What's wrong with the Celtics?

[Birdman]

And reality is setting in

[timpiker]

Actually I think nothing is wrong with the C’s.  I think the winning streak fooled us into thinking they were special ... and they’re not

[Chris22]

It looks to me like we just needed some rest.

[EJPLAYA]

Marcus Morris shooting off the bench is crucial to this team. He's been the only consistent one as Rozier and smart are off and on. If he he's back healthy you'll see another long streak again soon. If he doesn't we need to find a bench scorer to come in and make a difference. A Jamal Crawford type.

[GreenFaith1819]

Nothing.

I had a feeling that they'd drop off some.

No worries.

I still believe they can crack 50.

[konkmv]

Hayward injured for the rest of the season..10-11 new players.. The team has played too many games, more than anyone... 2 of 4 centerpieces are under 21... and still a top 6 team in the league.. we are just fine... calm down and enjoy...

[DefenseWinsChamps]

I think the last page of comments did not read the OP or subsequent comments.

[mctyson]

They are broken.

[tarheelsxxiii]

They're fine.  Defense stinks, rebounding is down, and they're young.  But the schedule has been brutal.  And again, it doesn't matter... they're probably 2nd best in the East this season, which is right where they should be.  Had our starters stepped up, we would've won this game.  And it's meaningless in the large scheme of things.

[mctyson]

They're fine.  Defense stinks, rebounding is down, and they're young.  But the schedule has been brutal.  And again, it doesn't matter... they're probably 2nd best in the East this season, which is right where they should be.  Had our starters stepped up, we would've won this game.  And it's meaningless in the large scheme of things.

Completely disagree.  They are losing to teams with less talent.  And more importantly, they are cratering in the 4th quarter, when that was their best moment early on. 

[Rondo9]

They're fine.  Defense stinks, rebounding is down, and they're young.  But the schedule has been brutal.  And again, it doesn't matter... they're probably 2nd best in the East this season, which is right where they should be.  Had our starters stepped up, we would've won this game.  And it's meaningless in the large scheme of things.

Completely disagree.  They are losing to teams with less talent.  And more importantly, they are cratering in the 4th quarter, when that was their best moment early on.

And how much is due to tired legs from the schedule. The Celtics played more games than most of the league, it's actually shocking that they are still one of the best teams.

[bopna]

We have been allowing teams to outrebound us.
We have been allowing teams to score at times up to 10 possessions in a row. happening to everygame right now.
We have been less than 500 team in ourlast 10 games.
morris was very rusty. This team really suffers when the bench mob does not contribute( if Al and rozier do not score more than 10 we are in trouble.)

[Csfan1984]

The defense has really fallen off. The good defenders are too agressive and the bad ones have lost effort. Just look at the technique and effort. You know they need a few practices and a couple of team video sessions on it. It's a bunch wrong at both spectrums.

On offense there is less flow. Seems like too much is being run through Al and Irving. Teams just attack them physically as soon as they get into the half court, disrupting timing and space. At the beginning of the year Irving and Horford were more off the ball. Others created more for them through passing as they were the finishers. Kept teams off balance. Over time it became obvious that sets run through them were more successful and the team started differing to that. But now it's only that or a player drives to the rim kind of easy to guard. Need to get back to team offense instead of playmaker offense. Get everyone easier buckets and more shots in the paint that in turn become more fts and better fg%.

The bench as a whole is confused not simply that their shots aren't falling but their roles and to who exactly leads.

The bad defense and bad movement on offense puts guys in terrible position to rebound. So rebounding has dropped. It's that simple. On D if you keep your man in front he is easy to box out on a defensive rebound. While on offense if you are moving guys to open lanes/ spots they force a a rotation and a guy is free to attack the offensive glass or the shooter himself can follow his own shot.


This stuff is fundamental. BS and this team should stop messing around and get back on track.

[CelticSooner]

This time last season they were 18-13. It's a long long season (too long IMO) and teams take dips up and down. C's aren't as bad as they look right now. They'll get it back together eventually. Getting back to the ECF is the ceiling unless the bench improves ALOT.

[KGs Knee]

I think the simple answer is defensive effort.

The Celtics' issues run deeper than that, but the biggest issue does seem to be the team just isn't playing as hard on defense as they were during their winning streak.