No Toughness. No Pride. Little Effort. No Nothing.

[vinnie]

This team right now is just dysfunctional.

Bass has completely fallen off a cliff, Courtney Lee has no-showed, Jeff is shaping up to be the comeback that never was, our frontcourt depth is a joke. As far as the main 3 - KG is 36, he is what he is now. Paul can be so frustrating at times when he goes into hero mode, and Rondo isn't suddenly going to morph into the transcendent talent like some think he well.

Rondo has taken too many nights off, when he was supposed to be up there in MVP voting this year. It's really tough to watch, especially as one of his biggest supporters. If things don't go his way, he gets into such a stubborn mode.

I honestly can't believe Brandon Bass has been this putrid. Jeff Green, is a guy who has had a negative +/- number every single year of his career, I wasn't expecting him to be a difference maker. Never would have thought Courtney Lee would be this bad. Thats about 20mil/year right there. Danny is going to have to work some magic, because this is a bad situation. Real bad.

eh the whole rondo taking nights off thing is a bit overblown this season.he may not be an mvp and has lapses on defense but he's been  consistent this year while no one else has.

Night off?  Rondo might have sucked a little bit in this one, but from what I saw he was working his dang tail off tonight.

34 minutes, 6 assists, 4 turnovers and 10 points.

[Q_FBE]

We played like a bunch of  women out there tonight. Until this team gets its it heart in the right place we are in trouble. I don t want tp hear any excuses. I want a win Saturday and then Sunday.

[snively]

Need a starting center. Collins playing 17 minutes and recording 1 stat (a rebound) isn't going to cut it. On a team with too much depth, Collins is now playing 20 minutes a game? I don't get it doc.

I want Bass back in there. He is the only big man on the team outside of KG that I remotely trust with regular minutes.

He's been so bad this season though.  Not hitting the J, extremely hesitant/tentative, bad rebounding, late rotations.

Not like I'm happy with the other options but I've lost my trust in Bass.

Bass has been knocking down 46% of his long two point jump shots. That is one of the best rates in the league for big men. He is doing his job.

I think Bass' defense and rebounding is pretty similar to what it was last season. His defense is just more exposed without Bradley out there alongside him. But for me, it's pretty much in line with what Bass was doing last season.

I guess I was off with the J, but his overall offensive performance is significantly down - less shots up, a 5% drop in TS%, less FTA.

He's scoring inefficiently and infrequently.

[diddybop]

This team right now is just dysfunctional.

Bass has completely fallen off a cliff, Courtney Lee has no-showed, Jeff is shaping up to be the comeback that never was, our frontcourt depth is a joke. As far as the main 3 - KG is 36, he is what he is now. Paul can be so frustrating at times when he goes into hero mode, and Rondo isn't suddenly going to morph into the transcendent talent like some think he well.

Rondo has taken too many nights off, when he was supposed to be up there in MVP voting this year. It's really tough to watch, especially as one of his biggest supporters. If things don't go his way, he gets into such a stubborn mode.

I honestly can't believe Brandon Bass has been this putrid. Jeff Green, is a guy who has had a negative +/- number every single year of his career, I wasn't expecting him to be a difference maker. Never would have thought Courtney Lee would be this bad. Thats about 20mil/year right there. Danny is going to have to work some magic, because this is a bad situation. Real bad.

eh the whole rondo taking nights off thing is a bit overblown this season.he may not be an mvp and has lapses on defense but he's been  consistent this year while no one else has.

Night off?  Rondo might have sucked a little bit in this one, but from what I saw he was working his dang tail off tonight.

I definitely agree as far as Rondo being the most consistent (along with KG) on a team of inconsistency right now. I love Rondo, but the lapses can be fairly maddening at times. And on nights like tonight where nobody really had anything going on offense except KG, I just wish he would attack the basket more and get to the line. He has been more aggressive ever since he came back from the suspension, but this team needs more of it at times. I guess he's just not built like that, and is too focused on trying to run the team.

I certainly shouldn't put blame on him, because he really needs some consistent support. I guess I was just expecting more from our best player, when everyone else took the night off.

[RJ87]

This team right now is just dysfunctional.

Bass has completely fallen off a cliff, Courtney Lee has no-showed, Jeff is shaping up to be the comeback that never was, our frontcourt depth is a joke. As far as the main 3 - KG is 36, he is what he is now. Paul can be so frustrating at times when he goes into hero mode, and Rondo isn't suddenly going to morph into the transcendent talent like some think he well.

Rondo has taken too many nights off, when he was supposed to be up there in MVP voting this year. It's really tough to watch, especially as one of his biggest supporters. If things don't go his way, he gets into such a stubborn mode.

I honestly can't believe Brandon Bass has been this putrid. Jeff Green, is a guy who has had a negative +/- number every single year of his career, I wasn't expecting him to be a difference maker. Never would have thought Courtney Lee would be this bad. Thats about 20mil/year right there. Danny is going to have to work some magic, because this is a bad situation. Real bad.

eh the whole rondo taking nights off thing is a bit overblown this season.he may not be an mvp and has lapses on defense but he's been  consistent this year while no one else has.

Night off?  Rondo might have sucked a little bit in this one, but from what I saw he was working his dang tail off tonight.

34 minutes, 6 assists, 4 turnovers and 10 points.

Eh, boxscore doesn't tell the whole story. I thought he was agressive and tried to push the tempo (12 fga in those 34 mins), but the whole team looked like they were in a funk.

And check out Chris Paul's stats from tonight, they're pretty similar overall.

[Celtics18]

This team right now is just dysfunctional.

Bass has completely fallen off a cliff, Courtney Lee has no-showed, Jeff is shaping up to be the comeback that never was, our frontcourt depth is a joke. As far as the main 3 - KG is 36, he is what he is now. Paul can be so frustrating at times when he goes into hero mode, and Rondo isn't suddenly going to morph into the transcendent talent like some think he well.

Rondo has taken too many nights off, when he was supposed to be up there in MVP voting this year. It's really tough to watch, especially as one of his biggest supporters. If things don't go his way, he gets into such a stubborn mode.

I honestly can't believe Brandon Bass has been this putrid. Jeff Green, is a guy who has had a negative +/- number every single year of his career, I wasn't expecting him to be a difference maker. Never would have thought Courtney Lee would be this bad. Thats about 20mil/year right there. Danny is going to have to work some magic, because this is a bad situation. Real bad.

eh the whole rondo taking nights off thing is a bit overblown this season.he may not be an mvp and has lapses on defense but he's been  consistent this year while no one else has.

Night off?  Rondo might have sucked a little bit in this one, but from what I saw he was working his dang tail off tonight.

34 minutes, 6 assists, 4 turnovers and 10 points.

I admitted that he sucked.

[Who]

Need a starting center. Collins playing 17 minutes and recording 1 stat (a rebound) isn't going to cut it. On a team with too much depth, Collins is now playing 20 minutes a game? I don't get it doc.

I want Bass back in there. He is the only big man on the team outside of KG that I remotely trust with regular minutes.

He's been so bad this season though.  Not hitting the J, extremely hesitant/tentative, bad rebounding, late rotations.

Not like I'm happy with the other options but I've lost my trust in Bass.

Bass has been knocking down 46% of his long two point jump shots. That is one of the best rates in the league for big men. He is doing his job.

I think Bass' defense and rebounding is pretty similar to what it was last season. His defense is just more exposed without Bradley out there alongside him. But for me, it's pretty much in line with what Bass was doing last season.

I guess I was off with the J, but his overall offensive performance is significantly down - less shots up, a 5% drop in TS%, less FTA.

He's scoring inefficiently and infrequently.

I think a lot of that comes from the lineups Bass has been in.

They are too many hands to feed offensively in that starting lineup with Jason Terry in there. Bass has been less involved. Less touches. Less shot attempts. In the 2nd unit too, Jeff Green and Jason Terry get most of the plays with Bass on the outskirts. Bass has regularly got the short end of the stick on offense this year.

Stick Bradley or Courtney Lee in that starting lineup instead of Terry and I believe Bass will feel a lot more involved and comfortable offensively. I believe his scoring efficiency and points per minute will show that. Once Bass is more involved.

[Celtics18]

I missed the first few minutes of the first due to that stupid overtime game between the Thunder and the Mavs.  They were already down fourteen by the time I started watching.

It was a 15 point game after three, I then missed the beginning of the fourth, and we were down 25 by the time I started watching again.  So, by my calculations, we only lost by four during the stretch that I saw. 

And, I actually liked the effort I saw during those forty minutes or so that I caught.  We didn't look all that great, but I thought the guys fought hard.

Disappointed in the end of the bench crew that was out there to finish the game.  Didn't think they closed it out with pride.

Loved the hard foul from Sully on Griffin.  I had no problem with the flagrant one; right call.  At first glance, it looked to me like Blake was complaining that the refs were contemplating even calling anything more than a regular, run of the mill hard foul.  It appeared to me that he was saying something along the lines of; "I'm good ref.  Just a hard foul." 

I can't stand Chris Paul, but I wouldn't mind finding a way to get Big Ginger in Green.

That Clips team looks nasty.  I could find myself rooting for them to come out of the West.

I don't really see a trade that will help what ails us right now.  I think the improvement needs to come from within. 

I still see it coming.

I have to ask. What have you seen in the last few weeks that says they are going to get better? They have lost 5 out of 7 games and they have played horribly in 4 of those losses. What am I missing?

It's hard to pinpoint right now.  I'll get back to you.

 

It came to me.

Three simple words:  Pierce.  Garnett.  Rondo.

In anticipation of the response that Pierce and Garnett are done, toast, washed up:

I almost believed that the first 6 or 7 seven times I heard it.  I'm not falling for it this time.  I'll believe it when it's all said and done.  Until then, I believe those guys got a little something left in them.

In anticipation of the response that Rondo is a petulant, spoiled, brat who sometimes gets too emotional and at other times finds it hard to get fully engaged, but always brings it when it matters the most:

That's just how I like the leader of this team to be.



I can't wait until the playoffs.  If the Celtics are in them, watch out league!

[Smitty77]

I guess holding Chris Paul to 3-11 shooting and only a 12 Efficiency Rating on his HOME COURT with a team on a 14 game winning streak is "TAKING A GAME OFF???"

Smitty77

[Galeto]

You know what's so frustrating to me about Doc's rest pattern with Garnett besides how much it reeks of trying to be too cute: it flies in the face of how important first quarters are to winning games.  Here's an article that broke down just that, well, that and how important the third quarter is too.  It's a good read.

http://www.82games.com/random11.htm

Up to last year, ever since KG arrived the Celtics used to be an excellent first quarter team.  I didn't break down point differential in their first quarters but here's their won-lost record in first quarters for the last three seasons:

2011: 49-30-3 (56-26 record) I call this the pre-Stupid KG Rest Pattern Era

2012: 33-30-3 (39-27 record) I call this the start of the Stupid KG Rest Pattern Era

2013: 11-15-1 (14-14 record)  I didn't record exactly how they've fared against good versus bad teams but predictably, they've been much worse against good teams.  They're 2-0 against the Wizards by the way.

I obviously haven't broken this information down much and maybe it's just all junk.  Maybe the fact that KG has played the fewest first and third quarter minutes of any essential starter (i.e. not Willie Green for instance) in the league means nothing.  I personally don't buy it.  If KG is going to get his 31 minutes ago, please let him play against starters more often, please. 

[Rtpas11]

This team needs a shakeup either a trade for Cousins or try out the Rooks.

Not sure about that Varnado signing if Fab is putting up similar to better #'s why isn't he with the team?

The common denominator is Doc Rivers. Danny finds him talent that he doesn't play. At this point ask yourselves would you have traded Etwaun Moore for what we got in return now? Hopefully this doesn't happen to Joseph or Melo.

Last but not least... Danny needs to give doc an ultimatum. There are plenty of good coaches available if the work performance continues to be poor.

[mctyson]

Need a starting center. Collins playing 17 minutes and recording 1 stat (a rebound) isn't going to cut it. On a team with too much depth, Collins is now playing 20 minutes a game? I don't get it doc.

I didn't watch the game but saw the box score.  The Jason Collins experiment has to end.  You can't play a guy 17 minutes and get literally nothing out of him.

I didn't expect them to win that game anyways.  They aren't ready for that kind of team on the road.  Get Golden State and Sac, come back 2-for-3 on the trip, and its a successful journey.

[celticinorlando]

This team is pathetic

[jdz101]

Vinnie just loves these games.

He rubs his hands together with glee and a little smile on his face and then unleashes the doom. 

[jbaerg]

Stop the PP Iso's! It's amazing when this team moves the friggen ball. I don't understand why we don't.