They are what they are

[Banner18now!]

Right now this team is the fourth best team in the Atlantic Division. They haven't been able to beat a Philly team without it's best player. They have lost to the Nets twice and the Knicks look like they would crush the Celtics right now. Forget about Miami the Celtics have taken a step back while plenty of teams around them have taken steps forward.
That being said it's early and Bradley will help but unless they are able to pull off a trade getting them Josh Smith or another good big I just don't see how this team can stack up with the Nets, Knicks, and Heat. They have too many players that are average playing the same positions.

[dreamgreen]

I agree with that, but right now I see a bigger problem that does not seem to go away. They refuse to go to the hoop at the end of games. They keep jacking up twenty footers and wonder why they don't win, it is puzzling. On top of that they are the worse passing team I have ever seen, Doc has failed on teaching them how to pass the ball it is just awful!

[cman88]

this is a team that is built on defense...their problem(and the reason they have lost many of these games) is they arent giving 100% on defense for all 4 quarters.

you see stretches of dominant defense..but it only comes when they NEED to..and its all about effort.

this is where Bradley will help...there is no "giving up" posessions with that kid. he will hound the ball from the start helping us be more consistent starting out.

his hustle also seems to inspire his team-mates to play harder on defense as well.

I expect us to hover around 50-55% ball until January when bradley comes back

[cltc5]

im dumbfounded, but not hopeless yet.  I think Doc could do a better job with the lineups, sometimes they dont seem to compliment each other

[ctrey]

This team is not winning a championship this year. Period. Only one team in nearly twenty years came out of the gate this poorly and went on to win the Title. The 94-95 Rockets while Jordan was playing baseball. Right Now we would be the seventh seed.

Now I am sure everyone here will say that there are 63 games left and that we can end up higher. Fine, does anyone think we are catching New York? There is not a shred of evidence to say we will. If we finish second in the East, we would need help to at best be the third seed. Otherwise we would be the fifth seed which also has not won a title in over twenty years.

I am sorry but I do not see it. Pierce is clearly a full step slower. His shooting percentage is awful, opposing small forwards are torching us. Evan Turner had his best game of the season last night. Coincidence? I think not.

Jason Terry may get better but is not really a good fit on this team. They need to drastically reshape the way they play him. Particularly by letting him come off the bench and have the ball in his hands like he prefers to play.

I will admit it looks like Green is getting better. In fact I would argue we may want to think about starting him at the small forward position. I know this may get me tarred and feathered in Boston but Pierce over the last five games is averaging 18 per game on 37% shooting along with 16% from three. The man has no legs. The three point percentage is a dead give away. Green over the same span is putting up 13 per game on 52% and 50% from three. Green gets 12 minutes less per game.

Let me repeat, Pierce is averaging sixteen percent from three over the last five games. His shooting percentage overall is the worst of his career.

At twenty games (As of tonight) we should not have this nonsense being spouted that they "Need to get used to each other". Seriously? Is that the best argument anybody has?

Here is another one: They are slow as molasses at small forward, undersized at power forward and shooting guard and have a player playing out position at the center. One of the shooting guards (Courtney Lee) looks lost and another (Jason Terry) is a bad fit for the system we run. Thus we are one game over .500.

Look, I love the Celtics, I have been a fan for thirty years. I just want to be able to have a reasonable discussion about them. I want them to win desperately. I just do not see it happening this year. Sorry.

[Celtics18]

I agree that the Celtics "are what they are:"  A team struggling early in the season that has the talent and the experience to be a legitimate factor come post-season time.

[cman88]

the Knicks are 5 games ahead of us with over 63games to go...abit premature to say we "can never" catch them.... I remember hearing the same doom and gloom about us catching the sixers last year...The knicks will go through a slump at some point(like most teams do)

as for Terry/Garnett.

Terry is 5th in guards for FG% hard to say he "doesnt fit our system..ok he had one bad game last night. but otherwise he has been solid and consistent for us....he's just playing less minutes so his PPG arent what they were in Dallas. and the reason we are starting him is because right NOW he is the best option at SG..once bradley comes back he will go back to his bench role.

Kevin Garnett is NOT out of position at center...fact of the matter is that now-adays he IS a center. Would you say the Spurs are playing Duncan out of position??? he doesnt have the quickness to go up against PF's these days...but against slow-footed centers KG has a clear advantage offensively


its time to take a step back and not push the panic meters of over-reaction over a 1point loss where we held the opposing team to 37% field goals...funny how if Pierce or KG make those layups and everyone here would be saying how "great the C's are" and how we "turned it around!"