Foil in the Oven: This Game is Electric

The view from section 311

The 2007-2008 Boston Celtics were not about entertainment. That they were one of the most entertaining teams in Boston history is undeniable, but ultimately inconsequential. This team made me jump out of my chair in disbelief countless times this season, completely awed by the talent and personality with which they played every night. But this team was not put together to be a spectacle for fans to drool over. This team was assembled with one singular purpose in mind. Every team in the league says publicly that they share this goal, but you can tell who believes it and who doesn't. Not only did this Celtics team believe in this goal, they hungered for it more than any group that I can remember. From the first day of pre-season all the way through the final seconds of last night, you could see this goal manifesting itself in everything that this team did on and off the court. Kevin Garnett stated it very matter-of-factly last night when he told Michelle Tafoya, "This is the reason we came here. This is the reason we got together, and Danny made it go down. This is it right now.''

It's important for us to remember that this was not a decision that Garnett took lightly. Most players with his talent and competitive drive would have been begging to be dealt out of Minnesota as soon as possible. But, Garnett was never a public malcontent. Even in the darkest days of his career in Minnesota, he still was known for staying later than anybody else shooting and lifting. He gave the team that took a chance on him everything that he had for 12 seasons, and I think that if it were possible he would try to pass on this feeling to the fans in Minnesota. But, ultimately, Garnett is a competitor and no matter how hard he worked, a championship was never coming to Minneapolis. He has nothing to feel guilty about, but I'm sure that giving up on that dream could not have been easy for him, and I'm sure that in a strange way he felt just as much of a responsibility to the people of Minnesota as he did to the people of Boston. He wants them to know it wasn't just about playing for a better team. It was about last night.

I'm hesitant to discuss the Celtics motto of "ubuntu" in this post because I hate the phrase "cowboy up" more than just about anything and I don't want ubuntu to turn into that same monster. But, given that the Celtics embodied this motto all season long, I am going to. Desmond Tutu says that a person with ubuntu "does not feel threatened that others are able and good, for he or she has a proper self-assurance that comes from knowing that he or she belongs in a greater whole." The Celtics as a whole embodied this motto, but perhaps no player epitomized it more than Ray Allen. Allen has been a star in this league for a long time. He has scored over 15,000 points. He is second all-time in NBA history for 3-pointers made. He is an 8-time all-star. And yet, he has toiled away fruitlessly for most of his career due to the fact that he played for Milwaukee and Seattle. It would have been easy for Allen to come to the Celtics with the goal of finally getting the recognition that he deserves in a big market. However, much like KG, Ray did not come to Boston to accrue individual accolades. He came here to win a title.

Ray Allen is much more understated in personality than Kevin Garnett or Paul Pierce, and he did not receive as much recognition as a result. My girlfriend, a huge UCONN fan, has pointed out to me numerous times that despite Allen having great numbers, the headlines often read "Pierce, Garnett lead Celtics to victory." She has also pointed out that all of the Celtics post game press conference seem to feature Pierce and Garnett, but Ray is nowhere to be found. Bill Simmons joked in a column a few weeks ago that the Big Three should be called "the big two featuring Ray Allen." Although Simmons was not being serious, this really is how these three have been perceived by many. The truth is that when these three guys are on their games, Ray is the third best player on the team. However, to have a player of his caliber in that role is unheard of. Furthermore, despite his rough stretch in the post-season, we can't forget the contributions that Ray has made to this team. How many huge shots did he make in the regular season? How huge were his 48 minutes in game 4 of these finals? Who else on this team could run around the floor all game with Rip Hamilton? I'm sure that Ray never felt under appreciated by his teammates, and I hope that all of us will remember how valuable he was for this team.

Everyone talks about KG throwing out the first pitch. Ray's has gone somewhat unnoticed

Also, I'm still pissed that he didn't get the MVP of the all-star game. There's no way the East wins that game if he doesn't get hot in the fourth quarter. They had LeBron pegged for that thing before the game even started. I know that it seems irrelevant at this point, but it would have been a great honor for a guy that has completely put his ego aside for the good of his team.

I don't want to spend too much time running down the individuals here, because this championship was defined by team play, but I just want to say how happy I was to see Paul Pierce hoist the Finals MVP trophy. In fact, it was this image that I couldn't get out of my head as I pondered whether or not I wanted to splurge on these tickets. In the end, seeing him hoist the trophy, and hearing him address the fans in person, made those tickets worth every penny.

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As for the game itself, I can't imagine a more satisfying performance. I promise this is the last time I'll say this, but we've all known that the Celtics are far superior to the Lakers. They've shown flashes of it in this series, and certainly the game 4 comeback showed them asserting their dominance for part of a game. But, last night they played as well as they could for the entire game, and erased any doubt that people might have about who the best team in the NBA is. The game was just as lopsided as the scoreboard showed.


Scal knew who the better team was all along:

Some thoughts:

- Defensively, the Celtics were outstanding. They forced 19 turnovers by the Lakers offense, the best in the NBA. Although Kobe hit some three pointers early in the game, the green did a great job of locking him down and not allowing him to penetrate. Credit James Posey for playing ridiculous defense on Bryant.

- We've seen time and time again, and I guess it's not surprising considering he's the point guard, that Rajon Rondo is the key to this team achieving maximum output. As Rondo goes, so go the Celtics. He was outstanding last night and it was great to see him play so well after struggling in Los Angeles. 21 points, 7 boards, 8 assists, 6 steals, and 1 turnover. What more could you want from your 22 year old point guard in the biggest game of his career?

- When he was able to play, Perk did a great job bodying up Gasol. The guy is a game changer defensively, and is the perfect compliment to Garnett. And, he's only 23. With the big three only in their early 30's and Perk and Rondo 23 and 22, respectively, I don't want to hear people saying that this team can't repeat next year. But, I also don't really want to talk about it today.

- Ray Allen, in the biggest game of his career, coming off a stressful ordeal involving his son being hospitalized, goes 7-9 from the three point line, 8-12 from the field, and scores 26 points. There are some who argue that the Lakers quit in the second quarter. I have a hard time believing that. At least, I have a hard time believing that Kobe Bryant quit. Ray Allen's 6 second half three-pointers are what made the lead insurmountable and broke the back of the Lakers.

- Also, Allen had 26 despite spending a huge portion of the first half in the locker room. That number could have been much higher.

- I've been saying that I love the way that the offense runs when Paul Pierce brings the ball up. He was a great offensive facilitator when Rondo was out last night. I was shocked when I realized that he already had 7 assists during the second quarter last night. He finished with 10 all together.

I'm not a big fan of the Gino thing, but nothing could bother me last night.

-The fourth quarter was amazing to watch. A note on this:

I don't know how many of you know who I'm talking about, but if you do then I'm sure that you can appreciate this. There is an old man with a bit white beard that wears a yellow sports coat and a Pierce st. Patrick's day jersey to the game. His wife wears a Rondo t-shirt. They show him on the jumbotron several times at all of the games, and you see this old white-bearded man pounding his chest. It's great. I was a little bummed out last night that they hadn't showed him. I assumed that he had not gotten finals tickets and had not been able to afford them. However, they finally started showing him in the second half.

When we got on the T after the game, I squished in, looked down, and saw that the man and his wife were sitting right next to where I was standing. I was shocked. I wanted to talk to him, but I wasn't sure what to say. Finally, I said "how about when Tony Allen threw down a reverse dunk on that alley-oop. That was awesome, huh?" Now, this is not a way that you would typically start conversations with old men. But, this is also not your typical old man. "Oh, just amazing" he said, "What a beautiful sight to watch in the fourth quarter. That's the best part about this sport. When a team is playing loose, and having fun, the game becomes beautiful almost like a ballet. I'm really happy that we got to see that." He then stood up on the top of his seat back while holding on to the poles around him and started screaming "let's go Celtics." Then, he sat back down. Awesome.

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I think that the unique circumstances, coming just one season after being the second worst team in the NBA, of this championship have helped to give me (and I hope all of you) a greater appreciation of this sport and what it means to see your team win a championship. I'll explain:

I will always look back fondly on the 2006-2007 Celtics, as strange as that may sound. Obviously, they were horrible, but they were fun to watch. Now, that is probably because there were zero expectations for this team after Pierce went down. Without the Truth, I resigned myself to the fact that I was going to watch games without any expectation of winning. And, as I said, it really was an enjoyable team to watch. It was great to see Big Al's offensive game move to the next level. Tony Allen looked great until he blew out his knee. Delonte West was always scrappy and always intense. Ryan Gomes was consistent. Gerald Green showed flashes of greatness at times. And, perhaps the greatest part of the season was watching Rajon Rondo develop. No matter how bad things got, this team remained intense and never seemed to lose their edge. They also never seemed to win, but again by this point the result had become secondary. Even once they were in full tank mode, Leon Powe seemed to up his level of intensity in order to give us a reason to keep watching.

The point is, particularly in New England, we have a tendency to focus too much on results and not enough on the excitement of the actual games themselves. Last season helped me remember that sports are great, and that I love watching them regardless of how things turn out. Now, I always watch sports, probably more than I should. But, often times when my teams are losing, I become frustrated and miserable throughout the season. The Celtics have been bad in the past, but I can't ever remember them being quite so bad as they were last year. When Pierce went down I said "ok, this is rock bottom, just take these games for what they are and be happy when, and if, the Celtics win some games." And surprisingly, I found myself not only not unhappy, but even looking forward to each game. Last season helped get me out of the "my team needs to win all the time and needs to win a championship or else I will be miserable" mentality that I had clung to for my entire life. And, for some reason, three of my favorite teams have the championship since that shift. I can't explain it, but it's awesome.

Now, to be clear, I'm not saying it doesn't matter to me whether the Celtics are good or not. What I'm saying is that appreciating the games regardless of the outcome helps me to appreciate these championships more than I would have before. Before, like with the Red Sox in 04 and UCONN in 99 and 04, it just felt like I was getting something that I had been missing. I just felt normal again. Like someone who is hungry getting food. Now, by appreciating every game for what it is, I can appreciate more how truly remarkable this Celtics season was at a greater depth than I otherwise would have. Perhaps this doesn't make sense to you, because it's tough to articulate. But, send in an e-mail to the oracle if you need clarification.

I'm sure I'll have more on the game as my head clears throughout the rest of the week, but that's it for now.