Fuck Yea[h] NBA

The Boston Celtics are 4-8 and in the bottom five in the league for points scored and rebounds. So a lot of writers have decided now is the time to write about them possibly blowing the whole thing up. They are old after all, with their original big three of Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen aged 34, 35 and 36 years old. All of them will be turning a year older this 2012 season, and does it make sense to trade them now, when they still have a bit left in the tank, or does GM Danny Ainge owe it to them to keep them around for the remainder of their careers because of what they’ve meant to Boston (going to the NBA Finals twice and winning a title) over the last 4 years they’ve been in bean town?

A lot of people seem to think they’re done and can’t compete for a title this year with their current roster, and it was really Adrian Wojnarowski’s piece that spurred all the conversation, but here are some of the responses I’ve found:

• DJ Dunson of Slam Online, thinks “Time Has Passed Boston’s Big Three” and believes the Eastern Conference elites are better than Boston could ever be—healthy or not. I’m presuming Dunson means Chicago and Miami when he says “elites” because although Indiana, Orlando, Atlanta and Philadelphia look good now, I don’t think anyone believes they’re legitimate threats to come out of the east. 
• There was a “blogtable” discussion about the aging Celtics at Sekou Smith’s NBA.com Hangtime Blog. Here is how the bloggers felt either pro (for) or con (against) about “blowng the celtics up.” Steven Aschburner: con; Fran Blinebury: pro; Shaun Powell: pro; John Schuhmann: con; Sekou Smith: con. So only two of the five thought the Celtics should pack it in and start dealing guys. 
• Celtcs Hub does a similar post to this one, where they cover some of the larger posts about the Celtics and age over the last couple of days.  

Probably the two biggest writers I’ve seen who wrote longer columns on the topic of the Celtics were Ian Thomsen at SI and Adrian Wojnarowski at Yahoo Sports! and it was really Wojo’s piece that sparked all the other ancillary refutes or confirmations of his original thesis that the Celtics are done and Ainge should start dealing guys. 

Personally, I’m of the mind of Thomsen and most of the NBA.com bloggers. The Celtics are old, and they are struggling—mainly because of Pierce’s injury—but if they get healthy in time for the playoffs and MAKE the playoffs, I would not want to face them. They’ve been there before, and there will be more rest during the postseason than there has been in this jam-packed regular season. It’s not time to blow them up, but this might be their final season unless they miraculously make the finals (but they can make the finals with this roster and with Doc as coach—remember 2010). 

I do think it’s worth mentioning what Shaun Powell wrote at the NBA.com blogtable because a lot of people forget about what happened to prevent the big three (plus Rondo) from possibly having a three-peat after they won in 2008. 

However, with the Big Three (plus one) era winding down, and given time to reflect on it, the Celtics will rue the day Kevin Garnett pulled up lame in 2009 and Kendrick Perkins fell hard in 2010. That was their shot at three straight titles.

pic via