Complaints!

Great comments, Green17, especially about Doc. The substitutions and rotations in this series have been baffling at times.

Chalk me up as to someone who just doesn’t understand the rotations. I don’t have an issue with baby in the fourth (grasping for some sort of energy), but no eddie or tallen has left me disapointed in the coaching. given the lack of D and O from Ray, is it possible for tony to be less effective? and sam I am not playing anything close to resembling winning hoops.

PLEASE go back to what got us here.

Man, I haven’t been on this blog since Sunday but reading through some of the other comments, I can see what you mean about the negativity.

I didn’t see Game 3, but from the clips I later saw on TV and what I read it must have been really bad. I had predicted and actually believed the Cs were gonna put away the Cavs in 4. It was not to be.

Still, I have no doubt that the Cs will win this series since they have the homecourt advantage. However, it is frustrating that the best road team fromt he regular season can’t figure out a way to win one on the read during the playoffs.

The problem as I see it continues to be leadership on the court. Which Celtics player is going to rise to the occasion and carry this team on their shoulders, bring the others along, when the going gets tough? The Big Three (with the exception of KG) have been disappointing so far. What happened to Paul Pierce? Is he still on the team or was he traded and no one told me?

Moment of leadership in last night’s game worth noting… After Pierce fouled LeBron James by wrapping him up, LeBron’s mother tried to get herself into the mix, but LeBron basically told her mom to stay out of it. LeBron further deescalated the situation by going over to Paul Pierce and cooling things down between them.

Now imagine if the roles were reversed… What would Paul have done? I am guessing he’d probably resort to his juvenile antics.

Doc Rivers is a great motivator, but he is an awful coach. Pierce needs to stop playing street ball on offense. Cassell needs to only play when he hits some shots.

TBreezy said:

Chalk me up as to someone who just doesn’t understand the rotations. I don’t have an issue with baby in the fourth (grasping for some sort of energy), but no eddie or tallen has left me disapointed in the coaching. given the lack of D and O from Ray, is it possible for tony to be less effective? and sam I am not playing anything close to resembling winning hoops.

I am not so sure I agree with you because the same rotations and substitutions have won us the home games. One can always second guess rotations and substitutions, but when the team is down psychologically, it makes no difference whom you play, the result is going to be pretty much the same.

I continue to maintain that the problem is psychological. The Big Three have a history worth exploring in that regard – there’s a reason why Antoine Walker was co-captain with Pierce, there’s a reason why KG stayed in Minny under less than desirable circumstances and never complained, and there’s a reason Ray Allen’s talents never brought his former teams any measurbale success. The conventional wisdom in assembling this team was that each of these players couldn’t get it done because they didn’t have the right supporting cast in the past. Well now they have each other, but something else has been missing…

I have argued, and will continue to argue that we also have to look at what caused these players to accept their past situations while at the same time being signed to generous contracts even when they weren’t winning. That is not something to be easily brushed aside as business as usual. Kobe Bryant would never have tolerated such conditions.

Give me a Kobe “the malcontent” Bryant any day – he will demand the ball with the game on the line. He will carry his team singlehandedly if he has to. And when he’s given his all and still falls short, he will attack the front office until something gets done about the situation. None of our Big Three possesess these qualities. And that, in my humble opinion, is a huge part of our team’s road problems. We don’t just win at home, we flat out dominate at home because the home crowd literally wraps this team in a psychologically protective cocoon and carries us to victory every single time. But how long will this continue before an opponent breaks through?

Lets just do our job as fans. This next one is a home game. So for everyone who will be at the game we need to make it louder, and crazier than it has ever been before. The Q was pretty loud and crazy. I think we can do better.

angry guy is right… its a mental thing. Thats why the garden HAS to be crazy tomorrow night. If you are going to the game, go crazy. If you arent going to the game, find a way to get tickets, or get as close as you can and yell your face off!

Doc Rivers is a great motivator, but he is an awful coach.

When do we start holding the players accountable? Doc is the same coach on the road as he is at home. Where are the complaints of the rotation when we win by 20?

Every time there is a report or court-side sound bite of what Doc is telling this team, it seems sensible. We complain about the offense; then you hear Doc telling guys that those aren’t the shots we want, pass the ball around, attack the rim, etc. When they refuse to do those things, is it his fault?

Is it Doc’s fault Rondo can’t hit the broad side of a barn sometimes? Is it Doc’s fault Pierce is all of a suddent unable to get to the free throw line? Is it Doc’s fault that Kendrick Perkins still doesn’t the have the body control to keep himself out of stupid foul situations? Most importantly, is it Doc’s fault that KG refuses to the ball at defenders who are inferior to him athletically, and instead falls 10 feet away on every shot?

Do we have roster issues? Yes. But we’ve had those issues all year, and still had a good road record. Is it difficult to incorporate two new players and sit three others who’ve produced for you all year? Yes. But, that hasn’t stopped us from winning by an average of 18 points at home through the playoffs.

There are problems with this team on the road that aren’t there at home. To me that signals that the problem is not on the sidelines, it’s between their ears. Our players are showing themselves to be mentally weak.

When is the coach accountable then. If coaches can’t be blamed because they aren’t on the floor then why have a coach? Coaches as well as players need to be held accountable not one or the other. Both coaches and players need to do better.

What’s ironic that in the context of the second round of the playoffs nobody (but detroit in a close game) has won on the road, but because of the mess in round 1 it puts a big spotlight on this team. I think there is a lack of a consistent offensive theme. Even in the regular season, the players (and Doc) knew enough to ride the hot hand, but last night when Ray was showing signs, suddenly they went away from him. The same could be said for Paul, Rondo, just about everybody but KG during these playoffs at some point. One thing about Sam Cassell you don’t get to freeze him out of the offense in less you bench him because he always has the ball.

I think Eddie House deserves some minutes at the 2 (I think he could be a poor man’s Rip Hamilton/Lindsey Hunter quite easily), I like TA but he is just too much of an offensive liability and we have enough of that as it is.

NoraG1 said:

When is the coach accountable then. If coaches can’t be blamed because they aren’t on the floor then why have a coach?

NoraG1, you make a great point! I think the coach is accountable all the time, it starts and ends with him. But IMO, the coach gets blamed for every misfortune of the team. Yet when we were winning some folks were giving total credit to the players. IMO, the team is not losing it’s road games because of the coach’s strategic or tactical philosophy; they are losing because of lack of player leadership

I’m thinking there should be at least one player WILLING to carry this team on his shoulders at critical points when the game is on the line. Why is it that on a team with the Big 3, it is James Posey who seems to be the one delivering the player pep talk every now and then? Where is Pierce?

In Game 6 of the Atlanta series the Celtics lost by 3, now how many missed free throws did the C’s have? That we were in the game to the very end is testament to the soundness of the coach’s strategic and tactical decisions. But at the end of the day, some player has to make a defensive stop at a critical point in the game; some player has to hit their free throw; some player has to want the ball, I mean something more than coaching has to happen in those circumstances.

Did you see LeBron last night chiding Varejao for missing an assignment? Do we have anyone like that? If the Celtics are eliminated, I would be the first to call for firing Doc Rivers, but not because he’s a bad coach, only because someone has to take responsibility and it starts and ends with the coach. But that does not negate the fact that the team lacks player leadership.

On the plus side… We are playing a seven game series with home court advantage all the way through the final (if we get there), and as long as we keep winning a simple majority of those seven games, we’re good to go.

I have to say though that I am having a blast… I feel alive and so excited knowing nothing is guaranteed; the emotional highs and lows that comes with each win and loss, and the probability that it could all come crashing down in the blink of an eye, or we would win it all.
 
Is this a great time to be alive or what… :D

When I took some martial arts classes a few years ago, they talked about running away as the first defense, to come back another day. Well, maybe these guys are ninja Celtics, where they run away when they know they are going to lose, and win when they know they can win. I guess having home court advantage all the way thru gives you that ability?

When a team is playing like crap, honest evaluation can come across as negativity. It is ok if Rivers shortens the rotation but he has forgotten that the Cs won most of their games (home and away) with Eddie House as the backup PG. He cannot be left open as
Rondo is and he pushes the ball up faster than Cassell. And it seems to me that he plays better defense than Sam. Although, it
has been so long since I’ve seen House that my memory is a little hazy. Rondo is most effective when the team is running.
DUH!!! If you want someone to guard Rondo simply have him set
weakside screens. Rivers’ Celtic teams always seem to play slowly when the game is close. The closer the game the slower
they play. You need to get some easy baskets in transition vs
a good defensive team like Cle. I am afraid that LeBron will go
off for 40 in game 5 and steal a game on the road and go back to
Cleveland up 3-2. That will be very difficult for the Cs to overcome. LeBron is due for a monster game. I hope he doesn’t
have it Wed night at the Garden. And when did Delonte morph
into Lenny Wilkens. Can’t anyone guard him?

I have always and will continue to always hate the point guard passes and cuts to the opposite corner offense. It was designed when we didn’t really have a point guard who could penetrate. We would give the ball to Pierce and clear out. Is it possible that we could try a different variation on offense that wouldn’t let the opposing player who is guarding Rondo just stay strong side. Have him screen or float to the top of the key where he has better driving lanes. There must be dozens of better options. It is time to make an adjustment.

When is the coach accountable then.

Okay, then, let’s have a conversation about the coach. But, let’s base it in facts.

The primary complaint I’ve heard of Doc Rivers so far has been the rotations. So, let’s take a look at the minutes played. I understand that MPG aren’t the sole way of deciding if a rotation is working or not, but it does give us a numerical way to compare the post-season with the regular season, during which the Celtics were very successful.

Minutes Per Game – Regular/Post-season

Rondo – 29.9/29.6
Allen – 35.9/37.6
Pierce – 35.9/34.3
Garnett – 32.8/36.8
Perkins – 24.5/24.5

Posey – 24.6/23.1
Powe – 14.4/17.1
Cassell – 17.6/15.4 (over 17 Cs games in regular season)
Brown – 11.6/8.7 (over 18 games with Cs in regular season)
Baby – 13.6/6.4
House – 19/4.4
T.Allen – 18.3/4.4

While House,TA, and Big Baby have seen significant reductions in their minutes, those minutes have not gone to Cassell and Brown. Both of our new vets are actually playing FEWER minutes than they did in the regular season, and TA and House were still getting into those games.

The big increases in minutes have actually gone to Garnett, Ray Allen, and Leon Powe. The only person I whose minutes I would question is Allen, since he’s looking fatigued. But I would answer not with TA. Instead I would look to up Pierce’s minutes to about 38-40 and play him some at the 2 with Posey in the game at the 3.

The main thing is that Cassell and PJ’s minutes have been overblown. They aren’t playing that much. And if Doc decided to sit Cassell for House, I imagine he’d have to have a conversation with his boss first, who clearly though House was not the answer for the playoffs, or he wouldn’t have gotten Sam. As for PJ, the numbers show that he’s actually been very effective in his 8 minutes. He’s shooting well, rebounding well, and he has defended consistently against big Z, who he has been mostly matched up with this series. We’re not losing games because of Z.

Anyone else notice that they don’t always show replays after calls like they use to. No only in Celtics games but in all the playoff games. I see these really bad calls and I want to make sure I saw what I thought I saw, but they never show a replay. I guess the NBA stopped showing all the blown calls so the fans can enjoy the game more.

Great article, and I agree with Jeff’s coment how “sad” that some live in such negativity. You all know me over the years of trying to combat that, and this year has been a refreshing change that I have not needed to post to counter all the negativisum. The people who post like that see life like that, it’s very unfortunate that these type of people tend to post the most no matter what the issue. And like Jeff said tend to bring down the mood of everyone.

That said, I’d also like to give migit his due for the comment when are people going to hold the players accountable? You hit the nail on the head.

On Po, take pill my good friend, and chill. How about a list of what you do like about this season over last. Give it a try, when your done, you may find yourself feeling better, and may make others feel better in the long run. Oh and on the Wade/Barkley commercials although they may run them way to much, they are funny and the two work well together.

That said my friends, Keep the Faith, and hopefully we’ll bask in the Pride at the end of the ride!

It’s late, I’m exhausted and can’t think straight, so I don’t have anything worthy to add, but would like to say Migit and Village Idiot are genius tonight. I couldn’t agree more.

People looking to blame the coach for this debacle are, I think, in denial about the players. As fans, we form emotional connections with these players. Makes us look to blame the coach when things go sour.

But fellas, watch these players. It isn’t hard to see them making bad decisions, missing assignments, settling for fade-away jumpers. They are stinking up the arenas on the road.

Yeah, I agree that House should be getting more minutes, that it might be time to try TA on Wally, that showing no confidence in these players may be throwing them off when they DO get in the game … but that’s not the reason for these embarrassing loses — it’s the embarrassing play of the players.

I have no idea when and why our team started playing like whimps. Since when are Garnett, Pierce or Powe afraid to just take it to the basket and do that STRONG. KG is still the best man on this team right now but he has become rather quiet. It seems like he is avoiding any kind of contact. Stop the whole shooting from the outside already. DRIVE!!!

Rivers definitely is to blame too. He has been outcoached many times. I was freaking out when I saw big baby in there at the beginning of the fourth. Unbelievable.

Don’t even get me started on Cassel who just makes me nervous.

I kind of miss the good old times when the season was over already and we were just watching other teams in the playoffs haha. This is too much for my nerves.

66 regular season wins have spoiled us. all season when they won,kg,pp, and doc would say in the press conf.—these wins don’t mean as much as playoff wins and we are proving nothing til we win there— and they were so right. now we’re basically a 50-50 team -not very good. varejao has been killing us with good d on kg.the offense has been incohesive partly because pp is spent from defense and also he has been timid posting up or driving to the hoop but he is not alone. hopefully since it’s a home game and maybe we get some calls —let’s take it to the hoop and use the jump shot as a last resort. also doc get flexible with the subs— if wally’s on bring in tony.