Rumors abound that every year the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls pop bottle of champagne when every team in the NBA loses 11 games. For teams like Memphis and Minnesota that usually occurs around mid-November, but each year there is one team that leads to ESPN asking: “Will they break the Bulls 72 win season record?”
If you believe “The World Wide Leader’s” stats guru John Hollinger there is a chance three teams could break that record.
The Lakers and Cavs boast arguably the best two players in the league, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James. However, the Lakers’ inconsistency and complacency will soon drop them out of the running. The Cavaliers, while playing phenomenally and winning by double digits in 17 of their 21 victories, have too many flaws and are one broken foot away by the Lumbering Lithuanian from being wicked thin up front.
Neither seems poised to threaten the Bulls party.
Yet, the Celtics look like a team that may honestly have a shot at taking down the record. For the first time since Michael Jordan left the Bulls, a team is actually defending its title with more than the halfhearted “Everyone makes the playoffs so we can coast” attitude.
They continue to play with the intensity that the mainstream media can’t seem to get enough of. I can only assume that they weren’t watching Kevin Garnett in Minnesota, because if they had been they wouldn’t have expected anything less from any team he’s on.
Now before you think I’m going all Bill Simmons on you, I hope they don’t break the record. I hope that record stands forever. If for no other reason than because I’m afraid that the ESPN hoops writers would actually have to get creative and write real articles in November and December instead of their yearly “Can ‘team X’ surpass the Bulls 72 win season” exposes.
Yet the scary thing my excuses for why this team wouldn’t re-peat are quickly becoming moot.
Losing James Posey was supposed to kill this team, and send all their fans into cardiac arrest having to watch Tony Allen turn the ball over and chuck up terrible shots. While Allen is still his particularly terrible self (see 18% 3pt shoot, and .8 assist-to-turnover ratio) the loss of Posey has yet to be realized because the rest of the cast has pick up his slack-needless to say come playoff time they are going to need that defense (see James, LeBron) and three point shooting.
The growth of their periphery players is what keeps this team steamrolling. Would I rather haveRajon Rondo, Kendrick Perkins, Eddie House, Glen Davis and Leon Powe over Dennis Rodman, Steve Kerr, Ron Harper, Toni Kukoc and Luc Longley? (and yes, I realize that I just made the Kevin Garnett-Ray Allen-Paul Pierce = Michael Jordan-Scotty Pippen comparison….but that is for another time.) I don’t think either my heart or the stats would say yes.
However, Rondo continues to improve to the level that some of us were afraid he’d get to when he was drafted. Without all the “Can the Celtics really win the championship with Rondo as their point guard?” questions he’s been able to play his game. He has consistently been the best point guard on the floor (with the one exception being the loss to Denver-and if you think he wasn’t ecstatic when he found out he wouldn’t have to guard Chauncey Billups for a 7-game playoff series, please see November 14, 2008). With him better able to shoulder some of the scoring load on off nights for the “Magnificent Three” (I refuse to call them the “Big Three”) they will add a couple victories they might otherwise not have had.
The improvement of Perkins and Davis have also given the Celtics that inside presence that they need when Garnett decides he doesn’t feel like banging. That is as long as the Boston Fans stop playing bumper-cars with Celtic players-unless it is Scalabrine, I’m sure they would love his salary to be picked up by the insurance company due to a unfortunate accident on the Turnpike (and for all those fans saying “Why don’t athletes just pay people to drive them…I’m sure Valdimir Konstantinov and Sergei Mnatsakanov [sign of the cross] would disagree with you).
The play of Rondo and company have made the threat of an injury to one of the “Superb Trio” less of an
issue in their quest for 73. The initial thought when discussing Allen, Garnett and Pierce is to say, “Oh they are getting older, they could get hurt.” But looking over their games played, besides the year that both the Celtics and Supersonics [pour one out] tanked, so they sat Pierce and Allen more than normal, none of the three would be considered injury prone.
Garnett hasn’t missed more than 11 games in one season since ’98-99, and while his back could be trouble don’t expect him to sit out if they have a shot to make history. Pierce has played at least 79 every year this century (save the Tank-a-thon year). And Allen, the most frail of the three, hasn’t shown signs that his ankles were nearly as bad as they looked in Seattle (sorry to dump on the already embattled city, but it can’t be good for former season ticket holders who paid to watch him now see him prancing around; how many times can a team rip you off????)
Do I think they will actually win 72 games? No, in all honesty I don’t. There are always some nights that having always the bull’s-eye on your back gets you beat. There are too many back-to-backs that create mismatches for the opponents. And although I just argued against it, the main cogs may start to feel last years extra playoff games come mid-February.
However, the drive and determination that this team plays with every night, whether they are playing LeBron’s Cav’s or John Salmon’s terrible Kings. 72 wins might be a stretch, but it’s difficult to argue that they won’t be kissing the Larry O’Brien trophy come next June.
Dude…have you watched the Celtics this season? To think that this team will repeat shows you either haven’t or your player evaluation skills are suspect. Losing James Posey and not replacing him hurts this team in many ways. But the most important way is their inability to remove either their Rondo or Perkins…surround KG with Pierce, Posey, Allen, and only one offensive liability (Rondo or Perkins). Despite Rondo’s improved play this year…he can’t shoot. And Kendrick Perkins is a back-up on most other teams. He doesn’t start if he plays for the Cavs, Magic, Hawks, 76ers, or Pistons…and that’s just in the East. NBA teams can get away with 1 player on the floor who can’t shoot but not 2. None of their bench players can fill the void that Posey’s flexibility left. Don’t even come at me with Eddie House…he’s my boy…but he hurts them if he’s on the floor in crunch time. The problem for Danny Ainge is that he doen’t have any tradable parts. No veteran’s exception, expiring contracts, or good young players. He is left with Marbury-like cancers or rolling with his current cast. The Cavaliers, the Magic, and the Lakers have the depth to withstand an injury and still beat the Celtics in a 7 game series. And I wouldn’t count out the Pistons, Hawks, or 76ers in a 7 game series either. Kevin, some night get yourself a cold beverage, a burrito and some goodness…catch the Celtics when they play the 76ers or Hornets or Magic. And watch how much the Celtics struggle in the 2nd half of the game. Opponents are making adjustments…and the champs don’t have the ability to make their own.