Boston Celtics Are Up to the Challenge

Robbie Hanson — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 13:56:08 -0400

When I turned on Sports Center a week or so ago, and heard the voice of Doc. Rivers saying "he's just not ready," my heart dropped.

A week and two playoff games later, I still feel very nervous and uneasy about the whole thing.

It is obvious the Celtics struggle without KG, and they will continue to do so—but despite the relentless injuries plaguing the Celtic's bench, there is hope.

I wish I could feel as strongly as I did last year at this time. I received a lot of negative feedback for writing the article, "Why the Celtics Won't Lose." People thought I was crazy for saying that they would win—mind you this was when they were struggling against the eighth-seeded Atlanta Hawks.

The comments of the article were very contradictory of my personal thoughts, but as we know now, I was right. I'm not trying to brag or flaunt my accurate prediction—I was trying to make people believe.

Obviously, the Lakers and Cavs are both better than the Celtics in their current state. But with that "underdog motivation" amazing things have happened. It's all about putting things in perspective and taking a step back.

The Celtics are struggling, and may be without KG for the rest of the post season, but don't automatically count them out. They have come too far and worked too hard to just fall over and give up. Yes, they have two other all stars in Ray and Pierce, but people constantly forget about the bench players that have showed a enormous amount of improvement and development. Powe, Davis, and Rondo are the future of the team, but they can't be ignored right now.

The playoffs is where true team chemistry is revealed, it is where the weak are separated from the strong, and the resilient overpower the relaxed. It is the resilience of the Celtics that will propel one game at a time. Watch the team and see how they become more closely linked and help each other to play at their highest level. I still believe.

Bleacher Report - Articles by Robbie Hanson

Boston Celtics Are Up to the Challenge