hey wise men and women

I have been too busy to watch. What is going on with the team? Is it effort? Injuries? Starting to get a bit worried. Would love to hear or read all yall's opinions.

Team is flat. Read my take on the other post... Paul is hurt again. I am telling you now, watch for a multi player trade coming up. This team is basing everything on KG and that is too dangerous to get into that game.

112288

When the Celtics have had an opportunity to play 10 consecutive games (or maybe even five) with the same (hopefully close to full-strength) rotation...

when the Celtics have had an opportunity to recapture their precision timing (especially on the defensive end)...

when the Celtics have completed a stretch of games in which every day off didn't have to represent the choice between essential rest and essential practice...

when the Celtics have something approximating their full arsenal of versatility available to them...

when the Celtics are reasonably recovered from at least most of their serious injuries (with injured players not just appearing back on the floor but actually pretty much on top of their game)...

when the Celtics once again have reasonable assurance of whom they can depend upon to be a consistent and reasonable facsimile of his real self in all game situations...

when each player's return from injury is not greeted with the disappearance of another player due to injury...

check back with me.

Until then, get the most possible enjoyment out of the games.

Sam

thanks sam

Hope some a the resta you heavy hitters will share your thoughts.

Been a while since I saw a game and aint got time to read much either.

I think it is fatigue and nagging injuries that is the most immediate problem.

The Celtics always have a stretch where they play great. They controlled the first half against Dallas – had Josh Howard frustrated, keep Dirk to a reasonable number, and ran the ball down Jason Kidd’s throat. Second half, they came out like they had forgotten what got them the 10 point lead….and just went through the motions.

Pierce is off. In spite of his 24 points, he still is grinding instead of flowing. He cant push off on his knee – for example there were a few times where he got Kidd in a switch and went to a fall away shot. A health Pierce would have drove a shoulder right throw Kidd’s chest – and gotten a layup and one.

Ray Allen is being covered very closely and it seems the more the team gets called for moving picks – the more they shy away from setting strong screens for Ray.

Rasheed does not have his movement back and he was just killed by Dirk. Perk was in a battle under the hoop all night long – with both of the Mavericks centers and the lack of a true back up big man is starting to hurt the Celtics. Perk is exhausted and Davis is out of shape and pretty much useless right now.

Eddie House is extremely inconsistent, Tony Allen has the lowest basketball IQ I have ever witnessed, Sheldon Williams rarely gets a chance any more, and Walker and JR are non factors

If they get Daniels and KG back and get back to playing lock down defense, it will all start to fall back into place. Even with all the injuries, they are clearly a better team than the Mavericks – but they are not deep enough right now to hang with the upper echelon teams. If you put KG on Dirk for 35 minutes…then bring in a fresh Sheed to bang him for another 12 or 13 minutes – he still gets his points, but he is not a dominant down the stretch. With KG under the hoop – when guy beats Perk, there is a second layer of defense to alter shots. When Daniels is back, we can turn to a good 3 who has a level head on his shoulders and doesn’t turn the ball over every 2 minutes….Tony Allen can go back to the end of the bench…and stop squandering possessions.

I still think the team will be fine. I still think their best 8 players are better than any other 8 players on any other team in the NBA. But their age is showing, and it is getting harder and harder to say with certainty that they will be healthy come play off time.

thanks Kleen

Thats my worry too. Just that we will never be whole. But damn if we aint due some good luck.

Well I'm not a man, and I'm not particularly wise, but I'll give you my opinion anyway...

I think it's a combination of injuries and effort. It's pretty obvious to us, and I'm sure to the team, that they are going to make the playoffs. I think they are playing like a team that just wants to get there and isn't concerning themselves with the regular season grind. It's obviously risky to think they can turn it on once the playoffs begin, and judging from recent quotes from Doc and Paul, they are realizing this is an issue. Whether they take the necessary steps to change it remains to be seen, but I think they will. It will be a lot easier to do this once we have our full compliment of players.

I realize a lot of people are angry or frustrated about our 3rd and 4th quarter woes lately. I'm not thrilled about it either, but I'm choosing to be encouraged by the play we've seen from the C's in the first half. Until I see otherwise, I choose to believe that the poor showing in the second half is due to fatigue and injury and that once healthy, we will see the dominant team that we know they can be.

kelly g

Apologies on the gender bender I gotta funny way of talking. You and Rosie t know as much as anybody on this forum. Thanks for the words. You don't seem worried too bad. I am frustrated cause I aint seen these games so I got no idea what is goin on. Hearing from big brains such as yourself helps me understand.

Baby will get better. So will pp and Sheed. Ticket we will have to see. He has sure been sitting an awful long time.

I am not ready to jump ship! Kelly is right, the second half may be due to fatigue or injury, but I also think that the players out there at times have no real fire in the belly. For every good play we see from TA, we see five stupid ones. The turnovers are killing them. I really thought Rondo was off a bit last night, but he still put forth a decent effort. Paul keeps getting jammed when he goes to the basket, there doesn't seem to be alot of lift there. Ray is there for the most part, I really thought he was going to have a typical Ray Allen game last night, but then they stopped going to him in the second half. He and Paul cannot do this alone. I just hope that discouragement doesn't set in with these guys.

Good health will make us all come alive again, I truly believe that they are a terrific team when healthy.

Jeb no apology needed, I was just funnin' with ya (did I use that right?)

If I hadn't watched the games and only had the box score and our record (of late) to go by, I'd probably be worried too. I'm not saying we have nothing to worry about, I just don't think it's as bad as some people think. We have to wait and see if/when/how guys come back from injury and whether we can get it together chemistry-wise. If you ever thought this team had a shot at a championship, a little skid 1/3 of the way through the season, with injuries galore, shouldn't change your mind...especially when we have one of the top 3 records in the NBA.

Hey Jeb, where have you been!!!! Not much on the site from you lately!
I miss your new age thinking when it comes to the Celts!

kellyg and rosalie T

I am a long ass way from jumpin ship. My biggest concern is getting healthy. My biggest fear is we will still be talking about getting healthy two months from now.

We are due some good luck. I have seen KG move very well this year with my own eyes and it is my hope he will come back strong. I felt all along the team would have to watch out for complacency due to the fact that they own a ring and have so much talent. Somebody needs to get in their grill a little and they need to dig deeper. I think both things wlll happen.

It's incred we still have 3rd best record after such a terrible run.

Rosie t I am busy as a one legged man at a snake stomp at work. Which is good cause I aint broke but am badly bent!

Rosalie, you are right about the fire...they shouldn't always need KG on the floor to play with intensity, guys should be able to motivate themselves, especially with all the veterans we have on the team.

Rondo has seemed off to me the past few games too. He seems fine in the first half, but then loses it in the second. Tony once again has me on the rollercoaster of hope and reality. He seemed to be playing really well until he came down with the flu and missed a couple games.

rosiet and kg

Spot on inre the fire inside. When they play with it they always win. Cant understand why it's lacking sometimes. Frustrating.

"It's incredible we still have 3rd best record after such a terrible run."

ain't THAT the truth. we could use a little rest, but guys will get more than they're getting once we get a couple of players back. THEN we'll have a chance to watch chemistry and cohesion and trust develop. and it'll all happen in good time, i hope.

NO MORE INJURIES, PLEEEASE !!!!

Michael in Denver

bigpyg

I hope we have used up our damn quota on injuries. It's tough to watch the Lakes and Cavs at full strength right now. Though Kobe is playing through some injuries in a tough fashion.

Dog days. Just got to play through it and hope for better health. I feel when intact we can gel and take the whole thing but we got to catch a damn break so to speak with these damn injuries.