Has the Cs championship window already closed?

[BballTim]

Hawks are 3-0 against the Celtics.
Celtics are pathetic. 
It's merely a question of who will face the Lakers.
I pick the Hawks.

Celtics have zero chance, as tonight's game illustrates. Garnett was a no show.  Pierce was a no show in Q4.  They can't hit their free throws. They're a PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A CONTENDER.
Did I make myself clear?

  I'm suddenly reminded of the summer that we traded for KG, when you were certain that Danny had assembled a 45 win team that would be lucky to get the 6th seed and had next to no chance of reaching the conference finals.

[dlpin]

And unless someone can come up with a team that is unequivocally better than the celtics, the answer is no, our window is definitely, 100% not closed.

It depends on which Celtics you're talking about... the Celtics at the opening night at Cleveland... or the January's Celtics?? cuz the Celtics I saw today can beat none of the teams you referred to!

so right now we can't say whether the window is closed or not, let's talk about it a week or 2 later...

Given recent trends, the lakers are just as likely to be without Gasol or Kobe in the playoffs as we are of being without KG.

And even this team as it currently is still should be able to beat the magic as they are currently playing.

If the only way to discount the celtics chances is to assume we will not get healthy or rebound from our slide while every other team will get healthy and/or rebound from their struggles, then by definition we have a shot.

[KevinConnor]

The way they are playing now has little to do with the championship window already closed(it's closing really fast though)but everything with desire! They simply don't want it hard enough!

[Tai]

Hawks are 3-0 against the Celtics.
Celtics are pathetic. 
It's merely a question of who will face the Lakers.
I pick the Hawks.

Celtics have zero chance, as tonight's game illustrates. Garnett was a no show.  Pierce was a no show in Q4.  They can't hit their free throws. They're a PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR A CONTENDER.
Did I make myself clear?

I see. This one game the C's lost proves they have zero chance, but the Hawks, for example, being beat by the Cavaliers twice in two days (Dec 29-30) somehow doesn't mean anything as far as the Hawks' chances. Did I mention these same Hawks lost to the Thunder AT HOME tonight? Hey, does it even mean anything that the Hawks were on two days rest, and haven't had to play a road game since.....playing in Boston? Hey, that's last Monday!

I don't care if you think the C's have no chance or not, at least try to act more rational than Skip Bayless on a bad day or put a disclaimer.

[PosImpos]

It's still too early to proclaim our title hopes dead, but the pulse is weak, I'll tell you that.

We've all been shrugging this bad stretch off as if it's just a mid-season funk and the Celts are suddenly going to turn into a dominant team again once they get healthy.  Post All-Star break, we'll catch fire and finish the season with at least 60 wins.

Guess what?  That's not guaranteed.  Even assuming KG and Marquis come back in perfect health, this team is under-performing and there's no guarantee that simply getting past injuries is going to wholly change that.

Last year, the Celtics broke out of their post-Christmas slump with a good January.  Things were looking good until KG went out.  This year, the slump is dragging on, and KG is out again, just earlier.  We have to hope KG is coming back this season, and we have to hope the team takes a hard look at themselves and gets their stuff together.  We have to hope nobody else gets injured.  On top of that we have to hope none of the other contenders pulls off a deadline trade that will vault them head and shoulders over us (e.g. Lakers get Bosh or Cleveland gets Jamison).  We have to hope this team rediscovers the magic and intensity they had in '08.

Want the truth about how I feel right now?  I'm really, really sick of hoping.

[dlpin]

It's still too early to proclaim our title hopes dead, but the pulse is weak, I'll tell you that.

We've all been shrugging this bad stretch off as if it's just a mid-season funk and the Celts are suddenly going to turn into a dominant team again once they get healthy.  Post All-Star break, we'll catch fire and finish the season with at least 60 wins.

Guess what?  That's not guaranteed.  Even assuming KG and Marquis come back in perfect health, this team is under-performing and there's no guarantee that simply getting past injuries is going to wholly change that.

Last year, the Celtics broke out of their post-Christmas slump with a good January.  Things were looking good until KG went out.  This year, the slump is dragging on, and KG is out again, just earlier.  We have to hope KG is coming back this season, and we have to hope the team takes a hard look at themselves and gets their stuff together.  We have to hope nobody else gets injured.  On top of that we have to hope none of the other contenders pulls off a deadline trade that will vault them head and shoulders over us (e.g. Lakers get Bosh or Cleveland gets Jamison).  We have to hope this team rediscovers the magic and intensity they had in '08.

Want the truth about how I feel right now?  I'm really, really sick of hoping.

Sure, KG and Daniels coming back healthy is not guaranteed. And sure, the celtics getting out of this slump is not guaranteed either.

But you want to know something? I browse sites from several other teams, and every single top team has the same doubts and issues.

Will Kobe be healthy in the playoffs when he is playing 44 minutes in a Jan. game with a bad back and a broken finger? Will Gasol?

Will the Magic snap out of this funk that has them losing 7 of 9?

Will the cavs be able to trade for someone to improve their post play?

The probability of any of these things happening are not known, and not much different from the probability of KG and Daniels coming back healthy.

If the lakers weren't having health issues, if the magic didnt stink, if the hawks weren't this inconsistent, and if the cavs had any depth, then I'd be  ready to say we didn't have a real shot. But that is not the case.

[slamtheking]

The window isn't closed simply because it has the talent to contend.  Even without KG and Daniels, this team has enough talent to beat any other team in the league.

the big issue with the team is they're playing without any passion or fire.  It's like they've put themselves into cruise control until the playoffs and hope to turn on the fire at that point (injuries or no injuries).

Until the team plays with some intent to win, we cannot fully judge their chances of a title.

[Brickowski]

So, it's all going to get magically better, right?  Garnett will come back 100% and the other old veterans will forego their third quarter naps and actually play some defense. They'll even make some free throws.  LOL.

I don't believe in miracles or fantasies. What you see is what you are going to get.

 

[Drucci]

So, it's all going to get magically better, right?  Garnett will come back 100% and the other old veterans will forego their third quarter naps and actually play some defense. They'll even make some free throws.  LOL.

I don't believe in miracles or fantasies. What you see is what you are going to get.

 

Thanks for revealing us that January games are signs of things to come in the playoffs. I thought it was quite the opposite but obviously you must be right since you know so much about the game.

[moiso]

Garnett can come back and play like he has so far this year, which was pretty [dang] good and the best in the east.  To say that we are pathetic right now is a pretty pathetic comment.  We are substituting our do-everything glue and motivation guy for 0-4 on 3's and 3 rebound Rasheed Wallace.  The results are not going to be the same.  Exchange Kobe for Vujacic or Lebron for Jamario Moon and see what happens.
The overreaction is ridiculous considering how diffent things seemed before KG went down.  Sure injuries are a major conscern, but it's only January, lets not panick yet.  Other than KG, non of the injuries are of the long term variety.  And it even seems like thay are being overly cautious with KG's knee, which is GOOD news, not bad news.
We're going to be fine!

[moiso]

Garnett can come back and play like he has so far this year, which was pretty [dang] good and the best in the east.  To say that we are pathetic right now is a pretty pathetic comment.  We are substituting our do-everything glue and motivation guy for 0-4 on 3's and 3 rebound Rasheed Wallace.  The results are not going to be the same.  Exchange Kobe for Vujacic or Lebron for Jamario Moon and see what happens.
The overreaction is ridiculous considering how diffent things seemed before KG went down.  Sure injuries are a major conscern, but it's only January, lets not panick yet.  Other than KG, non of the injuries are of the long term variety.  And it even seems like thay are being overly cautious with KG's knee, which is GOOD news, not bad news.
We're going to be fine!

just woke up.  Didn't mean to say KG was the best in the east, but that the C's were when he was playing.

[ssspence]

So, it's all going to get magically better, right?  Garnett will come back 100% and the other old veterans will forego their third quarter naps and actually play some defense. They'll even make some free throws.  LOL.

I don't believe in miracles or fantasies. What you see is what you are going to get.

 

Thanks for revealing us that January games are signs of things to come in the playoffs. I thought it was quite the opposite but obviously you must be right since you know so much about the game.

Why shouldn't they be? The Cs have lost 8 of 15. The assumption that the Cs will get healthier, more athletic and more energetic over and after 82 games is a bit disturbing.

No one wants to hear or think we can't win, myself included. But something has to change or excuses and $2 will get you a ride on the subway and nothing else. Banking on health or freshness at this point is nonsensical.

[Drucci]

So, it's all going to get magically better, right?  Garnett will come back 100% and the other old veterans will forego their third quarter naps and actually play some defense. They'll even make some free throws.  LOL.

I don't believe in miracles or fantasies. What you see is what you are going to get.

 

Thanks for revealing us that January games are signs of things to come in the playoffs. I thought it was quite the opposite but obviously you must be right since you know so much about the game.

Why shouldn't they be? The Cs have lost 8 of 15. The assumption that the Cs will get healthier, more athletic and more energetic over and after 82 games is a bit disturbing.

No one wants to hear or think we can't win, myself included. But something has to change or excuses and $2 will get you a ride on the subway and nothing else. Banking on health or freshness at this point is nonsensical.

The assumption that the C's will get healthier is nowhere near impossible. They won't get more athletic, of course, but why would you assume that KG and Marquis won't come back healthy or come back at all, and that other players will go down?

We can be healthy for the playoffs or we can be depleted but it's ridiculous to assume that we will necessarily be depleted because we've already been nagged by injuries this season. It's also ridiculous to assume that we will be totally healthy because nobody can predict the future.

But so far, why don't we just wait for KG's return and then Marquis' return before going in panic mode? Let's stick to their recovery dates and see what happens, no need to overreact when we don't know what the future holds. I tend to believe and hope that we will be healthy. Maybe it won't happen but as far as I'm concerned I prefer this attitude to the "Oh [dang], we're screwed already" mentality because of a bad stretch of games in January and multiple injuries.

As for the energy, it sure hurts and is frustrating to see the team play good for a half and then cruise through the second half - with no effort or defense at all - of the game to ultimately lose it. This behaviour is annoying from the C's.

But, again, we've seen the good and the bad in all our past games, so the talent and the ability to win are still here, so I don't understand the panic spreading into the fans' minds.

Sure, it can cost you to have this "switch on/off" mentality but do you really expect the Celtics to play one good half of basketball in the playoffs to play like crap in the second? In the playoffs, where every game is crucial? I don't see that happening. Too much talent and desire to win the championship on that team for that to happen.

The Spurs have always been average to mediocre during the season before turning it on in February - or not - and ultimately playing great basketball in the playoffs the years they won their championships.

Losses and poor energy, defense, etc are painful to watch, but it's January, people, relax.

[housecall]

KG was the key piece in 2008 championship and the key piece in 2010...without KG there will be no championship for this team.

[EJPLAYA]

I still hold strong to the belief that when healthy we are the best team in the NBA. What concerns me though is the current group of players and their inability to bring it to the floor each night. They had an excuse losing that 4th game in 5 nights with it being a back to back. They ran out of gas. Fine. Last night however was them choosing to play lazy no-energy basketball and it bit them. Even without KG and Daniels this team is good enough to be winning these games. Here are a few major issues I see:

Rondo is slipping back into "Bad Rondo" during this stretch. His lack of interest staying with his man resulted in some huge baskets by Kidd. No way that he should have put up 13 points on Rondo with 9 of them being wide open threes. Rondo wandered on defense, which he has started doing again lately, and it burned us.

Sheed does indeed need to be ORDERED by Doc to get his tail down in the block. I don't mind him missing threes. It has nothing to do with that. He is just so effective down there that we need him in crucial posessions to score down low.

Defensively we are not playing good basketball. How many wide open shots did the Mavs shoot last night vs. contested ones? I don't recall us taking more than 1-2 wide open shots the entire game. They worked harder than we did and in a back to back situation. We should be ashamed at our pathetic effort. This has become a trend though us shooting contested shots and them shooting wide open ones or layups.

We are getting NOTHING from our bench. House isn't on right now and not really taking that many shots. BBD is nonexistent most games other than surprisingly from the free throw line for some reason. His defense is awful right now. TA has come back to earth and is Tony Turnover again.

We need to realize one important thing. Games are won in the first quarter, last 2-3 minutes of the half, and the third quarter. If you play hard during those stretches you will usually win. We can't seem to give the effort for some reason.