Reality Check

It’s like sunlight after a really bad storm. All the pent up angst and karma is being released right now. I know it won’t last. But it sure is nice basking in the heat.

BIG AL vs Dwight Howard last night.

The good and the bad with Big Al.

First the good. I am more impressed than ever with his inside game. He is close to and may very well soon be the best big man down low on the block with the ball simply from a scoring perspective. He has impoved his little jump hook which he was hitting last year and he even looks decent shooting the 8 to 10 foot jumper. In that respect Al is awesome.

I don’t think Al has the ability to hit the cutter with the pass or kick out like we see KG do. I don’t think Al will ever get to that level or close to it. He will improve on that part of his game and Minny is young but at this point it is a weakness.

Dwight Howard put up 16/10 in the first half against Big Al. Theo was hurt I guess, he didn’t play (no surprise) so it was mano y mano much of the game.

The big difference between Howard and Big Al is Howard is more of a beast than Al. Howard ended up with about 28 points I think. Where Al got beat 3 or 4X alone in the first half was the pick and roll. Also when the two battled on the boards, Howard usually got the better. On defense Howard had 7 blocks in 2 games going into it and he altered a lot of T Wolves shots, also got 2 or 3 goaltending calls against him. Al is not a force on the defensive end of the court, at least not last night.

There was a time in the 4Q Al came down and scored four times in a row over Howard. Offensively Al is at his zenith, the defensive Al is still a project.

My conclusion, Ray, Pierce, Big Al would have ended up about a 4th seed in the East and out in the 2nd round of the playoffs. This trade looks better and better each passing day.

Oh, and Minny and Seattle both lost last night, winless on the season both teams with many of our former players and draft pick(s).

I don’t think the exuberance is irrational at all. Everything that the author said is correct. But, what he fails to mention is that every other contender in the East is equally, if not more flawed. To think that this team is a favorite to win the East is no more irrational that to think that Chicago, Detroit, or Cleveland are the favorites.

Where I stop short is the NBA Finals. I don’t think any team in the East is poised to beat the Spurs, Mavs, or the Rockets. The Spurs and Mavs are just too deep, especially with the Mavs bringing both Terry and Stack off the bench. And with the Rockets’ significant size advantage over any East representative (now that they’ve got a coach who is utilizing Yao as the offensive force he should be), I actually think they are more dangerous than the Suns. Still, you could throw Phoenix and Utah in the mix as teams that would be favored over the East champion. I think we’re one, maybe two good off-seasons away from winning it all. But, it is far from irrational to think that we’d win the East and at least have a shot at the title.

East has won 2 of the last 4 NBA champs. I agree Celts or whoever are the likely underdog in the finals; but remember too the West has to beat each other up to get to the finals. If it is Pistons, Celts I think the odds are somewhat less than 50-50. If it is the Cavs, Bulls, Raptors as they are all currently constructed I think the West wins fairly easy in no more than 6.

Let’s not forget, the conventional wisdom that the West was too deep, and nobody from the East could compete in the Finals, was also present when Detroit beat the Lakers in 5 and Miami came back from a 2-0 deficit to beat Dallas. People can forecast all they want how nobody from the East has a chance, based on the fact that there are more quality teams from the West, which is true, but it is absurd to suggest there is no way they can win. Once any team gets to the Finals, all bets are off, it is indeed possible for them to win.

Also, methinks that if Mr. Henkin read this blog on a daily basis, no way would he think the Exuberance is what is Irrational, but rather, that every nitpicking detail of every flaw the Celts have are the things expressed that are irrational. Far more fans here seem to get a kick out of observing each game, finding every single thing about that particular game, which is completely unique from other games against other opponents, that the C’s did wrong, then drawing the conclusion that Armageddon is near.

Why do the very vocal fans never consider the composition of other teams in the league when assessing the Celts shortcomings? EVERY team is short an extra big and backup point guard, but that does not deter the masses from complaining about the Celts deficiencies in this area. And why do they not understand over 82 games with many different opponents, travel, minor injuries, the psychology at work in the human beings that are the players, that no conclusions can be drawn about ‘how they are playing’ or ‘areas of concern’ from a single game? Is Toronto all of the sudden no longer a threat in the Atlantic because they got blown out by Milwaukee? Of course not, they could just as easily beat a far better team the next night, so many factors are at work that make each game its own unique circumstance. In my opinion, the only Irrational behavior by Celts fans who post here regularly, is constantly identifying how flawed the C’s are, in fact, it seems many have far more fun constantly pointing out problems, than actually rooting for their success. I would suggest they blog more often on the site of the team they seem far more comfortable with, the Minny Celts, there is plenty of legitimate fodder they can rail about constantly all season long.

Good article. Still seeing the glass as half-empty like only a Boston sports fan could.

I fail to understand why telling optimistic people that they are stupid should be considered a good thing. Isn’t that why we are here?! If his other stuff is anything like that blurb then I have read enough of his trash already. I don’t need someone that probably doesn’t know any more about the Celtics or basketball telling me what to think about my team! I for one am a C’s fan that sees the glass 90% full!