Jack Jemsek

Okay – here’s a little break from the misery of the last two Celtics games. I had the opportunity to speak with Ray Allen before the February 25^th Cavaliers game, and so this is my interview with Jesus Shuttlesworth of "He Got Game" fame. In my 5 minute conversation with Ray, he confirmed that he is truly a cerebral and sincere human being. I’m convinced that if he wasn’t playing basketball, he’s the type of person that would be successful in any profession that he chooses.

I approached him near the end of the media’s pre-game locker room time, after seeing that perhaps speaking with him “off-line” would be the way to go. I mentioned that I was glad that he was not traded and that I hoped he was a Celtic for a long time. Yes, Jesus walks on water as far as I’m concerned, and anyone that follows Celtics Stuff Live probably knows that already (see here and here).

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Now that the Celtics have weathered the chant of “Trade Ray Allen”, we have been rewarded with some vintage Celtics in key road victories against the Lakers and Trailblazers. All the Celtics have to do now is survive the repeated visuals that ESPN and TNT show regarding how the Big Three of Garnett, Pierce and Allen are all having their worst years statistically since their rookie outings. Top that off with the mantra that the Celtics are just plain too old and dinged-up to be serious contenders. As Marc Spears of Yahoo recently wrote, these “aging and limping” version of the Celtics are losing a lot of the faithful with each passing week. Perhaps Mike Bibby was right about the bandwagon fan base for our Celtics? But clearly, there is no one amongst us who doesn’t have a little voice in the back of their head asking “Can the Celtics still do this?”

The conventional wisdom is that the Celtics 23-5 start which was capped by the Christmas Day win over the Magic in Orlando is simply an aberration. After all, the same thing happened last year – a great start to the season and a mediocre finish with Garnett out and Pierce and Allen out of gas. Perhaps they just caught lightning in a bottle in Year 1 of the Big Three and that’s all folks. The frailty of the Celtics can be veiled no longer.

What emboldens the “old and frail” references is the fact that the Celtics have coughed up significant leads in at least 10 losses since that magical Christmas game. By losing these leads, it’s as if the games were each a microcosm of a season that was going to fall well short of the infamous prediction of 72+ wins and a championship this year. It is as if the season and these 2^nd half collapses are mimicking the “circle of life”.  So we approach a fork in the road for this team . . .

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Ray Allen trade rumors are bordering on challenging the Mad Gasser of Mattoon as an example of mass hysteria in sports.  Allen for Monta Ellis et al., Allen for Kirk Hinrich et al. and Allen for some warm bodies from Miami and cold ones from New York?

To play along, at face value it seems like a worthy notion to grab youth and rebuild along the way.  The use of Ray Allen’s expiring contract is a big chip, and the use of expiring contracts was after all the tool that was used to essentially acquire Ray Allen in the first place in the summer of 2007.  Coupled one month later with Kevin Garnett’s “I Remember” moment for Celtics fans, these monumental trades resulted in the sacred Banner 17 being raised the following season.

But to think that the Celtics are going to reload on the run and still vie for the championship is foolish thinking.  Ray Allen is still Jesus Shuttlesworth and he’s got game, still producing at a very high level, albeit with very few shots on this crowded team of NBA celebrities.

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I'm concerned, like Jeff at Celticsblog, Sherrod Blakely at CSNNE, and John Hollinger at ESPN.  Since Kevin Garnett returned to the lineup, the Boston Celtics as expected had turned in a pair of improved defensive efforts resulting in a pair of victories against the Trailblazers and the Clippers.  But against the Magic last night, the Celtics yielded a whopping 35 points to the Magic in the 4th quarter, capped by Rashard Lewis beating Kevin Garnett for the game-winning lay-up.  A one-time 16-point lead had vanished . . . and the concern is that Garnett's mobility has as well.

Game winning lay-up?  Eghads.  You can see that Garnett was being totally matador to Lewis' bull . . . again, beat off the dribble by Rashard Lewis???  Sure Lewis is a 3-point threat, but Garnett wasn't even hanging on Lewis shooting hand, instead giving Lewis a wide open look to dribble right to the baseline and make the easy go ahead lay-up with 1.3 seconds left.  There was no help defense there, but Rasheed Wallace did not want to leave Superman alone underneath the basket either.  I just don't see how Garnett was even defending the 3-point shot on that play.

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