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January 29, 2007
Dan Shaughnessy Remembers Where the Garden Is
Dan Shaughnessy, who wondered aloud on Friday why anyone bothers following the Celtics' miserable season, today wrote a column about the Celtics' miserable season. Proving there's no pigpile too high for Dan to jump on.
Now, there aren't a lot of people around who have said more unkind things about the C's this year than me, but I get into full circle-the-wagons mode when an outsider (yes, Dan) starts saying some of the same things I've been saying all along. Let's look at some of the highlights:
Boston plays in Indianapolis tomorrow night, then comes home to face the Lakers Wednesday and the Clippers Friday. If the Celtics drop the next two, they'll tie the franchise record for consecutive losses, which would put it all on the line Friday night against the Clips.
Some of us (read: me) even took the extra step of looking at the schedule to see when we might see the next win. I have the Valentine's Day tilt against Milwaukee penciled in as a "maybe" (which would break a potential 18-game plummet), but after that is a brutal Western trip, then a possible liferaft against the Knicks at the end of February. Any way you slice it, it's going to be a long winter.
Nobody seems bothered. Not even the fans. A robust 17,269 trekked to the basketball barn and most of them seemed happy with the show -- even the few who didn't go home with a free T-shirt shot out of a toy cannon.
"Happy with the show" makes it sound like we were all just there to have a good time and didn't care who won. Not true. There's a grey area, though between "hopeful to see a good game and maybe steal a win" and "let's all slit our wrists because this team sucks so much". It's easier to have a decent time when your expectations are nonexistent. To be fair to Dan, though, it's harder to judge the pulse of a fanbase when you only go to five games a year.
The Celtics have been playing without Paul Pierce since Dec. 21 (stress reaction, left foot), but there's little excuse for what we're seeing these days.
You say "little excuse"; I say "the entire team is under 25, their coach is befuddled by the concept of game management, and no one's confident enough to take the momentum-shifting shot." Excuses? No. Reasons? Yes.
...boilerplate history lesson...
But now there is little light. Executive director of basketball operations Danny Ainge has given us a team of overgrown kids who don't know how to win without Pierce.
Hmm. Sounds like what I said. If you look at the Celtics for what they realistically are - a very good college team playing an NBA schedule - there's a little more light.
And for the rest of the year they're going to play under a cloud of suspicion because of the long shadow cast by Ohio State 7-footer Greg Oden and Texas freshman Kevin Durant. Those two young men are expected to be the prizes of the 2007 draft and Boston's lose-to-win strategy could yield a franchise player.
Cloud of suspicion? When you've got Philly dumping Allen Iverson for loose change and ready to break the kneecaps of anyone who scores 25, when you've got Memphis trying to trade their one good player before they accidentally go on a winning streak (much more on this situation later), and when you've got the Knicks in tank mode (to be fair, Isiah may not realize he traded away his #1 pick), the Celtics don't look all that suspicious. They just don't look that good.
They are spiraling toward Secaucus with their sights set on Oden and Durant, and no one seems too upset about any of it.
Sorry, Dan. My next game's against Miami next week; I'll be sure to wear the sackcloth so you don't accidentally think I'm not full of woe.
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Comments
Good rebuttal to Shaughnessy. FWIW, there are a number of reasons that I go to the games. One is because I like basketball. Another is that I am -- and always will be -- a Celtics' fan. They have given me too many highs and thrilling games in their good years that I can take it and stick with them through the lean years (though to be honest, it would be nice if the years weren't THIS lean).
This also is typical Shaughnessy. Complain that people shouldn't go to the games. Then complain that they are going for the wrong reasons. Then complain that they are losing on purpose. What a blowhard he is.
FWIW, I was also attending Red Sox games during their lean years, and also Patriots' games before they became good (and I am still amazed that the Patriots ARE actually good).
A fan is a fan is a fan. Other writers seem to be fans - Peter Gammons is a baseball and Red Sox fan. Bob Ryan is a basketball and Celtics fan. Shaughnessy does not come across as a fan of these teams. In fact, I'm not sure what he is a fan of at all.
Posted by: Vin | January 29, 2007 05:04 PM
