Links: Where the Celtics need to try harder

Well that was painful. Back to the same kinds of quotes from earlier in the year.

via Scott Souza

“We just have to have consistency among all our units whoever is in,” Celtics guard Kyrie Irving said after netting 29 points with 10 assists, 5 rebounds, 4 steals and 4 turnovers in a busy 36 minutes. “Just a cohesion where the ball’s moving, and guys actually want to see other players in position to score the basketball. That means delivering (passes) on time, actually caring, actually trying every possession.

“For some games where we play, when we try we’re in every game all the time. When we don’t, we’re clearly not.”

On the bright side... (via Tim Bontemps)

Even after their topsy-turvy start to the season, the Celtics find themselves in a perfectly fine position after their first 30 games. Despite being in fifth place in the Eastern Conference, they are only three games behind the second-place Bucks heading into Friday’s showdown at home, and are 4½ games back of the conference-leading Toronto Raptors.

Timelord Robert Williams has looked good, but still has some lessons to learn. (via Tom Westerholm)

“He’s 21 years old,” Kyrie Irving said. “So we expect a lot out of Rob, but also there’s a learning curve for him. He does a lot of great things already, so I think the sky’s the limit for his potential and what he brings to our team. Obviously getting more repetitions at this point, creating a lot of opportunities for us at the rim as well as getting blocks and protecting the paint. But us as guards when we’re missing guys we have to help Rob rebound as well. He’s contesting, trying to go for every block, and our weak side and crashing and helping him out is just as important as him going for the rebound, so that’s part of being on a team. We all have to cover for each other.”

If you haven’t had a chance to read this article on Sean Grande yet, please take some time to do so. Just a really well done piece of work by Jay King.

For all his obsession with stats, Grande is keenly aware no numbers exist to determine whether he has done his job properly. He aims every night to beat his counterparts — the other announcers calling Celtics games — but recognizes there’s no scoreboard to say who actually won. He competes, in a sense, against himself. Did he prepare properly so he could capture the bigger moments? Did he connect with Maxwell to hammer home important analysis? Were they entertaining? Did he do everything he could to serve as the eyes of people not watching the game on TV?

“I don’t have stats,” Grande notes. “The only thing you know is that when you hear me doing a show, when you see me on TV, or when you hear me doing a game, know that I tried very hard to be the best guy that there is out there doing it. And that has to be its own self-contained pride.”