Gratitude is something that is often lost on us sports fans. Super Bowls meld quickly into March Madness which meld into Nba Finals and before we know it the leaves are falling and it is time for another World Series. With this seemingly never ending process of championships followed by parades, Sports Illustrated covers, and eventually ring and banner ceremonies it is easy to under estimate the importance that each title might have on a player, its fans, and its city.
Gratitude for a singular accomplishment has become even more difficult to put into context for us Boston fans when six championships, won in three separate sports, have been one in the past seven calendar years. This accomplishment is a remarkable one and when you stop to think that Philadelphia fans tonight are hoping to win their first professional crown in a quarter century in this evening’s World Series game 5, it is even more illuminating.
This brings us to last night at the TD Banknorth Garden where just for a moment the sports world stopped its fever-pitched, non-stop, forward motion for a few moments and we got to see the realization of a life long dream. Paul Pierce came into Boston with high expectations. A first round pick from a highly regarded Kansas program, Pierce seemed to fit nicely in the Celtic tradition of bringing in players with winning pedigrees. But while Pierce showed flashes of brilliance over his Celtic career, it wasn’t until the team finally made its mind to build around Pierce with the addition of Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen that we saw a fully happy Pierce who seemed to be for the first time in his NBA career comfortable in his role as leader of the Celtics.
Last night, we saw the ultimate sign of that comfort when Pierce, visibly overcome with tears moments earlier, made the decision to ask for the microphone and stand at midcourt and address the Garden crowd. And while the speech will never be confused with Lou Gehrig’s “Luckiest man” speech or even confused with an above average high school graduation speech—it was undoubtedly heartfelt and spilling over with gratitude. And because it for a minute forced all of us to think about what we once dreamed of, or perhaps still do dream of, for all of those who saw it, it was something we all can be thankful for.
Showing posts with label Celtics. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Celtics. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Celtics Second Act Begins Tonight at the Garden
With a straight and vertical trajectory, the Celtics banner will take mere moments to find its way tonight from ground level to the ceiling. It was all most that quick in which the team’s fortune rose from that of an NBA lottery constant, to a playoff certainty, and finally to a champion.
But now as the Celtics embark on their second consecutive season of play back at the top of the NBA hierarchy, after over twenty years of being consistently removed from it, fans must recognize that much like the way in which cool fall temperatures are forcing us to close ours, the window of potential championship contention for the Celtics is not limitless and narrows more and more each season.
In fact, a poll of NBA general managers that came out this week may indicate that word around the league is that the Lakers, with the return of a healthy Andrew Bynum, have edged ahead of the Celtics in the race for the 2008 – 2009 crown. The same poll put the Celtics as favorites to come out of the east but trailing considerably in votes for the title behind Kobe’s squad.
What does all of this mean? Well nothing for certain accept that time moves on and with it past glories become just that, things in the past. So after a long awaited and well deserved ceremony takes place tonight on the Garden parquet around 7:38 PM the role of the Celtics turns from champions to defenders. The opportunity to defend is an awesome one and brings with it 82 unique and separate opportunities to prove that the Celtics are still a championship quality outfit while trying to fight off a nightly attempt by their opponent to knock the defending champion down a notch or two.
Rocker Warren Zevon once instructed us to “enjoy every sandwich.” Likewise, the Celtics and their fans should realize the fleeting nature of championship quality teams and enjoy each game that the C’s play at this level and try hard not too look too far ahead. Because as Patriots fans learned the hard way early last month, each team, no matter how dominant, is only one play away from having the script of their season thrown out and forced to be rewritten.
But now as the Celtics embark on their second consecutive season of play back at the top of the NBA hierarchy, after over twenty years of being consistently removed from it, fans must recognize that much like the way in which cool fall temperatures are forcing us to close ours, the window of potential championship contention for the Celtics is not limitless and narrows more and more each season.
In fact, a poll of NBA general managers that came out this week may indicate that word around the league is that the Lakers, with the return of a healthy Andrew Bynum, have edged ahead of the Celtics in the race for the 2008 – 2009 crown. The same poll put the Celtics as favorites to come out of the east but trailing considerably in votes for the title behind Kobe’s squad.
What does all of this mean? Well nothing for certain accept that time moves on and with it past glories become just that, things in the past. So after a long awaited and well deserved ceremony takes place tonight on the Garden parquet around 7:38 PM the role of the Celtics turns from champions to defenders. The opportunity to defend is an awesome one and brings with it 82 unique and separate opportunities to prove that the Celtics are still a championship quality outfit while trying to fight off a nightly attempt by their opponent to knock the defending champion down a notch or two.
Rocker Warren Zevon once instructed us to “enjoy every sandwich.” Likewise, the Celtics and their fans should realize the fleeting nature of championship quality teams and enjoy each game that the C’s play at this level and try hard not too look too far ahead. Because as Patriots fans learned the hard way early last month, each team, no matter how dominant, is only one play away from having the script of their season thrown out and forced to be rewritten.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
A Forgettable Game Four
In an attempt to bolster the amount of posts on the blog here are some thoughts on the Celtics game last night:
-Paul Pierce needs to step up his play on the offensive end. Pierce’s defense on Lebron James has been tremendous but when everything else hits the fan offensively a captain must step up and keep his ship afloat. Obviously Pierce and Ray Allen can’t get their shots going against Cleveland but Pierce has the ability to take it to the hoop and at least draw some free throws. If the Celtics are to win this series Pierce must do more to stimulate the C’s offense.
-James Posey is a certified playoff performer. He won’t score twenty or dish off ten assists but Posey has made frequent and crucial contributions each time he’s taken the court. From his clutch 3-pointer in game one to his stingy defense on James throughout the series, Posey is proving his worth and then some; and to add to this he is doing it all in his hometown.
- Kendrick Perkins has miraculously turned himself into Mark Price at the free throw line. If anyone going into the playoffs said Perk would shoot around 90% from the line they would have been hauled off in a padded suit. But although his contributions from the charity stripe have been monumental Perkin’s ability to assert himself in the post hasn’t been as apparent to me as it was in the regular season.
- To me the Celtics consistent rotation or lack there of has been their greatest Achilles' heel in the post season. If I were Doc Rivers I would ensure that all players touch the hardwood in the opening quarter to gage what game they are sporting. Sam Cassell has shown the ability to at times take over games and at other times run, or maybe a better word would be walk, the offense into the ground. A quick insertion of Cassell, Leon Poe, P.J. Brown, and Glen Davis would let Rivers sense what player he can expect in a given game and adapt his rotation accordingly. Because if anything has proven consistent in the C’s post season it has been inconsistency amongst River’s bench support.
- If Ray Allen and Paul Pierce can’t hit a shot and if Sam Cassell has morphed into a John Starks-like hot-and-cold shooter—would it kill the C’s to start a quarter with Eddie House just to see what his outside shot could do to jump-start the C’s at times fledgling offense? Rivers opted to start game four’s final frame with the rebounding duo of Davis and Brown but imagine what an impact a couple of quick shots from House would have made on the team?
- Did anyone read about or see Lebron Jame’s yell at his Mother after Pierce fouled him going into the crowd last night? Apparently Lebron was upset his Mother tried to insert herself into the game by making such a visible display of emotion. I’m no marketing genius but I smell a Campbell’s Soup commercial with Lebron and his over-charged Mother trying to fend off those bullies from hurting her baby.
-Paul Pierce needs to step up his play on the offensive end. Pierce’s defense on Lebron James has been tremendous but when everything else hits the fan offensively a captain must step up and keep his ship afloat. Obviously Pierce and Ray Allen can’t get their shots going against Cleveland but Pierce has the ability to take it to the hoop and at least draw some free throws. If the Celtics are to win this series Pierce must do more to stimulate the C’s offense.
-James Posey is a certified playoff performer. He won’t score twenty or dish off ten assists but Posey has made frequent and crucial contributions each time he’s taken the court. From his clutch 3-pointer in game one to his stingy defense on James throughout the series, Posey is proving his worth and then some; and to add to this he is doing it all in his hometown.
- Kendrick Perkins has miraculously turned himself into Mark Price at the free throw line. If anyone going into the playoffs said Perk would shoot around 90% from the line they would have been hauled off in a padded suit. But although his contributions from the charity stripe have been monumental Perkin’s ability to assert himself in the post hasn’t been as apparent to me as it was in the regular season.
- To me the Celtics consistent rotation or lack there of has been their greatest Achilles' heel in the post season. If I were Doc Rivers I would ensure that all players touch the hardwood in the opening quarter to gage what game they are sporting. Sam Cassell has shown the ability to at times take over games and at other times run, or maybe a better word would be walk, the offense into the ground. A quick insertion of Cassell, Leon Poe, P.J. Brown, and Glen Davis would let Rivers sense what player he can expect in a given game and adapt his rotation accordingly. Because if anything has proven consistent in the C’s post season it has been inconsistency amongst River’s bench support.
- If Ray Allen and Paul Pierce can’t hit a shot and if Sam Cassell has morphed into a John Starks-like hot-and-cold shooter—would it kill the C’s to start a quarter with Eddie House just to see what his outside shot could do to jump-start the C’s at times fledgling offense? Rivers opted to start game four’s final frame with the rebounding duo of Davis and Brown but imagine what an impact a couple of quick shots from House would have made on the team?
- Did anyone read about or see Lebron Jame’s yell at his Mother after Pierce fouled him going into the crowd last night? Apparently Lebron was upset his Mother tried to insert herself into the game by making such a visible display of emotion. I’m no marketing genius but I smell a Campbell’s Soup commercial with Lebron and his over-charged Mother trying to fend off those bullies from hurting her baby.
Monday, May 5, 2008
C's Wait Until the Last Minute to Ace the Hawks
It was like going to a friend’s birthday party on December 24—you were required to go but your mind was firmly placed in the future. It was those emotions that summed up the feelings surrounding Boston Celtics fans after yesterday’s resounding game 7 victory by their team over the ever-feisty Atlanta Hawks.
Game 7s are usually occasions that are granted immediate and eternal resting places in our sports memory banks. But this will not be the case with the 2008 NBA First Round game 7 between a top ranked Celtics team striving to regain their perch as the most storied franchise in pro basketball history and an Atlanta Hawks squad who submitted a “present” when class began on Sunday but registered little more than a peep for the remainder of the afternoon. There is no room for celebrating what should have been inevitable —a series victory by a number one seed over an eight seed in an opening round playoff series.
This leaves us with the question of how to evaluate the Celtics victory Sunday. And it is my opinion that it was a case of a top-of-their-class student pulling an all-nighter before submitting an A plus power-point presentation in freshman history class. To be sure the passage of the course was necessary but the goal—that of a degree for the student and a championship for the Celtics—are still ahead and will require much work and increasing levels of performance as time goes on.
Sunday was a day of accomplishing a goal most believed would have been completed much earlier. It is now completed and even with a good deal of momentum moving forward. But looming in the immediate future lie tests that will demand greater and greater quality. And if the Celtics hope to ace the tests posed to them by the likes of those taught by Prof. James, Prof. Billups, or Dean Bryant it is clear that their performance must not only improve but become timelier.
Game 7s are usually occasions that are granted immediate and eternal resting places in our sports memory banks. But this will not be the case with the 2008 NBA First Round game 7 between a top ranked Celtics team striving to regain their perch as the most storied franchise in pro basketball history and an Atlanta Hawks squad who submitted a “present” when class began on Sunday but registered little more than a peep for the remainder of the afternoon. There is no room for celebrating what should have been inevitable —a series victory by a number one seed over an eight seed in an opening round playoff series.
This leaves us with the question of how to evaluate the Celtics victory Sunday. And it is my opinion that it was a case of a top-of-their-class student pulling an all-nighter before submitting an A plus power-point presentation in freshman history class. To be sure the passage of the course was necessary but the goal—that of a degree for the student and a championship for the Celtics—are still ahead and will require much work and increasing levels of performance as time goes on.
Sunday was a day of accomplishing a goal most believed would have been completed much earlier. It is now completed and even with a good deal of momentum moving forward. But looming in the immediate future lie tests that will demand greater and greater quality. And if the Celtics hope to ace the tests posed to them by the likes of those taught by Prof. James, Prof. Billups, or Dean Bryant it is clear that their performance must not only improve but become timelier.
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Celtics, Champs, Chills, and More
Here are some thoughts that are rattling around my head this afternoon.
Kevin Garnett is officially back. He might have missed nine games with an injured abdomen but last night against the Detroit Pistons one could hardly tell he had ever missed a beat. Garnett’s intensity is so great that it has the ability to have an early March regular season game seem as though it is a playoff game seven. No matter what Al Jefferson ends up being as a basketball player it will be hard to argue with Ainge’s trade simply based on the life that has returned to Celtics games as a result of Garnett’s presence.
Steve Phillips of ESPN brought up the amazing fact in Thursday’s broadcast of the Red Sox spring training game against the Dodgers that 23 players out of the 25 players from the Red Sox 2007 roster are still around going into 2008 spring training. That is a 92% pretension rate. In the free agent era, I can’t remember when a championship team went into the next season with so many hold-overs.
The contrast of the 2007 retention rate was even more illuminated by the fact that the Dodgers starter Thursday was former Sox hurler Derrick Lowe. With the mass exodus of 2004 that was led by Pedro Martinez and Lowe it is hard to believe that the Red Sox are still under essentially the same exact ownership and management.
During the same ESPN broadcast the fact was brought up that every Red Sox home spring training game since 2003 has been sold out. Every game has been sold out at Fenway Park during this same exact time. It is hard to imagine this streak coming to an end any time soon.
And now for the creepy portion of this post--MSNBC had a special last night entitled “The Mind of Manson” chronicling the the life and times of Charles Manson. The program relied heavily on a 1987 Today Show broadcast which featured an interview with Manson and analysis from a former F.B.I. crime profiler. I have to admit that watching this interview was one of the most chilling, yet gripping, things I’ve watched in a while. People the likes of Manson often seem inhuman and beyond comprehension and while the program did nothing to completely remove this about Manson—it was fascinating to hear the psychological analysis of the interview that was provided throughout the program.
If anyone is looking for something to do this weekend they might want to look into the Harpoon Brewery’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The cover of $15 is a bit steep but it does include a free pint glass and hours of music. For anyone busy the actual St. Patrick’s Day weekend it might be a nice alternative.
One week until I leave for Florida and Red Sox Spring Training!
Kevin Garnett is officially back. He might have missed nine games with an injured abdomen but last night against the Detroit Pistons one could hardly tell he had ever missed a beat. Garnett’s intensity is so great that it has the ability to have an early March regular season game seem as though it is a playoff game seven. No matter what Al Jefferson ends up being as a basketball player it will be hard to argue with Ainge’s trade simply based on the life that has returned to Celtics games as a result of Garnett’s presence.
Steve Phillips of ESPN brought up the amazing fact in Thursday’s broadcast of the Red Sox spring training game against the Dodgers that 23 players out of the 25 players from the Red Sox 2007 roster are still around going into 2008 spring training. That is a 92% pretension rate. In the free agent era, I can’t remember when a championship team went into the next season with so many hold-overs.
The contrast of the 2007 retention rate was even more illuminated by the fact that the Dodgers starter Thursday was former Sox hurler Derrick Lowe. With the mass exodus of 2004 that was led by Pedro Martinez and Lowe it is hard to believe that the Red Sox are still under essentially the same exact ownership and management.
During the same ESPN broadcast the fact was brought up that every Red Sox home spring training game since 2003 has been sold out. Every game has been sold out at Fenway Park during this same exact time. It is hard to imagine this streak coming to an end any time soon.
And now for the creepy portion of this post--MSNBC had a special last night entitled “The Mind of Manson” chronicling the the life and times of Charles Manson. The program relied heavily on a 1987 Today Show broadcast which featured an interview with Manson and analysis from a former F.B.I. crime profiler. I have to admit that watching this interview was one of the most chilling, yet gripping, things I’ve watched in a while. People the likes of Manson often seem inhuman and beyond comprehension and while the program did nothing to completely remove this about Manson—it was fascinating to hear the psychological analysis of the interview that was provided throughout the program.
If anyone is looking for something to do this weekend they might want to look into the Harpoon Brewery’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration. The cover of $15 is a bit steep but it does include a free pint glass and hours of music. For anyone busy the actual St. Patrick’s Day weekend it might be a nice alternative.
One week until I leave for Florida and Red Sox Spring Training!
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Allen's Ankle Key to Celtics Success
After dropping two consecutive games to the Washington Wizards, the Celtics bounced back last night with an exciting 100-90 victory over the Pacific Conference leading Portland Trailblazers.
While the victory and the opponent were noteworthy perhaps the most important outcome of last night’s game was the reemergence of Ray Allen’s scoring touch. Allen who led the Celtics with 35 points seemed to regain the offensive form that fans had become accustomed to going back to his days at Uconn.
Allen, who has been struggling with an ankle injury for over a month now, has proven to be vital to his squad’s offensive success. With Allen’s sharp-shooting in place the Celtics perimeter offense opens up allowing teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to flow freely through the offensive unit and rely on the ability to kick out to a waiting Allen to shoot the three. Without Allen at the top of his game, the Celtics ability to spread the ball all around the offensive end and find open men has suffered.
Ankle injuries take on an added importance when they occur with those who rely on their jump shot. Allen is such a player and it will be Allen’s ability to recover from his injury and improve this season’s career low field goal percentage that will go a long way in determining if the Celtics can maintain the break-neck pace that they have started the 2007-2008 season with.
While the victory and the opponent were noteworthy perhaps the most important outcome of last night’s game was the reemergence of Ray Allen’s scoring touch. Allen who led the Celtics with 35 points seemed to regain the offensive form that fans had become accustomed to going back to his days at Uconn.
Allen, who has been struggling with an ankle injury for over a month now, has proven to be vital to his squad’s offensive success. With Allen’s sharp-shooting in place the Celtics perimeter offense opens up allowing teammates Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce to flow freely through the offensive unit and rely on the ability to kick out to a waiting Allen to shoot the three. Without Allen at the top of his game, the Celtics ability to spread the ball all around the offensive end and find open men has suffered.
Ankle injuries take on an added importance when they occur with those who rely on their jump shot. Allen is such a player and it will be Allen’s ability to recover from his injury and improve this season’s career low field goal percentage that will go a long way in determining if the Celtics can maintain the break-neck pace that they have started the 2007-2008 season with.
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