When I first thought of my name for Celtics Blog a few years back, I thought to myself..wouldn't it be great if one day the Celtics Brought Toughness Back..like the good old days of Red, Cousy, Russell, Heinsohn,Havlicek, Cowens, Bird, Parish and McHale
Since the end of the Bird era we have been in state of constant flux...having to deal with the tragedy of Len Bias and Reggie Lewis, missing Duncan in the draft..watching Pitino and Carr take our team and bring down to its lowest point in memory...letting stars leave without barely a glance...getting to the brink of the championship with AW and PP but not having enough in our lineup to get the job done...Where was the toughness...why couldn't our stars just refuse to lose and clamp down on our opponents to get us over the hump..how long did we have to wait for our return to the promised land and just when you thought it could not get worse, many of us fans actually started hoping we could get the 1st pick in last years draft while piling on losses...one after another they came.....I thought we were a shoo in for the draft..My how good Oden will look in Green next to Big Al ..how quickly I forgot about 97 and how quickly we fell back down to the depths of our purgatory apartment. No Oden..ugh...No Durant..double Ugh...no 3rd or even 4th..5th pick...Well, I know Danny loves that guy from China..maybe he will pan out in the future but toughness is definitely not walking through that door anytime soon...at least that is what I thought..
Then something happened......Danny Ainge had secondary plan that would far surpass all of our dreams....Trading for Ray Allen..why would he do that I thought...PP and Ray Ray equal first round playoff exit maybe 2nd if we really, really came together. Big Al would surely turn into something special...Hey, he is my image on the site...Then it happened, Bye Bye Big Al and and spare parts and hello KG...Wow, we have a potential big 3 that could actually compete for a title..maybe not this year but definitely next..if they could stay healthy..but it did not end there...Spare Parts that would make any GM envious..Posey..wow..are you kidding me..How did Riley let that one go away...House..another great pickup...PJ out of retirement...the best defensive coach around...Wow...we could be back on the road to bringing back toughness to this franchise and restoring our name back to where it belongs...on top of the rafters....
66 wins later, we managed to bring toughness back to our regular season and what a great season it was. I have not enjoyed watching basketball so much in many of years and we really came together as a team..and I do mean team..gone were the days of one on one PP and AW heaving 3's from the rooftop...back are the days of pass..pass..pass..score..and lock down defense that sent shivers to our opposing opponents and coaches
Then the Playoffs began..how could we lose to Atl I thought and then I remembered we have a coach who has never escaped the first round. He would get us through I thought..wow we rose to the occasion in game 7 with...Toughness..I guess we had the jitters...but at least we are moving on
Next up Lebron..this would surely not be easy...Game 7 again....Toughness plus PP equals thank god performance for the Celtics...We move on
Now up the Pistons..lock down D, experienced players who know what it takes to win..vs. our Celtics...this is the series where I believe Doc started gaining significant confidence..He has been the glue our players enjoyed all year- I might not have been his biggest supporter but I did see him growing in this series..I found myself agreeing with many of his decisions..our team was coming together as well...2 Road wins which equals Toughness..and Bringing Toughness Back was happening right before our eyes..Celtics in 6..we move on
Now up the Lakers..who most of us remember all too well...It has been 21 years since we last faced our arch nemesis...Lucky us, we get to listen to all of the media say we are doomed..no chance...Lakers in 4,5 and 6...Lakers this and Lakers that...Phil will outcoach Doc.Kobe is the best player in the world, planet..universe..Listen to announcers kiss his backside game in and game out
Hey, didn't we beat them 2 times this year..didn't we outplay most of the west..what about us...Has anyone been noticing..we have been bringing toughness back to our game and who could beat us when we did that...Lock Down D wins championships..Teams win championships...The best player in the universe does not always win championships when there is no team helping him out.
Well now it over..we rose up to the occasion..won the first 2...squeaked out a miracle comeback in LA and could have easily won the other 2 games as well..we saw it happening before our eyes..We were the better team...better D...better team concept...hell, even Doc was growing..he was outcoaching Mr. J...This is the series where dreams came true for us Celtics Fans...This is the series where Holy Shi!@!@ happened in Game 6 with a complete massacre of the Lakers...This is the series where Doc became a really good coach who I am totally committed to over the next few years and our run for 18 next year..This is the series where KG destroyed Mr. Marshmallow...This is the series where PP showed us the true heart of a champion- him coming out of the tunnel will stay in my mind like Larry so many years before him..This is the series where we saw what Danny was thinking with Ray Ray..my God, what an awesome stroke he has..This is the series where tough guy Perk showed us that Mr Marshmallow was not scoring on his watch...This is the series where Rondo grew into a championship caliber PG at the ripe age of 21...This is the series where Posey displayed toughness in both his D and his clutch 3 pt shooting...This is the series where the Celtics won the Championship..banner number 17 and This is the Series where the Celtics finally brought Toughness Back
Thank You Celtics and Celtics Blog members for helping make this past season one of the most memorable ever!
Go Celtics..Win 18 next year and keep Playing with Toughness..now we do not have to bring toughness back...just Keep Toughness Going...
Topic: Bringing Toughness Back...my tribute to the Celtics (Read 1316 times)