The trade has killed this team

[birdwatcher]

I feel like this slump would happen, trade or no trade. I know it looks bad, but we're all 0-0 going into the playoffs, there'll be more focus, intensity & a sense of urgency that has been missing the last couple of weeks.

[ejk3489]

Doc is ripping the team a new one

Link? Play by Play? Anything?

Doc: everything has become very selfish. Everything is "me me me" right now

Doc: The way we're playing shocks me. We're just not ready to win with our approach to basketball games.

Doc: we're not going to play well every night. But it can't be about you not playing well. It's gotta be 'what can I do to help the team'

Doc: It did happen last year too, and we lost Game 7 on the road.

Doc: Worst thing I did tonight was put starters back in game in fourth quarter.

http://twitter.com/scott_souza

http://twitter.com/celtics

[Onslaught]

it's not possible to properly judge the trade until we see how the team plays  with Shaq ... sorry.  Cry all you want, but the trade was made for the playoffs... not a regular season game against the Bobcats.

Sorry, but the Bobcats? I live in CHarlotte. The Bobcats are a joke. And they won in Boston?

If Shaq is the thing that will turn it all around for us then it's over. Done. No hope.

My fear was this trade looked good on paper but not so much in real life. I know that MD getting hurt changed things and DA thought he had to do something. But I'm not so sure what he did has helped us this year.

[GrandTheftRondo]

gwashburn14 gary washburn
Doc Rivers said Celtics are in bad place. Worst than at any time last season. #celtics

http://twitter.com/gwashburn14

I didn't know it was possible to be any worse than last season.

Doesn't matter. Though this was obvious, homers will ignore this and continue to say that as soon as the playoffs hit we're gonna be fine and cruise to the championship.

[Onslaught]

I also fear that this "turning it one" thing they did last year was a bad thing.
Now many of us think that you can do that at anytime. I'm still not sold on it.

[GrandTheftRondo]

Doc is ripping the team a new one

Link? Play by Play? Anything?

Doc: everything has become very selfish. Everything is "me me me" right now

Doc: The way we're playing shocks me. We're just not ready to win with our approach to basketball games.

Doc: we're not going to play well every night. But it can't be about you not playing well. It's gotta be 'what can I do to help the team'

Doc: It did happen last year too, and we lost Game 7 on the road.

Doc: Worst thing I did tonight was put starters back in game in fourth quarter.

http://twitter.com/scott_souza

http://twitter.com/celtics

Thanks. TP.

[PseudoElite]

I'm getting more and more skeptical.

The team is basically half brand new, and West, Shaq, JO have all missed major amounts of game.

How is the team going to find chemistry and rhythm in the remaining 10 games? The starters look DEAD and uninspired.

There's no chemistry, they all look like mercenaries.

[tenn_smoothie]

Forgive me for not understanding how the trade "Killed our team". It was either we make the trade, or we go into the post season with no backup SF for Pierce. Remember that most of the players we traded away are not finishing the season due to injuries (Semi, Daniels), and the starter we traded away is still coming back from a knee injury that was hampering the only strong point of his game: Defense.

We're not seeing this team at full-throttle yet...before making a final assessment of everything, I will wait and see how Shaq and Jermaine impact the team over the next couple of weeks.

you obviously have zero understanding of what chemistry and togetherness does in team sports - you are missing the point entirely.

[Tai]

Honestly....we were actually healthy around this time last season, too. It wasn't like we were waiting for guys to come back....

Shaq and JO still haven't arrived, and won't until next Wednesday or Thursday. When they do, our interior defense will be buffed back up just like that, and we'll be good to go for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.

[butterbeanlove]

Forgive me for not understanding how the trade "Killed our team". It was either we make the trade, or we go into the post season with no backup SF for Pierce. Remember that most of the players we traded away are not finishing the season due to injuries (Semi, Daniels), and the starter we traded away is still coming back from a knee injury that was hampering the only strong point of his game: Defense.

We're not seeing this team at full-throttle yet...before making a final assessment of everything, I will wait and see how Shaq and Jermaine impact the team over the next couple of weeks.

Frankly, I'd rather still have Perk with KG and their big man rotation which I'd argue is a big reason that LeBrick took contested fade-aways rather than facing the second round of our defense... even if it meant Von Wafer or Daniels or a 3 to be named later.

...Than no Perk given our current situation where we have Jeff Green and nobody guarding the hoop other than KG.

Hopefully we can integrate the O'Neal brothers assuming they exist and are not the Great Pumpkin.

[Megatron]

Honestly....we were actually healthy around this time last season, too. It wasn't like we were waiting for guys to come back....

Shaq and JO still haven't arrived, and won't until next Wednesday or Thursday. When they do, our interior defense will be buffed back up just like that, and we'll be good to go for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.

We didnt lose the game tonight because of lack of interior defense though.

We are losing because the starters are old, washed up and simply got old overnight and dont have it anymore, they are bench role-players at this point.

Rondo was the #21 pick in the draft and is playing like it.

We have 4 scrubs that somehow made an all-star team, they have been exposed, thats why we are losing.

[screwedupmaniac]

Forgive me for not understanding how the trade "Killed our team". It was either we make the trade, or we go into the post season with no backup SF for Pierce. Remember that most of the players we traded away are not finishing the season due to injuries (Semi, Daniels), and the starter we traded away is still coming back from a knee injury that was hampering the only strong point of his game: Defense.

We're not seeing this team at full-throttle yet...before making a final assessment of everything, I will wait and see how Shaq and Jermaine impact the team over the next couple of weeks.

you obviously have zero understanding of what chemistry and togetherness does in team sports - you are missing the point entirely.

You obviously have zero understanding that chemistry and togetherness don't mean squat if your entire bench is injured.

[footey]

The problem right now for us is the under-performance of our big 4. With the exception of Rondo, I doubt the trade has had little effect on those guys' chemistry. But that is a big if. Rondo no long attacks the hoop and kicks out to the open guy, and rarely finishes.  Sadly, I think the players don't want to fight for first place, and would rather just coast to the play-offs. They proved last year they could get away with that, so might as well do it again.

[barefacedmonk]

I don't know how anyone can deny that team chemistry is so important to this squad. It's clearly not there...That "me me me" mentality Doc described wasn't even seen last year when we signed a player some people considered "locker room cancer". The concept of UBUNTU wasn't developed in a day...it took one complete training camp and full season to develop.

Hated the trade on Feb 24th...hate it now.

All that said, if (and its a 50-50 situation right now) Shaq can make a good comeback, our chances to win it all will still be pretty good.

[vinnie]

The Thunder are 5-1 in games Perk has played in for them.  Pretty miraculous considering how much of a slouch he is on offense and how much money they're paying him.

Celts were 5-0 first 5 games after the trade.

9-8 since the trade was made. Yay.