I Love The Celtics, But . . .

Nate B.'s ode to the 2010 Celtics.

I love the Celtics, but I hate the 2010 version of
the team.

I love Paul Pierce, but I hate watching him turn
the ball
over as he flails his arms up, looking for a whistle that never comes.

I love Ray Allen’s jump shot, but I hate being 90%
certain
it’s not going in every time he takes a critical shot.

I love Kevin Garnett’s intensity, but I hate
watching him
trash talk after he makes a decent play in a game where a nobody like
Andray
Blatche is destroying him.

I love the way Big Baby played in last year’s
playoffs, but
I hate the way he threw away his season before it even started by
breaking his
thumb on his friend’s face at 4 a.m.

I love that the Celtics were able to sign Marquis
Daniels
for a discount, but I hate that I can count on one hand the number of
big plays
he made this season.

I love Rajon Rondo’s talent and creativity, but I
hate his
wandering mind and lack of awareness that playing perimeter defense
occasionally requires you to bend your knees and move laterally.

I love that Tony Allen proved this season that he
can still
play, but I hate that he’s the Celtics’ best bench player.

I love that Rasheed
Wallace has the size, length and skills (unlike Perk, Baby and Shelden
Williams) to be an elite interior player, but I hate that he’s too out
of
shape, lazy and apathetic to post up or grab 70% of the rebounds that
come near
him.

I love the player that Kendrick Perkins was
becoming in
December, but I hate the player that Perk’s been since January.

I love the way that Nate Robinson played for the
first two
weeks he was with the Celtics, but I hate the way he’s played since
then.

I love Shelden Williams’s hustle and
professionalism, but I
hate that he’s only 6’8” on his tiptoes.

I love that Doc Rivers is the Celtics coach, but I
hate that
he doesn’t have the personality to give this team the kick in the ass
that it
needs.

I love that the 2008 and 2009 Celtics never took a
night
off, but I hate that the 2010 Celtics take off at least part of almost
every
night.

I love the feeling when the Celtics go into
halftime with a
healthy lead, but I hate the sense of dread I get at the start of the
third
quarter, knowing that the Celtics are going to piss that lead away.

I love it when the Celtics get a big stop on a
crucial
possession, but I hate it when they don’t finish the stop by rebounding
the
missed shot.

I love the Big Three, but I hate watching Pierce,
Garnett
and Ray Allen play together in 2010.

I love “ubuntu”, but I hate that I haven’t seen it
during a
Celtics game in four months.

I love that the Celtics are better than the Heat
at every
position except shooting guard, but I hate that there’s still a decent
chance
that they might lose the series.

I love the way the 2010 Celtics match up against
Cleveland
on paper, but I hate the way the 2010 Celtics play against the Cavs when
it
really counts.

I love that the Celtics locked up Rondo to a
reasonable
long-term deal, but I hate that none of their other young players will
ever
sniff an All-Star game.

I love that I got the NBA League Pass this season,
but I
hate that I used it to watch the 2010 Celtics.