For me, though, it's not the losses in themselves that really get to me, it's the dichotomy in their performances and inconsistency from game-to-game.
I can except a loss, especially if the effort is there and the team has at least tried. But the seemingly incongruous best-to-worst-to-best cycle that this team goes through, when only separated by two days, is enough to make me pull large clumps of hair out of my head, (and I'm getting to the age where that's not to be taken lightly), or even join my Mom in hurling ginger-snaps at the TV!
I don't think I've ever seen a team this good, go from a smooth, clicking, in-a-groove performance, to an absolutely horrible, careless, un-energized, mistake-riddled one, in such a short period of time ... and then back again! It makes no sense to me, despite all the excuses and analysis I see here, and how objective it seems ... I just don't get it.
Yeh Bahku, I've done my fair share of wanting to throw a brick through the TV too. While the games are happening you'd have to be completely numb to not get worked up. You get euphoric when they play like they do in Game 3 of this series, and get, well,
not so euphoric , when they play they did in Game 4. After a great win you feel like there's no reason they can't win it all, and after a brutal loss you feel like there's no way in hell a team that plays like that will ever win it all.
I might add Detroit has had similar ups and downs (though they haven't been quite as consistently inconsistent as Boston)
We're all much more accustomed to teams that closer to the middle. This team has had crazy highs and lows all playoffs (after a season that was pretty much ALL highs). This is why I try to focus on the Big Picture. I let the game sink in for an hour or two afterwards, then move on. After 18 games of ups and downs, I've found this method of self therapy to work pretty well - so I thought I'd share.
All this said, I have a feeling the next 3 games (yes,
3 games) are going to be a lot closer to the middle for both teams. Get those nails ready for biting. It's going to be a grind.