Posts Tagged ‘Tom Thibodeau’

Green With Envy: Boston Celtics “What-if’s”

Tuesday, May 24th, 2011

By Aquil Bayyan

Boston Celtics Defeated

I just want to take a minute to talk about some interesting observations I’ve made as the NBA playoffs come down to its final four teams.  Many people, including the War Room Generals, picked the Boston Celtics to represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals this year.  Unfortunately for them, they were sent home in 5 games by the Miami Heat.  In noticing the manner of which the Celtics were easily bounced by the Miami Heat, I began to wonder, analyze, pontificate, cerebrate (which means to think, not celebrate), cogitate, evaluate, and even speculate, about what happened to the Boston Celtics this year.

Exhibit A:
Tom Thibodeau used to be an assistant coach and defensive mastermind for the Boston Celtics who went to 2 of the last 3 NBA finals, winning 1 and going pretty far in the playoffs without Kevin Garnett in 2009.  He is now coaching my Chicago Bulls and has led us to 62 wins, the best record in the NBA, and won the NBA Coach of the Year award in the process.  All I have to say is…Tom Thibodeau is still coaching right now.

NBA Coach of the Year, Tom Thibodeau

Exhibit B:
The NBA player we all know and love, and who probably gets way more attention than he should; Kendrick Perkins.  While we all agree that his skill set is weak and that he is not really as tough as advertised, he has helped his teams to 3 of the last 4 NBA Conference Finals and he still talks to Raon (I left the “J” out on purpose) Rondo every day, for what it’s worth.  All I have to say is…Kendrick is still playing right now.

The most important player in the NBA?

Exhibit C:
Nate Robinson; you all probably forgot that he was playing for the Thunder until you saw J.J. Barea cross his face off and fish-fry-bake “Lil Nate” in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals.  I remember in last year’s playoffs when “Lil Nate” would come into the game and give the Celtics a lift off the bench, hitting key three pointers, finishing in the lane, all while jumping around, pounding his chest, and screaming while getting the fans fired up.  All I have to say is…Nate is still playing right now.

“Lil Nate”

Exhibit D:
Brian Scalabrine, now you may laugh and wonder why I am even talking about a player who averaged 1.5 points, 1 rebound, 0.5 assists, 0.2 blocks, and 0.2 steals for the Celtics last year, and followed that up with similar solid stats with my Bulls this year.  You can never underestimate the impact of an NBA player in a suit or warm up who has 0% chance of getting into the game, cheering his teammates on.  All I have to say is…Brian is still cheering right now.

The best dressed cheerleader in the league

All this thought has caused me to wonder if the Celtics would still be playing if this coach and these three players were still a part of the team.  I guess we will never know.

 

Aquil “Quil” Bayyan of The War Room, for War Room Sports