The pundits look back at the championship squad and this pales a bit in comparison. The loss of James Posey is bigger that people realize, they say. The team still needs a true point guard to back up Rajon Rondo, they say. Last season's team just steamrolled over any minor inconsistencies, they say.

But does the larger perception match reality?

The Celtics were, indeed, very good last year, but it's important to recall the fragile nature of all of this. The final image of 2007-08 was the utter destruction of the Lakers in Game 6, but it helps to remember that was the Celts' 26th postseason game. It helps to remember they were taken to seven (count 'em, seven) games by the Atlanta Hawks.

There was the rush in the aftermath of the title to judge this team's place in the franchise pantheon, but do we even have that discussion if P.J. Brown doesn't hit that 20-footer in Game 7 against Cleveland?

The point is that even with the exact same roster as last season, the Celtics would not be a lock to repeat. Would they be considered the best team in the NBA? Yes. But many things have to fall into place for a club to win it all. (And it didn't hurt that Manu Ginobili's injury kept San Antonio from the Finals and what could have been an epic set with the C's.)

Sitting here a bit less than five months from the start of the 2009 playoffs, it does appear the Celtics are a bit thin behind Paul Pierce at small forward, and it's clear from their pursuit of Antonio McDyess that Danny Ainge & Co. understand the need for someone taller behind Kendrick Perkins. And while they will admit Eddie House is not a true point guard, they are unwilling to give up what he gives them (the willingness to fire up treys in crunch time and the ability to hit them).

It's also true that even without roster tweaks, this club could be reasonably better by April if only for the improvement of its children. Leon Powe and Glen Davis are better, and, while he was the key in the finale against the Lakers, Rondo served further notice by outplaying Allen Iverson Thursday.

As much as people don't want to hear it - nor should they, considering the price of a ticket - the regular season is, for the elite teams, a prolonged training camp. The only caveat is the need to secure homecourt advantage, a little perk that may have been the difference in the weaving of Banner 17.

The success of the first 82 games will be measured largely in how well the Celtics can prepare their role players for the postseason. And though Ainge says he's perfectly happy with the roster as it stands, he's still making and answering phone calls in search of improvement.

A real Hornets nest

New Orleans was a popular pick among prognosticators this season. The Hornets took a giant step last year before a heartbreaking seven-game loss to the Spurs in the Western Conference semifinals. And they got Posey.

Yet the Crescent City Crew was just a .500 team (5-5) heading into a weekend back-to-back series with Oklahoma City. The nine-point loss to Sacramento last week - at home, no less - was particularly galling.

So, like, what up?

``I'm more (angry) than anything,'' coach Byron Scott told reporters afterward. ``Even when we came back, I think we were down seven or eight, to tie it as the fourth quarter started, I told them that was my initials - B.S. - because of the fact that we allowed them to come out and play real hard, get some easy buckets, then we decide we've got to start playing harder.

``If we're going to play in spurts like that, we're going to win 41, 42 games. It's going to be that type of season. We're going to be so up and down. You can't play in this Western Conference like that. If you don't give 110 percent effort every single night, you're going to be behind the eight ball.

``I don't know what we're waiting on, but if we want (to lose) 10 or 15 more games in this conference, we're going to be out of it. That's the bottom line.''

Chris Paul stepped up and added, ``We're losing games that we feel like we should have won. It's enough of us saying it's early in the season, but now we've got to play.''

A market crash?

More and more we get the impression that if the big name free agents stay home in 2010, certain heads of Basketball operations will be fighting each other for space on a tall bridge.

Say LeBron James decides that Cleveland rocks and Dwyane Wade doesn't want to buy a cold-weather wardrobe and Chris Bosh says he can't lose the honor of playing in the same building as the Maple Leafs. Say these guys and the rest of the Class of the Century come to believe that the money isn't greener on the other side.

What will the teams building cap space do?

The latest move for the future came Friday when the Knicks sent a better player with a longer contract to Golden State for someone who can help some now but is even more valuable because he's over and out in 2010. By jettisoning Jamal Crawford for Al Harrington, New York is probably doing the right thing as it tries to get out from under the contractual calamity of the Isiah Thomas era.

But what if none of the big names want to play Broadway?

Hey Brian Scalabrine will be a free agent, too.

Fiddlin' and diddlin'

On top of the fact Seattle is sorely missed as a road stop, it still seems terribly odd every time Doc Rivers references ``the Oklahoma game.'' Does anyone hear that and think Thunder Basketball and not Sooners football.

``Yeah, it is strange,'' said Rivers. ``But I guess we're going to have to get used to it.'' . . .

After all that preseason talk of wanting Andrea Bargnani to play inside, the Raptors have moved him into the starting lineup at small forward. . . .

Fans in Cleveland booed a recent Cavs win. That's because it was a 99-93 decision over the Bucks and ticket holders get a free chalupa when the team scores 100. Coach Mike Brown had James dribble out the clock and even get a turnover with two seconds left.

``I can't believe people who buy season tickets get worked up over a (expletive) $1 (expletive) taco,'' James said.

Yeah, 'Bron, but it was a chalupa. . . .

Nobody wins unless everybody wins. - sbulpett@bostonherald.com