18 Reasons Why 18 Will Be Hard
by Jeff Clark on Feb 7, 2009 12:43 PM EST
in Boston Celtics News & Links
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PrintNESN has 18 reasons why it will be hard for the Celtics to get banner 18.
Here's some:
6. Make yourself at home. The Celtics have the second-best home mark (24-3) in the NBA, behind the Cavaliers. Whichever team ends up with home-court advantage in the playoffs will be the favorite to get out of the East.
12. Protecting the rock. The Celtics, Nuggets and Kings are averaging 15.8 turnovers per game. Only two teams in the NBA are less careful with the ball: the Suns (16.3) and Thunder (16.7). That’s not exactly the company of champions.
17. Burden of great expectations. The Celtics were the underdog last June. Now, anything less than another championship amounts to failure. That kind of pressure can be a good thing or a crusher.
18. Luck. If winning a championship were easy, everyone would be wearing bling. But it takes more than talent to cross the finish line in first. A little help from a leprechaun never hurts. Anyone need a job?
There’s still a lot of basketball to be played. May the best team win it all.
By the way, you've got to love the NESN ads on the site these days. They are a lot better to look at then the weight loss ones, don't ya think? Show the sponser some love!
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You’re really grasping at straws if you make Pau Gasol a reason by himself…cmon now
by TheAncientRivalry on Feb 7, 2009 1:03 PM EST reply actions
Yes, the Spaniard's got moves...
BUT HE IS SOFT. Come on. He doesn’t really want any part of KG unless KG is really struggling on defense. If KG has an average or an above average night defending the bigs, Gasol knows he stands zero chances of being as productive as he is against other bigs in the league. It is simple as that. Gasol defaults to poor shot selections when he knows KG is on him. Gasol also becomes more of a flake: two 24 second violations against the Celts the other night? Seriously, that should not happen at all at this level.
For some reason he is able to come through when KG isn’t playing that great of defense. This is a problem for the Lakers: Gasol is only effective with KG isn’t effective. As good as Gasol is on offense, he is no where near what KG is capable of defense. This imbalance goes in favor of the Celts, not the Lakers.
My rambles: http://nbawithoutcable.wordpress.com
Jeff just posted this
He didn’t write it himself. I think “you’re” is the wrong choice of words.
Yeah, I Know Jeff didnt write it, sorry about that
by TheAncientRivalry on Feb 7, 2009 6:30 PM EST up reply actions
The real list should be something like
Cavs
Lakers
Depth
Turnovers
theres no 18 reasons
by TheAncientRivalry on Feb 7, 2009 1:06 PM EST reply actions
Exactly
Instead of depth, what about consistency? As great as Scal, BBD, Eddi3, and Powe can be, they are so incredibly (infuriatingly) inconsistent. Length would not be as big of a deal if our frontcourt off the bench were just consistent on defense and offense. No one says they have to be lights out on everything, just consistent. Don’t give me the extremes, I’d rather have the guys that won’t make big mistakes on either end of the court.
My rambles: http://nbawithoutcable.wordpress.com
hey, 18 is a big number
sometimes you get a story idea and you find yourself trying to think up reasons that fit into your idea – happens to me all the time ;)
"Would I rather be feared or loved? Easy. Both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me." Michael Scott
it will take time
im a believer on the 18 championship. i would only worry if were down 3-1 in a series. like garnett says take one game at a time. i love being a celtic fan
by 2liveNdieNBoston on Feb 7, 2009 2:52 PM EST reply actions
Underdog last June but not this June?
Yes, I guess the C’s were underdogs if that is defined by who the experts were picking in the Finals. But I find it hard to fathom, then and now, that a team with 66 wins, 9 more than their Finals opponent, could be considered an underdog. That being said, if that was the case last June, what makes anyone think if it ends up being Celtics-Lakers again, that this time the Celts will be picked by the so called experts? If anything, those “experts” are already favoring the Cavs, Lakers, and before Nelson’s injury, Orlando, over the C’s, so I fail to see how expectations are greater this year than last.
Some of the other reasons
1. The Champion always has a target on his back.
2. Other teams have improved – Notably Cleveland, Atlanta, and Orlando.
3. The bench is not what it was last year.
4. Threat of injuries.
5. Bad breaks from the referees.
7. Fans of other cities have this attitude against Boston because of the fantastic decade of excellence from the Patriots, Red Sox, and now the Celtics.
8. The NBA schedule front loaded the Celtics heavily with home games.
9. Can Ray Allen keep up his 3 point shooting?
10. Ainge might not be able to make that key deal this month to strengthen the team.
11. Play gets more physical after the Allstar break and the Celtics have trouble with that at times.
13. Lakers are more focused on beating Boston.
14. Parity is making a comeback in the NBA.
15. One or two other teams benefit from trades at the deadline
16. Winning one title is tough, repeating is brutal (ask San Antonio who is 0 for 4 in this endeavor of repeating)
Boston Celtics - 2008 World Champions
Most of those sound like excuses, like every team has threats of injurt, bad breaks from thje refs, and other fans not liking boston will not have anything to do with it…parity? theres 3 great teams a couple good teams and the rest that have no shot..its always been that way…Can ray allen keep up his 3-pt shooting? can the other teams keep up theirs…I mean alot of this stuff applys to any team
by TheAncientRivalry on Feb 7, 2009 6:35 PM EST up reply actions
Reyquila
To worry about the lakers we havwe to get thru 3 teams in our own conference, one of them being the Cavs. No need to hurry worrying about the Lakers.
heres a few more than 18
Ayotte, Mark
Bavetta, Dick
Blair, Curtis
Boland, Matt
Brothers, Tony
Brown, Tony
Callahan, Mike
Capers, James
Clark, Jim
Collins, Derrick
Corbin, Sean
Crawford, Dan
Crawford, Joe
Dalen, Eric
Davis, Marc
Delaney, Bob
DeRosa, Joe
Fehr, Kevin
Forte, Brian
Forte, Joe
Foster, Scott
Fraher, Pat
Fryer, Bernie
Garretson, Ron
Goble, John
Grillo, Luis
Guthrie, David
Javie, Steve
Jones, David
Kennedy, Bill
Kersey, Jess
Kirkland, Courtney
Lewis, Eric
Lindsay, Mark
Malloy, Ed
Mauer, Ken
McCutchen, Monty
Mott, Rodney
Nies, Jack
Nunez Jr., Tommy
Olesiak, Ron
Palmer, Violet
Phillips, Jason
Poole, Olandis
Reichelt, Blaine
Richardson, Derek
Richardson, Leroy
Robinson, Phil
Robinson, Robbie
Roe, Eli
Rush, Eddie F.
Salvatore, Bennett
Smith, Mike
Spooner, Bill
Stafford, Derrick
Wall, Scott
Washington, Tom
Willard, Greg
Wood, Leon
Workman, Haywoode
Wright, Sean
Wunderlich, Mark
Zarba, Zach
Zielinski, Gary
God bless and good night!
jontookem is dead on about the consistency of the subs—it’s not there-and doc has given them plenty of time on the floor.
i think at some point...
doc has to bite the bullet and give guys like powe and pruitt quality time, and not garbage time. in a semi-tight game, go to your bench, empower your players. come on doc!
My rambles: http://nbawithoutcable.wordpress.com
Turnovers
Eliminate UNFORCED turnovers and we can win with the team we have if they are healthy (No Flu). The flu was a factor against the Lakers and it also affected Doc’s game plan against the Knicks. I didn’t know Pierce was sick when we played the Lakers, but found that out in the Knicks game. We also don’t know who else was sick. The remainder of the season will get easier for us and we seem to forget that. Easier schedule means more practice time. I’m optimistic that we can win again. I think the Cav’s are the biggest obstacle.
"I don't come to play, I come to WIN"--Larry Bird
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