The Maestro’s Biggest Challenge

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.

The Maestro Strikes Again

Ray Allen, playing his first game since bruising his ankle last Friday against Milwaukee, scored 21 points on 7-of-17 shooting. Rivers said Allen looked rusty and sat him most of the fourth quarter, putting him in with Dallas up, 87-86, with 1:54 remaining. With 33.1 seconds left, Allen nailed a running 3-pointer to put Boston up, 90-88. "The play Doc drew up brought me to the ball and the shot fell," Allen said.

--Boston Globe

Now I wonder whether Ray would have hit that shot if he had played the entire 4th quarter?

No one knows the answer, of course.

But we do know that a rested Ray Allen is deadly.

Doc makes the right call...again

Doc Rivers: The Maestro

One aspect of this season that Celtics fans have come to enjoy is the manner in which a different player steps up every game, maybe even every quarter.

First you had Big Baby against the Pistons.

Leon Powe against the Wolves and several other teams.

Big Baby against the Spurs in Celtics-Spurs I.

In Celtics-Spurs II, you could point to Sam Cassell, but I'm going to call out Eddie House who drained a huge three down the stretch, and then added two free throws to put the game on ice.

Last night it was Powe again. A DNPCD the night before against San Antonio, Powe scored 21 points on 8-12 shooting against Houston, to go along with 4 rebounds and 1 steal in 20 minutes.

Somewhere in the middle you could throw in James Posey and Tony Allen. Allen played admirably at the point against the Lakers, while Posey had a stretch where he was averaging 5 assists and 5 rebounds per game. Last night, Posey had 10 boards in 29 minutes, while only taking one shot.

The guy who gets lost in the shuffle of the rotating brilliance that comes off the bench is Doc Rivers. Doc is the one picking match-ups that play to the strengths of each member of the reserve unit, and then exploiting those match-ups.

It's not a coincidence that many of these second-unit performers come up huge in one game (or, again, one quarter), only to slink back to a more diminutive role in the next.

Look at Eddie House, he hadn't made a shot all game against the Spurs, but Doc had him in the game during the final minutes, and House answered the bell.

Next look at Sam Cassell. Doc didn't rush Cassell into the line-up. He worked him in gradually, which enabled the Celtics to maintain team chemistry on an extended win streak. When Ray Allen went down with an injury, Doc called Cassell's number, who then seemlessly picked up the slack for the ailing Allen.

Doc knows what he is doing, and these are only a few examples.

Let's give Coach some love.

We've Only Scratched the Surface

39-9.

Best record in the NBA.

In the last week, we've dumped the Mavs and the Spurs.

We're 16-0 against the West.

Oh, and, by the way, does everyone understand we have this guy on the team who wears number 5 just chomping at the bit to get back on the floor?

Doc Rivers is really a maestro. The 2008 Boston Celtics have faced far more injuries than did the 1986 Celtics, and the team keeps coming out smelling like roses.

KG's return will likely coincide with the next West Coast Trip.

He's gonna play the entire trip like he did his first month in Celtics green. Remember the home opener? I think he grabbed 98% of the defensive rebounds that game. Ok, that's an exaggeration. But you know what I mean.

Or maybe you don't.

The point here is that KG, Pierce, and Jesus have lots left in the tank. They put it on cruise control against the lesser teams, but fully step to the plate when it counts.

We've got two and a half months left to bring this thing to a peak heading into the playoffs, at which time we can start building to a final crescendo.

I fear no one at this time, and the only thing I fear is injury.

Barring that, we're in the cat bird's seat for the first time in 22 years.