Celtics Season In A Phrase: Good Job Good Effort
Another season ended by Lebron. Listen, I know this was the outcome everyone knew would happen. Admittedly I may or may not have been a little drunk off the Kool Aid coming into the playoffs riding our 6 game winning streak, but I definitely did not see a sweep coming. Most shockingly, the Celtics played worse in Boston than they did in Cleveland. A couple of notes about Game 4 before we take some time to mourn the 2014-15 season.
First off, the Kevin Love injury. I know there have been a few blogs on this already so I won’t go on too much about but please pump the fucking breaks. For a guy who I am not sure can walk and chew gum at the same time, somehow in the middle of a lose ball play he was able to realize that “hey I can dislocate Loves shoulder!” Give me a break. Players lock arms like that literally on every rebound, shit happens. Those who repurchased their Cavs jerseys this season are probably pissed and are complaining about how dirty of a player KO is, but I certainly haven’t heard them say a peep about JR Smith.
I have thought a lot about it, and I have decided that the Celtics should over pay for Jae Crowder. He displayed yet again the type of toughness this team will need if they are going to continue to make progress. Frankly I don’t care what the number is, the salary cap is going up like 20M a year starting after next season so money is a non issue. Every team needs a glue guy and I see no reason why he can’t be it.
There is no denying that the Cavs just outworked the Celtics on the boards each game. In Game 4 it would be no different, but in my opinion the Celtics threw this game away. They missed 13 FTs. THIRTEEN. Now during the regular season we have seen this haunt them before, but this series for the most part they had converted on their opportunities. In a game they lost by 8 points, that’s the story for me. Hit your free throws, and there is a chance we are still alive.
It was no secret that to even have a chance in this series, everyone on the roster needed to have the series of their life and frankly that just didn’t happen. You go down the list, Evan Turner, Brandon Bass, Tyler Zeller, shit even Isaiah Thomas had major let downs. Isaiah started Game 4 something like 0-6 with brutal turnovers. Brandon Bass pretty much sealed his fate as someone who will not be returning for the 2015-16 season. Evan Turner went all Evan Turner. Just a tough break from a group of guys that were playing so well.
Despite all that, it was nice to see this team compete and not lose every game by a billion points. Yes you want a win, but if you had to get swept this is maybe how I would prefer it to happen. We all remember what it was like in the Big 3 era once the playoffs hit, the NBA helped us just like they helped the Lakers, Heat and Cleveland in this series. #STERN gonna #STERN. If anything this just showed us that the foundation is there and that it is up to Trader Danny to bring in those final pieces.
I am sure there is more to talk about but to be honest I am still a little depressed the season is over. We now turn the page to maybe the biggest offseason in years. We’ve heard over and over about collecting assets and cap space and all that shit, now it’s time to cash it in. I am not saying if the Celtics don’t trade for Durant it was all for nothing, but pressure is on Trader Danny to back it up. We have the coach, we have young talent, and we have taken a step forward.
Once the dust settles and we get closer to the draft I will have a breakdown of what I think the Celtics might do, but until then thanks for reading/tweeting down the stretch, and let’s say it together one last time…
Go Celtics.
P.S. Please Chicago, beat these assholes