Sleeping In Seattle

wow is that cheesy.

Al is having yet another monster game!

Another super game by Big AL. I am officially on the verge of putting him in the Dwight Howard catagory.

Good game for Rondo. Can he build on that consistently?

Doc, please have Gerald take it to the rim, thus far 5 for 11 from the field by only 1 of 5 from 3 point land.

Celtics are just killing the Sonics. Philly won and even Memphis might win one.

The torch has been passed. This is now Big Al’s team. It is up to Pierce to try to fit in with whatever is best for the Celts in the long run.

It is no longer us trying to get vet help for Paul, it is what will be best to assist Big AL in getting #17.

WE KNIGHT YOU SIR BIG AL, long live the king.

Well I wouldn’t canonize Big Al quite yet. Seattle’s front line is terrible. Collison is a decent player but he’s undersized. Rashard Lewis can shoot threes. That’s it. Can’t defend, can’t put the ball on the floor, can’t rebound. Petro is hopeless.

Funny game. Rondo was great on offense, not so good on defense. That’s a switch. My two unsung heros are Alan Ray and Leon Powe, both of whom played very well at the critical juncture of the game. Gerald Green also stepped up in the second half.

Al is an absolute beast! We are very lucky to have him. No way he ever gets traded. I think Pierce if defering to his teammates and especially Al, just fine. Nice to see.

I don’t see any reason Rondo and Telfair can’t run the point, they both did a nice job.

I know Seattle is as flawed on defense as we are, probably even more so. Big Al though has been putting up Dwight Howard type #s or better (pts/boards) for maybe the last dozen or so games. Howard is still the superior defender but the gap between Howard and Al’s overall game was miles apart; it narrows and narrows each week.

No longer do we have to be a team that relies on Pierce to get double teamed in close games. Big Al is now and should be co-option #1.

Howard is still very much a superior player to Al…but in no way does he deserve to be labeled a superior defedner to anyone (at least not yet).

I don’t think Howard is superior to Al anymore. Al is a much better offensive player.

Don’t you read ESPN.com Bankshot? Dwight Howard is one of the greatest centers in NBA history.

Bankshot’s right. Al has a more polised offensive game than Howard, but he’s light years away on defense.

Doc finally started the right line-up. Pierce is a SF. He’s not quick enough laterally to defend the 2. When D-West gets back, he should shift to the 2 and let Rondo run things — I’m not expecting 20 every night, but b/c he’s the future at that spot. That’s a small backcourt, but for their size, they’re both really good rebounders.

as good as the game was and what makes it better were the contributions of many- big al big production. rondo good o, good presence. allen ray- what the heck was that. the last time i saw him i wished i hadn’t seen him, but tonite he was a factor on both sides of the ball. perk- actually looked smooth with the ball. but this was seattle- no d to speak of. we need 2-3 more players to be a big player in the league. and a big league coach.

Ridiculous. I love how people are even thinking about Al having taken over the franchise from a proven All-Star and future HOFer in Paul Pierce. I think Al is an excellent complement to Pierce, but when Paul is healthy, he will be the #1 option again. They will both help eachother out, though.

its a true pleasure to watch all emerge this year.
i feel like a proud father

al, watch al emerge this year. stupid autocorrect…

I will give Doc some credit for this win. Stuck with the hot players in the 4th quarter. Hope Doc realizes that Rondo and Powe can play. Doc always seems to do better with a shorten bench because of injuries.
But still needs to be terminated at end of the year.

stop winning you idiots

we need more “injuries”

I think Al needs to develop pneumonia or something.. anything to keep him out for 2 weeks without effecting his long term health…

i am going to start crying if they keep this up!

all i want to hear is “the number 1 pick goes to… THE BOSTON CELTICS”

I cannot believe how much Big Al has improved as the season has progressed. His food speed and jumping has been noticably better every game!

We’re number #2.

we have 21 games remaining. here is how i see them

highly probably losses: (11)
Detroit
Miami X 2
Cleveland
Toronto
Dallas X 2
New Orleans
SanAntonio
Chicago X 2

Definate Wins (Taking “Pessimistic” approach): (5)
Atlanta X 2
Charlotte
Milwaukee X 2

The ??? games: (5)
Indiana
Orlando X 2
Philadelphia X 2

most likely we get half the ??? games giving us 8 18 = 26wins for the season.

Milwaukee have 23 wins and play cha atl in 5 games.
Charlotte have 22 wins and play mem atl mil in 5 games.
Atlanta have 24 wins and play cha mil in 3 games.

Its going to be close. Especially if we beat orlando, phily and indiana

Injuries really are the only things that make Doc look like a decent coach. It took two more to finally get what should be the Celtics starting lineup- Rondo, Pierce, Gerald, Al, and Perk. The difference in the team’s play w/ Rondo at the point is remarkable. If Doc stays, they need to trade Delonte so Doc stops annointing him as one of the guys that needs to always be on the floor. If they get a real coach, Delonte can be a threat for 18-20 min/game as a combo guard.

00dc, don’t forget that by late March, and April, it will be tankathon season for nonplayoff teams, and teams that are in the playoffs will layoff a bit to rest for the war ahead in the playoffs, so that might translate to more W’s for the C’s as doc wants no part of tankathon..for me i just wish that we will get what is finally due to us..a top 2 pick…This may be the last time we’d be a lottery team and a top 5 pick in a deep draft so hope we make it right this time.

I do think Al is much more than just a compliment to Pierce. Pierce is an All Star but I don’t see his next 5 seasons producing what his last 5 seasons did- age, injuries, etc will take its toll. It already has on his defensive skills. I have a little doubt that Pierce may never again make the All Star roster.

Big Al has turned the corner. These last 12 games or so have been phenominal, his ankle injuries behind him, etc. Al still has much to improve, especially on the defensive end. He is becoming a prolific scorer, not indecisive as he has been for several years, healthy, and no longer making immature mistakes.

I do contend from this day forward, this is now just as much Al’s team as Pierce’s and Pierce needs to be the one to stop lobbying for vet help if that’s not what is best for the Celtic’s future. Celtics, if smart, will concentrate on building around Big Al and not Pierce’s wishes.

Al will be an All Star for many years if he keeps on producing like he has this past month. He is a young and up and coming big man. Pierce is a great player starting to hit the twiight of his career. Give me a young All Star big man over an aging veteran All Star wingman every time. Much easier to find accomplished wing men than a Big Al or Dwight Howard.

If this franchise is smart, it will look to building around Big Al and not making sure it appeases Pierce.

Big Al Stats:

- 2 of his last 5 games he has scored over 30 pt. In all 5 games he has at least 20 points.

- Double-double in 10 of his last 12 games.

- 5 out of his last 10 games he has at least 15 boards.

Al has been the leader of this team bringing us back against Seattle and the Nets.

I was in favor of possibly moving Pierce last year, I am even more so in favor of doing it this off season. Celtics IMO need to build around the youth and veteran help should be limited to a middle of the road point.

Most impressive to me about Al is the boards and the assists. You didn’t see that previously.

As far as Al v. Howard or anyone, I think AJ is unique. Guys like Howard & Amare might be more athletic, but Al’s post moves are years ahead of them.

As for Pierce, props to him for giving up the ball. He’ll still have his dominant games, but the major difference is that he doesn’t HAVE to have a 30-9-6 game for the team to win. You need at least 2 stars to get anywhere in the League. Right now it looks like the C’s have them.

As for the fan-tankers, I’d remind you again that the Bucks & Raps got the #1 with 30 & 27 wins respectively. If the C’s squeak out more than 25-26 wins, I’ll be shocked.

Luckynumber7, I agree with you that Pierce should be complemented for his team play. I also think though that if you could have traded Pierce for example for Deng and their potential lottery pick this year it should have been done. Deng is 8 years younger, a guard/forward like Pierce and averaging 18 for the Bulls. He is Pierce’s equal or better of the defensive end of the court too. That gives you a core of Big AL and Deng, plus 2 potential lottery picks.

My fear is that Celtic brass will try to go down this dual road of appeasing Pierce with a vet while also trying to build around the youth. I have strongly been in favor of building around the youth for the past several years and don’t think we get the championship caliber vets we need without given up both Al and Green.

We could have gotten a boatload of talent and picks for Pierce last season. We will get less this year and his value will drop as he ages. If all our youth were 3 years along from where they are today, possibly we can compete. This team will still go through growing pains the next several years and I think we will wonder why we didn’t get value for Pierce when we had the chance. It’s honorable that he wants to retire a Celtic, I just don’t think it works out if you are wanting banner #17.

PP had 7 assists on 1 TO. That’s rare. No taking it to the hole w/3 defenders on his back. Now that is heartening, and speaks well not only of Al, but Rondo (and Bassy) for setting the table and the other guys making cuts etc.

Luol Deng is much better defensively than Pierce. The interesting thing will be to see if next year can Pierce come back to his pre-injury all star level (albeit offensively)or will his game continue to slide.

Celty86 – Pierce’s Game continuing to slide? What are you watching or smoking?! Pierce before the injury this year and last year is at the top of his game. I never thought he was that great of a defender ever, just average, but his Points, Boards, and assists have been some of the best in the league. He averaged a career high 26.8 pts, 6.7 boards, and 4.7 assists last year. His last 5 games he is at 21.8 pts, 5.6 boards, and 4.6 pts. Does Big AL getting 25.8 pts and 14 boards the last 5 maybe have something to do with that?! Come on. Don’t just throw out a blanket comment like that without knowing the facts… Pierce when healthy is at his recent year levels. He’s better than most guards out there when injured…

Pierce is still an outstanding offensive player, but that begs the question. As with Iverson, the minutes and the pounding are taking their toll. Pierce is well on his way to becoming a complementary player, not the focal point of the team. And his defense has been spotty.

The bottom line is that Pierce has become expendible. Jefferson isn’t.

I really enjoyed this game. this is almost the team i have been invisioning for next year. the only change is Tony allen (its my dream leave me alone) in the starting 5 moving green to the bench. Also less Scal more gomes (I know he was hurt)

starters
1 Rondo
2 Tony
3 Paul
4 A. J.
5 Perk (oden)…still my dream!

bench
1 Telfair
2 green
3 gomes
4 powe
5 ???? no idea

At the wrost, we’ll have the 3rd worst record. We WILL tank for the last 10 games, just watch..

how long befor al posts a 4opt 20 rebound game?
its bound to happen sometime

I think the thing with Pierce is we no longer have to depend on him for 26 pts a game. With Al being consistent, the draft pick (Durant/Wright) being able to contribute some right out of the gate possibly Allen being able to get near the form he was prior to the injury, maybe Green, West, Rondo being more reliable- we only need about 18 to 20 points a game out of Pierce or his replacement.

Deng brings that now and he’s 8 years younger. He’s probably gettable along with a “pick” and matchable contracts. Deng is a better defender. We need a rock solid 2/3 guy like Deng, not necessarily an All Star- Pierce.

With a Pierce trade, a good solid pick, etc it will still take several years of growing pains but we could have the composition to seriously compete for a title from year 4 to 10 from today.

Without Pierce or an all-star replacement this team is at best a 35-40 win team even when they start to gel. Look at all of the championship teams recently. At least 2 all stars. Pierce is one and Al is likely to be a consistent one. You need an all-star caliber player who can hit huge shots in games down the stretch. Al and Pierce will be able to do this, but when one is triple teamed you need the other there for a great kickout. We lost a lot of games the past 3 years because everyone knew where the ball was going in crunch time. The reason we went to the conference finals earlier was because Antoine was the other all-star option. We need 1 more all star, not one less.

EJPLAYA, the bottom line is wins. Correct me if I’m wrong, but how many times in all of Pierce’s years in the league have we been above .500? Maybe 3 times in 9 years. I admit I haven’t looked it up but that’s got to be close. He’s played with all sorts of different players but we still never compete. I admit it’s not totally all on Paul but I think that Strainge’s plan to build around Pierce is misguided. How is Dallas now an elite team? They used to be all offense (Nash & Nowitski). Now they have a good coach who preaches D and they went out and got players who play the D. With Pierce and Wally we will never stop anybody!! That’s why we need Oden in the middle and if possible Deng on a wing. I know everybody loves Pierce but he’s not getting younger and if he is the centerpiece with Wally and a picked up quasi-all star, we are not winning anything. Jefferson should become more of the focus of this team going forward not Pierce.

Celty86, I agree completely about the focus shifting more towards Big Al. Any great team has an inside-out approach. The problem is that there isn’t one “great” player that Pierce has ever played with. If Antoine is your best player you can say you’ve played beside (other than Payton who was way past his prime) then you can’t blame the win/loss record on Pierce. (Think Dominique or early years Jordan) Big Al should become at that level and hopefully a bigger star than Pierce, but if you don’t keep Pierce you are going to do the same thing to Big Al as has been done to Pierce. (Think Elton Brand – Great star, lots of losses) I think this team needs two things in addition to these two. A star scorer (Maybe Durant?) and a lock down defender like a Bruce Bowen (Why did we let him go?) I think if we ended up with Oden all you get is the defensive presence because Al will get the offensive touches down low… Nice exchange of thoughts by the way!

EJPLAYA, Agreed on the exchanges. I don’t think it matters what I think cause I feel Strainge will be hanging onto Paul. I hope your right that we can compete with additions such Durant and a defensive stopper. We really do need to upgrade our D. If we get either Oden or Durant I don’t see another big trade though. Just a smaller one. Danny will feel that will be enough.