CelticsBlog

I don't normally blame the refs

But I thought the no-call on Pierce totally changed the game.

Yep. Completely.

So the non-call on Pierce is what made the Celtics give up easy baskets the rest of the game?

It also is the reason that they could not score a point the last three minutes of the game? just wanted to check.

No, but

PP doesnt get a veteran bump? vs Cleveland?

Tenacious D - January 29, 2012 reply

"So the non-call on Pierce is what made the Celtics give up easy baskets the rest of the game?"

Of course not. Don’t be silly – I never suggested any such thing.

But the non-call on Pierce is directly why the Celtics did not get 4 FT attempts, which would have resulted in up to 4 points (plus changed at least one CLE possession).

In a 1 point game, that is definitely a case of the refs affecting the out-come of the game.

I thought subbing out Moore for Bradley in the 4th killed all our offensive flow.

Mencius - January 29, 2012 reply

+1

forever_green - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

+1 a million times. Bradley is an absolutely horrendous player on the offensive end

+ 1,000

alley oop - January 29, 2012 reply

Um ... why? Because Moore was being offensively productive?

Moore didn’t really do anything in his 20 minutes that looked particularly compelling on offense over what Bradley did in his 27. Moore scored 4 pts. Bradley scored 6. Both made 2 shots. Bradley also got to the line.

The C’s loss was not because Bradley got more minutes than Smooge. They lost because of too many sloppy TOs and, ultimately, because of a couple of horrendously bad calls by the refs.

I only saw the second half... and a crappy stream at that, but...

Moore was in after Bradley turned his ankle, and the team played better with him in there, built up the lead to, what was it, 11 or 12 at one point. I believe it was down to 7 when he left the game at 3:42 to go, and the Celtics went scoreless the rest of the way. I’m not implying that Moore personally was tearing it up offensively; just that the team seamed more cohesive offensively with him in there. They completely lost their mojo with the substitution.

Mencius - January 30, 2012 reply

Irving was on a roll and i think doc wanted avery to slow him down

Karasu - January 29, 2012 reply

Irving ate up Bradley tonight

Yes, but Bradley is still expected to be a better defender than Moore

and I see the last one more on Bass after that pick and roll with Varejao.

Karasu - January 29, 2012 reply

Doc

Doc didn’t put the started back in till the 3:50 mark in the 4th. They were ice cold.

Samg - January 29, 2012 reply

Doc got a tad overconfident there…he must have thought its in the bag. Epic collapse in the final 3 min.

bopna - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

Doc got a tad overconfident there…he must have thought its in the bag. Epic collapse in the final 3 min.

bopna - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

Yep

Yep.

Yeah, but they were robbed of some points that they SHOULD have generated

in the form of 4 trips to the line that Pierce was denied by the bad no-foul call.

Refs ultimately decided the game with that no-call.

Not that we played all that great. Very sloppy play by the Celts all night. But still should have been good enough for the win.

But -- the Celts were still up either 6 or 8 points when that call was not made

That did not decide the game. The fact that they lead Verajao dominate the boards and the fact that Avery Bradley got destroyed by Irving, and finally the fact that Doc did some really dumb things toward the end of the game is why they lost.

Are you sure they were up that much?

I didn’t think so but can’t really remember. I just felt it really changed the game right there.

They were up 5 when that non-call was made

Then they let Verajao drive the lane for an easy layup. Despite that call, they still should have won the game

Ok

Not normally into blaming the refs anyway (my husband is one – high school varsity). I just felt that was a big non-call.

It was a really weird play

It seemed that after Pierce and everyone else realized a foul was not going to be called, he still tried to shoot, and it of course ended up an airball. One of the strangest plays I have seen in a long time.

Yeah

I did think about why did he shoot it when he hadnt heard a whistle? Maybe he was hoping for a late call. I was!

It doesn't matter how much they were up at the time of the call.

That’s completely irrelevant.

The fact is that Pierce should have been awarded to shots at the line right there. That also would have meant that the Cavs would have had to bring it all the way up on the subsequent possession. And finally, later in the game they would not have had a foul to give when they fouled Pierce – putting him on the line for 2 more FTs.

That’s a minimum of a 3 point swing – and more likely more than that.

Sure the C’s could have played better and not been in this position. But the fact is that even not playing their best they should have still gotten the win. It is a simple fact that the refs screwed up and decided the game because if they DON’T screw that call, then the game outcome flips the other way.

And that ignores the bogus traveling call on KG.

The refs did not lose the game for the Celtics

The Celtics lost the game for the Celtics

Both

And I think the point is that it’s ridiculous for the refs to screw up that badly, and with that affect the outcome of the game. Doc said they told him after the play that there was “no contact.” No contact!…. can you believe that? Are they not aware that it’s all being RECORDED…. ferkrissakes.

True refs screwed up.....but

The only time I think that refs decide a game is when they give a call or non-call during the dying seconds of the game and seals the victory for the opponent. Otherwise Boston is to blame for the loss.

This is all on Boston losing which really looked like it was in the bag already.

Oh right. God forbid we have any expectation that the refs do their job!

We pay tickets and revenues for the NBA to provide an entertainment product.

Part of that product is the expectation of competent and fair officiating.

I understand that many seem to think it ‘taboo’ to ‘blame the refs’ when you lose but that mentality is for the athletes. That is the mentality that high school coaches drill into players at a young age so they can ‘move on’ past the inevitable crap calls.

We are not the athletes. We are the customers. And dammit – as a customer of the NBA we have every right to complain and criticize crappy officiating. In fact, we have a responsibility to do so if we ever want it to get better.

You can always expect the refs to screw up.

Has that changed in the last 10 years or so? The league has implemented numerous rules for the refs to avoid being in a situation wherein they make bad judgement calls. But they still make them. But refs’ bad calls with still tons of basketball minutes left ultimately is not what decided the outcome of the game.

So you say.

So it must be true.

I’m not sure what the heck the timing of a bad call has to do with anything.

If the refs spotted you 3 points in the first quarter – would that mean something different to the scoreboard compared to if they spotted you 3 points with one second left to play?

Well....

If the bad call was made in the first qtr, it’s still in your hands to win the ballgame.

Bad call with 1 sec to play may have probably sealed your fate if you’re down.

Points is points.

mmmmm - January 31, 2012 reply

And Pierce was pretty darn PO'd about it!

Good!

That anger is perfect. This team is going to be great, I tellya. And soon.

Where's the panic button?

The Celtics lost to the post-LeBron Cavs…OMGAWD.

SparzWizard - January 29, 2012 reply

well, if we didn't win 4 straight headed into tonight

it would look worse, but those 4 wins buys a little bit of slack – at least in my book

Jeff Clark - January 29, 2012 reply

Sigh

At least I’d rather lose to the Knicks…but the Cavs?! D: They better start a new streak again!!

SparzWizard - January 29, 2012 reply

Right now the Knicks might be an easier matchup

Obviously they have way more talent than the Cavs but Irving is legit and the Cavs are a young team who have nothing to lose/play hard.

kg2128 - January 29, 2012 reply

Unbelievable

These frikkin refs disgust me.. I am so in a bad mood right now.. we should not have lost this game… I hate VAREJAO!!!

celtz_believer - January 29, 2012 via Android app reply

Varejao

Is actually a player I could love if he were a Celtic. My husband and I were just having this discussion. I said there are some players I hate and would never want on the C’s (LeBron, Kobe, Howard – just my opinion). Then there are others I only hate to play against. Varejao is one of those guys.

Blame this loss on Doc! no way we should lose to the Cavs with a 4th quarter lead. about 5min left in the game he still has our reserves in the game, put PP, and KG back in we score 2 or 3 more baskets game over. He thought we had the game won, andn was trying to let the bench guys close it out. I understand what he was doing but we are 9-9..lets get this WIN. in my eyes this was the trap game, the Cavs stop are winning streak + do it in our bulding. smh.

CITYGREEN - January 29, 2012 reply

Dont blame doc ..

.. for sitting SOME of the vets. The compressed schedule is brutal. But a whole sub line, no, Is been proven a non-starter time and again but he keeps going with it. Mix and match, Coach.

Tenacious D - January 29, 2012 reply

I think the c's have been handling the schedule alot better lately

So i don’t agree with this. This is the last year of the big 4 so they’re gonna have to come out swinging every game. No more next year. No more blaming refs. No more excuses to blame it on trades or injuries.

There are older players on other teams playing lots of minutes. They’re leaving it on the floor. Kobe is. The c’s have to do the same. No more strategic rest. It worked one year and that was it.

vgarcia890 - January 30, 2012 reply

And the refs win one

Cs came out lazy, then turned intense, then lazy, then couldn’t pull it out. Oh well.

Refs were blind and atrocious. Ray gets knocked down/elbow hit – no call. Guys dancing around the court – no travel calls. Thompson called for traveling at end of Q1 – but he didn’t travel (rules allow 2 steps off the dribble). And then the 4th quarter ridiculousness was just…. ridiculous. OBVIOUS BIAS by the refs. I mean… it was CLEAR AS DAY that they were out to steal this game in the 4th. Congratulations to the refs for succeeding this time.

Truth be told tho, Cavs are going to be a good team. They have some excellent young players, especially Irving.

Our bench was excellent, again. Moore in particular is becoming a very good player, and Pavlovic seems athletic, energetic and a hard worker on both ends.

Pierce… was just great in this game. The man is playing All-Star-level basketball. Ray was money too.

Can’t win em all. Especially when it’s 5 vs 8.

I have no idea what happened

Pierce was great, Allen was great, our defensa was great.

I’m looking at the box score and it seems to be the small things as always: they beat us on the glass and we had 16 turnovers.

ANDERSON VAREJAO dominated us. Shame on us!

Kyrie Irving basically didn’t miss a shot.

We need a legit center and more scoring!!!

i thought the defense was not good. They were trying but were getting beat off every pick and roll.

We need a real center. Case closed.

Whetzell - January 29, 2012 reply

+1

I think ...

the loss of JO tonight and Doc still not playing the Steamer legit minutes hurt the C’s tonight.

I think KG, Bass and Wilcox did not do a terrible job playing at center tonight, but it would of been nice to throw some more length and muscle at Varejao who is a active and physical big man.

You're a big Steamer fan, aren't you?

I just don’t see it, but that’s ok.

I agree with you. Stiemsma is an NBDL player

I just think...

Considering the C’s lack a legit center and the only one they have on the roster is aging JO with health issues, the Steamer who is a young and I think promising legit center deserves more playing time.

Considering he has young legs, size, length and athleticism which the C’s really need at center, has shown potential to defend the paint, rebound, finish strong around the rim on offense, hit perimeter jumpers, shoot free throws well and run the court well (which is not much more I think you can ask for a big man), I would like to see him get more playing time.

I keep saying this but still think its true, I believe by playing the Steamer meaningful minutes this year the C’s can kill 2 birds with 1 stone.
He can I think help the C’s short term this year and also get valuable playing time that will help his growth and development to possibly hasten his grooming to be a center of the future the C’s can utilize especially since they will need one.

Just my 2 cents though.

I don’t see him defending the paint very well, and he is a foul machine. Of course he gets no respect from the refs.

I think...

the Steamer being a natural shot blocker he is off to a great start defending the paint.

He does need some work maybe on his one to one in the paint defending skills and foot work etc., but that will only come if he plays and has a chance to grow and develop.

As for being a foul machine, I think here again he will learn to foul less with more playing time and experience.
I also think he gets the rookie treatment by the refs and gets foul calls many times that he does not deserve.

That guy in Orlando who put up 24/13 tonight would be a pretty decent fit

NYDan - January 29, 2012 reply

The guy who blames his team mates for quitting while he is trying to skip town. I’m not into that guy.

Whetzell - January 29, 2012 reply

+4

The Orlando team is a joke, that guy is the only reason they have a better record than us.

Ben Henry - January 29, 2012 reply

This.

FlaGators - January 29, 2012 reply

Stubborn Doc.

He treated a 7-10 point lead in the 4th as if it was a 20 point blowout. I felt disrespected for the Cavs, seeing Pierce still relaxing on the bench with under 4:00 to go. Celtics had plenty of chances, even with the refs.

Oh well. Hey, that Irving kid is pretty good.

NYDan - January 29, 2012 reply

I agree

Everyone looked way too relaxed at the end

+1

Karasu - January 29, 2012 reply

BEING CAVALIER

Jamison for two, then KG over him,
Early Cs’ shots seemed to hit the front rim.
Q1 there were several rebounds by KG,
Ray is back, yep, RAY ALLEN FOR THREE!

On a three point shot made by Pierce,
End Q1, Cs up one (that man’s fierce).
Q2 Pietrus is trying out his three,
Assists, rebounds and points from KG.

On a ’Quis turnover, back in came Ray,
RAY ALLEN FOR THREE, then a breakaway!
Turnovers in the league, the Cavs have the most,
In the first half that honor was held by the host!

Pierce an athletic dunk, he was flying high,
Followed by Bass, Jamison let him go by.
This kid Irving making an impression in Boston,
Doc knows him, he played with his son Austin.

Welcome back Ray, so pretty to see,
RAY ALLEN FOR THREE, RAY ALLEN FOR THREE!
There is one guy Cs fans are loving madly,
For defense—soon offense—number zero, Bradley.

Q3 Pierce, The Truth, flew coast to coast,
Of all the guys on the floor, he wants this the most!
Cavs bench was tough to start Q4—Gee,
(He plays for the Cavs, a good game had he).

Down to the wire, the Cavs on a run,
Irving with a lay-up, the Cavs win by one.

mycelts - January 29, 2012 reply

OMG

Im so irritated by Varejao.. I just wanna smack him!

celtz_believer - January 29, 2012 via Android app reply

Ironically

He’s the kind of player we need

+1

Jeff Clark - January 29, 2012 via iPhone app reply

Sure is!

I’d take him instead of Howard.

YES!

mycelts - January 29, 2012 reply

YES!

mycelts - January 29, 2012 reply

C‘s let this game slip away...

I think the C’s thought they had the game won, got complacent and it came back to hurt them.

It was a weird game also as the C’s could score at will in the 1st 3 quarters, but in the 4th could not score a single bucket in the final 8 minutes of play.

It seems like I always say this after the C’s play the Cavs, but it applys tonight also that Varejao sure works his butt off and would look good wearing Celtics green.

Only bright part of the night was the return of Ray as he looked like he did not miss a beat.

we coasted and it cost us the game

Red2 - January 29, 2012 reply

+1

Yea the C’s thought the game was in the bag…and then the bag developed a big hole and the game slipped away…lol

David Henderson - January 29, 2012 reply

RefBAed

Again…..

Not to take anything away from the Cavs…

PP upfake
KG travel

And we lose by 1……

"Shocking collapse"?

Are you kidding me?

Since last year, this team chokes in the clutch against younger team which still have some legs after playing 40min of ball.

lepooo - January 29, 2012 reply

Stupid loss

They all deserve an uppercut for that one

ADL Celt - January 29, 2012 reply

Time to hit the panic button!!!!

ok…maybe not just yet

GreenSlime - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

We lost

Because of that pest Varejao and those stinking refs. I’m so aggravated because I still think we can climb up the standings to compete with chicago and miami. We could have made ground today because chicago lost… UGHHH

celtz_believer - January 29, 2012 via Android app reply

this one is on Doc

He had a horrendous lineup in toward the end of the game. And, Avery Bradley got destroyed by Irving. The easy part of the schedule ends soon. This remains a 35-38 win team at best.

vinnie - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

Disagree

…completely. This is a great team, shaping up. They will learn valuable lessons from this game and move on. Major overreaction.

Agree with JR99

agree very much

celticsfaninsudan - January 30, 2012 reply

+100

Blackberry33 - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

hmmm

did u wash the pants that was why we lost?

a great team? You can't be serious.

This is a slightly better than average team. 5-7th seed in the playoffs.

Ye of little faith

You will see, in time.

i guess those last 3 games are erased from your memory from one loss

They are not a great team, they are not a very good team

The only reason they can even be considered in the mix is because there is no dominant team, although I think by the end of the year the Heat will be rolling.

disagree. I think they have championship potential.

Shaping up? Isn't that what they supposedly did last week?

How do you thrash Orlando, rally from a big deficit against Orlando, and play solid in a win over the Pacers … then lose to the CAVS? Whose roster is mostly filled with no-names? I’m afraid we just saw the return of the team that many of us have come to know and hate — the team that routinely stinks against bad teams, and routinely chokes late — you know, the one Phil Jackson referenced in the 2010 Finals as leading the league in blown fourth-quarter leads? Yeah, that one.

No human process happens in a straight line

There are always ups and downs. We must look for (a) the general slope of the curve (clearly + at this point) and (b) the peaks. The peaks are important, because those indicate how good this team can be, at its best. And it’s a pretty safe bet that that ‘best’ is what we’ll see in the playoffs.

If we are seeing the team that Phil Jackson referenced in the 2010 Finals, I'm a-ok with that!

Actually... It's all good

If this regular season is one long prep session for the playoffs — which it is — then the guys learned an important lesson today. Overconfidence kills. Hero plays kill. Not-hustling-because-you’re-ahead kills. This one game should serve them well going forward. They’ll remember this loss, because it was so bad, so unnecessary.

One could even argue that a game like this is necessary, to get them into playoff shape.

Btw, the ref who missed the call on the foul on Paul at the end there… apparently he told Doc that there was “no contact.” HA! That’s a good one.

Disagree

This is a group of veterans who have been through this a lot, so there’s no lesson to learn unless you’re talking about Bradley, Moore and Stiemsma. And this has happened consistently in past seasons.

Every year they have to learn it again

Way it is. They’re human.

You’d think though, that considering who they are (even the bench players, who aren’t exactly … inexperienced) that they’d have that sort of thing programmed by now.

FlaGators - January 29, 2012 reply

"no contact"

yeah, in an alternate universe, maybe.

Most of this team should've learned this a long time ago!

But it happens every year

To every team. It’s a tough, tough game, very physically demanding, and it’s natural to wanna kick it back a little when you think you can. And every year, they have to learn again to ‘step on their throats’ when they’re down. Way it is. I call that part of being human.

Shouldn't they have already learned that lesson?

Seriously, how many times does Boston have to choke, especially against bad teams, before it learns its lesson? At this rate, Boston will never learn.

We blew it, pure and simple

We were flat and unathletic tonight and relying on jump shots, offensive execution and Opponents mistakes. Our best three minute stretches were maybe the third quadrant in the third quarter and the second quadrant of the fourth quarter. The meltdown at the end of the game was possibly catastrophic to our season as We are competing with Cleveland, New York, Milwaukee, and possibly Toronto and New Jersey for the last two play off spots in the East. Nine wins and Ten losses NFG.

QuinielaBox - January 29, 2012 reply

This

No one game at this point in the season is "catastrophic"

Unless somebody gets injured, of course. They’ll remember this loss and learn from it. No problem. They’ll move on.

agree, if this was a playoof game it would be catastrophic. Otherwise, its a lesson learned

Have rarely seen Pierce so upset

And it sounds like he’s upset with Doc and feels he should’ve played more in the 4th. Can’t say I disagree, but maybe with an 11 point lead Doc was hoping to rest him. And he did admit he had way too many turnovers.

Good

Perfect reaction. He SHOULD be mad. Bodes well going forward.

I support Doc ...

and agree with his move to sit and rest the vets with the lead the C’s had in the 4th.

With the season compact and so many back to back games Doc needs to pick and choose the best time to rest the vets to keep them as fresh as possible for the long run and tonight I think was a one of those times to do so.

Even though it maybe negatively effected the outcome of the game tonight, I think Docs plan to rest the vets is best for the C’s long term interests especially considering the very tough NBA schedule the C’s face have this year and the age of the vets.

Not a great idea to rest the vets and lose to Cleveland at home

The easy part of the schedule ends soon. Second half is a lot tougher than the first.

I agree

the second half of the season will be alot tougher than the first half.

Thats the very reason why I think Its wise for Doc to rest the vets as much as he possibly can now when the schedule is easier and they are playing at home with leads in order to keep the vets as fresh as possible, so they can deal with the tougher portion of the schedule they will be facing in the 2nd half of the season

Paul was FUMING after the game

Never heard so many “No comment”s from him before. The biggest reason he was mad was that Doc didn’t put him back in the game early enough. I believe he was right.

anyone have a link to that video? i diddnt get to see it.

http://www.csnne.com/pages/celticsvideo?PID=uvXM2-jRj6L3Lq3KRJwnjK0qNY5ZB_Y3CoLI0h

Here ya go

He is 100 percent right. Pierce sat way too long in the 4th

Yep, FUMING

Excellent word choice!

Wow -- He seems really angry in this interview

And his no comment early on is a direct diss aimed at Doc. And then he says, “maybe I should play a little bit more……” He is really not happy with Doc — clearly.

Hopefully they work it out

No doubt they will

By the end of the interview, Paul was even saying how it was understandable with the big lead, to rest the starters, etc. He’s a fully matured player by now. Impressive. Even his anger/disgust was under control, yet great to see.

Oh, that's good

Didn’t see the end of the interview because CSN cut it off and I didn’t go to the link.

id like to see someone start doing player grades after every game

i live in indiana so i cant watch a lot of games so i read the box scores but thats not the whole story

just like a letter grade, notes on how they impacted the game and what they did well and not well i think that would be a popular post

+/- sorta does that

Though incompletely

whats +/-

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_plus-minus_mean_in_basketball_box_score

Here...

…and you can see it in the box score below, right after the Field Goals section…..

http://www.nba.com/games/20120129/CLEBOS/gameinfo.html?ls=gt2hp0021100292#nbaGIboxscore

that is not what i thought you meant

i thought you meant a website did something called +/-
that just shows the change in points when the player was in
i mean like a summary of each players play that game

Mentioned +/- because that's right in the box score

I think the thing you’re looking for is best filled by the PER, defined here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&id=2850240

But that’s a lot harder to calculate, and find. Hollinger lists it here:
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/columns/story?columnist=hollinger_john&id=2850240

…. but not per game.

no im not looking for a stat

i meant a fan writing from their perspective

PER is very offensive-oriented

and favors volume producers of counting stats.

It can be useful within very controlled comparisons (such as how the same player performs in different positions), but is not really a very good stat for comparing various players in general.

Imagine if we had fans grading each player after each game

There’s be like…. o I dunno…. 35 different opinions per game? lol

JuJuan some moore - January 30, 2012 reply

ok so i want at least person to do that

since i cant watch the games a lot i want to get a sense for how each player did

I just happened to see this site that did exactly that

Here—
http://celticshub.com/2012/01/29/one-step-back-cavs-88-celtics-87/

It’s one writer’s opinions, of course, but it’s what you described.

JR99 - January 30, 2012 reply

youre the man

JuJuan some moore - January 30, 2012 reply

Ray comes back and we end up with a loss..

Why doc?

bopna - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

Because Ray should be benched

Pietrus should start!!

celtz_believer - January 29, 2012 via Android app reply

Wut??

That’s not fair at all. Ray couldn’t have been more efficient: 22 pts, 9-14 shooting! 1 turnovers, and he made three after three when the Cavs were getiing close. He could do nothing about Pierce’s 7 turnovers. We lost this game because of carelessness and a lack of rebounding and size. I

His D was questionable especially on that Gee kid

celtz_believer - January 29, 2012 via Android app reply

Pietrus D could have been better on him

As it was him who gave up the 3 point play in the 4 qtr to Gee.

Samg - January 29, 2012 reply

Pietrus definintly needs more minutes, and should be finishing games.

forever_green - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

Not over Ray.

And the refs

Don’t forget the refs….. who stole it in the 4th.

if Ray could make a layup, Boston would've won

That was the first layup I've seen Ray miss in a long, long time

The whole team has been missing the 0-1 footers….. it can’t last tho… can’t last.

A layup pietrus wulda slammed.. Smh

celtz_believer - January 29, 2012 via Android app reply

this line of argument is getting silly

Pietrus missed 4 of 5 shots in the time he was in, including all three of his 3-pointers. The argument could easily be made that Ray would have made at least 1 of those missed shots.

Ray wasn't the only one to miss a layup

You really could say that about any missed layup at any point in the game.

Yes -- and Ray did not hit any other shots or three-pointers tonight......

The C's should've turned this into a bar fight...

or every single game from now on !!!

jess m - January 29, 2012 reply

Boston suddenly became nostalgic......

And reminisced their passion for scoring droughts of yesteryears!

And I thought the Phoenix loss was the worst already!

LarryBird33 - January 29, 2012 reply

Fair to say that Avery Bradley was owned by Kyrie Irving tonight

This loss isn’t on Bradley, but when he can’t play offense, which he can’t, and he can’t run the team, which he can’t, if he is not shutting down the other team’s point guard, he is a huge negative. They played 4 on 5 offense the last three minutes plus of the game because Bradley was in there instead of Moore.

Yes, Bradley seemed to have a relatively bad night defensively

I’d like to say “it happens,” but we don’t have enough history with the kid yet. We’ll see Tuesday and beyond.

I think this is more a case of we need to give Kyrie Irving a hell of a lot of credit

I dont’ really think Bradley’s defense was that bad on him, but Irving was just unconscious with his shooting. Everything he tossed up there went in.

He’s also ridiculous with that spin move – there really isn’t anything his own man defender can do to stop it. You have to somehow time your help defense to anticipate the spin and trap him in a charge. But he is so quick – that is nearly impossible to do.

As good as he is, Irving isn’t normally going to drop 10 of 14 shots in like that. All you can do is play good defense, force him to do those flips and fall-aways and hope that only a more reasonable ‘7 of 14’ go in.

Moore played almost as many minutes tonight and didn’t fair any better than Bradley on offense.

Sorry -- Avery Bradley stinks on offense

The other players ignore him and try not to pass him the ball. The defense also ignores him, which is why he sometimes gets those easy baskets when he cuts to the hoop. No one is guarding him. Avery Bradley needs to play 10 minutes a game max. Please get well soon, Rajon.

The funny thing is, when Avery plays a stiff like Jameer Nelson and shuts him down, people are comparing him to some of the best defenders in the game. Yet, when John Wall or Kyrie Irving go off, it is because they hit shots they normally wouldn’t hit, or they have unstoppable moves, etc.

As far as Moore goes, at least they pass to him on offense and he is not a deer in the headlights.

Have you even been paying attention to what Irving has been doing lately?

He is making every defense look slow.

And as for the offensive side – Moore didn’t exactly light the scoreboard up yesterday in his 20 minutes.

Yes, I agree we need Rondo, but I don’t really think folks can put this loss on the fact that Bradley played 27 minutes while Moore only played 20 minutes.

Didn't see this collapse coming

Thought the Celtics were beyond collapses like this especially at home and against mediocre opposition. There were definitely bad calls but it should NEVER have come to using that as an excuse. With all this team has recently shown there was no reason for this latest absolute failure in crunch time. Definitely takes away some of the momentum of the past week. 17 points scored, losing another sizable lead at home to a mediocre team – shows that ghosts from the past are never far from reappearing…

warnerjohn - January 29, 2012 reply

near the end of the game, Boston should've been up 20 instead of clawing to survive

CRUSH THEM WHEN THEY"RE DOWN

What were these guys trying to do, not hurt their feelings? If you have the win in sight then RUN THE SCORE UP, put them away.
This is professional sports. This is competition. Shake hands afterwards but on the court don’t be polite out there, beat their A#@!!

p-peazy - January 29, 2012 reply

+1

forever_green - January 29, 2012 via mobile reply

this kyrie irving kid is very good. at the end. the cavs outhustled us- wanted it more. pp should look in the mirror if he’s peeved. we are playing better but are not out of the woodshed.

nazzbo - January 29, 2012 reply

Having rondo would have helped against him tonight.

celtz_believer - January 29, 2012 via Android app reply

He needs to look in the mirror about the turnovers

Not sure what else he is supposed to see.

PP called himself out very clearly for the TOs after the game.

So he’s not afraid to take his share of the blame.

Though if he’s also a bit pissed off at the refs, too, I sure wouldn’t blame him.

Because I’m pretty pissed off at them, m’self.

Yes, I heard him

Just wasn’t sure why else they meant he was supposed to look in the mirror.

Kyrie irving that is!!

celtz_believer - January 29, 2012 via Android app reply

Yes, would be interesting to see how they match up

Maybe in Feb.

IT WAS A BAR FIGHT CRAIG!!

BullsFan22 - January 29, 2012 reply

Lmao!!!

You ever been in a bar fight? Ask Charles.

Celtics_Diva - January 29, 2012 reply

Maybe the best interview ever

Warning about cussing and using letters abbreviating a cuss word...thanks

Master Po - January 29, 2012 reply

sigh.

japsuki - January 30, 2012 reply

Hopefully this SHUDA won ballgame.......

Wouldn’t bite us in the behind come playoff time. Last season those losses to scrubs cost us the 2nd seed, We just needed to win 2 ballgames out of all those losses we should have won to get homecourt in the 2nd round.

I doubt it will make much of a difference in HCA

Since we’ll most likely be a low seed anyway.

34green - January 30, 2012 reply

It might still affect our seeding.

This loss is bugging me to death for some reason

And I had been doing so good all season at taking things in stride, but not tonight. It’s not just that they lost to the Cavs and I have to hear it on every Cleveland newscast or that I’m married to a Cavs fan. It’s the way they lost! I simply must get this outta my head and get to bed. Have to get up in 6 hours! Tuesday night had better be different!

34green - January 30, 2012 reply

Varejao....

Another mediocre center looking superhuman against our bigs!

But I do agree he is the kind of center we need.