Celtics Return to Form by February's End (un-edited)

My prediction of a lofty 70 wins for the Celtics this season has proven again to be more of what I wanted to happen, as opposed to what I mostly knew could never happen. If you look at the 2007/2008 Boston Celtic team that won 66 games and compare it to this year's roster, one could understand how I calculated four more wins and four less losses. This year's team on paper is better than the championship roster of 07', yet this team has already lost fifteen games. By adding Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels to the Big Three you're looking at a group that also includes a drastically improved Rondo and Perkins. There is nothing this team's skill set does not match and there is nothing they cannot do on the court. Wallace, Allen, and House are all exceptional three point shooters and Paul Pierce is an above average three shooter.  Perkins, KG, and Wallace can play stalwart interior defense and rebound at will and Rondo and Tony Allen can play effective perimeter defense. Rondo and Maquis Daniels can each play the point guard position quite well; along with the fact that Rondo is an excellent rebounder for his size and position. At full strength the Celtics can spread the floor with three point shooting, lock down the paint with interiror defense, rebound, and attack the basket with Pierce slashing in and getting to the line. So why is this team currently sub par to the 07' team? Why is this team struggling if they are "better"? The key words are "full strength".

The 2009/2010 Celtics have not been fully healthy at the same time virtually all season long. Maqruis Daniel's last game was on December 4th, Garnett has missed eleven games, Pierce five, and Wallace four. Without Garnett for eleven games has hurt the team most significantly as the defensive intensity and acountability seems to diminsh in his absence. The bottom line is that the Celtics were 4-6 in the ten consecutive games Kevin missed and when this team has played at full strength they have been ever bit as good as the 2007-2008 Champions. The first twenty games of the season yielded 16 wins and then even after Daniels went out with a thumb injury the team soared to a 23-5 record. It has not been just the lacking of these players, but the stunting in growth of team Chemistry. A team must practice, bond, win, and lose together to be able to truly develop as a unit. Barring any further injuries the Boston Celtics will be at full strength three days after the Super Bowl, February 10th. The game against the Hornets in New Orleans could be a wild one depending on the mood of the crowd; if their city is one of Super Bowl Champions perhaps the fans will be too distracted. However, if the Saints lose than the city may need to rally behind its' basketball team against Boston. 

By the end of February 2010 the Celtics will have been practicing, playing, and growing at full strength together. This team may never surpass the 66 wins of 2007, but if they can galvanize at the most opportune time, it wont matter. The winning of a championship easily trumps whatever your regular season record might have been. Boston is not and should not be the favorite to win another title, but when they capture the two or three spot in the Eastern Conference and IF the team stays fully healthy they have as good a chance as anyone. 

Super Bowl XLIV

For the first time since the 1993/1994 season the number one seed in the AFC will play against the number one seed in the NFC in the Super Bowl. Every season there are two teams that everyone from fan to expert say will make it all the way to the Super Bowl. Every season the masses are wrong, and a surprise team pulls a playoff upset or two to advance to the Championship game. In 2007 I picked against the New York Giants each round of the playoffs, only to see them rattle off four straight playoff wins and cap it all off with a Super Bowl victory. At the end of the 2008/2009 season the NFL world was shocked by the 9-7 Arizona Cardinals reaching, and nearly winning the Super Bowl. However, this year is the anomaly with the Saints and Colts (both number one seeds) battling for the championship in Super Bowl XLIV. Every since the middle portion of the season people have been saying that the Super Bowl would be Colts VS. Saints; and for the first time in many years the NFL was predictable.

In a league of "any given Sunday" it is nearly impossible to predict who will make it to the Super Bowl, but for some reason this year what we all thought would happen has. I thought the New York Jets were going to beat the Colts yesterday because of how far they had come, and because they were the team everyone was doubting. I didn't want to make the same mistake I (and many others made) in 2007 doubting the Giants every step of the way. The Jets seemed like that team with the "x-factor" on their side, the team with supreme confidence and a team that was playing stout defense. After the Jets scored to go up 17-6 I was feeling even more so that I had correctly preordained the winner, but as the Colts have done all season long they came roaring back. As far as the NFC was concerned, I thought that the Vikings would win with their superior defense, dominant running game, and a matured Brett Favre at the helm. Favre had what he himself calls "my best season" with only seven interceptions and career highs in completion percentage and  quarterback rating. However, five turnovers and an old "Favresk" bad interception late in the game held a superior Vikings team out of the Super Bowl. I went against the popular notion that the Colts and Saints would square off in the forty fourth Super Bowl by selecting the other teams to make it. It had seemed that if you pick against who you initially think is going to win that you would be correct, but not this year. This is the year of the predictable; the year of the number one seeds in the Super Bowl.

None of this is to say that this will not be an exciting Super Bowl, for it will be, but it is disheartening that it will not include the Patriots or a chance for Favre to be the oldest Quarterback to be in the Super Bowl, or any team I care for. Now it all comes down to the following: please don't let Peyton Manning win another Super Bowl title. I am rooting for the Saints 110% and I do expect them to win. This is an offensive battle between two high octane point scoring machines each led by an exceptional quarterback. Drew Brees is the most accurate passer in the NFL (70.6 % NFL record) and Peyton Manning is the smartest and best quarterback in professional football. I like the Saints to win this game because they have more weapons on the offensive side of the football, a better running game, and they have an opportunistic turnover savvy defense.