‘If the Celtics sweep the Mavericks, they’re one of the most dominant teams EVER!’ | #Greeny

‘If the Celtics sweep the Mavericks, they’re one of the most dominant teams EVER!’ | #Greeny

so I was on uh the McAfee show yesterday with those guys and the topic of how historically great this Boston team is came up and the Celtics it seems to me through almost a perfect storm of circumstances almost all of them beyond their control their season is being underappreciated so to finish 14 games clear of the second place finisher in your conference is bordering on unprecedented it’s about as dominant a regular season as any team has ever had we used that information to diminish the East they steamrolled through the Eastern Conference going 12 and two they beat teams none of which were expected to be there they didn’t have to play Milwaukee they didn’t have to play the Knicks they didn’t have to play the Sixers there was no Giannis there was no embiid and we spent a lot of time talking about who they didn’t have to play now here they are soundly beating decisively beating this team that just ran through the loaded Western Conference beating them in every different way you can showing versatility in their ways of winning offense defense losing a player to injury along the way and overcoming it in a big way last night and we spend all morning long talking about Luca so I guess what I’m saying is if I’m a fan of the Celtics I can understand it I would understand if a fan of the Celtics is saying when is someone going to say how freaking awesome is this team and I think we need to spend at least a moment saying that they are on the verge of completing one of the most dominant Seasons top to bottom in NBA history if they win tomorrow night they’re going to finish 80 and 20 that that doesn’t make any difference what the league looks like in that moment they’re perfectly constructed they’ve gone through the fires remember when the reporters were asking Carl Anthony towns and Anthony Edwards you know do you guys did all the losing help do you still need to do some more losing and they were like well how much losing do you want us to do well the Celtics have done it the Celtics have fallen short in a series they should have won last year against Miami they’ve fallen short in the finals with a 2-1 lead against a historically great player in Steph Curry they have been uh Sharp sharpened by this what’s the word they’ve come through the fire whatever ridiculous expression it is I’m looking for and and I think the moment has come to say that and I think there’s also this needs to be said as well the time to talk about whether it’s Tatum’s team or Brown’s team is over what they have done I think there was a legitimate belief on the part of people who really knew the situation that that was a Thing Once Upon a Time I think it was a thing but the most important set word in that sentence right now is was I don’t think it is a thing anymore I think they have figured it out they have worked it out they have come to a place where they’re comfortable with each other with their roles I think Jaylen Brown still feels underappreciated I think he is has every right to feel that way I think Tatum feels it for him I don’t think Tatum feels like it’s got to be his show they look to me like guys who have arrived in a place where they realize that their best way of winning is to be a dynamic duo and that’s what they are there isn’t a Batman and a robin historically there’s always been a Batman and a robin and all these great teams but in this case they are Batman and Batman or Batman and Superman or whatever analogy you want to make to it and I think that works and because it does I know we we thought we’d seen the end of NBA dynasties I’m not sure we have because these two guys are young they’re both going to be signed you can continue to rotate good players around them maybe not as good as Chris ABS porzingis but he’s always hurt anyway they’ll figure out ways to get guys Brad Stevens has shown himself to be really good at that I’m not saying they’re going to win four of the next five but they will be in the mix every year for the foreseeable future the the Celtics season needs to get its due yeah that’s right uh Branch Ricky once famously said luck is the residue of design and in this case the Celtics have most definitely BR Ricky who said that it was it’s a very famous saying and I really I and honestly had no idea where that came from till you just told me that and the Celtics have designed their own luck oh yeah you can point to players missing series missing games and we excused their success all the way to this point where they’re now one win shy of the finals they’ve won 10 straight playoff games the longest streak since the Warriors in 2017 their nin straight road playoff wins is tied for the second longest streak ever it was 64 and 18 in the regular season it’s 15-2 in the playoffs and as you said they’re one win away over the uh this week from finishing 80 and 20 we’re talking about putting yourself in the class of the top dozen or so best teams ever the reason I think the discourse has been what the discourse has been is because we’re so used to talking about super teams we’re not so used to talking about super teams there’s a huge difference between the two in at least recent NBA history it’s been highlevel superstars with very clear hierarchical structures on the these teams that win championships the Celtics are not that they are a super team they have players that know exactly what their roles are but also players that can exceed or Elevate uh within the context of that roles On Any Given night we’ve not seen teams really do that obviously Brad Stevens deserves a lot of credit for that so does the coaching staff and frankly so do the players every one of those guys in some sense has made enormous sacrifices in order for this team to be on the precipice of greatness yeah and and and and they deserve this I I look I’m a New Yorker as anyone who listens to me knows and I’ve never rooted for any of the Boston teams I’ve generally been Arch Rivals I grew up hating those Celtic teams with Larry Bird more than ever hated any teams probably in my life probably more than any football team um but I find myself feeling good for them because they’ve of what they’ve gone through and it also is reminiscent of a time before super teams in this regard it used to be teams just got thrown together and or excuse me now it has become teams get thrown together we expect them to win the Heat got thrown together the Celtic big three and’ 08 got thrown together you know KD joined this team or that team they get thrown together you expect them to win it used to be you would see the team develop you would see a young team getting good and knocking on the door the example I always use the Celtics dominated the Eastern Conference through most of the 80s the Larry Bird teams and then here come these Pistons these bad Boy Pistons Isaiah and those guys and they’re knocking on the door can’t beat Boston can’t beat Boston can’t finally get by Boston they win the championship and now they’re the best team and here come the Michael Jordan Bulls knocking on the door can’t get past Detroit can’t get past lose to them in six lose to them in seven boom finally knocked down the door and they win the championship that’s what these Celtics have been the Celtics have been the team that has been knocking on the door and come up short and here they are ready to kick it down and I I actually find myself feeling good for them me too if they wind up sweeping this thing let’s say they finish 80 and 20 will you consider them an all-time great team so that’s the question that was asked to me and I think there are two answers to that question because the real answer is yes because you can only compete in the time in which you compete they they didn’t schedule their 100 games right the 100 games were scheduled for them they ran through an NBA season from start to finish from the start part of the regular season to the last game of the NBA finals and dominated about as thoroughly as any team ever has so the answer is yes now do I think that they stack up if you lined them up against teams I would consider to be the greatest NBA teams ever do I think they would stack up with them the answer is no I don’t think so they’re not as good as the Sha and Kobe Lakers they’re not as good as the Michael Bulls they’re not as good as the the Celtics of the 80s they’re not as good as the Lakers of the 80s um I don’t think but the game is different everything is different the circum they didn’t have to play those teams so the answer to the question is do I think they’re one of the greatest teams of all time I think you have to say yes because all they did was play the schedule that was in front of them and dominate about as thoroughly as anyone ever had and no team has ever swept the Conference Finals in the finals right they might well do it this team I’m looking at the list of just most wins in NBA history including the postseason there are a dozen teams that have won 80 games and there Michael Jordan teams and KD Steph clay teams and LeBron teams and sha and Kobe teams which LeBron teams the 2013 heat yeah Miami that yeah that was probably their their best team there are Showtime Lakers teams in here I mean these are all teams with like Frontline first division Hall of Fame statue players it’s worth pointing out in those days the showtime Lakers also didn’t have as many playoff games the the first round used to be best of three then it became best of the point there’s just not as many games to win gotcha so so that accomplishment was even to get to 80 you have to have won more regular games is what I’m trying to say the Celtics won 64 regular season games plus the 16 the the the first round didn’t go to best of seven till sometime in the early 2000 2002 I want to say so you would have to have won one more game prior to that there was not even another level of playoffs there was a best of three at the beginning I’m just trying to compare apples to apples it’s an unnecessary day if they finished 16-2 in the playoffs the only teams with better Playoff records are going to be the 2017 Warriors the 01 Lakers and the 83 Sixers these are this is basketball 83 Sixers is fa fo fo which turned out to be full five fo um the 17 Warriors what game did they lose they lost the game in the they swept the finals who beat them that was I don’t even who they I want to say that was a game that KD didn’t even play no 2017 warriors did not sweep the finals the 2018 warriors did oh so the one loss they had was to LeBron in the final in game four right when they were up three nothing yes that’s what it was gentl and who was the other one did you say oh the Lakers sha and Kobe Lakers and the only loss was to uh Sixers Allen Iverson the game one that was the in overtime they didn’t lose a single game in the postseason in regulation that’s right yeah that team has got to be considered one of the greatest of all time and God bless him I I remember asking Kobe in the last interview I ever did with him about that team against the co the the um the Durant uh Warriors because it was during the time of the Durant Warriors and he said yeah we would have beat him like he that was the one thing he would he said we would have beat him and he and and then deferred he said they had no no one could deal with Shack like no one and frankly that was true that was Peak Shack that was when Shaq was thoroughly Unstoppable I mean completely Unstoppable by the way if I may mention luck is the residue of of design was originally attributed to the English poet John Milton during the time of Oliver Cromwell but the only reason we know of its existence is because of a man by the name of Wesley Branch Ricky So Ricky was quoting John Milton ah I see

Today on #Greeny, Mike Greenberg discusses the Boston Celtics’ dominance as they are just 1 game away from hanging their 18th championship banner in the rafters.

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