It might just be the case of basketball pundits waiting for the much ballyhooed Big Three to trip up, and the loss to Cleveland may just have happened to provide a vehicle for them to make their skepticism public.
If so, fine.
Still, there is more than a bit of irony when Celtic Skeptics, waiting game after game for the Celtics to lose, are quick on the trigger in lobbing missiles against those who have overhyped the GREEN since the Garnett acquisition.
But that is just what the Celtic Skeptics did.
Headlines from the blogosphere to mainstream media blared the following pronouncements:
Celtics bow to the King
Celtics flaws exposed
No way to stop LeBron
Cavs conquer Celtics in OT
King James takes over in OT
Cleveland sends message to Boston
Without a doubt my favorite tirade was launched by Charlie Rosen from Fox Sports.
Entitled "Celtics lacking at Point Guard and defense," Rosen's article offered the following diatribe:
Rondo is not capable of running a big-time ball club. Not only can't he shoot, but he can't finish in half-court sets, and his judgment is questionable. During the overtime period, Rondo fired up a silly 18-footer, and then also missed a layup. Because he's such a bricklayer, the Cavs routinely went under (and therefore stymied) any screen/roll in which he was involved. Perkins cannot adequately defend an offensive-minded center, especially one who can face-up and then make a move. Also, Perkins is clumsy with the ball and is another inept finisher.
He continued by observing that "House has trouble making accurate passes in the paint" and "none of the bench players are particularly good."
Well, now.
That pretty much says it all, doesn't it.
Doc and Danny better just fold their tents, and go on vacation cuz I guess the season is over after (then) 14 games. Never mind the Cleveland loss represented only the second loss of the season for the Celtics, and both losses came on the road in overtime.
No, it is exactly those two losses, the Cleveland one in particular, that are most telling and not the (now) thirteen wins, 8-0 at home and 5-2 on the road.
Granted, no Cavalier personnel uttered any of those words. But they do appear to represent the sentiments of a significant and vocal portion of basketball pundits who either want the Celtics to fail, believe the Celtics will fail, or both.
Regardless of who uttered the words, I suspect they will be noticed by Doc, Kevin, and company, who have already admitted taking notice of what has been written and said about the Cs perceived inadequacies (Doc has mentioned criticisms about the Cs having the "worst bench" in the league, Rondo "can't throw it in the ocean" etc, while KG has admitted taking notice of the the sentiments being expressed by opposing players such as Agent Zero and Q Richardson).
And it's not like the Cavalier players were silent on their win over the Cs.
Here is how King James weighed in:
We don't need any tags, big three or whatever. We just go out there and do our job. Z is playing career basketball right now, Drew is getting better, and I'm going to do what I have to do for us to win, of course.
I'll leave it to you to decide whether this was James way of telling everyone what he thought of the hype surrounding the 2007-2008 Boston Celtics, and in particular Mssrs. #5, #20, and #34.
I'll leave it to the Celtics players themselves to respond Sunday on the court.
"[The game] is already circled in red," said Garnett."
Ray Allen said the Cs will do what they need to "avenge the loss ... and keep LeBron from having a big night against us."
Pierce chipped in this backhanded dig at the so-called "King": "[LeBron's an extremely gifted talent. But in my mind, the best player is always the best player on the best team. "
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