CelticsBlog

Spurs started 4-4 in the last lockout-shortened season

and won it all. crazier things have happened

mc34 - January 8, 2012 reply

The Celts would be a much more potent team

with a healthy Jeff Green, tough break ( god bless Jeff with a successful operation);
Now, it seems to me the only way we step it up and possibly challenge Mia/Chi is for DA to somehow get a talent at center like a Cousins.

gocanes1 - January 8, 2012 reply

Amen, Jeff.

vinnie - January 8, 2012 reply

nice write up

agree with excuses, but really first three games can be excused because no Paul Pierce and virtually no Pierce in 4th lose, we only go as far as he brings us. And the excuses will stop.

forever_green - January 8, 2012 via mobile reply

Definitely agree with this.

But no matter what happens this season, as long as they’re in the playoffs, I refuse to ever count them out.

2010 taught me to never count this team out, ever.

Sizzlack - January 8, 2012 reply

Celtics don't look great...but who does right now?

No one in the league is looking like they’ve got it really together. Leaving the Celtics aside for the moment, most teams are suffering from the tight schedules, lack of practice, and acclimating to the frenzied December trades. I’ve seen some ugly, ugly ball this season.

Some teams are weathering the storm better than others, but no one – not even Miami – looks indestructible. The current NBA champions are a game under .500 for crying out loud. I think it’s going to take another month or so for the dust to settle. I hope that we see better quality of play from both the Celtics and the entire league soon.

GreenInNYC - January 8, 2012 reply

Well...

We’re old(er), we’re thinner on the bench, we can’t rebound. I’m sure this post-lockout early part of the season will be crazy for a few if not most teams, but still, we have serious issues.

Big_Easy - January 8, 2012 reply

Bench has not yet come together

This team needs a lot of help from the bench to support the aging stars. They have not done that for the most part and we see a lot out of sync play from them as well as the regulars. If and how long it takes the bench especailly to come togethr will affect how successful they are in the regular season. This break offers time to help them with that and maybe add Pietrus to the rotation to offset some of what they lost with Jeff Green absence.

With each game patience is tried a little harder, and I want to see positive signs that they are progressing. A game like Indiana with so much wrong in a game that was thought of as a bit of a test of that progress, leads to feelings like those expressed by Jeff (I think the refs made things tough in this game as well).

But I’m pretty sure the players are not giving themselves excuses and I sense that we have to give it at least two or three more weeks, until like the end of January before really getting a good idea of whether this team will be able to contend at a high level. It may take even more time than that and management will, I think, give it even more time than that. But like others here I feel that growing impatience to make a judgment on this team and sometimes withholding that judgment feels more and more like rationalization with each passing game.

But when I sit back, for the most part I think it will likely just take time and be a work in progress for a while. I did think and still do that because of the way this team relies on team play for its success, the late player moves, short preseason and compressed schedule, may be more difficult on the Celtics than other teams. So at least for now, I’ll lean toward cutting the team slack and keeping hope for another month. Not sure if they can reach the level of play they will ultimately need to succeed in the playoffs, but I don’t think we can tell for a bit more time yet.

SteveZ from Edgemont - January 8, 2012 reply

do we really need to come up with excuses?

in 2010 we lost to some of the worst teams in the league.. we were .500 for much of the season.. and we ended up a few cheap gasol FTs from a championship. yeah our guys are older but if they have one more run in them, nba watch out.

JunkyardDawg - January 8, 2012 reply

No more excuses is a perfect fit for this team

Great post Jeff - echoes what Vinnie, myself and others have been saying since the season started.

After watching the Hawks lose a heartbreaking triple OT game to Miami, then come back and win games on 2 straight nights after that, watching Portland remain relevant despite losing two key players to retirement/season ending injuries, watching other teams manage to play well on back to back nights – other teams overcome obstacles so a Celtics team with one of the best coaches in the NBA and a roster littered with future hall of famers should be able to do the same.

It is so refreshing to hear a logical analysis of the team’s struggles from such a prominent figure ha ha.

NO MORE EXCUSES - can’t beat that mantra

warnerjohn - January 8, 2012 reply

They need 1 more title

It’s just not right if the Big3 only wins 1. Unfortunately it’s not looking like a team that will consistently thrill you in the regular season. I’m gonna try and wait until they lose in the playoffs before flying off the handle. Easier said than done I suppose..

garz - January 9, 2012 reply

I agree

And rebounding is an issue, but to me it’s a total mystery why our offense disappears when we have all the ingredients necessary for an NBA championship offense:

- We have an all star point guard to make things go
- We have two world class scorers in Paul Pierce and Ray Allen
- We have Kevin Garnett who can be a great scorer when he wants to be.
- J.O could score at one point and I think he still can if other guys aren’t finding their shot.

We the bench. Brandon Bass can be our 6th man and Dooling can play at the guard spot. Marquis and Wilcox are good. Bradley has shown promise and IMO has earned an opportunity. Pietrus will be a good addition.

We can beat any team in the league if we have some rhythm, and it’s time to get it, no more excuses.

p-peazy - January 9, 2012 reply

We aren't the celtics of 3 years ago...

Yes..we have lost a lot of things. Yes we arent the favorites to win it all. We arent even in the dialougues of teams in title contention. But I like it that way. I like being the underdog that grinds out all star powered teams. Shuts down showtime basketball. A team that everybody hates. A team that everybody has written off as “the window has closed” group. I like that we might not win all the regular season games this year. But when it comes down to games count then thats when we flip that switch and show these guys what CELTIC basketball is. NO MORE EXCUSES!

The green mamba - January 9, 2012 via mobile reply

I hate this stupid expression.

There are excuses. And there are reasons.

Not all reasons are excuses.

Having a doctor’s appointment is a reason for missing school that is excusable. It provides you an excuse. Your teacher smiles at you, you do the make-up work and it’s all ‘ok’.

There are reasons why you lose a basketball game and not one of them is an ‘excuse’ because unless they can reverse the scoreboard, they don’t make it ‘ok’. You still lost.

But that doesn’t change the fact that they are valid reasons that can be discussed.

Blogger A says, “They lost because they missed 10 shots in a row to start the 4th!”
Blogger B replies, “No excuses! They lost because they suck!”

or

Blogger D say, “They lost because they started 2 guys off their 3rd string.”
Blogger C says, “You’re just making excuses! They lost because <insert Blogger C’s own pet reason>!”

Yeah, that makes for pleasant, intelligent conversation.

How do we discuss the actual reasons a team is doing poorly if it’s just going to get shouted down as ‘excuse making’ by those who either just want to lament how crappy our team is or who think that they alone have it figured out with their particular interpretation of the world?

The word ‘excuse’ just doesn’t really apply. You lost for a reason. No ‘excuse’ exists to make it a win.

This phrase is just another way to say ‘shut up’.

mmmmm - January 9, 2012 reply

Call it what you want

Our team has flaws, some large (no rebounding, disappearing offense), and thats why we have lost games BUT you cant say the “excuse” of the refs giving us 2 phantom technical fouls in the fourth quarter of the xmas day knicks game didnt contribute to making or breaking us that game. So its a two way street. I also understand that we should have never been in a situation where 2 bad calls would cost us the game….but we were…and 2 bad calls that were made may have done just that.

Kgwillkillyou - January 9, 2012 via mobile reply

I agree that if they want to show they are still a contender that time is now

4 days to rest and practice, then a game against a Mavs team that is even more unsure of itself. 2009-2010 was awesome but the chances of them playing .500 ball then flipping a switch and successfully making the finals is even lower now (it was already low back then). Doesn’t mean this upcoming game is the final and only test of being a contender, it’s just they should have enough time now to somewhat resemble Celtics defense and get some continuity on offense.

kg2128 - January 9, 2012 reply

Having agree that we shouldn't make excuses, here's the BIGGEST excuse of all

It’s just possible that this is what we have to deal with for the rest of the regular season. Why? The Celtics must know that the only chance they have of getting to the Finals is if they go into the postseason healthy. And, just like in 09-10, the best way to stay healthy is to not take unnecessary risks while playing. Don’t kill yourself to win one more (relatively) meaningless regular season game. Save it for the playoffs.

And if that means a .500 record and 6th seed, so be it. The difference that home court makes (in just ONE game more or less) is trivially small compared to the impact health — good or bad — will have.

I don’t know if this is true. But it might be.

JR99 - January 9, 2012 reply

That's right....no more excuses.

You can’t control refs’ calls, injuries, compressed schedule, back to back games. But what you can control is effort, determination, focus. Most games it looks like Boston just sleepwalks. Crash the boards. Box out. Play with passion. Those are under your control. Major lack of them are inexcusable. Because there will be those games that you can really see the effort but still come up short. But not because of lack of effort. And those losses you can swallow.

LarryBird33 - January 9, 2012 reply

But I've got an excuse

We win off our defense and our defense is KG and KG, in my opinion, needs training camp more than almost any other NBA player, including rookies. He is when he’s on a tightly wound ball of fury and he is a creature of habit and he needs his reps. So I predict in a week or so, the defense clicks and we are off to the races.

It’s on Doc to get the bench involved. Danny did his job. The pieces are there. And, by the way, Kendrick Perkins for Jeff Green was a great trade given the numbers Perkins is putting up for OKC.

Wildblu1 - January 9, 2012 reply

but Wildblu 1

Perkins didn’t score or rebound well night in or night out .He clear space and gave Garnett space to shoot jumpers and £ondo and. Paul Pierce to drive. Set picks for Allen all in running Offense sets and also allowing us as a team to Rebound with Paul Pierce averaging 6 reb Garnett 7 reb Rondo 4 reb Posey and Powe 6 reb. And in Perkins 5 plus reb .and the fact he was the bite to Garnett bark .Jeff Green is a good player but Perkins was the glue and that means more to Chemistry Remeber this without Garnett we lost eastern finals without Big Perkins we lost our second Championship and that is the difference

emilio745i - January 9, 2012 reply

I like Perk too but

I think Danny knew what he was doing. Perk has Eric Dampier’s game. Good enough to have a long career but not in the upper half of centers and not worth what OKC is paying him. But, I’ll be happy to be wrong. He went from being an absolute oaf to a cog in a championship, all through his own hard work. I’m not down on PErk but I think Danny made a good trade there

Wildblu1 - January 9, 2012 reply

Where is the surprise here? They are old and finished. Everyone knew there was a short window of opportunity to win big when KG was brought in. It is unfortunate they could not win that second title against the Lakers. Now we are looking at a team similar to the old 80’s C’s when McHale and Parish were old and Bird had the bad back. The team is slow, old, and unable to stay up with a lot of their younger opponents. Time waits for no one.

MaxAMillion - January 9, 2012 reply

What would Danny have done if there were no strike?

the strike totally hampered Danny’s ability to do the deals he wanted to. I really believe that with a regular off season, Danny could have gotten either west or paul or maybe both. In the compressed, crazy, post lockout frenzy Danny was hampered. Danny saw the same team we all saw last spring against Miami. Publically he may say we have another run but privately I don’t think Danny believes that because Danny is a realist. That’s why he wanted to trade Rondo. He knows that with a PG who can’t shoot frm the outside in the playoffs we have no shot against Miami. I’d be willing to bet that had there been a regular off season Danny would have taken a run at Howard as well. Danny has repeatedly said he wouldn’t watch his aging stars go down with the ship yet here we are doing exactly that. Again, I think wiht a regular offseason that Ray or KG or both would have been gone. Danny is smart enough to know that JO is done. So now all we can do is suck it up and hope guys stay healthy and we get hot at the right time.

Red2 - January 9, 2012 reply

2 things.

One, without looking up stats and searching for exact numbers, Pierce (as well as any star player) is ways going to have his worse game of the season at some point, we just got it out of the way early this year. Really, it’s the fact that we played an overall terrible game as a team that people are being so hard on him. Secondly, is all this talk of reasons and excuses reminding anyone else of Jackie Brown?

Mikey Bizzle - January 9, 2012 via iPhone app reply

The headline says it all

We are likely as healthy and rested as we will be the rest of the year. These are likely the players we will go into the playoff with (barring a much needed trade for a player, preferably at the center position, who has an NBA caliber low-post game). And while chemistry can come with time and silly turnovers can decrease with practice, the true character of this team will shine through in the next couple of weeks.

An old-fashioned ass-kicking happened against Indiana. We, first, kicked our own. Then they kicked us hard on at the boards. And a few questionable calls later and there was no air left in our tires, well, save for a superman Ray Allen.

Where was Rondo’s aggressiveness? Where was the Paul Pierce who can go 0 for 10 and still be a shut down defender? Where was KG"s energy?

Maybe we shouldn’t have won that game but we sure shouldn’t have looked like the Nets, or worse yet, a team who stops playing in the second quarter, only to return after half-time with even LESS effort.

For the first time in the big three era, I’m wondering if anyone on this team really thinks they are better than a second round playoff exit. When we were a .500 team before our last finals runs, you could really see the the players believed, that they knew something that we couldn’t see on the court. As of yet, I don’t see that swagger. And if they think they can’t win it all, I’m wondering what is the motivation to go out there every night.

This team desperately needed that missing piece of the puzzle that would give us a legitimate chance at a championship. So far, we’ve gotten a very good Brandon Bass and some blocks from Steamer. These players are smart. Doc is smart. We know who we have and who we don’t. Are we just buying time until Ainge makes a miracle trade at the deadline? Or will he be trading away pieces to start the rebuilding sooner than I had hoped.

It’s not pretty right now. And it’s likely to get uglier in the next week. Hopefully it’s our kind of ugly as we bang the boards and get into the minds of anyone who drives toward the hoop. But I fear the tide has turned and we simply do not have the pieces to contend. We have them to dominate a quarter or two. We even have the pieces to stay competitive against anyone when pride is on the line. But we only have the talent in spurts. More importantly, I don’t think the players believe anymore.

CelticsFan616 - January 9, 2012 reply