Re: Where did the Celtics go?

[ALLSTAR5]

I cant believe that we, the celtics can loose to Atlanta of all teams. Losing to Atlanta is almost losing to a high school team. Im I not right? c'mon didnt we win 66 games and your telling me that we have to suffer to get better. Id say the Celtics need a few amp energy drinks...was anyone watching the same game I was but did Kevin Garnett back down from Zaza Pachulia of all players. wake up now Celtics or lose the series..if you dont show more intensity. i watched in disgust as the celtics shot jumper after jumper.....man was that effort they displayed....um....bad

[Hal Jordan]

did Kevin Garnett back down from Zaza Pachulia of all players.

All I know is, if that cro-mag forehead was coming at me, I'd put some distance between myself and it too!

Actually, KG was trying to do something we've seen him do a bunch of times this year: back away early so the other guy looks bad and gets a tech.  Only thing is, the C's rhythm was so bad that night, he couldn't even pull that one off!

[Redz]

By no means would I say the Celtics shouldn't win this series, but clearly the Hawks have grown as a team a bit since the start of the series.  They have some excellent, young, athletic, talented players who are learning how to win games (and in particular how to win games against this particular opponent).  The Celts seemed have though they could win on talent alone. I think they've leaned that's not the case. 

The playoffs are about adjustments.  One would have thought the Celtics wouldn't have had to fix what was not broken here, but they do. The Celts need to adjust to the Hawks or they will continue to lose.  More specifically they need to figure out how to revert to what they've done all season - play some team ball on both ends of the floor, and they should be fine.

I think what people tend to underestimate when their team of choice is not winning, is that sometimes their opponent is actually trying really hard to win the game too. 

[Who]

By no means would I say the Celtics shouldn't win this series, but clearly the Hawks have grown as a team a bit since the start of the series. 

The Hawks haven't grown as a team. They had one good game in game three. Then they left all those positive things they did in game three (ball movement, running an actual offense, didn't establish their post game, didn't shoot from the perimeter well) and threw it down the trash. They got miraculous individual performances from Joe and Josh, the Celtics folded and they got lucky and got a win.

This isn't a team that's growing. That's two completely different performances. One (game three) has promise and the other (game four) was a replica of their whole season. That's not growth, at least not growth as a team.

Atlanta has not grown as a team

...........................

Josh Smith might have figured one or two things out, we'll have to wait and see in Game Five. He's been a lot better and much improved in picking his spots. Then again he's an inconsistent player, maybe he just reverts back to normal the rest of the way.

I'd give Al Horford some credit too on the growth scale. Did you notice at every little tussle he was the first one over to calm everyone down? That he was wrapping his arms around Zaza, keeping him away from getting involved again, and making sure his head was back in the game? He was doing this all night in games three and four whenever he thought a teammate was losing control. Beautiful to see his leadership grow and it's amazing to see how much respect his teammates have for the rookie in their responses to him.

How do individuals grow and not the team? Is that hypocritical? Because Atlanta has had good individual talent but never meshed them together succesfully enough to be a good team. They've never developed a cohesive offense for that reason. That just repeated itself in game four after a good game three (28 assists on 36 FGs, ball movement baby!, they had more turnovers than assists in game four).

[Redz]

By no means would I say the Celtics shouldn't win this series, but clearly the Hawks have grown as a team a bit since the start of the series. 

The Hawks haven't grown as a team. They had one good game in game three. Then they left all those positive things they did in game three (ball movement, running an actual offense, didn't establish their post game, didn't shoot from the perimeter well) and threw it down the trash. They got miraculous individual performances from Joe and Josh, the Celtics folded and they got lucky and got a win.

This isn't a team that's growing. That's two completely different performances. One (game three) has promise and the other (game four) was a replica of their whole season. That's not growth, at least not growth as a team.

Atlanta has not grown as a team

Well, they're a sub .500 team that's playing .500 ball against a team that played .800 ball during the regular season, and swept them in three head-to-head matchups.  Perhaps that's not growth, but it's at least improvement.  I can't chalk it all up to the Celtics just getting worse all of the sudden.  I have to give some credit to the Hawks for grow---, err, improving.

[Who]

By no means would I say the Celtics shouldn't win this series, but clearly the Hawks have grown as a team a bit since the start of the series. 

The Hawks haven't grown as a team. They had one good game in game three. Then they left all those positive things they did in game three (ball movement, running an actual offense, didn't establish their post game, didn't shoot from the perimeter well) and threw it down the trash. They got miraculous individual performances from Joe and Josh, the Celtics folded and they got lucky and got a win.

This isn't a team that's growing. That's two completely different performances. One (game three) has promise and the other (game four) was a replica of their whole season. That's not growth, at least not growth as a team.

Atlanta has not grown as a team

Well, they're a sub .500 team that's playing .500 ball against a team that played .800 ball during the regular season, and swept them in three head-to-head matchups.  Perhaps that's not growth, but it's at least improvement.  I can't chalk it all up to the Celtics just getting worse all of the sudden.  I have to give some credit to the Hawks for grow---, err, improving.

How many times have the Celtics played this badly this season? 10-15 games?

It's not the Hawks offense. It's not the Hawks defense.

It's bad execution. The Celtics have KG on that low post who has killed Al Horford all season and who can take Josh Smith whenever he wants to. Not going to it. Joe Johnson is the only player that can defend Pierce or Ray Allen, they kill Childress and Marvin every time they go at them. They're not going at them. Rondo terrorizes Bibby off the dribble, well at least he's doing his part but they could a lot more plays for him.

It's not their defense. The Celtics three/four (for Joe) best scorers have good matchups to exploit at all times. It's bad execution.

Nothing has changed. The Celtics are playing poorly. It happens.

[jay_jay54]

By no means would I say the Celtics shouldn't win this series, but clearly the Hawks have grown as a team a bit since the start of the series.  They have some excellent, young, athletic, talented players who are learning how to win games (and in particular how to win games against this particular opponent).  The Celts seemed have though they could win on talent alone. I think they've leaned that's not the case. 

The playoffs are about adjustments.  One would have thought the Celtics wouldn't have had to fix what was not broken here, but they do. The Celts need to adjust to the Hawks or they will continue to lose.  More specifically they need to figure out how to revert to what they've done all season - play some team ball on both ends of the floor, and they should be fine.

I think what people tend to underestimate when their team of choice is not winning, is that sometimes their opponent is actually trying really hard to win the game too. 

Redz,i agree with what you are saying about the growth of a team,especially the Hawkes during the playoffs.Shouldn't Perkins,Rondo,BBD,Powe and a few other younger guys be on the same path.I think the same should go for our younger players,growing while playing through this playoff year.Its not like Perkins was already primed for this,and should be making signs of growth.I dont see much growth happening with our young guys as of yet.We won 66 games,but we had veteran guys who are mostly responsible for it(Rondo,Perk,Powe(helped).But at some point,when wlll the younger guys show they are growing at the same rate as other teams.Perk was doing fine at one point,when PJ first came in the picture,but lately,he has done what someone said Josh Smith might do,result back to old habits.