It was one game, if it continues after every loss then they have a problem.

Meh, finger pointing is good… as in I really doubt that what they were doing was finger pointing as in “you’re the one responsible for this loss”. I’m sure everyone was replaying the game in their minds and were keeping each other in check on what each of them were doing wrong and what they need to improve on. This is a non issue.

they should finger point at the refs, they were treating Chauncey like he
was Jordan. pp was getting hammered underneath , he got called for two traveling calls in the 2nd half which didnt exist. rondo was called for every littlething he did ,and even fouls that werent committed on billups.
And billups had a two handed wind up push of rondo were rondo slid head first
out of bounds and the ref was 3 ft away and was stearing right at billups but wouldnt call something against billups. its easy to win when you have a 6th teammate on the floor , they even called one of pp baskets away for no reason

The game was lost early in the 3rd quarter. The Cs could have
pushed the lead up to 13 or 15 if they had made makeable shots
while Det was missing theirs. But Heinsohn continures to note
that the closer the game is the slower the Cs play. This has been a hallmark of the Rivers regime.

i only saw the last 5 minutes. sure, tony made a boo boo, but that was one big learning experience for him. i remember watching the world tournament or maybe the olympics, and seeing tim duncan make a few stupid, costly fouls in a losing effort. it’s what you walk away with.i.e. adversity makes the man. but in that last 5 mins. the td north garden was rocking.

i hope someone was pointing to perk and letting hom know he needs to start finishing when he gets the ball 3’ from the rim….
1-7 in the paint, stripped twice and blocked twice….

That is what it seemed like to me to Green17, somebody rightfully said Perkins needed to do better etc. And Perkins got upset about it. He was the only one making a comment about it. Teammates should call each other out on occasion when they know they did not put their best effort in.

As this season progresses, I expect Perkins will become a better finisher in the paint. Like many of the younger guys, this is his first season of playing in meaningful NBA games. He’ll settle down a bit.

My real concern, and it’s an old one around here, is the lack of an experienced point guard behind Rondo. Last night’s game turned in the third quarter when he was out and House and Ray Allen couldn’t cope with the defensive pressure of Lindsay Hunter.

Ainge has to go get someone. Fortunately, they won’t have to be a scorer. Just a competent ball-handler. (And no, Gabe Pruitt isn’t the answer)

Finally somthing to consider…

IMO its alot easier to learn from a loss as the lesson is a lot more grounded/connected to negative consequences. My Questions:

Do you bring in a cold player for the last seconds of the game? 1
IS that good coaching?

I just don’t get why rondo isn’t getting any of the calls. Is it me – am i a homer?

Lets not say we need to bring someone in just to bring them in. This is one game.

PLUS notes:

Ray was feeling it
Rondo finishing strong

Lets run with it!

mcpu40, I agree the loss was due mostly to inexperience, and that many of the Celtics will improve as the season goes on.

But… nothing is going turn Eddie House or anyone else on bench into a competent ball-handler when Rondo’s out. The need for a true back-up point guard has to be addressed. And I fully expect Ainge is working on that.

Some positives: C’s led, were down late, stormed back and lost by a hair. Ray bounced back in a big way. With Rondo on the bench, the need for a playmaking PG against a vet team seemed obvious. They’ve got the roster slot, go get one Danny.

Negatives: Lots of missed layups, off night for Pierce, lots of missed FT’s and the C’s let the Pistons shoot almost 50% from the 3pt line. Fingerpointing? Well, they should get it out of their systems now. I’d circle 1/5 and make sure everyone is up and ready for that game.

what can one add that isn’t “finger pointing?” I am not sure, but things that happened last night in a loss that should be learned from because they also have happened many times this year include:

1. Doc brings in cold players late in the game who then make mistakes.
2. Perkins gets stripped or doesn’t finish well.
3. Pierce numbers look bad and he forces action late in the game and comes up with a mistake(turnover) or an untimely miss
4. Rondo picks up fouls that cause him to struggle defensively or be sat by Doc
5. Doc doesn’t bring a deep bench player back in in the 2nd half who played well early and if he does he brings him in at the very end of the game(see number 1).
6. Garnett, when on the post and having a mismatch, always, ALWAYS waits for the double or triple team to make a move, instead of going to the basket immediately when getting the ball.

thats about it. And I mean those are constructive things if they were to change

A thread is not over based on espn.com analysis. ;)

Hey Roy…have you ever spoken to Tony?..do you know him.?..had conversation with friends and family members ?..well then I am pointing my finger at you if you haven’t…he made a dumb play..but to question his intellect..that’s kinda low…

Eddie HOuse is very competent. Who do you think was going to have it easy against the Pistons? Eddie nailed an ice-in-veins 3 when it was needed. Who do you want…Brevin Knight in there. Give me a break!

Tommy had it right. Pierce was guarding nobody but space at the end. They should have had the windmill D going on the inbounds pass.

Perkins looked like a 3rd stringer last night. I guess with Pierce on the last shot they were hoping for a foul because he was certainly not the hot man.

Tony Allen made a dumb play and that comes with Tony Allen (and the rest of the league probably knows it). Let’s look at the bright side. That was the highest he’s jumped all year.

Here’s the good news…we didn’t play that well, really, and took them to the end.

hey, everyone on our team needs to learn how to pump fake. pierce should have used it on tayshaun all night and perk desperately needs to learn how to fake ( head, pump whatever) because he blew 2 layups last night . it’s like watching paint dry when perk goes up for a jam. clifford ray needs to teach him the McHale " keep your hands up" drill so that he never brings the ball down. perk, pierce and our entire bench played poorly last night. garnett, allen and rondo all did their job.

It’s an ancient NBA adage that any team can beat any other team on any given night. It’s the basis of what makes these games exciting…Last year, one of the worst Celtics teams ever upended the mighty San Antonio Spurs which salvaged our dismal season…It happens; it’s that simple…Did that mean that last year’s C’s were ready for the NBA finals?…Hah! is the answer to that question.

Last night, a very good Detroit team squeaked by the Celtics on that given night. In retrospect, much can be said and a plethora of fingers can be pointed, but professionalism dictates that the loss be accepted with dignity and the tapes be run so that we can see clearly where we could have done better and where, hopefully, we will do better in the future.

All the rest is simply spilt milk spoiling loudly…

If we’re pointing fingers…how about pointing it a Pierce. With 5.1 sec left…isn’t it a universal rule in basketball that you do two things??? You make sure you get a good shot and MAKE SURE YOU GET THE LAST SHOT. There is absolutely no reason to leave time on the clock for Detroit to get a decent look. Paul made the commitment to that shot too soon. Allen or Garnett should have had the ball anyways but that’s another subject!!! I am not upset about the loss. We are still learning to play together. This fingerpointing crap is what gets me mad. Especially when one of the most experienced players on our team made a stupid mistake.

That’s my rant…make it a happy day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Well said, Bounding.

As poorly as PP played on the offensive end, he did play great defense on Prince. A number of things could have gone our way and the game could have been won. I’m mostly happy with the never say die attitude displayed by the team when the came back from down 6 with a minute and a half to play. The other end of game things will come with experience.

We should have won. Not to name names but several players did not have typical games. We are all disappointed but this was just one game.