Re: At least Obie can keep things in perspective...

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

Dan wrote:

Portland, Philly, Milwaukee and the Nets? The Celts have been playing well,
but have I missed something? If we win 2-4 I'm a happy guy. Rubbing a genie
in a bottle won't do it. We're still lacking. Prove me wrong!

---end---

Am I missing something? We're in the home stretch and the Celts are playing
their best basketball of the season. Their record is comparable to those
teams and the Celts are surging. All four games are at home. And all you
want is a split? What do they have to do to prove it to you? 

Look, you go on the road and all bets are off. But if this team wants to be
a playoff contender and not just a playoff team, then it's time to start
looking at games like these as not just winnable, but almost must-win.
Everything is so bunched up, the difference could be home-court edge through
the Eastern Conference Finals or no home-court at all. Has it been that long
since we've played important games in March that we don't recognize them
anymore?

At some point we have to stop looking at this team as overachievers who
"will make me happy if they just make the playoffs" and start looking at
them like Eastern Conference contenders. Thank goodness Chris Wallace didn't
share the "playoffs are good enough" attitude or he never would have made
the Rogers-Delk trade. I only hope the Celtics understand how each and every
one of these remaining games is crucial.

The tendency is to think this is just the beginning and the team will do
better next year and the year after and so on... But that isn't necessarily
the case. Toronto made it to Game 7 against Philly last season and was a
Vince Carter jumper away from the EC Finals. They added Hakeem and kept all
their free agents. Everyone, including the Raptors, assumed the team would
take the next step this year. Instead, they're going to miss the playoffs.
The same thing could happen to the Celtics. The time is now. They're good
enough, they're healthy, the conference is there for the taking. This is no
time to guard against disappointment. This is the time to embrace the
possibilities. I certainly hope the team is thinking bigger than some on
this list.

Mark