The march continues
The good news? All Star break is fast approaching and our weary green men will have the chance to put their feet up and do some soul searching. All Star break will also bring the return of Marquis Daniels, and I can’t wait. I really think his return will have far reaching (positive) consequences- a lessening of the load for Paul and Ray, a solid perimeter defender, an able ball handler, and a multitude of intangibles. He’s a winner. Some more good news? The monstrous stretch against the Magic, Hawks and Lakers, is over. The bad news? The Celtics went 0-3. But what’s done is done. There’s no use crying over spilled milk, and there were some serious signs of life, especially in the game against the Lakers yesterday. KG looks to be coming along, Rondo played a brilliant game and, after going down by 12 in the first, the Celtics would have never surged back without the great play of Tony Allen. I don’t really care if Kobe is playing with a laundry list of injuries- as he proved with the clock expiring, he’s still Kobe- and for the majority of the game, both Allens’ rose to the job defensively and shut him down. Rasheed and KG did a good job of shutting down Gasol and Odom. There were many positives.
The problem is that the Celtics couldn’t close the game out. Part of it was that it looked like they thought they were going to coast- they started walking the ball up the court and relaxed a little bit on defense. Another, huge, part of the collapse is that they stopped scoring, and since they relaxed on defense, the Lakers did not stop scoring. I personally would have liked to have seen Tony Allen out there in the fourth, maybe not as the clock wound down, but at least for a nice stretch in the beginning and middle of the quarter. As was aforementioned, TA provided the spark in the second that brought the Celtics back in to the game, and his continued great play is what helped to propel them ahead. Doc went with Ray instead, and I don’t really understand why. Ray hadn’t been hitting all game, and TA was doing just a good a job on Kobe defensively as Ray was. My other gripe is that I thought that the final play should have included bringing the ball to the basket, instead of trying to win it from the outside. I mean, yeah, Ray will oftentimes sink that shot, especially in the clutch. But the Celtics were down one- why not go for a high percentage shot? Bring it to the basket, and if you don’t get the bucket, you have the chance of getting to the line. I understand wanting the ball in Ray’s hands, and he’s plenty capable of taking it to the hole.
And about that push off. At first, I was adamant that it wasn’t a push off. Then, I watched it couples more times after I calmed down, and okay- I’m capable of admitting that Paul Pierce extended his forearm a little bit. Ron Artest’s performance crashing to the ground was Oscar worthy, but that’s neither here nor there. My bottom line is that it would have been a perfect “no call” situation, because there wasn’t any need to call it. If they were going to call it then, it needed to have been called hundreds of times earlier in the game- literally, hundreds of times, and that’s why it isn’t whistled. I’m a huge advocate for letting the guys play. These are grown a** men, not fragile little kids. Let them muscle each other around a little bit, and stop calling the ticky tack fouls. If the ticky tack fouls are going to be whistled, then they need to be whistled all game, consistently, on both ends of the floor, so that guys can adapt to the game and know what to expect. That being said, the physicality that Paul employed in pushing off of Ron Artest had been previously permissible in that game, so there is no way, under any circumstances, that he should have been whistled for it with 10 seconds left in fourth. To me, that’s unacceptable. But again- it’s spilled milk.
Tonight they play Washington. The Wizards have had a lot of drama swirling around them as of late, but that doesn’t mean that they’re not capable of winning some games. The Wizards have some big men who need to be stopped, in Antawn Jamison and Brendan Haywood, and I don’t know how much gas KG and Perk will have left in the tank for tonight, so I’m counting on Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace to step up. Additionally, maybe Shelden Williams will get some minutes. Even though he hasn’t played in the last six games, he was effective earlier on in the season, especially in slower paced games, which this game will hopefully be. If yesterday was a must win, then tonight is a MUST win. They’ll have to grind it out.
I want to take this time to get some off my chest that I’ve been thinking about for a little while. Our job as a fan is easy: support the team. That doesn’t mean you have to blindly support them. Of course not- a fan can critique and criticize, you can be disappointed, angry, or whatever you want, if the team is messing up. But during this tough stretch, I’ve seen and heard way too many fans jumping ship and saying things like, “Oh, they suck, they’re old, they’re garbage, and they’re pathetic.” That is not criticism or critique. That’s denigrating- and furthermore, it’s pointless. If you feel that way, nobody is forcing the Celtics on you. If you think they suck or if you don’t like them, then don’t watch. It’s pretty simple. Personally, after a long, ugly month, I think this team is starting to give us a real reason to stay positive and offer our support, which as fans, is all we have to offer. It takes patience, but they’re turning a corner and getting better. I think Doc Rivers said it best yesterday: “Our biggest issue with our injuries is that they’re healthy now, but they’re not ready to play basketball at this level yet.” They’re getting there. And if you thought it was going to be smooth sailing, then you clearly had no idea about who the team was that you were supporting. It’s never easy with them. It’s part of their charm.
