The Boston Celtics No Longer Have an Identity, Falling Fast

Every championship team has an identity. There is a certain characteristic that a championship team possesses and prides themselves upon. In 2008, the Boston Celtics carried themselves a certain way and took pride in their tremendous lock down defense. They established themselves as one of the best defensive teams of all-time, and gave it their all night in and night out. In 2010, that swagger, effort and pride is missing. The Boston Celtics have lost their identity and it hasn't been stolen. They've lost it on their own.

After yet another disappointing loss tonight to the Memphis Grizzlies, the Celtics should be ashamed of themselves. The players that should be providing leadership aren't leading. The coaching staff has lost the team. Plain and simple, the Celtics are playing almost as bad as they were before acquiring Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen with ten times the talent.

There are certainly reasons that a team struggles and every good team has their ups and downs. However, it seems that there are no longer any ups with the Celtics and it is all about the downs. If you told the members of the 2008 championship team that they would lose to the New Jersey Nets, Milwaukee Bucks and the Memphis Grizzlies (double digit losses as a matter of fact), they would have laughed in your face.

Where is the accountability?  Where is the execution? Nobody on the team seems to care. The rebounding is putrid, the defense is putrid and most of the time it seems like Rajon Rondo is the only player capable of scoring. The "Big Three" of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen shows up whenever they feel like it. Can anybody remember the last time they all had big games on the same night? If one of them has a big game, the other two are invisible.

Don't get me wrong, this team is talented enough to win the championship if everything falls into place. As a fan, you still hold onto the glimmer of hope that the team can win it all. However, too many things are going to have to fall into place for this team to win anything.

With the Celtics, it has become the same old story. Fans make the same excuses that Pistons fans made for years after they won their lone championship of the last decade. "The team doesn't need to try in the regular season because they're saving it for the playoffs." That's just an excuse for being old. The Celtics need to find an identity and stop making excuses for losing. It's one thing to lose to other great teams, but to not only play down to the level of the worst teams in the league but to lose to them is inexcusable.

The coaching staff needs to get a grip of the players and leadership needs to start showing up on the court. Kevin Garnett's intensity has become a thing of the past, Ray Allen's consistent three-point shooting has become a thing of the past, Paul Pierce's knack for hitting the big-time shots has become a thing of the past. Somebody needs to tell the players that we're no longer interested in talking about the past. A wise (not so wise) man once said, Larry Bird is not walking through that door. Larry Bird may not be walking through that door, but let's hope for the sake of this team and the fanbase that a winning attitude does.