Rondo's comments not very encouraging

[pearljammer10]

except it is pretty much the same team.  Rondo just isn't as good as a lot of celtic fans thought he was and is a major problem with the team. 

How is this pretty much the same team... Only 5 of the 10 rotation players from this year and last year are still here... Everyone else is new including our starting center. Ubuntu isnt very tight at the moment my friend. All the new faces are disrupting the chemistry greatly.

[European NBA fan]

Rondo is right, this is not the same team. He is just trying to lead his team, and basically telling them not to rely on the magic switch come play-off time. The time is now to work on getting it all together. Kudos to Rondo.  Rose played great, and Rondo will have to dig in harder to contain him if we meet them in the play-offs.

Agreed on all points. In stead of coasting, they are rollercoasting. Some of it has to do with Doc's weird rotations, and those have to be worked out when the playoffs start. But the other part is the players playing with urgency and consistency, being Ubuntu.

I think Shaq will be a big factor in this, even with few minutes on the floor. He will also bring much needed inside presence. I'm not happy with putting my hopes on this, because of Shaq's mileage issues, but it's the biggest change this team can hope for. The rest is hard, steady work.

[Prof. Clutch]

What I find quite funny is some of you on this page were singing the high praises of this trade and were bashing those who had doubt of any kind.....now.....you're singing a differetn tune...

[Tai]

I know there is a sentiment among some that Boston will be able to just flip the switch in a week...Rondo disagrees:

"It's a pretty different team," said Rajon Rondo, comparing last year's team to now. "It's not the same team. We're not going to be able to turn it on like we did last year. Even last year, we came up short [in Games 6 and 7 of the NBA Finals]. I don't know what we're waiting on, but these type of games we have to find a way to win.

"It's a roller coaster right now, and we went back down today.

I gotta ask...what does Rondo mean when he says he doesn't know what the Celtics are waiting on? They were waiting for something? I'd love to know what they're waiting on, too. It could be Shaq, it could be the playoffs....hmmmm

[Tai]

And, JO only playing for 17 minutes? So, if people don't count Krstic (since most clearly don't like him), our only "true" center didn't even play in 1/4 of the game.

Yea, I'm gonna go with waiting for the playoffs. The game in general wasn't encouraging, let alone any of the player's post-game comments, but it's hard to say whether the C's really wanted this game as much as they should have.

[Fafnir]

And, JO only playing for 17 minutes? So, if people don't count Krstic (since most clearly don't like him), our only "true" center didn't even play in 1/4 of the game.

Yea, I'm gonna go with waiting for the playoffs. The game in general wasn't encouraging, let alone any of the player's post-game comments, but it's hard to say whether the C's really wanted this game as much as they should have.

I don't want Doc to push Jermaine until the playoffs. Playing him enough to try and get him up to speed is the smart move.

[Assassin70]

As goes Rondo goes the team, and he got destroyed by Rose for the second straight time. It's almost as if he is purposely letting him do what he wants.

Rose is extremely fast and strong for his size, but Rondo is an All-NBA defender. If he can defend LeBron, he can defend Rose.

I will say this: If Rondo stays in front of Rose, Chicago isn't scary at all. Put Shaq in the middle, and we have too much size for them. Boozer is too small for KG and JO. Noah isn't great offensively obviously. Then just stay home on the shooters.

Chicago had a good night. Boston didn't. It was one game. Would have liked to get the W for HCA purposes, but it really doesn't matter all that much.

No one player in the NBA can defend Lebron or Rose to say so would be ludicrous.

Rondo switched off on Lebron that last game against Miami...all he did was throw the Heat off their game and get in their heads.  it also energized our team because Rondo said I got this.  But if you for 1 sec think Rondo can guard Lebron you would be very, very wrong.

No one can stay in front of Rose for 48 minutes and they shouldn't have to.  Help D should always be ready to collapse on him.  You need to have a QB spy style D on Rose.  Or a freakishly athletic shot blocker like D Howard there to nulify his drive.

I can agree it is just 1 game.  But it was a big game for both teams we knew that going in...and only 1 team showed up.

Rondo is right, if the whole team isn't up for a challenge like this and they play this poorly...

Only 2 positive things I can take away from this game.

1. No one got hurt.
2. The run up of the score + Thibs leaving his starters in that long when the game was decided.  Might have given the C's that extra fire they need should we play them again.

[slamtheking]

What I find quite funny is some of you on this page were singing the high praises of this trade and were bashing those who had doubt of any kind.....now.....you're singing a differetn tune...

very true Po.

I thought Danny's moves were panic moves and overreactions to Quisy's injury.  The dramatic roster shakeup has impacted this team's identity regardless of the fact they still have their top 4 players and 6th man from last year.  The rest of this team has not been through the battles with them for the past 3 years.  Any dependency on the new guys to produce at a higher level in the playoffs is pure speculation and unfounded optimism.  Do I hope this team pulls it together for the playoffs, absolutely.  Do I anticipate it happening?  Only to a limited extent.  I think they will play better and more consistantly but I'm not sure the team as a whole will play well enough to get that title.  Prior to the trade, I had far less doubt about that.

[GreenEnvy]

Once again, everybody around the NBA knew it has been over for us since the trade deadline fiasco.  This board was the only place people were holding out hope.

We just have no post presence - you can't win in this league like that

Considering we dominated the league in November, December and January without Perkins (nor an effective JO), I don't believe that's the reason for our struggles. It's mental and/or physical, it's not a talent issue.

Shaq will definitely help, but we still should be playing much, much better.

[Assassin70]

Rondo is right, this is not the same team. He is just trying to lead his team, and basically telling them not to rely on the magic switch come play-off time. The time is now to work on getting it all together. Kudos to Rondo.  Rose played great, and Rondo will have to dig in harder to contain him if we meet them in the play-offs.

Agreed on all points. In stead of coasting, they are rollercoasting. Some of it has to do with Doc's weird rotations, and those have to be worked out when the playoffs start. But the other part is the players playing with urgency and consistency, being Ubuntu.

I think Shaq will be a big factor in this, even with few minutes on the floor. He will also bring much needed inside presence. I'm not happy with putting my hopes on this, because of Shaq's mileage issues, but it's the biggest change this team can hope for. The rest is hard, steady work.

/agree 100%

[Tai]

And, JO only playing for 17 minutes? So, if people don't count Krstic (since most clearly don't like him), our only "true" center didn't even play in 1/4 of the game.

Yea, I'm gonna go with waiting for the playoffs. The game in general wasn't encouraging, let alone any of the player's post-game comments, but it's hard to say whether the C's really wanted this game as much as they should have.

I don't want Doc to push Jermaine until the playoffs. Playing him enough to try and get him up to speed is the smart move.

Oh, that's fine. I didn't say I actually saw anything particularly wrong with that. But between that and Rondo suggesting the team's waiting for something, I assume they're waiting for the playoffs.

[dlpin]

I don't understand how people keep pointing to the trade as the cause of our issues when the celtics went 4-3 with Perkins as the starter, despite 6 of those games being at home...

[Fafnir]

I don't understand how people keep pointing to the trade as the cause of our issues when the celtics went 4-3 with Perkins as the starter, despite 6 of those games being at home...

We were 8-4 with him overall, he only began starting when Shaq went out.

So 4-1 with Shaq+ Perkins, 4-3 with just Perkins.

[Assassin70]

What I find quite funny is some of you on this page were singing the high praises of this trade and were bashing those who had doubt of any kind.....now.....you're singing a differetn tune...

very true Po.

I thought Danny's moves were panic moves and overreactions to Quisy's injury.  The dramatic roster shakeup has impacted this team's identity regardless of the fact they still have their top 4 players and 6th man from last year.  The rest of this team has not been through the battles with them for the past 3 years.  Any dependency on the new guys to produce at a higher level in the playoffs is pure speculation and unfounded optimism.  Do I hope this team pulls it together for the playoffs, absolutely.  Do I anticipate it happening?  Only to a limited extent.  I think they will play better and more consistantly but I'm not sure the team as a whole will play well enough to get that title.  Prior to the trade, I had far less doubt about that.

TP for you couldn't have said it better.

[Marcus13]

Once again, everybody around the NBA knew it has been over for us since the trade deadline fiasco.  This board was the only place people were holding out hope.

We just have no post presence - you can't win in this league like that

Considering we dominated the league in November, December and January without Perkins (nor an effective JO), I don't believe that's the reason for our struggles. It's mental and/or physical, it's not a talent issue.

Shaq will definitely help, but we still should be playing much, much better.

I do agree that the issues are possibly more mental than physical...but the reason for the mental issues still go back to the trade.  These guys lost their brother and they didn't deal with it at all