Mailing It
In, But Still Hopeful
AP
Photo/Elise Amendola
By RedsArmy.com’s
Matt Geagan
It came
sooner than I had hoped at the beginning of the season, but I’m finally mailing
it in. The Celtics should too if they know what’s best. Let Wally get all the
rest he wants, and Paul Pierce can heal up his foot until he’s 100%. Start
fresh with everyone healthy next season.
The Celtics
are indeed bound for the lottery. But they showed up against the Spurs on
Monday. The last time the Celtics beat the Spurs, half of the roster was in
grade school. Gerald Green was the ripe age of 10. But the Rug rats of the NBA
showed incredible promise against one of the best teams out there.
Al
Jefferson went up against Tim Duncan, who has never lost to the Celtics, and
still put up another big night. He put up great numbers against the two-time
MVP, and even made him look silly a few times. Big Al racked up another double-double
(26 points, 14 boards) giving him 16 in 32 games. His spin move looked good
against the Spurs defense, and he had the second best fake going (Ryan Gomes took
the cake in that, also making
It helped
that Delonte West had his stroke going. He scored a game high 27 points, 13 of
which came in the fourth quarter. The only shot he missed in the final frame
was a last second three at the end. He is proving he can play either guard position if he has to, running the show in the
first until giving way to Rajon Rondo and playing two
guard. As for Rondo, the kid is everywhere. He can dish the ball (seven
assists) and play defense. His fourth quarter diving steal sparked the Celts to
fight back from 13 points, and then picking
Of course
it could just be so bad for Celtic fans that even close losses are exciting. But
Monday night, the Celtics played with the Big Boys of the NBA and stayed
competitive. They have a lot of fight in them, and aren’t going to just shut it
down. Without Pierce and Wally, the team is no where near competitive in the
NBA, and possibly some college conferences. But the young kids should go out
there and try to prove they can play ball. It may not result in too many wins,
but as Red’s Army believes now, there is always the chance of Greg Oden.
Unless the
ping pong ball bounces the wrong way. Again.
Matt Geagan is a sports producer
at WBZ-TV… which means he’s not just into basketball. You can catch MattyG’s
thoughts on all things sports on his FoxSports.com blog. You can email him at MattyG@RedsArmy.com