jerebko was important to have any chance

[rollie mass]

phrase from movie stripes -where somebody says call me francis again i'll kill you-and warren oates responds lighten up francis

[Celtics4ever]

We are what 6th in the race now.  One has to wonder if "some more guys" get injured as if we are not in the top four in the playoffs it is going to be rough.

[CelticPride2016]

2short, yes that was Warren Oates and I won't repeat the synopsis from Rollie. I think he has a new thread on the domino or knock down effect. Even Brandon Bass would be good about now to fill a little bit of the Crowder void. Maybe even Scal. I guess Stevens should be playing more Coty Clarke and Jordan Mickey to compensate. Turner is a bit inept for defense against a lot of players, and Sullinger, Olynyk, and Zeller are simply useless for rim protection against smaller versatile players going to the hoop.

Stevens is caught in a catch-22. He can't play all these rookies too much or the whole team concept will get blurry. But it's not like he can keep gutting it out with Zeller and Turner. I would focus on using Jordan and Clarke. Rozier should go back to the bench as long as Isaiah, Marcus, and Evan can carry the pg load.

Kelly will stop being rusty. Eventually Jae will return.

RJ is too skinny. James Young is having vision problems from the spotlight. It seems Rozier is coming around, so I will stop making the case for Phil Pressey's return.

Coty Clarke is a short-term option. As for the playoffs. let's hope we face anyone but Cleveland regardless of home court advantage. It's better to be healthy than have home court.

I know Jordan is a rookie, but I don't think we are going anywhere unless he gets comfortable on the fast track. We don't really need the other guys, Young, Hunter, and Rozier except for emergencies. At least Rozier and Mickey seem to have caught on.

[rollie mass]

celtics pride-coty can hit the three and he has a legit pro body and anybody can be better than young on defence but i did witness him bust his way over the top for the first time and saw rozier use a marcus style move also-so thats growth
the loss of jerebko on top of crowder is so huge that the rookies have all got time-rj's two turnovers critical  to stopping rally
although i think it was zellers pass was in a really awkward spot
kelly working of rust but still favors that shoulder and is afraid to extend and draw contact
 also when he comes back from injury he becomes more awkward and doesn't close his penetration and as a result there are some odd passes
hopefully today we can rest amir and mickey and coty get some time because if this is jerebkos old injury, achillies acting up, were going to need coty's three and bigger body during playoffs
j

[CelticPride2016]

Crowder gives us a sort of Tony Allen defensive toughness from the small forward position. We were lucky all year with injuries until we weren't. This reminds me of Doc always trying to crunch players to replace Ray. Instead of tweaking the team to the talents of Courtney Lee, the plan was for Lee to duplicate Ray's role. I don't think it works that way.

Players like roles. They like to know where they stand. Plugging in too many holes at once is not going to work. You mentioned Gigi Datome. He's looking quite better than Hunter or Young. Pressey for all his flaws was ready made unlike Rozier.

I say go with Coty because he fits the Crowder role more than anyone. He has already been with the team. I posted comments from Kelly and Brad saying Cote was good and knows all the plays, that sort of thing.

We may be doomed because of injuries. Even if these guys can make it for the playoffs, if they are damaged goods, we will be lucky to get out of the first round or win a couple games. Amir was the right idea with the wrong timing with his feet. It is a shame. Zeller has become much worse this year. The whole pairing with David Lee threw him off and he never recovered.

Sully, on the other hand, started the year in the doghouse but then has been starting all year.

Olynyk was on quite the groove. He seems very fragile for psyche. I think he is only now getting comfortable being seven feet tall. KG never had that problem. He knocked an inch off his height and could cover every position. Although I think Kelly looked much more comfortable his second game.

We probably have to run the table at this point to win 50 games. I'm not giving up. Though I am not extremely confident Brad will be able to navigate this portion of the season after all. It is too much to ask for Brad to get a lot out of rookies in over their heads or this Coty guy who just showed up.

I am not too worried. A loss tonight would be a problem, however. You can't drop these games to good teams with the injury excuse then continue to use the excuse if one loses to Philly.

It was turning into another perfect season. Last year was great until Isaiah fell on his back. Now we are missing Crowder. I hope he gets back soon and it won't be lingering.

I am not too confident in Amir's feet. I am not too confident in our team. I am not giving up. I think when healthy we are the #6 best team or #7. I'm not saying we are as good as the Clippers. If we were healthy, we'd be the #2 seed. This was extremely bad luck with getting a damaged goods Amir Johnson. And Lee was awful and Gerald Wallace would be good to have on the team right now to replace some Crowder defense.

I wish I had the inside info. I wouldn't want Zeller, Sully, or Amir back at this point. Turner I like, but not if he wants more money than Avery Bradley.

The last several games have been painful to watch. Crowder was playing like a first team all-star right before he got injured. I couldn't believe my eyes.

That's some bad luck. Kelly was finally playing at his best and he gets injured. But we have the Brooklyn pick and Danny will be making some trades. No matter what happens the rest of this season and playoffs, the story has barely started. Next year should be incredible. There's a lot of anticipation to be had for Celtics' fans, but perhaps not in the short-term. Thank God for Philadelphia. We needed an easy game to get things in order. Play Jordan Mickey and see if Coty can slide into the rotation as a short-term Jae band-aid. Jordan Mickey needs to be in this rotation. I will stand firm with that opinion. He is a winner. He is a Marcus Smart type player. We're not expected to go far anyway, so play them. If Evan Turner is on his game, play him. Whoever has it, feed the pig. But don't put it all on Isaiah Thomas. That's not fair. I talk too much. I like this team and am a typical Boston fan with ups and downs. Jae will be rusty too when he gets back. This is a multiple year situation. I am at peace with this team no matter what, even if they lose out the rest of the year. But I think they will turn this around starting tonight.

[CelticPride2016]

Amir Johnson looked good, but it was Philly. At one point he was bent over staring at his feet. I'm not sure if this is chronic or if he can fix it in the off-season. He is perfect if healthy. He was outstanding, almost dominating the 76er's. He and Isaiah work out well. Amir Johnson is probably the best player on the team if he was healthy.

I see that Brad is not going to play anyone we conjecture on except for Rozier. He is starting Turner with Isaiah forcing the need for a backup pg. Smart looked much better tonight. He has a great drive to the hoop with a floater. He will figure it out. He will be a Dennis Johnson type clutch shooter at a minimum.

Bradley is vastly underrated. He dribbles very well now. I believe all he has to figure out is passing.

We are better than it seems.

We are stuck with Amir, Sully, Olynyk and Zeller for the bigs. It looks like Brad is rolling the dice with Turner and Smart as sf's.

We will get better as the team further adjusts to missing Crowder and to a lesser extent Jerebko.

I am warming up to Rozier.

We have a quality team. If Jae and Jonas come back strong and Amir can survive with his feet, I will predict the crazy upset for the title, #18. Then we get the top five pick. We also sign Durant. I am against a big trade for Cousins because why pay when you can improve the team through free agency and top draft picks? If you trade away the shop for Cousins, it's like being stuick with LeBron. I suppose I won't be complaining if Cousins leads up to ten straight titles.

[NHHillbilly]

Today at Orlando, Jerebko was back, but did nothing, and Smart was 1 for 10 or something like that.  Amir Thomas Bradley and Olynk.  Celts didn't need Jerebko -- they just needed softer teams to play.