Official Boston Celtics Team Thread

[Cappy37 0]

but I don't know if that will be as hilarious as Starbury having to eat KG's alpha dog shit day in day out. Either way, it would be funny.

I agree with this.Also: if they get Marbury, does that mean Eddie House no longer gets to take the last second shots? <ducks>

[Jadaki 0]

I agree with this.Also: if they get Marbury, does that mean Eddie House no longer gets to take the last second shots? <ducks>

Isn't House already enough like Starbury anyway that they don't need a second one there?

[chgocubs99 0]

How much talent does he really bring to the table at this point?

[Jadaki 0]

How much talent does he really bring to the table at this point?

He is good at buying a seat close to the bench and making phone calls for 2 hours straight.

[Cappy37 0]

Isn't House already enough like Starbury anyway that they don't need a second one there?

Yes, but...

How much talent does he really bring to the table at this point?

He doesn't need to bring much, truthfully. And it's not like Ray or Pierce or KG is gonna get "distracted" by Marbury's antics. It isn't going to cost the Celtics enough to bring him in.It's almost more of a defensive move: By signing Marbury, they keep the Cavs/Magic/etc. from signing him, other teams that field great starting 5s but lack any real depth on the roster.

[slt1der 0]

Isn't House already enough like Starbury anyway that they don't need a second one there?

It's been mentioned on some blogs that House and Starbury have some sort of personal feud going on too, which makes this move (if it goes through) the more interesting. I would have thought the C's would be looking for guys who can replace PJ Brown and Posey.

[BigDMcGee 3,352]

How much talent does he really bring to the table at this point?

I listen to alot of New York sports talk ( mostly Max Kellerman) and they keep saying that talent isn't the Issue, that Steph is still talented and still can play, that is not why he's on the bench. He's just a cancer ( and has a personal beef with D'antoni, god knows why, because I can't think of a system Steph's style is more suited towards.)

[Jadaki 0]

( and has a personal beef with D'antoni, god knows why, because I can't think of a system Steph's style is more suited towards.)

Truf

[Cappy37 0]

I would have thought the C's would be looking for guys who can replace PJ Brown and Posey.

Well of course! But there's none of those guys floating around on the waiver wire. CELTICS SIGN KEITH VAN HORN AND SEAN ELLIOT!The above headline is about as close to PJ Brown and Posey as the celtics are gonna get without actually giving up something significant.

[fleung22 1]

hmm...just read about the Marbury trade possibility. Seems like the Boston coach/players are kind've forced to say positive things but I wonder how much hesitance is behind those words.My guess is that if it happens the Celtics organization will try to make Marbury look like Rasheed in Detroit.Marbury probably won't start unless Rondo or Allen get injured but how much do you pay a bench player? Can his ego even handle it?? Does he play 20 or 30 min!?

[keith crime 8]

jesus what happened to them?

[Jadaki 0]

jesus what happened to them?

Just the thought of bring Steph on board is killing them. That's a whole new level of team disruption...

[FCP Bob 1,312]

Garnett is nuts and you can only tolerate crazy for so long on a team without it wearing you down. That and the fact that the roster just isn't that good. The team is old and doesn't have a lot of depth and losing a player like Posey was a lot more important than people realize.http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=A...o&type=lgns

Fueled by emotion, Celtics running on emptyBy Adrian Wojnarowski, Yahoo! Sports CLEVELAND – As the final indignities of one more stunningly embarrassing evening ended for the Boston Celtics, a predictable picture played out on the bench: The Celtics’ stars sitting for garbage time, blank stares, listening to the surround sound of a Kevin Garnett lecture. On one knee, his back to the Cavaliers, Garnett barked a private plan to Paul Pierce and Ray Allen about a return to glory.As much as anyone, KG’s voice rules these Celtics. They play at his speed, his fever pitch and ultimately rise and fall with the tone of his talent. When the Celtics were the most destructive there was a grudging acceptance of Garnett’s relentless ramblings on the floor, his penchant for starting small skirmishes. His greatest gift can be his greatest burden. Sometimes, these Celtics can be exhausting to everyone else. Sometimes, they’re just exhausting to themselves.As LeBron James passed Boston in the break-down lane on Friday night, dropping 38 points and the Celtics behind the Cavs in the Eastern Conference standings, the defending champions are basketball’s most perplexing problem.From a 27-2 start and a candidate to chase 70 victories, the Celtics have transformed into free-fall losers of seven of nine games. This has spiraled from a bad run for these Celtics to something far more damning: a crisis of identity. Around the NBA, officials are wondering: With a bad bench and an aging lineup, did the Celtics suddenly reach an expiration date as a championship favorite?With so many suggesting that the Celtics are physically worn, here’s something else to consider: How about emotionally exhausted? This is the blessing and curse of KG. He’s a dervish of barking and bickering, yelling at everyone and no one. Night after night, he works himself into a frenzy to play the game. He seldom relaxes on the court, on the charters. Sometimes, he’ll just sit up wired on long flights home. If he doesn’t sleep, Doc Rivers once said, no one sleeps.This has trickled down on the team, too. Pierce is incorrigible on the court. No one talks like him. Opponents have grown angry over the way that even the marginal Celtics seem so emboldened to behave this way, too. All in all, emotion fueled a ferocity for these Celtics, but it’s hard to believe that passion could sustain itself in the long run.“If you keep punching your gas pedal as hard as you can, all the time, eventually you’re going to run out of gas,” one rival NBA general manager said. “You can only do that hype and talking for so long. You have to maintain a pace and a certain emotional level to stay up there for a long time. You can’t scream non-stop forever.”More and more, the Celtics are dependent on Garnett, Pierce and Allen to carry them. Rajon Rondo has struggled lately. The Celtics are susceptible to bigger frontlines. The bench is killing them. They need help, but there’s little on the way. As history’s shown, Stephon Marbury’s arrival destroys basketball franchises. This has been incredible. The mere suggestion of Starbury has blown up Boston. Truth be told, Marbury will probably never be freed in New York.What GM Danny Ainge wants is a shooter off the bench, but he’s struggling to find one. League sources say he made a bid for the Orlando Magic’s J.J. Redick recently, a guard he’s long coveted, but an offer of J.R. Giddens and Gabe Pruitt couldn’t come close to prying Redick. What’s more, Orlando isn’t motivated to fortify the Celtics. Suddenly, the Magic believe they can beat Boston. League executives say Ainge has become more persistent this week in searching out deals, but as a Western Conference executive said, “He just doesn’t have any players that anyone wants.”Rivers insists he saw slippage late in the 19-game winning streak to suggest this slide was inevitable. As long as his boss gets him a boost on the bench, he’s trying to sell this sputter as a blessing. The Celtics appear destined to lose home court in the conference finals to Cleveland – and maybe Orlando, too – but Rivers had seen some of his players growing complacent, comfortable, and now he sees the sobering realization that’s washed over his locker room.“This team hasn’t gone through anything,” Rivers said. “It’s been very easy for us. Sometimes you have to go through something to get to something. This team hasn’t. Last year we didn’t have this at all. And I was extremely concerned going into the playoffs. That was my one concern. We hadn’t been tested. We breezed through the season.“Well, we can’t say that this year. We have gone through something. You find out a lot about your guys when you go through stretches like this … who wants to fight … who folds. So, it’s good for everybody.”Suddenly, Boston isn’t so brazen. They aren’t so bold. This has been a champion that’s inspired a good deal of dislike around the NBA. Teams found them ungracious and unkind. Truth be told, they found them to be downright nasty.“How you shut us up is you beat us,” Sam Cassell said. “That’s how you shut us up. The Knicks shut us up…Cleveland shut us up–nine teams shut us up. Beat us and you can shut us up.”Nine teams and counting for the Celtics. They’re no longer chasing 70 victories and the Jordan Bulls this season. Now, they’re chasing LeBron and the Cavaliers. Out of nowhere, an identity crisis for the champions. As the rival GM said, you can’t just scream forever.

[Cappy37 0]

You can't really blame Boston, they did manage to win one of their last 5 games outside of the WNBA Eastern Conference.

[babylondonks 5]

I've only glanced through this thread but things don't look good, I promise to never go on holidays again if this is what happens. I'm gone for another week or so, would somebody cliffnote me of what has happened since the christmas day game, thanks.

[Jadaki 0]

I've only glanced through this thread but things don't look good, I promise to never go on holidays again if this is what happens. I'm gone for another week or so, would somebody cliffnote me of what has happened since the christmas day game, thanks.

It pretty much comes down to they aren't moving the ball like they were earlier in the season on offense. They went from being one of the best passing teams in the league to a team that was trying to go one on one too much. It looks like guys were trying to step up and carry the team but it was doing more harm than good.

[hype21 0]

Celtics are om a streak of 11 right now.. I hope this continues through the allstar breakGo! Celtics!

[babylondonks 5]

Umm weeeeeeeeeee vs. Minnesota. So nice to watch the Celtics D-League farm team in action. Al Jefferson should be an all-star though, no question. Dude is the best low post player in the game right now, pity he isn't as commited to the defensive end though. Nice to see Tony Allen back and playing minutes, he's always been a binky of mine, just wish he could get his head into the game a bit more. Game against the Lakers ought to be good, though I'm bummed that they're going to pull out the old "We'd win with Bynum" excuse

[babylondonks 5]

Man I love this team. Absolutely amazing game winner by Ray (as well as the dagger trey with about 30 seconds left) and an excellent pass by Pierce. I maintain that Doc is one of the best coaches in the league in regards to drawing up a play out of a timeout (though it is easier when you have so many good players of course). Nice to see Big Baby play a major role too, with a big double double in 41 minutes. Bring on LA!

[fleung22 1]

I find it shocking a team could have two 10+ winning streaks but have that sick downswing in the middle. So are we seeing normal right now or are the Cs gonna burn themselves out by playoff time?

[babylondonks 5]

I find it shocking a team could have two 10+ winning streaks but have that sick downswing in the middle. So are we seeing normal right now or are the Cs gonna burn themselves out by playoff time?

Well, I was on holiday during the losing streak, so as long as I don't go away again everything should be okay :PBy the end of the streak though, we weren't playing the same basketball that got us the winning streak in the first place, and the loss to LA was a good wake-up call to continue to play with the fire that was coming through earlier on. The other thing I noticed was that Perkins got injured around then, and that made it really tough on the Celtics because he anchors the defense. He is an excellent blitzer/recoverer on the pick and roll and is the muslce in the paint next to KG's athleticism. They fit very well with each other and communicate incredibly well on the defensive end. I'm quite annoyed about the flagrant foul a few games ago though, as it really reinforces the image of Perkins as a worthless nobody who just beats up his opponents, when he'd been working hard on lowering his tech fouls and has quietly developed a nice jumper when he has the confidence to shoot it.The big thing though, is that nobody really expected the Celtics to go near equalling their record of last year, and it was only a matter of time before we regressed to the mean, so to speak. The heavy competition in the East will take its toll though, and I expect that many of the players will be quite tired by the playoffs, especially if they end up as the #2 or #3 seed and have to play both Orlando and Cleveland (if things run as expected) to get through to the West.I expect that we'll stop winning at this ridiculous clip soon, given the volatility of Rajon Rondo (who really drives the offence these days) and the wish by Doc not to be overplaying his starters a year older than before. That being said, our bench is disgustingly weak unless basically both Eddie House and Tony Allen run on all cylinders (Powe has really been inefficient as of late as teams realise that he goes up looking for a foul instead of looking to score) giving us a nice 1-2 punch of shooting and slashing. My big hope is that we pick up a Joe Smith/Brian Skinner type player at the deadline, as we have two legitimate bigs (no, Patrick O'Bryant does not count) on our team. When Scalabrine is defending Amare we have a problem (though he did essentially shut him down ).That was a bit of a ramble, but I expect us to lose more games from now on, as I do for most teams. I just hope the win streak extends one more.

[keith crime 8]

Espn said that for stephon marbury to be successful in Boston he'll have to accept a lesser role than he's used towhat's a lesser role than sitting on the bench all season watching the Knicks suck?

[CindyLou 11]

Espn said that for stephon marbury to be successful in Boston he'll have to accept a lesser role than he's used towhat's a lesser role than sitting on the bench all season watching the Knicks suck?

Did Boston fans really give him a standing ovation when he first came into the game? That might be the least deserved standing ovation ever.

[fleung22 1]

they'll obviously sell this as a bench version of R. Wallace going to the Pistons. Sheed had tonnes of bad press before going to Detroit as well. I think Marbury will be fine (public attitude anyways) for the remainder of the year. If for no other reason than the fact he needs a job.

[Jadaki 0]

they'll obviously sell this as a bench version of R. Wallace going to the Pistons. Sheed had tonnes of bad press before going to Detroit as well. I think Marbury will be fine (public attitude anyways) for the remainder of the year. If for no other reason than the fact he needs a job.

He also has 3 all star leaders on the team who won't put up with him being a retard. I imagine he has a real short leash with KG after what happened in MN.