OK. Disturbing Celtics trends of late. Such as blowing big leads and then either scrambling to reclaim the victory from the jaws of a lazy letdown or being swallowed whole by those jaws and losing.
Lets Start with the Bad News
Case in point. This past Friday night the Celts were up 25 points going into the fourth quarter against the Trae Young (one man show) Atlanta Hawks. But with just 4:50 to go in the game the Hawks led by Young trimmed the lead to single digits.
The Celtics had to force the Hawks to regurgitate the victory and reclaim what had been a sure win. They re-snagged it winning 121-109.
2nd case in point: This past Sunday. The Green Machine was motoring along with a 24 point lead in the 3rd quarter and seemingly firing on all active and available cylinders when the flapping wings of the suddenly aggressive New Orleans Pelicans began their swoop to tie the thing and force the game into OT. Where they eventually stole it 120-115.
Overtime Bummer
The Pelicans were led by Brandon Ingram, with 33-points and Zion Williamson who tossed in 28. They created the pressure on the deflating Celtics by everyone working together.
In comments after the game Brandon Ingram explained, “Today was a day of encouragement,” Ingram said. “We just stayed together and everybody did things that they do well.”
Added Zion Williamson, “We stayed true to who we were. We rallied back,” Williamson said. “Everybody — coaches, players, ball boys, everybody was just engaged.”
Perhaps not meaning to quite so efficiently sum up his team’s actual dilemma, Jason Tatum, he of 32-points and 9 rebounds lamented: “If we want to be a really good team, we’ve got to put teams away early, especially being up 20-some points.”
What’s that instinct that Champions have? Something about killing?
Jaylen Brown who finished with 25-points added, “We kind of got away from what got us the lead, not moving the ball, guarding, and they stormed back,” Brown said. “This one definitely hurts. It’s tough. Just a tough loss — a game we 100 percent should have won.”
Bad trend, that Lead-Losing-Loop begins to circle. If it gets around your neck, well, you could collapse out of the playoffs gasping for excuses!
Now, for some Good News
There is a good trend, though. Robert Lee Williams III, AKA Time Lord. AKA SEC Defensive Player of the Year and 2nd Team All-SEC honors[8] after averaging 11.9 points and a team-high 8.2 rebounds per game as a freshman in 2016–17 at Texas A&M. AKA LOB to his NBA coach Brad Stevens. And finally AKA Boo-Butt as he is affectionately called by his Mom.
Time Lord is starting to get time, regular minutes, and he’s becoming a force with dominating rebounds, Replay Reel alley-oop finishes and easily can set a decent pick while running a play.
And speaking of Pelicans, his wingspan is vast! Along with his Time Lord timing underneath and innate quickness he gives the Celts a shot blocking annoyance and possibly someone to match up with or at least hinder the likes of Joel Embiid or Giannis Antetokounmpo. Just to mention 2 things that currently stand in the way of winning a Championship for this current group of Boston Celtics. There are other things, as well. If I’m to keep it real.
Time Lord
As for the Time Lord, a little background surrounding the nickname and how he got it.
An article from Boston.com a few years back by staff writer Nik DeCosta-Klipa explained the name origin as follows:
“The short answer is that Time Lord is an ironic reference to a few slip-ups Williams made shortly after getting drafted by the Celtics, oversleeping an introductory conference call with reporters and subsequently missing a flight to Boston, as well as the team’s first practice.”
Time management issues to be sure!
In any case amongst the die hard Celtics Fandom the name was created and stuck. Specifically coined and promulgated on the “Weird Celtics Twitter” accounts by a Mr. Ryan Hebert and spread by his followers and fellow Deep Green brethren.
So how does Robert Williams feel about it? “They’re going crazy with it,” he said a few years back on an NBC Sports podcast. “I don’t see a problem with it. … You gotta be able to joke about your mistakes.”
Besides, there are side hustles to consider. And money is no joke to a professional athlete. Timex Watch Company has expressed interest and an actual deal with Swiss watchmaker Tissot, which was confirmed late last year, appears legitimate.
I guess only time will tell.
Do you have a story about your favorite team? Why do you bleed purple, or green, or blue? Let us know. thePeachBasket was created to be the Voice of the Fan! Every fan has a story. What’s yours?
