Considering a New Celtics’ Season

The NBA is back. The Celtics won their final pre-season game, and an ugly one at that, last night.

As I consider the upcoming season I have no idea what will happen. I was convinced last season they would end up with a lottery pick. A few changes around the trade deadline squashed my dream.

This season the changes aren’t about the rookies. I expect little to nothing out of the three rookies. They may spend plenty of time in Maine like Young did last season. They are largely for the future, or bench guys. Jordan Mickey may turn into an elite defender, or the second coming of Fab Melo. Rozier and Hunter will be good defenders on the perimeter.

The big questions surround the returning players, and new acquired players.

AveryBradley has gotten the memo about settling for the long 2 and stepping back to the 3. He’s apparently been watching Stephan Curry and doing the little dribble side-step to create space for his shot. This should help him take the next step, if he applies in during the season.

Marcus Smart has discovered that changing speeds is more effective than going full-speed ahead all the time. This may help him become a good point guard instead of just an elite perimeter defender.

Sullinger is rightfully still in the dog house. He has to prove he can play, night in and night out. This is why they now have Lee and Johnson. We will note that they were at their best with him sitting on the bench in a suit. It isn’t looking good for him right now.

Amir Johnson was not a name that impressed me. But he is a guy that may make the team better. He’s not a star, but does enough offensively to open shots for the smaller guys. And he can pass. Combined with Lee, they may actually have an inside game this year which will be a big improvement over last year.

Kelly Olynyk is the Celtics’ version of Kyle Arrington. It is all about confidence. When he has it- great. When he doesn’t- oy vey. This means a very talented guy who is inconsistent and therefore perpetually frustrating.

Sadly, the best part about the Celtics is Brad Stephens. He has done some great things with this team so far. He will continue to push spacing and passing. This has generally looked good in the pre-season, but that is the pre-season.

His other big challenge is managing Isaiah Thomas. Very talented scorer who wanted to start but was able to consider the good of the team over his own desires. Will he be the Randy Moss of 2007, or 2009? Will he continue to be about team and contribute that spark and scoring off the bend like Vinnie Microwave Johnson and Andrew Toney, or will he put self ahead of team and become a monstrous headache like Bad Randy?

Too many question marks with this team to really know how it will turn out. The good news is that they don’t need to get a lottery pick. They should get one courtesy of the Nets.

 

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Considering the Day in Phoenix and the Celtics’ Game

When you know you’re going to be up late the next day because you are going to an NBA game and driving 90+ minutes to get home, the last thing you want to do is not sleep well. Guess, what I did? Yes, I was up around 3 am with my mind fully engaged considering the next couple of sermons.

So I spent the wee hours blogging, reading and preparing breakfast before we all headed north to Phoenix. By the time we left, I had had 2 mugs of tea and been up about 7 hours, and was wiped out. I was not looking forward to a day at Ikea and then a basketball game.

But first, CavWife had a last minute doctor’s appointment in Phoenix. We both sort of but not completely remembered how to get there. Of course neither of us slept well. That doesn’t make for the best combination. Thankfully, we only made 2 wrong turns. This was good, because the tea, well, … you know.

While she met with the doctor, I read to the kids. First was a Powderpuff Girls story for Micah. Then the same Scooby Doo story I read Eli every time we go to this doctor. The doctor’s wife, who was in the office, really appreciated my character voices. The PP Girls book was missing 4 pages, and had some bad grammar (using adjectives when an adverb should have been used). So there were comedic side remarks throughout both stories.

Finally we were off to Ikea. Once again, there was a wrong turn. Since it was after noon, we started with lunch (thankfully we didn’t have the meatballs) . It wasn’t too busy, to the kids actually got to sit at a kids’ table leaving us to actually be able to have a conversation. Then we went to drop off the kids in the play area. But they were full and short staffed. So, we entered the Ikea maze with 4 kids, uncertain of what we were looking for in addition to new shelves. I forgot our stash of breadcrumbs. I was a zombie trying not to run over people who stopped inexplicably while on their cell phones. I think one woman was a serial offender. While getting out of someone’s way, I backed into a some merchandise nearly tripping over it. This was not fun.

One the way out we noticed a hammock. If we get our porch extended, I want one (if CavWife reads this, it is a hint for Father’s Day). I tried to get a nap, but at no point did I have few than one child on top of me. CavWife missed some really good photo opps, but it is okay, she was tired too.

We made the short trip to Dunkin Donuts to grab some caffeine and a snack. I, of course, missed the turn into the parking lot. After they headed back to Tucson, I stayed in the parking lot in a shady spot to take a nap. My snoring kept waking me up. Around 4 I decided to sit in one of the chairs outside the DD’s. It was nice in the sun. Still in a daze, I made a quick turn and impaled my Vanilla Chai on a chair. My stimulant poured out on the pavement. This wasn’t going well.

Around 4:30 I headed toward the arena to meet a friend. I didn’t notice any event parking set up yet, so I settle for the parking garage next to Chase Field. It exited on Jefferson, the road that would take me back to I-10 and home. I got a great spot so I could pull straight out and onto the exit ramp. There was a small amount of functionality left. I waited for my friend there since I was driving him back to Tucson and he had stuff to put in the car. Thankfully I caught a 2nd wind.

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