Root For Your Team, Stupid

I found out about the Celtics beating the Heat while I was patiently waiting my turn to belt out Alicia Keys’ “If I Aint Got You” in a weird karaoke room somewhere in New York. Through a combination of people knowing I was away and unable to watch the game, and probably just a little bit of shock – my cell phone started to light up a few minutes after ten.

The responses to a shocking win that came at the hands of a game winning shot by Jeff Green over Lebron James was mixed. And that sucks.

I’ve gone on record saying this team will be a bottom five team in the league (something I still believe), and I spent my Friday putting Andrew Wiggins mixes in the bottom right hand corner of my screen hoping my boss didn’t notice. But when I sit down to watch a game, I want this team to win. And so should every fan. I mean, that’s kind of the point, isn’t it?

I won’t debate that the best way for this team to rebuild is to win the lottery. Even a top 5 pick seems to be what’s best for this team. But unlike football, a win doesn’t directly change your team’s spot in the draft. A win is a slight change in (likely) lottery positioning. Read that again and remember that. A SLIGHT CHANGE IN PERCENTAGE.

Aside from that, if you’re in the ‘tanking’ side, remember it’s a long season and generally team’s regress to their mean. Both the Orlando Magic and Charlotte Bobcats were playing about .500 basketball one quarter of the way through the season last year, yet they still managed to ‘achieve’ the worst two records in basketball. Also, as two Cleveland Cavaleirs lottery wins can show you; the basketball gods are not too fond of, let’s call it, ‘deliberate losing.’

And if this team keeps winning? Well, doesn’t that say something about the maturation of the personnel? This team is facing some serious obstacles when it comes to winning games. For them to make the playoffs it’d have to mean that a couple of our young players took a serious leap forward. Jeff Green playing at an all-star level. Jared Sullinger being a force down low. Avery Bradley causing point guards to lose sleep at night, Phil Pressey getting playing time, etc. Players with high ceilings approaching their potential. That’s a good thing for the Boston Celtics.

So when you sit down to watch the game, root for the damn team. Turn the brain off, and let the heart enjoy it's time. Enjoy the ride. It’ll lead us to somewehre good.