Sport-Blog.com

There are many very fine lines in the NBA, the line between being excellent and good is actually quite small. Likewise, the line between being good an OK team is slim as well. Finally, there is one other fine line, that of being OK and the one that defines being bad.

In recent weeks, a young and athletic Boston Celtics team, one that many hoped would be looking at the line between OK and good, has been sliding precipitously towards the line that separates OK and bad. By the time the team finishes their current five game road trip, they may have slid all the way across that line to the lowest of levels.

Early on in the season, the Celtics competed against the likes of Detroit and San Antonio and gave folks pause with some strong efforts. But the team also struggled down the stretch and lost several close games in the final quarter, keeping folks guessing. But in recent weeks, the fourth quarter failures have been frequent and the team's inability to defend and rebound consistently has Coach Doc Rivers exceptionally frustrated. In addition, the team turns it over all too often, a rate that has them right near the worst in the league.

The fourth quarter struggles and turnovers could be written off as a young team attempting to learn the NBA game. But the defense and rebounding speaks more to intensity and playing hard, two things a young team can do regardless of experience. It is in this arena that the Celtics are sorely lacking, a very troubling factor if there truly is the type of talent on the roster that the coaching and players insist is present.

But, a critical component that ekes its way into play is that of resiliency. When a team struggles, it is difficult to maintain confidence and focus. A failure to stop a team on one trip leads to discouragement and a failure to make the same effort the next trip. A young player struggling in the system can also lose focus, taking a five player defensive rotation and making it just a four player rotation, a recipe for disaster.

The young Celtics are experiencing the growing pains of playing in the NBA but the biggest concern now is that the team may lack the one key ingredient that allows a team to step across the various lines. That ingredient is mental toughness and it is the line the separates the good teams from the great as both usually have essentially the same talent. For Boston it is preventing them from crossing the line to good.

The Celtics are young and growing, but they appear ready to fall below the final threshold line, that of being a bad team. Unfortunately, the fact that they are near that line actually has to speak to less talent than necessary as well as falling below that line speaks to a lack of intestinal fortitude.

The recent Foxsports NBA power ratings have Boston in 26th place. When the C's dropped a game early in the season in Atlanta, there was a real wringing of hands in Boston, how could they lose to such a weak team? Now, the Hawks, younger and less experienced than the Celtics have climbed above Boston in those rankings.

Perhaps the team does have enough talent, like the players and coaching staff insist. If that is the case, then Doc Rivers may end up looking for a coaching job real soon. His team is in free fall and with every lack of success comes the difficulty of changing a losing mind set.

Bringing a team across the various line thresholds are what separate the good coaches from those that are just so-so. Right now, Doc Rivers is giving everyone the impression that he may be the latter when it comes to coaching ability.