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By Jeff Clark | Celtics
March 6th, 2008 |
My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends–
It gives a lovely light!
– Edna St. Vincent Millay
Enjoy it while it lasts. That is what keeps running through my mind when I think about this Celtics team. This is far and away the best Celtics team since the original Big Three last played together. After beating the Pistons, they might be the best team in the NBA. For fans, it seems like just yesterday that we were sobbing over ping pong balls. Months into the season, I’m still pinching myself at our good fortune.
But how long can it last? How many shots at the golden ring do we get with three stars over 30? What future have we sacrificed in order to enjoy the present? As the Miami Heat have proven, as quickly as it comes together, it can fall apart just as fast. I want to enjoy the present for all it is worth, but I can’t help but look forward towards an uncertain future.
First of all, let me be clear. Given a choice between taking a few shots at the title now versus a few more shots sometime down the line, I’ll take the shots now. Every time. You never know what tomorrow may bring and potential frequently has a way of falling short of expectations. Legitimate chances at the Championship are precious and rare, so I’ll cherish the ones I get.
Clearly the window of opportunity revolves around the core of thirtysomethings Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. Supporting characters and role players will be plugged in around them from year to year, but everything rides on the three stars.
This year is a given. The team is on top of the standings and barring unforeseen circumstances will have one of the top 2 seeds going into the playoffs. Next year would also seem to be a contending year. After that the crystal ball gets foggy and it seems less and less likely that the current core will be able to compete at the highest levels.
Kevin Garnett has had remarkable durability throughout his career. Obviously he’s one of the most intense, hard working players in the league, so you never have to worry about what shape he’s in. However, the abdominal injury reminds us that everyone is human and injuries happen. Still, despite being a seven footer, his game is remarkably contact-lite. If I had to guess, I’d give him the longest shelf life of the 3 stars (a good thing since he has the longest contract).
Paul Pierce has always played through pain because he had to. His game excels most when he’s taking the ball to the hoop, forcing the issue, and getting to the line (which opens up his mid-range and long-range game). He’s already put a lot of hard miles on his body and I’m afraid that it might catch up with him before too long. The good news is that he’s never been a guy that blows by people or jumps through the roof. He takes what the defense gives him and finds creases to take advantage of. As long as he’s not carrying the whole load, he should be ok for at least a couple more years.
Ray Allen’s ankles probably worry me the most. He’s another workout warrior that will always be in tip top shape. If he manages to stay free from injury, there’s no reason he can’t have a long, Reggie Miller type of career, running off screens and draining three pointers. However, after proclaiming his ankles “perfect,” we later found out that Ray wasn’t up to full speed to start the year. He has looked a lot better after a few days rest than he has in back-to-back games. If we can get through next year with a healthy Ray Allen, I’ll consider us very lucky.
At least we know that Ainge won’t be blinded by sentimentality. He has said in the past that he would have traded the original Big Three in their later years and you can be sure he’ll pull the trigger if he can get good value for any of this group. Ray Allen’s contract is due to expire in 2010, which happens to be the year LeBron and Wade can each opt out of their contracts. That isn’t to say that the Celtics will be players in those sweepstakes, but teams from coast to coast will be clearing the books and looking for expiring contracts just to get in the bidding. After next season, Ainge will get offers for Allen’s $18.7M expiring deal, even if he’s morphed into a shorter Theo Ratliff at that point.
And we haven’t even discussed the role that the younger players may play. Rajon Rondo will be given every chance to develop into a top point guard. I can’t help but draw some comparisons to Tony Parker’s career path (trusted to run a contending team early in his career). On the other hand, there aren’t a lot of other players on the team that have high ceilings.
Big Baby has tons of talent and tons of questions about his body. I’d be happy with a solid but unspectacular career from him. Perkins has settled into his role as a solid defensive minded, rebounding big man. Tony Allen just needs to stay healthy. Powe is a career role player and Pruitt may develop into a backup combo guard. Everyone else on the roster is in the “older vet” phase.
If this team is going to reload on the fly, it will need to do so with savvy drafting (with low picks), wise free agent signings, and the occasional value trade (probably taking on salaries). Ainge has already cemented his legacy by landing the biggest fish. But if the team intends to maintain this level of excellence, he can’t go back to the routine of “acquiring assets” for a future trade. He’ll have to balance the “win-now” mentality with the “plan for the future” goals. Not an easy balance and one that teams like the Pistons have been struggling with for the last couple years.
This team is built to win now. I love that and I plan on soaking up every single win. Partly because it has been so long since we’ve been able to enjoy this. But partly because we just don’t know how long this will last. Enjoy it everyone.
Jeff Clark is the CEO of CelticsBlog.com, the top Celtics fan site on the web.
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10 Responses to “Enjoy It While It Lasts”
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March 6th, 2008 at 10:11 am
…hit the nail on the head you did, Jeff.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
Who says celtcsblog is the top fan site on the web? There are a bunch of great ones. Redsarmy, celtics247, loy’s place are just a few.
March 6th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
There is no doubt that the Lakers are the favorite to win the title, and outside of somehow replacing Pierce with LeBron or Rondo with Steve Nash, there is nothing the Celtics can do in the next three years to be a better team. Garnett has no inside game anymore, Ray Allen is in serious decline, and Pierce always finds a way to screw up in the fourth quarter. Not to mention Rondo and Perk, who are unproven/untested commodities and will likely have trouble in the playoffs.
This team played out of their minds for the whole opening part of the season, now they’re coming back to earth as a solid NBA playoff team with title aspirations, but still a few pieces short. Happy as it is to see them rack up regular season victories, they are no where near the caliber of the Spurs or the Lakers, and they probably could not get past Cleveland in a seven game series. I’m sure in ten years fans will focus on how sad it is that the team once had Al Jefferson.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
wow, when did the Lakers become the standard by which all greatness is measured by?
March 6th, 2008 at 2:05 pm
umm…wow this is entirely unnecessary. i’m with you for the “enjoy” part, but the doom and gloom “while it lasts” isn’t on my radar screen. sure there are plenty of hypothetical situations each with myriad individual atrocities replete with snapping ankles, exploding knees and tearing muscles; but as you admitted- you don’t mind them going for it now at a potential expense over the long run. the piece should end right there.
March 6th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
well that wouldn’t be any fun, now would it?
March 6th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
“when did the Lakers become the standard by which all greatness is measured by?”
When did the Celtics?
March 6th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
You hit the nail squarely Jeff. We are having a party this season. If you go to a party you are supposed to have fun. I am having a blast and havent enjoyed Celtics basketball this much in many years.
I think we have an excellent chance (as good as any team in recent years) to parlay our regular season success into a finals appearance this year.
Win or lose, if we take the West to 7 games and go to war, I will be ecstatic. We will be relevant again and no amount of “well they didnt quite get it done did they?” will be able to change that. What more could a Celtics fan want (a title, duh) from this years team?
March 6th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
And when did the Lakers become the standard, Mr. Schrodinger? The Celtics have long been the standard for basketball excellence, with an unmatched 16 NBA titles. Though the last of these titles came 22 years ago, the Lakers haven’t quite been able to catch the Green in terms of championships won, so I can’t understand where your “since when did the Celtics become the standard” is coming from. Unless you’re a stupid homer who doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
March 6th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
“though the last of these titles came 22 years ago…” thanks for pointing that out Bert. Two of the Lakers (43-18) current starting five have championship rings from winning a title with… The Lakers. So I would suggest that having won three titles in this decade (and appeared in the Finals 4 times) is a slightly more defensible record of excellence than the Celtics, who even their most ardent supporters state are “finally relevant again.”
I would also humbly suggest that the person pointing the “stupid homer” finger has three of them pointing back at himself.