Where Does This Leave the C's?

In the blink of an eye, the Celtics had their season ended by the last team you would have ever wanted to end it. Ousted by LeBron James and the Miami Heat in a mere 5 games, Boston boarded their flight home staring a myriad of questions about their future straight in the eye.

What do I think? That's a question that isn't easily answered. I've had my doubts about the NBA for quite some time, but I won't jump ship and attribute this loss to any type of fixed outcome. In fact, these playoffs haven't gone in accordance with the whole conspiracy theory. Lakers swept in four games? Celtics torched in five? That isn't exactly drawing the biggest revenue from two huge basketball markets. As Memphis and Oklahoma City hang around and Dallas the remaining favorite in the West, who said anything about large markets being fixed into the finals? But I digress. This is about the Boston Celtics, not David Stern and the NBA or any type of conspiracy theory.

First off, let me express my thoughts about the season as a whole. I've encountered plenty of people who simply pull the trigger on Danny Ainge, saying the Kendrick Perkins trade failed miserably and brought the downfall of this squad. I understand those accusations, and I simultaneously disagree with them entirely. I will still contend that the Kendrick Perkins trade was not the reason this team lost. The post was not the issue in this series. Boston's lack of energy at the end of games and their lack of depth on the bench is what put the nail in the coffin. Did the Perkins trade fail in regards to the goal it was trying to accomplish? Possibly. Jeff Green may not have been the bench scorer they thought they were getting. Still, Green scored more points in this series than every player on the Miami Heat excluding their "Big Three." Was production the issue? Debatable. What about the fact that Chris Bosh, Dwyane Wade, and LeBron James dropped a combined 355 points in these 5 games, completely obliterating the 252 scored by Boston's three studs (Pierce, Garnett, and Allen). 103 points was the advantage. Is it the bench's fault for not making up a 103 point difference (over 20 points per game)? If you believe so, I guess. Would Kendrick Perkins have diminished that number at all? Unlikely. I don't understand why we suddenly flip the switch because of the Perkins trade. Throughout the big three era, have we not been victorious when our big three dominates? Have we not always lost when our big three gets outplayed by the oppositions big stars? It has always been the same formula, and the bottom line is that this team doesn't have the backup unit needed to make up for the big three's growing inadequacy to give forty-minute performances of A+ basketball. The burden was too heavy for this reason, and they weren't able to shoulder the load. The younger and more athletic team pulled out every single game in the fourth quarter.

So yes, maybe the Perkins trade failed to give us the bench unit we truly needed. But I contest that had the trade never happened, our situation would have been no better. Subtract Jeff Green from the mix and add Kendrick Perkins. Does that solve the equation? Just look at the facts. Miami rained on us from the perimeter. Joel Anthony's 5 points per game -- was that the difference? Because Perkins would have been guarding anthony. Was Jermaine O'Neal really that bad in the post, averaging 6 points, 4 boards, and over a block per game in 21 minutes per contest? He was enough of a presence down low. Perk wouldn't have won us this series. You can't convince me otherwise. Management may have failed to give us the depth and athleticism we needed to win, but it sure as hell wasn't that particular trade that blew up our chances of winning.

Plain and simply, the Miami Heat were a better team than the Boston Celtics this year. It took them a while to gel, but they finally have. As much as I hate to see it happening, they're making a title run. They're going to be tough to beat. Their big guns are in the primes of their careers, and they are capable of playing just as effectively in the fourth quarter as they are in the first. The reality is that Boston cannot say the same about their own big guns, and their secondary guns aren't polished enough to pick up the rest of the load. Doc Rivers, though, feels that there is still gas in the tank. He will likely return to the Celtics next season, judging by his post-game comments.

"I'm leaning heavily towards coming back," Rivers told reporters after the loss to Miami. "I haven't made that decision. But I can tell you that I probably will. I've kind of come to that over the last couple of weeks. I'm a Celtic and I love our guys."

If there is a bright spot to take out of last night, it has to be these comments. As I've expressed time and time again, this team is an effective second unit away from being a title contender again. If they were able to rest their starters more throughout the game, you wouldn't see them dropping the ball in the fourth quarter. It happened in just about all of the losses in this series. If Ainge can assemble a second unit capable of shouldering that load throughout the game, this team may have another run left in them. Nobody said it would be easy, but at the same time, it is far from an impossibility. And if you trust Doc Rivers' judgement, there may a least be something to look forward to.

"I don't believe this team is done," Rivers concluded.
 

End of an Era for the Green?

In the wake of last night's heartbreaking overtime loss to the hated Miami Heat, Celtics fans and basketball fans alike are left pondering the same question. Has this organization reached the end of an era and entered into a landslide back down to the rebuilding ranks of the NBA?

Of course, Boston fans more than any others know that a series isn't over until the fourth game has been won on either side. See the Red Sox in '04 against the Yankees or in '07 against the Indians. On the flip side, see the Bruins last spring against the Flyers. Even this season, we saw the B's come back from a 2-0 hole. Sure, a 3-1 hole is much different for the Celtics as they fly back down to South Beach for a critical game 5, but who are we to say die just yet? With a win tomorrow night, the series would come back to Boston for game 6 with a chance to force a game 7. That's a situation that plenty of teams have battled through. When you think about it one game at a time -- which this Celtics team has done an exceptional job of in the Big Three era -- the task becomes a little less daunting.

But for the sake of speculation, I take the approach that an unlikely comeback will not surface. If, in fact, the Heat win this series (get my puke bucket ready), have we seen the end of an era in Boston? With a potential NBA lockout looming large and a team full of veterans and hall-of-famers who aren't getting any younger, has the window finally closed on banner 18? It's tough to say. I see Paul Pierce as a guy with plenty of heart left and certainly some more productive years left. I see Ray Allen as the purest shooter the game has ever seen, a guy who has played just as many minutes in the big games over the past few seasons as he has during the rest of his career. I see Kevin Garnett, a player who can't consistently punch through defenses like the Big Ticket he used to be -- still, he's capable of bringing 28 points and 18 boards in big playoff games. Do the C's need more pieces in order to re-establish their dominance? Of course they do. The traditional "Big Three" cannot carry the ship any further by themselves. In that sense, we have reached the end of an era. But with players like Chris Paul and Dwight Howard hitting the market in the near future, you simply cannot count out the possibility that this team finds lightning in a bottle.

If there is a lockout, things look much worse. A full missed season is another year tacked onto all three major veterans for the C's and an increased likelihood of retirement for any of them. With young players like Rajon Rondo and Jeff Green showing promise in the playoffs, anything is possible. But let's be real. It's a star-driven league, and unless the C's find top-notch players to take over for some of the journeymen they have on their squad, the window may be closing harder than we think. Some LA Lakers will be for sale this offseason by all speculation, but those guys are the same type of veterans that the C's will be losing themselves. Young, athletic, energetic stars are the driving force of today's NBA. It's like finding a needle in a haystack these days. It's why the league is so top-heavy and lacks parity each year. The stars take over the games, the stars get the attention and the preference, and the stars win championships. Aside from maybe the Detroit Pistons, how many recent champions have just been a fully well-rounded unit without any studs? It doesn't happen. And when you lose your studs to injury, old age, retirement, whatever it may be -- you usually start the slide back down to the bottom, and you get back in line to climb to the top.

There are ways around that long journey. The best GMs find ways to shorten that transition, even make the transition during the climb in order to stay at the top through it all. That burden falls on Danny Ainge's shoulders. He has plenty of critics to answer and plenty of rebuilding to do within the next few years or less. The journey commences shortly.

It won't commence, however, until Boston says die. Never say die. See you in Miami.
 

Heart of a Champion, Guts of a Warrior

Rajon Rondo has dealt with his fair share of critics this season. After a blazing hot start, Rondo struggled for large portions of the season and, quite frankly, played like a D-Leaguer in games one and two of the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Miami Heat. But in game three Saturday night, the C's point guard quieted his haters and inspired a team and a city.

The above picture shows it all. After getting pulled to the floor by Dwyane Wade on yet another dirty play by the Heat star, Rondo braced his fall with his left arm and paid the severe consequences. In case you're still trying to decipher that snapshot -- a human arm isn't supposed to bend that way.

Waves of green collectively held their breath. That's a broken arm. Any doubt? He'll clearly miss the rest of the playoffs. Delonte better be ready. But even if he is, can the C's overcome the loss of Rondo to make a whole run through the NBA playoffs to the finals? We're doomed. It's over. So much for 18. Time to rebuild.

And then the morbid sea parted straight down the middle, and a golden ray of light shone through on the horizon. Rondo strolled his way out of the locker room, merely adding a protective sleeve to his left arm, and made his way back onto the court with a dislocated elbow. A point guard playing with a dislocated elbow. He played with one hand. It didn't matter. He made plays. He had a big steal that he finished off with a breakaway lay-in. One handed. You may be sick of the NBA in much the same way that I am. Maybe you have grown tired of the prima donnas like LeBron James who complain at every call and make the television product excruciatingly painful for those who love the gritty, hard-working, gut-wrenching battles. Maybe all of that is true. But no one can deny the glimmer of hope we saw last night. The gutsy players are still out there. Rajon Rondo may have inspired this team just enough to savor the last few drops they have left in the gas tank. The window may be closing on this team's chances, but they won't let it close without a fight. If nothing else, we know that. If these Celts are going to go down, they're going down fighting. And if we continue to see the same heart and dedication that Rondo showed last night, there's a pretty solid chance this series continues to turn around. If we see the same kind of performances from Pierce and Garnett, the same clutch shooting from Ray Allen, the same bench presence from Jeff Green, and the same cohesiveness among this entire squad, we will at least get to see a fun ride. Don't give up on 18 just yet. Let's see where this thing takes us.

PS -- The NBA may not be rigged after all. Why would they sweep the Lakers out in round two? Another glimmer of hope. Maybe we have hope.
 

Redemption: Bruins Sweep Away Flyers

I was in Section 325. High above ice level, I rejoiced with my fellow Bruins fans. A year after losing Game 4 in overtime and proceeding to choke away a 3-0 lead in the most epically awful manner, the Boston Bruins achieved redemption. They weren't about to let the Flyers even think about another historic comeback. With their second straight 5-1 victory, the B's swept away the Flyers in four games.

Bruins fans everywhere are asking the same question. Is it finally our year? It's the first time in a while that I've considered it a true possibility. Even if the B's hadn't choked up the lead against Philly last year, you knew that the way the team was playing, they wouldn't have had enough to win the Cup. Not the same feeling this season. This squad is clicking, getting exceptional goaltending, limiting their breakdowns and playing solid team defense. The first line is finally contributing, coming off a huge series against these Flyers. Everything looks very promising moving forward. Everything except for one thing.

Patrice Bergeron suffered a mild concussion last night in Game 4. Very bad news for Boston. Bergeron might be the most important forward on this team. His skates are impossible to fill -- from the leadership he brings, to his defensive prowess, to his offensive playmaking -- it simply cannot be done. It will likely be Tyler Seguin who gets a chance to fill that role, whether it be on that line or in a different spot in the lineup. Fans have wanted to see Seguin get a chance, and he finally has it. But I think everyone can agree that this is pretty much the last circumstance under which we would want the kid to see ice time.

The biggest concern for Bergy is that he has had concussions in the past, including a vicious one a few years ago. Concussions are a scary thing. We saw Marc Savard rush into a comeback, and that severely backfired on both his own health and this team's standing. You have to be careful treating a situation like this one, especially with a much younger Bergeron who is one of the primary leaders on this team. As much as you want the Cup this year, the smarter decision would be to treat this with every precaution in consideration -- rely on your depth and ensure that you don't lose this guy in the long term. Peter Chiarelli built a team that is structured to endure adversity like this. There are plenty of teams around the league that wish they had Tyler Seguin at their disposal to plug into the lineup in the case of an injury. Even without Bergy, the B's have a very formidable lineup and they have every capability of taking down Tampa. But they're going to need continued domination from their goaltender, continued power from their defensive core, and continued scoring from their top line. If those things don't happen, and if there is a rusty transition into new combos on lines 2 and 3, the Bruins will have a tough time getting past these skilled and experienced Bolts.

We'll see what happens with Bergeron and the Bruins lineup with Tyler Seguin sliding into the mix. Either way, the other leaders in that locker room will need to step up and make sure that whole squad can still smell the roses. Eight wins separate this city from something it has craved for 39 years.

  

Why History Won't Repeat for B's

The more things change, the more they stay the same. Here we are, one year after the beginning of last year's second round debacle, and the situations are eerily similar. In the 2010 playoffs, the Bruins beat Buffalo in Round 1 and took a commanding 3-0 series lead over the Flyers in the semi-finals. We all know what happened in the rest of that series so I won't repeat it here. In this year's playoffs, the Bruins won a nail-biting game 7 against Montreal with Nathan Horton's clutch goal.

Today, they have that same 3-0 lead over the Flyers and are hoping to wrap up the series tomorrow night at the Garden. Already the nay-sayers have come out, drawing comparisons to last year's series and claiming the Bruins might blow the lead again. A few words come to mind here, but I'll some up those claims with just one word: ridiculous. The 2011 Boston Bruins are NOT the same team they were last year. If you watched the first 3 games of the series then you know that. If you take a look at the roster then you know that. Allow me to ease your minds and give you a few reasons why the Bruins will move on to the Conference Finals.

1. Healthy Roster

The Bruins aren't dealing with the loss of key players due to injury like last year. David Krejci has been excellent in this series, but we all remember what happened last year. He got hurt in game 4 last year, and his injury is one of the biggest reasons the B's lost the series. With 5 goals and 4 assists, he's had a tremendous playoffs so far despite the Flyers trying to knock him off his game. He'll continue to play well and have an impact in all zones as long as he stays healthy. Dennis Seidenberg also got hurt before the playoffs last year and his speed and skills were missed. Many people criticize his defensive end play but he has steadily improved over the cource of the playoffs and at times had been our best d-man. His puck-moving skills were missed last years but he's here now and ready to play.

2. Different Flyers Team

This is also a different team that the Bruins are facing as well. Speedy winger Simon Gagne (who scored four goals on us in last year's series) is on the Lightning now. He was a constant scoring threat last year and now with him gone it's one less thing to worry about. Chris Pronger is also a year older, and although he is still a feared defenseman, he's battling with injuries as well. He missed game 3 and even if he returns to play tomorrow, he won't be 100% and the Bruins will continue to take advantage of that. Jeff Carter, perhaps the most offensively skilled forward on the Flyers, missed games 1 and 2 and he clearly wasn't completely ready to play either. The Flyers are a strong team, but not strong enough to come back from this deficit.

3. New Faces

The Bruins' roster contains a lot of familiar faces, but there a lot of new players that Chiarelli has brought in since last year. Besides the return of Krejci and Seidenberg from injury last year, he's aquired a few new players both via trades, free agency, and our own farm system. Nathan Horton and Greg Campbell were brought in from Florida and have had a tremendous impact in the playoffs. Nathan Horton has 5 goals this playoffs, including two OT game winners. Campbell has been a very reliable defensive player on the PK and centers the energetic fourth line. Chris Kelly from Ottowa and Rich Peverly from have developed great chemistry with Michael Ryder on the third line and bring a constant scoring threat. Tomas Kaberle is a very skilled defenseman, and although he is not producing offensively as much as we expected, has improved out puck-moving abilities as a team and makes our power play better. Finally, Brad Marchand has earned his roster spot from the beginning of the season and has excelled in every facet of the game, being one of the B's best players night after night.

4. Won't Get Fooled Again

If nothing else can be taken out of last year's debacle, it's a learning experience. Claude Julien and his squad took a hard learned lesson and used it to build on this year's team. Just watching the games, you can see that they're playing with an intensity seldom seen before. They're scoring goals, finishing checks, winning one on one battles, and playing pristine defense. If you watched Game 3 then you know what I'm talking about. They just did everything right. They're determined not to let it happen again. They're confident, aggressive, having fun, and most importantly, they're winning.

5. Goaltending
Look, I'm not blaming Tuukka Rask for last year's implosion. In fact, he played great last year, even during the playoffs. But Tim Thomas is stellar. Save after save, he stands on his head and keeps his team in the game. He's a lock for the Vezina (knock on wood) and there isn't a goalie alive that I'd rather have between the pipes right now than Tim Thomas. Look down the other end and you'll see a revolving door in the Flyer's net. They've already used 3 different goalies so far this playoffs, including Michael Leighton, Sergei Bobrovsky, and Brian Boucher. The Bruins have absolutely embarrassed Boucher and Bobrovsky so far, and the Flyers will continue to struggle there. Defense wins championships, and a good defense starts with a great goalie. Bruins got it. Flyer's don't. It's that simple.

See ya soon, Lightning.
  

I Love This Man. And Get Me That Jacket.

Last night was #winning of epic proportions. Nathan Horton delivers in the clutch again. Whether you're a fan of him or not, let's be real. The man is absolutely delivering in the clutch situations. Backs against the wall in Game 3, Horton buries a goal early. Overtime in Game 5, a game you simply can't let the Habs win and take a 3-2 lead back to the Bell Centre, and he nets the winner in double OT. And then last night, in the most pressure-filled situation since last year's game seven (and easily the highest-pressure moment of Horton's career) and he blasts home another winner. Is Nathan Horton a winner? It sure seems it. I've said all along that this team just lacks a winning culture. Sure, it would be nice to have a Jonathan Toews on our team who can just take over a game. But it is possible win without those guys. You just need the swagger that winners have. Hopefully the Bruins can start to get that swagger. A game 7 victory is a step in the right direction. Not to mention Horton rocks the freshest jacket in North America right now. I need that jacket. Would consider selling my soul for it.
 

Bruins, Do This For Me. Huge, Quickly.

It doesn't get much bigger than tonight across the NHL. Talk about excitement. Two Game 7's and a Bruins-Habs matchup. Six hours of heaven for a hockey fan (or maybe more than six hours, given the way these playoffs have gone). Both of the other matchups have ramifications for B's fans. The Flyers-Sabres game will help determine who Boston would play if they advanced to the conference semis (again). Out west, the Canucks are on the verge of blowing a 3-0 lead and erasing Boston from the top of the wall of shame when it comes to that horrific type of collapse. B's fans will surely be clicking back and forth between those matchups.

But the real deal happens at the Bell Centre, home of the Montreal National Diving Team. Wait. Check that -- the Montreal Canadiens, who have won more Stanley Cups than any other franchise in the history of the league. That's pretty impressive... why do they need to dive? They're pretty damn good. Just play the game. It's tough to respect a team that plays with more cowardice less class than anyone else on planet earth. But I digress. This isn't about the Habs, it's not about PK Subban being a whiny little bitch, it's not about Max Pacioretty tweeting from the press box between periods. It's about the black and gold, who control their own fate each time they take the ice.

That's it. There's nothing more to it. They control their own fate. When the B's bring their skating game, when they are motivated, when they stick to their identity -- they win. And I'll be dumping my pants if they don't win, because I don't want a game 7. The last two times we've had a game 7 at home, we've lost. The last time we had a game 7 versus montreal, which was the year directly prior to the aforementioned losses, we lost that one too. I don't want anything to do with game 7. You gotta do this for me, tonight. Huge, quickly. Wrap it up in 6, boys. Shut them up for the summer.
 

Sergio Ramos Ruins Everything

Sick move Sergio. Real Madrid finally wins whatever this huge trophy commemorates and Ramos drops the trophy off the roof of the bus for it to be subsequently mashed by the bus. This is comparable to if the Bruins won the cup and Chara tripped over the carpet skating around with it, subsequently chucked it off the boards, had it break into forty pieces, and then the zamboni plowing over it and turning it into liquid silver. The only difference is that no one on Sergio's team has the balls to flip off the other team's crowd.
 

Beantown Breakdown 4/11 Recording

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

You probably thought Christmas was the most wonderful time of the year, right? I mean, even the songs say it's true. And I guess the B's and Habs play each other around that time of year, as well. So it's a strong argument. But make no mistake about it. If you're a Boston sports fan, there is no better time of year than right now.

The Red Sox play the rubber game of a set with the Yankees tonight. The Celtics battle the Miami Heat for playoff position, all the while preparing for a matchup with what will be either the Sixers or the Knicks in round one. And the Bruins travel to New Jersey for their regular season finale, a meaningless game that serves as their final tune-up before the ever-hyped matchup this week in the opening round against the hated Montreal Canadiens. Now we just need the Patriots to scrimmage the Jets and it would literally a Masshole's fantasy month.

The C's still have a few games left (and the Sox have more than a few left), so I'm focusing on the B's and the Habs right now. Some will say it's the greatest rivalry in sports. Being a hockey fan and a huge Bruins fan, I have a natural bias toward the affirmative on that issue. But what you cannot argue with is the fact that it is absolute insanity when these teams meet -- this season more than any in recent history. In the past three games these teams have played, let me remind you how things went.

On February 9th at the TD Garden, the Bruins topped the Habs in an 8-6 bull fight that featured 182 penalty minutes and all-out brawls. Typical bad blood between the black and gold and bleu blanc rouge. In a carry-over effect on March 8th at the Bell Centre in Montreal, the Habs beat the B's 4-1. More significantly, though, that marked the game during which Zdeno Chara blasted Max Pacioretty into the stanchion and sparking a Montreal police investigation. Police investigation? It was ridiculous. But in the finale of their season series, the B's blasted the Habs back at the Garden by a 7-0 tally on March 24th. It's been the ultimate roller coaster, and it will be the ultimate matchup dropping the puck in just a few days.

It is the most wonderful time of the year. Will we finally see the expectations surpassed?