I have a bad feeling about our Feb schedule...

celticdude69 · Post #1 » by **celticdude69** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:10 pm

We could very well go below .500 on our Feb games. Guys, check the schedule. Maybe, .300-.400. I hate to say this but blowing out opponents night in and night out are the days of the past.

Doc better come up with his genius. Halfway through this season, I think we've established that we're an elite team and other teams already know what to expect from us. We got talent and experience and at this point, it really comes down to making adjustments and counteracting what the other team is doing. Against well-coached teams, talent alone is not going to cut it. I find the Orlando game depressing. Yeah, we didn't have KG but with Pierce and Ray Allen had a decent game. Shooting percentages are about even, Orlando had twice as many turnovers and we still lost! Something tells me we got out-coached on this one.

Or I could always blame the refs, LOL!

Post #2 » by **canman1971** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:13 pm

They'll be fine. .300? Are you serious. God, a last second loss on a prayer of a shot and this team stinks all of a sudden. This team will step up when playing good teams. That I guarantee.

EvadedHavoc · Post #3 » by **EvadedHavoc** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:19 pm

Reactionary Thread Of The Year Candidate.

celticdude69 · Post #4 » by **celticdude69** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:23 pm

EvadedHavoc wrote:Reactionary Thread Of The Year Candidate.

No, this isn't a reaction to the Orlando game. Check out how it is the last 10 games. Then, compare our Jan schedule with the Feb schedule. You'll see what I mean.

Post #5 » by **UGA Hayes** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:25 pm

Eh I don't think its a coincidence that once we started getting injuries we started picking up losses. I don't expect that to change.

celticdude69 · Post #6 » by **celticdude69** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:26 pm

canman1971 wrote:They'll be fine. .300? Are you serious. God, a last second loss on a prayer of a shot and this team stinks all of a sudden. This team will step up when playing good teams. That I guarantee.

canman, you bring up a good point. Maybe, this team is on cruise control and will step up when playing elite teams. I hope you're right.

Post #7 » by **Bleeding Green** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:42 pm

The Celtics don't even have to win 10 more games to make the playoffs.

Last year the Celtics went .300. You must be high.

BrokenLeftyJumper · Post #8 » by **BrokenLeftyJumper** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:47 pm

Sign #1 that you know absolutely nothing about the sport of basketball:
"when your favorite team loses, it was invariably either the fault of the referees or the coach."

Dakid21KG · Post #9 » by **Dakid21KG** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 10:53 pm

This team knows when it has to play, your telling me they wont be pumped up to take on the "big bad" west? They want to kill them so bad its not even funny. They have those game circled on the calender, they look foward to it. Thats what the sport is about

celticdude69 · Post #10 » by **celticdude69** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:00 pm

BrokenLeftyJumper wrote:Sign #1 that you know absolutely nothing about the sport of basketball:
"when your favorite team loses, it was invariably either the fault of the referees or the coach."

I think you completely missed the point that I was trying to hammer. The season is halfway and teams have scouted the Celtics and have made adjustments on how to counter them. Now, we have to make adjustments. When two elite teams play, the coaching has a bigger role in the outcome.

Post #11 » by **darrendaye** » Sun Jan 27, 2008 11:53 pm

celticdude69 wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

I think you completely missed the point that I was trying to hammer. The season is halfway and teams have scouted the Celtics and have made adjustments on how to counter them. Now, we have to make adjustments. When two elite teams play, the coaching has a bigger role in the outcome.

Unless you can qualify these "adjustments" with examples, it's conjecture. What my untrained eye had observed has been a recent run of poorly executed offense and more down energy games than were present during the first month or so of the season. I don't recogize any adjustments that the opposition has made to affect Ray Allen missing more open shots than we would expect. I don't recognize any adjustments that the opposition has made to affect Pierce's at or near career lows in FTA per FGA, highlighting a tendancy to shoot more perimeter shots than his career MO as a slasher and contact seeker.

All that said, while they lost today and were dangerously close to a loss to a young team on Friday, personally, I see these last 2 games as positives insofaras Pierce's return to his scoring role as penetrator.

By all means, supply some tidbits for us to chew on if you have them.

chakdaddy · Post #12 » by **chakdaddy** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 12:59 am

It's certainly no stretch to think we could go under .500 next month, this has been the easiest stretch of schedule the whole year and we've gone even .500 - with 2 victories coming despite horrid play.

I'd call the Philly, Portland, and Orlando games the only good games since Detroit.

Today was actually a good sign, kept it close with a good team on the road, without KG.

billfromBoston · Post #13 » by **billfromBoston** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 2:25 am

chakdaddy wrote:It's certainly no stretch to think we could go under .500 next month, this has been the easiest stretch of schedule the whole year and we've gone even .500 - with 2 victories coming despite horrid play.

I'd call the Philly, Portland, and Orlando games the only good games since Detroit.

Today was actually a good sign, kept it close with a good team on the road, without KG.

...they've been close in every game with the exception of the Charlotte game...all of these game have been winnable..they just need to improve their offensive execution...

PDXKnight · Post #14 » by **PDXKnight** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:11 am

You guys have been incredible this season as a whole and while the Celtics have had a recent slump if that's what you want to call it, there's no way your team goes under .500 in february unless KG, Paul, and Allen all get injured. This team has a lot of experienced players and I have no doubt in my mind that the Celtics will manage to pull out a winning month of february.

Al n' Perk No Layups! · Post #15 » by **Al n' Perk No Layups!** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:29 am

I believe the correct response to this thread is "Frickin ballboy!"

Post #16 » by **shackles10** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:51 am

It would take us losing against Dallas AND Miami for us to be .500 for the month. Currently in this lousy month we've had if you extrapolate that out to an entire season we'd still be first in the division and 3rd in the conference. So yea, it hasn't been at the pace we started the season with, but we've had injuries, and even then it hasn't been as bad as one might think.

chakdaddy · Post #17 » by **chakdaddy** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 3:59 pm

billfromBoston wrote:-= original quote snipped =-

...they've been close in every game with the exception of the Charlotte game...all of these game have been winnable..they just need to improve their offensive execution...

Close games against 10 mediocre opponents in a row is not acceptable...

BrokenLeftyJumper · Post #18 » by **BrokenLeftyJumper** » Mon Jan 28, 2008 4:16 pm

Close games against 10 mediocre opponents in a row is not acceptable...

A 10-0 record with a 20 point differential in those games is the only thing that is acceptable right? I think the Patriots and the Celtics start to this season got some peoples heads considerably gassed.

The Celtics had an outstanding start to the season, they are just coming back to down to earth a little bit. That doesn't mean they aren't a title contender, they certainly are, and I think that's all we can ask for at the end of the day.

The 72 wins, the best record of all-time, the night-in and night-out dominance, that's not gonna be the norm, so just forget about it, or continue being disappointed because of unrealistic expectations.