Celtic concerns? I don't think so.

Got an email this morning from a friend of mine who wanted to know if I was freaked out because the Celtics had lost 5 of their last 7 games after starting out 27-2. In between the fits of laughter I was able to tell him that, no, I wasn't.

Let's take a look at history. In the past 12 years or so the Celtics have lost 67, 50, 49, 47 and 46 (3 times) games in a season. Those were bad times. This Celtics team tied the best start in NBA history and briefly had visions of a 70 win season in my head. Not exactly the same caliber. But, as with all defending Champions, they have to repeatedly take everyone's best shot, as teams that aren't going to make the playoffs treat their game against the Celtics as their own personal championship game. All this latest tumble means is that they aren't going to be a historic team. I can live with that. I don't want a team that wins 70 games and has no legs come playoff time. I'm perfectly happy with a team that wins only around 63 games in a season, but makes a deep playoff run. If you look in the Garden's rafters you see no banners for division or conference championships, only NBA titles. That's what I am worried about. Losing 5 games in the early part of January doesn't concern me at all.

What this speaks to on a larger scale is just how quickly people forget. With today's "what have you done for me today" attitude, writers and fans forget how bad things were around here just a couple of years ago. I can vividly remember going to the FleetCenter (same building, old name) and having an entire row to myself. Two seasons ago this team lost 18 games in a row. No one was fired, the losing was accepted and no one in the media complained or even noticed. Now, with 7 losses almost halfway through the season, everyone is trying to figure out what is wrong. The turnaround is astounding to the diehards like me. So, no, I'm not happy they lost to the Charlotte Bobcats. But I'm still basking in last June's glory and I'm not ready to give up the sunlight just yet.