Because if you believe in that .500 team, then you might expect things to get even worse this season. Paul Pierce is now 32 years old, set to turn 33 in preseason. Kevin Garnett is 34; Ray Allen is 35. The C’s managed to nba playoff get even older with the addition of Shaquille O’Neal, who will turn 39 this season. These guys can’t keep it up forever, limping into the playoffs and then flipping the switch to bring their A game. Eventually, that A game will slip away.
Rajon Rondo is the one youngster surrounded by senior citizens. If the Celtics are to win a title in 2011, they either need their All-Star point guard to carry them on his back to the promised land, or they need to hope that a nba playoff group of 30-somethings still has enough left in the tank to get the job done.
There will be nights this season that leave you scratching your head, wondering how this collection of has-beens could possibly expect to be taken seriously. But there will also be moments, come next April, when it all starts to nba playoff come together. These guys are old, but they’ll tap into their fountain of youth at the right time. They’ll dig deep and find the energy, the urgency and the big-game chops to prevail in the end.