now we have a problem !!

[ParticleMan]

You guys are hilarious. Doc has rubbed all of your expert noses in it for 60 some odd games. But it is the two games that he obviously was experimenting with lineups that prove you right.

QFT

Maybe you missed the fact that we are 5 (effectively 6) games up on anyone for the best record in the league. We are in playoff tuneup mode, and we have to figure out who are 8-9 man rotation is going to be. 7 are pretty set but the bigs are still up in the air, and Tony Allen's spot is too. Frankly, most of the time, the bench has done very well, last night it fell on its face against a team playing desperate basketball. This was a good experience for the bench because it was playoff intensity. It's better to have these growing/learning experiences now than in the playoffs.

Doc, as he's done most of his Celtics tenure, is looking at a bigger picture than winning one game. When he's decided he has to win, the team has done it, like in the Texas sweep. Now, the goal is a bit different.

[tombattor]

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If those bench players are going to be playing together in the playoffs, fine. However, Doc has said that isn't going to be the case. I'd rather he focus on bench combos that he might actually use in a game.

The reason those bench players are playing together without any of the big 3 is so they can learn to execute offense and score on their own without the big 3 to bail them out.

Come on man. We both know that to the Celtics, the next 12 games don't mean that much. We have a 5 game lead on the Pistons with the tie-breaker. We need to go 6-6 while the Pistons go undefeated rest of the way for us to have the 2nd best record in the league.

[Collinto]

It's funny how we all see things differently. I have heard Mike bring up in each of the last two games that Doc has said he is not going to rest the starters to get them rest before the playoffs...and have noticed that the starters seem to have decided to rest anyway...on the court.

I don't see it as any big deal. I think the bench will be shortened so much during the playoffs that KG/Pierce/Allen's playoff intensity will be fine and carry everyone else along. These are the dog days, 70+- games in, coming off a 5game/8 day road trip. These things happen. Talk to me game 1 of the playoffs, when KG is screaming about 16 wins to immortality!

[bceltic55]

No time to panic. Doc is resting the big three and trying to get SC & PJ into the flow. He is experimenting and with our lead he can. If we continue to falter two more game, then I will start to worry, but for now let him experiment.

[MyInsatiableOne]

No time to panic. Doc is resting the big three and trying to get SC & PJ into the flow. He is experimenting and with our lead he can. If we continue to falter two more game, then I will start to worry, but for now let him experiment.

Ahhhhh, the voice of reason.

And after beating a very good Phoenix last night, I think we can all relax now, right overreactive C's fans???

[JCizzle]

55-15

You can claim it's not a reactionary post, but it is.

Unless it is 70-0, there is always room for improvement. That is the attitude of a Champion, not "we're pretty good, lets stop adjusting".

[tombattor]

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Unless it is 70-0, there is always room for improvement. That is the attitude of a Champion, not "we're pretty good, lets stop adjusting".

Yes, there is room for improvement, but there is absolutely nothing to complain about with 55-15 and a 5 game lead in the standings. That's the attitude of a champion. Don't care about the style, as long as you are in first place.

[JCizzle]

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Yes, there is room for improvement, but there is absolutely nothing to complain about with 55-15 and a 5 game lead in the standings. That's the attitude of a champion. Don't care about the style, as long as you are in first place.

IMO the attitude should ALWAYS be how can we improve? What are we doing wrong? Hell, I'm no Pats fan, but look at their motto during their 5 year spurt. Players like Tom Brady will look at an outstanding performance and only focus on the minute screw up. I suppose as a fan you could make that argument, but the OP seemed to have a well thought out beef (not something simplistic like "bench Ray, he sucks!").

[thefoulness]

It's true that with the exception of one game (maybe just one shot!) Sam I Am has stunk up the joint. Mostly, Eddie House is a better option and better player. But we didn't get Sam to help us in these games. We got him to specifically help against Detroit, when Rondo is out and Detroit puts Lindsay Hunter in the game to hound our point guard. Sam will go in and can handle that.

We can't look at Doc's minutes with Sam and PJ now as being what they'll be in the playoffs. We already clinched. Doc needs to get those guys ready. I'd like to see Sam play better (PJ has been as excpeted, which is not great but pretty good, IMO), but he was still a great, great pickup, exactly what we needed.

[GoGoCeltics]

I would agree that a champion is always looking to improve, but WE are not the players or staff. Misery loves company; whenever something goes wrong everyone starts to whine about it. You'll notice that game threads for losses have more posts than games won.

It is a reactionary topic in the sense that after a few losses everyone freaks out, even though we have no control over what happens. We as fans thrive on negativity for some reason, and instead of focusing on the positive we run online to whine about things.

I guess that's how it goes.

[MyInsatiableOne]

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Unless it is 70-0, there is always room for improvement. That is the attitude of a Champion, not "we're pretty good, lets stop adjusting".

Agreed, but champions are also not delusional, thinking they'll be undefeated and never lose or have bad games.

[JCizzle]

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Agreed, but champions are also not delusional, thinking they'll be undefeated and never lose or have bad games.

I dunno about that, sometimes they just work differently than the rest of the players in the league.

[MyInsatiableOne]

True, I suppose...another way of looking at it!

Still I think we're in good shape heading into the playoffs!

[tombattor]

Does it really matter whether we lose 12 or 15 regular season games, as long as we win the title at the end?