Ray Allen: Celtics "Not Comfortable"

Here's a Hoopsworld article on some of the Celtics recent struggles. This one is written more from the player's perspective rather than pure speculation from outsiders. It's a quick read and shows the team is hopeful, looking forward, and not panicked by recent results. Comments by Garnett and Pierce toward the end are especially worthy of note.

Ray Allen: Celtics "Not Comfortable"

By: Stephen Litel Last Updated: 3/29/11 12:37 AM ET | 2180 times read


There are precious few games left before the playoffs begin and the Boston Celtics aren't comfortable. At a time when teams are gearing up for the postseason, the Celtics are 5-7 in their last 12 games.

"We still have a lot of work," Ray Allen told HOOPSWORLD. "I'm not comfortable and I think even if we didn't make trades, we still had injuries where we were still playing catch up. I'm not comfortable."

It used to seem easy for the Celtics, but that has changed since the trade deadline shook the team to their collective core.

"We gotta work to win them all," said Kevin Garnett.

Still shell-shocked by the trade which sent Kendrick Perkins to the Oklahoma City Thunder, the Celtics are still attempting to get the new players up to speed. Each of the new additions is at a different spot in their acclimation to how things are done in Boston.

"Just all the details they have offensively and defensively, being in the right spot every time, especially defensively," Nenad Krstic told HOOPSWORLD. "As a big guy, I'm in a position to help a lot and sometimes our defense is so much in the details, it's so much different than in Oklahoma City. That's the hardest part."

Krstic takes a majority of the blame from fans and media since he is directly "replacing" Perkins for the Celtics. However, a closer look shows Krstic's stats to be up across the board since donning a green jersey. Averaging 8.4 points and 5.0 rebounds with the Thunder, he is now averaging 10.1 points and 6.1 rebounds in Boston. The issue is the Celtics losing more games than they're used to as they adjust to the new faces and time is running out before the postseason.

"He wants to do right so bad that, at times, it actually takes him out of playing well," said head coach Doc Rivers, referring to Krstic.

However, Krstic remains confident he'll figure out how to do everything the Celtic way. After all, he does have a familiar face on the coaching staff to help the transition move more smoothly.

"It's tough what we're doing right now, but we did it in New Jersey when I was there and Lawrence Frank was the coach," said Krstic. "A lot of stuff is similar, but it's been four seasons since the last time I played it in New Jersey. I changed a couple teams and you forget something, but I'm picking it up."

Another new addition is Jeff Green, who struggled at first when joining the Celtics, but has now scored in double figures in six of the last nine games. Yet, during his short time with the team, he gets that offense is not the focus. The Celtics have plenty of offense. What they can never have enough of, as is the case everywhere, is defense.

"I still have some work to do as far as learning a few things, but everything has been going good so far," Green told HOOPSWORLD. "My offense will come because I can score the ball when I want, but just a matter of me taking down what this team is all about and that's defense. It's just getting the lingo down and getting the rotations. It's different from where I came from, so I just have to get everything down."

While the team remains uncomfortable, especially after nearly blowing a huge lead to the Minnesota Timberwolves Sunday and losing to the Indiana Pacers Monday, the veteran core of the team understands what the new guys are going through. As expected of a team with championship aspirations, the veterans provide advice and support to their newest teammates.

"It's hard when you haven't done something before and someone wants you to do it and is asking you to do it, whether it's making a free throw at the end of the game, making a three-pointer or whether it's taking a charge," said Allen. "It's one thing to do it, but if you're trying to do it over and over again, you have to go back to that moment when you have done it, understand it, know what the feeling was like, what the air was like, what the crowd was like and the whole atmosphere."

Since they brought Garnett and Allen to Boston to add to Pierce and the young Rondo at the time, the Celtics have had a target on their backs. Playing deep into the postseason makes the target shine brighter, then adding another Hall of Famer in Shaquille O'Neal this offseason put it over the top, if it wasn't already. There is a lot of pressure in playing for the most successful franchise in the NBA and more added to a roster full of all-time greats who are only getting older.

"We all understand that we have to play better," Carlos Arroyo said. "It's a matter of how we execute down the stretch and how we start games. In our execution in the games, if we don't focus on those little areas like our energy at the beginning of games and not being able to relax during games, teams are going to play us hard. We have to respect that and know everybody is going to come and play us hard."

Even in the midst of their current struggles the Celtics continue to look for the silver-linings. As the championship caliber team they are, they should be granted the opportunity to do so.

"It's good to play in close games because we realize in the playoffs there are going to be a lot of close games," said Paul Pierce. "It's all about execution."

They may be struggling, but the Celtics remain a confident team. Even without Perkins the talent level that makes up Boston's roster remains one of the highest in the league.

"I'm very intrigued," said Garnett. "I've seen it. I don't think the world has seen it. We've yet to be full throttle, but promises are ahead…I'm very interested to see what we look like."

"It's hard when you got pieces missing every other week, it seems like," added Pierce. "In another week, we're going to be a whole new team."

If the team can find their new chemistry quickly, they can meet their expectations in the postseason. If Shaquille O'Neal and Jermaine O'Neal can get healthy and add their own games into the mix, they can meet their expectations in the postseason.

Those are a lot of ifs, but if any team is capable of doing so, it's the Boston Celtics.


Follow Stephen Litel on Twitter or send him your questions for his weekly chat.



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thanks nyc

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