Reality check

[Mr October]

Wow the panic button is worn out on this blog. The Sky has fallen again and again and again.

Here's the reality of our team right now:

1. Our best player is out injured.

2. Paul Pierce is completely gassed, or hiding an injury. He's a shadow of himself.

3. Ray Allen is also aged and those long bombs come from those tired legs. He's in great shape for a 33 year old, but he too is worn out.

4. The bench is aweful. Eddie House and Brian Scalabrine are our 6th and 7th men in this series. The bench needs a serious lift in the off season. We need a good 4/5 and a 3 that can give Pierce and Ray rest throughout the season.

5. Rondo is really improving, but he's still young and gambles too much.

____

On the Flip side, even though this team's health and depth are ravaged, they're playing hard - (although it is hard to go 48 minutes a game for 7 games per series, when you know your team is gassed and damaged.)

Watching the evolution of Rondo, Perkins and Davis has been an absolute pleasure. These kids are really going to be a big part of the 2009-10 season and beyond.

At any moment Ray and Paul are still capable of uncorking a dominating game! We're only down 2-1... We're only 1 game back. Just 1 game. Lets chill out. We're playing with house money this year.

We won the whole thing less than a year ago!! We're still the champs until the ball stops bouncing.

[Redz]

I'll by that for a dollar!

Well said Mr. O

We're a hot shooter away from winning game 4

The Magic were giving us good looks last night we just weren't hitting them.

[ACF]

"Sorry, you can't repeat a karma action without waiting 1 hours."

Looks like I'll have to get back
to give you a ( or one more) TP.

[celticinorlando]

i think in the long run this will be good for the franchise...baby and rondo have taken big steps this year and when KG returns as well as upgrading the bench they will be right there next season

[get_banners]

i'm frustrated by this postseason, but yeah, repeating in this nba (very competitive, quite a few very good teams) is not easy, anyway. without kg, not happening. without powe, winning anything this postseason has been a massive challenge. the bulls played incredible and definitely wore us out, and the magic are a very good, albeit soft, team. if the magic beat us, i'll be disappointed, but given the circumstances, i'm not sure how we can really be disappointed. i mean, if perk is suspended, we literally have 3 big men on our roster. we'll re-tool in the offseason to fill our holes (maybe mcdyess, another wing who can play great D, maybe resign steph as he finally gets back to game speed), and with a healthy kg and a much-improved perk and rondo, we're going to be much much better.

[CoachBo]

TP, although I disagree totally that this team is playing hard. Last night, they didn't play hard at all and got blown out for their trouble.

Beyond that, you're correct. Pierce needs a summer off, someone's got to get through to Rondo and Ainge simply cannot have the kind of abysmal, accomplish-nothing summer that he had last year.

[celticinorlando]

they play hard when they want to...games 2, 3, 5 and 7 vs the bulls and game 2 vs orlando...other than that they play defense in spurts...you have to bring it the entire game and they are not doing that

[ACF]

"Sorry, you can't repeat a karma action without waiting 1 hours."

Looks like I'll have to get back
to give you a ( or one more) TP.

Done.

[Mr October]

i think in the long run this will be good for the franchise...baby and rondo have taken big steps this year and when KG returns as well as upgrading the bench they will be right there next season

If we just pick up 1 or 2 upgrades, this team is going to be scary dangerous next year.

Rondo, Allen, Pierce, Garnett, Perkins = the best starting lineup in the NBA.

An improved Davis, hopefully a healthy Powe, perhaps a return of Marbury with a camp under his belt, of course House and then 1 or 2 pickups and we're going to have a tight squad.

This year is house money. Next year we go for the jugular. The team has some money coming off the books. The 2009 FA class is much better than 2008. And while teams hold out for 2010, we can strike on the 09-ers with 2 or 3 year deals.

Rondo, Perkins and Davis are going to another level. Rondo - all star. Perkins - Mr Consistency. Davis - a versatile 8th man role player.

Go Celtics!!

[Mr October]

TP, although I disagree totally that this team is playing hard. Last night, they didn't play hard at all and got blown out for their trouble.

Beyond that, you're correct. Pierce needs a summer off, someone's got to get through to Rondo and Ainge simply cannot have the kind of abysmal, accomplish-nothing summer that he had last year.

I've never seen a team ever give 100% as a team effort wise in every game. Never. Not even close. Every team is going to lay a rotten egg. In general though, this team is playing hard. To expect maximum effort in every game, especially when the team is running on fumes, is unrealistic. How many overtimes did we see just a week or 2 ago?

Orlando has far superior front court talent. If both teams play equally hard we loose. Talent wins. But... in general, this team defies the odds and plays their butts off. The only other teams that have been as cohesive as the C's this year are the Lakers and Cavs.

We can outwork the Magic. Its possible, even though we are expected to loose, to win this series. We're 1 game away from tying this thing up.

Shock the world, baby! Shock the world!

[Redz]

TP, although I disagree totally that this team is playing hard. Last night, they didn't play hard at all and got blown out for their trouble.

Beyond that, you're correct. Pierce needs a summer off, someone's got to get through to Rondo and Ainge simply cannot have the kind of abysmal, accomplish-nothing summer that he had last year.

I've never seen a team ever give 100% as a team effort wise in every game. Never. Not even close. Every team is going to lay a rotten egg. In general though, this team is playing hard. To expect maximum effort in every game, especially when the team is running on fumes, is unrealistic. How many overtimes did we see just a week or 2 ago?

Orlando has far superior front court talent. If both teams play equally hard we loose. Talent wins. But... in general, this team defies the odds and plays their butts off. The only other teams that have been as cohesive as the C's this year are the Lakers and Cavs.

We can outwork the Magic. Its possible, even though we are expected to loose, to win this series. We're 1 game away from tying this thing up.

Shock the world, baby! Shock the world!

Last year's Celtics team was about as close as I've ever seen though.  The hard part is that that is our measuring stick. 

Seriously, what we saw from the Celtics last year was ridiculous. On a night in, night out basis they busted their butts.

[get_banners]

i also think they have to be careful about going all out. they have no depth right now due to injuries, and are also pretty beat as it is. last year, they knew that they would win most games they put 100% effort in, so the reward was there. this year, without KG and powe, and with a clearly beat pierce, that is not the case. they might not win even if they kill themselves in certain games, and then they're spent for the next game.

[Mr October]

TP, although I disagree totally that this team is playing hard. Last night, they didn't play hard at all and got blown out for their trouble.

Beyond that, you're correct. Pierce needs a summer off, someone's got to get through to Rondo and Ainge simply cannot have the kind of abysmal, accomplish-nothing summer that he had last year.

I've never seen a team ever give 100% as a team effort wise in every game. Never. Not even close. Every team is going to lay a rotten egg. In general though, this team is playing hard. To expect maximum effort in every game, especially when the team is running on fumes, is unrealistic. How many overtimes did we see just a week or 2 ago?

Orlando has far superior front court talent. If both teams play equally hard we loose. Talent wins. But... in general, this team defies the odds and plays their butts off. The only other teams that have been as cohesive as the C's this year are the Lakers and Cavs.

We can outwork the Magic. Its possible, even though we are expected to loose, to win this series. We're 1 game away from tying this thing up.

Shock the world, baby! Shock the world!

Last year's Celtics team was about as close as I've ever seen though.  The hard part is that that is our measuring stick. 

Seriously, what we saw from the Celtics last year was ridiculous. On a night in, night out basis they busted their butts.

I agree last year was amazing. The effort was off the charts. I'm still basking in the glow of 2008. On top of that, that team and most of this team are made up of good guys: From the front office down to the 15th man. In 27 hours we'll see what this team has left.

Go Celtics!!

[CoachBo]

TP, although I disagree totally that this team is playing hard. Last night, they didn't play hard at all and got blown out for their trouble.

Beyond that, you're correct. Pierce needs a summer off, someone's got to get through to Rondo and Ainge simply cannot have the kind of abysmal, accomplish-nothing summer that he had last year.

I've never seen a team ever give 100% as a team effort wise in every game. Never. Not even close. Every team is going to lay a rotten egg. In general though, this team is playing hard. To expect maximum effort in every game, especially when the team is running on fumes, is unrealistic. How many overtimes did we see just a week or 2 ago?

Orlando has far superior front court talent. If both teams play equally hard we loose. Talent wins. But... in general, this team defies the odds and plays their butts off. The only other teams that have been as cohesive as the C's this year are the Lakers and Cavs.

We can outwork the Magic. Its possible, even though we are expected to loose, to win this series. We're 1 game away from tying this thing up.

Shock the world, baby! Shock the world!

Last year's Celtics team was about as close as I've ever seen though.  The hard part is that that is our measuring stick. 

Seriously, what we saw from the Celtics last year was ridiculous. On a night in, night out basis they busted their butts.

I agree last year was amazing. The effort was off the charts. I'm still basking in the glow of 2008. On top of that, that team and most of this team are made up of good guys: From the front office down to the 15th man. In 27 hours we'll see what this team has left.

Go Celtics!!

Merely excuses. This team certainly hasn't played with the focus and intensity that it brought to the games last year.

And it wasn't close last night. Champions don't take games off. This team didn't last year.

[fairweatherfan]

Champions don't take games off. This team didn't last year.

Disagree - see Game 5 of the Finals (excluding Pierce) for the biggest example.  Difference was last year we were talented and fresh enough to stay in the game against the 2nd best team in the league even without top effort.  That's no longer the case this year.