C’s win final regular season game against playoff opponent Knicks

As the final buzzer sounds on the regular season, the Celtics have a lot of questions as to whether or not this is a Championship caliber team. Many people are still worried about this team heading into the postseason, and with good reason. This is a team that went just 16-12 since the All-Star break, and coasted into the postseason. This team had a chance to grab the number one seed if they had played better, and just two more wins would have got them the number two seed. Especially if one of those wins was against Miami on Apr. 9. But, let’s not forget what his team did last year. They were only the number four seed last year, coasted well into the playoffs, told everybody not to panic and that they would turn it on in the postseason, and they did. All this team had to do was win one out of two games and they would have been NBA champs again. But still, something feels different about this year.

Perkins was traded, and they have huge question marks at center. Do you really expect Shaq and Jermaine to be game changers? Rondo has turned into a puddle of mush. Whether it’s his finger, or that he’s upset about the Perk trade, he’s not the same guy he was a year ago or even just three months ago for that matter. He’s not being the playmaker that they need. And KG seems to have lost that fire. He comes out in a post game press conference and says Doc called the team soft, and then comes out the next night, and plays soft. This team seems to lack that fire it had last year,  when they wanted to prove that they were better than getting bounced by Orlando in ’08-’09. This team doesn’t even compare to the ’07-’08 team. The big three, in their first year together, each seeking their first title. There was a fire inside those three that could have burned down the old Boston Garden. This year just doesn’t feel like either of those years.

But, why can’t the C’s win it this year? Kendirk Perkins? Please. If you’re one of those people who thinks that the reason the Celtics lost the NBA Finals was because they didn’t have Perkins, you are out of your mind. That is so asinine. Those same people will tell you that Andrew Bynum being out in ’07-’08 had no affect on the NBA Finals. You gotta roll with the punches, and if your team is that good, then losing your starting center who doesn’t contribute offensively shouldn’t affect you. Their defense was just fine in that series. They only allowed 83 points in the final game. So without their starting center, who is supposed to be such a force on defense, they were in a great position to win the Finals. Rondo hasn’t been the same, but one would think he’s adult enough to turn it up in the postseason. If not, then his finger must really be hurt, or he’s just a very petty man about the Perk trade. The big three, they’ll be ready. I’m not worried about those guys. They just get it, they know this is it. They sat the last two games of the year, and they might as well have been on the bench in the Heat game. They should be fully rested, and ready to compete. And yes, this team did coast into the postseason. But, they did this to us last year, and made it to the Finals. It seems like the only thing to do is believe that the C’s know what they’re doing.  So, is this year really so much different from last year? Maybe with the Perk trade, they will be better offensively when it counts, and that could be te deciding factor in Game 7 of the 2011 NBA Finals.