Will Danny's "faith" or "loyalty" in this team turn out to hurt them?

[KungPoweChicken]

If Garnett is heading into the playoffs with one leg, no one will save this team. But I guess that's the point. If Garnett is done, we might as well blow it up. Ellis and Rondo would at least be the funnest back court in the NBA to watch.

[buellj814]

so after this game u want to trade the the best player from tonight??? thats an interesting philosophy

[Who]

Monta Ellis' jump shot is inconsistent rather than non-existent. He was an excellent 15-22 foot jump shooter during Baron's last season with the Warriors but since then he's been poor.

It would be surprising if he couldn't get that shot back in working order sometime in the near future.

 Monta Ellis isn't going to save this team, and I wouldn't want him as a core piece for the future.

Agreed

So its been gone for two season? That's worrisome.

Still Ray Allen is a better fit for the C's this year.

Fully agree that Ray Allen is the better fit. Better overall player too.

Monta Ellis only played part of last year due to an injury and wasn't the same player for most of that season. So I'm pretty much writing off that season.

I am worried that his jumper hasn't come back this year though ... although that may change if he wasn't shouldering such a large load offensively and if he had some teammates who created better shot attempts for him.

Anyway, I have no interest in bringing Monta Ellis to Boston.

[fanofgreen]

The issue is not the Ray Allen or the old legs or anything like that.

The issue is the Fact that Ray Allen and Paul Pierce are playing over 40 MINUTES!!!!....almost on the regular over the past month or so.

The issue is our bench,

Specifically trading Ray for Monta is not going to solve any problems, other than getting younger at 1 position.

Not only would Rondo and Monta be a horrible  backcourt combo, but trading Ray and getting back Monta, we would have to change the offense the C's run.
Because Monta Ellis is not a run off of screens type of player. And the Celtics offense has a lot of off the ball screening.

We need to retool the bench, we've got to retool with the idea of bringing down Ray Paul and Rondo's minutes.

33 and 35 year old legs on the floor for 40 minutes a night, and they have to be in there just so the C's stay competitive in a game.

We need a bench plain and simple.

Orlando's bench, specifically their wings, I dont believe any of their wings played over 35 minutes. (Rashard had 36 mintes). They have Vince, Barnes, Pietrus, Rashard, JJ Redick.

They always had FRESH wings on the floor, against our 2 old vets who logged over 40 minutes.

[celticinorlando]

as bad as KG looks..paul pierce doesnt look much better.. PP looks very slow on the offensive end

[Fafnir]

Our bench outscored their bench handily. It was the starters getting beat up on late in the game that lost it for us.

[KungPoweChicken]

The only reason the Celtic Organization spun that "hyperextended knee" story was because they are trying to sell tickets, just like last year. It's generally not good for business when you say, "The face of your franchise will most likely always be playing on one leg."

[Fafnir]

The only reason the Celtic Organization spun that "hyperextended knee" story was because they are trying to sell tickets, just like last year. It's generally not good for business when you say, "The face of your franchise will most likely always be playing on one leg."

The Celtics aren't too concerned about selling out tickets with this team.

Their one and only concern is going deep into the playoffs. That is how you make money with a high tax team.

[PosImpos]

If Garnett is heading into the playoffs with one leg, no one will save this team. But I guess that's the point. If Garnett is done, we might as well blow it up. Ellis and Rondo would at least be the funnest back court in the NBA to watch.

The point I was trying to make is that I don't think we really have the option of "blowing it up."  We're going to be a decent to quite good team for the next few years.  Too good to just say "screw it let's tank and start over" but not good enough to really expect to win big again, no matter what complementary players we add in the off-season.

As far as trades go, our only tradeable asset is Ray Allen, and I really think if there were a way for us to trade him and suddenly get a big young talent back, it would have happened already.  KG isn't going to be tradeable until he's in the last year of his deal, and Paul Pierce is probably (hopefully) never going to play for another team.  Even if Pierce were a trading option, he wouldn't be one until next year when he's on the last year of his deal (he'll pick up his option this summer).  

Our best option for rebuilding through a trade is probably to resign Ray to a short, less expensive deal this summer that expires at the same time as KG.  Then we'll have a lot of expiring money going into 2012 or so and then maybe Danny could make something happen.  As it is, there's no way for us to just suddenly get a nice young core.  

I think it's going to be a while before we're looking at a team that we can expect to gradually improve into a competitor instead of decline into mediocrity.

[KungPoweChicken]

The only reason the Celtic Organization spun that "hyperextended knee" story was because they are trying to sell tickets, just like last year. It's generally not good for business when you say, "The face of your franchise will most likely always be playing on one leg."

The Celtics aren't too concerned about selling out tickets with this team.

Their one and only concern is going deep into the playoffs. That is how you make money with a high tax team.

You make money by profiting off of each and every game. Going deep into the playoffs is trivial. Ticket sales would go down if the Celtics were honest about KG's knee. That's just a simple fact. They did it last year, and they are doing it now.

[Fafnir]

The only reason the Celtic Organization spun that "hyperextended knee" story was because they are trying to sell tickets, just like last year. It's generally not good for business when you say, "The face of your franchise will most likely always be playing on one leg."

The Celtics aren't too concerned about selling out tickets with this team.

Their one and only concern is going deep into the playoffs. That is how you make money with a high tax team.

You make money by profiting off of each and every game. Going deep into the playoffs is trivial. Ticket sales would go down if the Celtics were honest about KG's knee. That's just a simple fact. They did it last year, and they are doing it now.

Extra home playoff games and playoff TV money is anything but trivial! Especially when you have a huge payroll like the Celtics.

[vinnie]

I think KG is hurt far worse than the Celts are letting on and a big part of the reason is to continue to get people to the games to buy merchandise, etc. I felt bad for KG tonight with his total inability to move at all.

[Who]

If Garnett is heading into the playoffs with one leg, no one will save this team. But I guess that's the point. If Garnett is done, we might as well blow it up. Ellis and Rondo would at least be the funnest back court in the NBA to watch.

The point I was trying to make is that I don't think we really have the option of "blowing it up."  We're going to be a decent to quite good team for the next few years.  Too good to just say "screw it let's tank and start over" but not good enough to really expect to win big again, no matter what complementary players we add in the off-season.

As far as trades go, our only tradeable asset is Ray Allen, and I really think if there were a way for us to trade him and suddenly get a big young talent back, it would have happened already.  KG isn't going to be tradeable until he's in the last year of his deal, and Paul Pierce is probably (hopefully) never going to play for another team.  Even if Pierce were a trading option, he wouldn't be one until next year when he's on the last year of his deal (he'll pick up his option this summer).  

Our best option for rebuilding through a trade is probably to resign Ray to a short, less expensive deal this summer that expires at the same time as KG.  Then we'll have a lot of expiring money going into 2012 or so and then maybe Danny could make something happen.  As it is, there's no way for us to just suddenly get a nice young core.  

I think it's going to be a while before we're looking at a team that we can expect to gradually improve into a competitor instead of decline into mediocrity.

2012 is the current option for rebuilding but the Celtics could fast-track it to 2011 if they were willing to blow everything up. Offer KG to the Spurs for Richard Jefferson. Let Pierce expire. Trade Sheed for some 2011 expiring. Easy to trade Glen Davis' small contract.

At that point you're only contracts would be Rondo + Perk and you could start rebuilding that summer (2011).

[KungPoweChicken]

The only reason the Celtic Organization spun that "hyperextended knee" story was because they are trying to sell tickets, just like last year. It's generally not good for business when you say, "The face of your franchise will most likely always be playing on one leg."

The Celtics aren't too concerned about selling out tickets with this team.

Their one and only concern is going deep into the playoffs. That is how you make money with a high tax team.

You make money by profiting off of each and every game. Going deep into the playoffs is trivial. Ticket sales would go down if the Celtics were honest about KG's knee. That's just a simple fact. They did it last year, and they are doing it now.

Extra home playoff games and playoff TV money is anything but trivial! Especially when you have a huge payroll like the Celtics.

There are 15 teams in the NBA who have payrolls over 70 million dollars. You think those teams, a lot of whom are lousy, are thinking, "We need to go deep into the playoffs to make a profit!" Only two teams are going to the championship. Even good teams, who don't make it to the championship, play an average of what--6 or 7 home games?

A team would absolutely lie about a player's injury to help keep ticket sales going. And we don't even have to speculate. We know the Celtics have done it in the past. If you can't see that, then you think the Celtics are much more noble than they are.

[PosImpos]

If Garnett is heading into the playoffs with one leg, no one will save this team. But I guess that's the point. If Garnett is done, we might as well blow it up. Ellis and Rondo would at least be the funnest back court in the NBA to watch.

The point I was trying to make is that I don't think we really have the option of "blowing it up."  We're going to be a decent to quite good team for the next few years.  Too good to just say "screw it let's tank and start over" but not good enough to really expect to win big again, no matter what complementary players we add in the off-season.

As far as trades go, our only tradeable asset is Ray Allen, and I really think if there were a way for us to trade him and suddenly get a big young talent back, it would have happened already.  KG isn't going to be tradeable until he's in the last year of his deal, and Paul Pierce is probably (hopefully) never going to play for another team.  Even if Pierce were a trading option, he wouldn't be one until next year when he's on the last year of his deal (he'll pick up his option this summer).  

Our best option for rebuilding through a trade is probably to resign Ray to a short, less expensive deal this summer that expires at the same time as KG.  Then we'll have a lot of expiring money going into 2012 or so and then maybe Danny could make something happen.  As it is, there's no way for us to just suddenly get a nice young core.  

I think it's going to be a while before we're looking at a team that we can expect to gradually improve into a competitor instead of decline into mediocrity.

2012 is the current option for rebuilding but the Celtics could fast-track it to 2011 if they were willing to blow everything up. Offer KG to the Spurs for Richard Jefferson. Let Pierce expire. Trade Sheed for some 2011 expiring. Easy to trade Glen Davis' small contract.

At that point you're only contracts would be Rondo + Perk and you could start rebuilding that summer (2011).

I don't think that's really doable, though, all things considered.  The team still has to get people to pay to come to the games, and I doubt our attendance would be very good if we swapped KG for RJ and let Pierce expire, etc.

That would be tantamount to just letting the team tank and hoping to rebuild through the draft, and I don't think that's a very palatable option at this point.