I’m back! And so are the C’s… Hopefully.
When I was little and the Celtics were at the bottom of the barrel, wins were rare. They came along once in awhile- and definitely not in succession to each other. I thought David Wesley and Eric Williams were the cream of the crop, but even I had a vague understanding that this was not what Celtics basketball was supposed to look like. Even though they were only winning around 30 games a year when I started watching them, I was convinced that they were on the brink of greatness. They would lose and lose and lose, and I would shrug it off, sure that they would come back and dominate the next game. Maybe it’s lucky that I was so young- it would have been hard for anyone but a little kid to maintain any level of optimism and remain so loyal. Needless to say, they were years away from greatness. That being said, it’s amazing how fast you can become accustomed to winning when you’re a fan of a winning team. When the Celtics lost the Eastern Conference finals to the Nets in 2002, I remember standing in the Fleet Center with my friend Susanna, both of us crying, sure that they’d never be that good again (Yes, we cried. But hey- we were in the throes of teenage angst). It took a couple of long years, but they became better than I ever imagined they would be. And now, in my mind, the Celtics have the best starting five in basketball, one of the strongest benches (especially when Glen Davis makes his return) and are superbly coached. Lots of people are quick to criticize Doc Rivers, but I’m a strong believer in him.
So now, when they come out and suck, it bothers me because they don’t suck. They choose to suck, and sometimes seem to be under the impression that they can turn it on when they feel like it and still win games. Doesn’t work like that. Atlanta came in to the Garden and made the Celtics look like a bunch of slow, unmotivated guys. They followed that up by rolling in to Indiana and playing like they had already won… Which they could have done, had they shown up to play at all. Instead they were outplayed and embarrassed by an injury riddled Pacers team, and ended up losing. They went on to beat the Warriors by 14, but they definitely didn’t coast through that game like the score might suggest. They came out half asleep against Orlando and spent the entire game playing catch up, ultimately coming up short. There was some pretty crappy officiating in that game, which didn’t help matters (I’ve come to the conclusion that refs either love Rashard Lewis or are scared of him unleashing the ‘roid rage on them), but the Celtics lost that game because they didn’t come to play until it was too late. They eeked out a win against New York, looking so crappy that people resorted to saying that KG must still be hurt. It was not much of a comeback win after the loss to Orlando, to say the least. They didn’t come back with a vengeance; they barely made it across the finish line. They started to show some signs of life against the Sixers. Watching these games, I felt like I was back in ’99. In those days, these guys you’d never heard of and who you KNEW weren’t really that good, would have the games of their life against the Celtics, lighting up the scoreboard. Muy frustrating.
Fortunately, they looked much more like their 2009 selves against Toronto… Except they didn’t start playing defense until the third quarter. I was at the Toronto game and couldn’t help but notice that when they chose to play defense and really clamped down, Toronto inevitably ended up throwing the ball away- literally throwing it away, like in to the third row of the stands. The game last night against Miami was their best showing in a while and I felt pretty good about the win, especially since it was on the road. Unfortunately, most of the guys didn’t seem to have rebounding high on their list of priorities for most of the game, and the defense was sporadic. But there were a lot of good things going on- Perk dominated in the middle (Perk is making leaps and bounds in his game. Only last season, I cringed when he put the ball up. Now, not only do I want him to put it up, but he’s really showing how he can pretty much score at will- and in lots of different, fun ways. My favorite would be the little turn around 3 footer. Who knew big man had such nifty footwork? He’s got the mooooves!), KG was nearly perfect from the field, the defense- while sporadic- was effective when turned on and most importantly, after blowing an 11 point lead and going down by 5 in the fourth quarter, they maintained composure and executed to a tee at crunch time.
I know this is something that’s been talked about and talked about and beat in to the ground- but when Rondo shows up, it’s amazing how much better they all look. All of the sudden, guys are zoned in on defense, they’re scoring in the open court because they’re getting stops and steals, the ball is moving on offense, guys are getting better shots- and the shots magically start falling because they’re able to get in to a groove, and all in all, they look like a cohesive, fine tuned unit. When Rondo’s mind is elsewhere, it’s much harder for the rest of them to get it going and they have difficulty establishing the pace of the game. The games against Philadelphia and Miami are perfect examples of it: Rondo is halfway in it and the Celtics plod along, keeping up- and then he decides it’s winning time and the other team has no idea what hit them. I’m convinced he’s his own worst enemy (not only applicable to Rondo. Doc Rivers said it best: the Celtics beat themselves). But, an open letter to Rondo, because when he turns it on it’s much easier for everyone else to do the same:
Rondo:
You can win games for this team if you just play your game. It’s pretty much impossible to guard you when you turn the heat up. When point guards on the other team realize that they’re going to have to match up with you, it stresses them out. Sometimes I think you must have superhuman speed and four hands because I don’t know how it’s humanly possible to be that fast and clog passing lanes that much.
P.S.: You CAN shoot the ball.
