Thursday, March 31, 2005
A Few Bad Sports
You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: That the Celtic recent demise, while tragic, probably saved this team.
Cheesy references to a great monologue aside, the recent Celtic skid may be the best thing for the future of this team. When the Celtics reacquired ‘Toine, we here at Doom expressed skepticism at best, rage at worst. This was obviously a tough sell when ‘Toine played great and our team went on an impressive winning streak.
The last four games, however, have been unmitigated disasters. Sure, the Chicago, Detroit, and Dallas games were all against superior teams. The C’s played well in stretches, and the games were relatively close. But in each game, the C’s wilted in crunch time, playing frankly like pussies.
Consider this, in the fourth quarter the last three games (I’ll leave out the well documented embarrassment that was the Knick game), the “playoff ready” Celtics…
- Scored 14 points against a Bulls team whose FIVE rookies played meaningful 4th quarter minutes (Pargo, Deng, Gordon, Duhon, & Nocioni), and whose starting PG did not play.
- Shot 29%, scored 15, and lost a lead to Detroit.
- Allowed 35 POINTS in one quarter to the Mavs.
The Celtic veterans, especially ‘Toine and Pierce, are playing like shit in crunch time. Walker has reverted to the horrible player we all know he is, and Pierce is much more interested jawing with opposing teams and fans than actually winning.
Pierce has had two inexcusable metal errors causing the Celtics to lose the last two games, (1) celebrating rather than getting back on D as Sheed streaked down the court for the winning play, and (2) the ridiculously unnecessary behind the back pass to Stackhouse for a dunk (does that count for a negative assist?). At the time, the C’s still had life; after that play they were done. What a dick.
Things can turn around, but at the very least, Celtic Kool-Aid drinkers everywhere are slowly coming to the realization that a team built around Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce will never truly compete for a Championship. Better to know that now, it will be easier to take when ‘Toine is not signed and Pierce is traded this summer.
You want answers?
I want the Truth!
You can have him.
