Tank This
The Celtics Need To Win… NOW
AP Photo
By Red’s Army Co-Founder
John Karalis
You’re a lawyer.
You’re a young kid a year out of law school and you think you can change the world. You sit there and watch the hot shot in the big corner office get the job done day in and day out. While you rifle through huge books for hours on end… he seems to just be able to walk in, figure out how to win the case… and then go out for beers right at 5 o’clock.
But suddenly, he gets real sick and has to take a leave of absence. You itch for the chance… and you get it. You’ve seen the hot shot do it, so you have a pretty good feeling that you can do it too. You get all the big cases. But the funny thing is… you’re losing them. You try every trick you think you know, but you get outsmarted in the end… and it happens every time.
On your way back from your latest loss, you find out your firm really wants this hot shot kid who is just about ready to graduate. And they know what he really wants to do is be the guy who saves a struggling firm. So suddenly, you wonder if you’re getting all the big cases because your firm thinks you can do the job… or is it because they know you can’t? How long can you keep losing cases before this messes with you head? How many lost cases does it take to break your confidence?
Welcome to life as a Boston Celtic.
We all sit here and snicker at the notion that losing games means much to these guys. It’s easy. To us, this isn’t much more than a live-action X-Box game. We turn on the TV, the guys play, and then we turn it off. We plug names into “trade checkers,” we say trade this guy and fire that guy like they’re all pieces on some board game.
But they’re not.
Just like you and me, these guys wake up, go to work, and then come home. They have families at home that say “how was your day?” Yeah, their houses are bigger and their cars are more expensive… but that doesn’t change the fact that their human beings. And in a business where all people care about are wins and losses, it’s hard not to be affected by all the losses.
And that’s why all this talk about tanking for Greg Oden and Kevin Durant is asinine.
“Tanking” is never good. “Tanking” means intentional losing. “Tanking” sends a message to the guys on the court that says “we’re putting you on that court because there is a better chance that you’ll lose.” And what message does that send to these guys? “Hey… good job losers… you lost again!” Nice message.
And besides…
“tanking” doesn’t work. Since the whole weighted lottery system came
into play in 1990, do you know how many teams with the worst record have actually
won the draft lottery? 3.
So why on EARTH would anyone want to employ a strategy that both demoralizes the people involved and doesn’t even yield results?
That is why I can’t wait for Paul Pierce to come back.
The kids have taken things as far they can go right now. They have figured out how to hang with teams and keep things close. They play with a fantastic energy that has been impressive on most nights. But when it comes to crunch time, they get tight. They start committing stupid fouls and they start missing shots. Hey, it’s understandable. When you lose as many games as these guys have lost, it’s easy to see how they’d start thinking too much about needing to win games. And nothing good ever happens when you get tight. The guys who always nail the last shots are the guys who are cool, calm and relaxed under pressure.
Ever notice when a LeBron,
Now look at the face of some young kid who doesn’t make the shot. His hands go up to his head. He’s demonstrative. He’s clearly very upset. All that emotion involved just serves to tighten the kid up. His shot is more forced. It’s not that fluid motion that helps the shot rattle IN… as opposed to rattling out.
Paul Pierce is the finisher. He’s the closer. He’s the big brother that will walk with you to school if kids are picking on you. Even if he doesn’t play much, he’s a calming force. The guys in Green will know he’s there… and so will the guys on the other team. You don’t need big brother by your side to be protected… you just need the neighborhood to know that you’ve got one waiting to take care of business in case anyone decides to mess with you. That alone will make you more relaxed as you walk to school. And that alone will make the Celtics more relaxed as they take the court.
Look, this season is already a lost cause. We’re past the halfway point and we own one of the worst records in the league. The tanking part is over. We’re a lottery team, no matter what happens. A few wins will only help this team play better, and feel better. It’s time to repair some of the damage that has been done and start winning a few of these games.
And now that Paul Pierce is on his way back, that will thankfully start happening soon.