A Beautifully Boring Team
The NBA season is here. I have been a Celtics fan since I was first aware of sportsball as a thing people cared about. I am old enough to remember that the C's won in 1986, but 1987 was my first real season following this stuff. 2008 was a terrific title to win of course - the comeback against the Lakers to win the series altering Game 4 is still one of the great sporting events of my lifetime.
The 2024 title lacked any such fireworks. Boston was the best team in the league from moment one, and the 64-18 record ended up being 7 games more than any other team in the NBA. A 15-3 playoff run was the culmination - aided by some injury luck, but of course ain't that life. But what the 2024 title was more than anything was the culmination of a years long process by a couple of the Celtics high lottery picks, Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum - and as a fan, that is particularly gratifying.
Don't get me wrong. This is not some anti-free agency screed, but there is a real joy to follow players from the start of their career. Jayson Tatum started for the team as a 19 year old - fans like me have gotten to see him grow up. Heck, I got to see his son grow into a 7 year old or whatever? (I have no idea how they navigate his bedtime - he's at all of the games!) And, as the team's #1 player - he has been frankly, kind of boring. His quotes are all pretty corny, he has never asked for a trade and never really had any takes. He has never been injured in any serious way, and he has taken the ball more often than any other player of his peer group.
The Js have not been the "best players in the NBA" - and I would not elevate them to the level of Giannis Antetokoumpo or Nikola Jokic etc in the sort of "who's the man" debates that permeate league discourse. But - next to Jokic, the Js are like a good utility - they are always there, and create more value than better players by just being more reliable. Brad Stevens, the Celtics President, has surrounded him with other low-drama professionals like Al Horford, Jrue Holiday and the remarkable Derrick White. What is left is a great team, that is drama and worry free. It's a poor reality show, but a damn wagon on the court.
Irresponsible NBA 2024-25 Season Predictions I Will Disavow Next Week
EAST
Bucks
Celtics (I am too nervous a fan to pick them #1)
Knicks
Cavaliers
Sixers
Heat
Pacers
Magic
Hawks
Hornets
There is a pretty big gap between #9 and #10. The Wizards, Hornets, Raptors, Bulls all have chances to be in the mix. The Hornets are the most interesting, and Charles Lee - longtime assistant - is a good breath of fresh air.
WEST
Thunder
Nuggets
Timberwolves
Mavericks
Suns
Warriors
Clippers
Lakers
Spurs
Kings
The Grizzlies and Rockets will be in the play-in mix too, but I felt like calling my shot. If Victor Wembanyama is as transformationally ridiculous as he looked in the summer and in the 2nd half of last season, then "Wemby and some randos" coached by Popovich should be a team in the fringe playoff mix. I have no other basis for optimism.
EAST FINAL: Bucks over Celtics
WEST FINAL: Thunder over Nuggets
FINALS: Bucks over Thunder
MVP: Giannis rides again
The College Football Rankings
The rankings shakeup (thru Games of 10/19/24) after Georgia beat Texas in the season's latest Game of the Century (methodology here):
Notes
With the loss to Georgia (who lost to Alabama), Texas got the triple whammy of the loss, Alabama losing, and Texas now being behind in the SEC. It is nothing that winning games can't fix however.
Boise State at #3 basically is attributable to their own conference lead in the Mountain West. It pushes them up from a #5 ranking otherwise. Ohio State is the raw #2, who slipped due to the conference race.
Indiana at #6 is clearly the best story of the season. Their 56-7 thrashing of Nebraska is one of the most impressive results any team has put up this season. And now they get to host College Gameday for the first time.
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