Here's a small collection of excuses that we (myself included) have given for the slow start the team has had this year.
- We lost to the Knicks because of the refs.
- We lost to the Heat because we didn't have Paul Pierce.
- We lost to the Hornets because it was a trap game and the 2nd night of a back-to-back.
- We looked bad for some stretches against bad teams because we couldn't take those teams too seriously.
- We lost to the Pacers because we're still working some kinks out and mamma said there'd be days like that.
- We haven't hit our stride because the team had little training camp and hasn't had much practice time and on and on and on.
Are some of the above comments technically true? Sure. Is it too early to count out a team like this? Absolutely.
On the other hand, can't most other teams in the league make many of the same excuses? Yes. Isn't it about time to stop making excuses and start getting wins against good teams? You betcha.
The Celtics had yesterday and today off and won't play again until Wednesday. They've had all the wake up calls they need and they're now in the middle of getting all the rest and practice that they could ask for. 8 of the next 11 games are at home.
Bottom line, if they can't get things rolling now, I'm not sure they ever will.
Does that mean I'm advocating "blowing it up?" Hold your trigger finger there gunslinger. I'll approach that topic someday soon, but here's my little preview. Why? What good would that do? At best you gain maybe a few spots in the draft and a half a season head start on something that's inevitable anyway. Don't be so eager to return to the tanking, mindless, horrible, rebuilding ways of days gone past. In short, don't get me started. Not now.
What we need is a good old fashioned win streak against some quality teams. That will make things fall into place nicely. Or if it doesn't happen, at least we'll have a little more clarity.
Just no more excuses. At some point this team is what it is and we'll see what we shall see in the next month or so.