Boston Celtics: What We like and What We Don’t… So Far

The 2013-14 Boston Celtics have thus far streaked, in rollercoaster fashion, through this year’s campaign. The first four games, all loses, were wonderfully competitive coming down to the wire. The next four were wins, including the thriller in Miami over the Heat which was one of the most compelling and enjoyable games I have seen in a long while. Now the Celtics are involved in another losing streak and they are losing badly. The games have been hard to watch and the competition is only going to get harder as the unbeaten Indiana Pacers loom in their future.

So through the first 13 games, here is what we like and don’t like about this season:

What We Like

1. Jeff Green’s Posterizing Dunks

Green is by far the most exciting player on the court, at least until Rajon Rondo returns. He may have been a no-show against the Minnesota Timberwolves, and his rebound, assist, and steal statistics are eerily low for a budding star, but this is the next great Celtic. His ability to get to the rim and finish strong with either hand makes him an elite NBA high-flyer. Enjoy the show in what may be an All-Star season for Green.

2. Jordan Crawford’s Ability to Score

Jordan Crawford has been a nice surprise with his ability to score either in the starting line-up or coming off the bench. Not only that, but he has shown some decent ball handling skills and passing at times. But don’t be fooled Celtics’ fans. Some writers have recently implied “who needs Rondo” with the modest success accomplished last week. This absurd mentality appears to be a gimmick for these writers to get web clicks on their article.

3. Improved Rebounding

In the past few years, Kevin Garnett was the only source for boards for the Celtics. It’s been a trouble spot that no free agent signing has been able to correct. However, the addition of rookie centers Vitor Faverani and Kelly Olynik have proved to be helpful on the glass and combined with the help of second year forward Jared Sullinger, the Celtics are getting more second chance points and have multiple forms of inside offense at their disposal.

What We Don’t Like

1. Any of the Brooklyn Guys

It’s clear to me that none of the players acquired from the Brooklyn Nets belong on the team. Keith Bogans is far by the most expensive 12th man in the league and will never see the court. Marshon Brooks received his first action against the Timberwolves because garbage time beckoned. Kris Humphries plays every other game with minimal contribution and Gerald Wallace is saying all the right things to get himself traded. The sooner these guys and their inflated contracts are relieved of duty the better. I look forward to seeing if Danny Ainge can acquire someone worthwhile in return.

2. Turnovers

It’s not surprising this has been a recurring problem with no true ball handler on the court. Some awful passes have been thrown at the top of the key which have led to uncontested fast-break dunks during crucial moments. One such sloppy pass contributed to the comeback by Milwaukee in which the Celtics inexplicably blew a 22 point lead at home.

3. Continued Talk of “Tanking”

The word “tank” has been thrown around for the past few months excessively in regards to the Boston Celtics. I believe that to be nonsense. This theory may work in the NFL, where the worst team gets the 1^st pick. In the NBA, thanks to some tricky ping pong balls you can have the worst record and wind up with the fourth pick in the draft. Just because a team decides to go young does not mean they are losing games on purpose. I feel the Celtics will use some of their 9 draft picks in the next five years to trade up if they really want a particular player and play out this season trying to win games while building coach and player confidence and chemistry.