Banner 18....Next Year.

Yesterday was tough to watch. (Celtics lost to Miami, ending their playoff run.) But, every day is a new day, and today I woke up with brand new excitement after hearing that Doc Rivers is leaning towards returning next season. Anyone who knows my love for the Celtics knows that my love stems from the fact that they play with an incredible amount of heart, and with a "team basketball" mentality. It's unselfish basketball play, which results in a different player being the high scorer in almost every game. Case in point? Last night the leading scorer was Ray Allen, Game 4 went to Paul Pierce, and Game 3? Kevin Garnett. A few games prior, even Rondo led the team in scoring. Bench players get left in if they are doing well--not immediately substituted once the starters are rested. (My favorite example is still from last year.) In my mind, Doc Rivers gets most (if not all) of the credit for this--with all the time I've spent studying, teaching and coaching about group and team dynamics, he gets it all right. And I can't wait to see him do more of it.

These three quotes absolutely made my day today:

Doc Rivers: "I'm leaning heavily towards coming back. I haven't made that decision. But I can tell you that I probably will. I've kind of come to that over the last couple of weeks. I'm a Celtic and I love our guys. I want to win again here. I do. And I'm competitive as hell. I have a competitive group, and so we'll see."

Rajan Rondo: "I'm going to put this on the record," Rondo said. "Doc already committed that he was coming back with me so he can't go back against his word...We just signed a contract about 10 minutes ago." (Seriously? How do you not love this guy?)

Ray Allen: "This has been my team," said Allen. "I have been full steam ahead with this team. I don't have any plans to go anywhere else."

Yes, there will be huge analysis today on the Perkins trade, and how that affected their chances. But, what's done is done. If they had won, Danny Ainge would be a genius in today's papers. It's all 20/20 hindsight. Instead of lamenting their loss, I'm going to look forward to next season, and focus on a few events from this past season that I loved...(I don't know how long the youtube clips will last...)

Ray Allen Becomes the NBA Record Holder for 3-Point Field Goals Made--such a classy guy, I couldn't have been happier it happened at the TD Garden.
Ray Allen Breaks Reggie Miller's Record

Rajan Rondo tries to get into the Miami Heat Huddle (one of the commentators didn't think this was funny--most people found it hysterical. You even see Lebron James crack a smile after pushing him away the first time.)
Rondo trying to creep into Miami huddle

Ray Allen Makes Game-Winning 3 Against NY Knicks in Game 1 of the Playoffs--we were so hooked, Ash and I watched this in Jamaica, instead of sitting by the pool.
Ray Allen's Winning Shot

In the next game, Game 2 against the Knicks, KG steps up to both take the winning shot (genius move by Doc, as no one was expecting him to--the Knicks were on Ray Allen and Paul Pierce), and then stole the ball. Awesome. (Also, watched instead of lounging by the pool...)
Kevin Garnett Saves the Day!

Best moment of the season? By far, Rondo returning to Game 3 against Miami, after a dislocated elbow. This will go down as one of the most inspirational moments in Celtics (if not NBA) history.
Rondo returns to Miami Heat Game

So, though the 2010-11 season is over, there's still another one yet to come. Best of all? The Celtics went out with class. Each of them praised Miami in the press conferences. Doc Rivers remained on the floor and shook every Heat player's hand, as did Ray Allen. They are still winners in my book.

On a side note, if you haven't seen the "Boston Is A Brotherhood" video made by Adidas, I highly recommend it:
Boston is a Brotherhood