Kevin Henkin

Over the past few days, I’ve had some time to think about things. Slowly, reluctantly, I’ve gathered my thoughts about the 2009-10 Celtics season and put them in some semblance of order. I’ll leave you with them as my last formal column of the season. I may pop up here and there with some things to say but this is all I have to offer for the time being.

I don’t know about you, but I have zero desire to rehash any part of the season at this point. I recall similar feelings back in October of 2003 following the Grady Little Incident. Back then, I just needed to walk away from all things Sox for awhile, but I at least felt some comfort from the knowledge that the 2004 returning Boston roster was expected to be formidable. Sweet revenge in 2004 felt ever possible, and that’s not hindsight talk either. Thus, by the time spring training rolled around for that year, I was amped more than ever before for the season to begin.

Right now, I just don’t feel that kind of vindictive comfort heading into this particular basketball offseason.

More after the jump...

After having the day to reflect, here’s what I know about Boston’s Game 6 embarrassing loss at the hands of the Lakers: It means nothing.

Actually, scratch that. It means that the Celtics don’t have a game left to burn anymore. As anyone who follows this team knows, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Time after time, the Celtics have played their best ball this year with their backs against the wall. It’s reasonable to expect a far better effort and showing from the Celtics in Game 7. It’s not reasonable – not after all that we’ve seen in terms of ups and downs from this squad over the last seven months – to read too much into Game 6.

Personally, I’m not much interested in dissecting Game 6. L.A. avoided being eliminated in a game that was a must-win for them and not at all for Boston. Congratulations. As both a fan of the Celtics, and of the game of basketball, I’m very much interested in what goes down in Game 7. Beyond the bragging rights to this 2009-10 season, it defines so much more about the key figures involved. Here’s the rundown of what is exactly at stake:

More after the jump...

I was at the game tonight and covered it Rolling Observations style. Here's how the game played out to my wondering eyes"

Pre-Game

I’ll start things off with a quick quote from the Doc Rivers press conference:

Q: With Andrew Bynum’s knee concern, are you expecting to see Lamar Odom tonight?

“Christ, I hope so! Odom’s an absolute bozo. He has the character of a serial killer, but without the mental toughness. Classic case of $2 talent to go along with a five-cent head.”

Alright, fine, those are my words. Here’s Doc’s answer:

“No, we’re just going to play. The reason you saw Lamar Odom the other night is because he was playing well…It’s clear when Odom is playing well, they tend to finish the game with Odom and Gasol on the floor because it spreads the other team’s defense.”

More after the jump...

If you’re anything like me, you want to put Game 3 of the Finals behind you as quickly as possible. If you’re like me, you already know what went wrong. You've done your rehash and are ready to move on.

I say let’s all just move on together and focus on some other Celtic/Finals-related stuff in order to pass the time until redemption hour at 9 p.m. on Thursday.

Here are just a few topics that I'll offer up for your digestion: 

Ray Allen is a streaky shooter. In other news, Doc Rivers has a shiny head, the ocean is wet and women enjoy shopping.

More after the jump...