Celtics Outlast Wizards

This would have been a brutal loss and as far as I’m concerned he would have been the main culprit though not the sole one.

If he had played them more, all we would here is how he is overplaying and wearing out the starters. Ray played 39 minutes! They were in before the 5:25 mark and they won. We have nearly lost all the games because of Doc these past 3 years according to some, whew, barely escaped with a 66 win season and title, a 62 win season and well on the way to 60+ again.

How much history has to be established over a long period of time to put a stop to the Celtics doing all this winning in spite of the coach? Unprecedented criticism for such a consistent track record of success over a long stretch. I have hardly ever, if ever, read a comment here during all those wins about how the C’s would have lost if not for Doc. Laughable…

It had a bit of Dee Brown in it

i’d say tonight he’s the most athletic celtics after Rondo!

on an opposing teams’ star player yet be invisible? Have we not learned that the C’s are all about D, therefore, if that is where a player was great, did he not have a big impact on the game?

if we had lost this game, would your reaction be “at least our starters got some rest”? if your answer is yes, then I will cede my point. but I just can’t see any fan disregarding the outcome of a game just so the starters can have 3 more minutes of rest. especially a young guy like Perk.

I had the same reaction: “Oh, so Rondo can stay in front of people.” He just doesn’t want to. I hope it’s for the reason you indicate—so that he can save energy.

At any rate, he’s awesome, but his pick and roll defense remains frustrating to watch.

The Cs played well in the 2d quarter, but I also saw the Wiz do something I haven’t seen the Cs do all year – they looked like they flat-out quit. When the ball came off on a rebound or there was a loose ball, they just stood around and made the Cs look like they were on fast-forward – that’s the quarter we built our rebound edge. And the Wiz’ interior defense… wow.

As lax as the Cs sometimes get, I can’t recall anything this hideous.

All Star selection is not about performance or on-court accmplishment. Just look at T-Mac, he could be a starter without playing a single game.

hes the only celtic that should start the all star game

i mean SELLS ticktes.stupid me.hehe

yeah. i read about that T-Mac in All Star. NBA published it was because of the vote of the Chinese. i’d say its crap! NBA just wants to capitalise it to the whole world. I dont believe on that voting selection process.

the Post JORDAN era all star selection has been capitalized. it became Players who are Flashy in the offense.

is that you don’t need every one to have their ‘A’ game every night. The Big Four (I’m including Sheed) are all clearly not at the peak of their careers anymore and no one should expect that they are going to be studs every single game. But on any given night, its not unreasonable to expect that two of those guys are going to be ‘ON’. Add in Perk and Rondo who are younger and able to play more consistently and you have a powerful force with the ability to win every game.

Pierce has been the most consistent performer of those Four, game-in-game-out this season. Not surprising because he is the youngest. But even he isn’t going to dominate every game. And he doesn’t have to.

A true team uses each player to best advantage differently against different lineups.

It’s a little strange to remonstrate Kevin Garnett because Rondo has been playing well. He’s on the mend from fairly major surgery but beyond that, his tenacity and athleticism is as important to his “finishes at the rims” as Rondo’s passes are. He runs the floor hard, has excellent spacing, and has shown through his consistency in jump shots why he is a dominant player. It can also be suspected that his rebounding inadequacies will be extenuated as his lateral movement improves with his conditioning. Rondo has one game where he shoots well (I’m referring to jump shots specifically) and he’s suddenly the most valuable player on the Celtics. That seems a ludicrous and largely unfounded assertion. The only reason he has so many open jump shots is because of the shooting prowess of the three all-star caliber players complimenting him on the court. His jump shots are wide open. What if defenders played off of Ray Allen as they do Rondo, he could easily be averaging significant more FGA/FGM then Rondo is currently. Of course Ray Allen being a dominant and established shooter occludes other teams to play off of him on defense.
Taken all together, Rondo tends to be wide open on his jump shots and, even then, he more often than not struggles converting on those shots. The only reason he’s wide open to begin with is because of the offensive potency that the ‘Big Three’ bring to the Celtics line-up. Defenders can’t play off guys like Paul Pierce or Kevin Garnett, in fact they have to be double teamed if there is a use of an isolation during one of their offensive schemes. The same cannot be said of Rondo.
I agree Paul Pierce has been inconsistent but that may be more attributable to foul trouble and a lack of touches on the offensive end of the floor in recent games than to diminishing value correlated with aging. Kevin Garnett however is the most valuable player on the Celtics, in terms of individual value, leadership qualities, and all around basketball abilities relative to his respective position. I think Boston’s playoff expedition last season amply demonstrates Garnett’s value to the Celtics. Without him the Celtics lack the prospect of a Championship run. While Rondo has proven his pivotal functions within the team its seems like a MLE signing of an above average point guard would attenuate the effects of an unfortunate injury to Rondo. The same cannot be said of Garnett.
Either way, I’m happy they are both playing well, and feel that if they remain consistent they hold a legitimate chance at competing for another championship. One last point, I feel ultimately that the team has to be looked at holistically, where if you take away any one of the starting players then all the other starters are no longer individually as effective (excepting perhaps Paul Pierce, who creates his own offense quite efficiently). Largely, I just think the debasing of Garnett is without significant merit or provocation.