With the Celtics losing approximately 2/3rd of their games to date and 8 of their last 10, many in Celtics Nation are calling for the old tank job to be applied so the Celtics can grab the winning ticket in the Durant/Oden sweepstakes.
I'm with you. Short of trading for Garnett, I can't think of a feasible trade (calling a KG trade feasible is even a stretch) that will bring the Celtics into meaningful contention. I'm talking about really contending, up there with the Suns, Spurs, Mavs, not some kind of 2nd round playoff contention like the Bulls or Jazz are likely destined for.
So under that theory, the best way to get back to the promise land is through the draft. And what a draft this is shaping up to be. Two potential franchise players, either one of which could bring us closer that 17th banner.
How do we get either Durant or Oden then? Right now having the 5th best record in the league, gives us about a 9% chance for the first pick and a 10% chance at the 2nd pick. So that's a 20ish percent to get either Oden or Durant. Not good enough, if we can move "up" to the third worst team in the league, we pick up another 15% or so to about 35% chance of being in the money. That is a huuuge difference. Securing the crappiest record in the L gets us close to 50% odds at one of those guys.
Given when (if?) Paul comes back I think the Celtics can manage the jump to the 3 spot on their own (lack of) talent. Two of the teams with worse records, Memphis and Seattle both have had their own injury woes, and should probably do a bit better over the rest of the season. That is a bit of an if though, the Celtics do play in maybe the worst division in the history of professional sports, and could possibly squeeze out just enough wins to hurt our ping pong ball count this spring.
However, we have a secret weapon. What's going to put us over the top is my now favorite coach Doc.
We've all seen it, the poor situation management, inconsistent rotations, the lack of offensive sets, amongst other short comings. Finally, we can all stop griping about what Doc doesn't do well and embrace all those faults. With Doc leading, we'll be sure to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory at nearly ever opportunity - usually playing just well enough to be in the game but always coming up just short.
It's really the best of of a bad situation. We get to enjoy what Doc does bring to the table, a real likable guy, who says the right things and cares about his players. (Digressing for a moment, I thought it was telling and commendable how absolutely crushed Doc was after Tony's injury. You can tell that he really cares, he was very upset in the post game press conference. I was very impressed with Doc that night.) We can now be freed of the frustration and stress of watching Doc coach and just enjoy the development of the young guys, detached from the actual outcome of the game.
Also we have had the 2nd easiest schedule in the league according to Hollinger, which is going to get harder over the next few months....so we've got that going for us.
Looking at the rest of the season from here on out, my ideal scenario is that we're in every game, making them all entertaining, but lose by a bucket or two down the stretch. Go get us those ping-pong balls Doc, I believe you're the one to lead us to victory in Seacaucus.