Don’t Write Celtics’ Epitaph Just Yet

by Brendon Rosenau
Love of Sports Correspondent

The calendar has been flipped to June. It is officially time to reflect and show some love to the Boston Celtics.

I know what you’re thinking. The Celtics? You have got to be kidding me. This team has been drooled over more than Marissa Miller. (ed. note: not entirely true)

True, very true. In the beginning of the year they certainly were enveloped in slobber.

However, once the playoffs started, people turned on them. It all started with that messy little seven game battle with the Atlanta Hawks. After that, everyone was proclaiming the Celtics to be dead.
Suddenly the Big Three became the Big Two. To make it worse, it was revealed that K.G. was never a clutch player. Additionally, Paul Pierce was immature and not a winner. Scarily, Ray Allen had been kidnapped and replaced by Allen Ray.

It was beaten into us that Rajon Rondo couldn’t handle the pressure and or hit a shot. Doc Rivers was making amateur-level decisions by mixing up his bench. How can the media possibly keep track of things if Glen Davis is in one game and then it’s P.J. Brown in the next.

Then, there was the Sam Cassell business. Sam I Am would play one game and sit for two.

Worst of all, the Celtics could not win on the road.

In the last two rounds, the Celtics have shattered those false statements and done so with authority.

K.G. dominated the Detroit Pistons in all six games and has been the most consistent player on the team. He dropped 33 in Game 5, including a pair of free throws to clinch the game, and minimized Rasheed Wallace to nothing more than a cry baby.

All you need to remember about Pierce is Game 7. ‘Nuff said.

After “The Truth” put down 41 against the King and his court, he scored 22 and 26 in the first two games against the Pistons. In Game 6 he went for 27 (8-of-12 from the field) including 12 in the final quarter. Sounds like a winner to me.

Ray Allen rebounded from the worst stretch of his career with a 27-point outburst in the pivotal Game 5. He also drilled the deciding bucket in front of the Piston bench. He added another 17 in the Eastern Conference clincher and his three-point stoke is spot on.

Rondo led the Celtics in Game 5 against the Cavs with 20 points, 13 assists and only one turnover. Game 5 must be good for Rondo because he handed out 13 more dimes against the Pistons, again with only one T.O. and rocked five steals.

As for the coaching moves, P.J. Brown hit the biggest shot of the series in Game 7 against Cleveland. Eddie House has provided energy while Cassell has provided the experience. James Posey made a huge steal in Sunday night’s game and has played tremendous defense.

The Pistons came into the Eastern Conference Finals with all the experience and all the X-Factors. After they took Game 2 at the Fleet Center, the series was supposedly over. The Celtics where frauds. Great home team; no heart on the road. That thought was quickly erased in Game 3. In Game 5, the Celtics almost pissed away a 17 point lead. Surely the Pistons would win Game 6 and would have all the momentum in Game 7.

Wrong again. The Celtics not only won on the road but erased a 10 point fourth quarter deficit.

Now the Celtics are in the finals. They will take on the Lakers, and the Lakers will be favored. They have the MVP and they came out of the mighty West. They have played only 15 games in the playoffs and easily dethroned the Spurs.

Meanwhile, the Celtics have played 20 games and struggled with some inferior competition. Once again, Garnett will fail to deliver in the clutch and Allen will disappear. There will be no way that the Celtics can stop Kobe Bryant.

A coaching battle between Doc Rivers and Phil Jackson is a non-event with Phil and his nine rings.

Sounds kind of familiar doesn’t it.