Notes from the Game Last Night....

[celticsnut]

I am a daily visitor to this forum, but typically try to keep my mouth shut because I can be very stubborn when it comes to the Celtics so I usually just like to read what others have to say. However, this will be my first post this season because I just need to get a few things off my chest.

I live in Charlotte and was at the game last night unfortunately. By the time the game was over I was telling the people around me that it would have been better if Pierce has missed that shot in regulation, because we didn't need an overtime game on the road front end of a back to back. With that being said, the loss hurt worse to me because it was in ovetime.

Before I saw the stat sheet, let me hash on my initial reaction to the game after seeing it first hand. For every good plan Rondo made, he made 2 or 3 terrible ones. There is one very easy way to beat us and its called the high screen and role. Rondo couldn't fight through or better yet didn't fight through any screens, and KG early in the game wouldn't show on the screen. Big Baby actually did a nice job showing on the screens and I was thoroughly impressed with the way the bench played even though they barely played. Ray came out firing and it looked like he was set for a big night, however Doc thought it necessary to play him 48 minutes so he lost his legs. I never took my eyes off Ray and in the 2nd half, he looked so tired. KG on the other hand makes me pretty much sick to my stomach. He is so soft sometimes. How does he continue to shoot fadeaways with Wallace and Diaw on him continually. Make what Mark Jackson would say "a grown mans move." I also can't quite figure it out, but Paul has been averaging about 25 a game for the last 7 and we have lost 5 of them. We seem to have better results when he is 4-11 for 13 points which makes no sense but it is what it is. I am ok with him taking 30 shots a game though to be quite honest. He is my most favorite player to watch in person seeing how methodical he is. Gerald Wallace is one of the best all around defenders in the league and Pierce had his way on the offensive end. My big issue with that is we ran zero sets for Paul in the overtime. The guy puts us on his shoulders in regulation and we go away from him in crunch time, makes sense to me.

The most frustrating thing about this current slump to me however boils down to 2 fundamental differences from last season. We somehow let bums from bad teams score on us (Turiaf, Belinelli, Blake, Wilson Chandler, Morrison, and Augustin). Lets be honest NBA players make tough shots, but what Morrison did last night in limited action was just disgusting. Our defensive efforts should be the same on everyone.

With everything being said, I am most frustrated with our execution in these loses. Not so much on the offensive end, but the defensive end. We could very easily have won all 7 of these games if we had executed in small stretches of the 4th quarters. This team never had a problem with this last year and that is what I am most bothered by. Doc needs to play the bench more and we need to get Marbury no matter what anyone says. I would love to see Pruitt play, I thought our team was great with him in there last night with Eddie at the off guard. Obviously our window is closing, but the big three, especially Ray and KG should not be playing more than 35 mins a game.

I would call tonight a must win, because if we don't, we are likely looking at potentially 4 loses in a row and 7 out of 9. If we do win though, I think we will beat the CAVS. Without Ilgauskas, they will struggle against us in my initial opinion. Either way this stretch is going to test the mental toughness of our team the rest of the season. I trust Danny will make a couple moves and I see Pierce putting the team on his shoulders in the next 10 to 20 game stretch. Look on the bright side, we are a half game out in the East and in the League and the Lakers have played 7 more home games than away games. We should be fine in the end, and believe me if I didn't think this was true I wouldn't say it, but it is obvious we are getting every teams best effort and we are very capable of putting together another double digit win streak.

GO CELTS! Doc play Gabe and Eddie together and limit the starters minutes a little bit and maybe Rondo won't turn the ball over 9 times tonight.

[DieselCeltic]

One of the most, intelligent posts I've ever read on RealGM. True class. Kudos.

btw. I absolutely agree with everything you've said.

[I love heinsohn]

Being gassed this early in the season is what worries me most. Not just PGA, but Rondo and Perk who are playing career highs in minutes. I think whatever move Danny is thinking about needs to come sooner rather than later. It is clear that Doc has no faith in the bench right now and this team desperately needs a spark from that spot. Hopefully TA comes back with his head straight and Rondo settles down. Either way this is still a solid 50+ win team, but the starters need to be rested going into the playoffs this year or Doc will have some big problems...

[cisco]

I hate to beat a dead horse, but we miss Posey a lot more than people realize. I think we win all those games against bad teams had we retained Posey. He allowed Doc to keep Ray and Paul's minutes down and there is no way Morrison would have gone off because Doc would be able to sit Ray and put Posey on Morrison. I know he's gone and there is nothing we can do about it now, but Ainge needs to get on the ball NOW and either trade for someone or bring up one of the rookies to spark this team.

[Tricky Ricky]

One of the most, intelligent posts I've ever read on RealGM. True class. Kudos.

btw. I absolutely agree with everything you've said.

X2, you should post here more

[Tricky Ricky]

I hate to beat a dead horse, but we miss Posey a lot more than people realize. I think we win all those games against bad teams had we retained Posey. He allowed Doc to keep Ray and Paul's minutes down and there is no way Morrison would have gone off because Doc would be able to sit Ray and put Posey on Morrison. I know he's gone and there is nothing we can do about it now, but Ainge needs to get on the ball NOW and either trade for someone or bring up one of the rookies to spark this team.

Agreed, I still prob wouldnt pay the money he got but we miss him sooooooo much right now. Hopefully Danny has some plan and it happens ASAP

[cisco]

I hate to beat a dead horse, but we miss Posey a lot more than people realize. I think we win all those games against bad teams had we retained Posey. He allowed Doc to keep Ray and Paul's minutes down and there is no way Morrison would have gone off because Doc would be able to sit Ray and put Posey on Morrison. I know he's gone and there is nothing we can do about it now, but Ainge needs to get on the ball NOW and either trade for someone or bring up one of the rookies to spark this team.

Agreed, I still prob wouldnt pay the money he got but we miss him sooooooo much right now. Hopefully Danny has some plan and it happens ASAP

I would have paid Posey the money. He is way more important than Danny gave him credit for, as I'm sure he is seeing now. Not only Posey's play, but his leadership was just as valuable. Ainge should not have been thinking about 2011. It's not like we have some young stud that will be able to carry the torch from 2011 and beyond and keep this championship reign going. He needed to plan for the Big 3's run and worry about 2011 later. It's not like Ainge had to keep Posey for all 4 years. He could have been traded to a contender in his final year as an expiring contract, a contract which would have been reasonable ($6-7 mil). What team wouldn't want to have a character guy like Posey on their bench for his final year as an expiring contract. I'm sure he would still be a useful player too. Epic fail by Ainge, imo.

Of course I reserve the right to change my mind about Ainge should he be able to get someone in here and fix the team's problems.

[MyInsatiableOne]

I am slowly starting to come around to the fact that we goofed on Posey...it seems Ainge thought he was Belichick and the C's were the Pats as far as cutting vets and still being able to win. In basketball with only 12 guys on a roster you're holes/flaws are MUCH more exposed than in football with 52 guys...

We are competitive, yes, but we need some help now, obviously...

[Dogen]

One of the most, intelligent posts I've ever read on RealGM. True class. Kudos.

btw. I absolutely agree with everything you've said.

X2, you should post here more

X3, good post and I agree with almost everything you said except Wilson Chandler is no bum. I live in NY and see him play regularly enough. He's an up and coming player. Wish the C's had him 'bout now.

[MyInsatiableOne]

x4...great post, very insightful!

[celticsnut]

Dogen, I do agree with you about Chandler. I use the term bums loosely, basically meaning we allow players who rarely perform against other teams beat up on us. Gerald Wallace is a great example. I think he is one of if not the most underrated players in the league. I have watched him for the last three seasons living in charlotte. He is a little too big for Pierce and he is too fast for Garnett so it creates a mismatch either way. I once saw someone post a topic about getting him. I would do it in a New York minute. We need a freaky athletic guy off the bench in the mold of a Josh Childress or Jared Jefferies, long athletic slasher. My biggest problem is I have no confidence in the team right now. I think we will play well tonight and Friday because Houston and Cleveland are very good. We tend to play to the competition as of late. I don't know if anyone remembers this play exactly, but with about 3 mins left, up 1 Felton fell over and Ray had a wide open three from the top of the key. He hits that we win, I am not blaming the game on him, but it shows how one possession can change the game. I also think he hits that if it wasn't his 41st minute in the game. And lastly, how many times this season has Eddie House tried to foul someone on a breakaway and they get the And 1. I think everyone in the Arena heard me cussing him last night after that play. Doc needs to bench players when they do foolish things like that.

[PPAW4Life]

I think the OP should post here more often too.

Good job!