I'm sorry but a team with the talent and cohesiveness of the Boston Celtics comes out for 9 straight games and plays lethargic, bored, uninspired, lackadaisical basketball.

I am probably Doc Rivers biggest supporter on this site. If you don't know this, you haven't been paying attention around here for the past 3 years. But when Doc is at fault for something, he needs to be called on the carpet for it and I will be one of the first to do so. Do here I am, calling out Doc, saying, these pathetic starts are his fault.

If a bad start occurs once, twice, three times in a row, it can be blamed on a myriad of things. Bored players, tired players, tough travel schedule, plane problems, etc. You get it. Stuff happens and players can have a tough time getting it started.

But this has been happening since the Philly game on November 3rd. A stretch of 18 days and 9 games. I'm sorry but a team with the talent and cohesiveness of the Boston Celtics comes out for 9 straight games and plays lethargic, bored, uninspired, lackadaisical basketball. This team doesn't seem to be responding to any type of coaching, talking, discipline or motivation that is coming from the coaching staff. That they are 5-4 over this nine game stretch can be attributed to the fact that they have an unbelievably stacked team talent-wise and can overcome these type of starts, when they don't decide to play like that the whole game or aren't playing a high quality opponent.

Is it the new sleep schedule? Is it the lack of shoot arounds during game days? Is it that these guys now believe their own press clippings? Or is it that they have tuned out their coach and just are not responding to what he is doing with thenm and telling them?

I don't have the answer, heck, I'm not sure Doc Rivers has the answer. I'm not in the locker room or in these guys heads. But what I do know is that if a team comes out playing the exact same way and it is not a good way, for an extended period of time, it is the coach's responsibility to change that and it is their responsibility for letting it happen over an extended length of time.

So fix this Doc. This is on you. They aren't responding or listening or you are preparing them properly or something. But either way, this is a three week malaise and something happening that long falls onto the coach's lap. Whether that is right or not is irrelevant. Fix it and fix it now. You're screwing up if you continue to let this happen without trying everything in your power to fix it.

Like maybe benching a certain PG that isn't doing anything that I know you want him to do......

Quote from: pengaloo on November 21, 2009, 10:28:56 AM

I think we need to stop with the "bench Rondo" movement. The issues that Doc spoke of yesterday during the post game press conference were lack of execution on both ends of the floor and guys not trusting each other. How are we supposed to improve any of those things if the key guy is sitting on the bench not practicing with the main unit? I don't believe in benching a guy just because he plays poorly for a stretch of games; I think it's important that he have the chance to work out his issues on the court. Playing time is the main way a player gets better.

Doc had no problem benching Rondo for all but 50 seconds of the last 14 minutes of last nights game. Asked if he benched Rondo for some reason all he had to say was that he was going with the 5 players that were playing best. He praised Eddie's defense and said nothing about Rondo.

Reading between the lines, and maybe I'm taking liberty by doing so, he benched Rondo because his defense was appalling...and it was. If Doc is willing to do this during the game, then I don't see why sending Rondo a message by starting House and then praising his defense in the post game press conference wouldn't be such a bad tactic to use on Doc's part.

Rondo's defense, Sheed's three point shooting, Pierce's perimeter defense, Ray's sloppy passing and ball handling, and Perk's technical fouls and stupid fouls have to be addressed. How he addresses those individual things and the larger awful team defense is very important to this team.

Simple solutions:

Sign Allen Iverson 
Start Allen Iverson
Rondo is best off the bench with Eddie and Sheed

TADA!!! We're back on track.

This losing and playing lifeless has nothing to do with DOC.
#1 Rondo can't and won't shoot so defenses collapse on the other shooters and scorers.
#2 We need a Point that can create his own shots and shots for others coming off the bench.
#3 Rasheed is way too inconsistent from three (Scal should be in shooting threes and Rasheed in the paint)
#4 Paul Pierce defense is awful and always been...lol it started showing again last year, He looked pretty good at it when James Posey was on the perimeter with him helping out (on Kobe & Lebron). Our defense has never looked the same since he left.
#5 Sign ALLEN IVERSON!!!