What does this team need? Attitude.

[tarheelsxxiii]

crimson, your position that we've been inconsistent in effort is a valid one that has been the case all season. We are playing with house money right now, though.  If we win a game or two, awesome.  But if we don't, we're still in prime position to be a very good-to-great team in the next few years.  I'm going to keep on enjoying last night - we have a special talent coming to Boston. 

[mr. dee]

Strong mental traits can't overcome the tremendous gulf in talent.    Boston can't beat Cleveland.    Too big, too much talent.

Tell that to the 2011-12 Boston Celtics, who took the significantly more talented Miami Heat (also Lebron-led) to 7 games in the ECF with an injured Paul Pierce, an injured Ray Allen, a 35 year old Kevin Garnett, and a second unit that consisted of Etwaun Moore, Keeyon Dooling, Marquis Daniels, Mickael Pietrus and Chris Wilcox.

You know how they did that?  With heart.  With passion.  With belief in themselves.

Ray Allen and Paul Pierce were practically non-existent in that series due to injuries, Avery Bradley didn't play due to injuries, and they had quite probably THE worst bench in the entire NBA. 

Yet on sheer will and absolute refusal to give up, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett left everything on the floor, fought for every single possession, and absolutely refused to let that team go down without a fight.

So don't try to tell me that strong mental traits can't overcome talent, because it can - and that's been proven:

* By our big 3 when we took the heat to 7 games in 11/12
* By the Mavericks who defeated Miami in 2010/11
* By ther Spurs team who almost beat Miami in 12/13 and then DID beat them in 2013/14

And those Miami teams were better then this Clevleand team is. 

Kyrie Irving cannot hold a candle to a prime Dwyane Wade, and Kevin Love is no better then Chris Bosh.

Funny thing is that 2012 team also came out flat in game 1. Granted, it was in home court of Miami.

[inverselock]

Strong mental traits can't overcome the tremendous gulf in talent.    Boston can't beat Cleveland.    Too big, too much talent.

Tell that to the 2011-12 Boston Celtics, who took the significantly more talented Miami Heat (also Lebron-led) to 7 games in the ECF with an injured Paul Pierce, an injured Ray Allen, a 35 year old Kevin Garnett, and a second unit that consisted of Etwaun Moore, Keeyon Dooling, Marquis Daniels, Mickael Pietrus and Chris Wilcox.

You know how they did that?  With heart.  With passion.  With belief in themselves.

Ray Allen and Paul Pierce were practically non-existent in that series due to injuries, Avery Bradley didn't play due to injuries, and they had quite probably THE worst bench in the entire NBA. 

Yet on sheer will and absolute refusal to give up, Rajon Rondo and Kevin Garnett left everything on the floor, fought for every single possession, and absolutely refused to let that team go down without a fight.

So don't try to tell me that strong mental traits can't overcome talent, because it can - and that's been proven:

* By our big 3 when we took the heat to 7 games in 11/12
* By the Mavericks who defeated Miami in 2010/11
* By ther Spurs team who almost beat Miami in 12/13 and then DID beat them in 2013/14

And those Miami teams were better then this Clevleand team is. 

Kyrie Irving cannot hold a candle to a prime Dwyane Wade, and Kevin Love is no better then Chris Bosh.

There are a lot points of difference.    Main ones are:  17 Boston team is too small compared to the 17 Cleveland team.   Can't contain them on defence and the boards.    Entire offence is IT and open jumpshots.   No versatility on Offence.      Obviously its a little more complex than that, but I don't have the time at the moment.   

Even if the C's could overcome the other guys, they still got LeBron.

[blink]

crimson, your position that we've been inconsistent in effort is a valid one that has been the case all season. We are playing with house money right now, though.  If we win a game or two, awesome.  But if we don't, we're still in prime position to be a very good-to-great team in the next few years.  I'm going to keep on enjoying last night - we have a special talent coming to Boston.

Man I am tired of all the 'house money' talk.  We are in the eastern conference finals.  i really hope our players aren't thinking, yeah we have over achieved enough, this was good enough, the cavs are so much more talented than us, we can't possibly fight back against Lebron he is so great. 

Screw that, get out there and compete, play with fire and energy, and for gods sake push back against those Edited.  Profanity and masked profanity are against forum rules and may result in discipline.s and try to win the series.  The guys on our team who show that fight and don't let lebron get in their heads are the keepers.

[CoachBS#1]

Dumbest thread ever!!!, if it is something this team has is HEART!!, and a green one, they're just playing a superior team who happens to have the best player in the world and the most expensive nba roster!!, GO CELTICS!!!

[Drucci]

I agree that the team was playing scared for most of the game, except AB, Smart and Jaylen. IT needs to get loose for us to have a chance.

[tarheelsxxiii]

crimson, your position that we've been inconsistent in effort is a valid one that has been the case all season. We are playing with house money right now, though.  If we win a game or two, awesome.  But if we don't, we're still in prime position to be a very good-to-great team in the next few years.  I'm going to keep on enjoying last night - we have a special talent coming to Boston.

Man I am tired of all the 'house money' talk.  We are in the eastern conference finals.  i really hope our players aren't thinking, yeah we have over achieved enough, this was good enough, the cavs are so much more talented than us, we can't possibly fight back against Lebron he is so great. 

Screw that, get out there and compete, play with fire and energy, and for gods sake push back against those ****s and try to win the series.  The guys on our team who show that fight and don't let lebron get in their heads are the keepers.

I agree with you.  But I do think this team has played hard, and overachieved for the 2nd year in a row.  They'll put up a fight in a few of these games, though.  They just proved their mental toughness in two straight series.

[blink]

crimson, your position that we've been inconsistent in effort is a valid one that has been the case all season. We are playing with house money right now, though.  If we win a game or two, awesome.  But if we don't, we're still in prime position to be a very good-to-great team in the next few years.  I'm going to keep on enjoying last night - we have a special talent coming to Boston.

Man I am tired of all the 'house money' talk.  We are in the eastern conference finals.  i really hope our players aren't thinking, yeah we have over achieved enough, this was good enough, the cavs are so much more talented than us, we can't possibly fight back against Lebron he is so great. 

Screw that, get out there and compete, play with fire and energy, and for gods sake push back against those ****s and try to win the series.  The guys on our team who show that fight and don't let lebron get in their heads are the keepers.

I agree with you.  But I do think this team has played hard, and overachieved for the 2nd year in a row.  They'll put up a fight in a few of these games, though.  They just proved their mental toughness in two straight series.

I think they played hard in game 7 against wash, not so much against the caves in game one.  We played scared.

[86MaxwellSmart]

Start Jaylen Brown...CUT Amir Johnson.

[tarheelsxxiii]

crimson, your position that we've been inconsistent in effort is a valid one that has been the case all season. We are playing with house money right now, though.  If we win a game or two, awesome.  But if we don't, we're still in prime position to be a very good-to-great team in the next few years.  I'm going to keep on enjoying last night - we have a special talent coming to Boston.

Man I am tired of all the 'house money' talk.  We are in the eastern conference finals.  i really hope our players aren't thinking, yeah we have over achieved enough, this was good enough, the cavs are so much more talented than us, we can't possibly fight back against Lebron he is so great. 

Screw that, get out there and compete, play with fire and energy, and for gods sake push back against those ****s and try to win the series.  The guys on our team who show that fight and don't let lebron get in their heads are the keepers.

I agree with you.  But I do think this team has played hard, and overachieved for the 2nd year in a row.  They'll put up a fight in a few of these games, though.  They just proved their mental toughness in two straight series.

I think they played hard in game 7 against wash, not so much against the caves in game one.  We played scared.

They'll be okay.  We've done that vs. the Cavs more often than not, but have risen to the challenge all season.  Agree that we should start Jaylen - this is a great opportunity for his development.

[HICeltic]

Yes. If the C's started the game like they did in that small 3rd quarter showing of effort, the hole wouldn't have been so great from the get-go. Whether it's sustainable, I don't know, but they can't afford to have such terrible starts in this series.

I do think the starters (especially IT, short on shots and a couple FT's) were tired. Mentally, they need to be prepared to grind it out. Like KG, Perk, and PP said on Area 21, this Celtics team has grit. Too bad it wasn't on full display tonight, but I expect it to be back for game 2!

EDIT: More Jaylen please! He showed a lot of hustle with his rebounding, and poise for a rookie on a big stage. Didn't get intimidated like most of the team..

[LGC88]

TP Crimson.
He's 100% right.
If you think the 2008 Celtics won by talent only, you need to pay more attention to this sport.
It's through high energy level that this team won. KG made sure to trash the entire team during time outs if he saw the energy wasn't flowing.
Talent wins championship but it needs foundations. Energy, heart, passion, grit, whatever you call it, is the basis of this game. Without it you go nowhere. Look at the cavs on the defense event, how they play with a purpose. That's what give them the advantage first and Lebron could take over.

Now, I believe what happen in game 1 is due to lack of experience from this team. They simply  couldn't find the way how to approach this game from the start. Once it was over they found their rhythm.
This team will bounce back and play a great game, whatever the result and that's what I'm looking for.

[ImShakHeIsShaq]

Adam Himmelsbach ✔ @AdamHimmelsbach
Isaiah: "They had more energy than us and I mean it was obvious. They had a week or two off and we just went seven games."

[SparzWizard]

The Celtics need a Big 3 of their own to counter the Cavs' Big 3. That's how they'll beat Cleveland (and maybe Golden State).

[tazzmaniac]

Strong mental traits can't overcome the tremendous gulf in talent.    Boston can't beat Cleveland.    Too big, too much talent.

What imaginary world do you live in where Cleveland are too big?  Is there a guy over 6'10" on their roster?  Oh wait there is, Channing Frye...

* Kevin Love is 6'10" with short arms, he's the exact same size as Horford with a similar game
* Tristan Thompson is 6'9"
* Lebron is 6'8" - he's only got two inches and maybe 10 pounds on Crowder

This team is far from big.  They are no bigger then Boston is.  They just PLAY bigger, and that's the difference. 

They aren't too talented either.  Aside from Lebron, there is not a single guy on that team that has a talent advantage over his Celtics equivalent.

* Is Kyrie more talented then Thomas? No.
* Is Love more talented then Horford?  No.
* Is Thompson more talented then Olynyk? No.
* Is JR Smith more talented then Avery Bradley?  No.

This game result had NOTHING to do with talent and everything to do with attitude.  Boston played like they were scared. 

You can talk all you want about talent gaps, about size, about Lebron - but lets make one thing clear. 

Talent gaps do not explain why Boston allowed themselves to get dragged into 20+ point holes at least 3 times against the Wizards.

Lebron doesn't explain why Boston allowed them selves to go down 0-2 to the Bulls on their home court.

Boston had the best record in the East - they could use more talent, but they have enough to get it done if they play with heart and play with energy.   So far in these playoffs they have done that when they felt like it, and that's not going to cut it.

You can't just say "aside from Lebron".  Lebron is the massive talent advantage that the Cavs have.  We need a Durant, Kahwi level talent to match up with the Cavs talent wise.  Once we have that then attitude, which is driven by your stars, could put us over the top. 

Edit:  BTW, don't think getting Hayward or Griffin in free agency would get us to the Cavs level.