I saw a tweet by Steve Bulpett where he said the problems of this team predate Joe Mazzula. He's right. Sure. Mazzulla sucks as a coach, but this team still hasn't overcome its tendency to trip all over themselves during crunch time and blow double-digit leads, despite being together for six years as a core. Losing poise at critical times has been a problem for this team since 2018 -- under two other coaches as well.
You can still root for a team that comes up short. Losing is never a good reason to abandon your team. But the losses I’ve witnessed these last four seasons are not like the losses I saw during the rebuild. Forget about heightened expectations. The Celtics just aren’t playing good basketball! They’re absolutely fun to watch when Jayson Tatum is going berserk. There was a time during the season where some put him first in the MVP race. But outside that, the Celtics really aren’t fun to watch – not when they’re showing no effort, consistently blowing leads, and falling apart in crunch time.
I’m 32. I didn’t grow up watching Celtics games, but I began regularly watching them after I graduated from college, after Danny traded Pierce and Garnett and the rebuild began. We weren’t contenders, but I could still get excited about this team. With our roster, losses were expected, but the occasional win and rare upset was something to celebrate. I loved rooting for Isaiah Thomas. I loved his underdog mentality and leadership. His scoring had an immediate impact on our team, and we made a surprise appearance in the playoffs as the #7 seed. Isaiah quickly became my favorite Celtic, especially when he had his 'King of the Fourth' breakout season and his epic playoff performance against the Wizards in Game 2. I’m not saying Isaiah was elite or even a star player, but it was fun knowing that every game, he was sacrificing, playing hard, and leaving it all on the field – playing through his sister’s death and a broken tooth (it turned out, he made one sacrifice too many. He permanently injured his hip when playing against the Timberwolves and his career hasn’t been the same since.).
The rebuild was not without its frustrations (there were times I couldn't stand Kelly Olynyk!). But in between stretches where we didn’t play well, there were memorable games that season. This was the season where the Cs stunned Golden State and ended their home-winning streak of 54 games. Yup. Golden State was a steamroller that year and went 73 9, but the Cs went into their home and were able to upset them when it came down to the wire. I know it was a regular season game but for me, it’s easily in my Top 25 most memorable games as a Cs fan. That season, we were far from contenders, but we were good enough to be the 1# seed. Talk about overachieving! Unfortunately, LeBron was still in his prime, and I knew we'd get crushed by the Cavs in the Conference finals. But up until that point, the Cs played with heart and purpose (the only stretch of poor play was in the wake of Chyna’s death, where we dropped the first two home games against the Bulls).
In the following offseason, we signed Gordon Hayward, drafted Tatum (even though we traded the pick, I went berserk when it was announced we won the first pick in the draft!). Then we made a blockbuster trade for Kyrie. This was easily the most exciting off-season since the Garnet trade. The excitement took a shocking turn when we lost Hayward during opening night. But our team bravely responded with a winning streak for the ages. The Jays were beginning to shine before our very eyes. You could tell there was chemistry on this team because on any given night, role players would elevate their game and on big nights, there’d be contributions from everyone. There were clutch baskets and stunning comebacks. There were many injuries, and yet Brad was able to get the most out of this team on a consistent basis. Considering that he lost his second-best player for an entire season, Brad probably should've won COTY that year. The Cs then went into the postseason without Kyrie and were one win away from the NBA Finals. Seeing them rise to the occasion but ultimately come up short against the Cavs for the second season in a row was rough. But make no mistake about it, the 2017-18 season was the most fun and excitement I’ve felt for this team. That’s when my optimism peaked.
But the rest is history. Gordon and Kyrie returned from their injuries with great anticipation, and we easily had the most stacked team in the league – even more so than the Warriors with Durant. There were boatloads of hype surrounding this team. This was finally our year to win a title. But that's when the troubles began. It quickly became apparent that this team lost its identity. There was far more inconsistency. More blown leads. Less effort. Less discipline. Less chemistry. The Jays seemed to regress. And the team seemed to suffer from a lack of leadership. Despite being healthy for most of the year, the team never seemed to gel and played poorly in the postseason, being trounced in the second round in a gentlemen's sweep.
Six years later, the bad habits continue. Just when you think this team has turned a corner, the unfocused, lackadaisical, dysfunctional playing style rears its ugly head. The core of Brown, Tatum, and Smart have made strides and earned accolades. And once again, we have the most talented roster in the league. But this team doesn’t seem able to shake off its bad habits or mental lapses, even in the biggest moments.
Since 2016 (which I’d argue was the final year of the rebuild) the Celtics have had a conference run unlike any other team in the East, and we even had a finals appearance last year. Other fanbases would DIE for that kind of success. As a Celtics fan, I should be grateful for all this. I care about winning and that’s all that matters, right? But I’m less happy now than when I was during the rebuild. It’s wrong to feel that way. That shouldn’t be the case. But that’s how I feel at this point.
I’m dying for this team to re-discover its identity that blossomed during the rebuild and in the 2017-18 season. The Cs were much easier to root for and more fun to watch. If anyone wants to correct me and say I’m romanticizing the past, go right ahead. But at some point, something fundamentally changed about our team. I think it started after the Jays achieved early stardom. Rather than focus on playing disciplined, high-IQ basketball, they are counting on their talent to bail them out. And they've made it to so many conference finals at such a young age, that they assume they'll just be back next year. This mentality has infected the whole entire team.
I’m at a low point, but I’m not giving up. I still believe in this team. Just a week ago, Tatum scored the most points in a Game 7 than any other player in league history. His scoring was fun to watch but what was equally impressive was that he had no turnovers. To make all those plays for an entire 48 minutes, score at will, and have no turnovers shows he can be the person to lead this team to a title. He just needs to tap into that for an entire season.
Topic: I’ve stuck with the team through its up and downs – but this year is different (Read 870 times)