It’s Friday, and everyone’s happy.
• There is optimism about Kevin Garnett’s health, according to Chris Forsberg at ESPNBoston.com:
“Everybody is picking their play up, I am no different from that,” said Garnett. “I told you, I wanted to be a lot more aggressive the second half of the year. I am, personally, going to have a nice rhythm going into the playoffs. I am taking it one game at a time, as we get healthy. I think you will start to see a better team.”
And Doc:
“I think he’s just getting better step by step. I’ve been watching him so closely all year — I just think he’s improving, slowly. Even when he’s on his bad nights, you can see some of the good things he’s doing that he couldn’t do earlier”
The Charlotte game was encouraging. But we’ve seen encouraging games before. Which scenario represents KG’s new reality: the one where he works himself back to health, or the one where we see flashes of the old KG within a broader narrative of decline?
• It’s not just internal optimism, either. A two-game win streak, some flashes of health and an energizing trade has league observers thinking the C’s might be on the right path.
Here’s Larry Brown (a noted Doc fan and ally, by the way) in Julian Benbow’s Globe story:
“I don’t buy all this stuff that they’re in trouble,’’ Brown said. “They’ve had some injuries. They’re just starting to get healthy. They got some new players like [Marquis] Daniels and Nate [Robinson] now, Rasheed [Wallace].
“They’re going to be fine. They’ve got a great coach. They’ve got great chemistry. I think everybody has bad periods, but when you have the injuries they faced, all that’s done is develop depth. So they’re going to be all right.’’
And Pistons coach John Kuester:
“If you stay healthy, with the type of people you have with Ray and Paul and Kevin, there’s a reason why they win,’’ Kuester said. “They’re so focused. They’re not only talented, they’re very good leaders.’’
Mike Finley’s agent sure sounds optimistic, according to Gary Washburn’s piece in the Globe:
“The opportunity to earn minutes in the rotation. And the chance to seek a ring and the chance to play for Doc [Rivers] and with [Kevin Garnett] and some of the other guys. All of those things made Boston attractive,’’ Thomas said.
A ring? Is it really still possible?
Happy Friday.
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I hope the agent was joking about earning minutes in the rotation……………………..
AHHHHHH
Anything is possible – gotta believe!
Is there such a line, albeit a thin line with not being good on defense and being a liability? I do like the Finley addition, if it only reduces the minutes Ray plays until the playoffs. I never knew of a professional veteran to hinder a club going into the post season. Keyword professional as Finley has been all his career to my knowledge.
I like Finley coming in if that means we finally get our wish and Ray gets more of a breather in games.
This season has helped me work on my optimism becuase even as bad as things have looked I’ve kept my faith and hope alive in this team..
I am hoping Finley will surprise us. In a good way.
One thing is Marquis has had ridiculously wide open 3s whenever Nate moves with the ball (especially off a screen).
Maybe if Finley was in the game instead of TA we can make something of this.
Otherwise I don’t see Finley being an upgrade to TA.
But Finley is one of the best all-time locker room guys and is a great insurance policy with a lot of experience and leadership.
as far as getting a ring this year, i don’t think that’s possible. best scenario is the celts waddle their way into the conference finals. i hope i’m wrong… go C’s!
No one can really say. Boston has two problems right now: 1)Their starters aren’t pulling the load AND 2) the OVERALL bench is weak compared to the last 2 years. They have to fix both of those problems.
I hope Zach didn’t jinx them. I grant them one more 5-game stretch not to make considerable improvement and after that they have to solve at least one of the problems (above) by playoffs. They need some psychological momentum. Speaking of which…
I think ppl are forgetting the mindset needed in the playoffs. Vets understand when you have to make stops down the stretch based on what game it is in the series and where it is being played. We all know when playing pickup ball how vital experience is. The talent in the NBA is sick, but it is true for the playoffs to an obvious extent.
At the same time, if problems aren’t solved, then you have to stare reality in the face. Intangibles only split the difference to a degree when there are lacuna’s in production. This should be an interesting experiment with a guy that makes almost no sense statistically but does make some sense with intangibles.
BTW, I really like what nate is giving us in offensive production this early after the trade.
Anyyyythiiinnnggg is Pooossssssiiiibbbblllleeee!!!!! (KG Tweaking) ….everyone like WTF???
“I’ll believe it when I see it”