POST GAME NEW YORK - AWAY

Boston Celtics Schedule Standings Stats Roster Odds Fantasy Tickets Celtics Wrap: Michael Beasley Scores 32 Points As Knicks Beat Injured C’s

NESN by Nicholas Goss on Thu, Dec 21, 2017 at 10:42PM

The Boston Celtics recovered from a poor start but couldn’t stop Michael Beasley in a 102-93 loss to the New York Knicks on Thursday night at Madison Square Garden. Beasley notched season highs with 32 points and 11 rebounds as the Knicks dealt the C’s back-to-back losses for the first time since the opening two games of the season. Irving led the Celtics with 32 points on 12-of-27 shooting. Tatum (17 points), Horford (10) and Marcus Smart (10) also scored in double figures for Boston. The Celtics fall to 26-8 with the loss, while the Knicks improve to 16-14. Here’s how it all went down.

INJURED Jaylen Brown (Achilles), Shane Larkin (knee) and Marcus Morris (knee) didn’t play.

STARTING FIVE PG: Kyrie Irving SG: Marcus Smart SF: Jayson Tatum PF: Al Horford C: Aron Baynes

SLUGGISH START The Celtics got off to an awful start as Brad Stevens was forced to call a timeout just three minutes into the quarter as the Knicks jumped out to a 13-2 lead. New York hit six of its first seven shots, while Boston connected on only one of its first five attempts. The Knicks increased their lead to 21-7 with an 8-0 run, during which the C’s missed six straight shots. They led 25-15 at the end of the first quarter despite making one shot in the last 4:30. The Celtics shot just 7-of-20 in the quarter, including a lackluster 1-of-7 mark from 3-point range. Irving led the C’s with nine points, while Enes Kanter led the Knicks with eight points and six rebounds.

CHIPPING AWAY The Celtics went on an 8-0 run early in the second quarter to trim the deficit to 27-23, but the Knicks got their edge back up to 33-23 thanks to the C’s missing six consecutive shots. The Knicks went five minutes without hitting a shot beginning at the 8-minute mark, but the Celtics only cut the lead to 35-32 during that stretch. Boston battled back nicely, though, and two 3-pointers from Horford and Irving pulled the Celtics within two at 40-38. The Knicks led 44-40 at the half after shooting just 5-of-22 in the quarter.

The Celtics didn’t shoot much better in the second, hitting on eight of 23 attempts. Celtics big men struggled offensively, as Baynes, Horford and Daniel Theis combined to shoot 3-of-12 from the floor. Irving paced the C’s with 14 first-half points. Kanter led the Knicks with 10. Kristaps Porzingis surprisingly shot 0-of-11 in the first half despite getting several open looks.

BACK-AND-FORTH Three 3-point shots by Irving to open the third quarter put the Celtics up 54-51. The Celtics went up 62-53 by the midway point of the quarter thanks to five made 3-pointers. The ball movement was much better for the C’s, who consistently made the extra pass to find the open man. The Knicks went on a 7-0 run to close within 66-64 late in the quarter. Kyle O’Quinn’s putback slam with less than 10 seconds to play tied the game 66-66 entering the final frame. Irving’s 23 points led the C’s through 36 minutes. Kanter and Beasley paced the Knicks with 14 points apiece.

BAD DEFENSE Beasley took over in the first half of the quarter, scoring 18 over the final 12 minutes points to help New York build a lead it wouldn’t relinquish. The Knicks pushed their advantage to 89-81 with just a few minutes remaining in the quarter as the C’s struggled from the field. A 12-4 run over a 3-minute span beginning at the midway point of the quarter basically put the game out of reach for the C’s. The Celtics had a chance with less than a minute to play. They trailed 99-93 with the ball and 37.1 seconds remaining but Irving’s 3-point shot rimmed out, effectively ending any hope Boston had left of winning the game.

HIGHLIGHT OF THE NIGHT Tatum attacks the basket and scores with a sweet reverse layup.

UP NEXT The Celtics return to TD Garden for a Saturday night game against the Chicago Bulls at 7:30 p.m. ET.
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Celtics have no answer for Beasley in 102-93 loss to Knicks

NBC SPORTS BOSTON By A. Sherrod Blakely December 21, 2017 10:36 PM

NEW YORK – It’s official.

The Boston Celtics haven’t played great basketball of late, but they’ve consistently managed to do just enough to avoid a losing streak … until now.

The New York Knicks (17-15) pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 102-93 win which was Boston’s second straight loss.

The Celtics (26-9) haven’t lost back-to-back games since dropping the first two at the start of the season.

Boston had no answer for Michael Beasley who led the Knicks with 32 points (28 in the second half), the kind of scoring outburst they needed with their top scorer Kristaps Porzingis (1 points, 0-for-11 shooting) a non-factor and nowhere to be found on the floor down the stretch.

For the Celtics, it was once again the Kyrie Irving show offensively. He would finish with 32 points which was his third straight game and fifth in the last six matchups, that he has scored 30 or more points.

Boston seemed to run out of steam in the fourth quarter after playing their best basketball of the game, in the third.

The Celtics seemed to awaken from their first-half slumber, playing with noticeably more energy, effort and execution at both ends of the floor.

Boston opened the third quarter with a 17-9 run capped off by a 3-pointer from Marcus Smart who was in the starting lineup for Jaylen Brown who was out because of a sore Achilles injury that isn’t expected to keep him out for a significant amount of time.

The Celtics’ third-quarter play was reminiscent to not that long ago when they reeled off 16 straight wins, a stretch that included a win over the Knicks.

But that team and how they played, is a thing of the past now with the Celtics of today not playing with the same ability to close teams out.

Like Wednesday’s 90-89 loss to Miami, the Celtics failed to make the necessary plays down the stretch that we had seen them do time and time again earlier this season.

The physical toll of what has been a season-long grind is starting to catch up to the Celtics, who have consistently looked a step slow and out of sync at both ends of the floor.

Just to put their schedule in perspective, they played five games in seven nights last week.

And beginning with last Sunday, they are in the middle of a four-games-in-seven-nights stretch now.

Boston didn’t help itself with one of the few rough starts to games, on Thursday.

New York opened the game with a blistering 13-2 run before the Celtics finally slowed them down with a time-out.

Boston went on a mini-spurt of its own with five straight points, but the Knicks were in a nice groove at both ends of the floor which propelled them to a 25-15 lead after one quarter of play.

The second quarter featured Boston going on an 8-0 run capped off by an Abdel Nader 3-pointer. But the Knicks responded with their own run.

And that became the narrative of the night as Boston’s attempts to get back into the game had the look and feel of a sprinter running in quicksand.

Progress was made, but not enough to get any kind of real traction.

112288

Let us see, last night KO with 32 points.....tonight Beasley with 32 points, two journeymen players...................equals= BULL SHXT BASKETBALL.

The team and coaching staff all need a fundamental kick in the ass!

Almost the entire first period and Tatum does not even touch the ball.  Your down Brown and so what..........you ice out Tatum.

Getting a little sick of Irving this and Irving that.............he's got to start distributing the ball more.  These iso 1 on 1 plays and hero ball when it is in the middle of the game ........ no desperate shooting is called for so he becomes out of control is pure crap.  Besides a turnover or missed shot.......what it causes is to put the team out of sync by causing  the rest of the players on the floor to stop moving....becoming flat footed and starting to standing around.

Only in the 3rd quarter did they start moving the ball inside then out .......then east and west did they finally grab the lead only to get to the 4th quarter and Irving hero ball.

Stevens has to start taking the blame by not demanding more ball movement....harder picks ..........and more player rotation movement on the court.

Guess what we are now 4-5 in the last 9 games.

We can use a Big who has size and can score in the paint..........Okafor anyone?

112288

Will add more later, but still digesting this game and one thing comes to mind.

Water finds its level, and basically the Celtics are finding where the fit at this point in the team's development. It was fools gold to think they were best team in the East.

They were playing above their heads for the first 30 games and the last few weeks, they are back to where they likely belong - particularly with being down 2, and many times 3 starters.

They are young and seeing the inconsistency of players like Rozier, Brown, Tatum, Theis etc. In a year or two - all of these tough games will pay dividends with Brown, Tatum, Rozier making plays that they are not making now.

Patience is the word of the moment.

Well we got killed on the boards again, Big Al is playing like below avg Al last few games, if our wings are not helping us on boards we are very vulnerable. Team has lost its identity, we don’t run enough, but maybe it’s cause lately we can’t board for shit. We thought we had a good bench earlier, but bench is in shambles, Tatum still does not get enough touches. My biggest concern is our rebounding and bigs, how much will Al have left for a deep playoff run? Baynes has looked good in moments, but there is a reason he’s never been a starter in this league. For a young team, suddenly we’re playing with no energy, teams are out working us.

Reality is a bitch for sure!!

Baynes has NEVER been an NBA starter. Serviceable backup, sure.

Theis was not on another teams radar,as Danny got him for a minimum deal. A  vet player who helps on defense, sure. Anything more than the 10th man in the rotation and you may have problems.

Ojeleye.....second round pick and playing like it.

Larkin- played his way OUT of the NBA once already. Lets not expect  too much.

Nader- D-league and overseas all-star.

Yabusele- has shown nothing yet


we lost Danny's BIG MONEY addition on game one. at some point that has to hit the team. Looks like it has now. We are NOT a deep team anymore and cannot have 2-3 of your REAL NBA players missing and expect to win.

Perhaps we can get back to health soon and Brad can have a real rotation of quality NBA players to use and compete with.

Okafor is already at Bkn , so that trade has passed.

Basketball is often a game of runs. It can be a season of runs as a team. We started out on a great run. Now, not so great.

We're getting there as a team, but it doesn't happen overnight. We're almost certainly among the top teams in the East, with just one or two holes to fill. MrKleen said it in an earlier post; patience.

I'm the last guy here to go into the stats pile, but consider this...

Celtics team stat and rank...

Rebounds 15
Points 19
Assists 18
FG 19
3pt % 10
3pt made 3

Yes, I cherry-picked picked these numbers out specifically because they back up my thinking that we need two things. One; a big. But with the stats I selected, that big being a traditional center. A low post presence who can score on one end, rebound on both, and defend. NOT a big who can spread the defense and shoot 3s. We don't need that. Second, a point guard. We may already have one, but the lineup may need adjusting.

Remember the past couple of years we needed shooters so badly? 3rd in 3 pointers made and 10th in %. We don't need another shooter.

19th in points and FG %? Pretty middle of the pack. We're making them from the outside, however. Now we need someone we can feed inside and down on the block.

Boards? middle of the pack there too.

Assists? 18. Kyrie is a fantastic addition and may very well help this team to its next championship. He's a scoring machine. He's not a distributor. You can go to NBA.com and check some stats to see which Celtic is a distributor. Marcus Smart. And Horford too.

With Smart and Irving both often on the floor together, the ball is too often in Kyrie's hands. Smart may just need to be the primary ball-handler most of the time. Do that, and look in every corner for that big we not long ago thought was becoming a dinosaur. Guess what? At least for Boston basketball the dinosaur is not extinct. It's going to take patience combined with another sizable trade, or a good draft pick.

Think big.

I can't believe what I've been seeing.

So I guess that means today is the day for cataract surgery.

Maybe they will play better when I"m seeing better.

For all those who think this isn't the same team that went 16-2, I checked. These are the very same players.

Seeyalater, I hope.

mulcogiseng wrote:I can't believe what I've been seeing.

So I guess that means today is the day for cataract surgery.

Maybe they will play better when I"m seeing better.

For all those who think this isn't the same team that went 16-2, I checked. These are the very same players.

Seeyalater, I hope.

Best of luck Mulcogi!

mulcogiseng

Good luck on the surgery ..........like to hear more about the surgery as I need to have that done soon as well.

Regards, 112288

kdp59 wrote:Reality is a bitch for sure!!

Baynes has NEVER been an NBA starter. Serviceable backup, sure.

Theis was not on another teams radar,as Danny got him for a minimum deal. A  vet player who helps on defense, sure. Anything more than the 10th man in the rotation and you may have problems.

Ojeleye.....second round pick and playing like it.

Larkin- played his way OUT of the NBA once already. Lets not expect  too much.

Nader- D-league and overseas all-star.

Yabusele- has shown nothing yet


we lost Danny's BIG MONEY addition on game one. at some point that has to hit the team. Looks like it has now. We are NOT a deep team anymore and cannot have 2-3 of your REAL NBA players missing and expect to win.

Perhaps we can get back to health soon and Brad can have a real rotation of quality NBA players to use and compete with.

Okafor is already at Bkn , so that trade has passed.

My error in a moment of irritation ...........I meant to say Nerlens Noel

112288

Noel might be worth throwing a future second pick for. to fill that 15th spot.

not sure he moves the needle that much for us overall. but neither will anyone else.

For the first time since the disappointing 0-2 start at the beginning of the season Boston has dropped 2 games in a row.

I think we should be careful not to slay the baby because we ran out of Pampers.  There are 11 new faces on this team and an an extraordinary number of rookies.  7 out of 11 of those new faces  are rookies.  Just to keep things in perspective, the Celtics are a very young and very inexperienced team.

Remember how the Celtics were out rebounding other teams?  That is no longer a strength.  Other teams scout other teams and good coaches will design  game plan around taking away something that their opponent does well.

Remember the earlier debate about Baynes being a starter?  As Mrkleen 09 reminded us that "Water finds its level"

There is an obvious need for another center on this team but there is also a need for a reliable scorer to sure up the rotation.  The impact of losing players to injury is bound to take a toll on this team particularly given a torrid schedule that has included 6 out of 9 road games with 3 series of back to back games.  There is little time to rest and no time to practice to work on things that are problems.  A youthful collection of players needs more guidance.

All of the flaws that this team has have been exposed including coaching.

On a recent interview with coach Stevens I was very surprised to hear him say that he makes very little halftime adjustments.  As a matter of fact Brad's intellectual message to his team focuses on  concepts and less on specifics.  So if a nobody like Beasley becomes a problem Brad's response is to try another player on him.  Put Smart on him, try Semi or let Al check him.  And when no one can do the job there is no alternative defensive plan to cool off the hot player.

How about using a double team on the guy that is slaughtering your team?  Force him into becoming a passer.  Take the ball out of his hands.  Brad is obsessed with not giving up open 3 point shots so he would rather let his players get toasted.  Every great defensive team that I have ever seen will double team a player that cannot be stopped by only one player.

On offense a lot of praise has been heaped upon Brad because his offense appears to be team oriented and based on sharing the basketball.  Yet there are a lot of things that this offense does badly.

I am sick at watching the player handoff exchanges, the ill advised interior bounce passes that get pick off, the walk it up the court offense and inability to advance the ball via a pass up the court and the amateurish free throw shooting.

Last night Boston burned the court up by producing 4 fast break points.  If Brad Stevens is as smart as we think he is you would expect that in year 5 of his NBA coaching career that he would have embraced the notion of fast break basketball.

I do think that Brad is an immense asset to the Celtics but he still has a lot of flaws as a coach both on offense and on defense.  We need him to be better.

When you have a healthy roster warts tend to be overlooked but when key guys are not able to play (Brown, Morris and Hayward) and other key guys hit a bad patch (Al Horford, Baynes or a player like Terry Rozier) all the warts show up in High Definition.

It's official, the Celtics are slumping at .500 which means they are playing very average basketball right now.  I have no doubt that they will come out of this once key players return and a more favorable schedule provides more practice time but there are definite problems with holes in this roster as well as how this team plays on both ends of the court that must be addressed for them to take that next step.

dboss

bobheckler wrote:

112288 wrote:Let us see, last night KO with 32 points.....tonight Beasley with 32 points, two journeymen players...................equals= BULL SHXT BASKETBALL.

The team and coaching staff all need a fundamental kick in the ass!

Almost the entire first period and Tatum does not even touch the ball.  Your down Brown and so what..........you ice out Tatum.

Getting a little sick of Irving this and Irving that.............he's got to start distributing the ball more.  These iso 1 on 1 plays and hero ball when it is in the middle of the game ........ no desperate shooting is called for so he becomes out of control is pure crap.  Besides a turnover or missed shot.......what it causes is to put the team out of sync by causing  the rest of the players on the floor to stop moving....becoming flat footed and starting to standing around.

Only in the 3rd quarter did they start moving the ball inside then out .......then east and west did they finally grab the lead only to get to the 4th quarter and Irving hero ball.

Stevens has to start taking the blame by not demanding more ball movement....harder picks ..........and more player rotation movement on the court.

Guess what we are now 4-5 in the last 9 games.

We can use a Big who has size and can score in the paint..........Okafor anyone?

112288

112288,

Okafor was traded to the Nets.


bob


.

Bob, My error in a moment of irritation ...........I meant to say Nerlens Noel

112288

Just to be clear, I wan;t blasting Baynes or any of the other guys I wrote about earlier. Nor has my opinion on them changed much since the start of the season.

the over-all point i was clumsily trying to convey was we are not a very deep team right.

we have maybe 10 legit NBA players on the roster and that was with Hayward, IMO.

trying to win NBA games with only 7 legit NBA players will always be difficult.

KDP

You are correct!

112288

I agree with pretty much all the sentiments expressed above. We need a more athletic rim defender than Baynes and a knock down shooter. DA needs to use that exception on one or the other and go from there.

kdp59 wrote:Just to be clear, I wan;t blasting Baynes or any of the other guys I wrote about earlier. Nor has my opinion on them changed much since the start of the season.

the over-all point i was clumsily trying to convey  was we are not a very deep team right.

we have maybe  10 legit NBA players on the roster and that was with Hayward, IMO.

trying to win NBA games with only 7 legit NBA players will always be difficult.

KDP,

OK, amend my earlier statement to 3 things we need...

1. A big. An old school big ('cause old school ain't old, the game hasn't changed that much)
2. A point guard (one who can dish; AKA Smart to PG, Kyrie to SG)
3. A Better Bench (as per KDP and Tommy Heinsohn)

Regards

...and oh yeah; Peace on Earth, good will to man. We could always use that. I guess that makes 4.

I think just about everyone agrees that the depth at center on this team is very suspect so I completely agree that we could use more depth at center. That however is a lot easier said than done.

I also agree that our bench is weak.  Addressing the center depth issue will help address the bench issue as will the return of Morris.

I definitely do not think that flipping positions between Smart and Irving will make us better. As a matter of fact I do not think we have an issue at point guard.

Statistically the Celtics are still a top defensive team in terms of points allowed and opponents field goal percentage.

The problem with the Celtics begins and ends with their offensive production.  We are not getting enough shots up.  Last year they put up 85 shots per game compared to only 83 this year.  During the 2015-16 season Boston was putting up 89.9 FGA.

Let me share a possible reason why our Pace and Space game has no pace.  This can be proven statistically.  There is a direct correlation between fast break points and shot attempts per game.

For the third year in a row the number of fast break points has trended down from 16 to 12.4 to our current 9.9   The Celtics scoring average will remain stagnant until they fast break at a higher rate and efficiency.  

I believe that the Celtics have the ability to increase their pace if they increase the points they score off fast breaks and this will result in a higher scoring average.  If they can maintain their solid defensive rating they will be able to be one of the top teams in the NBA.

I do not see where Boston will be able to address the center issue this year.  There are a lot of considerations to take into account.  I am not all that concerned about the rebounding although it needs to stabilize and trend in a positive direction.  Boston has not had the practice time to address several issue including rebounding.  Film sessions become teaching moments.

In absence of adding any personnel,  the Celtics just need to work with what they have.  They can and should play with more pace which means fast break basketball.

I am a little surprised that with all the long time Celtics posters on this board I am the only one that  talks about this.  I wish Sam was still here because then there would be two of us talking about fast break basketball and its' relationship to pace and scoring more points easily. If your love affair with the Celtics starts with the Bird era forget about it. His teams were not fast breaking teams.

dboss

There should be a way to make a deal for Noel and then come to a mutual understanding he's gonna be an important cog of the impending, on schedule dynasty. He can be the next Evan Turner, but with a far greater upside. Offer Noel the opportunity to win Horford's contract in a couple years. I would roll the dice on him. Why not?

Irving's dad used to live in Boston. Hayward is on the mend for the playoffs or next season. Keep hope alive. And feed the Tatum pig. Yes, Kyrie needs to study film of Tiny Archibald, Kenny Anderson and John Bagley. Have Smart do that too. Bring back Pressey.

That last stuff is Stevens' responsibility to fix.  He currently has plausible deniability with the injury card. Next guy to take heat might be Danny if Morris is damaged goods.

Phil Pressey wrote:There should be a way to make a deal for Noel and then come to a mutual understanding he's gonna be an important cog of the impending, on schedule dynasty. He can be the next Evan Turner, but with a far greater upside. Offer Noel the opportunity to win Horford's contract in a couple years. I would roll the dice on him. Why not?

Irving's dad used to live in Boston. Hayward is on the mend for the playoffs or next season. Keep hope alive. And feed the Tatum pig. Yes, Kyrie needs to study film of Tiny Archibald, Kenny Anderson and John Bagley. Have Smart do that too. Bring back Pressey.

That last stuff is Stevens' responsibility to fix.  He currently has plausible deniability with the injury card. Next guy to take heat might be Danny if Morris is damaged goods.

$$$$

dboss wrote:

Phil Pressey wrote:There should be a way to make a deal for Noel and then come to a mutual understanding he's gonna be an important cog of the impending, on schedule dynasty. He can be the next Evan Turner, but with a far greater upside. Offer Noel the opportunity to win Horford's contract in a couple years. I would roll the dice on him. Why not?

Irving's dad used to live in Boston. Hayward is on the mend for the playoffs or next season. Keep hope alive. And feed the Tatum pig. Yes, Kyrie needs to study film of Tiny Archibald, Kenny Anderson and John Bagley. Have Smart do that too. Bring back Pressey.

That last stuff is Stevens' responsibility to fix.  He currently has plausible deniability with the injury card. Next guy to take heat might be Danny if Morris is damaged goods.

$$$$

It seemed resolved in another thread that even if the C's could acquire Noel, they'd be at a tremendous disadvantage to resign him. I am thinking of Nader's wink wink deal with Danny. He'd play in the G-League for less money with the understanding he'd be taken care of at a later point.

You're right. It's all about the money. Golden State has hit their limit. They are all in so to speak.

Danny is pretty much tapped out with Horford, Hayward and Irving.

The only reason the current Danny plan is on a trajectory to hit title contention is Brown and Tatum might become all-star caliber while on rookie contracts.

The NBA is apparently hell bent on creating parity. Danny will be entering the luxury cap sooner or later, but this is still a tricky part for him. Cleveland has tapped out all their options. They are chewing nails praying for Brooklyn losses because that's the only asset they've got left since LeBron as GM squeezed Gilbert.

For my plan to work, the Noel trade would have to be made which is always the biggest leap of any speculation. A lot of words get dropped on such and such, say DeMarcus Cousins, and in hindsight it was meaningless.

But if it happened (getting Noel), then he has to fit in. If so, I guess Baynes wouldn't return. Noel would get a one or two year deal, what it would take to get him to the Larry Bird rights.

There are a lot of possibilities! A lot of people suggest a debate of Rozier or Smart, who does one keep. The same could eventually happen between Brown and Tatum but I doubt that. They are the true future core (plus Irving and Hayward) with Smart on the bubble. Golden State has four great players, but that is a fluke because they got lucky with Curry's second deal. Ainge is approaching major decisions. Too much success can force the breakup of great teams? There is a fine line between greatness and treadmill?

I guess it's only half way to becoming a top team even if a GM can join together at least three stars. It takes ten good players to make a rotation and seemingly a minimum of eight healthy good to great players available for the playoffs.

So, for example when I look at the 2008 Celtics, it went well beyond putting together the Big Three. It was having young players Rondo, Powe and Perk emerge. Danny also hit home runs with Posey, Eddie House and PJ Brown.

Then of course Danny failed to resign Posey and Tony due to $$$.

No one likes to think about this business part of it or I don't. The most fun is when one knows this is the team and these are the guys for better or worse. Marcus Smart. Marcus Morris, if he can fix his knees. I want to enjoy each season as a chance to win it all.

If money wasn't such a factor, then one could have kept Turner and Olynyk which is fantasy thinking, but if they were here right now, the C's might only have four losses and on pace for 70 or whatever wins. Basketball has changed so much including with the money part. There have been strikes and lockouts.

Turner and Olynyk are not worth the money, but I just want to watch fun games. It'll be interesting to see how the trade deadline stuff resolves itself. I am a realist in which I am willing to admit the C's are now a 45 win type team if Yabs, Nader, Semi and Larkin have to be relied on. I personally would have been better off without the win streak. Now I want more. Although I am greedy, all I am asking for is some reinforcements. I know there will be no major trade for Anthony Davis or some other form of huge trade. Those just rarely happen.

Please pardon my indulgence. I tend to get wordy in an awkward attempt to flesh out thoughts.

Phil,

Keep being wordy.

We're here to express and share thoughts.

Fire away.

Regards

dboss,

Although I do share your feelings about going uptempo, I don't think we have enough players capable of sustaining that type of game.

That's one of the reasons for my non-stop carping about getting a traditional center. I see that as the simplest fix and biggest step to moving toward the very top of the east. There certainly could be bigger roster changes in another direction; that would be a different plan altogether.

We are getting there. Hayward coming back will help next year, although we will then have a glut of wings. I'm sure there will be bigger changes to the roster in the offseason. Regardless, we'll be a strong playoff team this spring.

Regards