This is a loss that’s like realizing 20 minutes into your commute that you missed a giant patch shaving.
*sigh* Are you f’ing kidding me?
It’s dumb and embarrassing. And maybe, in the moment, you let your frustration get the best of you, you slam the steering wheel and flip someone off for no reason.
Let’s hope that CVS has a self checkout so you can slip in and out with some cheap disposables without that cashier realizing why you’re buying them, right?
This is a loss that’s like forgetting your phone was tucked into your back pocket and it falls into the toilet as you pull your pants down.
*sigh* Are you f’ing kidding me?
You should know better, because this is the second phone you’ve ruined this way. You sat on the last one and this ... this is just gross. You have to face the reality of reaching in there to get it. You have to confront what you did, and it’s not pretty.
This is a loss that’s like getting out of your car and realizing you forgot to put it in park and it starts rolling.
*sigh* Are you f’ing kidding me?
This is such a basic thing. There’s a big “P” right there. It’s the first damn thing you learn in driver’s ed: P is Park. D is Drive. D is for when you’re driving. P is for when you’re parking.
But, there you are, saying “no, no, no, no” as you hope to get into that car as it rolls down a grade that for some reason seems a lot steeper than you remember it. Let’s hope that extra doughnut at the meeting this morning doesn’t slow you down so you can catch it before it crashes and you have to explain this to someone.
This is a loss that’s like going to the store for a specific thing, shopping for 45 minutes, and then realizing as you got home that you forgot to get the one thing you went shopping for in the first place.
*sigh* Are you f’ing kidding me?
You were given very specific instructions. All you had to do was buy this one thing. The conversation about buying it was very specific. You agreed you were going to buy it. And now you’re back home facing someone looking through three bags for something you didn’t buy.
Now you’re embarrassed about it, mad at yourself, but when you get the “all I asked for was this one thing” you’re the one lashing out and screaming “oh so I forgot, so sue me!”
What the Celtics did in the fourth quarter against the Cleveland Cavaliers was bad. They didn’t listen to their coach, and the result was kind of embarrassing, kind of gross, and it certainly ended as a car wreck.
All of these things could have been avoided with some concentration, but sometimes that concentration is off for some reason.
No one forgets to put their car in park because they’re thinking clearly.
The question for Boston is the same one they’ve faced for a while, even as they’ve made some steady improvements.
They know they relax too often, and too soon. They know that when they do, these things happen. Yet they keep doing it.
Why?
“It’s just us being fed up with it. I guess that's the point, which we are,” Robert Williams said. “Like I said, we are still learning each other day to day, but these slip ups, this shit can’t happen no more. Obviously we’re fighting for something bigger than just one game. We gotta put a stop to it.”
If all of the examples I laid out are things that keep happening to someone, then that person needs to stop and really ask himself the hard question: why? Why do you keep swearing to yourself after some avoidable, embarrassing event?
This loss was rough, but there are certainly several mitigating factors. All of the injuries put Ime Udoka in the tough spot of having to ride a group of guys who were never meant to play together just so he could make sure he gave his guys appropriate rest on the back-to-back.
“Guys got to step up,” he said. “We got guys playing heavy minutes, and some guys out. Everybody else has to step up. Can't overrun everybody.”
At the same time, there are actual signs of progress. Boston’s defensive rating is up to ninth in the NBA and they now have a positive net rating for the first time this season. They have held teams to less than 100 points in four of their last six games.
Still, the sting of the embarrassment lingers after a performance like this. Their ability to go from in complete control to Inspector Clouseau-type bungling borders on astounding. It’s almost Ron Burgundy “I’m not even mad, that’s amazing” level stuff.
Just like all those other examples, there is a simple fix here.
Just stop doing it.
Pay attention to your shaving, to your phone, to your car, to your shopping list, and to your double-digit fourth quarter leads. Just be aware of them and the ONE thing you need to do to finish your task.
Now excuse me while I get some rubber gloves and some tongs.
