The mind says YES but the Body says No

There is certainly a growing trend among many Celtics fans that the problems with the Celtics are partly due to having too many aging veterans on the team. Combine that with all of the injuries and the inability to have a complete team and the result is a mud hole of a struggle.

But if you assume that age is really not the issue then it comes down to the coaching and the players.

Veterans teams provide any coach with the luxury of giving them more margin for error but in the process the coach can become too dependent on the ability of the team to self motivate.

This team knows that they are not playing well and you can bet they will put forth the effort to address their problems. They seem to come out with that motivation at the start of the game but somewhere they have lost their ability to close games out. The Celtics are one of the few teams in the NBA that has the same starting 5 for 3 years. They should know (the starting 5) how to play together. However this is only the same starting 5 on paper. A lot has happened since they won the championship. Contributions have changed, injuries have slowed them down and the veterans (the big three) have more wear and tear on their bodies and it has now manifest itself in games.

More minutes played by some only result in diminishing returns so the only thing I can see that could alter the course that this team is on is to do a better job managing the minutes played by the big 3. Their minds tell them that they can finish games but the body says no.

This is where the coach has to make some tough and perhaps unpopular decisions about how many minutes to play his aging stars. If the veterans can be fresh in the 4th quarter they will have more energy and therefore they will have a better chance to win games down the stretch.

I'm sure a lot of soul searching is going on and we can only hope that the allstar break will provide pause for this team and particularly coach rivers to figure out what needs to be done to get back on the winning track.

dboss

Dboss,

Wouldn't you like to be a swarm of flies on different walls belonging to the Celtics' braintrust right now? I've got a hunch that, as usual, we know just a fraction of the factors that are really in play. For one, I've always been rather amazed that the contrasting offensive styles of Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo could coexist constructively enough to support a contending team. I'd love to know what really goes on where that dynamic is concerned and, especially, as Rondo quite obviously is gradually taking over the reins of leadership.

Sam

Sam

The reins of leadership have passed to Rajon from paul but Paul is still the tata

I first realized this was understood by the NBA before a recent game when the national announcers said Rajon Rondo and the Boston Celtics take on...

You r right about all the goings on that we have not a glue about. The flurry of runors, team meetings, hopefull fans.

Also I think that rajon is able to coexist with PP becasue Rondo is a very unselfish player and has learned how to pass out the candy and still keep a few pieces for himself.

I think that he does a great job controlling the pace although at times it does seem like he slows it down at inopportune times. Part of that may be his decision to give the guys a little rest during stretches of the game. Or it may be that he is still learning his trade.

I think the team has had a big wake up call..now they just need to go ouyt there and play Celtics basketball.

dboss