Let The Playoffs Begin
Friday, April 18, 2008 at 08:00AM Aaron Gettings 
The Celtics season started here at BostonSportZ with the following paragraph:
"An old man once told me, "Two stars gets you the playoffs, three gets you the trophy". He also kept calling me "Johnny" and trying to touch my thigh, so I didn't stick around to see what other eggs of knowledge he had for me. Regardless, those words stuck with me, and resonate today as we stare down the 2007-2008 NBA Season."
Well, 6 months later I'm convinced that old man was a genius. Hell, I may have been talking to Dr. Jack Ramsay himself. We started the season with three all-stars, a garbage bag full of optimism and an entire fan base uttering phrases like, "if we can just stay healthy" and "if Doc doesn't screw it up" and "if Rondo can step up his game".
We did stay healthy and Doc coached the hell out of this team (with a few ups and downs... why I can't give that guy full credit, I don't know. Maybe there's a support group out there for people like me). More importantly, Rondo didn't just step up his game, he made the "Leap" and turned a three-star team into a four-star team. Back in that original column, I wrote this:
"Rondo: I don't see a single reason why Rajon Rondo should detract from this Celtics team. The big,
universal knock on him is that he lacks the experience to run with the Big Three. I disagree... He'll not only be fine, he'll be outstanding... not only does he NOT worry me, I'm excited to have him running the point."
As we look ahead into these playoffs, and our first round matchup with the Atlanta Hawks, I not only feel confident with Rondo running our team, there aren't too many other players out there I'd rather have doing it. I don't want to come off as too cocky, but I think we have round 1 in the bag.
Perhaps I should be slightly more scared of the Hawks than I am. They're a young athletic team with a solid veteran point guard and a scorer (and ex-Celtic) in Joe Johnson who can kill you from anywhere on the court. They're hungry, they're out to prove themselves and they shouldn't be taken too lightly.
But when you look back at our matchups with them this season, 2 things pop out. First, we beat them by at least 10 all three times we played this season, and second, Kevin Garnett dominated the bajeezus out of the Hawks. He scored 27, 20 and 24 points against them, and grabbed a whopping 45 rebounds over those three games. Our defense is too good, our stars to eager and our talent level too high for the Hawks to put up much of a struggle.
Looking past the Hawks (not that I'm doing that...) things could get a little more interesting. Were we to win, we'd face the winner of the Cavs-Wizards matchup. Our struggles with the Wiz this season are well documented, and I don't know anyone who wants to face LeBron in the playoffs. More troubling are these little facts I found over at the AOL Fanhouse (via CelticsBlog):
"Celtics are the absolute worst team in the league in turnover ratio (in other words, Boston's possessions end in turnovers more than any other team in the entire league ... even the Knicks). The Celtics also foul quite a bit, ranking #23 in defensive free throw rate. The playoffs are filled with exactly the sort of star players (LeBron, Kobe, Amare, Bosh, Billups, Gilbert, Manu) who draw a ton of fouls."
Not that I think we'll play as loose in the playoffs as we did during the season. Lets give Doc some credit there... but it is cause for some concern.
We're thinking positive thoughts though... and as we embark on this glorious journey towards Banner 17, I wanted to leave you all with the following clip. Game 2 of the 2002 Eastern Conference Finals, aka Greatest Comeback in NBA History, aka The Last Time Celtics Fans Were Excited in the Playoffs.
Be sure to stop by frequently during the NBA Playoffs as we will be bringing you plenty of coverage of your Boston Celtics.
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