Just a Little Perspective (with apologies to Axl Rose)

I’ve seen understandable displays of shock and disappointment in the posts on this board following last night’s game. But I have to compliment the members of this board for maintaining a strong sense of both reality, hope, and even calm under adversity. Perhaps it may be due partly to the fact that we’ve had a lot of rehearsals throughout this season. But I’m personally convinced that this board represents a degree of “basketball maturity” unmatched elsewhere. And every single member of the board has reaffirmed my respect and gratitude in the process.

If you all had problems with last night’s game, what about me? The Celtics were two points behind when my current wife (that phrase keeps her on her toes) and friends decided it would be nice to go out for dinner. I insisted we take two cars, and I bolted for home as soon as I could force down my clams. Sean and Max immediately informed me that the Celtics were 30 down with four minutes left in the third quarter. Back in front of the tube, I sat with my head in my hands as I watched the fourth; and now I feel duty-bound to watch my tape of everything that transpired while I was out. Great way to start a Saturday.

But blowouts come and blowouts go. So far, the Celts and Cavs have split two blowouts in the three games of this series. Russell teams got blown out (usually by the Lakers) in playoff games. Anyone recall the blowout when some Celtic (Greg Minor?) slammed an emphatic tomahawk dunk to rub it in against Philly, and Philly wound up decimating the Celtics in the “Beat LA” game?

There’s one thing about blowouts. The factors that caused them are usually magnified and therefore very obvious. And, in the playoffs, the losing team invariably makes adjustments so that those very obvious factors cannot be recur in the next game. The adjustments may be executional and/or attitudinal. That’s obviously what happened last night, and I fully expect Doc and his charges to respond in kind tomorrow. We’ll see.

But I titled this thread “Just Little Perspective” not to lecture anyone on keeping the faith, as such a lecture is obviously not needed on this forum. I want to point out something else that should we should all be thinking about along with the day-to-day outcomes of this series.

The playoffs, when all the players are together and in reasonably good health, represent the ideal time to focus on evaluating this team from a long-term, as well as a short-term, perspective. I was quite outspoken (and I don’t regret a second of it) about the fact that the middle of the season, when the team was not achieving anything close to its potential, was absolutely no time to project their apparent strengths and weaknesses into the future. And it should be obvious to everyone that the Celtics who are now on the floor are quite different from the team that stumbled to a .500 record during the last half (maybe two-thirds) of the regular season.

So, in addition to living and dying with every development in the remaining playoff games, now is the time to ask ourselves broader questions such as:

• Who is emerging as the long-term leader of the team? (Helen Keller could have answered that one, and I doubt she knew anything about basketball.)

• Are we getting clues as to the favored style of the team as time passes? (Hint: Even today, when the Celtics are running, they usually stand the best chance of winning.)

• What attributes are required to play such a style? (Clue: One of them rhymes with “peepounding.”)

• Is it realistic to expect that such a style could be adopted quickly rather than gradually, and how should the answer to that question affect the roster for next season?

• Which current roster members who don’t seem consistent with the likely future direction of the team could nonetheless be attractive trade bait for one reason or another?

• Who can be fairly consistently counted on to be game-changers past this season?

• To what extent does the whole represent more than the sum of its parts on this team, and who are the weak links in that concept?

• How effective is this team in rebounding (figuratively speaking) from adversity, and which players most consistently rise to the challenge?

There are many other such questions—both general and specific—and I suspect people may have some fun adding to the list. The important thing is that the immediate focus on winning versus losing should not preoccupy us to the extent that we neglect milk the playoffs for “intelligence” that will be useful over the summer. Unlike the regular season, this is the time that the team should show to greatest advantage and, therefore, the best time to gather such “intelligence.”

Go Celtics!

Sam

Sam, I'm pretty much on the same page...I went back and looked at some info from 69 last night....Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that this is 1969 but there is no doubt in my mind that there were points in the playoffs that year where one could have gotten very discouraged. I vaguely remember it....
This is a very uneven team in a very uneven year...making predictions harder than usual but...I'm still optimistic that last night isn't a good predictor of the future, GO C's!

Axl Rose!?!

Sam, you wild thing, you.

bob

.

Bob,

I think Axl has a kick-ass band.

Sam

Hope Springs Eternal !!! GO C's!

Great game by the Celtics! Unbelieveable game by Rondo. A game for the ages! Doc said it best. When the Celtics play with 48 minutes of energy, aggression, and focus they can beat anyone.

Let's hope the Celts play the way they are capable these next 2 or 3 games.

Amen to that, SD. And, if they could possible win two more in this series, it will be a series for the ages.

Sam

Sam, in answer to your question about who could make good trade bait in accord with a running style which should adopt, I'll speak the unspeakable: Paul Pierce. Believe me, I'm rooting for Paul to bounce back and have a great series, but he just doesn't seem in tune with Rondo's running style.
Of course, I can't imagine Paul leaving Boston before he retires.

Sam

The Celtics must push the ball to beat the cavs or any other team that they play. This is a team in the midst of transition even as they find their way through a mindfield of a series. The Celtics have outplayed the cavs in 3 out of 4 games.

But this team was not built to be a pure fast breaking team. There are key players on the team that cannot play that style.

As far as this sereis go, no use in getting up too high or down too low. This series is a see-saw. I have purposely avoided any discussion about the 'future' for this team but after the season is complete, there will be a lot to talk about given all of the celtics free agents.

Rondo has emerged as the leader on this team and if the team wants to remain competitve in the future additions to the team should be considered in light of his skills.

dboss

dboss

Its inevitable because the core of the team are all 32 or above so even if we didn't have the mercurial Rondo,moves toward rebuilding have to be considered.KG has really shown alot of life in these playoffs.Hes finishing the season alot stronger than the great Tim Duncan,next year I could see him getting stronger and getting his defensive presence back.Ray has shown hes a pros pro,whenever hes on we win.
I will say that when Pierce doesn't have it,hes not still jacking it up like Toine would do.Its amazing we could win 2 games in this series with Pierce playing like this,a credit to how far Rondo is able to carry this team.
We're old,but have a good mix of young,Ray had a string of bad games in 08 playoffs,then finally got out of it and was huge rest of way.

cow

DBoss,

You're preaching to the choir in all respects.

I may have been the #1 proponent of pushing the ball for some time now. And that does NOT mean they have to fast break a lot. Just starting their halfcourt set as quickly as possible constitutes pushing the ball. Of course the best example I could come up with of pushing the ball was KG steaming downcourt for long pass and jam immediately after a Cavs bucket. That's pushing the ball at a crippling pace. Every one of the players can play in a style centered around pushing the ball.

You're also talking to the original "don't get too high or too low" guy. Enought said there.

You're right. The team, as it evolves, will have to be molded around Rajon's talents.

Sam

For one shining moment, the Celtics added a chapter to an already storied legacy that, I think any member of an C's title team of any decade would be proud! All players who were given minutes in yesterday's game contributed something toward the victory. Even Pierce shook out of his doldrums to contribute in the last several minutes. Rondo's game should have been freeze framed and sent to Springfield to the HOF and put on a film loop on how to play point guard. Tony Allen had to feel good considering he wasn't a big part of '07-'08, but got a chance to slice and dice the CAVS defense like a vege-matic. All team members should use that game as a monaker that despite extended dormant stretches during the regular season, this team can be a force in this series and beyond. For all complaints on the game on thread yesterday, the stats showed a desparity of only one foul shot between Cleveland & Boston! To be bluntly honest, not coming out Friday past ready to play and getting the beat down may prove very costly to the C's chances to advance. When you play the CAVS, this C's team has little margin for error. That said, it did not deter the team from picking itself up collectively and giving a performance Sunday, that even exceeded the bounds of Celtic excellence established by the greats that came before those that donned the green & white yesterday. Cherrish the moment, moments are fleeting. Let's make sure Rondo always has a cast to surround him with the physical skills and energy to highlight his myriad of ability! The long range health of this franchise depends on it!-MD