Is This Team Out Of Gas Already?!!?!??!

[star18]

For the Celtics, its just business.  Do what we need to do and go home.  We're not winning the title tonight, lets just get this game over with. And that is what they did, and they got the W, won by double digits and allowed 76 points. Great win in my opinion.     Whether KG and Sheed looked great tonight or not I could care less, they are veterans, they play when it matters, the rest of the games are just business.  Get in and get out.  Get the W go home.

[star18]

"I kind of do want KG to "get it up" (?) against Brook Lopez and the Nets, in the sense that I want him to look physically capable of doing so, which he did not. "
And I don't because its not Bynum, Shaq and Superman.
If he's "getting it up" for Lopez, he might not against the bigger boys.
No NBA player plays 82 games a year 15 year in a row and tries their hardest 100% of the time, it isn't physically possible.   This is a get in and get out and go home game.   Means nothing unless they lose, and they didn't.

[Rondo_is_better]

I hate to say it, but we looked old tonight against the Nets. Creaky. a step slow. Not lazy, but just not physically able to do things quickly.

If the Nets weren't the Nets--with 7 players, no less--we would have lost that game. Same thing for the Timberwolves.

This team seems like the best team in the league on 3 days rest; NOT the best team in the league.

I hope I'm wrong.

Tanguay and Scal and everybody involved with the team is saying it was the 8 games in 12 days that made everyone tired and lethargic, but I ask, what is going to keep the Celtics from playing in this fatigued, slow manner every time they have to play a back to back, or late in the seaason, or in the playoffs after the fatigue of a long season?

They just came off a brutal stretch and need to get back and practice. Calm down everything is going to be okay...

Uhh I don't really need to calm down right now, bud. I'm pretty chill. Just identifying a cause for concern as the season goes on--if we're out of gas after a jam-packed stretch now, what keeps us from being out of gas in the playoffs after MANY of these jam-packed stretches and the wear and tear of the regular season? A team breaking down this early is cause for concern.

Just last year the Celtics started 27-2 and didn't break down until late December. Now its happening 8 games in? Not good....

I understand where you're coming from, but have some faith. The C's haven't "broken down" yet. All that matters at this point is that they are 7-1. If any team has "broken down", it's the Cavs, and I hate to say it but they haven't broken down either. They'll be in the hunt later in the season along with the Celtics.

Fair enough. But we looked shaky as balls tonight. To the point that I got worried...and if one game is enough to make me worried, then it is one hell of a bad game--bad enough to make me worried about the whole season to come, even.

Based on that logic if one game is enough to cause you to worry, one good game should be enough for you to regain your confidence. So... here you go.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=291027005

Not really. In the real world something doesn't have to be weighted equally like that. If someone breaks a person's trust, like for example cheating on their spouse, it takes a lot more than being truthful about the next thing that happens to win that person's trust back. 

How about if they tell the truth 7 times? The Celtics still have 7 wins and 1 loss.

Yeah, and that's great, but for me 5 nice wins don't mean as much in a positive way as the two horrible games we played against MIN and NJ do in a negative way. For me its like the 5 nice wins are "telling the truth" about small things and then the two bad games are like "cheating on your spouse". They don't compare in significance.

Well then you just like to think of things in a negative light. The wins against the Cavs, 76ers, Bulls, and Bobcats meant more in a good way than the loss against Suns or the WIN against the Wolves or the WIN against the Nets meant in a bad way.

For a team this great those wins are par for the course. Seeing chinks in the armor and being worried about them does not make me a pessimist. It makes me a concerned fan. When you're on a ourse of success in life and then you suddenly deviate from it, even briefly, don't you get concerned? 5 A's on tests and then 2 D minuses (MIN and NJ) are enough to get me concerned about my performance...

[star18]

How many times do you get married? Once, maybe up to 5 times for some people?
How many NBA finals do you play in? Once, 6 for Jordan, 6 for Kobe.
For many people those are important times in their life, which takes a lot of energy to put into. Once you put in that much energy you realize that it isn't something you are going to do every day, because it takes alot out of you.
If you want the Celtics to play NBA finals intensity for 82 games forget about its not going to happen.

[MattG12]

I hate to say it, but we looked old tonight against the Nets. Creaky. a step slow. Not lazy, but just not physically able to do things quickly.

If the Nets weren't the Nets--with 7 players, no less--we would have lost that game. Same thing for the Timberwolves.

This team seems like the best team in the league on 3 days rest; NOT the best team in the league.

I hope I'm wrong.

Tanguay and Scal and everybody involved with the team is saying it was the 8 games in 12 days that made everyone tired and lethargic, but I ask, what is going to keep the Celtics from playing in this fatigued, slow manner every time they have to play a back to back, or late in the seaason, or in the playoffs after the fatigue of a long season?

They just came off a brutal stretch and need to get back and practice. Calm down everything is going to be okay...

Uhh I don't really need to calm down right now, bud. I'm pretty chill. Just identifying a cause for concern as the season goes on--if we're out of gas after a jam-packed stretch now, what keeps us from being out of gas in the playoffs after MANY of these jam-packed stretches and the wear and tear of the regular season? A team breaking down this early is cause for concern.

Just last year the Celtics started 27-2 and didn't break down until late December. Now its happening 8 games in? Not good....

I understand where you're coming from, but have some faith. The C's haven't "broken down" yet. All that matters at this point is that they are 7-1. If any team has "broken down", it's the Cavs, and I hate to say it but they haven't broken down either. They'll be in the hunt later in the season along with the Celtics.

Fair enough. But we looked shaky as balls tonight. To the point that I got worried...and if one game is enough to make me worried, then it is one hell of a bad game--bad enough to make me worried about the whole season to come, even.

Based on that logic if one game is enough to cause you to worry, one good game should be enough for you to regain your confidence. So... here you go.
http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/boxscore?gameId=291027005

Not really. In the real world something doesn't have to be weighted equally like that. If someone breaks a person's trust, like for example cheating on their spouse, it takes a lot more than being truthful about the next thing that happens to win that person's trust back. 

How about if they tell the truth 7 times? The Celtics still have 7 wins and 1 loss.

Yeah, and that's great, but for me 5 nice wins don't mean as much in a positive way as the two horrible games we played against MIN and NJ do in a negative way. For me its like the 5 nice wins are "telling the truth" about small things and then the two bad games are like "cheating on your spouse". They don't compare in significance.

Well then you just like to think of things in a negative light. The wins against the Cavs, 76ers, Bulls, and Bobcats meant more in a good way than the loss against Suns or the WIN against the Wolves or the WIN against the Nets meant in a bad way.

For a team this great those wins are par for the course. Seeing chinks in the armor and being worried about them does not make me a pessimist. It makes me a concerned fan. When you're on a ourse of success in life and then you suddenly deviate from it, even briefly, don't you get concerned? 5 A's on tests and then 2 D minuses (MIN and NJ) are enough to get me concerned about my performance...

They were not D minuses. The fact that they won the games is enough to give them C's at least.

[star18]

Tonight A+, against Minny A+
The only way they get lower than an A+ is if they lose those games. They get the W they get the A+, either way the game is meaningless because they are not the teams nor the players who are standing in the way of the Celtics getting the title this year.

[Rondo_is_better]

How many times do you get married? Once, maybe up to 5 times for some people?
How many NBA finals do you play in? Once, 6 for Jordan, 6 for Kobe.
For many people those are important times in their life, which takes a lot of energy to put into. Once you put in that much energy you realize that it isn't something you are going to do every day, because it takes alot out of you.
If you want the Celtics to play NBA finals intensity for 82 games forget about its not going to happen.

I just want them to play with enough intensity to not be neck and neck with a winless team that has 7 guys in street clothes halfway through the 4th quarter. That's not that much to ask, is it?

[star18]

That is why it is funny when I said I want to play for the Celtics in 2013-2014 everybody jumped all over me.   Because NBA veterans and great players do not go "all out" all 82 games every game of their career.   I could because I don't play basketball every day.  Whether I'm good enough it another story.  But for one 82 game stretch I could try harder and play harder than every other player in the NBA because I don't play anywhere near as much as they do.

[MattG12]

How many times do you get married? Once, maybe up to 5 times for some people?
How many NBA finals do you play in? Once, 6 for Jordan, 6 for Kobe.
For many people those are important times in their life, which takes a lot of energy to put into. Once you put in that much energy you realize that it isn't something you are going to do every day, because it takes alot out of you.
If you want the Celtics to play NBA finals intensity for 82 games forget about its not going to happen.

I just want them to play with enough intensity to not be neck and neck with a winless team that has 7 guys in street clothes halfway through the 4th quarter. That's not that much to ask, is it?

Well, lucky for us. That extremely tough team known as the Nets is not going to make the playoffs. So we don't have to worry about winless teams with seven guys in street clothes when it really matters.

[Bahku]

While I understand the reasoning for this, I have to (respectfully) disagree. The Celtics looked tonight like a good team that was tired and a step too slow, not a team that is out of gas for the season, or too old to sustain a winning record. Every great team in history has had nights like this, where the shots just weren't going down, or the feet were a step too slow, or the energy just wasn't there for whatever reason. They've had six great games, and two not-so-good games, and I think it's safer to side with the majority, (and with common sense, given their obvious talent and deep bench), and be optimistic. This was not a team in trouble tonight, it was a very good team having an "off" night, (of which they will have more, unfortunately), and they will respond accordingly, with rest and practice, as they have before. I feel no different about their chances at a championship than I did at the start of the season. No, the sky is not falling ... it's just a little cloudy today. (TP for the good discussion catalyst).

[Rondo_is_better]

Tonight A+, against Minny A+
The only way they get lower than an A+ is if they lose those games. They get the W they get the A+, either way the game is meaningless because they are not the teams nor the players who are standing in the way of the Celtics getting the title this year.

That's a very black and white way of looking at it. Ignoring the quality of play in each game is just a way to convince yourself that everything is going fine, even when its not. Like in that 19 game winning streak last year. We were winning games, but not very well. That semi-visible breaking down that was occuring during that win streak was a forebearer of the horrible stretch to come. What's to say this isn't going to turn into the same situation?

[star18]

How many times do you get married? Once, maybe up to 5 times for some people?
How many NBA finals do you play in? Once, 6 for Jordan, 6 for Kobe.
For many people those are important times in their life, which takes a lot of energy to put into. Once you put in that much energy you realize that it isn't something you are going to do every day, because it takes alot out of you.
If you want the Celtics to play NBA finals intensity for 82 games forget about its not going to happen.

I just want them to play with enough intensity to not be neck and neck with a winless team that has 7 guys in street clothes halfway through the 4th quarter. That's not that much to ask, is it?

I understand I wanted them to be up 30 at half too, but you just cannot simply do that all 82 games a year, every year you play.  These guys do not get breaks, they live sleep and eat basketball.    They have been playing almost every day for their entire lives.
Did you see LA's first game of the year.   Going into the 4th they were tied at home against the Clippers with no Blake Griffin.   It doesn't mean anything until they lose the game, and the Celtics and Lakers did not.

[star18]

Rondobetter, you are looking at a 100 game season to be NBA champs.    100 games 100% by all 12 players not possible whatsoever.  You want KG to show he is better than Lopez and in a meaningful game he will.  In a less meaningful game it is actually better to give a guy like Lopez confidence and when playoff time comes KG slams it in his face.  That is how the game goes. 

[MattG12]

While I understand the reasoning for this, I have to (respectfully) disagree. The Celtics looked tonight like a good team that was tired and a step too slow, not a team that is out of gas for the season, or too old to sustain a winning record. Every great team in history has had nights like this, where the shots just weren't going down, or the feet were a step too slow, or the energy just wasn't there for whatever reason. They've had six great games, and two not-so-good games, and I think it's safer to side with the majority, (and with common sense, given their obvious talent and deep bench), and be optimistic. This was not a team in trouble tonight, it was a very good team having an "off" night, (of which they will have more, unfortunately), and they will respond accordingly, with rest and practice, as they have before. I feel no different about their chances at a championship than I did at the start of the season. No, the sky is not falling ... it's just a little cloudy today. (TP for the good discussion catalyst).

TP to you Bahku for saying exactly what I wanted to say but was too tired and lazy to actually type.

[Rondo_is_better]

How many times do you get married? Once, maybe up to 5 times for some people?
How many NBA finals do you play in? Once, 6 for Jordan, 6 for Kobe.
For many people those are important times in their life, which takes a lot of energy to put into. Once you put in that much energy you realize that it isn't something you are going to do every day, because it takes alot out of you.
If you want the Celtics to play NBA finals intensity for 82 games forget about its not going to happen.

I just want them to play with enough intensity to not be neck and neck with a winless team that has 7 guys in street clothes halfway through the 4th quarter. That's not that much to ask, is it?

Well, lucky for us. That extremely tough team known as the Nets is not going to make the playoffs. So we don't have to worry about winless teams with seven guys in street clothes when it really matters.

That's not really relevant to the "these-poor-performances-have-me-worried-because-they-could-be-forebearers-of-a-major-breakdown-to-come" point I'm trying to make.

This isn't about the Nets. It's about the Celtics over time.