Well, it's over, and it ended at the hands of the most hated man in the NBA. I give Lebron credit, he didn't LeChoke, he didn't say anything awful after the game, they just flat out beat the Celtics. But could it have been different? Where did it all go so wrong? I got three reasons why their season failed, and so that this isn't all doom and gloom I got 3 reasons why their is hope for the future.
Reason 1: TONY ALLEN: If you went back 2 years ago I was one of the biggest bashers of Tony Allen on the planet. Last year, he opened my eyes and I started to respect what he was doing off the bench. He was the "wing defender" the Celtics kept saying they were missing this year, and he was a pretty solid scorer as well. Not resigning Tony Allen led to a lot of the troubles the Celtics had later in the season, and that's where reason 2 comes in.
Reason 2: THE TRADE: Before you jump all over me I am not saying if they had Perkins they win this series. What I am saying is if they had Tony Allen, they wouldn't have traded Perk. If they didn't trade Perk and had Tony Allen I think there is a damn good shot they have home court going into this series, and I think if they had home court, Perk and Allen they win this series. The end result was that is was a failure to resign Tony Allen, and banking of a 38 year old 300+ pound center that killed us (No Shaq, No Perk, No lane defense). Shaq got old, he didn't have it, he had an injury that just wouldn't go away, and that leads me to reason 3.
Reason 3: CELTICS GOT OLD: After losing Allen and losing Perk the Celtics were old. Jermaine had some nice flashes, but can't play a full game. Shaq basically never played again. Allen, Pierce, KG had to play way too many minutes, and it caused collapses at the end of game. The Rondo injury played a part as well, but I feel this was flawed from the start. Green played OK on James, but the bottom line is he never turned into the player we thought we were getting. And if Allen was on this team there would have been 0 reason for him to be here. So, as much as it shocks me to say it, this was all a chain reaction the second Tony Allen walked out that door.
Ok, so why do I have hope? I didn't have a lot going to bed last night about the future, but I have come up with 3 reasons why I still think there is a chance.
Reason 1: DOC: From everything we are reading today it sounds like Doc is coming back. I thought there was no chance that he would going into last night, but he said right after the game that he is a Celtics and he wants to win with this TEAM. With Doc coming back there is no doubt in my eyes that KG will come back, and Allen has already said he is picking up his option. That means the Celtics have KG, Rondo, Allen, Pierce, and most likely Green coming back. That's a good start.
Reason 2: CUTTING THE FAT: Goodbye Carlos Arroyo, Glen Davis, Nenad Krstic, Shaquille O'Neal, and Sasha Pavlovic. I hope Jermaine O'Neal retires, but I can't put him on that last because he seems like a guy who wants to cash that check (about $6 million). Out of that group the only one who should've mattered is Glen Davis and he decided getting fat was way more important then being who he was in the first 1/2 of the season. Goodbye don't let the door hit you on the way out. I could go through the whole list of who they could sign (Battier, Hill, ect), but like DP said it's pointless until we know the rules and cap ramifications. In my eyes, just not having Murphy's stupid face on the sidelines is reason enough to look forward to next season.
Reason 3: THE LOCKOUT: I know this might sound silly, but a lockout could be the best thing that ever happened to the Celtics. Imagine if this team only had to play a half a year? It would be amazing! Plus, Ainge has positioned the Celtics to have a good amount of cap space after next season (Allen, KG, Jermaine off the books), so if we have the aging Big 3 back for one last run, and the season is half as long... I like their chances. Is it weird to be rooting for a lockout? Hell yea it is, but from everything I have read it really sounds like it's going to happen, and it's going to eat up a good amount of the year. So as odd as it sounds that could be the best news ever for the 2011-2012 Celtics.
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