Before I get started here, I’d like to make one thing clear. I’m no Kyrie Irving fan. The guy sulked his way out of a good situation in Cleveland with LeBron James. Two years later, he left a lot to be desired in Boston with an extremely talented core of young players. Everywhere he goes, he finds a way to make himself and everyone around him miserable. On top of that, he’s never healthy. He had to go.
But can we finally move on from Kyrie and start focusing on the guys that are actually on the team? You know, the ones who actually want to play in Boston?
Last Wednesday, the Brooklyn Nets came to TD Garden for what was supposed to be Irving’s return to Boston. This was the game Celtics fans had circled on their calendars. The game where everyone, from nosebleed seats to courtside, was ready to let Kyrie know how much he’s been missed in Boston. Instead, Irving took that long-awaited opportunity away by missing the game with a shoulder injury. Two days later, he shared hugs and laughs with his former Celtics teammates after the Nets beat the Celtics at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn (another game Irving sat out due to injury).
If Marcus Smart and Jayson Tatum have buried the hatchet, it’s time for Celtics fans to do the same. Irving, thankfully, isn’t our problem anymore. It didn’t work out for him here. He moved on. Now he’s Brooklyn’s problem to worry about. So why are we so concerned with letting him know how we feel?
We should be focused on enjoying the good thing the Celtics have going right now. Kemba Walker, who doesn’t sit every other game out, has been phenomenal in green. He suffered a neck injury two weeks ago and returned to score 39 points in last Wednesday’s win over the Nets. Tatum’s starting to look more and more like the player he was during his rookie season, and less like the player he was last year when tried to morph himself into Kobe Bryant. Jaylen Brown, who also took a step back last season, is giving the Celtics 18 points and seven rebounds per game. Marcus Smart hasn’t punched any picture frames (yet). Enes Kanter’s a new addition but he’s brought positive energy from day one. He’s quickly becoming a fan favorite. Brad Wanamaker has provided solid minutes off the bench.
And for what it’s worth, Brad Stevens looks like he has solid command of this group. That wasn’t the case last season. A young group fresh from Game 7 of the Eastern Conference Finals thought it was the team to beat. That group quickly realized that nothing’s guaranteed from season to season. That’s a big piece to last season’s demise.
And it wasn’t all on Kyrie. But now that he isn’t here anymore, let’s enjoy what the Celtics are doing now. They might not be as talented on paper as they were a year ago. They might not come win away from the NBA Finals like they did two years ago. But they’re winning, they’re smiling and they’re fun to watch. And if Lady Luck smiles on them, who knows what might happen?
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Steve Addazio is out as head football coach at Boston College and I can’t say I’m surprised. In fact, I’m surprised it took this long for BC to let him go.
Addazio inherited a down BC program from former coach Frank Spaziani and turned into a decent team. Addazio never figured out how to take that next step. It seemed as though under Addazio’s watch the Eagles always found a way to finish as close to .500 as possible, one way or another. Who the Eagles hire as their next head coach remains to be seen, but I’m glad they realized they needed to go in a new direction.
