Note To Celtics Fans

[Bahku]

Note To Cavs Fans:

This is our house, our team, and our city ... we are the greatest, proudest, most die-hard fans in the world, and you are the foe. Yes, LeBron is an incredible player, and while he has yet to accomplish the things one needs to in order to be considered "one of the best of all time", he is indeed one of the best in the game today. But know this: he is our enemy, (as you are), and he will NOT be "killed with kindness" when he's in our house!

This is the playoffs, and we are the Celtics ... we know this game as well as anyone, and we've won it ALL sixteen times before. Why should we consider advice from a land whose people have NEVER tasted the Ultimate Prize? We know what we need to do to get there again, and being kind to our foes is not an option. We are rabid, we are hungry, we are determined, we are relentless, and we are very, very serious. This is our territory, our nation ... our blood runs green, it courses for our beloved Celtics alone, and is spilt only on the field of battle, and only for the cause of Seventeen.

This is the land of the Big Three, the real Big Three, where the "Truth" lights our way, and will "Pierce" every heart; where bright "Rays" can penetrate any darkness; where there is a single "Ticket" ... as "Big" as life, and it's one-way only, and an express trip to Inten City; where "Rage" is loosened upon all who threaten, and wets the tip of our spear; where "Perk"-ing up takes on new meaning ... of being a monster in the paint; where a pocketful of "Posey" is a truck-load of trouble, and pimpin' is all about "Powe"-tential; where power is in the "House", and it's only rainin' threes; where "Sam"-I-Am means a double-clutch, a swish, and a smile; where our "Big Baby" will make YOU cry; and where there's only one "Tony" Award ... given for the most heart.

Yes ... this is our building, our house, and our home, and whatever chants may arise in the heat of battle, we will not apologize for. It is the battle that matters most, and the ultimate prize ... nothing else is of import, and whatever we must do to claim that victory, we will do. But take heart in this: we know our opponent, and we know you are a formiddable one ... we would expect nothing less, for we are worthy of only the most bitter of campaigns. We respect your purpose, for it is our most devout aim ... but your "King" is no king to us, and rules not a soul in this Land of Green.

Perhaps you should take your suspirations to him, for it was he who bespoke those words after our first battle on Tuesday, promising his people he would not have two bad games in-a-row. We are a simple people, with simple desires ... all our longings and hopes rest in the Green Machine and their quest for Seventeen. We will chant, we will scream like banshees, we will paint ourselves for battle and wear all manner of foolish accouterments, we will flail our arms and jump like kangaroos, and we will spend our last pennies on all things green ... but we will keep our eyes on The Prize.

Whatever becomes of our two teams, our Lands, our people ... do not ask us to be what we cannot be. We have been champions many times, and we fight for nothing less now. You are an antagonist, and we will treat you as such ... nothing less, nothing more. A foe is a foe, and to a true warrior, that is all that matters. So, while our chants may offend you, and while our actions may disturb, you can be clear in the knowledge that we will be a respectable opponent, and that we offer up no faux appeasements, or claim no false allegiance to you or yours. Be clear in the only thing that matters in battle ... we are as you are:

The Enemy.

[Greeny]

Positive chants for the Celtics work.
Negative chants against other players and teams don't.
Does "Yankees Suck" ring a bell, and how 90's is that?
Last week, the chants were "Bibby Sucks" after we were up by 40 in Game 7.
-Classless-

To call one of the best players in the league overrated is strictly embarrassing and bush league.
Go back to fenway and the bleachers.....

[nickagneta]

For proof see Kobe pre-Shaq.

There was no such thing as a "Kobe pre-Shaq"- they both got to the Lakers in 1996-97.  Unless you meant Kobe post Shaq...

Thank you, my bad. I did mean that but just kept rambling with the pre- thing.



As for this statement:

You say most had Lebron coming into Boston and tearing it up. But then you say you don't see how one superstar can take down a team with 3 superstars. So how does that make Lebron over-rated? Was Jordan over-rated before he got Pippen? Was KG over-rated, and just a stats-machine, before he joined the Celtics?

Since when does saying that people thought LeBron was going to come in and tear it up mean that he was going to beat the Celtics? I meant that he would have good games, not necessarily that his team would.

And as for the Jordan and KG comment, KG and Michael weren't annointed as one of the top two or three players ever to play a game in the first 2-4 years of their careers. Many considered them very special singular talents but they were never mentioned in the same breath as Bird and Magic that early in their careers nevermind Wilt, Russell, Jabbar, Robertson, Cousy, Havlicek, West, or Baylor.

And I said that by the end it is quite possible that he will be among the very best ever but he isn't now. And if most are already saying he is at that plateau, when he clearly isn't, then what is so wrong about calling him overrated?

But what has LeBron done so far but put up some nice stats and bring what is easily the worst team ever to make the NBA Finals, to the Finals. The Eastern conference was a joke last year and he beat a Wiz team without two of their stars, a horrible Nets team that took them 6 deep and Detroit, who had yet to get their youth infusion and contributions that they got this year that has invigorated their team.
 

Well I personally think Lebron can be mentioned in the same breath as Magic and Bird. Sure he hasn't won the championships, but I think we can all be very sure that if he had Bird's or Magic's supporting casts, the Cavs would be romping through the league. Anyway who does it hurt to speculate about such matters. I think we just have different frames of refernce when we say over-rated. No need to get so upset.

But I don't get how you're downplaying Lebron's performance against the Pistons. Detroit was up 2-0 and Lebron just broke them down COMPLETELY. They gave up trying to stop him and couldn't do it for 4 straight games. That was a veteran, championship core. You have to give him props there.

orrzor, I was not upset. I just sometimes have a forceful way of expressing myself.

The reason I downplay LeBron's performance in the Detroit series is for a couple of reasons.

1.) Detroit was a mentally and physically tired team by the time they had reached the ECF. It was their fourth year in a row of about 100 games per season and their playoff performances had been getting worse and worse since their championship. It was also a team that relied heavily on players that were over 30 years old and older, Billups, Wallace, McDyess, Webber, and to a lesser extent Hunter and Davis.

2.) Say what you want about LeBron individually and about being surrounded by nobodies, but as a team, they were great defensively. Defense won that series.

3.) Don't forget about the horrible games LeBron had in the first two games in Detroit and about the talk during most of the beginning of that series and actually that entire playoff season, about LeBron not wanting to be the man and take the last second shot to tie or win. That was a reality, he did shy from that. And in all honesty LeBron only had two real superstar games where he carried that team out of 6 games. Games 3 and the epic game 5. Other than those two games, LeBron's stats for the series are great but nothing that hadn't been done before. 21 PPG, 8 RPG, 9 APG, and 3 TOPG.

4.) It is a complete misnomer that LeBron won that series. The honest to goodness hero of that series and the reason the Cavs won games 4 and 6 and hence the series was Daniel Gibson. Without Boobie's coming out party of 21 points in game 4 and 31 points in game 6, it was probably Detroit in 6 and into the Finals and not Cleveland. 

At least that's what I remember about that series, although History will more than likely see it the way you do.