CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Fiddlin' and Diddlin' on Tuesday

February 13, 2007

In looking over the stories and links that are up I was thinking that the Celtics have now become notorious. They are getting headlines all over the world because of how bad they have become. It is said that everyeone loves a winner, but I have to say that they love a loser more. Is it because someone else's misery helps people to feel better about their troubles? The Celtics 18 game losing streak has gotten a lot more press than the Suns 17 game winning streak did. For instance, I live in Florida and usually the morning radio news will touch on local sports stories and maybe a big story like the Super Bowl but this morning they led with the story that the Celtics are still losing. The Palatka Daily News, who ordinarily wouldn't mention the Celtics have a feature story about how sad they are these days.

ESPN, NBA.com, NBA-TV all have the story about the Celtics losing streak on their tickers at the bottom of the screen and just have to mention it every day. Even papers in Europe are discussing the Celtics sad state of affairs these days.But in the midst of the "kick them while they are down" articles, is one from the NY Sun by John Hollinger that gives some hope. I have felt all along that this team is not near as bad as their record indicates. We have had one injury after another that has kept the team from gelling and as one player goes out and another one comes back, it takes a little while for the team to get its chemistry back.

Hollinger points to the fact that the Celtics have very few one sided defeats. They have been in most games right to the end. He sites a statistic that shows that bad luck has figured into much of the Celtics losses rather than bad team.

The Celtics could be quite a bit better a year from now. In addition to three recuperated stars in Pierce, Szczerbiak, and Allen, Boston is going to get a very high draft pick as the result of its misfortune. And this is a great year for such a thing to happen because the draft is projected to be the best since the LeBron-Melo-Wade-Bosh class of 2003

I agree with Hollinger. This team is much better than their record shows and they are going to be a much improved team next year. One thing that he doesn't mention is that bad coaching may figure into the losing streak also. I don't want to give up on this team until I see what they can do under a good coach.

The Herald has an article that tells us something we already know... tomorrow night's game against Milwaukee is a must win for this team. They depart after the All Star game for a west coast trip where it will be very hard to get a win. We need to get this gorilla off our backs before the All Star Game. The Globe describes how angry Pierce was after the loss to the Wolves. They showed a close up of his face after Ricky hit the game winner and he was furious. The intensity on his face was incredible. Let's hope his anger can light a fire under his young teammates and together they can put together a complete game and finally get a win.

Thirty six days have passed since the Celtics last won a game. In that time, The Suns have won fifteen games, the NFL playoffs began and finished, the Pacers had yet another brush with the law, Tony Allen had his best game, and then had surgery and was lost for the season, and the Celtics have been outscored by a total of 142 points. It is time for this streak to end and I say it ends tomorrow night. Pierce is mad, his teammates are more confident with him back in the lineup, and even with Doc as coach, I think they are ready to get back to winnning basketball games.

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