Anyone else bothered by....

PPAW4Life · Post #1 » by **PPAW4Life** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:02 am

...getting down double digits? I most certainly am...especially at home. Where is our home dominance this year? Our sense of urgency? Yeah I know other teams are coming at us with everything and the kitchen sink but come on....we've been in too many games where we seem to fall behind and I think rotation and resting the Big 3 is a big part of that.

I can't remember anytime last year where Doc didn't have at least one of the Big 3 in with the 2nd unit whenever they were out there. This year he is sitting the Big 3 all at the same time.....it's mind boggling. We don't have to go for 70 wins but we still should strive for best record overall to get HC for the Finals.

Post #2 » by **Bleeding Green** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 7:27 am

Nope. Call me when they start losing and aren't on pace to win 71 games.

Triple M · Post #3 » by **Triple M** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 10:21 am

I have no problem with Doc resting Paul/KG/Ray more often then last year, the NBA season is a war of attrition. If it means we have a few more loses to help keep the big 3 rested and the bench playing consistent come the 2nd season then it is worth it, because the goal as we all know is # 18 and not other #'s like ppg, Regular season wins, ect.

Dave_From_NB · Post #4 » by **Dave_From_NB** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 1:47 pm

KG, RA, PP played 38, 39, and 40 minutes respectively last night, which is on the high side against a West team. No problem with them playing big minutes if we're playing Cleveland, Detroit, LAL, or Orlando because of home court implications, but everyone else in the league I think the minutes should be kept down.

Bench had a bad 2'nd quarter rotation, but they've been playing well recently. They got caught up in trying to outscore the opposition rather than shutting them down, and while our starters can play that game, our bench can't.

Post #5 » by **ParticleMan** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 2:34 pm

Amazingly, despite the up and down of this team early on, I have a LOT more confidence than last year that they can overcome any deficit. Last year it always seemed like they were fighting themselves, especially early on, and again early in the playoffs. This year it's like they stray sometimes from what they do best, but then they remember, and it's all good again. I also have a lot more confidence in them executing in close games, something they didn't do well last year. I think last year they felt like they had to blow everyone out by 20 because if it got to be a tight game they didn't have the experience of playing together to pull it out. Now they do, so they relax a bit more. That's a much better situation to be in.

As for the mins, you never know when you have to play the big 3 big mins. i certainly didn't expect them to sit the entire 4th against detroit, or play most of the 4th against the W's. but they won both times, so that's the way it goes, you never know on any given night what's going to happen, and it's always good to win.

Post #6 » by **UGA Hayes** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 3:25 pm

The only thing I have really been worried about this year was KG poor start. Even though he still looks a step slow and dead legged to me, his numbers seem to be rebounding so that is encouraging. I guess my other concern is injury. We are having a prety extraordinary run of good luck on this front. Only Perk seems to flirt with the injury bug and even he has improved.

Bad-Thoma · Post #7 » by **Bad-Thoma** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 8:50 pm

Bleeding Green wrote:Nope. Call me when they start losing and aren't on pace to win 71 games.

Yeah, put me on speed dial then too, for now I am happily confident in this team.

Post #8 » by **canman1971** » Thu Nov 27, 2008 11:32 pm

I am concerned with the final results and nothing else. I don't care how pretty or ugly the games are. Just wins baby. This team is doing the same thing as last year, but with a much, much more difficult schedule early on. ESPN and all their moron experts can drool over the Lakers or whoever. The Cs are the best and until someone proves otherwise it will remain that way.

PPAW4Life · Post #9 » by **PPAW4Life** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 3:23 am

Yea we're still winning games but we're giving the impression to other teams that we're beatable. We need to start blowing guys out at home and then rest our starters.....our bench needs to play but if it costs us HC in the playoffs its not worth it IMO.

GuyClinch · Post #10 » by **GuyClinch** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 1:59 pm

I am "bothered" by it I suppose. What it means is that the C's aren't as good as their record indicates. Good teams kill their lessor opponents and beat the better ones. Point differential matters just as much as record with regards to projecting a teams championship chances.

The C's had the highest point differential last year - and the best record so it's not surprising they won. Right now though they are way behind the lakers in point differential.

Kids Are Alright · Post #11 » by **Kids Are Alright** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 9:19 pm

UGA Hayes wrote:The only thing I have really been worried about this year was KG poor start. Even though he still looks a step slow and dead legged to me, his numbers seem to be rebounding so that is encouraging. .

Ditto. He's logged a lot of NBA miles and he's maybe lost some ups. I hope its just a devil's advocate syndrome.

Dave_From_NB · Post #12 » by **Dave_From_NB** » Fri Nov 28, 2008 9:29 pm

PPAW4Life wrote:Yea we're still winning games but we're giving the impression to other teams that we're beatable.

I'm not sure you're correct, although I'm not sure how we prove it. My feeling is that when we play with a team for the first half, and blow them out of the arena with an explosion in the 3'rd, that we promote a feeling that if the Celts turn it on, they're unbeatable. Did Toronto go into the 2'nd game thinking the Celtics could be beat, or that they were unbeatable?