I was wrong about the Celtics and wrote them off as Lottery experts at the beginning of the season. They sure looked like it.
I still don't consider this team a contender , but they are playing well enough to be flirting with the consideration as one.
Given the untimely exit of Jeff Green , JO , Wilcox and Rays ankle ,and Pietrus and how old our team is.... the season is nothing short of amazing.
Docs been good, AB and Steamer stepping up, and last but not least..
I would like to take this chance to personally thank the Orlando Magic for sending us Bass for Big Baby.... 
One never wants to wish for or celebrate anyone's injury, so I don't. But the case could be made that it was only the timely injuries to JO and CW that paved the way for Bass to start, KG to shift to center and Stiemer to emerge; and likewise for RA and MP for Bradley to settle in as the starting 2 and Ray off the bench.
That's five of Doc's seven players put into their current position only because multiple injuries really forced his hand.
I agree about not wanting to see injuries—I loved watching JO play defense, loved watching Wilcox run, and was looking forward to seeing how Green would play this season—but sometimes the bad is used to bring about good. I'm not sure that this season's original starting 5 was "too old," but they were definitely stagnant on offense—JO hardly ever scored, and the Cs often settled into running Ray around a bazillion picks while no one else did much.
I've also been wondering, during this recent good streak, whether the original starting 5 was too good—that is, whether it had too many offensive options. I mean, when you've got one of the best passers and three Hall-of-Fame-level scorers, and they're all willing to "put pride aside" for the good of the team, you often end up with a bunch of guys hesitantly standing around not wanting to look like a ballhog. By removing one of those HOF-level scorers, your first-unit offensive strategy becomes simpler and clearer—get Garnett and Pierce into a rhythm early—and your second-unit offense also gets a huge boost with Ray.
Combine all this with the addition of some young legs in the starting lineup, opening the game with intense D thanks to the addition of Bradley, the emergence of Steamer as a reliable backup big, Pierce's rediscovered shooting touch, and KG's dominance at the 5, and suddenly we're looking at a whole new ballgame—almost a whole new team.
Sometimes it takes circumstances that are, on the surface at least, unfortunate to bring about something better. I've learned this in recent years through my battle with anxiety and depression, and the Cs are learning it through an injury plague that's forced Doc to do some things he probably wouldn't have done otherwise. Now we're seeing not only non-Big-4 players getting significant playing time, but seeing EVERYONE being put in positions where their strengths are highlighted and enhanced—KG's quickness advantage at the 5, Bradley's D to set the tone early, Ray getting more looks as part of the second unit, etc. I'm now feeling much better about this team's chances.
Topic: Great article of how the Celts really turned things around against all odds (Read 6396 times)