"How the C's may win the championship"

There's an old saying that goes: "win by hook or by crook."  

In the end, it won't matter if you win "by crook" because several years down the road, the next generation will not know that you won by crook, all they will ever know is that you won it all on that specific year. 

Case in point: the 2002 NBA Finals whereby the Sacramento Kings got robbed BIG-TIME by terrible officiating thereby enabling the Lakers to win it all that year.

But 15-20 years from now, the next generation will not know how terrible the officiating was, all they will ever know is that the Lakers won it  all back in 2002 hence adding to the number of championships that they have.

Well, our beloved C's may not be the best team this year nor are they truly deserving of the ring (just like the 2002 Lakers) since there are more teams in both the East & West that are far more deserving than our beloved Cs, but we may still end-up winning it all "by crook."

But in this case, what I mean "by crook" is not "bad officiating" that will heavily favor the C's just as to how it did for the Lakers back in 2002.   Rather, "by crook" with our C's pertains to the combination of: "luck," "peaking at the right time," & "things falling into places" that will ultimately favor our team.

A) Luck

All year long, luck has not been on our side as our team got decimated by various injuries.   Hence, we can only hope that we finally get a break come play-off time.

B) "Peaking at the right time."

The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals team almost didn't make the playoffs because they were so bad towards the end of the regular season, loosing so many games.  Still, they won the World Series!

Similarly, our C's are pretty awful this year, losing so many games to elite teams but we still have a chance!

C)  "Things falling into places" ultimately favoring our team.

The 2006 Cardinals barely made it to the post season but things fell onto places when they faced the weaker team on the 1st round - the San Diego Padres.  That series lasted long thereby enabling St. Louis to gain momentum to the next round  whereby they defeated the Mets (who defeated the Dodgers) in a long series too.  

By the time the World Series arrived, St. Louis was on a roll that they have "peaked at the right time"  easily defeating the Tigers who were having a miracle season that they were heavily favored to win it all. 

Have St. Louis faced the Dodgers or the Mets in the 1st round, there was a very high probability that they would have lost to any of these 2 teams because the Cards were really dragging into the playoffs & that both the Mets & Dodgers were much stronger than the Padres.   But the long series with the Padres provided the Cards with momentum.

Similarly, our C's will be toast if we face the Cavs, Atlanta, or Orlando in round 1.  

2010 NBA Playoffs

But if "things fall into places," #1 Cavs faces #8 Charlotte; #2 Orlando versus #7 Miami; #3 Celtics v. # 6 Milwaukee; #4 Atlanta v. #5 Toronto.  

By the time the 1st round is over, Charlotte upsets Cleveland as the Bobcats are a bad match-up for the Cavs; Toronto upsets Atlanta because as formidabble the Hawks big men are (Josh Smith, Pachula, Horford, & Marvin Williams), Toronto has Bosh, Barnagni, & the versatile Torkuglu [Mr. Playoffs]  while Bibby is so old that Caldereon will match him OK;  Wade & Co. beats the Magic in Game 7 because as good as Orlando is, Wade is a bad match-up for them much like Kobe; then we beat the Bucks in Game 5 because they're a young, inexperience team in the playoffs that it won't go to Game 6.

In round 2, we beat Miami in Game 5 because Wade is so exhausted with the Orlando series while our C's are well- rested with a short series against the Bucks while also gaining momentum now just like the veteran Cardinals team of 2006; Toronto beats Charlotte in Game 6 or 7 since Toronto's slightly the better team.  Our C's then plays Toronto in the Eastern Finals & guess who wins it?  

Of course, our C's in Game 5 because were a bad match-up for the Raptors & that they are tired from the long series with Charlotte while our team is well-rested & have kept gaining momentum since we're a veteran team.   (The addition of Finley & Nate really solidified our bench plus the improved play of BBD's as of late being reminiscent of last year's playoffs.)    

Meanwhile in the West:

#1 Lakers defeats #8 Portland in Game 7 at Staples [round 1]  because LA has difficulty winning in Portland that this series will indeed go to Game 7;  #1Lakers then defeats #4 Denver in round 2 [Game 7] because Denver will win atleast 1 game in LA, but LA takes it back via winning 1 game in Denver utimately setting the stage for Game 7 in Staples which LA will win.   (Indeed, it's very unlikely that this series ends in Game 5 or 6, it will surely go till Game 7.) And indeed, Denver is only 4th seed since Utah [hopefully] wins the NorthWest thereby getting # 3.

Certainly, we don't want to see Utah at #4 because LA will easily beat them whereas Denver at #4 will take LA to 7 games. And with K-Mart out while Utah's playing well, Utah may very well win the NorthWest Division thereby securing #3.  Then #1 LA will defeat #2 Mavs also in Game 7 at Staples since there's no way LA will win it in 5 or 6 games.  That sets the stage for the NBA Finals between the heavily-favored but very exhausted LA who just played 3 exhausting "Game 7 series" out West versus a well-rested C's who's peaked at the right time.  The C's then have a very strong chance for an upset thereby giving us that hard-fought 18th banner!!!

To cut the long story short, our beloved C's are really a LONG SHOT to win it all this year, realistically speaking!  But the OPTIMIST side of me does say that we do have a slight chance if "things does fall into places" enabling us to "peak at the right time" just as to how it did for the [veteran team] 2006 St. Louis Cards.   But things will even be a lot sweeter if it's the [exhausted] Lakers we face & beat in the Finals!

And though this happened to the Cards in 2006, this kind of phenomenon has actually happened a few times in different sports over the years as the playoffs is a totally different kind of beast.   Meaning, everything's possible in the playoffs that the most important thing is to get there even if your team is dragging, then we see what happens next.

And though this may appear "pathetic' to all the Celtic-haters out there, a win is a win, a championship is a championship just as to how it was for the 2002 Lakers.   In retrospect, everybody knows that the Kings got robbed back in 2002 but 15-20 years from now, nobody will know that, all that people will know is - LA won it all back in 2002.

Similarly, the C's may not be deserving this year, but if they do win it "by crook" this year, then that's what people will know years from now just as to how people years from now will know about the 2006 Cards - they won it all,  period. 

And though this scenario is indeed "pathetic," this wasn't the case 2 years ago whereby we were so dominant that we didn't need "lady luck."  Now, all we can hope for is that there's still 1 more luck left with our little green leprichaun, that things does "fall into places" which will tilt towards our favor.  (by PresterJohn)