Enjoy This Gift, Orlando

[j804]

Give Credit where Credit is due, the Magic played well.. if Vince Carter had bothered to show up tonight, this might just have been a blowout in the first half.

The Celtics had a chance to win this and looking at the general fatigue that was plagueing this team in the 4th and the OT it would have been a very, very good win as it would have given us the time needed to get our legs back.

But i dont agree with the consensus of most of the fans tonight, it was very clear that this team was battleing fatigue all around the board thru most of this game but our Celtics battled HARD they gave everything they had, not a single one of our Celtics didnt leave everything they had tonight out on that floor.

Tonight we just came up empty but you cannot look away from what the Magic did, it takes mental toughness to go though a game like this and come out with the win.

As I said. Orlando played much better than they have been, or else they wouldn't have been in a position to take the gift we offered them. But from the end of the third quarter to the end of the game, we had over 30 opportunities that we blew, either by missing easy shots or turning the ball over ... that's giving the game away, however you slice it.

It was clear Paul's legs were gone and that Rondo was just ineffective, but we still had chance after chance that we gave away. We'd play decent defense, dig in and get a stop or turnover, and then go to the other end and throw it away ... time after time after time. Many trips they didn't even start the play until there was 6 or 7 seconds left, and then were still behind the 3-point line before even beginning to run the play!

Yes, they were clearly fatigued, but they also were not playing smart at all on the offensive end. OK ... they had a bad one, it's out of their system, (we hope), now let's learn from it and go back to playing OUR type of basketball, and put this thing away for good! (Good post, Dybdal ... TP)

I agree with everything you have to say Bahku, my post wasnt meant to really call you on anything (i dont hope you took it that way) its more the general feeling of "the sky is falling" that comes after a tough loss like this.

We all are so invested in this team, so its hard to accept the reality of what just happend, we should have won this game no doubt.

But one thing i simply cannot stand, is the few implying that there was a lack of effort tonight.. that was not the case, everyone wanted it but we were not playing together tonight when it mattered (hello doc rivers, im in your house stealing your one liners)

No, didn't take it that way at all, Buddy ... agreed with your post as well, just didn't phrase it as well as i could have, (still shaking from this loss). I didn't mean to intimate that they didn't give effort, either ... I think they worked their butts off on defense in the second half especially, that's why it was so frustrating to see them work so hard to force a turnover or block, and then come down to the offensive end and waste it.

I think they were just plain exhausted from playing so much intense defense over the last few games, that they had little left in the tank to run a smooth offense. And fatigue effects the mind, too ... they just seemed a bit out of sorts when it came to running clean offense. I don't think people realize how difficult it is to play defense as intensely as they do, and game-after-game, sooner or later it catches up with them ... I think that's what happened tonight.

In the second half especially they really turned the "D" on, and as a result, they just didn't have the extra shot-in-the-arm on the offensive end ... just not enough left in the tank.

yup i wrote post on this in the game thread about fatigue, got me worried if this series drags on  

[Bahku]

Give Credit where Credit is due, the Magic played well.. if Vince Carter had bothered to show up tonight, this might just have been a blowout in the first half.

The Celtics had a chance to win this and looking at the general fatigue that was plagueing this team in the 4th and the OT it would have been a very, very good win as it would have given us the time needed to get our legs back.

But i dont agree with the consensus of most of the fans tonight, it was very clear that this team was battleing fatigue all around the board thru most of this game but our Celtics battled HARD they gave everything they had, not a single one of our Celtics didnt leave everything they had tonight out on that floor.

Tonight we just came up empty but you cannot look away from what the Magic did, it takes mental toughness to go though a game like this and come out with the win.

As I said. Orlando played much better than they have been, or else they wouldn't have been in a position to take the gift we offered them. But from the end of the third quarter to the end of the game, we had over 30 opportunities that we blew, either by missing easy shots or turning the ball over ... that's giving the game away, however you slice it.

It was clear Paul's legs were gone and that Rondo was just ineffective, but we still had chance after chance that we gave away. We'd play decent defense, dig in and get a stop or turnover, and then go to the other end and throw it away ... time after time after time. Many trips they didn't even start the play until there was 6 or 7 seconds left, and then were still behind the 3-point line before even beginning to run the play!

Yes, they were clearly fatigued, but they also were not playing smart at all on the offensive end. OK ... they had a bad one, it's out of their system, (we hope), now let's learn from it and go back to playing OUR type of basketball, and put this thing away for good! (Good post, Dybdal ... TP)

I agree with everything you have to say Bahku, my post wasnt meant to really call you on anything (i dont hope you took it that way) its more the general feeling of "the sky is falling" that comes after a tough loss like this.

We all are so invested in this team, so its hard to accept the reality of what just happend, we should have won this game no doubt.

But one thing i simply cannot stand, is the few implying that there was a lack of effort tonight.. that was not the case, everyone wanted it but we were not playing together tonight when it mattered (hello doc rivers, im in your house stealing your one liners)

No, didn't take it that way at all, Buddy ... agreed with your post as well, just didn't phrase it as well as i could have, (still shaking from this loss). I didn't mean to intimate that they didn't give effort, either ... I think they worked their butts off on defense in the second half especially, that's why it was so frustrating to see them work so hard to force a turnover or block, and then come down to the offensive end and waste it.

I think they were just plain exhausted from playing so much intense defense over the last few games, that they had little left in the tank to run a smooth offense. And fatigue effects the mind, too ... they just seemed a bit out of sorts when it came to running clean offense. I don't think people realize how difficult it is to play defense as intensely as they do, and game-after-game, sooner or later it catches up with them ... I think that's what happened tonight.

In the second half especially they really turned the "D" on, and as a result, they just didn't have the extra shot-in-the-arm on the offensive end ... just not enough left in the tank.

yup i wrote post on this in the game thread about fatigue, got me worried if this series drags on  

I don't think this series will drag on ... we made a bunch of mistakes and gave this one away, but I don't think it's something this team is about to repeat ... we finish this in Orlando on Wednesday.

[Bahku]

\Never in the history of my watching the Celtics, (which is a considerable 30-plus years), have I seen a team give a game away like this one. We had so many opportunities to win this game, and time after time, we just refused to do so.

I'm absolutely disgusted, for same reasons

Sorry, but I just want to forget this one completely ... it was ours to take, but we didn't want it badly enough. I think this is a "one-game stinker" and that we'll come back with intensity on Wednesday, but of all the games we needed to win this year, we just plain  served this one up on a silver platter, and the Magic were more than happy to oblige. We deserved to lose this game ... plain and simple ... and the fault was everyone's!

I will now go about forgetting this atrocity, and do what I need to do to purge this poison from my system ... let's pray the Celtics do the same.

Double ugh


thanks for making this easier for my english B..

Edgar

My pleasure, Buddy ... least I can do for someone who doesn't make fun of my horrible Spanish. (Back atcha, E.)

[FatKidsDad]

Yes, Orlando did get a gift of poor play from the Celtics. They were smart enough to exploit it.

They played as well as they possibly could.  On a normal night, though, that would not have been good enough.  As it is, they just squeaked out a win against a sub-par Celtic team.

What are the chances now that they will play that well, and the C's that poorly for 3 straight games? Slim.  What were the chances that the C's would slip after 6 straight powerhouse outings? Not too bad. I say we wrap this one up, probably on Wednesday.

As far as what went wrong, any time Rondo is not Rondo the game suffers.  What may not show up well on TV, but was painfully obvious from the balcony, was how uncharacteristically bad Rondo's court vision was.  Too many possessions when he was trying to force something to happen on the left while someone (usually Pierce) was open on the right, ending with a bad pass into traffic.

The refs?  Yeah there were some bad calls/non-calls, but if the C's score had been up where it should have been, it wouldn't have mattered.

Lots of talk about fatigue.  That can be mental as well as physical.  A more alert team may have made some better decisions and executed better.  A mentally fresh Doc might have called that time out at the end of the 4th.

So yeah, the Magic got a gift, but they shouldn't be too happy about it. The final gift will be defeat on their home court.