17 Hours

It’s no secret that the 2008 Boston Celtics are having success. . . in terms of their 9-2 record.

The fact of the matter is that Doc Rivers is the head coach, and he doesn’t possess the most pixels on the television screen. In other words, he’s not the brightest coach in the carousel, even if he was essential in leading the Celtics to its first NBA championship in twenty-two years last season.

Turnovers, baby.

The Celtics are almost dead last in turnovers this year, and it’s driving me nuts. Last year they were more careful with the ball, and made smart moves. Now they’re expecting the defense to make mistakes and allow those mistakes to predicate on the Celtics’ success. It’s worked, a little.

Thanks to the multitude of scoring from eclectic of scorers ranging from Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett, Eddie House, and the occasional Leon Powe hammering it in on the block, the Celtics have stayed on top.

But this can’t happen in the playoffs. Doc shouldn’t allow it, but we know how that goes. It’s like a conventional thing to do — give a coach a horde of money and a couple of years to a new contract extension if his team wins a champion, besides how they won the championship (a collective group of players playing as a cohesive unit, undauntedly determined to win a championship), but Rivers is the head coach of the Celtics nonetheless, thanks to Danny Ainge. (Thanks, Danny!)

Let me reiterate: the Celtics are 29th in the league in turnovers. That’s almost dead last.

While I was watching the Nuggets/Celtics game Friday evening, I noticed a load of mistakes that hurt them in the beginning AND in the end. The Celtics busted open the game with an 8-0 lead. What happened shortly thereafter was an onslaught of turnovers that kept popping out like the 1950s baby-boom era. Bouncing off players’ legs, Ray Allen letting a ball or two slip from his hands and out of bounds; erratic passes rolling off finger tips. It was crazier than a crackhead.

When Eddie House was chucking up shots at the end of the game, and Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett were almost single handedly keeping the Celtics in the game, House’s incompetent defense proved to be the big weakness, which, in my opinion, is a turnover itself when it seems like your team is playing four guys against five (I’m not acknowledging Eddie brickHouse at this point).

They may be 9-2, but they sure as hell aren’t playing as their record indicates. Where is this supposed reigning championship power? On offense I see it in spouts, but when Rajon Rondo isn’t even in the game during crunch time, and Eddie House is in there for his offensive abilities, despite the fact that Rondo can play much better defense than House, there is trouble.

If you turn the ball over, the other team will score.