Celtics Rising: Good Times in the Kevin Garnett Era

It’s hard being the typical negative sportswriter in Boston these days.

The Red Sox are World Series champions.

The Patriots are only the second team in NFL history to start a season 14-0.

The Bruins, I’ve been told, are playing pretty well.

The Revolution are the MLS’s version of the Buffalo Bills.

Boston College was ranked as high as No. 2 this season in the BCS.

And the Celtics are 20-2.

That’s right, the Celtics are 20-2.

The Celtics haven't started 20-2 since the days of Tommy Heinsohn. Of course, when Tommy Heinsohn was a player, that kind of start was expected.

Back then, it didn’t just seem like the Celtics won championships every season—they DID win championships every season.

Ever since Len Bias decided cocaine was more important than playing professional basketball, the Celtics have been in a seemingly endless downward spiral.

In no particular order, here's what's gone wrong since 1986...

 

1) Larry Bird’s bad back: Probably cut his career short by five years.

2) Kevin McHale’s feet: Ditto. The reason why most Celtics fans know the navicular bone to be located in the foot.

3) Len Bias’ death: This here started the curse

4) Red Auerbach's refusal to trade any of his aging stars: Trading McHale may sound sacrilegious, but it could've helped start the rebuilding process 15 years earlier.

5) Reggie Lewis’ death: One of the most tragic moments in sports.

6) M.L. Carr: The worst head coach in NBA history.  He ran the team into the ground,  killed the salary cap, and then pretended he did it on purpose to get a shot at Tim Duncan. Yeah right.

7) Ping pong balls: The Celtics hate ping pong balls.

8) Rick Pitino: The second worst coach in the history of the NBA.

9) Chris Wallace: The C's Gave up a shot at the third pick in a stocked draft to take a flier on Kendrick Brown (for reference, the third pick was Carmelo Anthony), then traded away Joe Johnson for a bag of donuts.

10) Youth movement: By itself, not a bad thing. The fact that it lasted three very painful years was the problem.

11) Another ping pong failure: Lesson learned—the NBA draft lottery is a crock.



All told, it was an insane run of bad luck, bad decision-making, bad coaching, bad GMing....bad everything.

It seemed like it would never end.

We watched as teams like the Bulls, Heat, and Pistons rebuilt from scratch and became contenders. The Celtics just couldn't figure it out for themselves.

Six months ago, the Danny Ainge Era appeared bound for the same fate as the Rick Pitino Era or the Chris Wallace Era.

The "panic" draft day trade for Ray Allen didn't fix things. Some even thought it made them worse.

Why give up the fifth pick in the draft for an aging shooting guard with a couple of bum ankles?

Then came Kevin Garnett.

Garnett changed everything.

KG re-motivated Paul Pierce. His arrival gave Pierce something he hasn’t have since graduating from Kansas:

Hope.

He’s not hoping to sneak into the playoffs and maybe win a series, as he did when Antoine Walker was his running mate.

He’s not hoping to lose enough games to score a high draft pick, as he did last season.

He’s legitimately hoping—even expecting—to win an NBA championship.

So far this season, that hope and expectation have brought out the best in Pierce.

What's more, Garnett’s presence has turned Boston into a desirable free-agent destination.

When the Celtics signed Kevin Garnett, their stock went up in the eyes of all potential free agents. There is no Eddie House, James Posey, or even Scot Pollard without Kevin Garnett.

They’re not signing here for the money. They're certainly not signing here for the weather. And trust me—they're definitely not signing here for the chance to play for Doc Rivers.

They’re signing here to win. They think they can win because of Kevin Garnett.

Speaking of Doc Rivers, Garnett has proven to be a miracle-worker insofar as he's turned Doc into a serviceable head coach (a young K.C. Jones, maybe).

Kevin Garnett listens to Doc...and so does the rest of the team.

Kevin Garnett plays defense...and so does the rest of the team.

It’s a lot easier to design a game-ending play (and I mean other than Doc's patented "have Pierce hold the ball until there are four seconds left then shoot an off-balance fadeaway with three guys in his face") when you have two legit crunch-time shooters (Pierce and Allen) facing man-to-man coverage because the opposing defense needs to keep bodies on Garnett underneath.

Pierce and Allen aren’t getting open looks in crunch time if Kendrick Perkins is the inside threat (and I use the term “threat” loosely).

And don’t underestimate the impact Garnett has had on the Celtics’ young bigs. Perkins has turned into a defensive force and a serviceable offensive option off the Garnett double-team. Glen Davis has become the second best rebounder on the team—and maybe the best offensive rebounder.

Defensively, having Perkins and Garnett in the middle makes it nearly impossible to push this Celtics team around. Posey, meanwhile, is a tremendous perimeter defender, and Rajon Rondo might have the fastest hands and feet I’ve ever seen on a point guard.

Of course, the Celtics aren’t perfect. They lack depth at the point guard position, and could use another big man who can score. Ray Allen has some injury concerns, while Tony Allen is a nightmare handling the ball in the backcourt.

However, in this NBA, Kevin Garnett, a pretty good bench, and a motivated Paul Pierce may be enough to hoist another championship banner at the fake Garden.

So sit back and enjoy the Kevin Garnett era. God knows I am.

I’m SeanMC.

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