Let me hear IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From the looks of things the Celtics will be without K.G. for this year's playoff run. If you read the headlines they apparently have no chance of a repeat and Lebron is automatically headed for a date with Kobe in the Finals. Well hold the god damn presses just one dang minute. Other than Red's Army everyone is counting the Celtics out and if the 2002 Pats, 2004 Sox, and Rodney Harrison have taught us anything over the years it is that you do not "Count Out" or "Doubt" a Boston title contender under any circumstances.

Let's say K.G. doesn't play, from the looks of the health of Danny Ainge it doesn't look too positive, does that mean this team can't compete??? Well look at the numbers and their opponents before you count the Celtics out of this. Without Garnett the Celtics will no doubt have to rely on Pierce and Ray Ray for offense, as they have since February. Pierce will also have to pull a performance on the likes of Lebron (if he even makes it to the Eastern Conference Finals) and lock him down. The team will need to scrap on defense where they will miss K.G.'s presence the most. The energy level of the Garden fans will have to compensate for the lack of K.G.'s ferocity. I think this team can rise to the occasion. It isn't like they have made excuses up to this point with all the injuries they have suffered and losing K.G. for the better half of the season. When they needed Leon to fill in, he did, when they needed Big Baby to step-up, he did. The X factor in all this is Tony Allen and that may be surprising to some, but this guy is rounding into mid-season form and will be have fresh legs to D up and help Pierce against the likes of the Lebron and D Wade's. If you watched the final games of the season the Celtics never lost focus of their ultimate goals and Simmons is right Doc has coached his ass off this year. Doc will keep these guys together and being counted out and doubted by the rest of the league and the media is only going to fuel their fire.

Do you think Paul Pierce thinks the season is over? Do you think Ray Allen will stop shooting jumpers 8 hours prior to game time? Do you think Rondo will stop dishing sick dimes? Do you think Perk is starting to think about how he's going to feed his 13 kids without that extra playoff cash? NO! Ain't happening not to this team. They are an elite team with K.G., but without him they are still good enough to make another run. It simply comes down to pride and desire. Something Kobe has lost and Lebron may not possess. Maybe I'm a homer. Maybe I'm unrealistic. But, I'm not quiting on this team. No way no how.

By the way does anyone remember this?

P.S. There's also the little part about the Mystique that some may be forgetting...

Shut 'em Down

Doc has announced that the Celtics will be shutting down K.G. which is a smart decision since the Celtics are a sure lock for the playoffs and they sure as hell are not catching the Cavs. Let Lebron and his posse keep rolling in meaningless regular season games while the C's rest the troops for another post-season run. Really I'm more concerned about Leon Powe getting healthy then K.G. Right now K.G. is like a starving caged tiger that's trainer has been taunting with fresh meat. That fresh meat is the gold ball and K.G. hasn't fed that hunger fully just yet. Nobody wants to be on the court more than K.G. and you can bet you bottom dollar that knee will be as healthy as Paul Pierces was against the Cavs in last year's Eastern Conference Finals "wheel chair" game.

The Celtics haven't really played that well and have been winning. Even the games they haven't won or played that well in they have fought back like the Magic game two Sunday's ago. The chemistry has been off since Marbury came on board, K.G. went down, and Powe's injury. Hopefully Doc and Danny got together and figured out getting the team healthy will be alot more beneficial then having home court come playoff time. Potential match ups NY, Charlotte, or Indiana are not taking down this Celtics team and that's without a healthy K.G. Chicago might be crafty enough to win a couple against the C's but they are not taking down this Celtics team at

the Garden. No way. No how. Hopefully the rest is a calculated risk, which I believe it is on the part of Doc and Danny. While they're at it I hope they don't forget to give Paul, Rondo, and especially a heavily played Sugar Ray. The only things that can stop the C's in my opinion are injuries or the Cavs. Hopefully neither come in their way to Green 18. How nice does that sound?

Hopefully we'll be seeing the "Big" picture again in 2009...