KG blew Game 4

[Roy Hobbs]

The two worst players on the Celtics last night were, by far, Rondo and Tony.  Both were playing hurt, so it's understandable why they wouldn't be at their best.  However, both were far, far worse than KG last night.

[Bankshot]

The two worst players on the Celtics last night were, by far, Rondo and Tony.  Both were playing hurt, so it's understandable why they wouldn't be at their best.  However, both were far, far worse than KG last night.

Yeah, Tony was awful.  This was the first time I was glad to see Nate on the floor.

[Fafnir]

KG didn't have a good game, but that's okay it happens. We still have to find a way to win as a team.

My personal goat was Tony Allen, he was ineffective. Too many turnovers, bad possessions, and cheap fouls on defense. If he'd be more effective, or just able to play for more minutes maybe Pierce would have closed out the game better.

But there was plenty of blame to go around.

[LB3533]

Every Celtic starter was gassed. We just didn't get enough good minutes from our bench, save for Baby.

Fatigue could explain why our execution down the stretch resembled an episode of the 3 Stooges.

Only Ray Allen was adequate in his offensive execution.

[GreenFaith1819]

Tough loss, but I cannot blame this on KG alone. He just looked tired towards the end, as did the other starters.

I cannot blame the entire bench, either..Nate Robinson played well in Rondo's absence..didn't appear to rush anything, and made a few good passes. He didn't hurt the team, either.

Sheed played well early..Glen was just huge!!

I wish that between Sheed, Perk and Glen they could've kept a body on Dwight a little more..he seemed too active last night.

Pierce was hot, indeed...but as the game wore on, I just didn't like to see him taking that many shots, because I knew he would tire out.

In a perfect game? I'll take KG's 14 pts, 8 or 9 boards, solid defense on Lewis - any day.

But KG alone wasn't the reason we lost..like NickAgneta and Bahku stated, we lost this one as a team.

It's not in KG to take over a game offensively - most of the time. I say "Most of the Time", because he did in fact take over the clinching game for us VS CLE, but he will not (and should not) be expected to do this often.

[footey]

Rondo clearly was not himself last night; he lacked ability to explode and finish. Tony was hurting too, and it showed in his defense.  Jameer Nelson played a great game last night, and no doubt got some mojo back with Rondo and Tony having sub-par nights.

[housecall]

PP blew the last play in regulation. He was again in a ball-hogging mode. The ball should have been in Rondo's hands and the PP isolation should have come with 5 seconds left. Instead PP was there fumbling again with his dribble. The games we won against the Cavs and the first 3 against the Magic didn't have periods wherein PP was holding the ball for more than 7 seconds. Worse, the regulation ended with us not even launching a potential game-winning shot.

Overall, PP, KG, Sheed, TA and Perk were all not focused in winning this game (I hope it is not pivotal one since it's just one loss but it could be costly since we give them the chance to come back with confidence and Magic home court). It was so evident that when we won games against them and the Cavs all the Celts were cool, calm, composed, focused, unrelenting in defense and never complaining. KG, Perk, Sheed and PP were all playing as if the series is in the bag and armed with overconfidence.

TP...Agreed

[Jon Niednagel]

KG's TO at the end of OT was the last nail in the coffin, but he was not the reason we lost game four IMHO.

[Roy Hobbs]

Overall, PP, KG, Sheed, TA and Perk were all not focused in winning this game (I hope it is not pivotal one since it's just one loss but it could be costly since we give them the chance to come back with confidence and Magic home court). It was so evident that when we won games against them and the Cavs all the Celts were cool, calm, composed, focused, unrelenting in defense and never complaining. KG, Perk, Sheed and PP were all playing as if the series is in the bag and armed with overconfidence.

Wait, you're calling Paul Pierce out for complacency?  The guy who was hustling all over the court, playing defense, rebounding, and carrying the entire offense?

And yet, somehow Rondo gets left out of your criticism, despite being the worst starter, by far, last night?

Paul played very well, he just got exhausted.  KG played a great first half, and disappeared in the second.  The two worst players on the team, by far, were Rondo and Tony.

[wdleehi]

KG was also defended by an energized Howards.


That has a similar effect as when Pierce is defended by Lebron in the last series. 

[GreenFaith1819]

Overall, PP, KG, Sheed, TA and Perk were all not focused in winning this game (I hope it is not pivotal one since it's just one loss but it could be costly since we give them the chance to come back with confidence and Magic home court). It was so evident that when we won games against them and the Cavs all the Celts were cool, calm, composed, focused, unrelenting in defense and never complaining. KG, Perk, Sheed and PP were all playing as if the series is in the bag and armed with overconfidence.

Wait, you're calling Paul Pierce out for complacency?  The guy who was hustling all over the court, playing defense, rebounding, and carrying the entire offense?

And yet, somehow Rondo gets left out of your criticism, despite being the worst starter, by far, last night?

Paul played very well, he just got exhausted.  KG played a great first half, and disappeared in the second.  The two worst players on the team, by far, were Rondo and Tony.

Good Point, Roy...and with Tony, I wish he would've sat out the game. I heard reports that he was injured?

The thing with Tony is that he hurts the team when he plays injured. He should've just sat out.

He gets my respect for trying at least, but he just wasn't the Tony we've seen over the last couple of months tonight.

Sit Tony Down, Doc...let him sit out the rest of this series, if need be.

Lord knows we will need a Healthy Tony to chase Kobe around the court. No need for him to play hurt right now.

[Roy Hobbs]

Overall, PP, KG, Sheed, TA and Perk were all not focused in winning this game (I hope it is not pivotal one since it's just one loss but it could be costly since we give them the chance to come back with confidence and Magic home court). It was so evident that when we won games against them and the Cavs all the Celts were cool, calm, composed, focused, unrelenting in defense and never complaining. KG, Perk, Sheed and PP were all playing as if the series is in the bag and armed with overconfidence.

Wait, you're calling Paul Pierce out for complacency?  The guy who was hustling all over the court, playing defense, rebounding, and carrying the entire offense?

And yet, somehow Rondo gets left out of your criticism, despite being the worst starter, by far, last night?

Paul played very well, he just got exhausted.  KG played a great first half, and disappeared in the second.  The two worst players on the team, by far, were Rondo and Tony.

Good Point, Roy...and with Tony, I wish he would've sat out the game. I heard reports that he was injured?

The thing with Tony is that he hurts the team when he plays injured. He should've just sat out.

He gets my respect for trying at least, but he just wasn't the Tony we've seen over the last couple of months tonight.

Sit Tony Down, Doc...let him sit out the rest of this series, if need be.

Lord knows we will need a Healthy Tony to chase Kobe around the court. No need for him to play hurt right now.

Yeah, agreed.  In practice, I hope we get Nate and Marquis ready to play in Game 5.  They've got to be able to contribute more than an injured Tony and an aged Michael Finley.

[Smitty77]

Roy,

I agree with almost everything you stated.  However, RR was NOT the worst starter for us.  RR was a +12 Efficiency despite having spasms and Perk was only a +7.  In other words, RR was about twice as good as Perk.

Granted, it was NOT a Rondo type game, but he was HURT.

Smitty77

[Fafnir]

Roy,

I agree with almost everything you stated.  However, RR was NOT the worst starter for us.  RR was a +12 Efficiency despite having spasms and Perk was only a +7.  In other words, RR was about twice as good as Perk.

Granted, it was NOT a Rondo type game, but he was HURT.

Smitty77

Efficiency is a terrible stat, it rewards inefficient shooting.

[celts55]

You kind of lost me with the missed FT. Many great players miss free throws at the end of games. He missed one with like 4 minutes to go. It happens. Now, I do argee he didn't play well late in the game. He missed some pretty easy shots, and passed up some wide open looks I thought he should have taken, but to blame him is pretty silly. The just didn't play well and still took them to OT.
People really need to stop over reacting and looking for one person to blame. They win as a team and they lose as a team.