“There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so” – Hamlet
So much of what frames our enjoyment (or lack thereof) of a particular season boils down to how the team performs relative to expectations. Last year’s team finished with a 61-21 record (.744 winning %), which was a tick down from the 64-18 (.780) wagon that won the title the year before. We all knew that was still really good, but it wasn’t quite what the prior year was. Then The Injury happened, and everyone’s expectations got
reset.
This year’s team is sitting at 43-21 (.672) which puts them on pace for 55 wins. And yet, because of the expectations, we’re all ecstatic with the results thus far.
So many individual performances have contributed to where we are right now. So I thought I’d give you some space to appreciate them.
The obvious ones probably go to the players that thrived. Either Jaylen Brown’s “prove it” season as the go-to, undisputed number one option. Or Payton Pritchard thriving in both a starting role or a bench role. Perhaps you could go with any number of the young guys that stepped up when their number was called.
For that matter you could take some time singing the praises of the guys that have guided this ship. Joe Mazzulla should be a Coach of the Year finalist at least. Brad Stevens likewise should get a long look for Executive of the Year.
Or you could just sit back and marvel at the early returns of the …early return for Jayson Tatum. I think we all mentally gave him the grace to be 50% to 75% of the impact player that he was. Seeing him come back to (waves hand vaguely) somewhere in the 90’s is more than we could have hoped for.
So what is your favorite surprise so far this season? Comment below (join the community if you haven’t already)!
