Game 1 Thoughts: Blow it Up

[Carhole]

First off, I hate the sports talk mentality of gloom and doom after one game. But there's definitely a lot than can be taken from a game against what looks like a pretty good team. Simply put, most of these guys don't have NBA athleticism any more and the team should be blown up so they can maximize value for next year.

Rondo - The one starter with athleticism but if he continues to go to the hoop like this, he's not going to make it through the season. If he can shoot, that would be huge, but no way to tell if that'll happen.

Ray - Still an elite shooter but he's going to struggle to get his shot off against decent defenders. Brings pretty much nothing else at this point.

PP - Going to have a harder time getting his shot. Should be able to create a little but will have a harder time contributing on the boards and defense.

KG/JO - Both look old and slow. Still decent on defense but pretty much nothing on offense. And it'll be a miracle if both of them are healthy by the end of the year.

Bench - Little scoring, undersized.

The only potential saving grace is that the Knicks look really good. They're big, athletic, and as the announcers keep saying, they're physical. But unless all of the other contenders suffer major injuries, I see no way this team even makes it to the Finals. Danny, please blow this up.

Haha, wow. You determined this all after one half. Some how you decided PP wont be able to get his shots or help on d and the boards, in the first half of the season, when he wasnt even suited up.

Just wow.

Blow it up for what? Who can danny move these pieces you see can't do it anymore for?

It is sold old on this board for loads of fans to just scream "blow it up" but with no realistic plan to get a young team 50% as good as these guys now or with the potential to be 85% of this team as they mature.

If you enjoy the sport of basketball and not just rooting for a winner because it somehow validates your existence than either have a coherent and realist plan for blowing it up or enjoy the end run of a team that has never given up for 5 years and is a bad luck knee injury away from at least 2 and probably 3 titles.

I am all for moving players to get better but unless ainge knows he is getting a piece that makes you a contender for the future you dont blow up a team with skill, veteran presence and heart just because they have a 5% chance at a title instead of a 50% chance.

[jc3celticsphan]

daniels got torched by melo.  i liked pavlovics Defense better on melo and he can actually hit the 3. almost beating an offensive team without our best scorer means we are fine and our excution down the stretch i see hasnt changed from last post season thats probably my only concern with this team. no need to blow any thing up besides this post

[Jon]

I actually left this game feeling pretty good about this season.

1) We didn't have our first and second string small forwards.  Not only would Pierce have made a big difference, but also the trickle down effect would've been pretty large.  It likely also means that Sasha and more importantly, Avery Bradley--who turned the ball over twice in a row in the fourth quarter leading to our 10 point lead going to 6--would not have played.  I think that alone, even if Pierce had played and stunk it up, would've been enough to have us run away with it in the 4th. 

2) Brandon Bass is a huge upgrade over Baby, as he can a) rebound, and b) finish around the basket. 

3) Rondo looks like he's ready to take it to the next level. 

4) KG and Ray looked slow at times, but at other times turned it on.  And this is nothing new.  KG has lived off of the pick and pop for years now and Ray has gone cold for stretches of a game and then heated up for years now.  So what it all means is that they both look as good as they have for the past 2 years or so, and that's a good thing. 

Overall, I'm happy.  I really look at it like it's all just a warmup for the playoffs.  And I think we have what it takes to have a shot. 

[slamtheking]

Exactly -- however, the Celts do get a Mulligan today in that they were without the captain. However, it would have been nice if they had been interested in playing for the first 18 minutes, and it also would have been nice if they could have held a lead down the stretch.

If we're going to excuse failure to win with "player X wasn't playing (at full strength) tonight", we're in for a long season. You're probably not going to get full 66 games from the older guys.

I disagree with the 'mulligan' for today because we had no PP or Pietrus.  Knicks had no Bibby or Davis and lost their productive rookie PG to injury during the game.    C's started the game without a clue and ended it the same way. 
No mulligan for for that although I do believe that having PP would have tipped the scales in the C's favor.  Not that having PP would have meant a better start because we've all seen this team start poorly with PP but having PP would have given them an offensive option they needed today to support Rondo in the first half.

[jpk2000]

Omg! Blow it up? Are u serious? I'm so tired of Celtics fans overreacting whenever this team loses a game. The Celtics are not made of steel.  It's normal for a great team to lose to good team (NYK) it's apart of sports.

How will some react if the C's lose to Miami on Tuesday with then 0-2 record? Will Celtics fans panic, jump the gun or run through the streets screaming. It's likely the C's could lose to Miami especially if Pierce is out and a suspended Garnett.

[BudweiserCeltic]

People should realize that this thread was started one quarter into the game, it wasn't a reaction to the game. Just saying.

[jpk2000]

Blow it up, because they lost one game. Should Danny blow it up if they lose to Miami which will be likely. 

[banty19]

This was posted during the game and despite the encouraging comeback, I still believe the team should be blown up. This had nothing to do with the score and had to do with what I saw going on including:

1) Landry Fields taking away Ray Allen's shot in the first half. Ray only made jumpers later when the Knicks amazingly forgot about him.

2) The Knicks dominating in the paint early on. Amare and Melo got easy basket after basket. All the Celtics could do is watch. This was easily the worst revelation for me.

3) Too many offensive possessions that end in 20-foot jumpers, fallaways, etc.

Positively, I'll say that if Rondo can play like that every night, he's a MVP candidate and the team should be kept together.

However, I'm doubtful he can stay healthy playing that way and continue to make jumpers/free throws. And more importantly, can KG/JO stay healthy? If/when one of them goes down, the Celtics will have no size on the team. Bass is looking like a huge upgrade over Baby, but he's still an undersized power forward.

I know it's tough to trade the vets because only contenders would want them and contenders don't want to trade assets. But if Danny can somehow get a decent pick (like if the Clippers had kept Minnesota's pick) or a young player paired with an expiring contract, he should do it instead of leaving the team with a roster of Paul Pierce and Rondo.

[indeedproceed]

Game 1 cOnclusions are like deciding you hate a book during the preface. I have no problem with blowing it up, but that has to be a smart move, not a reactionary one. Rondo, Pierce, Kg, and Allen are known commodities. Their value will be the same in Jan as it is right now. If we didn't do it before the season, it can wait til we figure out just what this team might look like healthy.

[Rondo_is_better]

YOUR KNEE


JERK IT

[PosImpos]

If the Big 3 have been in and out because of constant injury issues and the team is hovering around .500 halfway through the season, with very few if any quality wins against good teams, then I would say yeah, Danny should look to blow it up. 

Otherwise, we might as well ride it out.

[raynman]

IF the team underperforms, by February, I think Ray or KG will be packaged in a deal with Jajuan, Moore/Bradley, JO (expiring) and one or two 1st rd picks... Hopefully for Dwight.. The starting 5's health will always be a concern throughout the season.. I'm trying to be optimistic but I wouldn't be surprised if only two or three of them remain in March..

[GreenFaith1819]

Once we get Paul (and Mickael) back, the next meeting between NY and Boston will be markedly different.

NY is improved, but I didn't see any indications that tell me that Boston needs to blow anything up this year.

We'll be fine. Just get the captain back and get Pietrus suited up.

[Celtics4ever]

If the Big 3 have been in and out because of constant injury issues and the team is hovering around .500 halfway through the season, with very few if any quality wins against good teams, then I would say yeah, Danny should look to blow it up. 

Otherwise, we might as well ride it out.

This is how I too see it going down.   If we have a chance to win the title then they won't blow it up.  If we are going down hill half way down the season  then look for talent acquisition to happen and Trader Danny to emerge.   

It is way too early to tell one way or the other though, especially after one game when we didn't have Pierce.

[BASS_THUMPER]

yeah we needed paul but if we cant win games with one of are stars missing then we are in trouble