Next Up - Celtics @ Sixers February 12th 2019 at 8:00 PM

The cupcake schedule is over.

I say this with a sense of trepidation. It has nothing to do with playing the Sixers who recently upgraded their roster by trading for Tobias Harris. A win or a loss on the road against a top EC team proves nothing as a singular event. What it does however do is bring into focus a collection of games against quality competition.

The Celtics spent about as much time in 3rd place as a weekend getaway at a Holiday Inn Express.

Over the past 18 regular season games, as the Sixers were deeply emerged into 'The Process', Boston beat them on a regular basis going 16-2.

How much more abuse can the Sixers accept before they learn how to beat the Celtics?

Win or lose the Celtics have no time to contemplate because their schedule will be unforgiving.

We are going to find out something about this team. Anybody that claims to know how good or bad or mediocre they are is living in a fantasy.

Some of the recent turmoil can either force this team to close ranks or split it apart. Coach Stevens is the only one who can set the stage for how the Celtics engage on and off the court as it relates to how the team is playing. The closer a team gets to success the closer they are to failure and great disappointment.

The messaging is very important here. Coach Stevens needs to implement some rules of thumb when it comes to his players talking to the media. Maybe he should call Bill Belichick who is a master.

Players on this team need to stop reacting to every win or loss. Players would do well to not feed the media any storylines that will ultimately be exploited.

It's game day and we have dissected the guinea pig into an unrecognizable state.

This teams wants to win. They are not losers. There is a lot of pride that goes unnoticed. They will put their best foot forward.

Win or lose I am rooting for them. I expect a laser like focus tonight and an eye towards executing the game plan drawn up by Brad.

Lets Go Celtics!

Put Jaylen Brown in the starting line up for Morris, is it me or has anyone else noticed a lot of losing plays that he makes in crunch time? Never been enamoured by his game, it’s time to get 2 J’s going, I’d play them 31-32 minutes a game....

I think the Celtics envisioned having Tatum play the stretch 4 position. He is just as a good of a rebounder as Morris and has more skills offensively

Morris had an unbelievable stretch of games shooting the rock. He has come back down to earth. He shot 45% December, 36% January and 33% February as he is just returning to the mean. He has played very well this year

I do not see Brad making a change yet. If Boston goes through this next stretch of games and comes up short, more changes are on the way.

Should be a good game.

That Philly starting lineup is now an absolute monster. The claims that it's now the best starting lineup in the league are a little overly ambitious in my book, but they could get close. Harris really completes that first five. Though he's not a superstar, he compensates for Simmons lack of a three-ball. Butler, Harris, and Redick's ability to shoot from range will keep defenses from packing the paint. Embiid and Simmons are going to be able to do their thing alarmingly well. Though not a top tier defense, I think they'll be in the upper third or so. They might put so many points up it doesn't matter anyway.

dboss wrote:

The messaging is very important here.  Coach Stevens needs to implement some rules of thumb when it comes to his players  talking to the media.  Maybe he should call Bill Belichick who is a master.  

Players on this team need to stop reacting to every win or loss.  Players would do well to not feed the media any storylines that will ultimately be exploited.

Excellent points - wonder why more professional teams don't do more to control messaging a la Belichick? Such an important part of a winning culture.

I'm watching the Clippers game again right now. By the tip of time tonight I will have worked up a serious attitude.