An attempt at optimism, from the eternal pessimist

[nyceltsfan]

I watched the game yesterday and I have to say that the Celts look to match up relatively well against the Cavs.  Lebron and his teammates seem to get away with murder with the refs and that's just the way it is.  However, KG looked the best that I have seen him in a long time (especially on the offensive end).  Pierce is lights out from 3-point range and Ray is shooting well.  All-in-all, since I do not see every game, this is the best the Big 3 has looked since the beginning of the year run to me.

So, what's missing - I see the following:

1. Rondo is walking the ball up the court and is a little less agressive.  We need him to push the ball up the court and wreak havoc on defense.  He seems to only do this in spurts.
2. The bench is not carrying their weight.  It really bothers me that TA is not seeing any time while Quis continues to be ineffective and while Finley is getting a lot of minutes.  The defense is certainly much better with the starting unit and that is a scary thing.
3. Wallace needs to be benched.  The fact that his is outhustled on every posession is troubling - even moreso than his lazy 3-point attempts.  We need a rebounder in the game and I was glad to see Wallace get benched in favor of Sheldon Williams when Wallace let Verajao totally outclass him on the boards.  Maybe Doc is finally seeing the light here.

I think the last thing is to stop with subbing the whole second unit for the whole first unit.  It is just not working.  Unless Doc is going to make a change to the starting lineup, he needs to leave Pierce or Allen out there with the second team.

I do see some hope after yesterday's game.  The team showed some grit for the first 2 and a half quarters and even at the end of the game.  They did not get blown out and the Big 3 are getting a little healthier.

[clover]

Saw the thread title and figured it must be Brick--demonstrating that he's not so much a pessimist as a contrarian!

[nyceltsfan]

By the way, is there anyway Doc can take Shelden aside, point to Verajao's game yesterday and tell Shelden that if he can be our equivalent of Anderson, he will get a ton of time?

[jdpapa3]

I think the last thing is to stop with subbing the whole second unit for the whole first unit.  It is just not working.  Unless Doc is going to make a change to the starting lineup, he needs to leave Pierce or Allen out there with the second team.

This is my big gripe as well. The problem seems to be that this unit looks great against the bad teams and Doc assumes it is good to go, but I specifically remember losing our ground against the Lakers in Boston and now on the road in Cleveland with the hockey type subs we do with the bench.