These losses to MIA and CHI could be a ploy

[Tai]

i mean i herd doc saying last yeared to face clevland though they had the best record in the nba and seemed inviincible

& i actually think the celtics do not want to see orlando in the 2nd round (since the dwight stopper isnt with us anymore) so we dropped the 1 seed purposly but idk about the rest but who knows tho i just cant wait till the playoffs kets all get mentally ready for the new york knicks

If Shaq is healthy, he's more than enough to stop Dwight. Heck, maybe even JO can by himself.

If Danny really felt Shaq (and JO) would be healthy, why would the Celtics want to ditch the #1 seed just to avoid a team with only one true big vs Shaq and JO, and possibly Krstic to at least force Dwight out of the paint?

[Marcus13]

No.  They just don't have any post players.  JO and Kristic combines for something like 4 points and 2 rebounds

[vinnie]

Just so I understand this train of thought: they played poorly and lost on purpose to Miami and Chicago to make them think that the Celts do not have it anymore. Yet, they easily beat Philly and San Antonio because?

Sometimes the conspiracy theories here are better than those that surround the JFK assasination.

[Chris]

Just so I understand this train of thought: they played poorly and lost on purpose to Miami and Chicago to make them think that the Celts do not have it anymore. Yet, they easily beat Philly and San Antonio because?

Sometimes the conspiracy theories here are better than those that surround the JFK assasination.

Has anyone been able to take a picture of Doc with Rex Ryan?  Because clearly they have been conspiring together...

[ram]

I don't think they are losing on purpose.

However, I do believe they are holding back "stuff" that they are working on in practice (new plays, exp "stuff" for Jeff Green) and they are holding back on effort. In addition, I also think Doc is experimenting with different rotations.

Rondo has been holding back, letting the shot clock wind down on almost every possession. Then, you have to wonder, does Doc tell them to play hard for a few, Rondo pushes it and you get a 12-0 run? I'm not sure but if Bibby doesn't hit that lucky 3 from the corner, maybe they close to 8 and who knows?

Whatever is going on, only the guys in that locker room know for sure but it's peculiar to say the least.

[Atzar]

I don't think they lost any games on purpose.  However, I do think they're trying to get through the remainder of the regular season while exerting as little effort as possible.  Rondo and Pierce aren't driving, and Ray isn't coming hard off of his screens - I'm sorry, I refuse to believe that everybody just figured that play out, or that there is really that much of a drop from Perk's screens to Davis/Jermaine's screens.  Part of the blame lies with Ray himself.  The only ones who seem to be playing hard right now are KG and Jeff Green, and that's not enough to beat good teams.

To me, they don't look like a team with chemistry issues so much as they look like a team doing everything it possibly can to get in the playoffs healthy. 

[chambers]

It's definitely in their heads that they
don't want to peak too soon,
and in their bodies that they don't want
to go all-out before the playoffs.

Extremely good point.
This hasn't been brought up enough.
TP

[CDawg834]

Just so I understand this train of thought: they played poorly and lost on purpose to Miami and Chicago to make them think that the Celts do not have it anymore. Yet, they easily beat Philly and San Antonio because?

Sometimes the conspiracy theories here are better than those that surround the JFK assasination.

Has anyone been able to take a picture of Doc with Rex Ryan?  Because clearly they have been conspiring together...

And they can hand out green tinfoil hats together, too.

[MBz]

You know how to get into their heads even more? You beat them.  You let them know that they can't beat you.  Going 4-0 against Miami would have been a huge confidence boost for the C's, beating them yesterday with the way they've been playing maybe would've turned things around, but it didn't work that way.  Also losing to them moved us to the #3 seed, hopefully ATL can beat Miami tonight and we can win out.