coaches the Cavaliers and Randy Wittman coaches the Washington Wizards.

They both fell into their jobs in two completely different ways. Wittman was the beneficiary of the firing of Flip Saunders last season after a 2-14 start. Wittman was hired as the interim head coach and was given the job previously in the offseason.

Scott was hired in 2010 after Mike Brown was fired. He was brought in with the expectation of developing a team that would be good in years to come.

After LeBron left the organization knew it would be a rebuilding process. Scott is big on player development and that’s why he was hired.

He’s developed great point guards in the past. After playing with Magic Johnson, he helped Jason Kidd grow into a great point guard and did the same thing with Chris Paul. Many think that Kyrie Irving is the next in line and we’ll find out soon enough.

Wittman has never really had the players that Scott had. He’s getting another shot with his fourth stint as a head coach with this Wizards team and John Wall’s development will be key.

When comparing their records and successes Scott destroys Wittman. Take a look at the charts below.

As you can see, Wittman has never had a winning percentage above .400 in his coaching career. Scott, on the other hand, has coached multiple playoff teams and has been to two Eastern Conference Championships. Though his winning percentage for his career isn’t above .500 its still an impressive resume.

The coaching comparison here really isn’t one. Scott has proven that he’s a better coach throughout his career. Wittman’s best team only won 32 games.

Series Prediction

These two teams are relatively close in each area aside from coaching.

They have very similar rosters that aren’t particularly filled with talent. They’ve got plenty of young pieces that can be developed into potential stars in the NBA but that will take years to happen. Right now, I think that a series between these two teams would go seven games.

I think that the Cavaliers would have the edge here. I believe that their best player (Irving) is better than the Wizards best player (Wall) and could will them to victory.

However, if Wall plays exceptionally well and better than Irving–which he can–it would have a totally different outcome. The Wizards need to work on being consistent as a group. They are a potential playoff team if all pieces come together and play a cohesive brand of basketball.

The coaching advantage is something that would help the Cavaliers in the end. Scott has way more experience with coaching an NBA team. He’s had many successful teams in the past and knows how to lead.

The Cavaliers won more than the Wizards last year and pulled out some of the games that the Wizards collapsed in. The Wizards don’t have much to do to get to their level though. The Cavaliers would win the series 4-3.