It is evident the Trade was not the reason we Struggled

[Kane3387]

Unless you want to say it was the reason for Rondo's poor play...

But when Rondo is attacking and our open shots are falling we are a GIANT!!!

Nice win. Guys actually cared about the game for 48 minutes. We definitely play to our competition - whether great or poor - more then any team I have ever seen. Which is too bad bc it's gotten to the point where I only want to watch us play against elite teams because I know that is the only time we will play close to 100%.

Think about the teams we lost to. We lost to a bunch of teams competing for eighth seeds basically and it's been due to a lack of focus, effort, and urgency. It has basically cost us HCA throughout the entire playoffs because with the Spurs losing streak and the fact we own the tie breaker, we could realistically have the best record in the NBA right now.

Oh well it is what it is.

Rondo looked like the playoff Rondo and Jermaine O neal. Heck yeah! He looked good.

But again its Rondo. He is the catalyst. He gets us moving the ball and when we win the assist battle we typically win the game.

The Championship its linked to Rondo. He is our most important player.

[LB3533]

The thing is, to say the trade did nothing to affect Rondo's play...that would not be true!

[Kane3387]

You got to read my first line 

[Megatron]

If Rondo can shoot like he did tonight I cant see any team beating us.

The only weakness of the Celtics throughout the years has been letting Rondo shoot and being able to roam and play 5v4.

Rondo hitting jumpers at a consistent rate fixes that and hopefully the opposing defenses wont be able to just play off Rondo and double team our other guys.

Rondo having a shot makes this team better then they were by leaps and bounds.

We would be unstoppable with Shaq back.

Hope his shooting touch stays.

[Kane3387]

If Rondo can shoot like he did tonight I cant see any team beating us.

The only weakness of the Celtics throughout the years has been letting Rondo shoot and being able to roam and play 5v4.

Rondo hitting jumpers at a consistent rate fixes that and hopefully the opposing defenses wont be able to just play off Rondo and double team our other guys.

Rondo having a shot makes this team better then they were by leaps and bounds.

We would be unstoppable with Shaq back.

Hope his shooting touch stays.

Nice to see a positive post from you tron. I agree though. Jermaine gave us a nice spark tonight and when Shaq comes back I expect more of the same. The team looked different after his and 1.

Let's say Shaq comes back and he can give us 20 minutes. Jermaine 15 minutes. That's 35 minutes at center. Kristic (if he comes back), Baby, and KG would split up the remaining 13. KG, Baby and Green would split up the PF minutes. Ray, Green, and Pierce (maybe Pav and Wafer too)  will split up the SF. West, Pierce and Ray (maybe Pav and Wafer too)  will split up the SG. Rondo and West will likely take all the pg minutes, maybe arroyo gets some too.

My point is that it's not too much to expect Shaq or JO to give a combined 35 mpg and that will trickle down to everyone remaining pretty fresh for our playoff run when you take into account there are no back to backs.

This team could potentially start becoming what we thought it would after the trade. A deep, talented, and versatile team capable of playing any kind of style.

[Chris]

While I agree that the trade was not the main reason we were struggling, I have to be balanced here.  We can't be using every game to try to make these proclamations.  There are a lot of things going on out there, and its never simple to explain why something like that is going on.