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U-G-L-Y You Ain't Got No Alibi; Celtics Lose To Suns

You've got to love a hard fought, defensive effort where both teams make each other fight for every...

...nope. I can't lie like that. This was ugly, bad, blame-the-lockout-if-you-want basketball and the Celtics lost to a bad Suns team. They scored the fewest points they have all season (they were still in the 50's in the 4th quarter) and turned the ball over 18 times. That's hardly even an excuse because the Suns turned it over 21 times, ...and won!

  • Let's see here, any positives? Well, Avery Bradley is looking more confident with his shot. That's all I got.
  • No Rondo, no chance? I guess you could use that excuse, but I'm not in the mood.
  • Why does Gortat always kill us? I don't get it.
  • The Celtics managed just a .405 FG percentage. Lovely.
  • Doc: "This game is on me and our staff. Our offense was awful. Nothing in the paint. All jump shots."
  • That's all I can say. I'm going to go throw things.
Poll
Do you think this team can still make the playoffs?
Yes
713 votes
No
999 votes

1712 votes | Poll has closed

0 recs  |  236 comments

Comments

UGLY... unless you did that on purpose?
yikes, I wish I was that clever

no, I just spelled it wrong – so obviously whatever stink the C’s have has rubbed off on me

Nice

At least that one makes me feel a bit better. This team is depressing to watch.

This is one of the best games I’ve EVER watched

71?

Really, that’s all you can muster…against the Suns?

It is over.

BRB

Crying myself to sleep.

meh

and bleh

They cant help themselves
Sun Downer

Pierce – terrible game sorry to say….try a bounce pass – threw it away over and over with bad passes!

Jermaine – terrible game sorry to say…try some Geritol

KG.….terrible game sorry to say…..quit shooting jumpers …..go the rim!!!

E’ Tuan Moore……he needs playing time…but not a great game

Bradley……very nice game…..

we suck right now….we just suck

KG.….terrible game sorry to say…..quit shooting jumpers …..go the rim!!!

Dreamer

+1

Though KG’s jumper I think is a weapon and helps by spreading the floor, we need KG to get in the paint at least sometime during games to help give the C’s at least some in the paint offensive presence from there bigs.

KG allergric to Paint
KG is actually taking about the same ratio of shots in the paint versus out of the paint as he always has

in fact, he’s taking just slightly fewer shots from 16-23 feet (which historically is his favorite distance) and slightly more between 3-15 feet.

Folks this year are complaining about KG not scoring inside are forgetting that KG has never been much of an inside banger. Its just not his game.

Well if you're not hitting those jumpers what does logic dictate....

Take it closer to the basket right.

Ya gotta hit those 8 ft jumpers or teams just camp in the paint

which is what they are doing.

Doesn’t matter anyway – our % of attempts at the rim isn’t down from prior years. We are just missing those as well.

In fact the only range we are shooting well from is way outside – 3PT range.

What are the chances of scoring a bucket between shooting from outside and inside?

Money is still inside. Even if you can’t shoot 8ft and beyond as well as near the rim, you still have a better chance of scoring inside.

They're missing shots from 1 foot out

Layups. Bunnies. Sure things. It’s amazing, really……

Agree 100%

In the paint shots are always a higher % shot then perimeter shots and the goal should be to try to go to the paint either via transtion or 1/2 court setup with your teams wing and big players as possible.

Though I think a in the paint offensive presence is always nice to have, its especially important to have such a presence when your perimeter shooting is not getting the job done as is the case with the C’s recently.

Look, I'm a big advocate of inside scoring.

I wrote a whole fan post on it a few weeks ago.

But at the same time I think repeated calls for KG, of all people, to ‘go inside’ and to criticize him for playing ‘outside’ are silly because that is NEVER WHO HE WAS even at his greatest.

KG has not changed in this particular regard so acting like THAT is the problem / solution is missing the mark.

Right now, yes, we need inside scoring. We need scoring from anywhere. But the problem isn’t attempts or desire to go inside – we are getting open looks at the basket inside. We are just missing them.

Then KG adjusts his game.

The shots aren’t falling. Drive, post up….do something else. Even McHale during the twilight of his career developed a jump shot. His post moves were already being thwarted by bigger, bulkier and quicker players.

Outside shots aren’t falling. So KG should adjust. Don’t just keep on shooting outside when clearly it’s not falling.

I am reminded of Homer Simpson trying to get a donut inside an electrocuted cage. Keeps on grabbing it direcly and getting zapped all the time. But he still continues to do the exact same thing…..

It's just not realistic.

You are asking for something that just isn’t going to happen.

And when you look at what worked before and what isn’t working now, the difference isn’t whether KG was/isn’t driving to the hoop.

Doing the same thing......

over and over and over when clearly it’s not falling but still hoping results will change is kinda stupid don’t you agree?

So would you suggest that KG continue to shoot from the outside or probably strop shooting altogether instead of scoring inside which is a higher percentage shot?

Jermaine – terrible game sorry to say…try some Geritol

ROFL

Why am I not suprised?

KA-BOOM!

Showcase Ray

for the next 10 games – boost his trade value. These guys are gonna go, probably sooner rather than later.

I wanted to believe…

So much for ...even w/ Bradley in for Rondo, we still beat the Suns.

This should have still been a gimme!

Or do we use the absence of Rondo now as an excuse?

There seems to be no improvement still!

yeah

still no improvement on the other guys even with Rondo on the floor they still probably lose.

Blow it up
don't blow it up

you might blow our chance at a lottery pick!

+1

Indeed, because tanking previously has gotten us Tim Duncan and Kevin Durant. No, wait … LOL.

Tanking got us Ray Allen which led to getting Kevin Garnett.
Tanking...

… Got us Jeff Green the first time.

Getting Jeff Green...

… Got us Ray Allen.

Its strange and maybe premature to do just yet...

But Ray may eventually (since he is a assett) get us some type of player in return also hat the C’s can utilize for the future if Ainge decides to trade him before the trade deadline if he can get something good in return for him.

This is premature

Da had a plan to have to reload after this year. He’s going to listen to offers but i doubt he does anything

Well by premature I say...

I mean it in the sense lets give Ray and the rest of the team until at least the trade deadline to see if they can turn the season around.

But if come the trade deadline the team appears it is going no where, I do not think it will be premature at that time for Danny to listen to offers.

If he can get anything for Ray worth trading for he should pull the trigger, if not letting is big contract expire and come off the books to free up $$$ for the C’s to be able to go out and get a player next season will is a option also.

Agree.

If we are bad – the worst thing we could do is trade for mediocre players with longer contracts and end up with a mediocre record.

Far better to just play it out. If we suck we’ll get a lottery pick and have a ton of cap room (and another 1st rd pick to boot). The worse case if we play it out is that they are mediocre and we end up just outside the lottery. But again, we’d still get all the cap space and we’d still have two 1st round picks.

I'll be you right now...

… that Clippers pick won’t yield us a rotation player (unless it’s flipped in a trade for one).

Deep draft this year, no?
It's an asset.

Two first round picks is a nice rebuilding tool no matter how high in the round they are. Gems happen from almost anywhere in the first round – that’s double the chance of hitting one.

Or, they can be traded either for a player or to move into the lottery.

It's not enough we can't beat a half decent team....

We can’t even go 0 losses against sub 500 teams.

Where is japsuki?

What did I say the other day? Told ya so!!!

C’s need to call the FBI...

to help them locate there offense…lol.

Scoring just 71 points a game will not win you alot of games.

Once again I think the C’s lack of points in the paint tonight via transition and there 1/2 court setup game played a role in there lack offensive production by not getting them more easier, higher % shots as they once again basically relied on lower % perimeter shots tonight.

The turnovers also were a killer tonight did not help the C’s cause either.

I also thought the small ball Doc played tonight utilizing KG at center against Gortat also played a role in the loss.
If you are going to go small with KG, I think its a good idea if you are going to run and try to make the game more uptempo and put some heat on Gortat , but the C’s did not do that on offense.
Also I think on the defensive end of the court tonight was a perfect game to utilize and throw the Steamers length and size against Gortat.
I and am puzzled why Doc once again gave him so little minutes to Greg.

On a positive note the C’s defense was pretty good tonight holding the Suns to only 79 points.
Plus it was great to see the kids Bradley and Moore get quality and very valuable playing minute tonight.
Bradley especially had a nice overall night on both ends of the court.

I'm not really frustrated with the losing, to me that is just where the team is and the rebuilding phase of a team's life cycle is as interesting as the winning phase--

but Doc not playing Stiemer is driving me crazy.

No, he’s not perfect, but he’s leading the team in rebounding rate and shooting percentage, while leading the entire league in blocking rate. He’s a big, active and energetic body who has IMO at least as much upside to be gained from regular minutes as AB does.

I want Clifford Ray (or someone else) back working with him and I want to see him at center more than KG.

Agree fully,

I am not surprised either of the C’s lackluster play this year as I expected that this year 5 of the big 3 window would be probably the toughest year for them to compete out of all the past previous years.
I think this year is no surprise so far, and is the big 3 ’s cycle simply playing out and slowly coming to a end.

I agree also that the rebuilding phase can be exciting also and I really enjoy it when the kids like Moore, Bradley, JJ, Steamer and Bass ( also since he is young) get minutes as we are probably seeing some of the core that will make up this team in the near future.

I agree also not playing the Steamer is frustrating, especially considering JO is struggling, Wilox is out injured and the C’s lack a quality legit center to begin with.

Though its still early Greg appears to be everything the C’s could use at center the center position.
He is a legit center, is young, athletic, has size, length, is a strong offensive finisher in the paint, has a perimeter jumper, is a good free throw shooter, decent rebounder, is a good defender, shot blocker and rebounder as you say.

I think using him this year can kill 2 birds with 1 stone, help the C’s this year and also allow the C’s a chance to see Greg play to see if he can possibly be a center of the future for them.

Just my 2 cents though.

At least we've beaten the Canadian best team
This made me laugh. Thank you.
KG its time....

to move to another team. His jumper is lost in some kind of basketball abyss. No one played well tonight cept maybe BASS. Is Greg Steimsma that bad where he cant get on the court. How is DOC gonna spin this one in the press conference? I’m 100% ready to start rebuilding….KG is the first to go, he is awful this year. Bradley had a good game…for him. We have no half court offense, its all screens and jump shots.

Agree 100%

about the Steamer and the C’s lack of a half court offense.

With JO struggling and Wilox out injured if Doc does not play Greg now when will he??

Also getting easier , higher % shots in transition and in a 1/2 court setup I think will go a long way toward helping the C’s offensive woes.

I want my NBA League Pass money back. These dudes are garbage.

Yeah,

Im starting to get pretty agitated. I feel like it’s a good deal. But if I’m paying this money and not even being entertained, then what is the point? It has not been very enjoyable to watch Celtics games this year.

I think my favorite thing about this season is

Looking forward to playing the lakers. Not saying the lakers are a great team at all but me being a l.a. resident, I love when the celtics beat the lakers…this year I have a feeling I will be staying home with my phone shut off

When the Pacers played Boston a few weeks ago, I said if Pacers win, I’m not getting league pass…..that you INDIANA, I’m $169.00 richer.

They auto-renewed me

…so I think can get a refund if complain enough. What’s my excuse though? “Uhh… my team SUCKS BIG TIME and… and…. my doctor says I can’t watch them anymore because I might get a heart attack and an ulcer at the same time!” Ok, that should work………

LOL just say im a celtics fan..they should understand after that :)
It's over

People keep saying, let’s wait a little longer, we’re just out of shape, it’s the lockout! No, it’s over. We need to sign JR Smith and Wilson Chandler if they ever get here from China and then trade Ray for a young athletic big.

Well, that's just an idea
Sadly...

…Ray is the ONLY one of the Purple Pill 3 with game. Would like to keep him around,

But he is still a role player at best
That's why I think he's the one other teams might be interested in

He’ll be shooting threes for a few more years

We should not trade Ray

He can make shots for us…
We should try run our offense on Ray

Ray's Contributing

Which makes him a chip but also worth keeping. If he;s gone, who picks up the scoring slack?

Worth keeping so they win a couple more games this year?

Are they still in a situation where that’s a positive?

your not going to get a young big for allen no way

Good freaking gawd - why the heck can't we shoot the ball anymore?

Its getting insane.

This was exactly the problem I called out before the game – we just can’t seem to shoot worth crap.

I don’t think you can put this on Bradley either. The entire team was just plain shooting awful. Easy, point blank shots. Missed. It was like watching a high school junior varsity team trying to put the ball in the hoop.

Bradley was pretty solid...he ain't rondo but he was solid
"he ain't Rondo" might be the biggest understatement of all time
Well... he's BETTER than Rondo on defense

I think that’s pretty clear now. The kid can stop anybody.

7tony2

yea i agree where has our shot gone ???
we can’t make anything
let’s hope that it is that we are all out of shape

lookout come playoff time we are a better team then what is happening now

"Let’s hope that it is that we are all out of shape"

Great impersonation of a statue tonight by JO

Got dominated on the boards by the worst rebounding team in the NBA. Another year with no backup point guard. Bass has come way back to earth. The big three look like the three stooges – and on and on and on.

Whats concerning about JO is...

at least what we know he is healthy and still playing erratically and poor at times this year.

I thought coming into this year if JO could stay healthy he could possibly continue his play from the playoffs last year and help contribute this year.

But he has been blowing hot and cold all year so far which is concerning.

All that no pass Bass stuff and

now all he does is either pass the ball or force it down low and get blocked like Davis used to do. SHOOT THE BALL. Way to pick Marquis back up and not Delonte Danny. Nice one. This really is Rondo’s team. Look at how bad the 3 are playing right now… remember when it was the other way around?

Right now, Bass is slightly better than Davis
It wasn't just Bass

the whole team started to play as if they were terrified to take a shot.

Danny said 10 games…I SAY NOW!!!!!

This season is gonna be a lot like playing Jenga

With each loss, we take another block out of the tower and wonder when DA’s going to decide it’s time for the thing to fall down.

We haven’t had a quality backup point since…Rajon Rondo…LOL.

and by this I mean when Rondo was backign up Telfair.

im convinced that danny will blow this up.

this team right now is pathetic!

C'mon, Pierce for Rudy Gay. Memphis did quite well without him last season.
+1

It’s sad, but it’s the best for the C’s

Danny knows

Dude ain’t no dummy. He knows. Now it’s a matter of how and when. Mostly how, because with each game the value of these guys goes down.

Am I glad this game wasn't shown in my neck of the woods...

It seemed like a very awful game based on the Gametime Live chat… It’s like a 2nd game off a back to back only it wasn’t :s

Well, as much as it is very frustrating to lose… I am monitoring our fellow eastern teams too… the Knicks lost.

Doc covering up

Doc is going to give quotes that blame this on the coaching staff to try to preserve the value of the players.

there is no point to 'preserving the value of the players'

We aren’t going to trade them.

There is no team in position to give decent future value for them and there is no point to trading them for trash. The team is better served for the future by letting their contracts expire.

Disagree

There are always possibilities out there, even if that means to inlcude a third team or taking back a bad contract in return.

I think....

as has been his comments in recent days, Danny will keep all options on the table.

If he can get a good deal for the big 3 , he will move them, if not he will not and do as mmmmm suggests and just let there contracts expire.

which is fine by me

of course, I also want him to actively look for these deals, but I have no doubt he does that, too.

Propose one.

The only reason to make a trade is to improve the future because no trade is going to make us a title contender for this season.

Give us a trade proposal that sets the team up better for the long term than we’ll be if we free up all the cap space we’ll get at the end of this season.

I’ll believe it when I hear it.

Will do, tomorrow

I´ve got several that make sense right now, I believe, but my bed is calling me loud and clear.

Look at fan post Banner 18 > retirement party

We keep the big 3 plus have a good core going forward with around 22 – 25 million in cap space plus we still have a first and second in this years draft.

I mean keep BASS, Pietrus, RONDO, Stiemsma, JJ, Jeff Green, and Moore….everyone else can go. Rondo can go to if the price is right.

I'd trade any of the role players

Including Bass, and they might be more valuable to other teams than the Big 3.

More that 20 percent of the season has been played. It's not happening this year.
A lottery pick is happening this year
7tony2

i disagree
we will see the true celtic team

You're awesome 7tony2! You're optimism is awesome.
When Danny does blow this ship up...

…it’s going to be ugly. Who goes first and how do the other guys act once one guy gets traded? An unhappy Garnett could be complete disaster.

Thats why you ship out KG first. Phoenix had a poll on their broadcast and KG was voted 60% which member of the Big 4 needs a trading

Why cant Doc grow a set and just come out and say"WERE OLD, GET OVER IT", he is so scared to hurt KG’s feelings. Every time KG comes back into the game (which seems like every other minute) I cringe.

No reason to talk down the few declining assets the team has.
Apparently

Tonights game was “all about 18”….18 turnovers! Tip your waitress, I will be here all night

The Mayans tried to warn us, the Celtic's run would end in 2012.

I mean, even making the playoffs is seriously starting to look like an obstacle right now

Laughing thru my tears
from this point

i now yield my optimism.

I hate to do this but...

Time to blow it up. Ive held on as long as i could

NOT YET!!!

Anyways contracts will end with the season
The season it not yet over :(

Let them play it out

We’ve got all next year and we have picks and cap space. Da worked for this situation so we have to let it play out this season.

At this point I may try out for the team.

Couldn’t hurt.

LOL

thanks for the laugh.

this was a bad loss; in some ways the worst of the season

it was right there for us to take and we never could get our sh-t together to just take it from phoenix who was trying to give it to us. very demoralizing, I don’t know where to start with trying to fix this. sure. rondo not being there was a big deal but pierce ray and kg were completely ineffective. where’s the desire? where’s the hustle? when’s the last time you same a celtic dive to the floor for a loose ball ?larry bird would call these guys out if he were on this team

+1 about bird

Back then players cared. Now, not so much. Doc called the team “soft” after a game last year and KG had a fit. If u dont like it, dont play soft then.

Absolutely right!
I think the desire was there. The shots were not.

All the desire and hustle in the world doesn’t help if you can’t make open jump shots from 6 feet away.

At this point the problem is very simple: Unless our shooting improves, we are toast.

Yeah I think Pierce actually tried tonight, you could here him yelling, he couldnt get it done.

Best of the worst season with BIG 3

Itchy trigger finger

I don’t see Danny standing pat and relying on the Celtic mystique to lure free agents to a traditionally unattractive city next year. He’ll want to get some assets in trades to show FAs that there’s something here worth signing up for besides the payday.

Good point...

When you say:

Danny may not stand pat and rely on the Celtic mystique to lure free agents to a city some do not want to come to at the moment.

I think this is a concern which may effect how he approaches rebuilding the C’s.

If it gets to the point Ainge considers blowing up the big 3 , Ainge will have a dilemma which is should he trade them at the deadline or hold onto them and simply let there contracts expire to free up cap space ?

I think if Ainge lets the big 3’s contracts expire the good news will be the C’s will have alot of money and cap space freed up at the end of the season to go after free agents,
But the bad news is even if they have alot of $$$ and cap space freed up to sign free agents there is a risk maybe nobody wanting to sign in Boston as has been the case recently?

Thats why I think if Danny can get some good young talent or draft picks for the big 3 he may pull the trigger on a trade to assure the C’s are able to acquire and bring to Boston some form(s) of young talent and assets which may not be available via free agency acquisition.

Time will tell what Ainges course of action will be.

can't disagree more (respectfully to you) Danny has to pull the big trigger because he shot so many "blanks" choosing so many bad players to surround the Big 3

There should have been a TRANSITION CELTIC TYPE TEAM to let the aging veterans ease out being Celtics and mentors as opposed to what we have now!!! which is simply having nothing but aging veterans and no one to rely on but rookies (who don’t play). How much money and time and roster spots was wasted on players like Mikki Moore, Olawakandi, Telfair, Shaq, Murphy, Nate Robinson, Marbury, Patrick O’Bryant, Gabe Pruitt, Bill Walker, JR Giddens etc…. etc….

Danny’s balance sheet is askew towards more bad moves than good. Yes we got Banner 17 but we didn’t have to be in this spot right now.

My view on Ainge....

is and I apologize for sounding like a broken record as I have said this before is:

He rebuilt the C’s with the goal to win a title or 2.
His Celtic team won a title 2008 ending a 20+ year Celtic title drought.
His Celtic team may have won another title in 2009 (when the core was still young) if KG did not get hurt.
His Celtic team almost won a title in 2010 when the C’s lost game 7 of the finals in the last few seconds of the game.
In 2011 Ainge I think built won of the most deepest and talented Celtic teams in history last year that had probably a good shot at another title also , if it was not for all those injuries they suffered (epsecially to Shaq ) and arguably the chemistry issue of the team after losing Perk.

Coming into this 2012 season I think Ainge and many fans (me too) did not expect, due to advanced age the big 3 to compete for a title this year.
I think Ainge and many fans were hoping for the best but were bracing themselves for a rough year.
So I do not think this rough year so far should be a big shock or should be blamed on Ainge as we all knew it was coming and Ainge had a nice run and made the C’s at least I think championship contenders in 4 out of the previous 5 years.

But with that said I think Ainge also deserves praise for the rebuilding plan has setup.
Though he did not want rebuild the C’s in transition like you would of preferred, Ainge has done a good job with the books and the C’s contracts of the big 3 to this years miscellaneous roster players (who have for the most part 1 year deals) where we will see most of these players contracts either traded away (since they have value as expiring) or come off the books next summer to allow Ainge the flexibility to start rebuilding the club ASAP this offseason.

Again I think considering Ainge built a great team , won his goal of winning a title, almost won a couple of other titles and setup the C’s financially to rebuilding sooner rather then later (which is a win – win situation), I think he has done a very decent job running the C’s over the past years.

Again just me 2 cents though.

I respect your position fordescort ...we just fundamentally disagree on this...Peace
I respect your postion also Master Po...

even if we see things differently at times.

Heck, if husbands and wifes disagree on matters I guess its no big deal for Celtic fans to do so also…lol.

AGREE to DISAGREE

KendrickPerkins, KendrickPerkins, KendrickPerkins, KendrickPerkins, KendrickPerkins, KendrickPerkins

Danny Ainge is a fool. That’s why we are losing. Gortat one-off career high in points and 12 boards and no one seems to know why? Just refer to my subject line for the answer.

Perk has more turnovers than baskets this year

Guarding PHX is guarding the pick and roll. Gortat had maybe two post up baskets, the rest are team defense.
Perk really does have more TO’s than baskets. Look it up: http://www.celticsblog.com/2012/1/21/2722946/kendrick-perkins-has-more-tos-than-baskets

Dont forget

The techs, moving picks, the mechanical hook. Folks forget. Oth, Jeff Green? Well let’s just say it didnt work out to plan. May be something there, further on up the road. Someday, babaaay..

GET RID OF JO!
+1

Yes, please.

Well ...

I think since the C’s are already thin at center they still need JO.

I did though suggest earlier in the season maybe it would be wise for the C’s to start Greg and bring JO off the bench.
Maybe its time to now do that at the very least.

I think Greg has the potential to help the C’s more then JO (who’s play has been very erratic this year), so its worth a shot.

Also considering JO would face more favorable matchups playing 2nd string centers instead of starting caliber ones, I assume moving to the bench would help improve his production and contribution to the team.

the real key is that we are having to rely on JO (paid the full MLE for nothing really) and a rookie

Whose fault is that? I like Greg Steimsma and think he has talent and want him to play but who gave us these two poor choices to man the Center position?

I think...

signing JO was a good signing when the game plan last year was originally intended to have J.O. be the 2nd and 3rd string center behind Perk and Shaq.

I think with Perk and Shaq gone now gone, JO has been forced into a starting role which he is not suited for and I do not think the C’s intended to play him at.

I disagree that Greg is a poor choice at center.
Its still early, but at least from what we have seen so far, Greg appears to be everything the C’s could use at center at the moment.

He is a legit center, is young, athletic, has size, length, is a strong offensive finisher in the paint, has a perimeter jumper, is a good free throw shooter, decent rebounder, good defender and shot blocker.

As mentioned above I think the best course of action at the moment is to start Greg, who I think can be more effective then JO against starters and to move JO to the bench to allow him to have more favorable matchups playing 2nd string centers which should help improve his contribution.

As always just my 2 cents.

you missed what I said... I love Greg!!!! he is exciting!!!...but we NOT should be in the spot of choosing between a rookie at center or a 16 year old man veteran

you missed my point.

My error ..

I just thought when you said:

" who gave us these two poor choices to man the Center position"

It sounded like you were knocking Greg as a center.

Glad to hear your part of the Steamer fan club.

Key words “3rd string”

Never understood JO signing, he played awful against us with Miami and we sign him, why? I wish he had at least retired last year, free money I guess.

some quotable quotes....

Nash on C’s with Rondo: “It takes arguably their best player off the floor. Rondo makes the court open up for them.”

Doc on offense w/o Rondo: “We tried Paul, we tried Kevin and we were just searching. We were without Rondo and our backup point Dooling.”

Doc: “This game is on me and our staff. Our offense was awful. Nothing in the paint. All jump shots.”

https://twitter.com/celtics

That's taking the dagger. This is on the players, imho.

They have to make shots. Doc can’t shoot the ball for them.

The problem wasn’t that they were always settling for jump shots. They couldn’t even make the easy wide-open close-in shots that they got.

DOC: "We tried Paul, we tried Kevin and we were just searching."

Why did he not try Ray????
I am not a big Ray fan, but he shots the ball better.

Well its a start ...

Doc admits the lack of points in the paint and abundance of jump shots hurt the C’s as I think its a no brainier.

I just hope he makes the adjustments on offense and gets the C’s more easy, higher % shots in the paint in there upcoming games.

go the the rim KG...17 year veteran.. I think he should know that.. and PP knows it too.....bounce pass PP ...bounce pass
without Rondo

There are people here who blame Rondo for just about everything.

Without Rondo this team would be competing for the most ping pong balls. He creates almost everything for the “old four”.

"Wow," said Gorman. He couldn't believe the Cs' shooting

… just when they needed it, in the last 1.5 quarters. These shooting droughts are scary. I like to think “It’s GOTTA change,”… but with this group, who the hell knows? Wow. At one point, I was actually happy to see Phoenix put in the dagger 3… because the Celtics so did NOT deserve to win this game.

Meanwhile, Tommy’s having fun counting seconds on a SLOW-MOTION replay. Catch that? Too funny…. what a nut. Kinda reminds me of…. the Celtics!

The whole team’s offense just sucked… except 2 guys: Bass (expected) and Bradley. There is no question left in my mind that Avery’s D is world class. The kid can stop just about anybody. And tonight he showed that he has a decent offense too. He had both the play-of-the-night, and the highest +/- on the team. Hopefully he’s shaping into a reasonable backup for Rondo. (He’s actually a LOT BETTER than Rondo on defense.)

Doc — at one point, you had Pierce in there as point-forward. Really? Are you out of your mind? Paul is a walking turnover if you let him dribble enough. Always has been, but it’s worse now.

Phoenix played a terrible game. Celtics were even worse. They got what they deserved.

I agree with pretty much everything.

Phoenix played a terrible game because Bradley disrupted Nash and he is the heart and soul of their offense. So for them, the sloppy play was sorta understandable.

The Celtics played terrible because almost nobody on the team could make shots. Just insanely awful shooting.

I gotta agree that Bradley was almost the only real bright spot of this game.

My broken record on Danny....he painted himself into blowing it up

When you spend your money and roster space over the last 4-5 years on players like Mikki Moore, Olawakandi, Telfair, Shaq, Murphy, Nate Robinson, Marbury, Patrick O’Bryant, Gabe Pruitt, Bill Walker, JR Giddens and the list could go on and on AND AND AND YOU ALSO don’t pick many quality young players to build around an aging Big Three so they can ease out of the lineup and into a mentor role SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO BLOW IT UP BUT rather create a TRANSITION TEAM rather than crash and burn team…..then you get games like this and seasons like this… combine this with that fact that we have a coach who is hesitant to play young players to even see if they have talent then you have a crash team not a transition team. I think this could have been done much better with us still winning a banner – just my opinion

to me it’s clear who put us here……and we didn’t have to be here and still keep Banner 17

But to be fair

This team didn’t gradually decline at all, they stepped off a cliff. Not even the most pessimistic person here thought the team would realistically start the season like this…I mean losing to the Sun’s on a night where the Sun’s didn’t even look good…never.

and if you had built a stable of talented young players to pick up the crisis of a aging vets hitting an early wall to thus get us to the playoffs and lead us into future years

the cliff would not look so steep

It is better to suck with cap space than be in the middle as a "transition team"

We need to suck for a year or two to get actual assets to either build around or flip for good players. It is the only way. Being stuck in the middle is the worst spot in the NBA.

Not so Good in Retro

Have defended various moves at the time, but at this juncture, 3 things stand out. The “stop-gap vet center ploy” (Sheed, Shaq, JO) has gone bust. The “tweener utility forward” ploy (Gnomes, Davis, Powe, Green, Bass, JJJ) Needs fellas that can move.
Drafting “no shot defense oriented guard projects” time after time (Pru, Walk, Giddy, Brad, heck TA when he could have had Kevin Martin. To recap: Cs havent drafted a scorer or a legitimate big man in years. One wonders.

+1

Danny is terrible at picking role players. I don’t blame doc though, most of the young players that play here, have no talent.

yeah .. I agree ...but had he been given good young players...would he have played them? I don't know..
Marshon Brooks would be just what we need right about now.
doc is right to take the blame.

when your team consistently fails to score and can’t make shots you have to look at the coaching and the plays. I would cut marquis daniels tomorrow. he is a complete disaster on offense. we need to find a post game someway somehow

Some of those shots were easily hittable...he can't take the blame for that.
It's athleticism and team speed

The shots they’re getting stink because they’re too slow. When the shots are good, they’re too tired to make them. These guys are horribly unathletic as a team.

Just can't agree with Doc on this

What more can a coach do than give his players WIDE OPEN shots, gimmes and bunnies? They got plenty of those and JUST MISSED. That’s not on Doc, that’s on the players. There’s some kind of weird psycho-karmic-crap going on with these guys and these shooting droughts. On the one hand, logic tells me that it’s gotta pass. On the other hand…. it’s NOT PASSING. So I just don’t know anymore……

It’s gotta pass…. it’s gotta pass….it’s gotta pass…….it’s gotta p

It's like a team hitting slump in baseball.

It’s really weird the way it can seem to be contagious.

Hot streaks can be that way too. We need one. Bad.

I guess we'll have a breakout game one of these days

… but who knows if it’ll last? My confidence is gone. I think now that there’s a reasonably serious question about the Cs making the playoffs. That would be…. just unreal.

is ok were relying rondo too much this a wake up call
Sad to see the so called best player on the team quit already

I bet we dont see much more of rondo this season. He’s the one they should get rid of!

??????

Is this a joke?

Rondo is no Vince Carter
Lolwut?

I hope this is a troll post

The only thing I'm really worried about...

Is rondo. We know how much of a head case he was after just losing the first two games in the playoffs to Miami. Picture if we trade the big 3. Rondo’s my favorite celtic but I can just see him now walking the ball up the court every play and gambling every play on defense to rack up his steal numbers.

no scoring.

this team need some scoring pretty bad.

oj mayo can score...
pierce

sorry, he’s garbage this year. he had one good game

as frustrated as I am with this team ...to use the word "garbage" to describe a 14 year veteran player who won the NBA MVP of the Finals

is sad to me. He may be playing poorly (and he is) but garbage? Garbage is someone who never plays hard ….Stephen Marbury…..not a future HOF player who bleeds green

I agree.

simply said… “respect”.

Ditto

We should treat Pierce with respect.

I don't like words such as "garbage" or "trash" used for anyone, whether they're professional ball players or not.

And of course Pierce deserves respect.

But he also came into camp overweight and out of shape, which is something the C’s just can’t afford for him, “the Captain”, to do at 34 years of age. Whether or not that led to his injury, his injury clearly compounded the situation.

I really think Pierce will eventually rebound from his early struggles.

It’s KG whom I think has already reached his peak for the season. I don’t think we can expect anything more the rest of the season.

KG is my absolute favorite active player

But it is obvious he physically can’t do the things his game is built around. It’s shown more and more over the last few seasons, but because of the effectiveness of the guys around him, he meshed in without having to be relied on. This year everyone looks bad, and it is clear these guys need new blood brought on board to carry the load.

cltc5-take your garbage elsewhere.

This part of the schedule was favorable for the # of home games

And the result was this

What a reality check

I still have to think as bad as this team does this year,

It’s still worth keeping them around in the hopes that a lousy season will humble KG and Allen into resigning for the vet min and coming off the bench for a couple of upper tier free agents and quality draft picks. I did read that KG was considering returning next year, and possibly willing to accept a role off the bench.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/ian_thomsen/01/18/celtics/index.html#ixzz1jqgJPVjE

This year will not be salvaged by trades, and probably not through any midseason pick ups, let’s just hope they get it together weather the storm for the good of 2012-13.

+1

Let’s just hope DA will sign someone worth signing for next season.

TICK..TICK..TICK..

BOOOOOOM!!!..BLOW IT UP!!

i count that we missed over 25 uncontested jumpers

and I mean Im only counting jumpers with very liitle d

we are getting hammered playing no d and missing jumpers.every time i think we are ok, we turn around and play the wrong way…minimal effort, missing easy shots

team is toast

if they continue to miss wide open jumpers. so many uncontested shots were missed that in any other year would have been made buckets.

Bradley’s D was solid. Considering how this team’s ceiling is a 1st round exit in the playoffs, I wouldn’t mind seeing Rondo sit Sunday and Monday’s games too (make sure he’s healed) to see what Bradley and Moore can do against a couple of cruddy teams.

We lost to a middle of the road team.

With rest. At home. What else can be said. The only teams we’ve beaten are hoping to win the draft lottery. I still find it hard to believe we are actually this bad.

This game was so flat it doesn’t deserve much analysis, we were second guessing on offense and and guys were passing over good looks. I get the move the ball thing, but don’t pass on a good look, go up with aggression and confidence and if you miss you miss. Being tentative isn’t gonna win a basketball contest.

can pierce play any worse? i wince every time he gets the ball. is he a shadow, is he hurt? doc had the absolute worst group on the floor at the start of the 3th and he let them stay in-bad coaching. moore is a rook and the time he was on the floor was negative teamwise but at least he got minutes. bradley is very good on d and has some offensive potential but he either can’t or is to afraid to take it to the hole. he dribbles side to side=no penetration’ the team needed him to at least try to penetrate- better him than slow foot paul. quisy makes me want scal back.oh well, this year, we suffer. it makes the winning more appreciated. where’s toronto when you need them. it also shows how valuable rondo is.

The real reason that we're losing

is because you guys didn’t switch lucky seats!!
I’m depressed. Time to go watch Celtic Pride again…

in my post i meant in the beginning of the 4th period, not 3th.

Who is worst, Celtics or Knicks?
Enough is enough

Wow, losing another game at home, after a day of rest, and to a mediocre team.

Hard to fathom that a team starting 3 HALL OF FAMERS can score only 71 points at home. Absolutely pathetic offense and the well of excuses has run dry.

A great defense is vital to being an elite team but you have to actually score points also to win in the NBA. Rondo was out tonight - if he is this important to the Celtics then keep him and trade everyone else. To see this rested team struggle to break 20 points in a quarter night after night is pitiful.

Can’t help but remember what Doc said after training camp last season. He remarked how 95% of camp and practice was spent on defense with only 5% on offense. Couldn’t understand that after watching the Celtics offense dissipate against LA in Game 7 of the Finals. And watching the C’s offense struggle especially late in games last season made it more unbelievable.

The paltry production this Celtics team consistently puts up is simply not good enough. Something has to change NOW…

Hope its not still 5%….help…

a new low

JO makes Gortat look like the second coming of Dave Cowens

KG cannot finish inside—at all

Where is PPs mid-range game?

Quis looked horrible—a complete liability at both ends

There isn’t one big man on the team who knows how to set a proper pick—gone are the days of Perk and Baby just suffocating guys trying to catch Ray

Bass looked determined to get his shot blocked inside rather than hit the open J

Nobody fears us and all the guys know it

Without Rondo we would be in lotto land

Loved Bradley’s D—wish that he could have hit some of the wide open looks that he got

Good God I can’t believe I watched this horror show of a game tonight

Great point about the picks for Ray

Seems these days he can run all night and still not get open

seriously--there is no mystery

As to why Ray has so few shot attempts. He has to rely on running his man off double screens to get open and no one knows how to effectively step out and pick his man—so he gets the ball and he has no room to shoot and can’t beat anyone off the dribble. This is one of those things that both Perk and Baby did well but never show up in the box score.

yeah the little things – are killing us.

Perk set a killer baseline screen but was also a liability when setting back-court picks

because he would get called for moving so often.

He’s still doing that. Those count as TOs and that’s why he is racking up more TOs than made baskets so far in OKC.

Those do show up in the box score.

Though I do agree - our current bigs are not doing a good job of setting hard picks.
I am shuddering just thinking about what is going to happen when this team plays the Sixers
I've commented very seldomly lately

Cuz’ I just ain’t got nuthin’ nice to say. I’ve got this pent up rage over the current sad stae of affairs.

This is just a depressing team. These old men just can’t do anything they used to. No lift in the legs for a jumpshooting team=missed shots. Missed shots for this team=losses (and lots of them).

I’d rather see them go down missing layups all day than jumpshots. Please for the love of God Doc, make them take it to the basket, consequences be dammed.

The worst part is, the roster moves Danny has made over the last few years put us in this position. He could have built us a roster of young, atheletic contributers, but instead gave us this crap. Marvelous, now we have to watch this horror show and try not to shed tears.

Blowing it up won’t do any good either. Who is going to trade anything of value for these old men? We’re basically stuck watching this play out, and hoping for a miracle.

Of course, Danny will probably panic, and think making a trade for our vets will net us something of value (cuz’ he can’t just let it run it’s course-sarcasm intended), and end up with an even worse situation. Thanks Danny, YOU SUCK!

By the way nice suit by Rondo, maybe he should’nt of worn purple though, its kind of a Phoenix color.

F-U-N-K

For whatever reason they’ve completely lost their confidence since the Perk trade.
They can’t throw a grape in the ocean.
I can’t believe they can go from individual career bests to this in one year due to age. Nash is 39. They just have no confidence in their shots, and it’s a psychological game more than any other. I wonder when they will snap out of it!? If they do they will go on a beautiful winning streak to make up for it.

can some on explain why steamrolller is seen 2:00min game time???

he shown o that only one that can stop fast break twice and was doing a decent job on gortila or what ever his name is

i dont thin port would take it
Why not

Our untouchables are LA and Batum every one eals is a trad chip
Just imagine
Rondo
Crawford
Batum
LA
Camby/ Oden

Or Batum

http://games.espn.go.com/nba/tradeMachine?tradeId=7×83ff4
I dont know if you guys know who is Batum, he is a kid filled with potential, he can shoot, post up, drive, play D. He is a corners stone type of player.

With Gorge and Batum

You guys can go and Draft Doc’s son Austin Rivers and you guys will have a bright future
Rivers, Gorge, Batum you guy will have a young Big 3

felton will be are point i dont like that at all
Free agency market in 2012

If Danny does not blow everything up the Celtics will have a lot of space in salary cap in the summer. I checked who can be available on the market. Here is the list of our potential acquisitions (name, this years salary, status in the summer):

Deron Williams, $16,359,805, player option $17,779,457
Mehmet Okur, $10,890,000, free agent
Kris Humphries, $8,000,000, free agent
Spencer Hawes, $4,051,023, free agent
Leandrinho Barbosa, $7,600,000, free agent
Omer Asik, $1,857,500, qualifying offer $2,321,875
Antawn Jamison, $15,076,715, free agent
Roy Hibbert, $2,588,590, qualifying offer $3,655,089
Kirk Hinrich, $8,000,000, free agent
Boris Diaw, $9,000,000, free agent
JaVale McGee, $2,462,399, qualifying offer $3,494,144
Nick Young, $3,695,857, free agent
Jason Terry, $11,437,500, free agent
Jason Kidd, $8,500,000, free agent
Delonte West, $1,180,000, free agent
Samuel Dalembert, $7,000,000, team option $6,700,000
OJ Mayo, $5,632,636, qualifying offer $7,390,018
Dwight Howard, $17,885,400, player option $19,261,200
Chris Kaman, $14,030,000, free agent
Carl Landry, $9,000,000, free agent
Eric Gordon, $3,831,183, qualifying offer $5,137,616
Tim Duncan, $21,300,000, free agent
DeJuan Blair, $986,000, team option $1,054,000
Gary Neal, $788,872, free agent
Andre Miller, $7,807,728, free agent
Danilo Gallinari, $4,190,182, qualifying offer $5,589,703
Rudy Fernandez, $2,180,443, qualifying offer $3,187,807
Michael Beasley, $6,262,347, qualifying offer $8,172,362
Brad Miller $4,752,000, team option $5,104,000
Kevin Love, $4,609,704, qualifying offer $6,112,464
Anthony Randolph, $2,911,231, qualifying offer $4,049,522
Gerald Wallace, $10,650,000, player option $11,437,500
Marcus Camby, $9,256,500, free agent
Raymond Felton, $7,500,000, free agent
Jamal Crawford, $5,000,000, player option $5,000,000
Nicolas Batum, $2,155,364, qualifying offer $3,166,230
Greg Oden, $1,500,000, free agent
Nazr Mohammed, $3,750,000, free agent
Brandon Rush, $2,956,658, qualifying offer $4,089,058
Maurice Williams, $8,500,000, player option $8,500,000
Andrew Bynum, $15,157,667, team option $16,473,002
Metta World Peace, $6,790,640, player option $7,258,960
Matt Barnes, $1,900,000, free agent
Steve Nash, $11,689,062, free agent
Grant Hill, $6,500,000, free agent
Vince Carter, $4,000,000, free agent
Shannon Brown, $3,500,000, free agent
Michael Redd, $1,050,000, free agent
Jason Thompson, $3,001,284, qualifying offer $4,129,766

As you can see, apart from Kevin Love (Howard and D-Will playing for the Celtics is a pipe dream), who will be a restricted free agent and I am sure that Kahn will match any offer for him, the market does not look very good. Of course, there is a number of decent players (McGee, Hibbert, Hinrich, Diaw, OJ Mayo maybe), but nothing special if you ask me. So it is a very difficult to decide which way to go.

ASIK!!!.. and Mayo or Brown.. BUT DANNY NEED DRAFT BETTER!!!
Nice info...

Thanks for posting it.

we also

can take on a prohibitive contract along with value

Why hasn't Kahn tied up Love yet?
Maybe Kevin Love does not want to sign an extension

Maybe he wants more money than Kahn is putting on the table currently. Thing is that we cannot forget that Love will be a restricted free agent, and Kahn surely is aware that Kevin is a near-to-max-or-even-max type of player so he will get these kinds of contract offers. However, Kahn would be stupid if he did not match even the highest offer for him.

very disappointed..............

not in the Celtics, but in my fellow fans!! First off to Jeff, I suggest you rename Celtics Blog…….. ummmm……. try Gloom & Doom because that’s all you see on here. U G L Y?? Of course it was dang ugly, we didn’t have our PG. Ohhh, you say that’s no excuse?? That is like taking away Kobe from LA, LeBron from Miami, or any other team’s best player and say it don’t matter. All that’s on here anymore is fire Danny, fire Doc, trade KG, trade Ray, trade PP, why don’t we bring in Arenas, let’s get Iverson………. it never ends. Pathetic!! Sorry that I don’t share the “end” story of the majority of posters. NO, I don’t think it turns golden and you hear harp music. But hearing that Bradley was the bright spot with one assist and lockdown D is a joke. His big chance and he egts one assist. Ohh, that’s right, he locked down on Nash and “held” him to 14/9. Righttttttttt!!! The Celtics were hurt by the shortened or lack of a training camp/preseason combined with age. But, blowing it up isn’t going to gain us anything. I laugh at the posts…. “KG sucks” and 3 lines later….. “let’s ship KG off for Gasol or Kevin Love”. Really? REALLY? He sucks, but someone else will trade an All-Star for him??

Heat

they win without Lebron and Wade. Spurs win without Ginobli. next

I don't care for doom and gloom either,

but as a fan…I am disappointed with the Celtics performance, and I certainly can’t blame others for being upset either.

I’m always going to root for the Celtics, but this season has been almost painful to watch.

We can continue to make excuses, and I will, but at some point, as the L’s keep piling up…

I agree that the doom & gloom is no fun

but I don’t think this loss had anything to do with Rondo being out. We have plenty of chances to score points without him. We just couldn’t make shots.

green and west would have helped a LOT!!
Psychological and Pietrus

IT;s this at this point. They need a strong mentality and they dont have it. And Doc needs to sit asses down and play someone else. And I feel so bad for Pietrus, who was thrilled about playing here and now he’s lumped in with this mess. I love KG but he is tradeable. Pierce at this point I say we try to get whatever we can for him. We need young confident legs. He flops on offense worse then a fish outta water.

I've felt from the first few games that Pierce--at least until he gets into shape and rights his game--and JO should be coming off the bench.

They’d add a lot of stability to that group, while Stiemer matches well and can learn from playing with KG, and Stiemer and Pietrus would give Rondo some younger legs to run with.

I think Stiemer and Pietrus can probably about match JO and Pierce’s offense for now and Danny would absolutely see what he has with Stiemer.

lets just admit it that kg, ray, pp and JO

are really not starting prime time players anymore.

It really is time for them to come off the bench. My problem is our bench are actual bench players so we basically have nothing save for Rondo in our starting

Playoffs???????????????

I thought the Celtics are about Championships?

I will not participate in a Playoff Poll!

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

hhhhhhhh

Stick a fork in them – they’re done, they’re cooked – BLOW IT UP DANNY !!!!!!!!!!

You're at home....

Your offense is playing 5 on 4 for the entire time los Nash is in the game.

You score 71 points?

we are not going to get nothing but garbage in return

we are not going to get rid of the big 3 this year . nobody is going to give you good young players in return for any of them okay lets see the contenders. would the bulls give up noah or asik for pierce cause thats who i would want the answer is no, would the heat give away bosh or joel anthony for KG hell no how about the mavericks giving us a 1st rounf pick for ray ray i just dont see it happening. we are just going to have to ride it out this year. next year we will only have pierce and rondo on the books ray will sign with a contender and garnett will most likley retire and pirce could be playing his last hall of fame career next season the retooling starts next year unless you want some below average scrubs with big contracts on other teams bench that will tie up our cap just for the sake of trading the big 3 the choice is yours cause it will be blown up just not this year.

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