Cheer Up!
We’ve Got 5 Reasons To Be
Happy About Our Celtics
By Red’s Army Co-Founder
John Karalis
Really, when you think about it,
didn’t it make sense that on a day where
What’s next, “OJ Simpson Bloody Glove Day” at Gillette Stadium?
We woke up to the bomb squad
blowing up Lite Brights, and by the time we went to bed, Kobe had treated us
like a coat check girl in front of an arena full of half-wits wearing purple
and gold. Now the Celtics have set a
record for consecutive losses at home… and consecutive overall losses. We can’t turn to the Bruins 
because
they suck too. The Red Sox are still a
few weeks off. And for God’s sake, we
might have to watch Peyton Manning celebrate a Super Bowl because the Patriots
couldn’t get the job done.
Oh, this is a tough time for us in Beantown. When 30 year old slacker potheads who live in their parents’ basements can rag on your city… you know it’s rough.
Well, wallow with your heads down no longer, Celtics fans. The thunderous march of Red’s Army shall be heard again. For I am here to lift your spirits and give you cause to proudly wear your Green and White in public once more. Where many see the nothing but darkness, I see a glimmer of light. True, we may not be standing on the precipice of greatness. But we are on the precipice of the precipice of greatness.
Ok, maybe not greatness. Okay-ness? Decent-ness?
My point is, we are not, as some may think, a horrible basketball team. We’re a team that is essentially in its awkward, ugly teenage years. We’re the kids in school with the greasy hear, thick glasses and braces with headgear. But eventually, that kid finds the right shampoo, gets her hair done, gets contacts and has straight teeth. Before you know it, people are drooling over her and your kicking yourself for not seeing the ultimate potential and investing in it when you could have.
So with that, I present to you the reasons why you, the intrepid Celtics fan, should sit back and smile… even when drooling paste-eaters invade our home turf and start chanting for the other guy.
Oh, they will get their comeuppance, and here’s why:
Al Jefferson
Yes, you can consider this a mea culpa. And let me tell you, I’ll happily eat this crow… and I’ll do it with a side order of pigeon and polish it off with a bird-flu smoothie.
Al
Jefferson has answered all the questions and then some. Could he come back from the ankle
surgery? Yep. Can he figure out a way to effectively get
his without taking away from Paul Pierce?
Yep. Can he handle the double and
triple teams now that Paul is out?
Yep. Al has done all of those
things, and all while playing much lighter than he’s ever been used to. Give him an off season or two to add some
muscle to that frame of his and all of a sudden, we could have that “Big Al”
that everyone was hoping for out of high school.
Let’s face it. Al has pretty much been a double-double machine over the past couple of months. And it hasn’t been those cheesy double-doubles like 11 points and 10 rebounds. These have been big time games. Yes, he’ll have the occasional off-night, but we can suddenly live with that if it’s mixed in with 2 weeks of 18 points, 16 rebounds.
You really want to know how good Al has been?
Dwight Howard is a monster. He’s an All Start. I think he’s awesome and he’s only going to get better. Few people would disagree with me. This kid is an “I’d pay to see him” kind of guy. Now look at the numbers
|
December (per game avg) |
Points |
Rebounds |
FG % |
Blocks |
|
Dwight Howard |
16.8 |
11.4 |
56.3 |
1.88 |
|
Al Jefferson |
15.4 |
10.7 |
49.7 |
1.67 |
|
January (per game avg) |
Points |
Rebounds |
FG % |
Blocks |
|
Dwight Howard |
16.4 |
11.2 |
54.7 |
1.71 |
|
Al Jefferson |
14.6 |
11.9 |
46.2 |
1.38 |
Al is pretty much right there with him. No, he isn’t shooting as well, but he out-rebounded Dwight Howard this past month. What will happen when Paul Pierce comes back and the double teams and collapsing defense stops coming at Al?
Delonte West
Recent guarantees aside,
“Hey
“Yes Coach”
“Hey
“Yes Coach”
“Hey
“Yes Coach”
He’ll do anything. He’ll play anyone. He plays at nothing besides full speed at maximum effort. Yet what we hear around town is “yeah, I love Delonte… but….”
Danny Ainge pretty much said that at the end of last year when he brought in every point guard under the sun. Did Delonte complain? Did he air his grievances to the media? Did he come into camp pouting?
No. No. And… no.
Delonte came in with his usual
attitude. The Celtics tried to give his
spot away to anyone who would take it.
He got some mystery infection in the preseason and he damn near broke
his back on at least 3 separate occasions already this year. And after all that adversity and all those
reasons to quit… where is Delonte West?
He’s your starting point guard… just like he was before all of this. And he’s there because he earned it. And if THAT is not what a Celtic is and what a Celtic does… then I’m running a website for the wrong team… because THAT’S the type of attitude that made us ALL fall in love with this franchise. It’s time for all of us to drop the “but” at the end of the phrase… and just say “I love Delonte.”
Rajon Rondo
And since we’re on the topic of frenetic point guards…
All preseason, we heard about Danny Ainge’s infatuation with this kid Rondo. No one around here had much of him, if they’d seen any of him at all. Rondo was just some name we heard from time to time in between the bigger names that came into town like Roy and Foye and Williams. Well, now we know why Danny liked this kid so much.
Yeah, we get it about his
shooting. It needs work. So does Jason Kidd’s. But what Rondo brings to this team this year
and beyond is an energy that can be bottled and sold in the Red Bull aisle. I mean, this kid is everywhere. How many players can end up with a stat line
that doesn’t include double digits but still excite you 
like
this kid? Here’s your answer: None. When Rajon is “on”, he’s flying around the
court like a Tazmanian Devil. It’s just
a blur of hands and feet… and in the end everything’s a mess and he’s got the
ball. He’s already got that knack for
finding guys in the right places… and he came out after his freshman year.
Let’s remember something here…
Jason Kidd didn’t become “Jason Kidd” until he left
(Insert 2007 Draft Pick Name Here)
I’m not going to sit here and say “Greg Oden will save us.” In fact, none of my hopes for this team lie with Greg Oden specifically. They do, however, lie with the reasonable expectation that the Boston Celtics will be getting a top 5 pick.
If it’s Greg Oden, then great. That will mean that the 10 years of sucking without Tim Duncan might be erased. Will Greg Oden be Tim Duncan? Well, that’s wishful thinking… but I think what everyone is saying is “hey… the introduction is the same.” And that’s also worth nothing.
If it’s Kevin Durant, then great. That will mean some flexibility to make a trade, because we all know that Kevin Durant plays Gerald Green’s position.
We all know that, right?
If Durant is the guy, we now have an expendable, valuable piece to dangle in a potential trade for a veteran big man. And if we don’t get Oden, then we’ll need a starting center. To get that, we can maybe offer Green, Wally and whatever other mix-and-match players to get it done.
All I’m trying to say is that having a draft pick this high in a talent-laden draft gives you options. Options are good. Options make things happen. Not having options makes things difficult… which is the situation the Celtics are in now.
Paul Pierce
And finally, we get to the captain.
When the news broke that Paul
Pierce was going to sit with a stress reaction, the notion that it was going to
be good for the Celtics started to spread throughout the internet. Bill Simmons openly wondered about the 
“Ewing Theory” applying to the Celtics. Chat boards lit up with the sentiment that
Paul was holding the young talent back… and without him, the kids would be free
to spread their wings and fly.
Well, they didn’t fly. They fell out of the nest. And they landed hard.
Paul Pierce is considered a
“superstar” for a reason. He’s not
walking in that Nike commercial with guys like LeBron James and Dwayne Wade
because he’s a good looking guy. He’s in
that ad with all those guys because he’s a big time player too. People everywhere realize it… and now it’s
time for EVERYBODY in
Pierce is prolific. Pierce is dominant. Pierce is SO good… he can take a team that has whipped off franchise records for overall consecutive losses and consecutive losses at home… and he can make them a .500 club.
With Paul, the Garden is a
So there it is. Arguments that you can take to work or school or wherever it is that you go when you talk Celtics. When meat heads want to tell you the Celtics suck, you can take these out and tell those people why they’re wrong. When crabby old-timers tell you that the glory days are gone, you can say “no… they’re not granpa… they’re coming back… and they’ll be here sooner than you think… and here’s why.”
And hopefully some day soon, we
Celtics fans can pack the