Many at the time pretended that ‘Lethal Weapon 2’ was as good as the first, probably because they wanted and expected it to be that good. Alas, time and perspective have revealed the movie to be a general disappointment. Although it was a game effort, the ride just wasn’t as fun and the movie didn’t live up to the lofty expectations laid upon it. In retrospect, maybe those high expectations were a big part of the problem. When greatness is expected, it eventually becomes a demand. Then, anything less than greatness inevitably becomes a disappointment.

Thus far this Celtics season, I feel a similar disappointment to what I felt with ‘Lethal Weapon 2’ (and not just because I can very easily picture Rasheed Wallace slumping in his locker room chair and muttering “I’m too old for this shit” while Big Baby mistakenly breaks Paul Pierce’s jaw showing off his karate moves). Similar to the ‘Lethal Weapon’ sequel, Boston’s core group has returned, with the team looking spectacular on paper. But, as the actual games have played out, expectations have simply not been met. Yes, the team is 10-4, which equates to 58/59 wins over the course of a full season. Not bad, I suppose. Then again, it’ll probably take better than that to secure home court advantage throughout the playoffs.

Of course, we all know the win-loss record doesn’t come close to telling the whole story. Many of Boston’s recent wins have been against weak sisters like the Nets, the Warriors and the Knicks (some of which were weakened further with depleted rosters) and even then, the Celtics only came away with inexplicably narrow margins of victory. Then you have the three consecutive Friday-night-at-home losses, which individually can certainly be put into perspective but collectively represent a reasonable cause for concern. Doc Rivers has stated that teams are giving Boston their best efforts of the season but that’s a cop-out. Against a Boston team running on all cylinders, a best effort by the lowly New Jersey Nets is still going to result in a lopsided Celtics victory.

Getting back to those expectations, certainly they play a part in how we presently perceive the Celtics. In the past two seasons, the team came out of the gate on fire and didn’t suffer its third loss until late December. Therefore, it seemed reasonable to expect similar early season domination this year, especially with the bolstering of the bench with Rasheed Wallace and Marquis Daniels. And you know what? It wasn’t just the fanboys who were predicting big things. Recall that it was just six week ago that Wallace himself speculated on the team’s chances of surpassing the 72 win total earned by Michael Jordan’s 1995-96 Chicago Bulls. It all seems a bit silly now. Win total discussions are best left in retrospect. Talk about what you did, not what, or you’re going to do. Better yet: Don’t say. Do.

Some might reason that it’s still early to get all hysterical about things, and that’s true. 14 games on the books represents about 1/6th of the season. Others might also point out that Garnett is still in recovery of his injury, and that is also worthy of consideration. However, it’s not enough to toss aside what we’ve seen so far and feel at peace about the team’s prospects.

Consider the problems. The defense has been inconsistent at best. Rasheed Wallace remains mired in a horrendous shooting slump. Rajon Rondo’s aggressiveness comes and goes without rhyme or reason. Ray Allen is shooting 30% from deep waters and has been a consistent liability on defense. The team in general has shown signs of fatigue (i.e. lots of front-rimmed misses, late to loose balls and rotations) and age during stretches of the schedule where games have been packed together, which is frankly a bit alarming to see this early in the season and further heightens a need for best record/home court advantage.  Also, the coaching has been sloppy (the most recent game against the Knicks stands out as Exhibit A) and reflects a lack of defined identity for the team.

Let me flesh out that last point a bit. I can’t prove it because it’s just a sense but it seems to me that Doc Rivers is acting like it’s the fall of 2007 all over again. Ubuntu is still the official theme, that of team unity, but I wonder if it’s become stale. At this point, it might be beneficial to move on and acknowledge that this is a significantly different roster than the one of 2007-08 that won the title. Yes, the starting five are identical but even they are different. Garnett is still figuring out his post-injury game. Ray Allen is undeniably playing older. Meanwhile, both Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins are more experienced and better than they were two years ago, yet in a way the Big Three may be holding them back. Only Paul Pierce seems to be what he was, but it hasn’t appeared to dawn on him yet that he needs to take up the slack left by Garnett and Allen, at least for the time being.

In summary, what I see is a team in search of its new identity. Put more plainly, they need to get their shit together, and I don’t think that’s too much to ask of a highly talented veteran squad and a coaching staff that should by now know how to get their players there. The good news is, they have plenty of time to right the ship. The bad news is that is they need to keep piling up wins in the meantime, especially at home. Otherwise, even a pasty old guy holding up South African government credentials and claiming “Diplomatic Immunity HA HA HAAA!!!!” won’t be enough to save them in the cruel competition of spring.