Re: Celtics Post-Game Thread (Collection of past threads)

[steve3344]

Second half shooting:

Rondo: 1 for 7
Ray: 2 for 6
Perk: 1 for 3
Quis: 1 for 2
KG: 0 for 3
Sheed: 0 for 4
Baby: 1 for 3
Nate: 0 for 4
TA: 3 for 7

Second half shooting totals: 9 for 41 (22%). First half: 24 for 40 (60%).

First half three-point shooting: 83.3% (5 for 6)
Second half three-point shooting: 8.3% (1 for 12)

Mo Williams made more second half shots (6) than all of Boston's starters (5). And four times as many three-pointers.

Continuation of a pattern: Celtics had just two fourth quarter assists.

Another 18 minute 2 rebound performance for Sheed. In 8 of his last 14 games he's gotten 2 rebounds or less. And hard to believe he could get LESS than 2 rebounds, playing 20+ minutes a game but in two games he actually even did that.

Cavs scored more points in the fourth quarter than the Celtics scored in the entire second half.

I vote this one as the most disappointing performance of the season. And that's saying something with what we've witnessed the past two months.

Boston's first 28 games: 23-5 (outscored opponents by 268 points, differential +9.57)
Boston's last 28 games: 13-15 (outscored by opponents by 16 points, differential -0.57)

A tale of two seasons, split exactly in half.

I liked the first 28 games better.

[cowens/oldschool]

Steve that covered everything,we sucked

[sinus007]

Hi,
Yes, it was horrible in the second half, especially in the 4th.
I wonder why Doc didn't gamble putting 3 bigs after Shaq went out?
What happened to 'Quis? Did he get really ill so Doc had to put RA against LJ?
Why did Doc played Nate at the same time as RR? Isn't he a backup PG?
What happened to RR, why did he stop doing what he was doing in the first half?
O boy... Well, the only positive outcome of the game, IMHO, was PP in street clothes healing his hand. I hope they'll keep him that way for at least the next game.

AK

[bigpygme]

steve -
good synopsis and analysis of a very ugly 2nd half, one that got worse as it went on. you r stats illuminate the problems with the very poor offensive efficiency we suffered through. and the Cavs defense was part of the reason - don't i remember two 24 second violations? i surely remember Ray's last-moment-in the shot-clock heave with LBJ's hand in his face, that one amounted to a 24 second violation.
but, though Cavs D was part of it, we ourselves were the bigger part. lucky to hit the back board, and sometimes we didn't ! speaking of which, Rosalie's right when she asks, when did Rondo become our go-to 3-point shooter?

i thought Doc played Nate with Ronda for pace, quickness, speed. in the T.O.'s Doc complained loudest about the pace not being what we needed it to be. i'll buy that. with Quis under the weather, he couldn't find a combination that would bring the pace back.

do you really think a young guy like Rondo was gassed after the 1st half? i know he played the whole half, but "in the old days ..." - i won't go on.

agree with AK - hope they rest PP until he's really ready to play.

Michael

[bobheckler]

I didn't watch the last 5 minutes or so, I'm still sick and had to lay down (the game didn't help either).

1. Rondo OWNED the game in the first half. He disappeared in the second half. This isn't the first time this has happened. He disappeared in the second half of the Lakers game and the Nuggets game. It's not good when your starting all-star guard isn't effective after halftime and can't be trusted at the line.

2. Andersen Varajao was a high-energy catalyst for the Cavs. He came in and fought for offensive rebounds, chased caroms and just generally was a pest. Seems like most of his effectiveness came when he was being guarded by feet-in-concrete Sheed.

3. Another night in the rocking chair for Ol' Sheed. He hit a big 3 and I said "YES!" and then I remembered to be careful what I ask for and sure enough, he kept launching them and missing them. 2 rebounds, no assists and no blocks for our backup center in 18 minutes. For Pete's sake, little 5'9" Nate Robinson had more rebounds in fewer minutes than Rasheed Wallace.

4. We got 23 fta last night. 10 of them were by 2 players who can't hit free throws. If you can't hit free throws, you can't be in the end of a tight game (not that this game qualified as such) and that, sadly, describes two of our starting players.

5. Tony Allen's stats look decent today, but I swear he looked lost out there last night. At least he was hustling though. He just didn't look like he knew where he was going.

6. For the umpteenth time, Ray Allen is a pro's pro. People who said he was in decline because he was shooting less just don't understand the man. With Pierce out, and more shooting needed, Ray Allen has been everything we could ask for. At the risk of incurring the ire of the Defender of the Faith (Sam), I'm going to say that Ray Allen is reminding me more and more of Havlicek all the time. A perpetual motion machine. Consummate team player. Good sport and fierce competitor. Ray might be better shooter than Hondo and Hondo may have been a better defender, but they approach the game the same way. They ask themselves "what does the team need from me tonight?".

7. Nate looked pretty good. Still needs to fit in more, but pretty good so far.

8. Rondo has gotten into this HORRIBLE HABIT of trying to do "hero ball". This is where we have a last shot coming and he hangs onto the ball and takes a jump shot. NOT his specialty. Doc has got to break him of that.

Danny didn't want to break up the core players as we approached the trade deadline. Unfortunately, our best trade bait was Ray Allen, who is now one of the best players on the Celtics. If the rumors were true, about Larry Brown of the Bobcats coveting Sheed but Danny didn't want to trade him, then Danny blew it.

For a veteran team, we're falling apart in the second half like the Clippers.

[jeb]

Bobheck

point 4 free throws. I concur...it's tough. Pretty big disparity towards the cavs too.

point 6 I double secret concur! I watched Ray close last night and he just brings it all night. I feel he gets a lot of the blame when the OFFENSE slows down and stops moving. He never does.

point 1 the cavs made adjustments, packed it in and doled out some very hard fouls.

[Pumpsie Green]

3. Another night in the rocking chair for Ol' Sheed. He hit a big 3 and I said "YES!" and then I remembered to be careful what I ask for and sure enough, he kept launching them and missing them. 2 rebounds, no assists and no blocks for our backup center in 18 minutes. For Pete's sake, little 5'9" Nate Robinson had more rebounds in fewer minutes than Rasheed Wallace.

Bob, this offseason the Celtics have a huge job to completely rebuild the team. I don't see it happening in just one year, but the FIRST THING that DA should do is can Rasheed Wallace. He can sure talk the talk, but he has nothing left to give us. Its rare that he has a decent game; usually its brick after brick, and NO EFFORT getting to rebounds. He is completely washed up. I won't miss his act one bit.

[jeb]

pumpsie

You see anything good out there? Any reason to not fear the future?

[bobheckler]

Bobheck

point 4 free throws. I concur...it's tough. Pretty big disparity towards the cavs too.

point 6 I double secret concur! I watched Ray close last night and he just brings it all night. I feel he gets a lot of the blame when the OFFENSE slows down and stops moving. He never does.

point 1 the cavs made adjustments, packed it in and doled out some very hard fouls.

jeb,

Yep, they got physical and we didn't respond. This is the downside of Rondo's fg shooting. They don't respect him at all. It's gotten better, but it's still weak. His fts, of course, are excrement.

Someone oughta sit Perk down with some video of Wilt shooting underhand fts. Might help him get over the whole "macho" part of it. Nothing sissy about Wilt. A 54% career ft shooter, he shot 73% his last year in the league shooting underhand freethrows, Rick Barry style. Nothing sissy about Perk either, he should just get over it and give it a try.

I love watching players without the ball. You never really lose sight of the ball, since it's the center of activity and it's always in the corner of your vision, so you can watch other players downpick or run people off of double weak-side screens etc. That's what Ray Allen does so well. He's keep screwing with his guys head down along the baseline under the basket and then just run out on top past a pick or two, get the ball and shoot. Maravich used to do that with us too, the one year he was here. Talk about a pure shooter. Phew!


bob

[bobheckler]

3. Another night in the rocking chair for Ol' Sheed. He hit a big 3 and I said "YES!" and then I remembered to be careful what I ask for and sure enough, he kept launching them and missing them. 2 rebounds, no assists and no blocks for our backup center in 18 minutes. For Pete's sake, little 5'9" Nate Robinson had more rebounds in fewer minutes than Rasheed Wallace.

Bob, this offseason the Celtics have a huge job to completely rebuild the team. I don't see it happening in just one year, but the FIRST THING that DA should do is can Rasheed Wallace. He can sure talk the talk, but he has nothing left to give us. Its rare that he has a decent game; usually its brick after brick, and NO EFFORT getting to rebounds. He is completely washed up. I won't miss his act one bit.

pumpsie,

I think my biggest beef with Sheed is that he isn't giving the impression he's "coachable". He plays his game, such as it is, and won't listen to others. Whether it's getting technicals or taking unneeded 3 pters, he's not listening to Doc.

We'll see. Some old horses just won't come out of the stable until they hear the fire bell and then they're 2-year thoroughbreds again. Come April/May, we'll see about Rasheed. We'll see about all these guys.

bob

[jeb]

Bobheck

The early results are the loss of Eddie has goobered up our spacing.

One thing, last night was anybody's game til the fourth and we have been in almost every game we have lost. Hence if we keep improving we can eke out some of these wins.

Dont look too good for a title this year but ya never know. I think we can tweak the team a tad in the offseason and get back where we want to be.

The Cavs looked really good and I think jamison will be a nice fit for them.

I thought doc got outgeneraled last night. Brown made adjustments and Doc did not. Some pretty hard fouls out there.

[bobheckler]

Bobheck

The early results are the loss of Eddie has goobered up our spacing.

One thing, last night was anybody's game til the fourth and we have been in almost every game we have lost. Hence if we keep improving we can eke out some of these wins.

Dont look too good for a title this year but ya never know. I think we can tweak the team a tad in the offseason and get back where we want to be.

The Cavs looked really good and I think jamison will be a nice fit for them.

I thought doc got outgeneraled last night. Brown made adjustments and Doc did not. Some pretty hard fouls out there.

jeb,

"goobered up our spacing"? That's great. Yep, we're goobered up alright. Perhaps Doc sees that and that's why he has Nate and Rondo in there at the same time. Better ballhandling than Rondo and Eddie but still with some guns. Let's face it though, Eddie was lights out from 3. Hard to replace that. It would work better if Rondo could shoot. Then Nate could handle the ball and set up Rondo for the shot.

Some of it has to come from the players. When you get pushed around you should want to push back. Stand your ground. Show some competitive fire. Did you see that coming from the players last night? The ones in green, I mean. Doc can talk all he wants but the players have to execute and we're not a young, untested team. Doc should actually have to talk very little about stuff like this to them. They should feel it in their belly and if they need Doc to remind them, that's the problem.

bob

[jeb]

Bobheck

I cconcur with your last paragraph. They went very gently into that good night. Tough to watch. They just conceded. Pretty much with 5 minutes left and down ten! But we did also miss a ton of makable shots.

[Jerry Tarkanian]

I'll choose to look at the first 24 minutes as a 'glimmer'.

The first half the team was fluid and played well. They are not now capable of such for 48 minutes, and may or may not reach that level, I hope they can as the effort I saw initially would be hard to beat sustained for a full contest.

Tark

[bobheckler]

I'll choose to look at the first 24 minutes as a 'glimmer'.

The first half the team was fluid and played well. They are not now capable of such for 48 minutes, and may or may not reach that level, I hope they can as the effort I saw initially would be hard to beat sustained for a full contest.

Tark

Tark,

I concur. If we could get 48 minutes like we saw in the first 24, we'd be very tough to stop. Very tough. We did everything right. Rondo OWNED the Cavs, outright, by getting everybody in green involved. The $64 question is: how the heck can we get the players to do it for another 24?

[steve3344]

Bobheck

point 4 free throws. I concur...it's tough. Pretty big disparity towards the cavs too.

point 6 I double secret concur! I watched Ray close last night and he just brings it all night. I feel he gets a lot of the blame when the OFFENSE slows down and stops moving. He never does.

point 1 the cavs made adjustments, packed it in and doled out some very hard fouls.

jeb,

Yep, they got physical and we didn't respond. This is the downside of Rondo's fg shooting. They don't respect him at all. It's gotten better, but it's still weak. His fts, of course, are excrement.

Someone oughta sit Perk down with some video of Wilt shooting underhand fts. Might help him get over the whole "macho" part of it. Nothing sissy about Wilt. A 54% career ft shooter, he shot 73% his last year in the league shooting underhand freethrows, Rick Barry style. Nothing sissy about Perk either, he should just get over it and give it a try.

I love watching players without the ball. You never really lose sight of the ball, since it's the center of activity and it's always in the corner of your vision, so you can watch other players downpick or run people off of double weak-side screens etc. That's what Ray Allen does so well. He's keep screwing with his guys head down along the baseline under the basket and then just run out on top past a pick or two, get the ball and shoot. Maravich used to do that with us too, the one year he was here. Talk about a pure shooter. Phew!


bob

Bob,

I don't know what league Wilt ever shot 73% from the free throw line in but it certainly wasn't the NBA. Wilt was a career 51.1% FT shooter (not 54% as you state) and in his last two seasons (presumably shooting all of them underhand) he shot 42.2% and 51% on his freebies.

I just noticed where you made your error: Wilt was a career 54% FIELD GOAL shooter and shot FIELD GOALS at a 72.7% clip his final year. Not free throws. You looked at the wrong column buddy.

[bobheckler]

Bobheck

point 4 free throws. I concur...it's tough. Pretty big disparity towards the cavs too.

point 6 I double secret concur! I watched Ray close last night and he just brings it all night. I feel he gets a lot of the blame when the OFFENSE slows down and stops moving. He never does.

point 1 the cavs made adjustments, packed it in and doled out some very hard fouls.

jeb,

Yep, they got physical and we didn't respond. This is the downside of Rondo's fg shooting. They don't respect him at all. It's gotten better, but it's still weak. His fts, of course, are excrement.

Someone oughta sit Perk down with some video of Wilt shooting underhand fts. Might help him get over the whole "macho" part of it. Nothing sissy about Wilt. A 54% career ft shooter, he shot 73% his last year in the league shooting underhand freethrows, Rick Barry style. Nothing sissy about Perk either, he should just get over it and give it a try.

I love watching players without the ball. You never really lose sight of the ball, since it's the center of activity and it's always in the corner of your vision, so you can watch other players downpick or run people off of double weak-side screens etc. That's what Ray Allen does so well. He's keep screwing with his guys head down along the baseline under the basket and then just run out on top past a pick or two, get the ball and shoot. Maravich used to do that with us too, the one year he was here. Talk about a pure shooter. Phew!


bob

Bob,

I don't know what league Wilt ever shot 73% from the free throw line in but it certainly wasn't the NBA. Wilt was a career 51.1% FT shooter (not 54% as you state) and in his last two seasons (presumably shooting all of them underhand) he shot 42.2% and 51% on his freebies.

I just noticed where you made your error: Wilt was a career 54% FIELD GOAL shooter and shot FIELD GOALS at a 72.7% clip his final year. Not free throws. You looked at the wrong column buddy.

steve,

Oops. Quite right. Wishful thinking. Knew it was too good to be true.

Shot fgs at a 72.7% clip in his final year. Amazing. Of course, Bill Russell had already retired by then.

bob

[Sam]

In lieu of a formal commentary on the game-on thread, since I didn't see the first half anyway but did tape the second half, I have just spent four hours reviewing my tape of the second half and re-watching the vast majority of plays as many as to 10 times apiece. I wanted to dissect the offense and the defense for both teams on every play, with the primary objective of determining WHAT WENT WRONG.

I also did a +/- analysis for all eight player combinations Doc put on the floor in the second half—up to the time he inserted Landry and made garbage time officlal.

Dealing with the +/- thing first, here are the figures for the various combinations (second half only—and omitting those last couple of minutes in the game):

+ 1 Rondo/Nate/Ray/Quis/Davis
0 Rondo/Ray/Quis/Davis/Perk
0 Rondo/Nate/Ray/Quis/KG
-2 Nate/Ray/Tony/Davis/Sheed
-2 Rondo/Ray/Tony/Davis/Sheed
-2 Rondo/Ray/Quis/Davis/Sheed
- 5 Rondo/Nate/Tony/Davis/Sheed
-13 Rondo/RayQues/KG/Perk

For the most part, the quicker units fared relatively best (or perhaps I should say "less poorly"). There's little question in my mind that the absence of Shaq may have been a blessing in disguise for the Cavs because, by default, it infused them with greater quickness which, I believe, won them the game at both ends of the floor.

On offense, the Cavs simply trampled the Celtics with a combination of high pick-and-rolls, inside-out passing for open threes in the corners, and a high energy level. And the Celtics cooperated with very poor decision-making in trying to go over picks rather than under them as well as a number of individual defensive lapses and tardiness in their reactions.

On one play, Lebron was dancing around beyond the arc on the left side of the floor. Hickson came out and set a high pick for him. Tony was on Bron's left, and for some reason Sheed moved onto his right, I guess to try to trap him. But, when Sheed moved out from in front of Hickson to go to Bron's right, a kindergarten child could have seen the clear path to the basket for Hickson and one of his alley-oops. Sheed could have stayed in front of Hickson and been ready to slide over just one step if Bron had elected to drive toward the middle. It was a terrible decision.

Picks did more than to spring Cavs for some great rolls. The Cavs also utilized picks to spring their guards loose for open threes throughout the second half. Sometimes guys like Ray or Davis or Nate would do the "dying swan" desperation thing a half second too late; on other occasions, the shooter had time to check his feet, floss his lower teeth, check the wind, and let fly. The Celtics quite obviously need to find some way to deal with picks and their repercussions, and they definitely cannot depend on any native quickness in doing so.

As for individual defensive problems, Sheed plays very effective defense if he maintains contact with the guy he's covering. But once, West threw a 25-foot alley-oop to Hickson, and Sheed was standing just four feet from the basket but didn't move a muscle to disrupt the pass.

On another occasion, Sheed wouldn't have had to move in order to take a charge from Lebron, who was committed to a drive with one second left in the third quarter. Lebron went right at Sheed and had absolutely no time to change course. Sheed was safely outside the charge circle. But instead of folding his arms and taking the charge, he tried to block the shot. As soon as he left his feet, he was culpable.

On the Celtics' offensive end, the Cavs demonstrated defense as it should be played. They employed what I call a "flex" defense. When the Celtics would bring the ball up, they'd be met by at least two Cavs well beyond the arc. Then, as soon as the Celtics made an entry pass, all five Cavs would mysteriously materialize all the way around the lane. Not in the lane so as to risk a three-second defensive violation, but presenting a wall that discouraged incursions to the basket and was ready to collapse on anyone who tried it. Davis and Tony, in particular, were utterly frustrated by challenges to their attempted layups.

The best measure against a flex defense is not to let it get set. This is accomplished by (1) stiffening your own defense so you won't be taking the ball out of the basket too much and pushing the ball upand; and (2) even when the opponent makes a basket, the ball should be pushed up. All too often, the Celtics had no opportunity to exercise more than their first option; and sometimes the Cavs' multiple deflections prevented even that.

In the second half, the Celtics' entry pass typically occurred with about 10 seconds left on the shot clock, after the ball had been walked up and pounded into the floor for a while. It was as though they were playing iso ball without their prime iso guy, which played right into the hands of the Cavs' defense, as did the Celtics' penchant for telegraphing passes.

On one play, Glen Davis had the ball on one side of the floor, with all four Celtics on the other side, just beyond the Cavs' "lane barricade" and probably invisible to Glen. Time was running down, and it was obvious that Glen's only option was to back down and try a layup. I swear I saw the Cavs flipping coins, and finally two of them just dropped down and molested him, causing an errant shot. And the really irritating part was that Ray was beyond the arc and could simply have run about 10 feet to Glen's the side of the floor to take a pass for a wide open shot from any distance. But Ray didn't move.

The next best measure against a flex defense is movement without the ball (which the Cavs were doing very well on their end). The Celtics were just plain awful in that regard. Occasionally Ray would run a curl; but it seemed uncoordinated with any other facet of the offense. In contrast, here's what the Cavs did on one play.

A fourth measure against a flex defense is to present more of a perimeter threat than the Celtics did in that half. No Celtic was hitting from outside (they really missed Eddie), but that was partly because a lot of the wrong people were shooting. Rondo was heaving them up with 10-12 seconds left on the shot clock. Tony tried one. To say nothing of Sheed's and Ray's misses, some of which were early in the shot clock. I believe in shooting early in the clock, but not from three-point land.

In at least one possession, Nate brought the ball up the floor (walking of course), and passed it to Rondo, who took a hurried three (airball) with at least 10 seconds left on the clock. At the very least, I'd have liked to see their roles reversed on that one. I mean, I don't believe Nate's going to be a lights-out three-point shooter, but it would be nice to see him (rather than Rondo) trying to establish a little floor balance.

All of this is not intended as some dreary, generalized, ridiculous gloom and doom suggestion that the sky is falling just because the Boston Celtics lost a game. It's meant to embody the kinds of "hopeful objectivity" that I try to practice, involving recognition of both pros and cons and focusing on how to capitalize on the positives and address the challenges.

I see these factors as challenges to be addressed, and that process will be interesting to watch. And the game was not without glimmers. I probably missed some glimmers by being out during the first half. But one I took from the second half was the energy levels generated by the combination of Rondo, Nate and Tony. The results were not always perfect, but the portents were very encouraging.

I'd be interested in whether anyone can post insights about the first half that might indicate how some of their first half actions could represent antidotes to the concerns I mentioned about the second half.

Sam

[RosalieTCeltics]

Good response!!! No one will ever, ever convince me that Bill Russell played second fiddle to Wilt. He could have score more points for his entire career and Russell still would have been wearing the rings. I watched from the stands one night as Wilt refused to go back in the game against the Celtics and Russell. He had just had it! And they never mentioned it in the papers.

Perk has certainly slowed down in the last couple of months, and I think it is time for Clifford Ray to lock him in a room with a bunch of video and not let him out until he admits his errors and tries to work on correcting them. He had been playing so well for the beginning two and a half months of the season, it is such a let down to watch him fumble the ball and hesitate the way he has been.

Now that we are through with the big man, let's get to Tony Allen. Is this guy ever going to live up to what they believe he can be or is he going to continue to let us down when we need him the most? Last night I could have jumped through the screen and hit him over the head!!!!!!! Sorry, I guess my frustration is showing.

As far as Ray's shooting in the second half, if you watch replays of the game, you will see that he gets his hands on the ball three quarters of the time with 4, 5, 6 seconds left and has to hurry a shot. He was the hardest working guy on the court. Okay, no more about Ray.

I am getting frustrated. It has been a long season, and this team just hasn't given it their all. I will not give up, but I am disappointed.

[Jerry Tarkanian]

Bobheck

The early results are the loss of Eddie has goobered up our spacing.

One thing, last night was anybody's game til the fourth and we have been in almost every game we have lost. Hence if we keep improving we can eke out some of these wins.

Dont look too good for a title this year but ya never know. I think we can tweak the team a tad in the offseason and get back where we want to be.

The Cavs looked really good and I think jamison will be a nice fit for them.

I thought doc got outgeneraled last night. Brown made adjustments and Doc did not. Some pretty hard fouls out there.

Jeb,

We need to root hard for a Title this year as we have little or no flexibility in the off season to improve. DA's principal move of a 3 month rental of Nate only helped the Knicks within the division be far stronger in the future. NYK and NJN can offer max contracts to two each of the marquee FA's now...and the allure of New York and its marketing opportunities will attract top talent.

Tark

[jeb]

Rosie t.

It really jobs me to see a lack of effort. If you get beat by superior firepower and play with your entire being I will be the first to stand with you. (see last year) but the lapses in effort get under my skin.

We were down 10 with 5 minutes to go and it seemed to me we just quit fighting and conceded the game. That stung.

I wish Doc would seriously Bill Fitch these guys sometimes. But i aint in practice and he may be doin it everyday.

We CAN play like we did in the first half.

[jeb]

Tark

For sure. But I wont cringe in anticipation of some nebulous future that dont exist yet. None of us have any ideal what will happen in the future. To project some dire future in the wasteland for 20 years is a waste of my time.

Best

Jeb

[Pumpsie Green]

pumpsie

You see anything good out there? Any reason to not fear the future?

Well, we did lose the game by 20 points. I like Daniels' game, as a backup, and if Rondo can work on his free throw shooting and develops some sort of outside shot (that is simply WORK during the offseason) he could be really really good. TA is a decent backup, and Perk has potential. I think that the 'big three' are too old now. Unfortunately, I think we need to let Ray walk and if KG has chronic knee problems, as I suspect, I think he needs to retire. PP would make a great backup player, but we really need to get younger.

[jeb]

Pumpsie

If we had won the game by 20 it still would have been a hotly contested game no? Pretty damn close through 3 quarters.

I agree about Rondo's shot. But with a caveat. He is a guy that can impose his will on the game. He did it to the Lakers last time we played them. He can control a game without scoring. That is rare.

I like Daniels game too and feel he will get better.

I aint ready to throw Pp and Ray out just yet. Ray has been playing very well since the break and is everything good about hoop.

Pierce had that weird thing with his knee. He has not been the same since. But I feel there is a very good shot he will regain form. He is not old by anybody's standards and has low miles on him for his years as a pro.

KG has been moving way better since the break. Before the break I had come to the opinion that he needed to be sat and an attempt made to rehab his knee in hopes of salvaging his productivity. Now I am not sure. I think he may be able to get significantly better by the playoffs. KG 3 years ago no...but KG none the less and a very good starter. But to be honest with you and myself I am not in any way sure about him and hold some of the same doubts about the Celtics disclosure surrounding his injury. He may be done. He may not. I just dont know.

I have been disappointed in Sheed as you have. But nowhere near as badly. His d is good when he is playing traditional big men. More mobile bigs give him trouble. He has great hands and a helluva post game. I cringe now when he shoots threes even when he makes them. I still think he contributes a lot and is clearly a giant leap from Mikki Moore.

I am just going to have fun watching the games and root for my team. Can they win it? I dont know. I sure aint give up hope. The games they are losing are very close. This tells me that with a few tweaks and some good health they can start to win some of them. Against anybody. Nobody gave up on the lalers when the Cavs humiliated them in staples in front of a giant national audience.

I see several teams that can take the whole thing. 1. Cleve 2. LA 3. Denver 4. Orlando 5. Dallas 6. Boston I do NOT see a clear frontrunner and each team has major issues. Right now the Cavs have the fewest issues but they are a long way from being unbeatable.

So lets kick back and enjoy the ride.

Jeb

[RosalieTCeltics]

Hey Jeb-That's what I like the power of positive thinking. Sometimes I wonder about all these people who claim to be "fans", real fans don't give up the ship. It's like walking out of a game at half time! Only time will tell if these guys will even come close, but I am willing to turn in every game to find out.
I owe them that much for all the enjoyment they have given me over the years.

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