This thread...it's hard to convey exactly what I'm looking for here, so I hope you bear with me and actually read it long enough to see if it's for you.
You see...most of you that have read my posts here know I was a Kevin Garnett fan that came to the Celtics with him, but though that is my background for this thread I want it to be about more than that. Since we're all one family now, I want this to be one that all of us can check through the year and after and reminisce on how this team made the national "experts" look bad. Let me explain.
Every year, everyone in the basketball media makes some type of predictions on how the season will go. And every year, those predictions slowly give way to revised, backtracking stories and by the time history remembers it you would think everyone all along knew how it would go. Don't believe me? Let me give you a few of examples:
Example 1: 2003-04 Timberwolves. Summer of 2003, the Wolves trade Joe Smith and Anthony Peeler for 34-year old Sam Cassell and Ervin Johnson, then trade the expiring salary of the retired Terrell Brandon for 33-year old Latrell Sprewell. At that time, all of the "experts" noted that Cassell and Sprewell would be the most talented teammates of KG's career, but that they were old, headcases, and weren't good enough anymore to be difference makers.
By December, when the Wolves were off to a great start and on their way to the #1 seed in the West, Sports Illustrated had KG/Cassell/Spree on the cover calling them the Big 3. By the time the season was over Cassell and Spree were considered two elite players, and history now tells us that everyone knew the Wolves would be great with the addition of two superstars like Cassell and Spree to play next to KG. Like the media was always with that team as contenders, in the words of the great Kanye West, "no you (freakin) wasn't!"
Example 2: 2007-08 Celtics. Summer of 2007, the Celtics trade half of their team for Ray Allen and the other half for KG. At that time, all of the experts noted that KG/Pierce/Allen were a super-talented trio and could be contenders, but most thought that they would eventually come up short. Whether they weren't confident enough in the main trio, whether they thought Rondo and Perk would break under pressure, whether they thought the bench was too weak...whatever the reason, there weren't many that were willing to say the Celtics would actually WIN the title. Not in the Summer of 2007. But by spring of 2008, every article was about how great the Big 3 were, ESPN was running KG interviews with Bill Russell, and you would think that the experts were always on the train that the Cs were going to dominate the league, no you (freakin) wasn't!
Example 3: 2008 Celtics in the playoffs. Despite the previous example, after the first 2 rounds of the playoffs the media had once again jumped off the bandwagon. Most "experts" picked the Pistons over the Cs, then the Cs left them behind. Then, almost EVERY expert picked the Lakers over the Cs. Then, what happened? The Cs beat the Lakers by 40 in deciding game, and the story changed. All of a sudden, the Celtics were just SO much more talented than the Lakers. All of a sudden, there was no way you could REALLY have expected Kobe to beat a defense as strong as the Cs had. Like they were saying that all along, no you (freakin) wasn't!
So, my point. In the previous examples, I remember the BS I read before the season started but most people don't. They swallowed the revised story, and think I'm lying if I point out that many really didn't believe before it happened. So, this thread is dedicated to those that REALLY believe that this 2009-10 Celtics team is going to be SPECIAL.
If you really think this team is too old to really be special, this thread isn't for you.
If you think this team is really good but so are the Cavs, Lakers, Spurs and Magic so the Celtics should just be one of five contenders but not really the favorite...again, this isn't for you.
Because you see...I think this team is history in the making. I think we're in Chicago in October of 1995, that we're in LA in fall of 1986, that we're re-living Boston in fall of 1985. This is going to be a BIG year, and I don't think it's being properly appreciated now. I wouldn't be surprised at 75 wins and a Fo-fo-fo-fo playoffs. This team is freakin GOOD!!! (Three exclamation-points needed!!!) And by next spring, when every member of the media is writing the story that they knew it all along, I want to have this thread to go back to so I can point and say "no you (freakin) wasn't!).
So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to post some of the articles that I've been reading about how the Cs will be very good, but just one of the good ones. In fact, this rant was touched off by the Bill Simmons NBA preview that is in another thread right now...that article is going to be the first one that I post. Over the next little while I'm going to find some more articles like this and put them in this thread.
I'm hoping that some of you that really think this team will be special have read similar things that irritated you, and that you will put them in this thread too.
I also hope that some of you others that think we've got front row seats to watch history will chime in with your testimony now, before it's safe to say it.
Now, don't get me wrong. I know all of us pull for the Celtics, and that many hope the Cs will outdistance their competitors but still recognize how great those teams are. I do. I think the Spurs (especially), the Lakers, the Cavs and the Magic are outstanding teams. I think they all could have won the championship almost any other year in this decade. Just not this year. This year will be remembered with green glasses, and I'm just trying to get in on the ground floor.
And maybe I'm alone. Maybe no one else really feels that strongly. Maybe nobody else is willing to risk the "jinx" by saying it now. Maybe this thread will just be a bunch of 'drza44' posts. But if so...so be it. By next summer I'll either be a genius or a lunatic. But so be it. This team is really, really, REALLY good. And if you're in the media and you aren't saying that now...I don't want to hear you saying it next spring. Like you were with us all along...no you (freakin) wasn't!