Encouraging Loss?

[winsomme]

The Celtics struggles right now are all about defense. We go as far as our defense takes us and that is worrisome considering how many changes have taken place.

Like others have mentioned we need Shaq, Baby, DWest and JO back in the fold because our defense is not going to get solidified otherwise.

and it needs to be sooner rather than later so we can get some sort of chemistry going...

This loss had nothing to do with defense.  The defense was good tonight, especially in the second half.  They gave up, what? 90 points?  They got multiple stops in the 4th quarter, but couldn't score themselves.

Exactly...  Anyone who watched this game and understands Basketball 101 saw a team UNABLE to score points in the closing minutes.

The second unit played GREAT basketball down the stretch.  Doc should have sat the starters and let that group go as long as he could.  Rondo looks like he's going through the motions, Paul morphed into his old self of throwing up shots that he shouldn't have, and KG (noted astutely by Tommy) was "aiming" instead of shooting the ball, and Ray looked nothing like himself.

The defense was good, but the offense was offensive...

our offense builds off of our defense. that's basketball 101 for this team. the chemistry is not there right now and won't be IMO until we get players back, especially Baby and Shaq...

[Andy Jick]

The chemistry looked fine to me...  Missing wide open shots is the problem...

[winsomme]

We need to start running our offense through Krstic and Green because its pretty clear that the Big 3 just dont have the energy at this point in the season, all 3 have regressed noticably.

Rondo has proven that he cannot carry teams on his back, he isnt a go to player like Rose, Williams etc.

Were SOL until the bench gets healthy because the team as a whole is out of gas.

we can't change our offense to go through minor parts. Once Shaq and Baby are back Krstic and Green are going to be playing a lot less.

Shaq isnt coming back until the playoffs, and Baby is going to get his return date pushed back another week at least.

then we're in trouble. running our offense through Krstic and Green won't make a difference.

[winsomme]

The chemistry looked fine to me...  Missing wide open shots is the problem...

the team is playing with no swagger and that won't return until we can add some of our defense stoppers back...

[LB3533]

Sixers shot 41%?

We normally shoot 50% and we didn't tonight.

[Redz]

The chemistry looked fine to me...  Missing wide open shots is the problem...

the team is playing with no swagger and that won't return until we can add some of our defense stoppers back...

The Celts made a lot of key stops down the stretch, they just couldn't hit a darn shot.

[JBcat]

I appreciate the optimism, and there are a lot of legitimate excuses for why we lost the game.  However, no, I'm not overly encouraged by the fact that we got our butts handed to us by the #7 team in the East.

That last 5 minutes was a debacle...  Nothing encouraging about losing to a team you should beat.  It's a sad state of what the NBA has become if this joke of a sixer's team is playing like world-beaters over the last month.  

I think we owe Philly just a little more credit here.  They have won 17 out of their last 23 games are currently no pushover.  I certainly want to stay away from them in the first round.   They have some nice young players and Brand is playing very solid.  

I do think it was encouraging.   2nd best game I've seen Green play with us (after the 22 point game).  Krstic I thought was phenominal, Sasha has played some decent D again to my surprise (nice floating drive too) and Arroyo showed some nice heady veteran plays.   I was fine with Rondo's play but he does look a little toast.   Our big 4 do need some rest and with Baby and West coming back real soon they should get it.  

After this game I am more encouraged with our 5 new players.  Not really worried with our stars.  They will be fine.  

[gar]

Good to hear. Missed the game; but Philly is the kind of team that can give our starters trouble.

The way I look at it we were without 1 starter(Shaq) and a key rotation player (Delonte). Green will continue to get big minutes especially against teams like Philly and Atlanta. Was surprised that he didn't get more time in this game; but 18 points in 24 min. is pretty good.

This game proves that we  need to share the load to keep guys fresh.

[BudweiserCeltic]

We need to start running our offense through Krstic and Green because its pretty clear that the Big 3 just dont have the energy at this point in the season, all 3 have regressed noticably.

Rondo has proven that he cannot carry teams on his back, he isnt a go to player like Rose, Williams etc.

Were SOL until the bench gets healthy because the team as a whole is out of gas.

we can't change our offense to go through minor parts. Once Shaq and Baby are back Krstic and Green are going to be playing a lot less.

Shaq isnt coming back until the playoffs, and Baby is going to get his return date pushed back another week at least.

then we're in trouble. running our offense through Krstic and Green won't make a difference.

What you're saying makes little sense, since we didn't run our offense through Krstic or Green, they were merely benefactors of the system.

[clover]

The chemistry looked fine to me...  Missing wide open shots is the problem...

the team is playing with no swagger and that won't return until we can add some of our defense stoppers back...

The guys said last night that with Stitch and Krstic as their only  real available bigs  (Murphy doesn't even make it into the conversation at this point), Doc asked them to make sure not to foul.

Jackie M. pointed out on EEI that against the Clips they double-teamed Blake, which worked in that sense but of course left Jordan open at the basket.

Can't really judge the D with such a depleted team right now.

[GreenFaith1819]

Tell you what...I'm LOVING what I'm seeing from Carlos. I think what he is doing so far - in limited minutes, while still trying to get used to the plays - is very encouraging!

Once he gets up to speed - imagine a series with LA in June - with Carlos Arroyo in the game - they can't cheat off of him like they have shown a tendency to do with Rondo.

Man can pass....man can shoot - from deep and mid-range....man is savvy...man can hit his free throws.

Rondo is still a HUGE part of the Big Four, but we now have a  steady hand to put in when he needs a rest.

LA will have their hands full come June. Imagine a temporary lineup of Shaq or Nenad, KG, Carlos, Ray Ray, and Paul?

Must account for everyone with that setup. And while Carlos is in the game? Rondo is resting (Finally!).

Loving what I'm seeing from Carlos.

[OsirusCeltics]

I'm mostly encouraged because the defense looked better, especially from the bench.  That means that they are starting to pick up the schemes, which is good to see.

You're right
But you can't please the people on this blog. They would continue to whine and bicker like the world is ending smh...

[BudweiserCeltic]

I'm mostly encouraged because the defense looked better, especially from the bench.  That means that they are starting to pick up the schemes, which is good to see.

You're right
But you can't please the people on this blog. They would continue to whine and bicker like the world is ending smh...

Well, to be fair, the world is indeed ending.

[LilRip]

The chemistry looked fine to me...  Missing wide open shots is the problem...

the team is playing with no swagger and that won't return until we can add some of our defense stoppers back...

our stoppers? you mean Shaq's poor PnR D and Baby's non-shotblocking presence? look, both players are nice pieces but Pierce, KG and Rondo are our best defenders and KG is the one directing the defense.

i missed the game but seeing the box score indicates that our very bad shooting %s seems to be the reason why we lost. we held them to 41% FG shooting, which is around our average in FG%against. so the defense held up like it usually would.

[Roy H.]

I'm mostly encouraged because the defense looked better, especially from the bench.  That means that they are starting to pick up the schemes, which is good to see.

You're right
But you can't please the people on this blog. They would continue to whine and bicker like the world is ending smh...

Or, people just don't put a lot of stock in "moral victories" at this stage of the season.