Best thing that could have happened to us

[EJPLAYA]

If a team needs a fight and a suspension to fire them up, then it really doesn't matter anyway. They aren't championship material anyway...

I am not so sure EJ. I kind of think that if this team is healthy, the Heat might just have awoken a sleeping giant with a big chip on it's shoulder. Tough mean SOBs that hang out at bars and get into fights mellow with age sometimes. But that doesn't mean when someone pushes them too far they still can't be that tough mean SOB they used to be.

Only getting into the fight will determine if they win it though. That second half defense the other night, we have seen that before. Tomorrow night should be a good indicator of whether they still have that championship punch and counterpunch left in them for a long period of time.

The problem though is that we don't have a chip on our shoulder anymore. We are content as a team to use excuses to explain away losses. We keep saying we will turn it on when we all know it just isn't that easy. We still have the injuries, we still lack continuity, and if/when we get bounced out of the playoffs they already had their built in excuse. We just weren't healthy enough again this year to have the necessary flow to compete. That is a true honest fact. Without KG at 100% we aren't a championship team. I don't have a problem with them not winning it all this year because of it. I do have a problem with fooling ourselves into believing that we are able to "turn it on" and become the 2008 Celtics again. If we could just do that over a fight and a suspension, then shame on them.They don't deserve to win if they aren't giving it their all in the first place.

[Greenbean]

While I agree that these types of situations can prove to be galvanizing for a team searching for some chemistry this whole season, doing it without KG will be extremely tough in a VERY important game 2.

Sheed can earn his whole paycheck this year in this one game if he comes up big.

$6mil for one game.  Wow.

Somebody in another thread said this could be Sheed's JD Drew $14 million home run.  I wouldn't go that far but it could be a start.

I haven't looked at the numbers at all but it seems like Sheed's played better when starting than coming off the bench.  If he plays smart and efficient offense, goes after rebounds, and plays good D, we won't see much of a drop off from KG.  Lot of ifs there, though.

Haha that Drew reference was me ironically enough FWF. Pretty clear now how I feel about this right? I am expecting big things from Rasheed this game. Hopefully he wont continue his pattern of letting me down this year.

[dark_lord]

Ok I might be crazy for saying all of this but here goes.  I have a feeling that this whole skirmish and KG getting suspended could have a very positive effect on us. Let's face it for awhile rumors of the team chemistry and if they like each other has run rampant lately and even the garden has been down on the team some (although they were good for game 1). Imagine this now our team fought for each other and they have the ultimate chance that unbuntu is alive now more than ever without KG, and lets face it the garden is going to be CRAZY i think Q rich will leave the floor in tears by the time they are done with him. This is unfortuinate but maybe this could be the best thing that could have happened to us.  I guess game 2 will tell all....

tp for you!

[jordb2k5]

Yeah it looks like i was right at least for now that this was a good thing that happened to us. Whether it is over the rest of the playoffs remains to be seen but it's been a long time since we have dominated like that so this was terrific, I'm upset we didn't get to see it all thanks to TNT. I can't wait for game 3. There was a post that said if we needed a fight to fire us up we arebt champs i couldn't disagree more.i think people forget how hard we had to fought with the hawks in 08 and how that was a very chippy series and they bright a lot out in us. Yeah we played a lot better all year long but who knows if we beat Cleveland that year without that kind of a series with them first.

[wdleehi]

I believe this is more of a continuation of the level of play they showed halfway through the third quarter of game 1.

[wdleehi]

Either way, I am happy for how they played and now expect them to continue playing defense at this high energy level.

[jordb2k5]

There is  probably a lot of carry over from before the skirmish buit whatever it Is they need to keep it up. Even thigh we got down in th first and second i thought we played well they made a few threes that hurt and eventually that stopped. I hope this continues Miami, mainly q rich deserves this.....the heat have an angry green giant named KG t look forward to for game three.

Oh a side note the bar i was watching the game in had a guy who was clueless trying to be smart eith his girl there he said boston doesn't have kg so they won't win and i laughed and told him he doesn't know anything about boston and watch the game....needless to say in the middle of the second he stopped..

[Mike-Dub]

I have to agree with the original poster on this. If we win the series against Miami, and I still say we will sweep them, I think everyone knows we won't beat Cleveland playing like we did the last half of the year. KG being out may force this team to come together more then anything else has lately. I am sure we have all played on ball teams where one of the teams star players was out and we all knew that we had to step up our game. Do we have a player capable of coming in and getting a triple double? You bet we do. Do we have another player capable of stepping in for KG and playing well? Yes and both BBD and Rasheed will. Something had to change about the regular season for this team to come together. KG will get some rest and everyone else will take care of business.

Yeah agreed the fact that he didn't deserve a suspension will probably fuel the team to blow out win in game 2. 

I don't think so, it could happen but I doubt it.

I think the Heat and the Celtics are far too evenly matched without KG in the lineup. I'm very worried about our defense holding up without KG playing his usual 35+ minutes.

There is nothing good about KG getting suspended.

Change your mind now  ! Not about the last line because I always want KG out there no matter what but everything else lol.

[dark_lord]

I believe this is more of a continuation of the level of play they showed halfway through the third quarter of game 1.

true, but to dismiss the fact there was a skirmish, kg being suspended, and qrich's quotes is crazy to me.  i think the aformentioned reason gave them so much motivation, along with that momentum from game one.  thats why i, and some others, felt that this could be a blessing in disguise.  

hopefully the motivation doesnt stop at game 2.  i hope this woke up a sleeping giant for the remainder of the post season.

[nickagneta]

I believe this is more of a continuation of the level of play they showed halfway through the third quarter of game 1.

true, but to dismiss the fact there was a skirmish, kg being suspended, and qrich's quotes is crazy to me.  i think the aformentioned reason gave them so much motivation, along with that momentum from game one.  thats why i, and some others, felt that this could be a blessing in disguise.  

hopefully the motivation doesnt stop at game 2.  i hope this woke up a sleeping giant for the remainder of the post season.

Gotta agree with DL here.

As much as the defensive intensity was starting to show itself before the skirmish occurred, we just can't look at the situation in a vacuum and pretend that it and the stuff said afterward didn't happen because it did.(BTW, I'm not trying to say that that's what you are saying wd)

And because it did happen, I think that there can definitely be a correlation drawn to the cause and effect it had on this Celtics team and their performance. Well, at least for one night and the end of Game 1. Let's hope it continues because the defense I have seen the past 6 quarters or so is the defense that I saw win this team a championship two years ago.