Frustration Mounts - But Team Still Confident - Are You?

Not so much

Not at all. Nothing has changed since last summer: The Big 3 are deteriorating as scoring threats. We have no inside scoring whatsoever. No reason to think we can count on any consistent scoring – or any consistency, for that matter – from the point.

Danny had the right idea in the off-season, but he couldn’t pull it off. Now, this team is what it is: a .500 team with a very brief playoff shelf life, if any.

They are middle of the road. They will have some nice wins and some bad losses.

BLOW IT UP

Seriously, we just need a Center (better yet, two Centers) that can grab the rebounds for the C’s. The lack of rebounding the Celtics have been doing is RUINING them. Just imagine the Celtics were a good rebounding team with the current defense they are pulling off. They would be the best defensive team that ever played.

Not only that, they seriously just need to start attacking the basket and not rely on their jumpshots constantly. Why don’t they do this? Stubborn jump shooters, I tell ya.

Charles Barkley commented on the Celtics aging stars and their resultant inconsistency in their skills. Doc Rivers refuses to acknowledge the fact that he cannot play his aging three stars the entire fourth quarter of big games.He refuses to not trim down the number of players in the rotations of big games. He refuses to see that fatigue on aging legs doesn’t allow them to play consistent defense, while they also continue to front rim their jump shots in the final quarter. He screams at Wilcox and Johnson for upsetting his precious defensive rotations, while J O consistently cannot cover his man under the hoop. He has Johnson so" friggin" nervous that the kid cannot even shoot a jump shot anymore. Whenever a rookie or new player has a good game and plays 20-30 minutes, he makes them sit the next game? If Doc was coaching the Knicks he would have sat Jeremy Lin the day after his first breakout game. I just love the way he blames the players for not hustling when they are running on empty. He’s too worried about going to see his son’s college games, than he is about developing new talent. Maybe Danny and Doc will just tell the fans to stop whining because Bird, Parish, and Mchale aren’t walking through that door any time soon. Danny has always said how stubborn that Red was in order to keep his big three together too long. What has Danny done?

I saw this coming. We will struggle to finish this season at .500. Personally I am looking into the future and hoping Danny can somehow turn straw into gold once again so we aren’t forced to suffer through another long rebuild.

Actually never have been a big fan of doc. All he’s proven I think is that he can coach a championship team with three hall of famers in their prime plus assistant coaches like thibs. I can’t stand how he handles rookies and honestly I’m not sure he’s the best coach for this team going forward.

K C Jones used the same types of rotations in 87 and 88, except K C was not such a nasty SOB to the players. K C remembered he was a player himself. How about we send Doc and his bald buddy the ever over- opinionated Mike Fratello back to Atlanta?

not contenders even with more pieces because what they’ll get back in talent won’t be better than what we already have. anything going out will be bringing back young players and/or draft picks.

we’re a playoff team simply because in a 15-team Eastern Conference, there are 7 teams that are really, really bad this year and will not be able to pass us for that last playoff spot unless we have a complete and utter collapse or trade the vets away.

woe is us. we have nothing down low. our best postup man is rondo. we play good d and can’t get the rebound so the other team gets 2 more chances. i think that breaks the will of a team. jo is as fast as sap coming out of a tree. erdun got 18 points the other night- another guy doc used to yell at.

2012’s version is unimaginative and boring. I kept on falling asleep last night. I turned off the game when KG missed that slamdunk.

More than anything else, it is sad. It is time to be working in the kids, let them get more hours on the machine. I don’t care how bad Steimsmsmsmsa is, he can’t be much worse than The Irish Ostrich – yeah, that’s what he looks like, an ostrich, or maybe a brontosaurus. Last movie he starred in was Land Of The Lost. JJJ and MSMSMSMSM look like the Twin Towers – Ralphy and Akeem – on a really bad day, after living on the Gandhi diet for a month.

I guess the days of Pierce driving the lane are over. It’s going to be jumpers for the rest of the year. Wow. That’s exciting, charismatic, transplendent basketball right there. yeah right.

Po-verized……!

Nicely done.

Multiple changes, maybe… but that was not an option. Anyway, in the end, it’s on the Big Four, and that’s just not happening, apparently. Doesn’t mean it can’t change… just doesn’t seem likely anymore.

Um, I believe the blog po-sed the question whether or not people were confident in the team being a contender. Not fair to criticize folks for answering, ya know?

The easy part of the schedule is now over, and we’re only sitting at 15-14. My before the season prediction for our record was 30-36, so considering all the home cooking, we’re about on course for that. We are in no way true contenders, though we might make it into the playoffs to be first round fodder for Miami or Chicago. Doubt we drop below 8th because the other teams below us are that bad.

So be it. Not like any of this is a surprise. We all knew when Danny put together an aging but talented roster that their window would be short. We got a championship and a trip to the finals and some quality ball for a good run. Glad Danny did it. It was worth it. I’m just enjoying this season as a kind of farewell victory lap. Root for them to win, but not deluding myself into thinking that we’re a contender. Don’t want Danny to do anything that will jeopardize a real rebuild for the sake of making this year’s team marginally better (which I know he wouldn’t do). So basically, just enjoying the victory lap and looking forward to the start of the rebuild this coming off-season. Not averse to a move before the deadline, but only one that helps a rebuild (young talent/draft picks). We’re simply no longer contenders with this group.

Pierce driving to the hoop or getting a pass while hes under the hoop and going up soft and yelling, praying that the refs bail him out on a phantom foul call. Go up strong! Go up like a man! You look soft and you look like a fool with no respect for this game or himself when you do this!

Gordon+Jack for Rondo

Or, 3rd pick, Henry, Vasquez, for Rondo.

I think this sounds crazy. Grdon id a is a solid SG with star potential but his knees are a huge issue… and that 3rd pick, Harrison Barnes, Gilchrist? I guess It depends on how good you think any of these guys will become. The next Pierce? A future star? It’d be a huge gamble.

It’s hurt my eyes these 30 games watching this Celtics team. This season I see a team with no energy or interests, mainly from the starters, then rubs onto the bench. Currently 15-14 during the final year of this Big 3 era, and watching these games I see on sense of urgency.

Frustration is mounting because fans are tired of watching this team losing especially on national TV. Losing to teams they should be beating is confusing and head scratching. The defensive has improved, but what good is it when you’re not winning. The Celts had every opportunity to take last night’s game in CHI, but they of course checked out.

An accomplished veteran team with flaws makes no sense. They don’t rebound, box-out, crash boards or have inside presence. I understand they’re past their prime and no longer athletic, but that can’t be used an excuse.

I’m not suggesting a major trade because that is unlikely, but Ainge has to address the flaws in the center position and back-up SG position. Nothing personal against JO or Dooling, but I don’t see what they bring to this team. Dooling I’ll give a break because he’s returning from an injury, but what has JO provided lately?

JO is a 33yr PF/C, with a history of injuries including bad knees which means he can’t jump or rebound. JO at times looked lost last night. I rather have JO as the back up instead of starting.

It’s hard to predict where this team will be the next 15 games or if they’ll be together. For veteran guys like KG, PP, RA, and JO, they should leave on a good note, on their terms and not by trades.

How? How do u replace players like Garnett, Pierce or Allen? They’re special breed of athletic talent. You don’t see players like them in the league maybe Lebron or Wade, but they’re stuck in Miami. There’s not much talent on the market at the moment or during 2012 summer.

Please? Pretty, pretty please?

If the only button to push is “injuries” the Bulls don’t have Rose…right?

I don’t know if Danny is going to blow it up, but, he sees what we see which is a .500 team. They beat the lousy teams most of the time and they get beat by the good teams most of the time.

If you look at 4th quarter stats for this season the team looks tired at the end of games. They just don’t seem to have “enough” to finish the kind of games they have won in the past. They can’t rebound. After playing outstanding defense (top 3 in NBA) they have no energy on the offensive end. Look at their scoring totals.

Looking for excuses and spinning party lines is a sign of an average to below average team.

The Celtics will be 4 and 6 against the good teams and 6 and 4 against the Raptors of this world.

How else, can you look at it?

One ‘BIG’ man in CENTER, and possibly a Jeremy Lin type —high percentage shooter??? Tony Allen back would be interesting!!

Can we please teach someone how to box out on rebounding? We cannot win when we give everyone second and third chance opportunities! Jermaine is too slow please replace him with KG and have Wilcox play the PF.

The Zone defense absolutely killed us last night. They were scoring at will. Please stay away from that Doc!

One night we play like contenders and the next night we go out and play bad. The offense is bad, while our defense doesn’t lapse very often, the offense REGULARLY disappears for about a QUARTER. That needs to be addressed one way or another.

As far as trades go, trade for who? What are we gonna get back? I say add a guy, take our punchers chance in the playoffs then do anything possible to get Dwight Howard because unless we get a Dwight Howard type it doesn’t matter when we blow it up we’re looking at a similar forecast of “rebuilding” either way.

Reading all of the posts, there are some pretty knowledgeable fans. But many just state the obvious. Rebounding is a big problem and it will be when 2 of the 3 big men on the floor play 18 or more feet from the basket. Box out? No matter who the center is, when you are alone under the basket against 2 or 3 defenders, you don’t box out, you get boxed out. It is sad when the guards get almost as many rebounds as the big men.
Shooting is the same problem – 15 feet or more from the basket is a low percentage shot. Plus if you never drive to the hoop, it limits what the defense has to do against you.
Passing is a problem for everyone except Rondo and KG. Not just making silly passes, but soft with no zip on the ball.
Doc’s rotations are a problem. For as bad as the bench was last year, they actually looked good in the last regular season game against the Knicks when they played as a UNIT, instead of 1 or 2 at a time stuck in with the regulars. It is much the same this year as Doc insists on keeping at least 1 regular on the floor at all times. Then the bench largely stands around waiting for the regular to be the boss and take all the shots.
And in my opinion, Pierce is quickly becoming a problem instead of a solution. As someone else said, he hasn’t been slashing to the hoop, he is not making his jumpers, he dribbles the clock away, and then the last several games, passes it to Rondo with like 2 seconds left on the shot clock. He is a captain who’s skills and threat are going downhill fast. His decision making would be fine if he could still do what he used to. He is a captain who is reluctant to recognize his new limitations and give up the starring role. And he is a captain who is paid 16 million to show up for the season out of shape (there’s a message for the rest of the team).
Blowing up the team is not an answer. Over half the team now is new faces which is much like rebuilding and starting over. Making changes in the middle of a season is always risky and especially so in this shortened year with no time for practice.
Are the guys too old? If you look at all the championship teams, not just the Celtics, it is always the veteran team that pulls it out. But when do teams go from being veteran to over the hill? Obviously this is the question Ainge is wrestling with.
It is easy to identify problems. The solutions are the hard part. The Celts better find the answers pretty quick as the point of no return is approaching. They will be home in FRONT of their TV’s instead of ON TV in June if they don’t.