Stop the presses! The Celtics are 3-2 over their last 5 games. Their reign is over.
The new dynasty was short lived. 8 games to be exact. Or 12 games, if you would forgive them the OT lost to Orlando.
A 2nd OT loss to the Cavs means the Celtics can’t beat the really good teams. You know, the 50 win teams. Cleveland was one last year and Orlando looks like one this year. The three kings are dead. Long live the king..James, that is!
They will hardly make more than a short paragraph in a history book. Like the Spartan stand at Thermopylae – 300 against thousands, king James took on the Celtics all by himself (almost) and defeated the (not so) young Turks, scoring 11 points (the Celtics entire total for OT) of Cleveland’s 17 overtime points.
As far as the beginning of the season -
What the questions were …are what the questions are. At least, some of the big questions remain.
The appetizer portion of the season is almost over….almost.
Yet, a look at the next 10 games show only 2 definite benchmark games – Cleveland again on Sunday and Detroit in game #10. You can say Miami shouldn’t be taken lightly and you would be right. You can say you can’t fall asleep on Toronto (twice in the next ten) and you would right again. The Celtics also play New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Sacramento, and Milwaukee – all games they should win if they are the contender we expect them to be.
So the team should be starting to play meat and potatos basketball against lightweight (appetizer) teams for a while longer. It’s a schedule that favors the Celtics getting out fast. You might say – so far, so good.
13 games into the season the Celtics are a surprising 11-2.
That’s a faster start than any realistic prophet would suggest. How come?
The team could just be that good. It could be that some things deceptively mask the early question marks. What things?, you ask.
Newness sparks energy. Look at the Sixers right after Iverson was traded. They played .500 ball the rest of the year, much better than when Iverson was there.
Look at the Celtics right after the return of Antoine Walker a few years ago. They went on something like, a 10 game winning streak.
Last year, Don Nelson takes over the Warriors and changes the system. They jump out of the gate quickly.
There are other examples of that happening but you get the picture. Newness can create new focus and energy and lift a team …..for a while. Eventually gravity takes over and teams become what they really are.
So….Who are the ‘new’ Celtics?
They just bolted to a 11-2 record, but have lost (in OT albeit and on the road) to arguably the 2 best teams they’ve faced. Neither are even considered top 6 teams. But the Celtics did lose.
Come on, you say. They would be undefeated and 13-0 if they won those games. Be realistic. Give them a break.
Fair enough.
I’ll go even farther. If they were 11-2, but had won those 2 OT games against the best 2 teams they have faced, and lost 2 other games against teams they should have beaten, there stillwould be complaints from critics. Why did they lose those 2 games against inferior talent? They should be beating those teams every night.
I understand that this Celtic team is under a national microscope.
But they aren’t undefeated and they did lose to the 2 best teams they have faced.
Does it mean anything?
If we were asking the eight ball, it might say….
Signs point to yes.
or
Better not tell you now
or
Too soon to tell.
OK – the last one isn’t really in an eightball (or is it? I haven’t looked at one since I was a kid.)
Maybe it should say…
You are too darn impatient
Basketball is a team game and a chemistry game. Getting to know each other takes time. More time than has transpired so far for the Celtics.
The NBA season is an 82 game marathon.
Yet, here are the unanswered questions:
1) Will Rondo be a weak point of attack against the better teams in the league?
We saw what happens last night when he can’t put it in the hoop. Doc has chided him for his defense, which is supposed to be his strong point. This league is chock full of tough point guards to guard on most nights. In the loss to Orlando, Jameer Nelson had his way, in the first half especially. Though Rondo scored 18 points in that game, so did Jameer, a 13 pt. per game scorer against the rest of the league. Last night, Boobie Gibson (12 pts per) was held to 8 points, but Rondo scored exactly 3 on 1-9 shooting in 43 minutes of play.
2) Is Kendrick Perkins going to be good enough?
Most feel that Kendrick is playing well enough and some think he is playing better than expected. KP is shooting a high pct. But he should be. All he does is shoot lay-ups and dunks. His offensive game is woeful. He still drops passes, puts it on the floor too much, and misses lay-ups he should make. Most 2nd string centers in the league can do what he does offensively. Where he is adding value is defensively. That part goes unsung. Like an offensive lineman in football, Perkin will never get glory for his solid defensive play. But there are times when even a remedial offensive game from the center position would help this team. It would help Kevin Garnett greatly in drawing the double teams away and giving him room to operate.
Will Kendrick ever get a reliable go-to offensive move under pressure? Will he ever be able to reliably score from farther out than 5 feet?
I suggest that, unless Scot Pollard starts playing as he has not for years now, this team is a PJ Brown, or any other competent big, away from knowing they can compete with anyone.
As far as the 3-2 recent record with losses to the 2 teams they need to beat:
1) The three stars are in varying stages of incapacity with bad backs, strained ankles and just spent emotion. They wanted to start strong. They have. It seems they are coming back to earth. They were also playing a lot of minutes under this emotionalism.
2) The three stars were all number one options previously. You would think at least 1 or 2 would rise to the occasion each game to win it. Mostly, they have. But they are human too. Was Ray’s 2 misses simply that – being human? Or was he hurt and tired, too?
3) In the 2 losses, I thought that Kevin Garnett should have played a bigger role offensively than he did. But KG was in foul trouble in both games. He fouled out in Orlando, and picked up 5 in Cleveland. He also attracts a number of traveling calls it seems. The team needs Kevin to stay in the game and step up offensively a little more.
4) Though Paul had largely adapted to the team game, Paul Pierce still has moments when he tries to do too much offensively. He will get caught without a place to pass to on drives to the middle and baseline moves.
I would say that the Celtics got out strong due to the enormous talent here, great defense, and rode a wall of emotion to their early success. From here on out, the details become more
important.
This team should be able to hold a lead when one star goes out – even Garnett. That is still a problem to be solved.
Fitting in the pieces around the three is still a work in progress. Lack of depth at PG and center are still a weak point.
The other problem is that the fairly weak schedule does not give the team enough games against top teams to gage what they really need to do to compete for a championship and to know if those pieces are on the team now.
The team has come a long way. Yet there are questions from early on that still need to be answered. Will a solid victory against Detroit or Utah answer them? That is another good question.
I think there may be another Danny Ainge move coming this season. Time, and the Celtics play, will tell.
