Can the regular season end yet? Celtics fall to Heat, 100-77
If I didn’t hold onto some completely-based-in-blind-faith hope that last season’s once-in-a-Shaq-three-pointer run could possibly repeat itself this year, I would write a eulogy for the 2010-’11 Boston Celtics today. I really would. But for some reason, I have hope. I know, I know; I might as well list “unicorn” as my favorite animal.
That’s how bad the Celtics have looked in two consecutive games, and, really, for the last month and a half. Today, they were outrebounded (42-26) and out-assisted (24-16). They were outshot (50.7%-45.3%) and earned fewer free throws (26-16). Mike Bibby had more rebounds (3) than Boston’s center rotation of Nenad Krstic and Jermaine O’Neal combined (1). Joel Anthony and Zydrunas Ilgauskas alone combined for more rebounds (15) than Boston’s entire starting five (14). Boston was beaten inside, beaten outside, and beaten upside the head. It was like the Heat laid out a belt, a stick and a wrench, and told the Celtics which one to pick. They picked the wrench, of course. (“Cause fuck the regular season, that’s why.”)
I would write more, but A) it’s too depressing, B) I spent way too much time watching some guy named Schwartzel win the Masters, and C) I just played my first men’s league basketball game in about six months (in case you were wondering, I looked like the version of Glen Davis we’ve seen the last few months. . . so things did not go well).
Once upon a time, and by that I mean just two months ago, the Boston Celtics were title favorites. Now, I’m just waiting for Andy Dufrense to play opera music through my jail’s loudspeakers. I need that music, so I don’t forget that there are games in this world that don’t end in miserable losses. So I don’t forget that there’s something inside that they can’t get to, that’s mine.
What am I talking about?
Hope.
Blind hope, sadly, based in past successes and resting in some small part of me the Celtics have not yet torn out.
P.S. — If you didn’t hate today enough, Rajon Rondo tries to make it a little worse:
“It’s a different team,” he told CSNNE. “Not the same. I don’t compare it at all to last year, or the year we won it. Everything is different.”
Related posts:
Celtics Blog | Jay King | April 10, 2011
Watching the Celtics has been torture lately. I hope they know how high the stakes are and can pull out 2 wins this week in hopes to tie it up with Miami. I am going to be cautiously optimistic.
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“Remember Celtics Town, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” — Andy Dufranse
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But damn, Backtofoulke, hope sure as hell is on life support right now, ain’t it?
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I blame this all on the owners. They did what they had to to save money. Not resigning TA after his geat performance in last years run. Tony even said after the grizz beat the celtics “I am a celtic at heart” why not resign him he is having a terific year. Then they late KP go because they did not want to resign him and the needed a swingman. Problem is the Celtics got an undersized 4 man. Green can’t take anyone off the dribble he doesnt rebound and he lacks the capability to gaurd swingmen too. If KP was here we would not have lost as many games and would have the 2 seed.
Surprisingly when Shaq comes back I still believe the celtics are the favorites.
1. he fixes the rebounding and low post defense.
2.HE clogs the lane
3. Still demands a double down low
4. best screener opens up RAy
5.Jermaine gets to com off the bench and big baby gets to play back up to KG as we witnessed today big baby can not play center
6. Kristic will be limited to 5 minutes a game he is garbage as seen today can’t rebound score or defend the post.
one could see even in the 5 minutes shaq played this week he energized the team was 3for3 and the c’s looked like contenders.
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I learned today that Rondo can turn it on and off when he wants to.He started pushing the ball in the 4th quarter and they got within 7 points before Bibby hit that three.Then he shut it down.I think Rondo is tanking these games on purpose,not because he doesn’t give a damn.But because he does not want to waste the energy of Ray,KG and Pierce.
He goes hard against the garbage teams like the Wizards because they are an easy mark.But does not want to go hard against tougher teams,because he wants to leave something in the tank for the playoffs,not for himself,but for the older guys.
But he can’t tell them this because they would be offended.I don’t think I’m too far off in my thinking.I know it sounds crazy.But I think Rondo is crazy like a fox.
We’ll see when the playoffs come around.
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@kennard that is the dumbest thing i have ever heard rondo is purposly losing games.
What we learned is green can not gaurd a wing man period lebron abused him.
The strating unit played really well it was the rest of the guys that sucked.
What makes this worse is we could have gotten shane battier and we chose green instead.
I’m going to go punch a wall.
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And don’t give me that nonsense about this is not the same team.Perkins played in 3 damn games for the Celtics this year.He had nothing to do with much of anything when they were winning this year.It is the same damn team.If Perkins was a rebounding monster he would have never been traded.He only looked like a monster when he scowled and that’s about it.He was a great help defender and that is it.Dwight Howard and Gasol would eat him up in the paint.So put Perkins to bed.Not a shot blocker,not a rebounder,and not a SCORER.A help defender and that’s it.So enough is enough about Perkins .
All we need is for the O’Neal’s to step up,and I believe they will and you got yourself a ball game.
They lose games because of execution and energy which will pick up next week.
The Lakers are on a 5 game losing streak and everybody is picking them as the favorites.The Celtics have NEVER lost more than two games in a row all season.
I rest my case.
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What really makes Danny Ainge look bad is not only did he ruin this year’s team, he ruined next seasons team.. Correct me if I’m wrong but didn’t we keep Ray Allen for next season too? Wasn’t that the plan? 2 more years with the big three? Next season we will be looking for a center…. ba ha ha… we had the perfect center for this team and he would have stayed a celtic for less than 35 million. But wait, it gets funnier… if Green might not even wanna stay in Boston. Not that I care.
Our bench stinks now! Green sucks, Krstic stinks, Murphy stinks at sitting on the bench. Big baby thinks he is suddenly Elvin Hayes… Delonte West is actually good, i would like to see him take more minutes from Rondo, at least teams have to defend West. Nobody defends Rondo anymore. That’s his slump, teams have mastered the slacking off of Rondo. Make and open jump shot before you declare yourself the best point guard in the league. If Rondo was a Laker you would all admit that!
I have that little hope too based on last year’s run… but I’m starting to think Rondo isn’t as good as we thought. Maybe a 39 year old Shaq will come back and give us 38 minutes 12 rebounds and 4 blocks a night. Don’t hold your Breath!
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yeah this kendrick perkins nonsense needs to stop. one would think the celtics traded away rondo or kg. celtics play their best basketball with shaq on the floor and won plently of games without perks. perks is a great inside presence but that can be made up with shaq once he comes back healthy. and perkins only did play like 20 minutes a game for the celtics. as long as the big 4 are intact this team will be good, the bench just needs to give some consistent solid contributions. lakers are struggling right now too, is the rest of their season in trouble? no theyre just getting lazy as fuck this time of the year. but rondo’s quote does worry me a lot. i hope hes just saying that to get teams off guard, cus even if that really were the case i doubt rondo would be announcing it to the world that the celtics have that weakness right now. rondo walking the ball up the floor, not crashing the boards, thats just lazy basketball
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The worst thing about today is we got bullied by the heat… they have no more fear in the paint.. thanks danny
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The Lakers really are coasting whereas the C’s are not. They are getting beaten badly.
Green is a guy who can score big against crappy teams but he’s never going to fit in the C’s system. And he’s obviously not going to make a difference in key games.
The C’s were in trouble before the trade, since their bench was horrible and losing leads, losing games. But Green and Krystic are not the answer. I swear to God I’d rather have Luke and Erdin in exchange for these two, which means no trade at all. Luke and Erdin at least tried to rebound.
As much as Nate was inconsistent, he brought it against the Heat this year. He was far more of a spark than Green was today. So yeah, I’m going to dwell on the trade.
It broke the Band of Brothers apart, killing morale, and making this bad ass team suddenly become vulnerable. There is no statistic for that. It would be like putting the Oakland Raiders in pink uniforms. Okay, bad analogy, but the psychology of this team is deeply wounded.
WHERE IS THE REBOUNDING? IS THERE A “SWITCH” FOR THAT TO PUSH? I DON’T THINK SO. A team that can’t rebound is not going far.
Speaking of, Bynum of the Lakers has had recent games in which he grabs 20 plus boards by himself. that’s more than the C’s combined as a team lately.
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@ Frank. I agree, Rondo is overrated; he hasn’t developed a jumpshot and can’t make free throws, so teams just sag off him or hack him in the lane.
Rose, on the other hand, spent the offseason working on his jumpshot, which is why he’s in another league than Rondo now.
Delonte West should be the starter; he’s more competitive and yes, they have to guard him. By bringing Rondo off the bench, it might make him more hungry to push the ball and assert himself. But Doc will never do that; he’s a company man to Ainge.
The morale of this team has been destroyed. It’s like watching a sinking ship heading into the playoffs. And I didn’t care much for the ending of Titanic.
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Jay – this entry is a prime example of why I read your blog every single day. You’re the only one who understands my pain. . . yet for some completely insane reason believes this group COULD get #18.
Plus, my husband now starts backing out of the room when he hears “celt” come out of my mouth.
I dunno. I see other veteran teams like lakers, spurs, mavs suckin’ it here at the end too. I just really want PP, Ray, and KG to get one more ring.
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rando has no right of talking like that someone needs to show him his place, before talking about the team talk about your own slump, Rose ate you alive and you only had 7 points and 5 assist today so STHU and fuckin play!!!!!!!!!!!
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KG better spend at least a week teaching green and krstic how to be AGRESSIVE!! i want some trash talkin, droolin, chest pumpin action from them. We need some intensity!!! Those two look so lost in the game with blank faces!! They look too nice in the court….
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How the fuck does Ray take 9 field goals whilebig baby takes 11 what the hell I’m pissed
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I’m sorry, but hope isn’t the same as being delusional. This team looks awfully bad right now. Hope faces reality and acknowledges it. No that doesn’t mean the Cs don’t have a chance to win a championship. They don’t have a good a chance as they had before The Trade, and it’s not a very good chance at all, really, at this point, but it’s a chance. But WTF RONDO!!!!! We can’t call this guy an enigma anymore. I love Rondo. He is my favorite NBA player, not just Celtic. But at this point, he’s a certified head case. Two games in a row against top Celtic rivals and he doesn’t even show up?!!! WTF RONDO!!!!
Rondo is NOT overrated. The kid is a truly great player. He is special. He made me more excited about basketball than I had been in a long time. But his head isn’t in the game and I even wonder if he will be in the NBA much longer. He’s too good to warm the end of someone’s bench, and too mind-blowingly awful too much of the time to start, even for a bad team. Something complicated is going on inside Rondo’s head – and hey, life is bigger than basketball, isn’t it? I wish Rondo the best, but when it comest to the Celtics, it’s time to give Delonte the ball. Whatever chances we are going to have in the playoffs this year start there.
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rondeezy…you’re so correct. Do you believe this nonsense? It’s like the 4 HOFs and all-stars (RR/JO) don’t matter. A non-entity this season was traded away to get us a better bench and a back-up center. I guess all these people missed the games before KP got rightfully moved. The playoffs can’t happen soon enough to stop all this passing around of the ‘oh whoa is me (Celts)’ gun. But I’m just a “blind homer”, and never call them out. Can’t wait for vindication next weekend. Go Cs…
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P.S. Apparently, I’m delusional, too. The season can’t end soon enough so I can be let out of my asylum. It’s called C-Trade Asylum! Go Cs…help me get outta here!
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at least the lakers are going to lose right now. i dont feel as angry about the loss to miami now
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Yeah, but the Lakers competed tonight and actually showed up to play. They fell apart down the stretch, which I was happy to see.
the C’s are not losing in similar fashion.
And since you mention the Lakers losing tonight to OKC —- Guess what? They have much improved since Perk went there. Their winning percentage has gone up while the C’s have gone down.
James, I do hope you are correct, but I just don’t see it. It’s too late to assemble a bench that sucks; and I don’t see them “fixing” the rebounding problem.
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Did someone say the Lakers competed.They gave up 120 points tonight.I’ll take the Celtics defense against the Lakers sorry defense any day of the week.
The Lakers problems are even worse than the Celtics.No energy and not running their offense just like the Celtics.
EXCEPT THE CELTICS DON’T GO ON FIVE GAME LOSING STREAKS.
And the LAKERS are a lot worse defensively than the Celtics,even without our beloved Perkins.
I’m glad they lost to Miami today.I don’t want them to be to overconfident against this team.
Playing the Knicks in the first round prepares us for the Heat.Because Carmelo and Amare are the closest thing to Wade and Lebron.And it’s a good preparation defensively when we see the Heat in the next round.
Go C’s !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Quick…somebody pass me the gun. KP had 2 pts and 5 rebs (2 TOs & 3 PFs) in 209 mins. vs the Lakers tonight. I can’t stand it. Our Celts are doomed. Oh why, oh why???? Yeah, right. Go Cs…one day closer to games that matter. and somebody please tell RR he’s a PG not an SG!
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Sorry, 29 mins. Should’ve proofread my post. Just so distraught. Not!!! Go Cs…
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watching jeff green play for the celtics kind of makes you wonder how he score against the pau gasols and kevin garnetts in this league when he played for okc no?
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Rondo needs to shut up, he already said the same thing after the Chicago game, but guess what: when you’re playing nowhere near the level you can play at, you are not entitled to say such things.
As Rondo goes, so do the Celtics: he needs to attack the basket, drive, enter in the paint, force the defense to collapse, even if they want to foul him rather than to give him the easy two, and use he’s passing ability and court vision to find open guys. That’s what makes the Celtics a contender. The Big Three aren’t able to create their shot on a consistent basis anymore, they need Rondo to create havoc and initiate ball movement.
Right now he does not, and the Celtics are crashing towards the playoffs.
PS: I could also have talked about how Rondo didn’t improve his jumper or his free throw shooting since last summer, even though he got ejected from Team USA for the World Championship, but I think it’s enough for now.
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I agree that the trade talk is getting old, but I also agree that it really cannot be ignored until this team starts playing Celtic ball. I’m only going to agree with the anti-perk-traders in that this team definitely seems, at least at this point, to have lost its identity. I was pro-trade but I think shipping out Perk and bringing in softer players has torn out the Celtics’ core of true grit. I know stats matter James, but I also agree with other posters that intangibles matter as much. KG’s intensity fuels the team, but I think the team really fed off Perk’s attitude and mental toughness. Now, the firs half of the season proved that Shaq could fill that role for Perk. It was proof that as long as there was one giant enforcer in the middle that the Celtics would play off that toughness and energy and it didn’t have to be Perk. But even I’m skeptical that Shaq will be OK come playoff time, and I’ve been a true believer through a lot of the bad with this team. I don’t like it, but I think especially Rondo really feels like the new guys just don’t fit in… they just not rugged enough (thanks to Xibit for that line), and his recent comments really imply that. At least I can revel in another Laker loss.
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…not that I think the Celtics SHOULD let the trade affect them this much. The previous bench was awful and nobody here can deny that every time they came into a game you wondered how quickly they’d lose the lead that the starters had built. In theory our bench is much better now and should be one of the best in the league. Unfortunately, they’re underperforming.
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I’m so happy for Perkins, he’s on a better team now.
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Hey James, Celtics fans usually know box scores mean nothing… i would love to have Perk bring the stuff that isn’t in the box score.. we can use it.. toughness I think it’s called
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Frank…that’s why we have Shaq and JO and they’ll bring the toughness when the games matter. That’s 12 fouls of toughness. The limits on their playing time will end and hopefully they’ll be able to stay healthy. Lastly, defensive toughness involves 5 starters and the bench. Just because one tough guy leaves doesn’t mean that identity is gone. You think KG has forgotten how to be tough??? It’s just like last season when an older, experienced team coasted into the playoffs at 27-27. They weren’t tough in those losses either. Everyone needs to chill until the playoffs start and then we’ll see what Celtics show up and how tough they can be/are or have possibly lost. We’ll be fine. Everyone tries harder when pursuing the ‘prettier girl and banner #18 is that prettier girl. Go Cs..
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