Ummm, What?

Please Jeff….ask those questions….Please….

I was at the game, and it certainly appeared to be a tank job. The c’s were running away with the game until the scrubs were left in. ML Car couldn’t have done a better job himself. I’m not mad about it though. I believe the C’s still have one more game against the Bobcats and if they had won last night it would have made the race for the 2nd worse record very tight. Honestly Doc’s right, what would they have gotten out of winning that game? Let the young kids play in situations like that, its a win win. If the C’s win the game, then maybe the kids learn something, if they lose the game, they get more ping pong balls. I hope there’s not a lot of fan outrage over this, at least on this blog. A lot of people (if not the majority of posters) in this forum have been riding the “fantanking” bandwagon for months, so those people have no business being upset with the C’s tank job last night. However if you’re one of those that has railed against tanking the whole season, feel free to start hurling stones at Doc and Danny.

I have not been a pro-tanker at all, but I have no problem with what went down last night, except for the fact that the young guys looked horrible. But that’s not Doc’s fault. If they played good and kept the lead, no one would’ve said anything about the team tanking. But they just didn’t play like they were capable of, and got out of there offensive and defensive sets. I agree with Doc. What’s the point of bringing Pierce back in to save the day?? What do the young guys get out of it?? Sooner or later, they’ve gotta step up. They can’t always just defer to the captain.

What is the big deal?

coaches sacrificing a few wins today for many more wins tomorrow… happens all the time.. anytime a young and underdeveloped player gets any minutes in any games that isnt already won..

i want us to beat the good teams and leave the kids to play the crap teams. If they loose, we get more chance at a good pick.. if they win then our future gets brighter without a top pick.

win/win

Rivers should be fired immediately,

If it was a tank job, he should be fired for that.
If it wasn’t a tank job, he should be fired for yet another in a series of absolutely wacko coaching performances that cost the Celtics wins.

This is the sort of thing that happens when there is no accountability for losing. Sure, let’s leave the end of the bench in the game and see what happens. To hell with the paying customers who shelled out good money thinking that they were going to see a real NBA game.

One thought that occurs to me is that Rivers has been told he won’t be extended, and so, out of spite, he is doing his best to cost the Celtics their shot at Oden and Durant. One more performance like this (intentional or not) could very easily incur David Stern’s wrath.

^What Brickowski said.

It was an obvious tank job. Everyone who saw the game could see that. I don’t mind the tanking, but the way Doc is going about it is not right and could get the Cs in trouble. He could save himself a lot of questions about his tank squad if he would just allow PP to shut it down. What Doc did was talk tough with Pierce about him shutting it down and then blatantly tank a game. How hypocritcal is that?

Seriously, to say you don’t mind that Doc tanked, but the manner in which he tanked is pretty ridiculous. We all get it, you don’t like Doc, but to nitpick like this is just absurd. Frankly, shutting Pierce down for the season is a lot more suspicious than playing the young guys.

Brick, I agree with you…It seemed the ultimate tank job!…Ugly, but efficient…I care not for Stern, but even the Basketball Gods could be dismayed at this one…
Something was up with Doc, no doubt, and I would imagine it has to do with the idea of an extension; but, the idea conveyed to Charlotte, Milwaukee and the rest is clear and concise: “Don’t even think about it!”
But, when you think about it, Brick, for the first time really, Doc coached as if he had absolutely nothing to lose and that bodes well for your feelings on the matter…

It’s not ridiculous when you consider he could get in trouble for tanking so obviously. I just mean if he shuts PP down and let him rest he wouldn’t even have to tank. They would lose anyway without him. I just feel that shutting PP down is the equivalent of tanking. That’s what I mean.

I have been saying for quite some time that Doc is an arrogant hypocritical liar. I’m glad more and more people are starting to recognize this. Doc is perhaps the worst thing to happen to this franchise since the tragic deaths and I’m not overstating that at all. He needs to go and sooner rather than later.

BTW, I think PP has or at least had legitimate injuries and should be allowed to rest.

Pierce could easily be shut down without suspicion. He has a leaking elbow, a stress fracture and all the rest. Plus he’s fat and out of shape. No lift.

It’s blatant tank jobs like last night that will get the franchise in trouble. I doubt if Stern will let the Celtics get Oden or Durant, but I don’t want to lose the pick entirely.

Maybe there should be a Congressional inquiry into whether or not we tanked the Bobcats game.

If you want to tank, tank with Perkins, Jefferson, Green, West and Rondo, not Powe, Gomes, Green, Ray and Telfair. This was not about ping pong balls, this was a not so subtle message to Doc’s dissenters that he is still in charge of their futures, and that he can break them.

God help us if Doc decides to waste the remainder of this season playing head games. We have a lot more than that left to accomplish.

This is the first time that I’ve been happy about the fact that Doc is the Celtics coach. With the way that Al is playing, if we get Oden playing with a healthy Pierce… the C’s will be playing for Championships for years to come. Yeah!

I forgot to mention that Roy. Yes, the bench players look like crap. Reminds you of how bad this team really is and how little talent is left after PP, Al and Rondo. You want a team good enough to at least hold a lead for a few minutes. I don’t think Green is going to be a great player. His BBIQ is just too low. West looked horrible too, even when he played with the starters. I don’t mention the others because I don’t expect them to be part of the future anyway. I think West and Green will/should be upgraded in the offseason.

doc is real flimsy,man, real flimsy. last night was some display on how to coach badly, if he’s trying to win, he was a moron; if he’s trying to lose, why be so obvious. playing the scrubs on most teams all at once, is a disaster. you work them in and out with your regulars. so he wants to punish his scrubs by leaving them in to lose a game. i hope we don’t punish him by leaving him in-sayanora.

I just think its hypocritical to hammer away at Doc for not playing certain guys, and then when he does to hammer him for doing just that. Also there’s no way David Stern is going to come down on the C’s for last night’s game. If anything, what Milwaukee is doing right now is far more suspicious. They fired their coach and shut down two of their three best players all in the same week. That just screams of tanking. Playing young guys, when you’re team is up 18, isn’t as blatant a tank move. Certainly letting them blow that lead is curious (and I’m positive that it was a tank job) but its not something that’s going to get David Stern out of bed in the middle of night. The hatred of Doc on this board is just a little too intense sometimes.

This makes perfect sense,when AL&PP played vs NO&Char we’re up 10 and 20pts….when he sits them both we suck…we need ping pong balls therefore he sits both to blow leads and we lose…works for me but i respect the integrity/moral/sportsmanship angle but this is simple TANKING…and trust me…lol…this type of decision comes from MGT 100% not the coach entering a lameduck yr

Look up HYPOCRIT in the dictionary and you will see NURSE RIVERS. He shoulda been playing guys like Rondo and Green like this all year long.

I don’t have a problem with Doc tanking, it is Doc saying he isn’t tanking, making up assinine reasons why last night wasn’t tanking, and tanking so blatantly obviously that is problematic. Doc constantly says one thing and does something else, this is just the latest example of it, and he needs to go.

I have no problem with Doc playing the Schlubs in the 4th. Let’s face it this team is going nowhere, so why wouldn’t you use the rest of the season to assess the players for next year. It only makes sense and if they can continue to lose along the way, so much the better. It’s a win, lose type of thing. I really can’t see why he would do it any differently. Too bad Milwaukee couldn’t pull off a win.

Doc wasn’t the one out there missing shots and playing horrible defense. We were playing the Cats, a team almost as bad as we are, and people are upset at Doc for forcing his bench to try and hold on to a 20 pt lead? Using this lame duck period to give some of these kids experience for next season is just what he said he would do, and exactly what he should. PP played reasonable minutes considering his injuries.

If we won, no one would bat an eye. If he pulls the same thing 2 weeks down the road and the bench is able to step it up and hold on to a lead, Doc has managed to find some good out of these last few games. We got a crucial loss in an otherwise meaningless game and some lessons were learned, and I’m 100% okay with that.

If the objective was to test the leadership ability of the lower end of the roster, this game was a revelation of sorts. While Delonte, Rondo, Green and Gomes have looked awfully good at times last night exposed how raw they remain. Without the sructure of veteran leadership this group obviously remains a work in progress.

What did we learn? We still don’t have a genuine PG to run the show and take over as needed. Delonte can’t make shots under pressure (except from the foul line where he’s not under the gun). It’s an old record but Acie Law would look awfully good in a Celtic’s uniform. He at least can be dominant when the occasion calls for it and he’s deadly in crunch time…..something that was missing last night. No wonder this team leans so heavily on Pierce!

Poor Jefferson…because we had no outside game, he was swarmed inside. I also noted the woeful lack of an offensive game plan by the scrubs. Gerald Green doesn’t know when to shoot and lacks good decision-making on many (off-balance) shots that he takes.

Leon Powe was game but we were undersized in the paint and our small lineup preferred the periphery.

Tank job? I prefer to look on last night as more of a reality check about our real needs for the coming season.

we loose against Bobcats ? >:(

I’m for Doc not returning,
BUT
Why would anyone, coach a game like that, if they were not told they would be extended.
It makes no sense. Even Doc can’t see any wisdom in that method.
Am I the only one that thinks Doc may have been given the “Wink, Wink” deal (make sure we have one of the two worst records and you will get extended a year).

Little D suggests that Doc may have already been given the “Wink, Wink” deal. Makes sense as does Doc’s desire to learn who stays and who goes.

I watched pretty much every game in 97 (no different than now), and I never came away from a game thinking it was a tank job like last night.

The 97 had injures (best player dino radja) and played rookie antoine huge minutes, even at center just to developed him – but they played hard and never sat their best players.

HEY DOC – Maybe you can argue paul sitting due to injury…MAYBE – but why Big Al – he is a young developing guy too

 I just feel that there is a lot that we don’t know. The owners, danny, doc and Paul are not all on broad with what going with this team. Danny made promises to Paul and I don’t think if he is going to be able to fullfill them. Paul and Doc relationship is not as they express to the media, they have some major differences. I personally feel that Doc is looking out for himself.

It was a tank but he can’t admit that. I’m sure the players don’t like it, however not getting the first or second pick in this year’s draft would be yet another major setback to the franchise.

I’m with Bankshot and Brick. Shutting Pierce down at this point will probably raise some eyebrows around the league, but I’d dare you to say that you haven’t seen other NBA superstars quit a season or sit out for a long period for highly questionable injuries. Shaq does it every year, for a different reason.

Shutting PP down equates to automatic tanking, and we get to see as a bonus if Big Al can lead us to a win by himself, perhaps with Gerald Green playing wingman.

I was actively rooting to lose the game last night, the first time all year, and while it was good to see Doc clear the bench for the 4th, if we ARE going to tank, then tank properly. Sit Pierce down, let him rest for next year’s campaign and come in shape to training camp and let the kids play their hearts out.

I mean, its come to the point where you’re asking if Doc is such a bad coach that he’s going to botch LOSING games.

I’d wager it looks highly more suspicious to David Stern if we have Paul Pierce in his uniform sitting on the bench at the beginning of the 4th every game, than if we have Pierce in a suit and tie, and the youth battling their hearts out like they do day in day out.

Good post Newyork. I agree 100%.

Honestly, what frightened me most about that game? How much better we looked on the floor then Cleveland did last night. I was flipping through both of those games, and wow – for all the (justified) complaints about Doc’s coaching, the C’s still had better offensive spacing then the team with the second best record in the Eastern conference.

   Just some asides: AJeff had 5 fouls. PP was hurting.

   If your bench can’t play with a 20 point lead, when can they play?

Has there been no mention of the fact that Pierce got poked in the eye and had a wet towel pressed against his face for basically the entire fourth quarter? You could tell at a casual glance that his eye was genuinely irritated, so I don’t think that was play-acting for the sake of The Tank.

I do worry a bit that performances like we saw against the Bobcats might raise some suspicions, but let’s be honest- the Celtics achieved the second-worst record in the NBA honestly over the course of the season, and there are several teams that will be tanking to get better draft lottery positioning. I say let the real scrutiny be on the teams whose records suddenly drop off in this last few weeks.

Of course, this is all operating on the premise that David Stern and Stu Jackson operate in some dimension that incorporates pragmatism and common sense into their decision making, so I’m not going to be holding my breath or anything…

The funny thing about our tanking right now is I believe our fate is totally sealed at the 2nd most ping pong balls. We are too late to tank. Memphis isn’t winning 3 more total games. No one else is catching us in futility. We can look at any decision on players playing as either maximizing current wins or investing in player development. Doc is doing the right thing for sure with this.

there are far more subtle ways to tank than saying “gee whats the worst possible lineup i can put on the floor for the rest of the game??” telfair, ray, gerald, gomes, and powe?? cmon…stevie wonder could see that tank job. there are better ways of finding out if bench players can play other than put the 5 worst on the floor together at the same time to see if they can blow a double digit lead. you wanna bench pierce for the remaining games? fine due to his injuries, understandable. you wanna give ray or gerald some more run, do that. but at least put them on the floor with players that know what theyre doing out there. i mean that was just blatant.

   I thought it was terrific. When Doc doesn’t get his extention and resigns, I’ll look back at this games and dozens of others like it with absolutely no remorse.

It’s hilarious. If the players play well and the Celts win, Doc is an idiot for not playing them. Play Powe! How come Rondo isn’t running the team?! Bench Gomes?! Why? When the players play to their talents, Doc is an idiot. Pierce’s injury was legitimate and has not been playing well anyway.

I’ve been saying this about a Stern intervention all year. Bankshot, this is no different than other games….no more or less flagrant. See the OK City game. See the Lakers game in Boston. Scal guarding McGrady in Boston. See the last minute of the game in Minnesota. Sometimes it looks like we’re not playing to win. Sometimes we’re playing to lose…..all the same IMHO.

As the tanking contest continues, in an unprecedented move, I predict that the 5-6th place team will end up with the most ping-pong balls and the teams flagrantly tanking will end up out of the lottery altogether.

Brickowski said:
This is the sort of thing that happens when there is no accountability for losing. Sure, let’s leave the end of the bench in the game and see what happens. To hell with the paying customers who shelled out good money thinking that they were going to see a real NBA game.

I was one of those paying customers for the fourth and final time Monday at OK City. I’ve seen 4 games. 3 that they were trying not to win and one that they were flagrantly tanking. Sad commentary on the most storied franchise in sports history.

I don’t see the difference between tanking and what Doc said. He basically said that he didn’t care if we won or lost the game, he was going to leave the young guys in. If he doesn’t care whether we win or not, and he’s coaching a game that it is important to lose, then add those two together and you get tank.

The scary thing here is that Doc probably knows he has a job here next year. If he was worried about his job security he would be playing to win every game- if not for the Celtic’s brass, then for his next potential employer. Nobody is going want to hire a coach (or analyst) who tanked games on purpose. He must have some understanding in place with the C’s brass that encourages him to tank- or at least does not discourage him to tank.

I don’t know if you guys noticed but AJefferson was really mad. He gave Doc the look, as in saying, “why didn’t you even try to put the starters back in”…I am pretty sure he meant without Scal.

..anyways, boy-oh-boy, does GG blows or what….

No, our opinions don’t matter but our money does. If Rivers is still here, just wait until Grousbeck or some other Celtics marketeer comes to this blog next October trying to sell tickets.

I was at the game last night, total and complete tank job. As a paying customer who gets that adrenaline rush when walking out of the arena after a win, the loss last night was very distressing. We were kicking their rear end for essentially three quarters, and put in the immortal quintet of Telfair, Ray, Gomes, Powe, and Green- all of whom were completely incompetent last night (only Gomes had a reasonable excuse). The kicker though, and the most conclusive proof of a tanking, was as the lead is falling apart I expected to see D. West, Al, Perk, and PP (if he wasn’t injured) back in the game. What does Doc do? He puts in D. West, Rondo, and the worst players in the NBA, i.e., Scal, in at the 6 minute mark. It wasn’t until 2 minutes later that Al came in and by then it was a foregone conculsion. Where was Perk, who was having a monster game? Where were PP and Al? Don’t these guys learn more from winning over teams they’re supposed to win than losing? Doc’s comments after the game were appalling, he essentially said he doesn’t care anymore. I personnaly think there’s more value in winning as many games as possible, and whatever happens in the lottery happens. Oden would be great, a perfect fit. Aside from him, trade the pick for veterans who know how to win, or make a play for Gasol with a package of Rondo, Perk, Ratliff, and Green. I’m still fuming over last night, Red (God bless his soul) is rolling over in his grave.

I’ve been visiting this site at least once a day for two years and I finally had to register and throw in my $.02. Doc must go.

If he is trying to tank, shame on him.

As my 15 year old son, who is a Green-bleeding throwback Celtics fan who knows and appreciates the franchise from its origins would say; if you don’t play every game to win, you’re spitting on Red’s grave.

If Doc is not trying to tank, but sees last night’s travesty as a teaching opportunity to develop the youngs, why didn’t he call a time out or two and do some ACTUAL COACHING? Instead, he set them up to fail, let them run it into the ground, and will spend the next day or two beating them up for it.

Doc isn’t trying to tank. He’s trying to coach, and he’s failing at it.

I always believe that in the simplest terms, people do bad things for one of only two reasons.

They are either evil or stupid.

In this case, I vote for stupid.

Fire Doc.

While you’re at it, sent the dancers back to the strip clubs from whence they came.

So, Pierce didn’t play in the fourth quarter? Well, Milwaukee has shut down Andrew Bogut (“mid-foot sprain”) and Villanueva (shoulder tendenitis) FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE SEASON!

For Memphis, Boston, Milwaukee, etc., now its all about ping pong balls.

No I can’t offer anything positive about a tank job. I said I thought Rivers was a nice guy. Isn’t that enough?

If I were David Stern, I would fine Rivers for last night’s performance. If sitting next to Mrs. Durant was worth 30K, what was last night worth? 100K? 200K?

TANK JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!I only read a few of the comments but it seems like most people agree. I don’t even know why he’s tryng to defend his decision. Either he tanked or is the worse coach in the NBA (and it may be both). Nothing else makes sense. What I don’t understand is how he can say that winning is the most important goal to him. Further, how can he expect his players to put out when he violates all his stated philisophy. Even if his goal was to get the subs some crunch time PT, when it didn’t and wasn’t working, he as the F$%^&*( coach has to make a change.

If this was an attempt to give these guys playing time I think it failed. A performance like that has to kill their confidence. Heck they didn’t have a real scorer on the court, unless you count GG and I think he’s much better playing with PP and Al where they take the pressure off him and can just shoot the ball. If you are going to give players PT you have to put them in the best possible position to succeed and Doc failed miserably, if we can believe his BS explanation.

ThickNThinfan – “If you want to tank, tank with Perkins, Jefferson, Green, West and Rondo, not Powe, Gomes, Green, Ray and Telfair. This was not about ping pong balls, this was a not so subtle message to Doc’s dissenters that he is still in charge of their futures, and that he can break them.”
  
That’s the real reason. Players with legitimate gripes about how Doc has used them (like Powe and even Green), have probably been complaining about it and this was Doc’s way of putting them in their place.

Mike

“Players with legitimate gripes about how Doc has used them (like Powe and even Green), have probably been complaining about it and this was Doc’s way of putting them in their place.”

Then why did Doc take Powe out in the 4th, in a 1-point game when he was the only guy playing well? That’s the part that makes Doc’s explanation nonsensical.

this guy put it best a few post ago

"As my 15 year old son, who is a Green-bleeding throwback Celtics fan who knows and appreciates the franchise from its origins would say; if you don’t play every game to win, you’re spitting on Red’s grave.

If Doc is not trying to tank, but sees last night’s travesty as a teaching opportunity to develop the youngs, why didn’t he call a time out or two and do some ACTUAL COACHING? Instead, he set them up to fail, let them run it into the ground, and will spend the next day or two beating them up for it."

…the fans who went last night should get a refund

also…doc let charlotte come in the garden and hoot and holler, celebrating the comeback on their bench…and did absolutely nothing….pierce looked to me like he was sick watching that

First, for the really important stuff, PLEASE TERMINATE THE DANCERS AFTER THIS YEAR. Leave that stuff for places with no morals (LA) or places with no brains (list too long) but not for here. It is lame, LAME! Now, for the small matter of last night’s game. Doc took one for the team. You want the ping pong balls but you do not want to lose to the 3rd worst team at home especially in that fashion. That is an insult but one with a silver lining. I was there. Pierce got nailed in the eye, Al banged his knee – legit reasons to dare the bomb squad to win one. Leon kept working (I love that guy but his offense is pretty raw), Telfair did nothing but was only in for 6 minutes. You can see he and Doc have no respect for each other but Alan Ray did not show that he deserved Telfair’s minutes. Gerald Green needs maturity but he’s a good kid and maybe raw embarassment is what he needs. On the plus side, Doc has stuck with Perk (as he did w. Tony Allen) and Perk is showing up. Perk, I was wrong about you. Keep it up, young man! Rondo was a mixed bag. Throwing himself in there, keeping up the pace but until he can drop the 15-20 footer he’ll be of mixed value. Our bigs killed theirs and we could have won the game with them back in (Pierce or no Pierce) but I can live with Doc’s action. If the young guys get it done, the team is better. If we cough up the game, the ping pong balls are better.

You know I’ve had time to think and get into my own life and see what’s goin’ down there, and, as it sits now, I’m not sure at all that last night wasn’t simply an angry Doc allowing the “play the kids” people to see just exactly what that entails…I’m not saying it’s right, but that’s how it played out…
Doc or no Doc, the kids stunk up the place…finished business…It was almost as if they were individually attempting to secure the draft pick…Defense was non-existant…Pierce took that slash in the eye and looked totally disgusted on the bench…He was suited but his right eye had a welt on the lower lid and his posture was strictly “get me the frappe outta here…”
Stern can in no way spell “tank” out of that game last night…The horrible truth is that our “smalls” just gave up the ship and looked totally lost on both ends of the court…The only guy out there that might be questioned is Allan Ray, and everyone knew that we were going to look at him closely the rest of the way…Nah!, Gerald looked like a child, DWest missed everything, Al was swamped, Gomes was first game back, and Rondo didn’t discover his shot…And all of it at once…
Add to this miasma, a certain political turmoil that seems to have surfaced behind closed doors, but is manifest in Doc’s voice and demeanor and you have reason to believe that last night was simply the reversal of Panglossian philosophy: The worst of all possible worlds…
I certainly don’t think that Doc looked like a guy who has been given a “Wink-Wink, Nod-Nod” extension…To me, he looked like a guy who was just told that lemons are good for the voices of broadcasters…He certainly allowed us to see just how badly these vaunted kids can play, if not, of course, tethered by the Micro-managing Doc…Hmmmm!
And finally, Brick, I think it’s in Stern’s best interest that the Celtics get Oden…Yeah!, not even a top two!, but the top dog…The NBA needs the East to rise again…Afterall, it’s the largest TV market…and it’s strictly business…
But I would needs be daffy, methinks, to even consider that the lottery, with all 14 teams present, and lawyers, and CPA’s, and security could be fixed in the favor of a single team, or set against a team…Everyone in that room has millions if not billions at stake…Doesn’t it stand to reason that a rat would stand out from ping pong balls???

if he was trying to tank, it was too obvious. even doc is not that dumb. i hope milwaukee is getting heat for tanking too, they just announced tha bogut and villaneuva are done for the year even though it is doubtful they are any more banged up than pierce.

Actially Jeff, it makes beautiful sense. We are in tank mode. And if we put a starting five out there like the one we had in for most of the fourth quarter, it would be too obvious to the rest of the league. At least this way, we can say we are busy “developing our guys.”

The raw truth of it is, most of these guys will be warming the bench or gone by next year.

Doc had in Ray and Powe who haven’t gotten much playing time at all. If he was trying to develop our kids, let them play 10-15 mpg all along instead of DNP’s and 2-3 minute stints and then throw them into crunch time. Also Gomes was in there who had to be rusty and shouldn’t have been in crunch time because he was just coming off an injury. Green and Telfair have had minutes this season but have been inconsistent all along and he knew that. Putting all these kids in together and throwing them to the wolves wasn’t teaching and wasn’t for the good. If Doc wants the bench to grow and learn, he should be playing them for 10-15 mpg and mixing them with the starters instead of just throwing them into the game all together and letting them sink or swim.

This game was a chance to get two for the price of one (Celts loss and Bobcat win), and Doc had a legitimate reason for not putting Pierce back in as if it was a win at all costs situation. Let’s get real people, the Celtics are virtually assured of the second worst record with this loss and Doc and Ainge can be fairly certain that they would have won if they had they’re best player out there healthy for the last part of the game.

Win win and so many of you are screaming with false moral indignation. Your own lives probably are chock full of greater immoralities and inconsistencies that you don’t think twice about. If you want to blog about morality go to blog about the horrific Bush Administration. But let’s not sweat this small stuff because holding out Pierce out was clearly justifiable and as a result a good opportunity to teach a valuable lesson to their of young players that they have to play hard and stay focused on team offensive and defensive concepts at all times if they want to be consistent winners.

Although this may not have been Doc’s sole motivation for choosing whom to play when, that’s pretty much irrelevant and it’s good to know that Doc can think of more than one thing at the same time. Some of you are simply trying to find fault with anything Doc does.

I just read the Charlotte Observer’s take on the game…Charlotte sees no tanking…just Boston’s inability to match up with their small lineup…Hey, they think we simply couldn’t match their smalls…that they went small first, opened the floor, a casually beat us up!…If that’s Charlotte’s take, then that’s mine…No tank, just simply a “regression in service of the ego”…How’dya like them for crab-apples?…Hah!

Bankshot and whoever said negative things about Delonte West last night. Delonte isn’t clutch? Check the game films buddy, he has one bad sequence in one game and now he isn’t clutch? Delonte being put in a group with Gerald Green last night? what? Delonte played his role pretty well last night along with the starters. How did Delonte get grouped into this topic when he was close to 20 /- last night? oh yeah the ultimate Delonte hater Bankshot!

plus 20 in the plus/minus category

I saw most of the games in 96-97 (including about a dozen in person) when they really were tanking and didn’t see anything nearly as blatant as last night’s effort. If the Charlotte observer didn’t see any tanking, maybe the writer ought to go back to covering Duke’s run at the national championship.

I’m not aware of any team having been publicly penalized for tanking, but the logical penalty for blatant tanking would be forfeiture of the draft choice.

I expect one of the top two choices to go to the Knicks. I don’t know who will get the other, but it won’t be Boston. But I would not like to forfeit our shot at players like Julian Wright, Spencer Hawes or Yi Jianlian.

Of course, if Rivers manages to provoke Stern into taking away the pick, he’ll be fired, so that cloud does have a silver lining. And Rivers will claim that Ainge told me to do it, so Ainge may be fired as well.

Jimmy, please. West is not that good, nor is he clutch.

The kids need to learn. Keep them in. Start them for all I care. Live or die by the bench players for the rest of the season and keep our starters healthy. This season is over boys and girls. Let’s not start winning games and ruin our chances at a franchise player.

Wow, this sure did create a stir in the responses. I couldn’t even get to the bottom before I had to insert a perspective. I’m sure some of you have raised children, or even if you young you know how you were raised and how friends may of been raised different. There are the over protective types who try and shelter thier kids, and bail them out whenever they mess up. Then thier’s the type who give the kids enough rope to make thier mistakes and reap thier consequences of those mistakes. The kids that are over protected we see grow up not ever learning lifes lessons, you know the ones, as adults thier most likely to be in therapy. The kids who were allowed to make mistakes and learn from them grow to be more confident as adults.

What Doc did here was nothing more than a character lessons. Like he said, where we are “right now” what leason would it of served to put the starters back in and bail out our bench again. What he did served as the best lesson for them. The starters left them with a 16 point lead, and they blew it! When they got in the locker room what do you think the starters said to them? Steel becomes harder, stronger when it’s forged in Fire! It was’nt a tank, it was a life lesson. Keep the Faith, Restore the Pride!

Lets get real for a minute. This team has been out of the playoffs since the long losing streak. It should be time to evaluate personnel and see what kind of future the younger players have. The only way to evaluate that is to give them minutes, and preferably minutes when the game is on the line. If we can do that and win fine, but if not then so be it. Doc is correct on this one, if slightly inconsistent with his message from week to week. At this point the rotation should be greatly expanded with emphasis on evaluation and development of the unproven players. I think the future of this team is with another coach also, but shoving him under a bus for this is unfair.

Doc is a hypocrite. He says players get paid to play (in response to Paul saying he’s thought about shutting it down for this season). Well coaches get paid to win. He should play his head games with his children not with professional basketball players.

What did those bench players gain out of the experience other than a loss of confidence maybe? No need to rub their noses in it. You should always put players in a position to succeed. How about next game we teach a lesson to Perk that he’s not a great offensive player by throwing him the ball in the post on every possesion.

Doc must go.

Its about winning championships, not individual games when the big prize is unattainable. Loss of confidence? They are pro athletes. I am sure to a man they would rather be on the floor then on the bench. At some point they are going to have to learn to swim in the deep end.

How can anyone watching that game last night (I have watched every minute of every game this year thanks to League Pass and TIVO) think they were tanking?! Some of the people on this board have obviously never picked up a basketball before and have no clue what is happening. How come when the SUNS blow a 25 point lead against someone people don’t scream against them tanking the game?! This game, especially in the NBA, is a game of runs. A team gets hot and blows someone out for a quarter or so and then starts getting fancy or sloppy and then they get their butts handed to them. A good team can typically call a time out, settle down, and stop the bleeding. A bad team falls apart. We are a borderline bad team even when fully healthy, so why do we wonder why this happens? Where were all the naysayers when we almost beat Dallas and then beat San Antonio. I hope you guys don’t have your money invested in stocks…You’d be buying and selling every day based on the latest market scare! Master Po is right. This season is over so stop complaining that Doc gave the young guys a chance to show themselves. That’s what you have been whining about for three years isn’t it?

I am the biggest proponent of Doc leaving but, Good for him for leaving the subs in. What good does winning do us. It is better to teach some of the subs to see which ones we want to keep.

Of course the season is over. That’s not the point. The point is to lose while staying off David Stern’s radar screen. You don’t obviously tank a game and then spend the post game press conference trying to lie and say you weren’t tanking?

Rivers is just stupid enough to cost them their draft pick.

Playing the kids for game experience is what we have been calling for isn’t it? Hand holding time should be over.
I am no Doc fan, but I have no problem with him playing the young guys the rest of the season.

Hond good to see some more wisdom in here. Instead of the blind hate some of these fans have. And when are some of them going to figure out, posting the same hate over and over and over through every thread, does not make one right. Like Master Po and some others have stated, we get it already we know your perspective. Brick, bankshot, stillacelticfan, over and over and over and over.

Opps that was Hondo…not Hond…LOL

Brickowski – Are you serious?! Cost them their draft pick?! Paul being popped in the face was enough reason for him to sit the 4th quarter. I know we have annointed Big Al the best PF of all time already but that is only in the C’s fans minds. You really think that we have anyone on our team other than Paul that is good enough to say them sitting on the bench for awhile is proof positive he was trying to tank?! When you are the Spurs and sit Duncan, Ginobli, and Parker if healthly then you can make an argument for tanking. We are a bunch of scrubs and it just might be that we’re just not that talented whomever we put in… Let’s show some thoughtful and constructive posts here. All you spout is negative. Give it a rest or give it some thought…

I want a winning streak, climbing the standings and less ping pong balls. I want Ainge and Rivers gone and Wyckie Wackie to sell the team.

   To paraphrase Doc’s postgame interview: So I looked around at the other coaches and said what’s the point in winning this game.

   Thanks a lot. I want the Celtics to win and lose, and it creates a love hate relationship. The reality is that without Pierce and Jefferson playing their best game, this team doesn’t have to tank, because they really stink.

Celtics don’t tank.
It’s as simple as that.
Everything else is superfluous.

I like 90% of Brikowski’s post. That’s 10% more than my own.

Although, I do shake my head when he starts talking about the lottery being fixed.

I don’t have to agree with anyone to enjoy this blog.

…enough of the bully-pulpit nonsense…who can actually objectively analyze anything on this board? God bless the noble few who can get past their own emotions and desires to actually figure some things out…

Cry Me a Bloody Rivers isn’t “tinkering”….he’s “tankering”…. ;D

Brickowski, you make it fun to read your entries. Hard for me to accept that you watched most of the games in 96-97 because I was sure you were probably about an 11 year-old Chicken Little. But surprisingly I guess you aren’t, so my other guess is you’re just trying to get a reaction out of others. Otherwise, your day in and day out negative comments, lack of perspective about yesterday’s game, possible resulting NBA sanctions and the Knicks getting a top draft pick (I assume because you have an irrational suspicion that the lottery is fixed), indicates someone whose lost it. An earlier blogger is probably right that you would enjoy life more doing something other than continuing to endure your hate-hate fanatic relationship with the Celtics. But please don’t take it personally.

Every loss is precious. Way to go, Doc! But we don’t want to get penalized by Stern, so try to make it a little less obvious — just coach the way you normally do.

Jeeeesh,we arenot going to lose our draft pick. The Knicks are not going to win the lottery. I could buy that Doc has had it with all the outside pressure on his lack of coaching ability and just figured whah the hell and played the kids (scrubs). My guess is that he’s back next year.

Youre all assuming Durant and Oden are declaring and i really have no faith in them coming out at all to be honest.

Youre blaming the coach..anyone actually think the pressure is coming from above?