Inconsistency: The Only Constant With '09-'10 Celts

The team begins 23-5 without Davis and we think all will be fine. Then the mid season slump after the impressive Christmans Day win in Orlando is followed by .500 ball for essentially the next 2 months. Early & Mid March the team shows signs of shaking its' lethargy and comes home for a six game home stand that starts promising enough, but rapidly goes down the toilet with 3 straight losses. We think we salvage something with a win over the CAVS despite King James 40+ point effort. Follow that up with a sleep walk at MSG last night. The excuses in the Globe article are rampant. KG blames the basketball gods, losing focus, and whatever else comes to mind. It becomes painfully evident that if you are having trouble focusing at this juncture of the season, your run in the play offs will be shorter than Tatoo standing next to Mr. Rourke waiting for da' plane on Fantasy Island!

I hate to use a movie reference to define a season or a team, but I really think the Celtics are the "Box of Chocolates" from Forest Gump. You're just never sure what you are going to get. Now granted, I've never had a bad piece of chocolate. Some I like more than others, but I would never say I hate a particular piece. This should bode well for the Celtics.

I've been out of town for a week on vacation in New Mexico, but some things I did like while I was out:

1) KG and Celtics getting in LeBron's head. I'm not sure what KG (and others on the Celtics) said at the end of the game or even during (If anyone was there or was a good lip reader, please divulge) but it clearly rattled the King. So much so, that I'm actually liking our 4th seed better because if we win both first round series, I'm really liking our chances to derail them once again.

2) The inconsistency/lack of focus/no momentum of the Celtics is a much better fit for the playoffs, not the regular season. This whole gaining momentum/consistency/focus idea before the playoffs has never worked for me. I know we would much rather have it than not have it going in, but in my opinion, there is nothing consistent or momentum gathering about the playoffs once you are there. So you have all this momentum/consistency going in...and for what? You're more jacked up? Then you lose your opening round game? You may be playing the same team night in and night out, but consistency stops there. I just don't think you are rewarded for finishing the regular season strong or consistent once the playoffs start. Teams win a game or two at most in a row. Teams make adjustments after losses and wins. We're going to lose games. Does it really matter that we lose it because we were inconsistent or dropped an egg? Or if we play one great game and then follow it up with a horrendous performance? Or if we play a really good game and still lose? The result and goal are the same. Win 4 games before your opponent.

3) I was glad to see KG speak up about Durant. That was just the final straw. You can only take so much of that crap. He's been keeping his mouth shut for a long time. Good for him. For him to say it as the team motivator speaks volumes. It's like when you boss losses his shit. This could be a great simmering fire the refs just poured gasoline on for the Celtics. KG is pissed. Look out.

4) If we do have the fortune to meet up with LeBron in the playoffs, are we really going to remember the games we lost or how we lost them if we win the series 4-3 or 4-2, except that we did lose 3 or 2 games? Or if the games we lost, we lost them all by 30+ points?

I am just dying to see LeBron crack up again. Yes, I am demanding it. This one this year will be even more severe. It could be Mike"Ear Chewing" Tyson v. Evanader Holyfield-esque. I think LeBron is teetering on that fence. He knows he can't shake the Celtics. Once again, very strange behavior. Certainly not deserving of a championship trophy. Kobe didn't even act this way. He just shut his mouth and won four championships. It will be so much more sweet if the Celtics are the ones that knock LeBron out again.

5) I don't think I'm going to get my ideal opening round matchup of CLE v. CHAR. And it looks like CLE will have considerably less to worry about in the first round if Bosh doesn't return in time. It was inadvertent. Although this may jack Bosh up so that they will be the ones pulling a Golden State on the #1 seed.

6) If the Celtics do bow out in the playoffs, what are they going to say? They won't have anything new to add. But if they win it all, they'll probably say to all of us (not us us) we were focusing on the wrong things. "You guys couldn't put two games together." "Your season was a tale of 3 cities." So what, we won four series in a row. We won 4 games before our competition did.

7) All the losses we've experienced lately are not teams we are likely to see going into the playoffs. SAS maybe, but they will self destruct as well. CLE...very likely we will play them. Games against MIL...very likely. Let's watch those games very carefully and see how they play.

Dbrown,

Hope you enjoyed New Mexico and especially that you had an opportunity to visit Taos.

Your optimistic approach is admirable, and I wouldn't argue with any of the points. I too like the feistiness that seems to be brewing within KG. I remember saying many times how great Celtics teams have usually had a little chip on their shoulders—a little "Oh yeah? We'll see about that."

The one area I'd debate a bit is that, when I'm talking about consistency, I'm not referring to a winning streak or even consistency of excellence. I'm usually referring to consistency of identity. I'd like them to go into the playoffs being able to focused on doing their best, making the necessary adjustments, etc.—not having to wonder who they really are. I'd prefer them to know that, whatever barriers arise, they have the collective instinct to adapt and meet the challenges.

Since Christmas, I've had the feeling that the team has lacked a consistent identity. I don't even know what label I would assign to their "system."

In most games, there's been a lack of assurance as to whom they could count on, for what, and when. That's the sort of inconsistency that sometimes leads a team to think too much rather than operating instinctively. I think Doc's narrowing of the the rotation is a step in the right direction, in essence limiting the number of variables. I'm hoping for more of what a sociologist might call "routinization" of roles by the time the playoffs arrive.

Welcome back to the board.

Sam

Sam: Taos, New Mexico: Home of Marshall Sam McCloud! Personal thorn in the side of Chief Peter B. Clifford NYPD, McCloud constantly getting Sgt. Joe Broadhurst in hot water with the Chief. Sunday Mystery Movie NBC 1971-1979!-MD.

Also a very nice place to visit, although we never saw Chester while we were there. "Mister Deelin. Mister Deeliin. I'm stuck in a water trough."

Sam