My recollections of seasons past range as far back as 1976 during the final heydays of the Cowens-Havlicek-White Boston Celtic teams.There have been a lot of great times, low times and unexpected times during those seasons. There were some devastatingly sad times like Lenny Bias and Reggie Lewis. There was some whacky times like the time Dave Cowens decided to be a cab driver. There were some magnificent times like after every one of the 5 championships since then. And then there was this year.
This was a year where there wasn't supposed to be a year. This was a year when the year became three quarters of a year condensed into two thirds of of a year. This was a year when the owners were going to get tough and dictate to the players that major change was going to happen and they were going to back control of their game and their checkbooks. And so what happened?
Well the Celtics most durable player turned out to be a player many on this blog thought couldn't play NBA basketball. Thanks Avery Bradley for a great season.
The Celtics best player was a guy that led the league in assists but missed 20% of the season and yet the Celtics went 8-5 without their best player. A player who's free throw shooting has reached Shaquille O'Neal ridiculously awful proportions. But he's still the best PG in the league except for one or two guys , so thanks Rondo for a great year.
The Celtics most important player turned out to be their soon to be 36 year old PF who took on the role of starting center to replace the rotting carcass of Jermaine O'Neal and became a rejuvenated, impactful, top 5 center in the league. He played some of the best defense in the league, he played in the post, he hit three pointers and he was the catalyst in a remarkable post All-Star game turn around. Thanks KG.
The Celtics most consistent player was a guy that was brought here in a trade to get rid of Big Baby Davis. Considering most here would have been happy to trade Davis for an extra ball boy if the CBA allowed it, getting a guy that could give you 12 points, 6 rebounds, good defense and a sweet mid range jumper that always seemed to fall, that's a dang good deal. Thanks Brandon.
Maybe the most overlooked player the Celtics had this year was a guy that started injured then slow and within a short while was racking up player of the week and player of the month honors and throwing this team on his battle scarred back. He's still the heart and soul of this team and one of the best SF's in basketball. Thanks Captain for just being you.
And thanks to Ray for that sweet stroke. And thanks to Stiemer for reminding us what a shot blocker looks like. And thanks to Mickael Pietrus for some great play and some of the best interviews ever by a Celtic player. And thanks to Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green and hopes that you both get healthy and live long lives, basketball is secondary. And thanks to JJJ and E'Twaun for trying like heck in a season that must have been trying as heck for rookies without summer camps, preseasons, and practice time. And thanks to everyone else that wore a Celtic jersey this year.
And thanks to Doc Rivers and his coaching staff for possibly doing the absolute best coaching job they have done since taking the job Doc came here as head coach of the Celtics.
Its been a crazy crazy year with ups and downs, people losing faith, people calling for the rebuilding to start, people calling for young players to get time, people calling for the heads of Danny and Doc and then suddenly, it all changed over the All-Star break and the Boston Celtics are the team NO ONE wants to play in the Eastern Conference playoffs.
Way to go guys....and THANKS!!! It's been a hell of a ride.
