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This quote is variously attributed to William Shakespeare, George Patton, and Vince Lombardi. From a purely temporal aspect, you’d have to give coining rights to old Willie, but I think most people find Lombardi the best fit. Oddly, I would have to pick Patton despite his notorious disdain for cowardice—I doubt anything really compares with days of sleep deprivation following weeks of hardship and strain, all under the twin catalysts fear and adrenaline. From a basketball standpoint I would rephrase it as fatigue makes weaklings and dullards of us all.

Dateline: August 22, 2012––39 days until the start of training camp!

The one common thread running throughout the five-year window of the Big Three was that the older All-Stars always entered the post-season worn down to a nubbin. The criticality of this disadvantage has grown each year along with their ages and mileage. Doc has talked of altering this every season but as a rule the roster plays out as one third injured, one third inept, and the final five iron men staggering through.

Greg Popovich has demonstrated the template for conserving aging stars for the playoffs. By sitting a star for one of the two games in back-to-back’s, Pop eschews tactics for that single game in favor of strategic planning for the campaign. In doing so he has extended the careers of Duncan, Ginobli, and Parker as well as maximizing their contributions in May and June.

Can, or maybe will, Doc do the same for Pierce and Garnett? By employing this strategy for B2B’s and the middle game of 3-in-5, Paul and Kevin could shorten their individual season’s by a dozen games and avoid half of the particularly difficult and draining repeat performances that are so hard on a mid-thirties player.

Think of this as an investment rather than a loss. Now revisit the question posed Sunday, what is your contingency plan for losing Pierce or Garnett for a game? How well you manage this may have a lot to do with the playoff seeding (regular season record) and even more to do with the Celtics’ playoff performance.