Encouraging Loss?

[celtics2]

Great game. Celts laying low reducing chances for injuries. They will turn it on when the Playoffs get here. Krstic and Green getting plenty of time and are showing why DA brought them in. If Chicago can keep it up more power to them. We'd take 2nd seed and I think fare just as well as 1st. We do not need any injuries to a Big 3 because the season would be over for sure.

My feeling is we're going to come into the playoffs a little tired anyway. It's not physically possible for the Big 3 to come in otherwise given their age and the wars of 82 games. Then have to chase these athletic teams around in post season games.It's going to take lots of luck. The kind LA had when Perk was scratched for the 7th game.

[Mencius]

...The Big 3 just wasted a good game for the rest of the team, especially Krstic and Green.  Krstic was a monster!

...

I agree with your take, Bankshot.  Krstic had a fine game last night.  Very encouraging.  Green will be one of the better backups in the league.

I think our starters were under tremendous pressure, pretty much the entire season, to shoulder this team through the various and sundry injuries, then coupled with the trades and free agent signings, and trying to incorporate 5! new guys all within the last couple of weeks, I suspect it's been overwhelmingly fatiguing for them.  Not only physically, but mentally.

I do think that the second unit is already looking a lot better, and I think that Doc will be able to rest his starters more.  Well, Rondo, Ray, and Paul so far.  He'll not be able to rest the bigs until Baby comes back.  Being so short handed in the front court, it's kind of like playing on the razor's edge for our bigs, in that they can't really afford to get into foul trouble with no viable backups.  The same was true for Rondo before Arroyo came.

I'm definitely giving this til the end of the regular season before really deciding whether this big gamble by Danny will pay off, but I'm encouraged by the early returns.

[Tai]

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.

I'll buy that we should've won this game, without question.

Losing by 3, on the road, with at least 4 bench players and a probable starter in Shaq out, is not getting our butts handed to us. We actually outscored the Sixers in the 4th quarter, 18-17.

If Big Baby and POSSIBLY West are really coming back on Sunday, and we lose to the Bucks, then I'll be a little more discouraged.

[clover]

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.

You're not giving Baby any respect!  (Or JO.)

[Tai]

ANYWAYS, I was encouraged by the amount of jump shots that Rondo a) put up and b) wait for it...MADE! I have to say it was around 4-5 he made, and maybe 7 he attempted, altogether. Either way, Rondo didn't seem as afraid to put it up as he'd usually be, and anyone who saw the game SHOULD be encouraged by that.

I'm surprised no one mentioned it already, so I COULD be wrong...but like Barkley said, I doubt it. They're probably more concerned that we didn't win, which is reasonable.

[aporel#18]

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.

TP, they're having in-game practices, so it's not strange that the starters are not playing with urgency.

I'm rooting for Murphy to find his game rythm soon, once Baby is back he'll have little time to do it. But Carlos is looking really good, and Sasha is playing also better than I expected. Krstic and Green look fine, and they'll have 20 games to solidify our rotation.

The C's will look great in three weeks, and hopefully they'll be healthy and kicking buttocks around the league.