When did this team become so soft?

[GreenFaith1819]

Well, as much as I love Perk - he was not the end-all to this team. No one Celtic has EVER held that title.

Bill Russell couldn't win it by himself, neither could Larry, or Paul.

The main reason I love The Celtics is their Team ball - no Kobe-ball here.

Soft? They didn't look soft in San Antonio, NY or New Orleans - and they didn't look soft last night.

And no disrespect to Perk, but he couldn't help OKC last night against a determined Portland team.

JO will certainly help our interior, and so will Shaq - starting tomorrow once he returns.

I feel what you're saying...but teams have had NO trouble attacking the hoop since the trade.  We built the lead on Atlanta when they were settling for jump shots.  They started pounding the ball inside and we crumbled.

That's constantly the case.  When Parker was attacking the hoop we were tied at the half.  then Matt Bonner starts shooting threes in the second half and we took over

Well, opposing teams are attacking the hoop against OKC, too...DWade posterized Perk something fierce a couple of weeks ago. Golden State's David Lee rang Perk up for 24 and 14 in an overtime loss a few nights ago. LaMarcus played well against him last night, too.

From what I saw in the ATL game, the Celtics' shots just stopped falling...the same shots they were making earlier in the game just started falling short in the fourth quarter.

In the playoffs, we won't have to worry about back-to-backs. We'll have comfortable 2 or 3..sometimes 4 nights off.

Imagine our lineup - healthy - with Shaq getting rest? And by then, JO will have his legs back, and hopefully we'll have Nenad and Murph as well.

I just think the whole "Softness" thing is so overblown...even Nenad has a mean streak if you push him:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9O9FjX5ewM

Nenad was swinging at the Greek Shaq there at the end...now THAT's fearless...that's a big dude.

[chambers]

When did we become soft? Good question. I don't remember the Celts ever being soft in the 3 years I've been a fan.

Until the latest trade named JO and Green. They are the only players I've ever seen on the team who refuse to sacrifice their bodies for their team. I can understand JO being so injured and hesitant, but still, if he wasn't going to be able to, he shouldn't have joined such a physical team. Green is a whole nother story and is irritating the heck out of me. He simply WON'T allow himself to be hacked...ever. Everyone else is out there getting all beat up and he is always outside looking in. He won't even go for a rebound because he might get bumped. He needs to get some fire and start fighting, or he's going to lose his place.

Hurt is not being soft. Our older players get injured more easily and that is causing some problems.

what a joke.
you're calling Jermaine Oneal soft? the guy had surgery for gods sake. Give him a break.
Soft? This is the same guy that pulled out a gun in a shootout to help his teammate Stephen Jackson in Indiana.
Sometimes the hate and panic on this board makes me wonder why I post here. Someone just called JO soft, and called Jeff Green who has given his all, playing less minutes than he's used to 'soft' for no apparent reason.
What a joke.

[Roy H.]

Just picking a date out of the blue, but I'm going with February 24.

[vinnie]

Just picking a date out of the blue, but I'm going with February 24.

This

[GreenFaith1819]

Just picking a date out of the blue, but I'm going with February 24.

This

Yeah...that was the same date Boston began a 6 or 7 game win streak, right?

[vinnie]

Just picking a date out of the blue, but I'm going with February 24.

This

Yeah...that was the same date Boston began a 6 or 7 game win streak, right?

11-9 since the trade. Lost the first game, won 5 in a row, and since have played like crap.

And, not that it matters, but OKC is 14-5 since the trade, including several games without Perk.

[GreenFaith1819]

Just picking a date out of the blue, but I'm going with February 24.

This

Yeah...that was the same date Boston began a 6 or 7 game win streak, right?

11-9 since the trade. Lost the first game, won 5 in a row, and since have played like crap.

And, not that it matters, but OKC is 14-5 since the trade, including several games without Perk.

But.....didn't even Jeff Clarke mention on the Blog main page a few days ago -

"I Have No Idea".......?

I think this is inclusive of whether our team is "soft" right now....

There are myriad reasons why Boston has lost a few games lately.....but why can't we celebrate the NOH, NY and Spurs victories?

Or the fact that the same team that was giving us all heartburn last year has quietly surpassed that win total by two games and counting?

Look - I loved Perk in Green...but I cannot attribute the Celtics recent woes to him being gone.

[18isGREATERthan72]

Wait a minute... The Celtics lost the second game of a back to back?

 

[Roy H.]

Without debating all of the merits of the trade, can we all agree that it unquestionably made us softer and less intimidating?  Perhaps we're still tough / intimidating enough to win, but we're less than we were, right?

[barefacedmonk]

We need to infuse some Tiger Blood in this team....winning.

[18isGREATERthan72]

Without debating all of the merits of the trade, can we all agree that it unquestionably made us softer and less intimidating?  Perhaps we're still tough / intimidating enough to win, but we're less than we were, right?

Naturally.  Perkins is one of the toughest players in the league.  Nenad and Green are not known for being tough at all.  Perkins was a very good compliment to KG on the defensive end.  He did all the dirty work KG wouldn't do.

We need to infuse some infuse Tiger Blood in this team....winning.

TP.  TIger Blood would do this team some good.

[GreenFaith1819]

Without debating all of the merits of the trade, can we all agree that it unquestionably made us softer and less intimidating?  Perhaps we're still tough / intimidating enough to win, but we're less than we were, right?

Well, I don't know...I'd be afraid to meet Nenad in a dark alley, myself...KG sometimes doesn't appear to be playing with a full deck, too...foaming at the mouth in games, yelling and screaming, etc...but I love it!

Toughness is important - but I think it is overblown sometimes. There is pseudo-tough (Bynum)...Kobe even exhibited the same fake toughness last night when he thought he was going to get in Fresenko's face after the foul last night in Utah.

To me, our shots just stopped falling last night due to fatigue.

[Roy H.]

Well, I don't know...I'd be afraid to meet Nenad in a dark alley, myself...

Fair enough.  I guess he's intimidating in his own right.

(In all honesty, though, I do hope Krstic makes a full and speedy recovery.  We need his presence to add to our center depth, even if he's not as good on defense or as tough as Perk.)

[Donoghus]

Its one attribute/concern I don't really care about.

This team is plenty tough enough, IMO. 

[MBz]

I understand we are not as tough as before inside, but again last night our issue was scoring.  We scored 83 points, that is a problem.  That and other then Delonte, our bench was awful last night.  Also, Rondo taking 15 shots and Glen Davis taking 11 isn't going to help this team win, especially when Ray Allen and KG only took 9 each.