Re: It's Alright, Ma (I'm Only Bleeding)

["Berry, Mark S" <berrym@BATTELLE.ORG>]

OK, so I'm posting a lot. I've been away a few days. Give me a break...

My take on all this optimism/pessimism stuff is this: If you're hoping for
anything more than a possible playoff appearance as the seventh or eighth
seed and a quick exit, you probably fall in the pessimists' camp. This
Celtic team seems incapable of anything more than that at this point.

On the other hand, if you're just hoping to end the playoff drought and
taste the postseason again, then you probably fall in the optimists' camp.
This team has made a few nice additions and seems to have improved a little.
If that proves true during the season and they avoid serious injuries, then
it's not unrealistic to think this team could compete for one of those final
two playoff spots.

Myself, I'm still not convinced the team can get where it eventually wants
to be (contending for a championship) without trading Toine or Pierce, but
that's for later. The season is right around the corner and my goal for this
season is the playoffs. I'm sure that's not enough for some, but you have to
walk before you can run. At this point I'm more optimistic about the Celts'
chances at the postseason than I expected, mostly because the new
acquisitions (Herren, Stith, Blount, Brown) are making more of an impact
than expected and Toine and Pierce seem to have improved their games.

One thing I think we'd all agree on is the preseason is just too long. Let's
start playing some games that count.

Mark