The media is acting as if the Cs are down 2-0.....

[Jon]

This is true.  And so are some people on this board. 

I honestly think we played better last night than the first game.  There was a moment in the 3rd quarter when we were on the verge of extending our 11 point lead to blow out territory.  However, Carmelo and Douglas his tough, contested jumpers as the shot clock was expiring, while Pierce and a couple other C's missed some easy, wide open shots. 

But that wasn't really the C's not playing hard, it was them missing a couple easy buckets and the Knicks playing relatively bad offense but getting lucky. 

And that pretty much continued the rest of the game.  The C's missed some easy shots and the Knicks got pretty darn lucky. 

And while I applaud Carmelo for his performance, this is a lot like Wade's insane game against us in last year's first round.  Carmelo, like Wade, was launching long, contested (and quite frankly, bad) shots.  If he shoots those same shots next game and Pierce contests him like he did this game, I see him shooting closer to 7-30 than the 14-30 he hit last night. 

[StartOrien]

I say its the media's blatantly right wing agenda.

[KCattheStripe]

it's just down right discouraging to watch espn on the celtics these days. People just loooove crapping on our c's its always been espn's favorite thing to do

Turn it off.

2010 Celtics/Cavs series

2010 Celtics/Magic series


2008 Celtics/Lakers finals


Unless there's a game on, watching ESPN is waste of time. Turn it off.

Funny, you leave out the screen shot of the 2010 Finals predictions.

One out of four is a bad baseball average.

[OsirusCeltics]

This is true.  And so are some people on this board. 

I honestly think we played better last night than the first game.  There was a moment in the 3rd quarter when we were on the verge of extending our 11 point lead to blow out territory.  However, Carmelo and Douglas his tough, contested jumpers as the shot clock was expiring, while Pierce and a couple other C's missed some easy, wide open shots. 

But that wasn't really the C's not playing hard, it was them missing a couple easy buckets and the Knicks playing relatively bad offense but getting lucky. 

And that pretty much continued the rest of the game.  The C's missed some easy shots and the Knicks got pretty darn lucky. 

And while I applaud Carmelo for his performance, this is a lot like Wade's insane game against us in last year's first round.  Carmelo, like Wade, was launching long, contested (and quite frankly, bad) shots.  If he shoots those same shots next game and Pierce contests him like he did this game, I see him shooting closer to 7-30 than the 14-30 he hit last night. 

TP thank you. That is something alot of people overlook. Somehow throwing up prayers against tough defense means the Celtics aren't playing well smh

[OsirusCeltics]

Lakers and Bulls have been playing awful, Heat struggle when the game is close. But they are still the "favorites"

Media loves to talk bad about the Celtics for no reason

[KungPoweChicken]

I think the Celtics have played awful in this series so far. They will have to do a lot better than this if they want to beat the heat. They tend to play down to competition, so I still believe they have a lot more to show.

[action781]

http://www.nba.com/2011/news/features/john_schuhmann/04/20/celtics-concerns/index.html?ls=iref:nbahpt1

An email response I just wrote to John Shuhmann:

"Because if they can't stop Amar'e Stoudemire and Carmelo Anthony, they're not stopping LeBron James and Dwyane Wade."

The celtics have have played Lebron and Wade 14 and 13 times in the last 2 seasons respectively.  They've played Amare and Carmelo 8 and 5 times respectively.  They are far more familiar with how to stop the two Heatles - turn them into jumpshooters.  You can't do that to Carmelo nor Amare.

But thank you for continuing to downplay the celtics.  Hopefully the other NBA teams are also still not taking the celtics as seriously as they should.

[greenhead85]

Because these so-called pro basketball pundits must have lost a lot of bets and they have to vent their ire by using the power of their pen.

I am pretty sure the betting could have been that the Celts will split their first 2 home games.

Going over and over the past 2 games through actual games watched, video highlights and boxscore reviews, I think the Celts are in a very good position to do more damage to their opponents. Judging from their high FG percentage due in part to very good shot selections and "cold as an assasin" approach by the vets without losing temper even when provoked (especially on KG and JO) and more focused play by play by whoever is on the playing court, I guess the team is going to go very very far in this playoffs - of course even bringing home Banner 18. Games 3 and 4 are coming and I want Green to play more so he could get over the "tight" playoff atmosphere and get more acclimated with the series. He'll acquire a huge confidence build up in succeeding games from thereon.

[vinnie]

Right now, the thunder, Mavs and heat are playing the best basketball.  Only time will tell if the celts get there. I pay no attention to these talking heads and never have.

[dtrader]

This is true.  And so are some people on this board. 

I honestly think we played better last night than the first game.  There was a moment in the 3rd quarter when we were on the verge of extending our 11 point lead to blow out territory.  However, Carmelo and Douglas his tough, contested jumpers as the shot clock was expiring, while Pierce and a couple other C's missed some easy, wide open shots. 

But that wasn't really the C's not playing hard, it was them missing a couple easy buckets and the Knicks playing relatively bad offense but getting lucky. 

And that pretty much continued the rest of the game.  The C's missed some easy shots and the Knicks got pretty darn lucky. 

And while I applaud Carmelo for his performance, this is a lot like Wade's insane game against us in last year's first round.  Carmelo, like Wade, was launching long, contested (and quite frankly, bad) shots.  If he shoots those same shots next game and Pierce contests him like he did this game, I see him shooting closer to 7-30 than the 14-30 he hit last night. 

TP thank you. That is something alot of people overlook. Somehow throwing up prayers against tough defense means the Celtics aren't playing well smh

Unfortunately offense is only half the game. Melo didn't just kill us because he threw up prayers.  He killed us because he got 17 rebounds and was dominant on the glass.  He might not score 42 again, but if he gets over 10 boards again next game, THAT will mean we aren't playing well.

Offense is skill. Defense is effort. If we allow a wing player to repeatedly get double digit rebounds, we either deserve to lose, or deserve to get all the negative criticism that comes with such shaky wins.

[GreenEnvy]

Right now, the thunder, Mavs and heat are playing the best basketball.  Only time will tell if the celts get there. I pay no attention to these talking heads and never have.

Nobody is playing heads and shoulders above the rest.

The Heat? They almost lost Game 1. So what they had one easy win against an inferior team. Same thing with the other two.

There is no clear-cut favorite IMO. The Celtics had the most difficult time going up 2-0, but they also have the most difficult opponent (except for maybe Memphis) of all the teams with HCA.

[Jon]

This is true.  And so are some people on this board. 

I honestly think we played better last night than the first game.  There was a moment in the 3rd quarter when we were on the verge of extending our 11 point lead to blow out territory.  However, Carmelo and Douglas his tough, contested jumpers as the shot clock was expiring, while Pierce and a couple other C's missed some easy, wide open shots. 

But that wasn't really the C's not playing hard, it was them missing a couple easy buckets and the Knicks playing relatively bad offense but getting lucky. 

And that pretty much continued the rest of the game.  The C's missed some easy shots and the Knicks got pretty darn lucky. 

And while I applaud Carmelo for his performance, this is a lot like Wade's insane game against us in last year's first round.  Carmelo, like Wade, was launching long, contested (and quite frankly, bad) shots.  If he shoots those same shots next game and Pierce contests him like he did this game, I see him shooting closer to 7-30 than the 14-30 he hit last night. 

TP thank you. That is something alot of people overlook. Somehow throwing up prayers against tough defense means the Celtics aren't playing well smh

Unfortunately offense is only half the game. Melo didn't just kill us because he threw up prayers.  He killed us because he got 17 rebounds and was dominant on the glass.  He might not score 42 again, but if he gets over 10 boards again next game, THAT will mean we aren't playing well.

Offense is skill. Defense is effort. If we allow a wing player to repeatedly get double digit rebounds, we either deserve to lose, or deserve to get all the negative criticism that comes with such shaky wins.

Maybe.  But the simple numbers tell us that if he goes 7-30 jacking up those same shots, vs. the 14-30 he did (and that is quite possible, most of his shots were contested, long distance, and flat out terrible, shots).  The Celtics win that game in blow out form. 

The rebounding problem is threefold. 

1) We played small lineups.  What do we expect to happen when Jeff Green is playing the 4 and Big Baby is playing the 5?  Carmelo is stronger than Green and taller than Baby (Baby isn't actually his listed 6-8). 

2) We give up offensive boards to get back on defense. 

3) We tried to slap the ball to each other, rather than actually catch it way too much last game. 

To me, only the last issue is fixable (and should be fixed) unless Shaq is coming back on Friday (unlikely). 

[Fafnir]

it's just down right discouraging to watch espn on the celtics these days. People just loooove crapping on our c's its always been espn's favorite thing to do

Turn it off.

2010 Celtics/Cavs series

2010 Celtics/Magic series


2008 Celtics/Lakers finals


Unless there's a game on, watching ESPN is waste of time. Turn it off.

Funny, you leave out the screen shot of the 2010 Finals predictions.

One out of four is a bad baseball average.

One out of four is however a great average when you're hitting on supermodels.