Why people continue calling the Celtics aging?

I am really tired of seen people talking about how an old team like the Celtics cant defeat Miami and Oklahoma.Meanwhile those reporters are saying that San Antonio and the Lakers can do it.People dont realize that those teams are even older than the Celtics.Here in PR i see people analizing the teams and is always the same ,...If the aging Celtics can survive the long season maybe can win a playoff round!!!!!!!!imagine how do i feel.Ibelieve in my team and i am sure that we have a mix of young players with veterans.

International,

I've never been sure why people make such a big deal about age. In my book, age brings experience. And experience, as much as any other single factor, brings championships. If some people think age makes a team slow, they have no idea what's in store when they see this team. If some people think age makes players vulnerable to injury, the should ask Blake Griffin and Greg Oden how old they are.

The Celtics have three key older players. Mix well with some greyhounds, season with great defense, garnish with great shooters, top with ubuntu type chemistry, and you have a feast for kings—or, in this case, possible champions.

All that "old" crap is for NBA simpletons.

Sam

International,

I agree with you. I think we've got a great mix of veterans and young players. As a matter of fact some of these sports writers need to consider that Danny Ainge has done a great job of bringing in good young players through free agency and the draft.

Regards

Sam and NYCelt ,i a gree with both 100%.As a matter of fact the NBA is a league of veterans,the zebras treat the veterans better and opposite players do the same.

Sam, you forgot to mention that besides experience, age makes people smarter, better looking, and funnier as well.

Thanks Bob. BTW, regarding your bucket list, Fly into Athens, then hop on an Aegean Airlines flight to Heraklion Crete. Rent a care from AutoEurope out of Portland Maine and drive down to Matala on the South coast of Crete. Spend a week there snorkeling and hiking, staying at Hotel Nikos, and then drive Northwest to Rethymnon then on to Chania. Sam can tell you what restaurants to eat at there. Yes, the have a Starbucks. Such a great seaside town. Then drive 80+ km west to Gramvousi. What a hike ending in an awesome lagoon.

Only drawback is that many of the beaches are clothing optional, so your sensibilities may be offended.

Bob and Worcester,

If only age made hair grow. Just my luck, it would grow in all the wrong places.

Bob, we stayed in Chania the entire time except for going two hours to Heraklion for a ship for Santorini that never left because of rough sees; so we returned to Chania, which was fine with us. I mention this trip because, although we had a rental car brought to our hotel, we used the rental only to drive within Chania for shopping, sightseeing, etc. On the long ride, we took a taxi.

The reason was because the drivers on Crete are certifiably crazy. The unwritten speed law is to go for it until you're driving on two wheels. They seem to view themselves as wimps if they pass another car except on blind curves (even on two lane roads).

I'm a born and bred Boston driver, who will attempt almost anything on the road. In fact, sometimes when I want to relax, I go to Boston and just drive around. One needs an instinct for lane-changing and bullying in Boston, and I have that instinct. But Crete was another story.

I think I'm a very aggressive driver, but not suicidal. (Maybe being an MP company commander in my past has something to do with that.) However, I'd brave the Crete traffic all over again just to spend more time in Chania.

I can point you to a very good and surprisingly inexpensive hotel that's on the same side street where we ate at the same restaurant four times—and very near the gorgeous harbor. I wrote in an earlier thread about my wife dancing with the restaurant owner to Surfin' USA in the kitchen while I was outside, leading a gathering crowd in "...inside outside USA...." Who knew we'd pick a restaurant owned by a Beach Boys fanatic?

Sam

International, The last year that the great Bill Russell played (1968-69), The Celtics won the NBA Championship 4-3 over the Lakers. Russell and Sam Jones were 34 and 35 years young. That team had 2-3 other veterans in John Havlicek 28 yrs old, Don Nelson, 28 years old and Larry Siegfried 29. Tom "satch" Sanders was 30. I can remeber how the pundits said this team was too old to win.

Fast forward to the 2012 edition of the Boston Celtics and are two stars Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are winding down their careers. And like the 68-69 Celticvs this team has younger experience veterans that are expected to make a huge impact of the team.

I see the 2012 team as a team in transition. Since 2008 the Celtics have been a team with a high efficiency half court offense that was anchored by a stingy defense.

The excitement in the air for me is the prospect that this team now has the type of players to get out and run the fast break. Our guard rotation is perhaps deeper and more talented than any that I have seen since the early 60's. This team has an amazing diversity of players that can play multiple positions and do it productively. We have bigs, wings and guards and the number of combinations that coach Rivers can put on the floor to go big, small or in between would reqiuire some serious mathmatical compilations to quantify.

I am more excited this year than I have been in a long time (I say this every year) The fact is, DA has assembled a collection of talent at every position that can definitely compete and win the championship this year.

As this season moves along we will all get a better feel for how Doc integrates this talent into a cohesive unit. There are a ton of what if's that we have been debating about on how all of this comes together so we are looking forward to another exciting year of Celtics Basketball and I am certain that we will enjoy your participation over the coming months.

dboss

Thanks dboss for your words ,i am very happy to be talking about our Celtics with you again.I agree with your post 100%.One thing that bother me is last year people were talking about how old was Ray Allen and now that Allen is in Miami suddenly he is the great adquisition of this year according to them.

Dboss and International,

Also, on that 1969 team, starter Bailey Howell was 32. The Celtics played that year with a rotation of eight—if you can believe that. No one other than those eight played in more than 48of the 82 games that season. Moreover, of those eight rotation players, only one was under age 30—Larry Siegfried at 29.

But what they had that I don't believe any basketball team has had before or since: unbelievable chemistry. Only one of the eight rotation players was spending his first season—Emmette Bryant—and he was a five-year player in the league and wound up being one of the stars in the "Balloon Game" (they don't win that championship without the first quarter fireworks display he put on). For the other seven following are the number of previous seasons with the Celtics:

Russ: 12 (10 of them resulting in championships)
Sam: 11 (9 of them resulting in championships)
Satch: 8 (7 of them resulting in championships)
John: 7 (6 of them resulting in championships)
Siggy: 5 (4 of them resulting in championships)
Nellie: 3 (2 of them resulting in championships)
Bailey: 2 (1 of them resulting in a championship)

They absolutely defined the word "continuity."

Another thing they had in spades was complementary players. The roster wasn't as interchangeable as, for instance, in 1962-63, when they had nine future hall-of-famers. But the skills they possessed combined beautifully to fit with one another like a jigsaw puzzle. There was no ability that they collectively lacked.

I believe this year's team has the potential to possess complementary skills in a old similar to that of 1969. They'll also have a younger team than the Russell Brigade, although they're likely to sacrifice some chemistry by having a majority of players who are new to the team. In my mind, rebounding, assists-to-made-field-goal percentage, and chemistry are the three things I'll be monitoring most closely—yes, even more than rebounding.

By the way, Satch was injured and didn't even play in the "Balloon Game," which was won by seven old men, oceans of chemistry, and unending heart.

Sam