the brothers crow

The Celtics are the 2007-2008 NBA Champions, and I couldn’t be happier.  I also owe Doc Rivers an apology: I had pinned most of the Celtics troubles since 2004 on his coaching, and that was unfair.  Some of us would complain about the “Doc Rivers special” if a winnable game was dropped in the fourth quarter (you know who you are).  And with great players like Paul Pierce headlining a decent roster, it’s tempting to point the finger at the coach when things are falling apart like they did last year.  But in hindsight, I don’t think Doc’s coaching was the problem prior to this season.

No, the problem the Celtics solved was all about depth.  Depth of experience and depth of emotion.  Paul Pierce is an excellent player, but he can’t be on fire for 35+ minutes of every game (see game 3 against Los Angeles).  It’s obvious that Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen were the missing star veterans that the Celtics needed.  In addition, Garnett brought an intense–sometimes fearsome–hunger to the team all season long, which is arguably a more important asset; the right mix of emotion and discipline is essential to maintaining leads when you’re ahead and making comebacks when you’re not.  Plus, they managed to cultivate a great bench, which has come through for them on many occasions.

I have to give a lot of credit to Doc Rivers.  He’s a great coach, especially when it comes to motivating his team.  His work ethic and style are the same as when he was losing in previous seasons–he just needed the right combination of players to get things going.  The Celtics organization has pulled off the greatest single season turnaround ever by giving Doc that combination to work with, and I can’t wait to see them rocking the playoffs again next year.