Disclaimer– This post is coming from a 19 year old Celtics fan. Neither my brains nor brawn (haha) had any understanding of the Celtics or basketball until the mid to late 90’s. With that being said, I did not wait for banner 17 as long as the rest of Celtics Nation did- atleast not 22 years.
Going into the 2007-2008 season, the whole league understood the Celtics. They knew the Celtics were a force, and it was all but paved out that the Celtics would win the championship that year. I think the only thing that was tough to grasp was how long it had been since Boston had previously won a championship. It is similar to the Tampa Bay Rays in the MLB. They stunk it up one year, then led the AL East the next, but still gained no respect. Pretty much the greatest question going into that season was, “Would the team mesh having all of those all stars on one team, who previously had to individually lead their teams.” Through about the first 10 games of the season we could easily see that question as answered.
Despite a 9 game stretch missed by KG, and a few games here and there missed by Ray Allen, the Celtics had no huge problems with injuries in 2007-08. This year we have already seen Glen Davis miss 28 games, Marquis Daniels has missed 12, Paul Pierce 4, and Kevin Garnett with 2. All 4 of these players are very likely to miss more time in the very near future with their nagging injuries. With those injuries, as we all know, they are not coming sparingly, but instead all at one time. Unfortunately, what I think this means is that there is many more to come throughout the remainder of the schedule.
Another thing that makes this year special is the let down of last year. High hopes were riding on the team of 08-09 to go out and repeat and keep the championship in Boston. What happened instead was the huge blow of losing KG. As fans we led ourselves to believe having “the heart of champions” would allow the Celtics to will their way to victory throughout the playoffs. Grittiness to get the job done can only go so far when the opposition is superior to you. The C’s could slither past Chicago, but Orlando was a much different story. To put the final touch on the sour taste of last years season, the Lakers won the title and took it away from the Celtics. Not only did they take the title away, but they also snuck closer to the Celtics in overall titles won as they have 15 and the C’s have 17.
Now as I put on my prediction hat, this years playoffs will be much harder than the 07-08 playoffs. I can see the Celtics getting the one spot in the east but not for the entire league. With that being said, their first round should be pretty easy, but then they will have to battle it out in a series with the Hawks, and then either the Magic or Cavs. The Hawks have and will always play the Celtics tough. Then the Magic beat the Celtics in last years playoffs, and the Cavs have Lebron so anything can happen. There would have to be 3 straight series (including Finals) of edge of your seat excitement, thus mental wear and tear on the players.
Because I cant see the C’s taking the top spot for the entire league, I think that will go to the Lakers. Therefore, the Celtics will have to beat the Lakers with LA having the home court (obviously making the Finals much tougher than in 07-08). What is more enticing about that is that the two teams have had the chance for 3 years to regain stride on their rivalry. Not only that, the Celtics will be seeking revenge to gain back their title that was stolen.
If the storyline above is how it plays out, which it appears will be the case if the green can stay even close to healthy, then TO ME a championship this year would be much sweeter than the one in 07-08 due to all of the new obstacles thrown in the path on the road to Banner 18.