While reading all the preseason projections I see that The Celtics are real underdogs this year. The Celtics have always overachieved as underdogs. It brings out the dog in this team. If we have good health this year I see us as a top 3 team in the east this year.
This is the key. The biggest reason that Boston is underestimated this year is that all the pundits and prognosticators don't take account of how badly the Celtics were injured and infected last year. Like many fans, they attribute last year's disappointing ending to talent, depth, coaching, etc.
They're always "fighting the last war", except that they don't often have a good grasp even of what lost (or won, as the case may be) the last one.
How different, really, is the team this year from the team that went to the ECF in the bubble season? Kemba was already hobbling and Gordo was MIA most of the playoffs that year.
Last season the team was snakebit from Covid and chronic injuries. There's a tendency around here to blame Brad for the lack of ball movement last year; but if you look at who was available to do playmaking I think it's clear that it was a personnel issue. Smart got Covid, Kemba became a part-time player who was a shadow of himself when he could play. On the other hand, Tatum and Brown both took BIG leaps forward with their playmaking:
Jaylen went from 9.7% Assists to 16.5%
Jayson went from 14.5% to 20.3%
People like to tell their stories about the bad old days and all of that. People like to dish out blame, but things are rarely so simple, are they?
Granted, the Eastern Conference teams are looking better year by year - despite the dysfunction in Brooklyn and Philadelphia, they're both still looking like they'll have a strong showing.
This whole business of prediction is a fool's errand, let's face it. Every championship requires a big dose of plain old good luck. The Bucks deserved their championship - no doubt about that - but they might not have won it if Brooklyn or the Lakers had not had the bad luck they had. As the old saying goes: That's why they play the games. Every year, multiple teams drop back and lose their opportunity because of injuries.
Atlanta is for real. Chicago is for real. Toronto is under the radar for most people, but they're going to surprise people, especially later in the year. Indiana got exactly the coach they needed; New York already had the coach and management they needed.
Underdogs? Yes, sure. But there's a dogfight coming.
Topic: The Celtics are real underdogs this year. (Read 2385 times)