Celtics Can't Afford to Just "Turn it On"

unless they build some momentum going into the playoffs.

The C’s players need to bring a change to their mentality….and hopefully it’ll be with tomorrow night’s game. We have already lost one game to the Pistons…we can’t afford to lose another one.

They not only can’t afford to “turn it on”, they can’t “turn it on.” If that were the case, they would have beaten the Hawks on the third try, the Cavs, and Nets. 3 games that should have meant something.

by the Bulls.

… and this whole drama going on here is completely overblown. KG is looking good at the moment. Pierce will return soon and all will be quite fine.

The Celtics have succeeded in “turning-it-on” several times this season.
How else can one explain the “Big, Gut-check, statement victories” they`ve had this year?

For instance :

1} The 98-95 OT victory at home over a depleted Portland team {Jan. 22}
2} The hard fought 95-89 win at home over the Clippers {Jan. 25}
3} The 110-106 awe-inspiring, wake-up-the-ghosts win over NY at home {Feb. 23}

Powerful argument, right DRJ1?

Nets were a classic trap game. They didn’t get up for it, when their opponent did. It happens, especially to veteran teams that have already won a championship. They’ve got two losses in a row. It isn’t the end of the world, just a lull in the season. While they clearly aren’t the most dominant team in the NBA anymore, it doesn’t mean they can’t win it all if they get a few lucky breaks in the playoffs.

Turn it on? I don’t think this team is able to turn it on. If they were, they would be pulling out a number of games in the clutch (third, fourth quarter), just like they did last year, and the year before. However, what they do now is losing games in the clutch. Sad story.

He’s still defending his ‘turn it on at the playoffs’ approach to the game. That’s an attitude that Doc and Danny have been fighting all year, but I don’t think enough of the rest of the team realized t was a dead end.

(1) First of all, between you and Jeff, all the pessimism and negativity is really WEIRD, given that you run this site. Are you TRYING to make the fans give up? Because it sure plays like it.

(2) How do you know it’s not Doc’s fault? Didn’t Doc overplay Ray almost to extinction for about 1/2 the season? Isn’t he still doing it with Rondo? Isn’t it Doc who has said countless times after games that he needs to stop overplaying guys, only to do it again and again and again? Isn’t it Doc who ignores all new/young players, and can’t figure out rotations? And isn’t it Doc who arguably has lost control over the players?

(3) This whole piece is written like the Cs have had a terrible season. Why let the facts disturb your depression over losing to the Nets (as if that meant something)? Facts: Only two teams in the Eastern Conference have fewer losses than the Celtics, and one of those teams has 20, just 1 less than the Cs. Only 4 teams in the WHOLE NBA have fewer losses than the Celtics, and 2 of them are at 20. I would like to know what the hell you are talking about!

(4) Here’s a question you asked 8 different ways (yes, really, 8): “How can they guarantee that it will work out?” Ok, tell me which team has a “guarantee that it will work out.” That, sir, is a ridiculous question. There are no guarantees. For anybody. What guarantee does Cleveland have that their all-out effort to get the league’s best record won’t result in Lebron James going down with a broken foot one day, because he’s exhausted and overplayed by THEIR idiot coach?

(5) Better yet, let’s turn it around. How do you know the Cs CAN’T turn it around? You sound like you have the inside scoop. Please enlighten us. Is it, by any chance, because they lost to the Nets? The Nets… who just happened to play an excellent game for a change? The exaggerated and outright NUTTY importance people have placed on that one game is just mind-boggling. As I’ve explained before, the Nets have some very good players. Their record is in NO WAY an indication of how good they can be. No one should be surprised that they CAN play well. And they did, on Saturday. SO WHAT??

(6) The Celtics “haven’t executed in weeks?” They’ve been “on pause”? They have to “show themselves” that they can do it? Huh?!? Again, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? They have an excellent record. They performed well enough to lose by just 1 point to the Lakers on Dec 31 (due to one lucky last-second shot) – a team believed by many to be the best or second-best team in the NBA. And then they actually beat LA on Feb 18. They lost by only 2 points to Orlando on Jan 28, mostly because the Magic just went nuts hitting shots at the end. And they DOMINATED THE CAVS through 2 quarters just last week. Yes, they ended up losing, but you cannot claim that they haven’t “shown themselves”, or that they “haven’t executed in weeks.” They have, many times. You’re just apparently blinded to all that truth by the bright roaring flame of the Nets loss that you THINK is so horrible. (See #5.)

(7) Fact is, the starting 5 on the Celtics know very well what they are capable of doing. They don’t have to “prove it” to you, or to themselves. They’ve been doing it together for almost 3 years now. Maybe they’re just confident in what they’re doing (unlike all other contenders, who all have new starters that need acclimation and practice.)

(8) And maybe, just maybe, this team is seeing the NBA’s overstuffed 82-game schedule for what it is. Way too frantic. And almost completely devoid of meaning. Except to the fans, that is. But the fans will be happy enough, they figure, with what this team does in the playoffs.

(9) Just because the Cs are doing things this season in a way that hasn’t been tried before in the NBA… does that mean it CANNOT be done? Are we cursed to never break out of any mold set by our predecessors? Really? Is David Stern King Of The Universe, whose pronouncements and expectations must be met at all times? So what if Sheed chooses not to play hard now? Maybe it’s because he doesn’t want to get injured fighting for one more meaningless rebound, or taking one more meaningless charge, in a meaningless game in the meaningless regular season. That’s not POSSIBLE??

(10) I know you who have bought tickets are not getting your full money’s worth. That’s a legitimate complaint. But do NOT extend that into an indictment of the WHOLE TEAM just because you’re upset. Because they lost to a team you think they should have beaten. That’s wrong. And this article is wrong, from beginning to end.

I work in the performing arts and we have a saying – " You rehearse to perform." If you don’t bring 100% to rehearsal, you can’t expect to remember your lines or bow your fiddle the right way when it’s game time. No matter if you’re Tiger Woods or Yo Yo Ma, no matter what your talent level or history, there’s not such thing as just turning on for the games that count. And if they think they can, they’ve already fallen into the trap.

They won the title without homecourt advantaje in any round. They were veteran and really talented. I hope we get this example.

until he “turns it on”.

Yeah, Steve, Hakeem played unbelievable, but PP or KG can do the same thing because they are great players. KG probably at the same level of Hakeem (less sthetic may be)

…they’ve been playing outstanding 1st halves and some 3rd quarters as well…so the idea that they haven’t practiced high level execution in weeks is false – they just haven’t been doing it for 4 quarters – especially in the 4th quarter where the intensity is greatest.

So, if you do prescribe to the theory the team isn’t playing all-out, which is clear that they aren’t, you could take stock in the fact that they are spending some time each game playing at a high level – and the leads they had on Orlando and Cleveland should be very heartening.

While this doesn’t mean they are capable of “turning it on” for 4 quarters and beating the best of the league, it does at least give a non-pessimist some encouraging data for the possability of doing so.

Bottom line is this team needs health more than anything else so they at least have a chance to compete at 100%. If that means less slashing, banging, and grinding in crunch time to save their bodies then i’m all for it.

While it is very hard to watch, we have seen this team succumb to injury both last year and this year – since the team has gone into “cruise control” mode there have been no such injuries – when the injuries DID occcur the team was 23-5.

So, i for one will use that and say to myself “whatever” if the team is healthy and ready to give it their all come playoff time – which i know they will – than i have seen enough high level bball from them to make me believe they can contend with anyone.

…also, if a residual benefit to all this is that certain teams take them for granted, then the team could easily steal a game or two by virtue of the OTHER team being lacksadasical come playoff time – the Hawks are a prime candidate for this as they’re young and have won nothing.

They had a very good starting five that seemed to believe they could turn it on and off. They also only won one title.