As Einstein would say, everything is relative.
Last year the Celtics’ post-game mantra was “we’re just trying to improve.” The Celtics’ players used that mantra time-and-again as they steamrolled their way to a 66-16 regular-season record and Banner 17.
The green tried that motto out again this year, too. You heard Doc, KG, Jesus, and P-Squared all tell us that their historic 27-2 start, which included an historic 19-game winning streak, was simply the product of “trying to improve.” A lot of Celtics’ fans took such talk with a grain of salt, kind of like when Vladimir Putin says things like “Russia is every bit as democratic as the United States.” Later on, during a shorter winning streak, Doc and the gang enjoyed an “I told you so” moment, with each of them declaring that the Celtics were playing better during the second winning streak than they had during the first.
But the mantra remained the same: “We’re just trying to get better.”
Anyone wanna bet there isn’t a Celtic on the team who wouldn’t today settle for a healthy roster and reverting to playing basketball like they were during the first winning streak? Doc is gonna have his hands full when everyone returns. The team is now loaded with talent. Depth is no longer an issue, if it ever was. Presuming everyone returns healthy, the question seems to be whether Doc Rivers, someone whom I’ve called the Maestro on at least occasion and maybe even two, can find the right touch for his once-great orchestra to rise from its current half-hearted, mistake-prone malaise into a confident group of artists who play at a world-class level based less on thought and more on instinct.
It’s too bad they don’t vote for coach of the year after the playoffs, because if Doc is up to the task, his coaching achievement would be truly monumental.
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