There's an old saying that goes: "win by hook or by crook."  

In the end, it won't matter if you win "by crook" because several years down the road, the next generation will not know that you won by crook, all they will ever know is that you won it all on that specific year. 

Case in point: the 2002 NBA Finals whereby the Sacramento Kings got robbed BIG-TIME by terrible officiating thereby enabling the Lakers to win it all that year.

But 15-20 years from now, the next generation will not know how terrible the officiating was, all they will ever know is that the Lakers won it  all back in 2002 hence adding to the number of championships that they have.

Well, our beloved C's may not be the best team this year nor are they truly deserving of the ring (just like the 2002 Lakers) since there are more teams in both the East & West that are far more deserving than our beloved Cs, but we may still end-up winning it all "by crook."

But in this case, what I mean "by crook" is not "bad officiating" that will heavily favor the C's just as to how it did for the Lakers back in 2002.   Rather, "by crook" with our C's pertains to the combination of: "luck," "peaking at the right time," & "things falling into places" that will ultimately favor our team.

A) Luck

All year long, luck has not been on our side as our team got decimated by various injuries.   Hence, we can only hope that we finally get a break come play-off time.

 

B) "Peaking at the right time."

The 2006 St. Louis Cardinals team almost didn't make the playoffs because they were so bad towards the end of the regular season, loosing so many games.  Still, they won the World Series!

Similarly, our C's are pretty awful this year, losing so many games to elite teams but we still have a chance!

 

C)  "Things falling into places" ultimately favoring our team.

The 2006 Cardinals barely made it to the post season but things fell onto places when they faced the weaker team on the 1st round - the San Diego Padres.  That series lasted long thereby enabling St. Louis to gain momentum to the next round  whereby they defeated the Mets (who defeated the Dodgers) in a long series too.  

By the time the World Series arrived, St. Louis was on a roll that they have "peaked at the right time"  easily defeating the Tigers who were having a miracle season that they were heavily favored to win it all. 

Have St. Louis faced the Dodgers or the Mets in the 1st round, there was a very high probability that they would have lost to any of these 2 teams because the Cards were really dragging into the playoffs & that both the Mets & Dodgers were much stronger than the Padres.   But the long series with the Padres provided the Cards with momentum.

Similarly, our C's will be toast if we face the Cavs, Atlanta, or Orlando in round 1.  

 

2010 NBA Playoffs

But if "things fall into places," #1 Cavs faces #8 Charlotte; #2 Orlando versus #7 Miami; #3 Celtics v. # 6 Milwaukee; #4 Atlanta v. #5 Toronto.  

By the time the 1st round is over, Charlotte upsets Cleveland as the Bobcats are a bad match-up for the Cavs; Toronto upsets Atlanta because as formidabble the Hawks big men are (Josh Smith, Pachula, Horford, & Marvin Williams), Toronto has Bosh, Barnagni, & the versatile Torkuglu [Mr. Playoffs]  while Bibby is so old that Caldereon will match him OK;  Wade & Co. beats the Magic in Game 7 because as good as Orlando is, Wade is a bad match-up for them much like Kobe; then we beat the Bucks in Game 5 because they're a young, inexperience team in the playoffs that it won't go to Game 6.

In round 2, we beat Miami in Game 5 because Wade is so exhausted with the Orlando series while our C's are well- rested with a short series against the Bucks while also gaining momentum now just like the veteran Cardinals team of 2006; Toronto beats Charlotte in Game 6 or 7 since Toronto's slightly the better team.  Our C's then plays Toronto in the Eastern Finals & guess who wins it?  

Of course, our C's in Game 5 because were a bad match-up for the Raptors & that they are tired from the long series with Charlotte while our team is well-rested & have kept gaining momentum since we're a veteran team.   (The addition of Finley & Nate really solidified our bench plus the improved play of BBD's as of late being reminiscent of last year's playoffs.)    

 

Meanwhile in the West:

#1 Lakers defeats #8 Portland in Game 7 at Staples [round 1]  because LA has difficulty winning in Portland that this series will indeed go to Game 7;  #1Lakers then defeats #4 Denver in round 2 [Game 7] because Denver will win atleast 1 game in LA, but LA takes it back via winning 1 game in Denver utimately setting the stage for Game 7 in Staples which LA will win.   (Indeed, it's very unlikely that this series ends in Game 5 or 6, it will surely go till Game 7.) And indeed, Denver is only 4th seed since Utah [hopefully] wins the NorthWest thereby getting # 3.

Certainly, we don't want to see Utah at #4 because LA will easily beat them whereas Denver at #4 will take LA to 7 games. And with K-Mart out while Utah's playing well, Utah may very well win the NorthWest Division thereby securing #3.  Then #1 LA will defeat #2 Mavs also in Game 7 at Staples since there's no way LA will win it in 5 or 6 games.  That sets the stage for the NBA Finals between the heavily-favored but very exhausted LA who just played 3 exhausting "Game 7 series" out West versus a well-rested C's who's peaked at the right time.  The C's then have a very strong chance for an upset thereby giving us that hard-fought 18th banner!!!

 

To cut the long story short, our beloved C's are really a LONG SHOT to win it all this year, realistically speaking!  But the OPTIMIST side of me does say that we do have a slight chance if "things does fall into places" enabling us to "peak at the right time" just as to how it did for the [veteran team] 2006 St. Louis Cards.   But things will even be a lot sweeter if it's the [exhausted] Lakers we face & beat in the Finals!

And though this happened to the Cards in 2006, this kind of phenomenon has actually happened a few times in different sports over the years as the playoffs is a totally different kind of beast.   Meaning, everything's possible in the playoffs that the most important thing is to get there even if your team is dragging, then we see what happens next.

And though this may appear "pathetic' to all the Celtic-haters out there, a win is a win, a championship is a championship just as to how it was for the 2002 Lakers.   In retrospect, everybody knows that the Kings got robbed back in 2002 but 15-20 years from now, nobody will know that, all that people will know is - LA won it all back in 2002.

Similarly, the C's may not be deserving this year, but if they do win it "by crook" this year, then that's what people will know years from now just as to how people years from now will know about the 2006 Cards - they won it all,  period. 

And though this scenario is indeed "pathetic," this wasn't the case 2 years ago whereby we were so dominant that we didn't need "lady luck."  Now, all we can hope for is that there's still 1 more luck left with our little green leprichaun, that things does "fall into places" which will tilt towards our favor.  (by PresterJohn)

So many finger-pointing has occured with the woeful losses our team has endured lately.

But one place where the finger-pointing really belongs to is our woeful bench.

Prior to Nate's arrival, we really didn't have any spark plug in our bench let alone a legit, consistent scorer.

Eddie House was merely a streaky shooter yet there were days when he doesn't shoot well (& that he's pretty limited unlike Nate) while TA is not really consistent with providing the spark [energy] we need off the bench.

But now that Nate is starting to blend with the C's, things are starting to look better.  Still, we need to replace Scal & Shenden so as to become a true championship contender!

Indeed, let us not forget that we blew huge leads for a lot of the games we lost mainly because our bench can't hold its own. 

It then puts an enormous strain on our aging starters unlike 2 years ago (or even last year before KG went down) whereby our bench blew the lead our starters built, but our starters were able to get it back & win the game.

Nowadays, it's different as our beloved team has aged, it's harder now for our starters to be competetive when down 6-10 points entering the 4th quarter.

And so, the main culprit then for our woes is our unreliable bench.

But that can be fixed with the addition of A.I. & hopefully, a big man who doesn't have to be a scorer, but can rebound well since Sheed is also inconsistent at this stage of his career.  Is there someone out there available?  But please, not Tony Battie.  We had him when he was younger & he sucked big-time, how much more now that he's old?  Also, not Mikki Moore! 

And though there's so many baggage with A.I., the guy obviously can still score as evidenced by the few games he played in Philly let alone his showdown with Kobe.

Let's face it Celtics fans, our bench really needs another firepower aside Nate, & another rebounder which Scal & Shenden can't provide!  If we don't get both, we'll really be toast come the playoffs

In essence, obtaining Nate was a great deal for us after all as not only is he a reliable scorer & spark plug but more importantly (especially for Ainge), it didn't cost us much unlike any "blockbuster deal."

Well, pursuing A.I. will not be costly too let alone that the guy can still ball superbly just like our aged Big 3 & that winning motivates him.   For sure, he will get his act together if he comes to Boston as it's his last chance for a championship & that there's only less than half the season remains.  Meaning, it's easier to get focused now for the final stretch of the regular season versus early in the season.

Please Boston, pursue A.I. & hopefully, another big man that can rebound well.  The upsides in obtaining A.I. far outweighs the negatives - it's probably our one last chance for a ring this year.

Please Ainge, the top brass,  the Big 5 & the entire Celtic team, and all C's fans, let's woo A.I. to join our team just as to how Cleveland [its players & fans] does now with the Bg Z.  The implications of exiting early in the playoffs this year is just too enormous!

Meaning, if we exit early, then our team ultimately becomes unattractive to the "2nd tier" of free agents thinking that Boston's time has passed & thus, they'll go to other teams who has a chance like the young Hawks, Orlando, & etc.  

But if we advance far into the playoffs or better yet, win it all, then guys like T-Mac, Boozer, Agent O, & etc. may come to our team next year for say, 1 year, cheap contract just to win a ring since these guys also wants to win soon being middle-aged themselves.  

Hence, we really need to get 2 more solid guys to replace Scal & Shenden to become championship material!   What do you caring Celtics fans out there think?  

Ultimately, we LOVE our team, we do have a chance to win it all this year contrary to what the rest of the basketball world thinks.  But we do need to shore-up our bench a bit more so as to make it happen.

Long live the C's!!!

Just before the trading deadline, I posted a commentary titled: "How to 
shore-up the C's for a championship."  Its basic premise is that we need at least 1 
more quality player to shore us up preferably a power forward as that's what our C's 
direly need since KG & Sheed no longer post-up while Perk & BBD (as solid as they are) do 
not really post-up well.

Indeed, we do not need an SG or SF since Ray is still balling well as evidenced by his clutch shooting while Paul, when healthy, is still a baller himself.  Hence, what we really lack is an All-Star PF like Amare, D. West, or Boozer.

In my commentary, I suggested Boozer since he's cheaper (only $12 mil.) & his is an expiring contract while Amare is still owed $34 mil. for 2 seasons whereas D. West was not on the trading block.

However, Amare was a very LONG SHOT for a lot of teams (just ask Cleveland) since the Suns really wanted value in return, we would've had to trade Perk & one of the Big 3 just to obtain him.   Whereas Boozer, the Jazz would've traded him if they can also unload Kirilenko's huge contract ($16 mil. this year, $17 mil. next year).

Now, what we could've done is match Boozer's $12 mil. with the combined salaries of Giddens, Walker, Scal, Shenden, & TA ($8.5 mil. all-together), then Ray Allen's $19 mil. expiring contract for AK-47's $16 mil.    The numbers work for such a trade but under one condition: the Jazz buys-out Ray for $9 mil. so we can have him back!

In turn, the Jazz will be happy to do so since it saves them $10 mil. let alone that they have CJ Miles & Korver for the SG position, they really don't need Ray.    Moreovoer, they got rid of AK's huge contract yet still has Brewer to replace him, then they have Millsap to replace Boozer.   Utah then can simply buy-out the other 5 C's or let their contract expire & not re-sign them.

As for the C's, Ray returns to us for the minimum just as to how Ilguaskas will return to the Cavs soon. But we compensate the $10 mil. Ray lost via re-signing him to say, $25 mil. for 5 years after this season.   Now that will be truly reasonable since Ray, even if already 34 y.o., takes good care of his body that he will still be balling by 37.

Hence, the $5 mil./yr, for the next 3 years is surely worth it whereas the last 2 years (when Ray's 38 & 39) will be the compensation as Ray would be simply coming off the bench by then but will still provide some clutch shooting.

Have the C's top brass discussed such a scenario with Ray, he most likely would've agreed because like Ilguaskas, Ray is all about winning that getting traded but be bought out in order to return to their beloved team is surely palatable especially if they get compensated with a new but reasonable contract next year.

I think this is what a lot of C's fans had in mind when they suggested using Ray's expiring contract as a bargaining chip to shore up the C's.   It doesn't exactly has to be Boozer, it could've been another quality player that will really shore-up our team.

Indeed, we could've easily done what Cleveland is now doing & that's what ultimately separates winning GM's than GM's who tries to do things on a cheap or a "Hail Mary."   Ainge should've really expanded his imagination as to how Mitch Kupchak always does - & that's why they landed Gasol & Artest.

But don't get me wrong, Nate will surely help us down the road. But having Boozer (or some other PF of the same caliber) would've easily made us championship caliber just as to how the Gasol trade did for L.A. 2 years ago.

Now if Boozer didn't click, then we'll not re-sign him though it's very unlikely as Booze is a proven low-post player.   As for AK47, he would've been an additional help off the bench (unlike Scal & Shenden now) because he still has some game left in him.   But we will have to trade AK next year by the trading deadline to prevent going over the cap. For sure, his expiring contract next year will be lucrative.

In addition, we also trade Paul next year to really avoid going over the salary cap.  For sure, there will be takers since Paul's contract is expiring, he can actually agree to a buy-out & return to the C's but be compensated with a new, reasonable contract starting 2011-2012.  We can then package Sheed with either AK or Paul yet there will be takers since both Paul & AK's contracts are expiring while Sheed's contract expire the next year [2012] making him easy to move.

Overall, it would've only taken some imagination to shore-up our beloved C's which really could've used the help this year since the Big 3 still has some game left in them that an 18th banner was truly feasible!    But now, that's all gone simply because of our unimaginative GM.    (Why can't he be like Mitch or Ferry who had big imagination that he was even pursuing Amare!)

And indeed, we really can't blame Doc nor the Big 3 as to what some C's fans does because the bench we have is pretty awful!  On the other hand, we really would've been championship caliber have we had Nate, AK, & Booze to go with Daniels, BBD, & Sheed.