With apologies to Mark Twain for the title's inspiration out of the way...
A few nights ago, there was Game 6. It was won, it is over. Don't mistake that activity for achievement. Because much awaits. As we wait for the final 48, we need that pain we secretly relish, that of anticipation. It tells us the truth: That we are alive. That this phenomenon can be as gratifying as its actuality.
If you want to fear again as so many did before the last game? Go ahead. This time, I won't judge. Think negatively. But if you go this route, I want you to think more broadly and you might reconsider: What's the absolute worst that could happen? And if it does, you have contingency plans. Think about all that you've not worried about if this is you. Because I assure you, no matter what, the Celtics have a plan. You critics might be loud, but success tends to always be louder.
And that is the beauty of sports and its eternally changing dilemmas, such that its most beautifully indelible moments, people, and games are worth having because they are not wrapped in silk, but rather a biting crown of thorns. From only then and there can you unwrap the enveloping, blooming rose that makes up this team and its story in the coming months. After all, all else equal, wouldn't we value this rose growing more in the desert than the rainforest?
But to that end, be secure. Be secure that all matters are covered and prepared for. If there is superior strength to be had by Embiid, evade. If Harden can be moody, he should be ignited like a flame. Show humility so that we may appear weak when we are strong. If they do not care, or show a lack of effort, it is all the reason to never rest, and only ever show that much more. Divide their attack, and separate the double team. Attack where THEY are unprepared. In so doing, you are set to be where unexpected. Prepare, and your chances such as this will come. Opportunity will not waste its time with us if not.I included Shakespeare last time, so there is the obligatory mention, this time from one of my favorites, Henry V: All things are ready, if our mind be so.
On the power of the mind, basketball is uniquely associated with a phenomenon, even as a statistician I absolutely believe in: The hot hand. And in that respect, the mission should be simple and effective to both explain and execute. As Philadelphia tries to be an irksome, buzzing, hissing bug upon the garden of our bliss, as the moth to the Boston's flame. Absolutely ignite ourselves in what makes us highly spreadable arson, to deprive the poor moth of not only its life and sense of being but quite literally incineration of them to ashes, to what was of them shall be no more, with no further traces, in retrospect. There are but many virtues I wish to extoll: Persistence, patience, power, and prioritization. That is how to remain level.
This is everything. It's also potentially nothing. But Miami is not guaranteed. It's worth fighting about right now. The Celtics should have no fear of perfection. If they do, they'll never reach it. It's time to stop talking and start doing. This is, as said, it. One more...one more game of action to make your dreams, one more passion to create your name. Give it all again once more, without thinking twice. And no matter what, from there, there will be no regrets. Once again, this is a beginning. But for what is a beginning but always today? Let's start it off right. As will always be the case, it is always the most important part of the work.
A few nights ago, there was Game 6. It was won, it is over. Don't mistake that activity for achievement. Because much awaits. As we wait for the final 48, we need that pain we secretly relish, that of anticipation. It tells us the truth: That we are alive. That this phenomenon can be as gratifying as its actuality.
If you want to fear again as so many did before the last game? Go ahead. This time, I won't judge. Think negatively. But if you go this route, I want you to think more broadly and you might reconsider: What's the absolute worst that could happen? And if it does, you have contingency plans. Think about all that you've not worried about if this is you. Because I assure you, no matter what, the Celtics have a plan. You critics might be loud, but success tends to always be louder.
And that is the beauty of sports and its eternally changing dilemmas, such that its most beautifully indelible moments, people, and games are worth having because they are not wrapped in silk, but rather a biting crown of thorns. From only then and there can you unwrap the enveloping, blooming rose that makes up this team and its story in the coming months. After all, all else equal, wouldn't we value this rose growing more in the desert than the rainforest?
But to that end, be secure. Be secure that all matters are covered and prepared for. If there is superior strength to be had by Embiid, evade. If Harden can be moody, he should be ignited like a flame. Show humility so that we may appear weak when we are strong. If they do not care, or show a lack of effort, it is all the reason to never rest, and only ever show that much more. Divide their attack, and separate the double team. Attack where THEY are unprepared. In so doing, you are set to be where unexpected. Prepare, and your chances such as this will come. Opportunity will not waste its time with us if not.I included Shakespeare last time, so there is the obligatory mention, this time from one of my favorites, Henry V: All things are ready, if our mind be so.
On the power of the mind, basketball is uniquely associated with a phenomenon, even as a statistician I absolutely believe in: The hot hand. And in that respect, the mission should be simple and effective to both explain and execute. As Philadelphia tries to be an irksome, buzzing, hissing bug upon the garden of our bliss, as the moth to the Boston's flame. Absolutely ignite ourselves in what makes us highly spreadable arson, to deprive the poor moth of not only its life and sense of being but quite literally incineration of them to ashes, to what was of them shall be no more, with no further traces, in retrospect. There are but many virtues I wish to extoll: Persistence, patience, power, and prioritization. That is how to remain level.
This is everything. It's also potentially nothing. But Miami is not guaranteed. It's worth fighting about right now. The Celtics should have no fear of perfection. If they do, they'll never reach it. It's time to stop talking and start doing. This is, as said, it. One more...one more game of action to make your dreams, one more passion to create your name. Give it all again once more, without thinking twice. And no matter what, from there, there will be no regrets. Once again, this is a beginning. But for what is a beginning but always today? Let's start it off right. As will always be the case, it is always the most important part of the work.