I try not to think...too painful. I tend to "ruminate."
There has been a lot of consternation about the Celtics start...6 games in we have only 3 wins. So I started ruminating.
Two of the Celtics key players (Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green) had heart surgery Last Year and missed the whole year of basketball. They are now trying to regain conditioning, self confidence, and timing to say nothing of ridding themselves of subconscious fears regarding the same. They will be OK. I thought they both showed good progress in the last game.
Avery Bradley has not played yet, and won't until at least December...maybe later.
Dooling retired, leaving the Celtics without a back up point guard.
Courtney Lee and Jason Terry are new Celtics...Jason Terry is finding his way into the system. Lee will follow...his shots will start falling.
Doc is having to start this season switching up his lineups to find combinatins who work to each others strengths.
An yet....we are playing .500 ball. Not only that, but two of those wins have been the second of back to back games...the games we routinely lost last year, even to lesser teams... when we only missed the finals by one game! Oh, yeah, Paul Pierce has found his shot in the last game against Milwaukee, and Kevin Garnett barked orders, played smart and filled in scoring after the PP/M.Ellis show played out.
You could see signs that the team was coming together during those back-to-backs, when the team had to fight and grind to get the wins. They were willing to put in the work. Doc has said that his defensive sets have changed. The Celtics, as a team, have not had their usual success on the defensive end, but I have little doubt that that is where the most work is being done in practice, and they will master the new schemes...and when Bradley comes back, watch out!
As they come together we know our terrific first team, and a second team that is as strong as when we won the championship. Then, KG and RA had to fit in with the Celtics. This time JET, CL, Darko, Barbosa and rookies Sullinger, K. Joseph, and Fab Melo all have to learn and find their fit, to say nothing about Chris Wilcox and Jeff Green finding their way back. Fitting AB in later will cause another set of problems...but these are good problems and will only make the team stronger. I like the idea that we will be getting stronger as the season goes on, have young legs who can help with back to backs, have three potential HoF players on the team, and have a coach that the players respect.
Bring it on!