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I have been perplexed at how the Celtics seemed to have lost their fire so quickly after a 4-0 start and twelve game win streak that extended into mid-December. What’s been more confusing is how the player’s and coach’s have reacted to the recent drastic slump.

Since their December 18th loss to the 76ers, the Celtics have not been a team on the attack. They have not played good defense and have lost the competitive edge and intimidating aura that has surrounded them through two season’s. The “Celtic-Mystique” that had a renaissance in 2008 has seemed to diminish after just two seasons. Opponent’s no longer fear the Celtics and I have no problem saying that they barely respect them as an elite force. After such uninspired play, can you blame them?

I can take losing, though I am not good at it, but the nature in which the Celtics have been dropping games has been frustrating and is starting to reach the level of intolerable.

The rumors circulating around the Celtics locker room and the players/coaches inability or willingness to adequately address them and put them to rest, has only fueled the debate of chemistry issues. Their is no doubt this team has a distinct difference from the 2008 or 2009 squad. I have recently found fans (and myself) saying that 2008 was basketball utopia experienced by very few team’s. I definitely agree with that assessment but the 2010 team cannot even stand next to the 2009 team. That team faced insurmountable adversity and yet banded together to notch 62 victories.

In 2009, Kevin Garnett missed 25 games, including the entire playoffs and yet it was clear that he was the leader of the Celtics. Ray Allen even publicly requested that the Big Ticket take a seat on the bench to support his team while they fought ferociously through the first two rounds of the playoffs.

Garnett, since coming to Boston, has compiled his worst statistics in a decade and yet his leadership qualities were/are invaluable. Sharing the leadership role with team captain, Paul Pierce, seemed to be natural. Each player respected the “Big Three” and the team’s youth looked at them as mentors and spiritual leaders.

So, What’s Different About this Season?

In 2010, all the question marks for this team in 2008 have been transformed into exclamation points. Kendrick Perkins is a lock for the all-defense team, Glen Davis, the hot topic of the off-season as he shopped the league, is starting to regain his pre-injury form and Rajon Rondo is an all-star and rising the ranks of league’s best point guard. The boys have become men, almost.

The “new three” have grown up but until they can lead this team to another title, they are still just boys forcing their mentors to respect them. Are these guy’s really men if they cannot pull it together to carry the weight of a team burdened by aging legs? Age aside, these youngsters have the supporting cast most of their peers would only dream of and they need to start embracing it again.

Rajon Rondo, a BIG question mark in 2008, has answered the call and performed like the all-star he is in 2010. He is the undisputed floor general of this team. The key word being “floor.” Rondo does not (yet) possess the charisma nor weight of the 15 seasons KG has battled in the NBA. I am not assuming that Rondo thinks he does and I feel Rondo has embraced the spotlight with humility, however, I am saying that the media has thrust this responsibility upon him and it may be one of the roots of the “locker room issues” that the Celtics are experiencing for the first time since assembling this core unit.

It’s only human nature for Rajon Rondo to now stand on his own two feet without the motivation provided by mentor, Ray Allen. The same applies to Kendrick Perkins who seems to no longer take well to the vocal coaching of Kevin Garnett. This was first evident in December after a loss to the Clippers. Garnett accused Perkins of having “mental lapses” and the media picked up the entire bickering match. As for Glen Davis, he has been too involved in name-changes and trying to re-assert his value to the team to allow tears to get in his way anymore.

As a Celtics fan that realizes that our future lies with the “New Three” in Boston and less with the “Big Three”, I can say that for today, in order to win a title and officially pass the torch to the younger guys, Kevin Garnett needs to re-assert his leadership role on this team. His younger team mates may not be in awe of Garnett’s ability to take over games anymore but they should draw inspiration from this man’s ability and willingness to play through what looks to be obvious pain. KG could bag the season today and come back for the playoffs but instead, he is fighting through pain to try to right the ship.

That in itself inspires me.

I cannot say that I always agree with Doc’s distribution of minutes. I can say that as members of a team trying to get back on the championship track, any player that may be questioning or sulking over lack of minutes or accolades needs to stand behind the players on the court. No one can say that we are unanimously behind the method in which the war is fought but it is one battle at a time and Doc is the commander-in-chief at the moment. Everyone needs to stand behind him as he tries to re-take control of his spinning roster. Standing behind and having faith in your general is part of having the maturity needed to win. Doc is sticking behind a proven game plan. They have the answers but it seems that the soldiers do not all believe in those answers anymore.

It’s time for the Boston Celtics to lose emerging and established ego’s. It’s time for the Boston Celtics to unite  the factions that may have been media created yet strengthened through their recent slump. It’s time for the Boston Celtics to forget about playing time and accolades. Afterall, the only accolade that really matters are those won in June.

Coach Doc Rivers has finally started to call-out the team as a whole. Since the Celtics most recent let down to the Magic on national television, Doc has told anyone who will listen that this team is not as good as they think they are. Kudos Doc– it was long over-due. Now it’s Garnett’s turn.Only Kevin Garnett’s charisma and leadership abilities can right this sinking ship.

The fact is, as on display through the Garden crowd turning their back early and regularly on their team while vacating the arena prior to the final buzzer and raining down unfamiliar boos on their beloved team, that the fans do not like the recent look of this team. Sure, fan’s will always stand behind even struggling team’s as long as they display heart and the desire to win through hard, selfless and intelligent play. As Doc has said, this season’s team looks amazing on paper but that has not translated to the court. Celtics legend, Dave Cowens told Larry Bird when he came to Boston that Celtics fans know when you’re dogging it, they know basketball and they know when it’s not being played hard. That statement has rung through 30 some years later and it needs to stop today.

The only guy who can really stop it is Kevin Garnett. As a die hard Celtic fan, I can say today that KG’s leadership over this team is not disputed by me. I want to hear from the normally over-vocal player.  Whether it is behind closed doors or in statements to the media, Garnett’s voice needs to be heard and it should be stern. The man is sacrificing his body for a team that looks unwilling to sacrifice their ego’s. That in itself is an unthinkable concept on a team that was built by superstar talent submerging ego’s to win the title.

The All-Star break is upon us. The season is more than half over. This is the opportune time for the Celtics to continue their soul searching and to embrace what has made them successful over the last two seasons. They may need to go on a reconnaissance mission in the mountains of Pakistan to find it but someway, somehow  Unbuntu must be found. Honestly, I don’t think Ubuntu is hiding with Bin Laden (I sure as hell hope not) instead, I feel it’s buried deep within the hearts of the players in green. It’s up to the proven veterans to call upon it, to draw it out, to make it a focal point of this overwhelming and increasingly self imposed adversity and maybe it’s time for the “new three” to put back on their back packs and pencil cases for one more season and allow the veterans to lead them back to the promise land.

HackingEthics

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