This has not happened in a long time. The Boston Celtics having the best record in the NBA and ranked Number ONE in the power polls. On a night where Poor Energy seemed a legitimate excuse for losing to the revenge minded New Jersey Nets, the Celtics took a tight, sloppy game and simply handed it to New Jersey in the 2nd half with the Allen brothers, Posey, Baby, and Scalabrine out on the dance floor. Forcing TO after TO, and blocking anything NJ brought into the lane, the Celtics knocked out the Nets decisively with KG and PP getting their due rest.
And in listening to a glowing Bill Walton, who still exhibits that Boston Celtics Pride, the Celtics are playing magnificent basketball with that exquisite passing. I know, if you are not a Celtics fan and a certified Boston sports hater, you are probably blowing chow reading this. I say too bad because I am eating this up after 20 years of suffering that I am sure has trimmed some years off the back end of my career as a Boston sports fan beginning with the 1967 World Series and accelerated by the sports call of one Johnny Most.
Bird, McHale, and Parish can walk through the door and remember how good winning Celtics basketball once was and can be. Although for Bird and especially for McHale, it is career limiting for them at this point. Maybe Ainge can hire them as senior consultants.
A guy I feel bad for is Antione Walker who is hopelessly pidgeonholed in Minnesota as the elder statesman. He will continue to go out and compete because he plays for the love of the game. His skills are limited but last night he played within himself and contributed to Minnesota's 1st victory of the season. On a team that figures to be horrible with a marginal coach, any Minnesota win is a blessing because most of their key components are Boston Celtics alumni. We'll see how the Gomes, Walker, and Jefferson lineup fare in the WC.
The Stephon Marbury - Isiah Thomas affair in New York is a disgrace. The Knicks would benefit more than any other team with an NFL style hard cap with no guarentee contracts. They claim to have the best 12th man in the league. It is too bad that positions 1 through 5 are overpaid pukes, though. New York, will have to burn off three or four of those horrible contracts and stockpile young talent. Getting rid of Steve Francis for Zachary Randolph was a good move for them but he can't be a team leader.
Charlotte is breaking out into a decent team these days with Jason Richardson, Meka Okafor, and Ray Felton.
I am impressed with the Atlanta Hawks who had an outstanding draft of Acie Law and Al Horford to go with Joe Johnson, Josh CHildress, and Zaza Pachulia. They will move up the EC ladder quickly. Heck they beat Dallas and Phoenix already and gave us a tough game for three quarters in Boston.
Miami has plummeted quickly and Riley has no clue what to do except hope Dewayne Wade can single handedly right this shipwreck. Shaquille O'Neal is less and less of a factor as the years go by. Alonzo Mourning, an amazing story, is finally slowing down. Mark Blount and RD are there to show up, play, get beat, and then go party in Miami Beach after the game. Riley looks horrible and this losing is obviously getting to him. The Miami sports scene is clearly a mess right now.
Detriot won a tough game by making all the plays down the stretch against Golden State. They are still highly competitive. I am looking foward to a matchup with them to see how the Celtics stack up with the best EC franchise over the past five seasons.
Indiana is falling quickly after a good opening 5 games. They don't have a lot of talent but they will nail any team that is flat.
Chicago is off to another terrible start but that seems to be in their DNA. Perhaps they are waiting to ambush Boston in the Windy City on a December night and call it the start of the NBA season. Honestly, I think Scott Skiles is a great coach and you would think they would get off to a better start than that.
Well I better go to work before I am fired. Talk to you soon.
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