Celtics have much to Prove

11/3/2007

The Celtics have been on every magazine cover but Foreign Affairs.

The coach is amused.

"I can't control that," says Doc Rivers. "So I'm not really 'OK' with it. But I understand it. I keep telling them that it's not the team on the cover that matters; it's the team on the floor."

Has ever a team with so much to prove received so much preseason approbation? Before anyone had ever seen them so much as lace up a sneaker at a single practice session, they had been declared champions of the Atlantic Division, the Eastern Conference, and even the whole darn NBA by the most radical idolaters. Is this where the fantasy sports obsession has taken us? Do formerly rational people actually now believe that the sheer accumulation of (aged) talent guarantees a championship?

Rivers, for one, knows better.

"Right now, the only team that can talk about winning a championship is the Spurs," he points out.

The coach of the Boston Celtics isn't stupid. He knows his general manager has handed him some serious weapons. He knows the only viable excuse he will have for not supervising a very successful team is catastrophic injury. He also knows people have a tendency to be unrealistic, especially when they are extremely eager to get back into the action.

"There is so much more optimism now," he acknowledges. "But we are not a great team. Our job now is to be willing to go through the process of becoming one."

Attempting to explain to cynics just how difficult it is to win in the NBA is almost fruitless. People too often listen to the wrong sources, and there is no shortage of windbags out there who think they know what the NBA is all about, and who, frankly, have no clue. If it was all about offense, we wouldn't bother to have a season. Crown the Phoenix Suns now and save everyone nearly eight months of suspense.

It's not all about anything other than the willingness of one of the more talented teams to make a firm commitment to community and hard work. Two, maybe three, legitimate stars is a very nice beginning. But too many so-called stars is almost invariably counterproductive unless they are all willing at various junctures to, as the coaches like to say, "check their egos at the door."

Then comes another tricky part. Are your "role players" really good at their jobs, or merely OK? Are they completely aware of who they are and who they aren't? Finally, are your DNPs the right kind of people? Are they willing to have practice as the focal point of their existence? If it's a veteran, is he willing to mentor someone who is taking his job? If it's a youngster, is he humble enough to accept coaching and just plain good advice, even if what he's being told is to take that favorite coat of his and donate it to the Salvation Army?

When it comes to winning, everything matters.

You think, for example, any of the 18,624 in attendance for last night's opener against the Washington Wizards had this pregame take on the proceedings? "Team chemistry for the starters began on the first day of practice. But full team chemistry begins forming tonight. That's when the guys who aren't in the 8 or 9 [i.e., the full rotation] realize, 'Shoot, I'm not playing.' Then you see how they react to that."

So spoke Glenn "Doc" Rivers.

Be honest now. You never thought about that, did you?

On this particular edition of the Boston Celtics, there will be a constant story within a story concerning Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and incumbent icon Paul Pierce, the three celebrated veteran All-Stars who are being asked to join forces in a "Three Musketeers" kind of way. God forbid any of them believed half the things that were written about them, either collectively or individually, during the offseason. If they did, they would have expected the Wizards to have their photos taken with them before the game, just to show the grandkids.

Everything was "all for one and one for all" during the generally successful exhibition season. But what will happen the first night one of them gets 30, one of them gets 25, and their third one gets 10? Will the humbled star be, you know, OK with that?

"Sure, as far as I know, that won't be a problem," Rivers says. "But we have not been in the fray. I'm confident, but I still don't know. Right now, I'd say these are three guys who aren't looking at numbers. They're looking at wins."

The team dynamics are completely unknown, and we weren't going to get a full read last night because James Posey was sitting out his disputed one-game suspension. Posey is a very important piece of the puzzle as a multipositional defender and big-time 3-point shooter and all-around staff sergeant type.

"He is the glue of the second unit and maybe even the glue of the team," declares Rivers.

And then there's Eddie House, who comes here being forced to sign in with the local police as a fully licensed Jump Shooter, such as the Celtics have not had since Tony Delk. Is he going to fulfill, and then be happy with, a slot as a bench catalyst, or, as Rivers says, "an energy guy"? Or will he want more than he's entitled to?

There will be enormous pressure on second-year point guard Rajon Rondo. As for the fifth starter, Kendrick Perkins, some say he'll score 10 or 12 a night just dunking dishes from Garnett and Pierce. Sounds good. We'll see.

Right now, all the Celtics are is a concept. Detroit, now that's a team. The fans may not all understand the difference, but Rivers does.

"If we are to do what we want to do," Rivers says, "this will be the toughest thing we've ever done. There will be some high times, but there will also be some tough times. If I had my druthers, the hard times would be earlier rather than later. But I can promise you there will be some bumps."

It's real-life NBA basketball, not some fantasy league. Remember that. Winning is not easy.