While the C's are in this slump I would like to know if  Ainge  will seek to make any trades to improve the team and bring in some new (preferably young) talent.

He does after all have some flexibility and options to improve the club and help us win title 18 this year.

Is he thinking about trading the expiring contracts of Scalabrine?

Is he thinking about trading the expiring contract of  T. Allen?

Is he thinking about trading Eddie House and his expiring contract?

Is he thinking about  trading Ray Allen and his expiring contract?

With the great play of Shelden Williams is he possibly considering trading Big baby to improve the team?

If Ainge does trade any of the above players who will he seek to obtain?

Any one have any thoughts on the matter?

I can't wait until the west coast trip comes.  When Boston plays the likes of San Antonio, Pheonix, Dallas, and L.A., they will have a reality check of a lifetime.   Question to Celtic Nation:  What makes you think this team will get back to fundamental basketball later in the season? 

NY and NJ have 3 wins between them.  Yet the Celtics had great difficulty in beating both. Sunday's game again the New York Knicks was disgusting. The Celtics were up by two with less than a minute to play.  Here's what the Celtics ran for their offense: They had Kevin Garnett on the perimeter (surprise,surprise) feeding the ball to Ray Allen down on the block.  Ray Allen ends up getting doubled and turns over the ball.  On the other end, KG gets beat badly by Al Harrington, who came close to a three point play.

Wow!

The last offensive sequence baffled me even more.  With game tied Rojan Rondo decides to hold the ball until the last possible second only to launch a 3 point shot.   WHY?? With 14 ticks left in OT, the Knicks ran a beautiful pick and roll resulting in a David Lee uncontested flush.

I have never been a fan of 'Doc' Rivers.  Clearly, if the same mistakes are being made game after game, adjustments have not been made.Either Rivers does not tell the players the right things or the players have stopped listening to him.  Maybe both.Some of his players have admitted that they have started games flat - they can thank the coach for this.

Two seasons ago he inherited allstar players who were foaming at the mouth for a ring.  Doc could be considered a 'won hit wonder' of NBA coaches.The players won that championship for themselves by themselves. M.L. Carr could have lead them to #17 that year. 

This year, 'Doc' - not the Celtic players - is being exposed.  I would love to be a fly on the wall during practices.  Instead of addressing spacing, ball movement movement and help defense Doc is probably making coffee runs.

New blood is needed in the head coaching department for the green.

The New Orleans Hornets fired Byron Scott after 14 games.  Compare Doc's career win/loss totals to Byron's.

They are very similiar. 

Donny Marshall has never coached a NBA team.  However, Rivers himself had to start somewhere.   Time to make a coaching change.  Donny Marshall in there. Marshall  gets it.   Marshall, who played 5 season in the pro's, currently does commentary for  Boston Celtics broadcasts on Comcast.Sportnet.  A former Uconn Husky,  Marshall possesses an extremely high basketball IQ.  He also knows this Celtics squad very well.  Donny's analyses of Celtic games is both detailed and precise.   His passion for the game and the Celtics organization is tremendous.   Players respect him and will listen to him.  He's not a 'yes' man like Rivers is. 

True Celtics fans do not accept mediocrity.  If you are happy with how this team has been playing and hope that things will correct themselves,  think again.  

The Celtics having stopped playing with pride.  Donny Marshall may or may not be a solution, but Glenn 'Doc' Rivers needs to go.

This is what is so frustrating to me this season.  I do not have access to all of the Celts games on TV, so I need some opinions from people who are watching them.  I'm watching the stats on NBA Gamecast and I see that PP has 8 shots in the game, 22 points.  0 shots in the forth.  KG has 11 shots, 4 points, Ray 11 shots, 10 points, etc.  Is their any reason that anyone can see that PP is not taking more shots.  Great D on him (these are the Knicks, remember), no movement from PP, no one wants him to have the ball, Doc is not calling his number, WHAT is going on?  It seems like this has happened all season, and last season, and not just with PP.  Its like every time someone is hot, they are removed from the game or neglected all together.   When Kobe or King James gets hot, they end up with 20-25 shots.  PP will average 2.5-3 points a shot this game and take 10 shots.  It's sickening.

Please help me understand.

There are several apparent flaws wrong the C's in this young season !

They are hoisting too many 3's I mean way too many, and why Doc hasn't addressed this is beyond my comprehension. Paul is taking too many, and when Rasheed comes in I'm starting to feel that's all he wants to do is shoot 3's. !  Besides the 3's the C's have become a jump shooting team I'm saying nearly every player on the team is settling for jump shots except for Perk & Sheldon Williams and Rondo.  Settling for jump shots is pretty typical for aging players at the same time it takes them out of position to get offensive rebounds. Those jump shots when they're not falling will eventually cause the team to look at each other and quietly blame each other. There could be an avalanche of problems resulting from these miscued long shots. Rondo isn't leading the team to play closer to the basket as it appears he's happy to pass the ball to the man who is 25ft from the basket. When all is said and done its Doc's  decision to have the team play or not play this kind of basketball. The C's could have won  those last 3 games if they continued to pressure the defense with better offensive choices . Rasheed's offensive play is disappointing to me thus far, the number of 3's he's taking is mind boggling to me for a man that stands nearly 7ft tall , more than half of his shots are 3 point shots !!! Then we can talk about too much dribbling by Paul and Ray, they're holding onto the ball too long and it results into bad passes and pressured shots not to mention turnovers . Doc seems content to allow the team to play this way because I'm guessing they are considered a veteran team, well it's not working. This aging team isn't exerting the energy it should to compete from start to finish and it's showing in their defense and offense !

one MUST have a sure ballhandler/playmaker in the game in the fourth quarter, let alone against a team like orlando.  it was pathetic to see the celtics bumble around while rondo sat on the bench. of course, allen lost the ball and house often looked like he had no clue.  the game was lost because of the airheadedness of rivers and company who decided that talented point guards really aren't so important in fourth quarter comeback attempts.  the celtic coaches have no clue how to use rondo -- even in other games, he is sitting on the bench too often when of course he can easily handle more minutes and the team could use that consistent long term leadership.  

Here we go again:

The Celtics shot 2 for 19 from the 3 point line.

Rasheed Wallace is 5 for 38 from beyond the arc. 

Doc - Why do you let your tallest players continue to shoot from the perimeter?

Why run plays that allows players to force their own offense?

Why not foce Rondo to practice a 10 - 12 foot jump shot more and his foul shots?

Rondo is running the offense like a chicken with its head choppped off.

How many times did Paul Pierce take two - if not three defenders on?

Doc - why aren't you getting  Kevin and Rasheed on the block where they belong. 

If you haven't notice, these two players are taller than most of those on the opposing team.

Why not rethink your ways of motivating these players?

During half time in the Cleveland game , Doc Rivers told his team they are going to win the championship.

Doc - a couple of years ago you got lucky.  This year you might actually have to coach to win a title.

via img44.imageshack.us

Since my Shelden image seems to have been somewhat prophetic, here's a little more photoshop magic to try to nudge things in the right direction!  Hm, maybe I should photoshop the Celts playing a little first-half defense while I'm at it.

I've been having fun doing this... Any other ideas, crazy, stupid or whatnot?  I don't dare photoshop Iverson into a Celts jersey, do I?  Ha!

Go Cs!

Lebron James is one hell of a business man.    He's been in the league since what, '03 - '04?    I am willing to bet that when he first put on his uniform (with the numbers 23 shining on the back) he had the same admiration for Michael Jordan that he does now.   Now mentions this idea - out of the blue?  Come on....

What a brilliant marketing scheme!  The 'previous #23 becomes a 'must have' collector's item and is safely put away.  LJ across all over the world will buy the new uniform.

This idea (supposedly by Lebron himself) has very little to do with his feelings of respect for MJ.    Im sure the king respects your airness to death, but it only goes so far.

Before Lebron makes his decision on whether or not to change his number,  he should first decide which team he wants to dedicate himself to.   Possible changes of cities...uniforms...his mind seems to be everywhere these days.

By now, you've probably seen the video of Artest flipping Ariza's shoe into the crowd.  Funny stuff.  Funnier from the point of view of this C's fan is that the Lakers got the worst of the Ariza-Artest exchange.

Don't believe me? Look at their numbers on B-ball-reference.com. Ariza has a PER two points better than Artest, with a line of 18 pts, 5 rebs, 4 assists, 2 steals. Ron's got similar rebs and assists, but he's scoring only 12 and making only .5 steals pg. The steal number's no surprise - Ariza is quicker and taller than Artest, and I expect he's a better all-around defender. (Yes, Artest is still a good defender, but he *used* to be elite. Not anymore.)

What's more, Ariza is only 24, six years younger than Ron-Ron.  The move is going to look bad this year, and even worse over the next few as Ariza hits his prime and Artest continues to slide down the far side of the hill.