Going Down Swinging

I'm proud to be a Celtics fan today. Their season is over, but they didn't go down without a fight. LeBron and Wade reacted after the game as though they had just won the Championship and LeBron spoke glowingly, and it appeared genuinely, about how tough the Celtics are to beat.

So what happened? In crunch time, the Celtics offense couldn't keep up. In Games 4 and 5 they scored 13 and 14 points respectively in 4th quarters. They were hoisting up jumper after jumper, and most of them were off the mark. Their seasons long struggle with turnovers was also continuing. Meanwhile, the Heat--and LeBron and Wade in particular--were attacking the rim, getting lay-ups and to the foul line (with the help of some dubious whistles). LeBron also picked a good time to start making some of those late game threes that he likes to throw up. On the occasions when Miami had both of their stars involved in the same play, either as both parts of a pick and roll or through other dynamics, as a basketball fan the results were often a beautiful thing to watch.

But the Celtics never lay down. They kept battling until the final whistle. Many teams would have gone into Miami last night deflated after a tough Game 4 loss lead to a 3-1 series deficit. The Celtics gave it everything they had, they just came up short. Compare Boston's effort to the Lakers debacle--no waning effort, no dirty fouls. Just a hard fought defeat.

It's tough to see the Celtics hanging with Miami and Chicago next year. Garnett, Pierce and Allen will be a year older, whereas the Heat and Bulls will have had another year to gel. Miami will likely have a better supporting cast than this year's band of misfits. The Celtics' offense struggled mightily during season's second half and against Miami. Rondo's game is limited by his lack of a jumper, Allen's shot were too-often contested, Garnett simply can't bring it night after night on the offensive end. Pierce is the only Celtic that can consistently generate his own shot, and he's not enough. The only room for growth that I see is Rondo finally hitting the gym during the offseason and becoming a serviceable shooter. But that's less than likely.

Regardless of what the Celtics' future holds, the current team has been a success. They won a championship, made basketball relevant against in Boston, and (once the playoffs started) they always, always gave it everything they had.