The Celtics have a very good team; a deep team; a vet team; and a team that has been together for a long time. An elite team indeed. A proud franchise.

They went to the finals last season. Many pick them to do the same this season.

They have “embarrassed” Miami already twice this season.

We are rebuilding our team. We have a few key players out with injury. We played in a back to back road game after a win at home. It wasn’t pretty but we got to measure up what a great team looks like and we stayed pretty even for about 20 minutes. They have way more depth and size and weapons than we do right now – that is for sure. The bar is set high. It doesn’t intimidate me or us though. It shouldn’t you as a fan either.

I was happy with how we played hard and how we are playing younger players and rookies to get them minutes in hostile environments.

I remember when we played in Buffalo a couple of years ago with the Caps. Buffalo had a great team and we were “embarrassed” by their vet team – their first place team – and the Washington Post reminded me of how far we had to go to be considered an elite team.

Well. There you go. Things can turn around. Patience is key. Gauging best practices is important too. Live and learn. We are improving game by game. I see it in lots of little ways. We have a million miles to go on our journey together but I wasn’t embarrassed in the least last night. If it doesn’t kill you it makes you stronger. Keep the faith and I hope to see you all on Friday night at home.