I Miss Gino

Injuries, obviously.

Energy is another – that level is down significantly from last year.

We’re not playing as well night in and night out as last year, because we’re not as good as we were last year. There are a lot of reasons for that, many of them thoroughly debated on this forum.

I agree…But im not sold on this team not being as good as last years…I think the schedule has been twice as hard, twice as many injuries, the other teams are twice as good, especially the top-tier teams, and the celtics arent playing with as much urgency in every single game..
Ill hold my judgement until after the season on which team is better, because you never know they could suprise us and win a title in less games then last year (more games then any team ever)

I think last year was an aberration, of sorts.

You had three All-Stars who were out to prove critics wrong; you had complimentary pieces (Rondo and Perk) who were out to prove that they belonged on the same court; you had a bench made up of folks who were wanting a huge payday (House and Posey) plus a few vets who were wanting their first rings (Scal and Brown); you had rookies who wanted to show they could ball with the All-Stars (Davis and Powe).

It was an electric combination, as we all saw. It worked exceedingly well.

So, there was going to be a let down this season. Personal and team objectives remain the same; but the urgency to prove something isn’t there.

If you are missing half a team it is tough to blow teams out…

agree with all the above points. and they’re older. pp dogged it in the first half. there is more turning it on and off this year, partially because mr. intensity has been hurt and the young guys watch pp turn the spigot.

One of the problems has been a lack of focus or certainly, less-intense focus.

They aren’t hellbent on beating every team into the ground from tip-off this year and they’re more complacent/careless with taking care of the ball. Put those two things together and you’ve got a team that allows other teams to stick around in the games longer which results in more games with closer scores —>some of which become losses that would not have happened last year.

Last night’s game was a perfect example. Lack of defensive focus in the 1st half and extremely sloppy ballhandling/passing. If the C’s focussed from tip-off, they would have put the game away before the 4th quarter.

I agree 100% re lack of focus. this is a team that can beat cleveland and atlanta short handed but struggles to beat the Thunder and loses to teams like the clippers. There are way too many games this year where we didn’t start playing until th 3rd or 4th qtr. the 2 orlando games are good examples of that. One would think that this team would come out focused every night but without garnett that leadership isn’t there. Pierce never has been and never will be a rah rah guy. he can flat out take over a game but it’s rare that he comes out on fire. rondo also loses his focus and there have been a lot of games where he is too complacent. when he plays hard and is focused we win. I still hate his defense. What’s up with that???

I’m confident that we can beat anyone in a 7 game series with this team. Can’t wait for the playoffs.

Winning 60 games by an average of 8 points is pretty damn good. Continuing to compare this team to last year is flawed in so many respects. So many things are different, both within and outside, that it makes comparing the 2 teams in a vacuum almost impossible. If last year never happened, nobody would ever turn up their nose at 60 wins and 8 by 20 or more. Every year is its own journey, individually unique, and should be judged as such. This team does not have to be as good as or better than last year’s to win it all, just better than everybody else. If they don’t win it all, it doesn’t necessarily mean they aren’t as good, it could mean the competition is better.

a way to measure how much of an influence injuries this year has had on MOV would measure the Celtics’ margin of victory for games in which the regular starters all played this year vs. last year. If the MOV is higher or comparable this year to last, then since the total MOV is lower this year, it would be reasonable to conclude that 1) the starters are better or comparable this year to last, and 2) that injuries have influenced total MOV this year (too bad basketball reference doesn’t have an easy stat to use for this…now I have to do this since I suggested it!)

While injuries have certainly played a factor in the Celtics recent problems and that Doc is correct when he says the most important issue right now is to make sure his team is healthy by the time the playoffs begin, I think what he must also focus on is the fact that the team needs to prepare psychologically as well. The psychological factor is something that coaches who have won championships in the past (e.g., Red, Pat Riley, Phil Jackson) have always regarded as being essential for a team to repeat as champs. It will be difficult to repeat because we lost home court advantage, but this proves all the more how essential the psychological factor is just as important as being physically prepared for the playoffs. It will take a combination of Doc Rivers and Kevin Garnett to get this team “psyched” for the playoffs so they can battle for wins offensively and defensively both at home and on the road.

Speaking of injuries, since Scal will not likely play again this year then is it possible for the Celtics to sign someone to fill his spot in time for the playoffs? I know a player is eligible for the playoffs if he was waived prior to the March 1st deadline. I think this rule also applies to other free agents. All they need is a veteran who can play solid defense, especially perimeter defense, which the Celtics have lacked this year.

The claim that the Cavs having been “blowing out” teams of late is one that is seriously misleading. It is a myth that may be based on the fact that they have a 15-1 record in the month of March. While they have certainly managed to put together an impressive record during March, it is entirely wrong to say that they have been “blowing out” teams. In their last sixteen games (all in the month of March), the Cavs have won by ten or more points five times mostly against teams with losing records. In each of the five games they won by ten or more points, they played against two teams with winning records, Miami (39-34) and Dallas (43-30). The other three teams they beat have losing records. They are the Nets (30-43), Bucks (31-43) and the T-Wolves (21-53). Out of their 15 wins this month, they beat eight teams with winning records and seven with losing records. They have won by an average of 8.75 ppg in their 15 wins for March. They lost only once (to the Boston Celtics by a score of 105-94).

Fans were right to complain about the Celtics losing to the Clippers, but while the Cavs beat the Clippers during their match earlier this month they could only manage a four point victory against a team that currently has an 18-56 record. The Cavs also should have blown out the Clippers by over 20 points.

I am not trying to water-down the Cavs record for the month of March or their recent winning streak. They have accomplished what they wanted to do all along this season: win home court advantage. But to say that the Cavs have been “blowing out” teams of late and have been striking fear into their opponents is a misnomer that should not be applied to the them, especially when teams with losing records like the Clippers (18-56), Kings (16-56) and Knicks (29-34) played competitively against the Cavs this month losing only by 4, 3 and 5 points.