Celt-loft: see your physician.

… Celtics got you down?

Celt-loft is well tolerated and effective for the treatment of Celtics-related depression and certain anxiety conditions, usually caused by a team’s inconsistent play.

Celt-loft comes in all shapes and sizes.

Celt-loft is FDA approved to treat CDCRD (Clinically Diagnosed Celtics-Related Depression), certain types of sport anxiety conditions caused by erradic execution of basic offensive and defensive sets, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) originating from paying hard-earned money to see the Celtics play in person, panic disorder stemming from the misconception of a genuine title contender, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) causing you to wash your hands from the filthy and sloppy team defense, and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) in adults over age 18 that like watching a team care about winning. It is also approved for OCD in children and adolescents age 6-17 years that can’t stay up to watch an entire game-dismantling on Red’s court.

For 63 games, Celt-loft has safely and effectively treated millions of people with Celtics-related depression and certain anxiety conditions caused by the team’s play. Celt-loft is available in multiple strengths, so your doctor can decide a dose for you.

I’m now in the market for a new pair of basketball sneakers (to actually play in). Hopefully I’ll be up in the neighborhood in Freeport again soon. In the meantime, check out some great Sharkley PEs (player editions).

I kind of got carried away here… below are the highlights and the fruits of my labor.

My name is Loscy. And I am an ID addict.

I know how you feel, binky.

If you were to take a walk down Celtics Avenue in the neighborhood of the Celtics blogosphere, it wouldn’t take a genius to come to the realization that every resident there is pissed. Neighbors aren’t mad at each other, per se, but just in a sour mood about what’s happening around them.

Disappointed. Frustrated. Confused. Angry. Offended, even?

It’s pretty easy to see why: aside from dropping a silly game to the Nets, the Celtics have been anything but consistent since, well, October. Since the new year dawned upon us, things have been even worse. Injuries, rumors, trades, inconsistent play, flat effort, lack of energy, and no gritty fights during feasible comebacks have had plenty of people questioning the integrity, leadership, and capabilities of this team… The same team that was easily a pick as a title contender in the off-season, pre-season, and the beginning of the season.

Let’s just face it: we are a long way away from the 23-5 after beating the Magicians on Christmas Day. Since then, we have been 13-16, for a grand total of 36 wins and 2 1 losses.

Not encouraging. Not even in the slightest.

At some point in the last 8 weeks of treacherous/sub-par basketball, I’ve slowly been waking up. The alarm wasn’t sudden, and the bell has been subtle. It’s time to realign our 2010 Celtics expectations: we aren’t a top 3 team, not even a top 5 team, but we are a top 10 team.

If you missed Hollinger’s recent Power Rankings, here is a quick breakdown from 1-15:

1-5

6-10

11-15

I’m not always on the same page as our friend John, but in this case he’s right. Unfortunately, he’s right. We just aren’t a top 5 team, and that’s difficult for many of you (including me) to get over. Our record against top 10 teams in the league have been atrocious. We have given up the most second half double-digit leads in the association this season. We have been 3 games under .500 in the last 2 months. Nothing in this paragraph should make anyone excited about the playoffs.

But, therein lies the key: this team can’t be looked at as a legitimate, viable contender for the title. Critics, writers, players, coaches, and most importantly non-Celtics fans, have already moved on. Anyone who is anyone that follows basketball realizes that the Celtics have a lot of wrinkles that need ironing out, yet the iron itself isn’t even plugged in. Only the stubborn fans remain cemented in a block of naiveté.

Many Celtics fans are standing strong, steadfast, and staying put. It’s good for us to stand still: as fans, that is our job, obligation, and duty. It’s an easy job, really: just root for your team. Although it can be difficult because we want to feel so close to the Celtics and feel we all have the answers to fix this team, we are the furthest away from the players. Nothing we say or do determines the outcome of a game, how hard a player plays, how often his shots is falling, or the flow of team chemistry. What we can do, however, is turn up the dial of common sense and realize what’s going on here: the Cavs, Lakers, Nuggets, Mavs, Magic, Hawks, Jazz, and Suns are better than us. I don’t necessarily agree that the Thunder and Spurs are better than us, especially in a series. I don’t even know if I agree with the fact that the Suns are better than us in a series, but the other teams are clearly LIGHT YEARS ahead of the Celtics.

At the moment.

What if this is the story of this team? What if this team really is built for the playoffs? That the vets are putting it in cruise control to coast to the playoffs?

The comforting reality of this entire scenario is that the Celtics will make the playoffs. Something incredibly disastrous would have to happen in order for the C’s to not make the playoffs. They’ll make the playoffs. The Celtics is also a team that has better odds against their opponent in a series. Why? The odds are better, the vets have experience, they really do have a talented starting 5 and a fairly deep bench, and their coach is a pretty good coach…

Or, this season could just turn into a bust. This is just as likely to happen as the optimistic side of me that thinks this team has 2 more deadly gears in them that they’ve shown flashes of so far this season. Or, maybe not.

Ownership and accountability start from within.

Either way, I am realigning my expectations of this year’s team. The Celtics are a top 10 team, but not top 5, 3, and definitely not top 2. The team often exemplifies the persona of a young team (giving up big leads, not playing to potential, an inability to execute through and through, lots of fouls and technicals), which is eerily ironic considering how old they are as a whole. Weird.

I’m looking for the Celtics to win the first round of the playoffs. Before you write me off as Captain Obvious, hear this one last argument out: if you’re a top 10 team in the league, you should win the first round for sure, and then it’s 50/50 in the conference semis. I am not talking 50/50 you might win or lose (duh), I’m talking about what are the REAL odds if you making it to the conference finals. If the Celtics can get past the first round, I think they still stand a good chance to see the Cavs in the ECF. The fire can come back. They can will themselves that far. But much further? I just don’t think so.

They’re not a top 2 team. They’re not a top 3 team. They’re not a top 5 team. They’re barely a top 10 team. Top 10 teams just don’t win titles. It’s time to realign my expectations of this year’s team. I am done looking over my right shoulder to compare how the Lakers, Cavs, Nuggets, Magic, Hawks, and Jazz are playing. It’s not worth it. But this doesn’t mean I am giving up on them, or will stop cheering. If anything, I’ll cheer even more because I love the underdog. I love underdog stories. It’s an easy job as a fan: just root for your team. So that’s what I will do until they exit the playoffs, whenever and wherever that may be.

Blow it up, Danny.

Okay. I don’t want to blow up the team. I like our team. I just really freakin’ wish they would play, you know, good basketball…

Rondo controlled the tempo of the first quarter and for most of the first half: the Cavs were forced to play with us.

Whoa. What a first half. The Celtics shot +60% from the field, pulling down rebounds, sinking shots both in the half court and in transition, we were able to stop everyone in an ugly red uniform aside from #23… Up by 8 at the half against arguably the best team in the league? It felt great and it was an impressive showing from a team that’s been playing pretty well since the break.

Then the second half happened.
Ummmmm, yeah that was kind of a wake-up call. When the Cavs dialed it up, locked down, and tuned in, the Celtics had no answer. It was scary how well the Cavs played in the second half, and even scarier to think that this is still a team that just had an integral piece newly inserted into its lineup. Antawn Jamison is only going to get better, and therefore the Cavs will only get better. Once Big Z comes back, their front-line will be even more solidified and be flexible in the sense that they will have Shaq, Jamison, Big Z, JJ Hickson, Varejao, and Powe. Whoa. All hell could break loose. The Cavs went small and we couldn’t gaurd them. Granted, small meant insanely fast, quick, and productive. They spaced out on the floor to give way to Lebron tanking through the lane with a slug-like slipperiness and a buttery-like smoothness… But this also allowed for guys to sit behind the arc waiting for dimes to be handed out.

We had no answers.

There are two ways to look at this loss: through a new-school lens (stats!) and through an old-school lens (empirical evidence!).

You can stop blinking now: the entire team indeed ended in the negative for the +/- category.

New-School Lens:
Daryl Morey is really setting the tone for how we can use varying statistics to analyze a different, more deeper level of the game. Through some Morey-emulated manipulative regressions, I have figured out that statistically, we sucked. 3-21 in the fourth quarter? Gross.

Old-School Lens:
Okay. Stats won’t really help us here. What we really want to look at is the empirical evidence of the few breakdowns that lead to the Cavs roaring back. You know, the kind of thing old-school scouts used to look at: we couldn’t play defense and we couldn’t play offense. No stops and no buckets. Ew.

Celtics’ byline all season:

Boston Celtics
Veteran Team Poised for the Playoffs That Might Not Have It All Together During The Regular Season But That Is Definitely Poised For A Real Playoff Run

I still think that our team is better suited for the playoffs than the regular season. A series against a team is much different than just playing one game. Am I imagining that we really can be better than we are? I am beginning to not even believe myself when I say we are still viable, legitimate contenders after seeing now bad we are playing at times, but how GOOD teams like the Cavs, Lakers, Magic, Nuggets, and Hawks really are. They’re good. Damn good.

And now, to get out my frustration. More reasons to hate LBJ, Varejao, and most of all, Mo Williams.

Lebron James: he can do no harm; he owns the paint, whistles blow when someone looks at him as if he’s got a “get out of jail free card” on him at all times.

LBJ and his get out of jail free card.

Anderson Varejao never leaves him without his pink Ralph Lauren Polo tote bag filled with kleenex for his tears and his Academy Award for being the Best Actor of 2010 for his role as a flopping big man that can play basketball.

Tote in hand: with kleenex and his Academy Award.

And finally, Mo Williams: he’s such a freakin’ baby that Cleveland ownership might have to change their team name to the Cleveland Pampers. Uniform change is obviously a must.

Those diapers look heavy, Mo...

Yeah, I’m a little angry.

Carry the fire.

Dear Celtics,

From the moment the ball is tipped, to the closing seconds of the game, fans live and die with every possession. While that may seem incredibly creepy, obsessive, freaky, or even pathetic, I think it’s important to know that this happens because fans care. Perhaps fans care too much. Perhaps fans have nothing else better to care about. But regardless of how our passion manifests itself, at least we care. Think about franchises that are holding fire sales because staying in business is more important than winning. Luckily, we don’t have that kind of organization. Danny never wants to live through another 2007 season, and Wyc has too much money to know what to do with: a beautiful combination for GM and owner.

This is the emotion I want to see after grinding out a win.

You play for a city that loves sports, and fortunately for us all, we’ve seen each of our four major teams at least make a run during the playoffs to be a legitimate contender. For three of those teams, we’ve seen a title hoisted during a championship parade in the last 6 years.

Play to piss off the other team.

But really, only one of those teams really matters. And that’s you. You have the richest history out of all of the Boston teams. You have the most titles in its respective sport, but also the most championships in our fine city. This automatically puts the Celtics up on a pedestal, whether you like it or not. I like to think that you are the standard for winning teams.

Look, I am not asking for you to win every game. Would that be nice? Of course. Would it feel great to see you walk all over every team you play against? You bet it would. But when it boils down to it, I want to see that all of you care. I want to see you never give up on a play. I want to see you get a technical because of a bull shit call. I want to see you demand the ball when you’ve got the hot hand. I want to see you listen to your teammates when things aren’t going well. I want to see hands clapping during a momentous turnaround. I want to see the fire in your eyes never go out, whether you are down by 20 or up by 20. I just want the intensity. I want the grit. I want the scrappiness. Because of how intelligent you are, and because of the talent we have, we can win so many games if the intensity, grit, and scrappiness is there. The missing piece is to get rid of cruise control as a possible option. From the get go, we need to be in the fifth gear and find the sixth one when necessary.

Do whatever it takes to win. Pretty or not.

I saw this kind of effort during the first three games of the four game road trip out west. Critics are doing what they do: criticizing. Criticizing the fact that it was Sacramento. Criticizing that it was a Kobe-less Lakers. Criticizing that it was a Portland team without half of its starters and even less of their bench. Criticizing that the Celtics were still giving up big leads at times, or showing some flat play. Well, let them criticize. I’d rather have an ugly win than have another tick in the loss column. I think we have to all realize that our aging team isn’t always going to play pretty. When many of the players on your team can’t rely on pure athleticism to keep you in a game, then you resort to doing anything necessary in order to win. You foul. You call. You hustle. I love winning ugly games because it shows how physically and mentally tough you are. If you win an ugly game, the opposing team won’t forget it.
It shows that the passion is still there, and winning is what matters.

Winning is what matters.

Winning is what matters.
Winning is what matters.
Winning is what matters. By any means necessary, make sure winning is what matters.

Three different kinds of reactions immediately come to mind.

You have to admit: he doesn't look terrible in green...

From the, “Oh heck yes!” side of things:

• Nate-Rob is offensive Kool-Aid. Instant offense: just add water. The kid can get to the rim at will. We all know he can finish at the rim, and he isn’t afraid of any bigs. He isn’t afraid of playing physical, and we can use that kind of mentality right now. We desperately need an alpha dog in the second unit that we can count on to consistently score.
• He’s an energy player. Eddie House is an energy player too, but Nate-Rob is of a different breed of species. Nate-Rob can pretty much ignite an entire team and arena with a thunderous dunk, or just his yapping.
• Speaking of his talking: he’ll fit right in. Nate-Rob will talk to a brick wall even if it refuses to listen.
• It’s a message: loud and clear. Danny needs to make a move to give a little spark to this team. This would 100% be a spark… it could help fuel a little spark into a raging wildfire or he could be the thing to just burn this team down. With risk comes reward… or failure.

From the, “You know, this could maybe possibly kind of work…” side of things:

• If anyone saw that little piece before the Dunk Contest on how Nate-Rob was a multi-talented athlete in high school (and by multi-talented I mean Washington’s best running back, second best HIGH hurdler, and a premier basketball player), why can’t he commit himself to defense. Hasn’t anyone stopped to think: “Maybe he doesn’t play defense because Coach 7-Seconds-Or-Less-and-Defenseless” doesn’t expect his team to play defense? If you take a guy that is just exponentially athletic and you make him commit himself on both ends because he has endless amounts of energy, strength, and athleticism… it could work. Look, if you are a great offensive player because you can create yourself, that means you have the ability to move laterally, front and back, and every which way in between. That means you can at least play good man to man defense. Maybe that’s all we need of him is to just commit himself to defense: especially if he is only seeing 20 minutes a game.
• Can you imagine Rondo playing with the second unit: Rondo, Nate-Rob, Quisy, Glen, Sheed. That’s actually an amazing second unit with a distributor inserted in there. But even if you take Rondo out and put in TA, that’s a fantastic second unit. Fantastic.
• Defensive, losing Eddie House to Nate-Rob isn’t an upgrade or a down-grade, it’s the same grade.
• What if he really can commit himself to defense?

From the, “You’ve got to be kidding me, right?” side of things:

• What if he pouts like he’s been known to do? What if he becomes a sour-puss and whines about playing time or touches?
• He is a player that requires the ball in his hand to score. He creates for himself… which means less touches for whom? Quisy? Glen Davis? Sheed?
• We lose an outside shooter in our second unit and replace him with a slasher. Not a terrible thing, but this could cause Sheed to step out more to space out the floor even though recently Sheed’s been turning the dial down from deep.
• What if Nate-Rob… doesn’t do anything at all? What if we add him, and he does nothing at all?

I just have to believe that if Nate-Rob comes to Boston, he'll have a big impact. I just have to believe that.

But you know what? I’m all for it. If we don’t have to give up TA and Nate-Rob comes at the price tag of Eddie House and a second round draft pick, it seems like a no-brainer. Very low risk. Pull the trigger Danny. Much of the fan-base has put on their apocalyptic demeanor… but I’m holding steady and optimistic. But, that doesn’t mean this team doesn’t need a swift kick in the butt.

Everyone is in a panic over what’s going on with the Celtics.  People are snapping their ankles jumping off the bandwagon.  So I assembled some of the finest minds… on short notice, by the way, so thanks to them for that… to discuss the current state of the Celtics.

They are:

• Zach from Celtics Hub
• Jeff from Celtics Blog
• Nick from North Station
• Brandon from Hardwood Houdini
• Justin from Celtics Stuff Live
  
• and Loscy from… Loscy

We did it over email and I did my best to piece it together and maintain a logical flow.  Some guys were on phones, so I didn’t change any abbreviations.  You guys can get the hint.

It was a productive moment in an unproductive day. Thanks for including me, guys.

Read the rest HERE.

I’ll be out of town over the next few days (unfortunately not at the All Star Game), so I’ll see you after the jump.

More of these, and less of those (3s).

This is by no means a serious knock on Doc Rivers or the veteran core on this beloved Celtics team, but why hasn’t anyone stepped up to Sheed how it really is? Why hasn’t anyone scolded Sheed for his gravitation toward the outside shot and lackadaisical rotations down low on defense? Why hasn’t Sheed been scorned about his constant badgering of referees?

I’m sorry, but someone has to got put the big guy in his place.

Doc has repeatedly said that Sheed is a grown man and Doc won’t get in his face to try to change his ways, but maybe it’s time to actually do that. Or Danny. Or KG. Or Pierce. Or Ray. Or Rondo. Or anyone. How about you? What’s your grandmother doing today at 2:00pm? Maybe she can swing by the Garden for a little pre-game pep talk with a 6-11 role player?

Get out the rulers! Sheed is off the ground!

Sheed continues to be an inconsistent force off the Celtics’ bench. At times I sit back and think about how Danny and company really pursued the right guy this off-season and was glad to have him as a back-up big but also an easy inserter into the startling lineup with an aging and ailing KG. Then at other times, I wonder why we don’t just sell Sheed to the junkward for scraps.

Atrocious outside the paint.

Let’s take a look at some incredibly confusing and baffling and heart-wrenching statistics:

• In just over 1,000 minutes so far this season (6th most on the team), Sheed has already launched 212 three-pointers. Ray Allen? He’s taken 235. Eddie House? 159. Pierce is far behind Sheed with 165. Oh, and Pierce has made 14 more threes despite taking 47 less long-range bombs. Sheed has only made 4 more threes than Eddie even though Sheed has taken 52 more threes. Holy cow.
• Sheed is only pulling down 4.3 boards per game. That’s the same number as Rondo. For the season, Sheed has 193 rebounds, compared to KG’s 269 (think about how many games KG has missed), Perk’s 294, Rondo’s 204, Ray’s 167, and Pierce’s 194. Now, this wouldn’t be a big deal at all if Sheed was just working his tail off to box out opponents’ bigs to clear the way for guys like Rondo/Ray/Pierce/anyone to rip a rebound down, but… he’s not doing that either. Sheed is barely airborne on defense. He often looks like a middle schooler just watching the ball go up… and then somewhere else.
• And finally: 14 technical fouls, with plenty of games when giving the other team an automatic bucket/possession and helping to break your team’s momentum.

But the numbers only tell one side of the story:

• On high pick-n-pop that Sheed comes out to set for Rondo, he’ll fire away almost every single time Rondo kicks it to him. I don’t have numbers to support this, except maybe 212 threes that he’s tossed up this season. In the game Friday night against the Nets, Sheed started deferring to Eddie on the wing on these pick-n-pops… And while we’ve seen this occasionally, the key word in this sentence is occasionally. Sheed NEEDS to work that ball around because he is helping to space out the floor and create shots for teammates. For this to happen, of course, Sheed needs to take a couple of threes each game but not 5, not 7, not 9. A few.
• The dude is out shape. Badly out of shape. Even if we look at pictures from last year, he wasn’t sporting a friendly pony keg underneath his jersey. Let’s at least put that body to use: he isn’t boxing out or holding players out of the lane to make way for someone who can get off the ground. For heaven’s sake, box out.
• There’s little attention to making the appropriate rotations underneath the paint. There has been too many times when Sheed has over-played a big that draws him out of the paint, which then just leaves an undersized baby or a vulnerable Perk to both guard the paint, box out, and rebound. There’s a reason we are all clamoring for TWO bigs down under.
• Stop talking. Just shut up. Play the game like you’re being played to play. Shut up. Stop talking to the refs. Not only are you pissing me off, you’re pissing your teammates off. So Sheed: shut up.

Zip it.

What can we see more of:

• Post up just off the block and kiss that fadeaway 12-15 footer off the glass TD style.
• Box out.
• Take a couple threes to keep defenders honest, but keep your head up and eyes open to swing that ball off high screens and pick-n-pop plays.
• Lose a few pounds.
• Play tough defense on guys down low– body up, don’t overplay too far out the paint.
• Shut up.

Did I mention play underneath? And shut up?

Booooooo...

Here is my makeshift attempt at trying to point out the good that can come from Pierce’s injury.

• It gives Pierce a chance to rest those legs. Since the knee irrigation, he’s been playing heavy minutes and playing pretty well. He’s had a few games that he had stretches of almost dead on lights-out shooting. But perhaps this will give him a break during the toughest stretch of the regular season (between Christmas and the trade deadline). We know what kind of competitor Pierce is, so we know he wants to play. We also know how tough he is, so I think he’ll be able to come back sooner than most think. But regardless of his competitiveness and toughness, the dude’s got something wrong with his foot or ankle and he’ll have to miss at least a couple of weeks. The way I see it, right now, is every minute that he doesn’t play in the regular season is another minute he can play in the post-season.

I repeat: the offense needs to run through Rondo.

• We need to let the offense run through Rondo. With Pierce out, we’ll get to see this more. I’m sorry. The LAL game killed me. Rondo’s minutes were mismanaged in the second half. I didn’t like Doc’s substitution patterns and when he had Rondo on the bench. If Rondo isn’t taking care of the ball, making sloppy mistakes, setting up the offense too slowly or hurrying them through, if his timing is off, if he isn’t finishing at the rim… Yes, by all means, let the ball work through someone else’s hands like Pierce. But for goodness sake, Rondo was playing a damn near perfect game on Sunday. You don’t sit him and you don’t let the offense run through someone else when your all-star point guard is having one of the best games of the season. You just don’t. We looked like a frightened team in the last 5 minutes in the 4th quarter when the Fakers were making their run, and we just didn’t have answers. The ball then found its way into Pierce and Ray’s hands too much. We all of the sudden deferred to what we used to do and chanced that it would work. The ball should have been Rondo’s and for him to decide what to do with it on every single possession in that second half. If #9 is on and playing that kind of game where his floater is falling and his passes are right on, then you’ve got to keep the ball in his hands. Can someone explain to me why Rondo wasn’t in the final play o the game?

• Tony Allen will get more playing time. And with more playing time, is there any assurance out there of seeing more TA Jigs? I mean. Come on. The jig. Whoa the jig. A steal and an acrobatic lay up? Followed with a jig. Just too much, TA. Just too much. I am becoming pretty enamored by the way he is playing, and want to see more of him on the floor. TA is revealing what the Celts desperately need: a guy on the wing that doesn’t threaten to shoot but can thrash to the hoop with scalpel-like sharpness and finish at the rim. TA has been doing this for, GULP, weeks… I want to see more of it. Tony will get the chance to be Tony in the starting line-up if Pierce is out, which can only make him more valuable to this team. Right?

• Quisy might also get more playing time. With his imminent return, Quisy will need plenty of minutes to get back into playing shape and get the timing back. Between he and TA, I expect to see both guys getting the chance to contribute a bit more.

• Bill Walker? Oh Billy. You have so many people rooting for you, but stop playing so nervous whenever you get in. Get that smile off your face, go into terminator mode, and just react. Who knows… maybe we will get to see Billy in action more, but I somehow, I still doubt it.
Maybe this will be the spark Ray Allen needs to um, do something. Break the slump. Get some kind of killer instinct in him, and start helping this team win some freakin’ ball games.

This is just hilarious.

• KG will get more touches on offense. The more shots we can give him right now, the better. I have to be optimistic and I have to believe that he will get back to where he was in the beginning of the year. We are all mistaken if we think we will see KG of yesteryear from 2008 or early on 2009. We won’t, and that is fine. What we need is at least the KG from the November edition of KG. If we have that, we still have a shot at this thing. But, let’s get his timing and rhythm and condition back by giving him the ball and letting him show us all that he’s still got fuel in the tank.

• Last but not least, maybe the team will get back that closeness, that itch to dominate, and dare I say it, the swagger. I don’t think this is really going to happen, but what if this team pulls together for the stretch without Paul? Sort of a “Hey Cap’n, this Bud’s for you” type of deal? Not very likely, but we’ve seen glimpses of how good this team can be when they start trusting each other and then all of the sudden it looks likes they really just love playing basketball together. Together. A good word for this crew right now.

Who knows.
I mean, you don’t have to know the severity of the injury to at least know that we are going to lose more games than we would have if we had Pierce, but those losses are okay if something good can come from it. Like the second unit getting more chances to gel. More playing time for a guy like TA and Quisy to get a feel for what it’s like to play with both starters and reserves. For the offense to give more shots to Rondo and KG.

We are still good enough to get to the playoffs. Nothing is going to change that. Nothing. So, let’s take this as an oportunity to get everything else worked out and we can welcome The Truth back to something that resembles a team ready to contend for the 2010 title.

Kudos to Rondo– very much deserved.

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

¡Rondo!

Ummmm. Yeah. Congrats!

Filed under: In the News, Player Profile ]]> http://loscy.com/2010/01/29/a-tribute-to-the-2010-all-star-rajon-rondo/feed/ 3 Loscy The all-star. The all-star. The all-star. ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! ¡Rondo! http://loscy.com/2010/01/24/celts-weekly-review-in-pictures-and-captions/ http://loscy.com/2010/01/24/celts-weekly-review-in-pictures-and-captions/#comments Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:40:13 +0000 Loscy http://loscy.com/?p=846 ]]> Each week, I’ll recap the week through pictures obtained through Yahoo’s NBA photos (a great site that you should check out every day if you already don’t). All the images below are copyrighted from the wonderful photographers from Getty Images.

1/18 v. Dallas, Loss

Kidd is watching a faster, craftier, snazzier, better player than he ever was in his prime go right by him now.

How effin' pretty is that shot?

Before Sheed picked up his 4th foul, he was doing a great job on keeping Dirk from doing his thing.

And then this happened... I mean, Dirk can't be pumped about that.

And then that happened... a lot.

1/20 v. Detroit, Loss

Sheed makes his return to Detroit Rock City with a lot of booooooooo's.

Sheed was welcomed back with Maxiel blocking the shiiiite out of him when trying to throw down.

Charlie in Charge (sorry, had to). Does Detroit have the most players wearing stupid face masks? Probably.

Facemask partner #2: Rip should never, ever take it to the hoop without getting rocked. One tough foul and he won't bring it in thereafter.

Was Pierce the only one playing with any type of aggression this evening? Yup, pretty much...

1/22 v. Portland, Win

Our binky. You really gonna give that to him, Lamarcus??

Love this picture. No one in red knows what to do. At all.

Juwan Howard. 16 years in the NBA. While fellow Fab Fivers Jalen Rose and Chris Webber are in the studio, this young buck is still pounding the hardwood. Whoa. Bravo. I must admit, though, he looks like he is having fun just to be playing.

KG offering a high-five to Ray Ray after hitting a go-ahead 3 in OT which would eventually be the clutch winning shot of the game. Despite being ice-cold during regulation, the dude hit it when it counted.

How many times have I written the phrase, "KG is back!" in this blog?!?!?

Last night’s overtime win against the Blazers provided a much needed lift to a Celtics team that had just dropped 3 straight and are an enthusiastic 5-5 in the month of January. With the advent of this funny little called the internet, which I am telling you it is still a fad, fans around the horn are given an immediate voice. An instant sounding board. A direct means exercise the demons stemming from overly intense sensations of fandom without any other outlet.

In other words, so many people freak out after a few losses and have an easy place to do it: blogs.

I am going to stay away from any type of armageddon like post. While it’s tempting, it’s just not the time. It may be the place for it, but definitely not the time.

In any long season, there are going to be lulls. In this case, the Celtics currently find themselves in a similar place as last year. The Celts came out firing in the beginning part of the season with so much enthusiasm and hype. Players were amped up because of the high expectations that they and everyone else had, especially with the return of KG and the improved play of Rondo and Perk to an already strong 2-3 combo of Ray Ray and Pierce.

A much needed win last night v. the hot red Blazers

Then the injuries started rolling in. Glen Davis. TA. Quisy. KG. Pierce. Sheed. Too many to think about, and too many injuries to really be able to give us a clear indication of what this team was capable of. We got a small peak last night with the return of KG and footage of a cast-less Quisy.

The middle part of the season is the toughest: the initial spark was worn off, the playoffs still months away. The players and Doc still look hungry, which is all that matters right now. There are a handful of things that I see that keep me very optimistic and make it very enjoyable to watch this team play. Here are some tidbits about why it’s good to be an optimistic Celtics fan in times like these:

From an ESPN highlight clip

KG is back. You can look at the stats to support his importance to this team: opponents team point totals drop seven points, FG% drops 3%, and their record speaks for itself. But as the hardcoreans know, KG’s importance is statistically immeasurable. KG gets in opponents faces. KG fills up the middle. He defends against the pick-n-roll better than any other big man in the league. He spreads the floor with his deadly jumper. He’s among the best big-man passers. KG is just that good. Glad to see him back, and a report from Forsberg says he feels fine today after last night’s game. The timing will return with more games. I’m being patient with this one.

Don't be fooled by the shots he got, he's still KG from the block

Solid and smart

Tony Allen Non-Disappointment Outlook Theory still holding true. Tony Allen is playing really well. Still. Yes he has his small moments, but really, the guy has been just playing solid, smart ball. That may be the first time I have ever said solid and smart in the same sentence when referencing TA… Sticking with TANDOT, I won’t be surprised if he is packaged with Scal to be traded (a combined $5+ million expiring contracts) for something that could really make a difference in that second unit. But then… sticking with the flip-side of TANDOT, I think TA is playing a valuable role in this team’s success. TA is giving that second unit life and versatility. Although we aren’t likely to see complete 5-man substitutions, we could have a solid second unit if all 5 starters were to see rest at the same time: Eddie, TA, Quisy, Glen, and Sheed. Not bad with Shelden as a back-up 4 if he matches up better against the opponents 4 (rebounding, faster than Glen, etc.). I’ll take the opportunity to say it once again: TA is playing solid, smart ball. Feels good to finally say that after so many years.

Sheed on the block. Well, last night wasn’t exactly Sheed on the block, but we’ve seen a fair amount of him posting up this month during KG’s absence. What I’m really digging his is post, turn-around fade-away off the glass 10 footer. That shot is money and needs to be his go-to shot. When Sheed is on the block, we play better. It’s as simple as that.

HotSpots!

Rondo being Rondo. For the most part, January has been a good month for Rondo. While I was getting nervous that the nagging hamstring and overload on minutes was affecting his speed and quickness, Rondo put those fears aside with some blistering moves. Of particular note was the behind the back dribble that split 2 Blazers defenders and made his way to an easy bucket. His numbers in the last 10 games have been strong: he has been 48-77 around the rim, leaving him shooting 62% up close. What is comforting is that he has taken 129 shots in the last 10 games, averaging just a touch under 13 shots per game. Despite KG being back in the line-up, I am hoping that Rondo remains aggressive in his moves to the hoop. The success of the first unit on offense really depends on who well Rondo is penetrating and mixing it up between passing and creating shots of his own.

What's up with the new pads, Rondo? They look like capris...

Pierce 2.0

Pierce is still so much fun to watch. Paul Pierce has just been a beast since returning from his “knee irrigation” from the weird infection. From behind the arc alone, he is 19-30 this month (63%!!!!). We know Pierce as a scorer, people have began to recognize him as a great defender, but he is still one of the most underrated passers in the league. For a swingman, he is a damn good passer. The league got a glimpse of how good his passing is on the ludicrous out of bounds pass he lobbed up for Rondo to bring the game into OT earlier in January. But watching him create off the dribble with great anticipation is truly a thing of beauty. He manipulates the ball so well and can squeeze passes into dark places that you don’t want to know about. The more that Pierce is creating, the better off we all are. But there is also a question: in the last 2 games Pierce has been hot in the first quarter, yet we weren’t deferring to him more. Why not??

Despite the goodness that I just ranted about, there is one thing that I am hoping improves as the season progresses. We need to stop looking at the ref thinking that complaining about calls is going to fix things. The Celtics keep looking at refs to bail them out of situations that they should never have found themselves in in the first place. Look, I am not denying that there have been some really crappy calls made against the Celtics, but still, you need to play through it. With a veteran team like ours, there needs to be some maturation and simple growing up to do. Move on, make a stop, make a bucket, and move on again.

Next 3 games are huge games: Magic, Hawks, Lakers.
Time to play with some more hunger, boys.

Another shirt, which has yet to be unveiled, will be the 2009-2010 Loscy Blog Official T-Shirt inspired by my buddy Pat C. It’ll be greeeeeeeeeat. That one is coming soon.

See what you think.

Rondo’s out-stretched finger roll has been an iconic move this season. His lightening speed and quick cuts have made for plenty of high-light reel acrobatic finishes at the rim. Here’s an ode to the new twist on an old-classic:

It will also be available in a black t-shirt with the Rondo out-stretched finger roll in white.

While this other shirt is more like something you’d find outside the Garden on game night, I still think it’s awesome. As you know, our boy Shelden Williams’ nickname is “The Landlord”. Now we all know which house is The Landlord’s house.

This will also be available in a black t-shirt with the same colorway.

Here is a closer look at the ©Loscy t-shirt logos©:

¡ RONDO !

THE LANDLORD.

Drop a comment with some feedback!

GotTA start with this one. TA's dunk the other night caused my "replay" button my remote to break from overuse. Thanks, TA...

You know you're in trouble when Scal is putting the ball on the floor. Yikes. Sheed, how's that foot doing...? KG, how's that knee doing...?

Oh my god I just vomitted in my mouth. Ugh.

Anyone have a yardstick to measure that verticle?

1) Davis might need some more body-compression-armor to protect against that dunk, 2) ouch, 3) yikes.

Yeah, Devin... you're season just ain't going well if you're forced into a run-off with Perk.

The foul that started it all... Eat it, Salvatore.

Burned. Yeah, just that... burned.

Wait, where's the trampoline? Davis got up, son!

What happens when KG and Sheed aren't there? Yeah, this: Perk left to fend for himself.

Posted in Celts Weekly Review In Pictures and Captions, Game Recap, In the News, Player Profile ]]> http://loscy.com/2010/01/16/the-celtics-week-in-review-pictures-and-captions/feed/ 4 Loscy http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/phottto_photo/1599bf74710ddd8f6c26a0aeb8a143c2-ge.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/phottto_photo/24c9d90c4e1ded328e1af2a42346009e-ge.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/phottto_photo/2caa5edd70552c3f52e97fe2a226ce23-ge.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/phottto_photo/34b049fcb0773d1377028411c82403c9-ge.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/phottto_photo/49b45db671e3497f79ed6049e9ab7f13-ge.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/phottto_photo/cf872be8b9bfe6a1bd9b41f4dd755da2-ge.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/phottto_photo/7f5ba23444f013c0b67d052c6c940dff-ge.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/phottto_photo/f4f19aebf283b978854fa26d6bf396b9-ge.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/phottto_photo/deac93cdc918a9e3dd2ab85a2dafae0d-ge.jpg http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj203/phottto_photo/7dae8f2aa7207499345bef7654368efd-ge.jpg http://loscy.com/2010/01/12/the-sequel-to-%e2%80%9cjohn-tucker-must-die%e2%80%9d-is-certainly-%e2%80%9cbrian-scalabrine-must-die%e2%80%9d/ http://loscy.com/2010/01/12/the-sequel-to-%e2%80%9cjohn-tucker-must-die%e2%80%9d-is-certainly-%e2%80%9cbrian-scalabrine-must-die%e2%80%9d/#comments Tue, 12 Jan 2010 01:07:22 +0000 Loscy http://loscy.com/?p=813 ]]>

Which way out of town?

Okay. Let’s not get out of hand here: Brian Scalabrine shouldn’t die. He is a perfectly nice human being that helps out local companies like ReMax sell houses. But lately, that is the only reason that Scal is making headlines. He is certainly not making headlines because of his stellar play in basketball… which is what we are paying him to do. And by we, I mean, yes, WE. US. CELTICS FANS THAT BUY TICKETS TO GAMES, MERCHANDISE FROM STORES, AND FEES FOR CABLE TO WATCH THE CELTICS PLAY THAT PAY MANAGEMENT AND PLAYER SALARIES.

It’s not a good sign when the only reason you’re making headlines is when you are doing open house tours in a struggling real estate market.

Sorry Boston, but it’s time to trade Brian Scalabrine. The time is now. Start your separation anxiety now.

…

…

There will be a “hot-line” to call at the end of the post where you can vent, grieve, get angry, and learn to recover.

I know so many of you love him because he’s our little red-headed mascot, but that is no reason to hold onto a $3 million dollar trading chip. In a unique time in our association’s history, a $3 million dollar expiring contract is as good as an invaluable role player that few teams would be willing to give up. Teams around the horn are clamoring for guys that they can dump come the free agency spree of 2010 come this June.

Pull the trigger, Danny. Pull the trigger right now. Pull the mother effin trigger.

Let’s take a look at what Scal has given us this season:

• In 28 games, Scal is giving us an average of 10 minutes per game.
• He is shooting 30% from the field.
• 23% from behind the arc.
• Less than a rebound per game.
• Less than an assist per game.
• And a whopping 1.1 points per game.

Those are the basic statistics. Let’s take a deeper look with the geek stats through 82games.com & hoopsstats.com:

• According to 82games.com, he’s net points is at -8, which means his +/- rating is a -8 across 48 minutes… yikes.
• His PER ratings at the SF position is 8.3 and 1.7 at PF position (in case you’re curious, Rondo has a PER of 22.1).
• In his net 48 minute production by position, in other words what would his PER rating be if he played 48 minutes, his PER is even worse: -6.4 at SF, -19.7 at the PF, and -17.7 as a center.

Take a look at his rankings according to positions:

Ouch.

I know that he is a reserve… but even for a reserve, it’s still a big whoops.

The bigger question really is who to package Scal with. Would it be TA? I’m not sure… Tony is proving to be a pretty important 2-man coming off the bench, or even filling in as a temporary starter. I am willing to hold on to TA for as long as possible just before the trade deadline. So then it leaves… Maybe Glen Davis? Someone give me some thoughts about this. What to do with Davis? Keep him? Keep him? Here is my line of reasoning for trading Davis: If we don’t have KG, then we aren’t going to win the title. Let’s all get our heads out of our rears and realize that if KG is not in the lineup, neither Rasheed nor Davis will fill in KG’s enormous shoes and help lead the Celtics to #18. If that’s the case, why not use Davis as trade bait in order to get someone that could be an integral part to our bench? You know… a PF that is excited to come off the bench for the Celtics and a veteran back-up PG to give Rondo some rest? Unless Danny and management see Davis as an integral part to the franchise’s future, then why not take the gamble, roll the dice, trade Baby + Scal for a back-up PF and a veteran PG, and just hope that KG is healthy for the playoffs. If KG is healthy come April-June, then Shelden and Sheed will out work very well for the Celtics as back-ups, and Glen won’t need to be a part of this scheme.

I’m not completely sold on trading Davis at this point… but if I had to choose between Davis and TA to be packaged with Scal RIGHT NOW, I am choosing Davis.

Whoa. I cannot believe I just chose TA over anything.

As I say all of this, Scal just drained a 3 and made a couple of good defensive stops against Josh Smith. Regardless of whether or not Scal has a big game tonight against Atlanta, I am still saying that Scal needs to go. Maybe after he shows a house for ReMax this weekend he can sell his own house when his Irish-ness gets shipped across the country.

–

For the grieving Scal fans that need a hotline, please just send a tweet to @loscy and know that your concerns will be answered in 140 characters or less…

It's Gilbert, Bitches! ©Loscy

I’ve been out of town for most of the last 2 weeks traveling to Maine and Virginia for the holidays. During that time, I’ve watched the Celtics rally up against the Magicians on Christmas Day, only then to catch glimpses and read about their recent shortcomings against the Clips, Warriors, and the Suns.  If the Celtics lose again tonight against the Raps, then the game may be known as “Patrick O’Bryant’s Revenge-ish Nightmare Massacre.”

Here are some (im)possible ways that things can really just get crappier for the Celtics.

• Gilbert Arenas shows up unexpectedly in the Celtics’ locker room and shoots KG’s good knee.
• Kobe Bryant settles out of court with Lucky after a cruise around the Boston Harbor.
• Glen Davis breaks his other thumb when forced to fight Hedo because Davis thought Hedo was the damn near ugliest animal/monster/villain he’s ever seen.
• Rondo can’t make the game when his Red Bull car runs out of methamphetamine caffeine.
• Scal is mistakenly kidnapped by the Notre Dame football fanbase hoping that #44 can be the new luck of the Irish.
• Tony Allen spontaneously combusts into the real Tony Allen that dribbles of his knee, ruptures tendons on silly dunks after whistles, fouls someone attempting a half-court prayer, and takes fadeaway threes.
• The Suez Canel that is borrowing in Paul Pierce’s knee after the irrigation procedure has a a beaver issue.
• The tennis balls in Ray Allen’s calves finally deflate.
• Sheed drops the “People’s Elbow” on 1 ref, then grapples another into the “Stone Cold Stunner”, and finally finishes off the third ref with the “Tombstone”. And for good measure, Sheed “DDT’s” all of the score keepers.
• Perk one-ups Lebron eating a fan’s fries the other week during a game: Perk shoves a whole raw potato in his mouth and then eats Jose Calderone’s face thereafter.

Okay. These are getting stupid. Actually, they were pretty stupid to begin with.

I’m just looking for some of the younger guys, mainly Lester, Billy, and JR to get some good minutes. Despite reports of Rondo maybe playing tonight, I am hoping Doc opts to rest him and let Ray Allen and Sheed just light the night up and fill up their box scores like they used to do in their heyday. Whatever happens happens. There is plenty of games left to play, and too much season left to freak out over some poorly timed injuries. It happens to every team. I’d like to see hustle, focus, and a team effort. If those 3 bits show up on the table tonight despite posting a loss, that will be fine. The character of this teams needs to be reshaped a bit instead of sacrificing the future health and stability of the core players. Take one from Greg Popovich’s book, Doc.

Doc: ask yourself WWPD (what would POP do)? He'd sit Rondo until he was 100%.

This is WHERE AMAZING might, could, should, and would be really cool if it, HAPPENS.

–

Godspeed, Celtics.

–

Hottest shoes so far this season: Nike Cradle Rock Low (worn by ¡rondo! himself).

Red Cradle Rock Low.

Nash's Cradle Rock Low.

Merry Christmas to you and yours. From Loscy (and Santa Rondo).

Merry Christmas Eve, ya’ll.

Exactly 364 days ago, the Celtics were on a 19 game winning streak and all was good in Bean Town and for satellite Celtics fans scattered all over. When we rolled into LA on Christmas Day last year, the game was brewing to be a holiday classic, with both teams battling until the last 4 minutes. Then the Lakers embarrassingly shut down the Celtics with a 13-2 run. The Celtics had no answers, while the Lakers held court at home in front of a festive crowed.

Then the post-holiday traumatic skid happened. Bunch of games lost. KG’s mysterious knee injury. Blah blah blah.

But in the midst of their 19 game winning streak, there was plenty of clatter around the league and fan-base that Rajon Rondo was a potential all-star. The remaining PG spot was either going to Rondo, Jameer Nelson, or Mo Williams. But once the Celtics went on their bend when nothing went well on the West Coast road trip following the Lakers game, Rondo was held at fault.

#9 doin work.

Fingers were wrongfully pointed at Rondo. He had a few games with too many turnovers and bad decisions, he was so hesitant to shoot anything outside of 10 feet, and teams started to coin the phrase “The Blueprint for how to beat the Celtics: just lay off Rondo and give him space.” Teams were putting a big on Rondo, giving him space so 1) defenders couldn’t get burned by his blistering speed and 2) to expose his biggest weakness: his jumper.

The Celtics sub par play destroyed any hopes that Rondo had to make the East’s All-Star team as a reserve. Literally: the team’s poor play was pinned on Rondo.

Last year, we heard all too many times (including from me): As Rondo goes, so go the Celtics.

Well guess what? We find ourselves in a similar predicament: As Rondo goes, so go the Celtics. I am unabashedly in love with Rondo’s style of play. Being a fan of basketball and a basketball player since 4th grade, watching Rondo play is intoxicating. He does all of the things that I wish I could do on a court and better yet, he is the kind of point guard that I’ve been waiting for to adorn the historic Celtic green jersey.

As Rondo goes, so go the Celtics.

There’s also an eerie similarity between last season and this one about Rondo being in the thick of All-Star consideration talk. We know fans are too stupid to vote Rondo in as a starter, which is fine. I actually think being voted in as an All-Star reserve by coaches is much more prestigious and meaningful. Let’s just face the facts: your run of the mill fans that are voting 8,000 times per day are morons. Rondo has a great chance of being a 2010 All-Star, which should hopefully be the first of many.

Here is the difference between last year and this year, though: Rondo is infinitely better than last year. I’ve already chronicled all of the reasons that Rondo is a monster point guard this year and all of the ways he has added another dimension and level to his game, so I won’t bother doing it here. But know that in a conference where no other PG has performed like Rondo (Deven Harris = injuries, Jameer = lower numbers and injuries, Mo Williams = punk ass free-loader, Derrick Rose = not noticeably better than last year and inconsistent and on a dysfunctional team, Mike Bibby = same as last year but his much improved supporting cast is making him look better, Gilbert Arenas = inconsistent as Tiger’s alibis, Brandon Jennings = not yet, Lou Williams = injuries), #9 really has to be the clear choice for a reserve role on the bench.

¡RONDO!

For the next 2+ weeks, Rondo will again face his All-Star test: is he ready, worthy, and capable? Like the post-Christmas Day game last year, the Celtics take a grueling road trip over the next few weeks and will be tested on numerous occasions. Much like last year as well, the battle ground for whether or not he makes the All-Star team will hinge upon how he carries this team without Paul Pierce and an injured KG.

With too many vague comments from management, who knows how long Pierce will be out. With too many vague comments from management, who knows what KG’s status will be for each game. The simple and strategic move is to obviously rest these guys as much as possible and let the team scrap together its wins.

We are playing for June, not January.

One Rajon.™

With that said, however, it’s time for Rondo to step up and prove his critics wrong once again. The schedule is tough, but nothing near impossible. If Rondo can stay focused, be aggressive for every minute he’s on the floor, then he should carry this team to win 75% of their games. For the guys that claim Rondo has the easiest PG job in the East because of his supporting cast, here’s the opportunity for Rondo to show what it’s like to not have 3 aging veterans on the court at the same time. Without KG and Pierce (or a 6th man like Quisy), the Celtics turn into a team that’s a shade above .500. So if Rondo is able to carry this team to a successful road trip over the next couple of weeks, what will the haters say then?

Oh, that’s right, they’ll say this: Rondo is as good as we think he is AND he is in fact, without any hesitation, a 2010 All Star.

Rondo has freakishly large hands and an abnormally long wingspan, but did you also know he’s got some boulders for shoulders? It’s the kind of shoulders where a young, cocky, uber-talented PG can carry an entire team on for a couple of weeks while its veteran leaders heal up.

Go Rajon.
Go Celtics.

TA Doin' Work?

This is my holiday gift to you. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanuka, or nothing, you are getting a stress-relieving gift about how to handle the next 56 games with Tony Allen at the quasi-helm.

I’ve heard a lot of good anecdotes from various nooks and crannies on the internet in the last few days about Tony Allen’s recent performances. When Tony Allen made his ***triumphant*** return on December 8th against Milwaukee, many of us held out breath… watched TA make a great pass or drive through the lane… then watched TA exercise his patented dribble-off-the-knee move (if you’ve done this, keep it on the DL, otherwise you’ll owe TA crazy royalties)… then make a good pass… then carry the ball… on and on again. The same routine. We are impressed, then flustered, then hopeful, then woefully disappointed.

The next three games against Washington, Chicago, and Memphis gave us the same riveting roller coaster feelings: ups and downs ups and downs ups and downs and downs and downs. It had only been 3 games and the “TA One Man Act” had already grew tiresome.

Then Philadelphia happened. I was fortunate enough to get a ticket with friend @KWAPT (yes, the ingenious creator of voteforperk.blogspot.com) and we were about 7 rows back from the hoop on the Celts’ bench end. Basically, we were in primo position during the first half to see TA work on the offensive end. And yes, he worked. Then the second half came along, and TA continued to work. TA was doing so much work, in fact, that @KWAPT and I started filming on our phones to get some raw footage to pitch to some Boston-based producers: “TA Doin’ Work”.

But seriously.
TA was playing defense. TA was moving without the ball. TA was refraining from proving his galls via long range jumpers. TA was making the extra pass. TA didn’t turn over the ball (at all: he finished with 0 TOs). TA ran the floor. TA was playing defense. TA was playing defense. TA was playing defense.

I kept finding myself looking at KWAPT and saying, “I mean, really? Am I jinxing this?”

On my way home, despite the fact that the Celtics lost the game (and their streak), the TA performance really was a bright spot in the game. I mean, Tony Allen actually played well.

Then I realized, don’t fall into this trap again. Don’t do it.
Then I came to another realization: TA was usually wishy-washy during the game. Again, in any given 5 consecutive possession, TA could have exploded down the middle to throw down a vicious dunk, then foul a guy shooting a long range tre, dribble of his knee (royalties!), not switch off his man when needing to switch, and then breaking his thumb while being 10 feet away from where the play is developing. But this Philly game was different: TA actually had a near flawless game. Again: no turnovers, no remarkably visible defensive lagging, and doing what he was supposed on to on the offensive end.

I allowed myself to be pulled out of the depths of TA hellish disappointment with a ray of hope. Could this be the year? Could Tony Allen being Tony Allen today?

Then Minnesota came rolling in. And TA had another monster game: 24 minutes, 5/8 FG, 5/7 from the stripe, 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 0 turnovers (is this the first time in TA’s career where he played 2 games with substantial minutes and did not turnover the ball in either game… ?).

Everyone’s been asking who has been adorning the #42 jersey in the last two games and curious when the real TA will stand up? But everyone’s been thinking the same thing: when will TA disappoint us again?

Jokes aside, I give to you my gift for the holidays: The “Tony Allen Non-Disappointment Outlook Theory (TANDOT)”. It’s simple to learn, yet complex to master.
The 4 principles of TANDOT state the following:

• Take it one game at a time. For you crazy micro-managers, take it one offensive and defensive possession at a time if you want. There will be turnovers. There will be moments where TA falls asleep on defense or makes a silly foul. But then there will be monster dunks. There will be crisp passes leading to an electrifying finish. There will flashes of brilliant athleticism. But, do take it one game at a time.
• Don’t pin an entire season’s worth of hope on this one role player. If you do, you’ll be disappointed regardless of how well he plays. There is a reason TA is not a starter: he’s got a limited skill set that cannot translate to starter minutes for this Celtics team. But what can he do? Help sustain a lead and not make things worse. TA looks like he is playing with a chip on his shoulder, and I’d like that chip to remain there as long as possible.
• Don’t start thinking TA can fill a role that he cannot. TA is not a point guard, TA is not a versatile wing man that can play bigger forwards upwards of 6-8/6-9. TA might be able to bring up the ball a few times when on the floor, but Quisy (or someone else other than Eddie) has to be the ball handler. What TA is: an explosively quick and fast off-guard that can play good stuck-on perimeter defense, a pure slasher to the hoop, a crafty guy that can create on the move and off the dribble, and he can run the floor with ease. TA doesn’t all of the sudden magically have a high basketball IQ. He just doesn’t. TA won’t be able to make the difficult rotations. He just won’t. He can’t be the full-time ball handler. He just can’t. Don’t jam the TA circular peg into the Celtics’ much needed strong wing / point guard squared hole.
• Take anything he gives you. Just take it for face value. Don’t get over-excited, and just be relieved when our starting five is back on the floor.

If you/we adhere to these principles, it will make watching TA from here on out much more satisfying and a lot less stressful.
As we watch and tweet during games, be sure to use TANDOT when you’re on the verge of frustration! So Tony Allen dribbles off his knees (royalties!)? TANDOT! Tony Allen takes 6 steps without dribbling? TANDOT! Tony scores on our own basket as he gets turned around? TANDOT!

Learn it. Tweet it. Live it.

–

Article of the Day: A Slight Drizzle on Last Night’s Parade (via CelticsHub)

Boom! Sheed dropping a D bomb!

I’ve seen Sheed tackle the monster task of playing inside more than out… GASP! And I’ve seen Perk finally closing quarters in meaningful and/or close games. Both of these changes have undoubtedly been a contributing factor the the recent win streak (¡11!), and I hope will continue to make beating our beloved team increasingly difficult.

While the nit-pickers out in the world can argue about how to fill the wing role left open with Quisy’s absence and our severe lack of a reserve point guard to handle and distribute the ball within the second unit, let’s dwell on that at a later point and time, shall we? For now, let’s really focus on the positives: the increase of Sheed inside and Perk closing out the final 6 minutes when it matters.

Since Quisy’s been out recovering from surgery, a robot by the name of Tony Allen -3.0 has stepped into fill the minutes. When Quisy was playing efficiently, it was partly due to the spacing the second unit could give him to slice through the lane: it was too risky to leave Sheed and Eddie wide open on the wings, meaning teams couldn’t collapse on Quisy when he got into the paint. The catch-22 of it all was Sheed was back behind the 3-point line in order to give Quisy the room, but when Quisy kicked out, we were left with Sheed’s rendition of Bombs Over Baghdad. Sheed has been a streaky shooter this season; whether it be due to the murmurs of him being out of shape or him taking the inch Doc gave him to shoot 18 miles away, the simple fact of the matter is that Sheed was launching a lot of threes without much success. With Quisy out, Sheed has fallen back into the post more and more. For the first time this season (I am guessing on this based on previous numbers, so of course there is room for me to be wrong on this), Sheed has had a batch of 5 games where he has taken more shots in the post than from deep range (excluding longer mid range jumpers). Hallelujah. Halle-freakin-lujah. Check out the hotness that is NBA Hot Spots:

Love the HotSpot...

Sheed has taken a total of 18 shots from downtown in the last 5 games, and made 7 of those shots leaving him at 39% (rounding up…). That is a great percentage for him, and a good amount of threes for a big man to keep his defenders both honest and on their toes. On the inside, Sheed has taken a total of 21 shots in the last 5 games, and made 11 buckets resulting in a fantastic 52% FG. This, my dear friends, is what you call efficiency! Sheed has been in a wonderful groove in the last 7 games (all of the games in December). Sheed is having his best and most efficient month out of the previous three: he averaging the least amount of minutes (19) out of the 3 months but having stronger and better numbers across the board… Sheed has his highest ppg out of all 3 months (11.0), his highest FG% (42%), highest FT % (90%), most blocks per game (1.6), least amount of fouls (2.1), and least amount of turnovers per game (.1).

Sheed! Inside!

This is what we all signed on for: a 20 minute big man that can play smart interior defense and provide help on the offensive post from the bench. Yes he could be a starter, but those are not where our needs are. We know he loves to pull the massive trigger on that long ball, but that needs to be fired on selective plays instead of it being a go-to default move. I really like the way Sheed is playing on both ends of the floor and he is proving to be our best bench player during our 11-game win streak. If we keep this algorithm simple, then it basically comes down to this:

1/3(Sheed’s long ball) x 3/1(Sheed’s inside play) = W

W = wins.

And Perk. Perk Perk Perk Perk Perk. There is a grass roots movement to vote for Perk onto the All Star team. Okay. We all know that we are not going to garner the kind of numbers it will take to get Perk the sheer volume of votes to get in the game… So we will have to just rely on the coaches to get Perk in. But that doesn’t mean we give up: visit @kwapt site (http://voteforperk.blogspot.com) and vote anyways.

This really shouldn’t have been an argument at all this season. Perk has worked to earn the closing spot with fellow starters Rondo, Ray Ray, Pierce, and KG. This is our opening squad, and this is our closing squad. At the very least, anyone could have made the argument that Perk is a co-anchor of our defense: Perk holds down the paint so that KG can make those quicker switches. But the surprise to many of us this season is that Perk has all of the sudden turned into an offensive threat with the addition of so many of his post moves and ability to front defenders with the ball. Now, Perk is not only our defensive stalwart, but turning into a light (dieted version of an) offensive weapon as well. It only makes sense for Perk to be on the floor when it matters. We hired Sheed to be a bench guy that could fill in the front court in case of an injury; we did not bring Sheed on to close out our games. This is Perk’s job… to perform with Rondo, Ray Ray, Pierce, and KG.

Perk! Perk! Perk!

Credit goes to Doc on both of these fantastic changes. Doc saw the symptoms, diagnosed the problem, and found the ideal remedy.

Let’s keep the gravy train rolling through Christmas.
Orlando: we’re coming for you.

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Articles of the day: Rondo’s Latest Trick – Consistency (via CelticsBlog), Rajon – “I’m Sleeping Better” (via Red’s Army), It Took 24 games, But… (via CelticsHub)

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My favorite KG pic so far this season:

KG: a portrait of intensity.

Loscy's Boo.

If you’re familiar with these parts (yes, you!), then you’re familiar with Loscy’s fondness of one Rajon Rondo. And by fondness, you know I mean a (un)healthy obsession with the point guard’s abilities and style of play. I’m a bit of a gym rat, and I’ve incorporated too many of Rondo’s plays/moves into my game: using my speed and quickness to navigate underneath the hoop and circle out if no play develops, the behind the back fake, senseless gambles on defense… Now, am I really trying to compare my game to Rondo? Well, yes, I am… trying to.

Trying to.

Back to what matters. With 22 games underneath the Celtics’ belt, it’s a wonderful time to give a full evaluation of our fearless floor general, Rajon Rondo. Be fair warned: this is the Rondoness of all Rondo articles: the real mother-load. Prepare yourself. I’m going to tackle 3 major points: (1) in what ways was my pre-season prediction of Rondo right on, (2) the statistical importance of Rondo’s play this season, and (3) the empirical evidence of Rondo’s play that has helped fuel the current 9-game win streak.

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(1)

Back in September, I explained in excruciating detail about WHY Rondo mattered the most. It was a changing of the guard, of sorts: the team’s success hinged upon KG’s knee, Pierce’s and Ray’s ability to stay effective throughout a long season, a deeper front-court bench, the continued development of Perk, and of course, what Rondo was going to bring to the table. In my post, I came up with 9 areas of Rondo’s game that needed to improve in order to make him a top 5 point guard.

To read the original article, peep it here. Below, you’ll see the areas that I originally noted as an area Rondo needed to improve, a quote from the original article, and then a reflective tidbit.

#9. Improve that outside shooting.
“He needs to develop that knock-down 17-footer from both elbows. If Rondo can even become a 35% shooter from these places, then teams really won’t know how/where to guard him.”
Well, Rondo hasn’t turned into Ray Allen Jr. overnight, but he’s knocking down his shot with more frequency. According to 82games.com, funny enough, Rondo is shooting .349 from what would be actually considered a jump shot selection. Rondo is choosing to take his jump shots from straight up near the top of the key and just off the elbows. While he isn’t catching and shooting, Rondo is able to shoot off the dribble when defenders play off of him. He’s making people pay 35% of the time.

#8. Stop bitching if he’s bitching.
“In a contract year, this is a big decision for Danny/Wyc/Doc to make: is Rondo worth big money? Is he worth the 5 years/$55 million?”
Yeah, the front office thought he was worth more. Since his re-signing, he’s been butter. And yes, the kind of butter that causes clogged arteries and congenital heart failure. Oh yeah… we haven’t heard a freakin’ lick of a bad attitude from Rondo this season. Was all of it blown up this past summer by the media? You betcha.

#7. Be picky/choosy when you gamble.
“For a guy with one of the quickest first steps in the league, he shouldn’t be getting burned by anyone.”
While we are seeing Rondo leave his man less, we are still seeing it. But, his ability to just man up and fight through picks is improving. Oddly enough, Rondo’s leading the league in steals with 2.5 per game.

#6. Toughen up.
“Cassell advised him to always pick himself up, shake it off, and cry about it later. Don’t sit on the ground and let the other team know that you’re hurt.”
Yup. This has been huge. Rondo has been knocked around, but he’s not lingering on the floor like an English football diva.

#5. Get rid of the floater.
“Because of the quickness that he can get into the paint and the fact that his jumper is not pretty or even effective, he often puts up one-handed floaters while on the move.”
I’ll admit defeat here: his floater is falling. But the floater is different this year: last year he spotted up that floater front on. This year, he is falling away, fading, and drifting. Rondo’s floater this year isn’t straight up and the fading away is almost giving him more time to get himself squared up and set. I like the way the floater is developing this year.

#4. Get faster.
“The quickness in movement of hands and feet can only get better in small increments that may not even be noticeable… but Rondo still has the track legs in him. Rondo can get faster.”
Rondo is faster this year. He’s also quicker. Chris Johnson might find out how fast Rondo actually is soon enough…

#3. Continue to mix up the half-court ball with up-tempo ball. 
“This is something Rondo needs to keep learning: when is a good time to push, and when is a good time to back-off and set up?”
If you have listened to what Doc has been saying, this is one of the biggest areas of improvement from Rondo: when to push, when to set. As opposed to adjusting to an opponent’s tempo, Rondo is setting the tempo and forcing others to react. Because of his ability to change gears so quickly, it can be difficult for defenders to tell what Rondo will do; this of course plays into our favor.

#2. Be smarter.
“A big area of improvement since his rookie days is the ball-handling. Rondo’s getting better at protecting the ball… but not as well as he could be.”
With a respectable 4:1 assist/turnover ratio, this has been huge. Knock… on… wood…

#1. Consistency. 
“One game he looks to be a premier point guard, and then another he looks to be enjoying the best seat in the house. One game he is dominant, and another he is happy to be giving high-fives to players that he admired while in his teens (KG, Pierce, Ray).”
I’m not even going to make a comment: in the last few close games during the 9-game winning streak, Rondo has been consistent and ferociously focused. We are seeing more consistency out of him this season than ever before. It’s not a coincidence that the Celts are playing well when Rondo is out to compete every night.

Take a breath. 1/3 of the way through.

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(2)

Statistically, Rondo is on pace to have have an overall career year. Rondo’s PER is at a stellar 20.08, which is good enough for 29th in the league and just behind D-Will. Not too shabby. But a closer look at HOW his stats have translated into wins for the Celtics, we have to hop on over to hoopsstats.com.

Check out a glimpse of how important Rondo has been to the Celtics’ wins:

From hoopsstats.com

The notables:

When Rondo is playing 36+ minutes, the Celtics are 7-1
When Rondo is shooting over 50%, the Celtics are 9-1
When Rondo has 4 or more steals, the Celtics are 6-0
When Rondo has an efficiency recap of 22+, the Celtics are 8-0 [ NBA Efficiency recap = ((Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks) - ((Field goals attempts - Field goals made) + (Free throws attempts - Free throws made) + Turnovers)) ]

So the basic moral of the story: Rondo plays well translates into wins for the Celtics.

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(3)

The freakin' terminator in #9.

There have been 3 bits of interconnected empirical evidence that have me beyond excited for what we may see from Rondo as the season progresses.

First, it’s in Rondo’s aggressive play. While Rondo has been hesitant at times to shoot and choose in favor of distributing, we are seeing Rondo constantly on the move with and without the ball. When Rondo has the handle, he is pushing that ball into places to free up guys on the wing and the bigs underneath. When Rondo is eating up the clock, the team’s offense isn’t effective. Take a look at the chart below:

Rondo is most effective when he is aggressive from the time he touches that ball (0-10 seconds) and is least effective when he is running down the shot clock (16-24 seconds). The point production for shots under 10 seconds is egregiously different than the point production when Rondo is just dribbling or holding. The numbers don’t lie.

From 82games.com

Second, Rondo is confident. It’s a subtle expression in his eye and a huge swagger in his step. Rondo is growing up, and he’s taking control of games.

Third, Rondo is closing quarters. This is huge. Rondo has the confidence and aggression and determination and grit to close out quarters. The 2 best recent examples: the Bucks and Wiz. Rondo came alive and played nearly the entire quarter in both games in order to shut down Brenden Jennings and Gilbert Arenas. On the offensive side of each game, he was silky smooth and used his speed, quickness, handle, and court vision to scalpel his way to a clean victory. We are witnessing a point guard that can close a quarter and showed that he could do it in the playoffs… and also for a run of the mill regular season game.

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Final words:
In Rondo We Trust.

• A) a die hard Celtics fan
• B) a casual basketball fan that likes to laugh at what a homer might say
• C) my mother
• D) a realist basketball lover that likes to read mind-boggling, cut-throat analysis of a game we all love
• E) a very nice friend

CSL!

If you are either A, B, or D, then you probably know about one of the best basketball podcasts out on the net: Celtics Stuff Live. Jon (@csl_duke), Justin (@csl_justin), and Kevin (@henkink) do a fabulous job of bringing together wonderful Celtics analysis that has plenty of humor organically woven into the show. You can catch their podcast every Sunday night when Jon, Justin, and Kevin have a special guest (such as Mike Gorman, Jess Camerato, Austin Ainge…), chat with live callers on air, and address email/twitter questions from fans. Additionally, once a week you can catch their weekly podcap after a Celtics game. Be sure to check their schedule each week at http://www.celticsstufflive.net.

I trust Jon and and Justin and Kevin’s take on the Celtics more than most. They have a wonderful eye for the game, and an even better appreciation of what it means to be a Celtic fan.

Jon was nice enough to answer some questions from Loscy.
Enjoy.

2008 Boston Celtics: World Champs.

1. What’s the biggest difference between the way the 2008 team was built and the way the current 2010 team is built?
The biggest difference between construction of the 2008 and 2010 teams is arrival of Rasheed Wallace. Let’s not forget that until PJ Brown rolled into town in late February, the C’s relied on Leon Powe and rooke Glen Davis for their front court depth. It’s even more remarkable looking back that the team did as well as it did relying on young players in important reserve roles.

2. How many more good years does Pierce have in him?
Though it depends on what a “good year”  is, I’d say Pierce is good for another 3 years at an All Star level and 5 as a starter. The problem Paul faces is that the most athletic and diverse players on a court are the guys he has to guard. This may shrink his window of influence.

3. What’s the ceiling for Rondo?
Rajon Rondo does not have a ceiling. He has innate abilities and intuition about the game of basketball that will be with him until he’s 40. He has athleticism that can match anyone in the league. The only thing holding him back is not his unreasonably criticized jumpshot, but his inability to be a consistent force on the court. If Rondo can learn to be more consistent with his effort and aggression level, he can be the best point guard in the league.

Heeeeeeeeeeere's ¡Rondo!

4. Did you ever play basketball growing up? If so, what was your go-to move?
I “played” basketball, but I won’t snow you and tell you I was good. I was not. I was slow, unathletic, and until I turned 16, short. I loved the game as much as anyone, but that only goes so far and entering high school as one of the shortest kids in your class isn’t a great way to become a varsity player. Of course now I’m 6-2 and I bloomed a bit late, but the athleticism never really came around. As for a go-to move? It became a lot more effective for me when I grew, but I watched a lot of McHale growing up and his up and under was a frequent friend out of my bag of tricks.
5. What awards/accolades could you see any member of the Celtics winning this year (realistically or what you hope)?
Though it is a big man award, I think the only individual honor I see a Celtics player winning is the Defensive Player of the Year and Rajon Rondo being the recipient of that. Rondo racks up a ton of steals and he is becoming highly regarded as an on the ball defender. Of course he has a ways to go in not gambling for steals, but DPOY is, not unlike baseball’s Gold Glove, an award that doesn’t always go to the person most deserving.

6. Will the Celtics will another serious rebuilding era of 3-5 years after the window for this team closes, or can you see the Celts staying contenders (ECF Semi contenders) annually?
What the Celtics look like after The Big Three era ends will be answered in the next 18 months. Rondo is locked in and if he can become a more consistent threat then they should be competitive. The question is how the team makes over the wing positions. I would suspect Pierce is here for life, so a lot of this depends on whether Ray Allen re-signs this summer and how much he costs. Even if Pierce, Allen, and KG are not replaced with All Star players, you have to feel confident in Danny Ainge that he can get the guys he needs to fill in around Rondo (and possibly Perk if he re-signs after next year).
7. Do we need a real back-up point guard?
We need Marquise Daniels to get healthy and give him the keys to handle the ball full time. I don’t think anyone on the second unit knows who the “point guard” is and thus the group seems disorganized. I think a wing defender is a bigger priority right now because I think Eddie and Quisy will figure it out.
8. Could Tony Allen and Scal combined rent us a decent PG with an expiring contract?
Even in this era of a Swine Flu Pandemic, I would accept a bag of used kleenex for Tony Allen. As for Scal, until Glen Davis returns I wouldn’t want to pull the trigger on anything, but I’m not sure how much the Celtics get for these guys unless it is to assure the C’s of a chance to acquire a guy who might get bought out or take someone off of another team’s books. I think with the Summer of 2010 looming, it will be a weird trade market this February.
9. Do you see Perk getting re-signed for a long term deal once his contract is up?
I’d like to think Perk re-signs here and I see no reason why the Celtics wouldn’t want that. They will have plenty of cap space after next season, so they can back the Brinks truck up for him. I think the only issue for a Perk re-signing is how much will need to be devoted to adding a wing player will cost. Might it cost sending Perk in trade? Maybe, and writing that might make my CSL partner Justin Poulin’s head explode.
10. What are your thoughts on how the time share of minutes will work between Glen Davis (refusing to call him Baby) and Shelden?
Shelden started very strongly and I think saying that he’s been bad or knocked out of the rotation is unfair. However he does seem lost at times and still needs time to acclimate to his teammates. Still, Baby missed a lot of time and will be very rusty coming back. I would suspect that it will be a true competition for Shelden and Glen with perhaps each sharing the minutes Shelden has been occupying with one getting the minutes in the first half, and the other getting the second half minutes. May the best man win… so long as no one is getting punched in a moving vehicle.

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Be sure to check out Celtics Stuff Live for more information.
Thank you to Jon for your time and answers.

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Articles of the day: Perkins v. Bogut Had an Old-School Feel To It (via CelticsBlog); He [KG] Doesn’t Know What He’s Saying Half The Time (via Red’s Army); Daniels Out 8 Weeks: What Does This Mean For the C’s Bench (via CelticsHub)

Perk is a freakin' all-star: and you know this, man!

There are things in life that we hold as pure truths. Life is better when we keep things simple. Honesty truly is the best policy. Random acts of kindness do actually make this world a better place. Kendrick Perkins is a freakin all-star.

Before the season started, I submitted a question to @csl_justin and @csl_duke from Celtics Stuff Live. The question was pretty straight forward: will Kendrick Perkins have a breakout year? I thought the answer was yes. Justin and Duke also thought yes. Perk was going to keep adding to his game, stepping up, and being as solid as ever. We were going to see a few more dimensions to his offensive game while steadily making his defensive prowess louder and more consistent.

Many of us thought yes. But did we think we’d see THIS KIND of breakout year?

Vote for Perk '10.

We’ve known that Perk has been a stalwart defender for the last couple of seasons. Much of what made Perk so effective never shows up in the box score. You can’t quite quantify his importance to a team or its ability to win. But when KG went down shortly after the all-star break in February 2009, Perk matured in an instant. Perk filled in quite beautifully as the quarterback of our defense and to anchor the crew that was charged to make stops. The Celtics fan base observed this, soaked it in, and smiled because of it. This little known factoid became a national headline when the Celtics took on the Magicians during the Eastern Conference Semis. Dwight Howard was shut down, and it wasn’t the first time that season (read this article that was written during the series).

When Dwight Howard ate Cleveland alive during the ECF, everyone knew why: there was no defender strong, fast, or smart enough to shutdown Dwight. Perk has continued that kind of hidden but excruciatingly important defense this season.

But there is a difference. Yes we know that Perk does the dirty work. Perk muscles his way to clog up the paint against opponents attempting to slash to the hoop. Perk boxes out opponents’ bigs so that someone in green can get the boards. Perk plays help defense to force bad shots. This is the type of dirty work that just doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. Yeah, Perk’s still doing those things. But his slimmer physique has given him a considerably quicker first step. Perk can slide from one spot to another so much faster this year than in the past. In other words, Perk has the strength to body up a big one on one but now the quickness to cover more ground in less time.

So back to that difference: Perk’s play is starting to translate into noticeable stats:

• Perk has 38 blocks this season, which is good for 5th best in the association.
• Perk’s blocks are almost an equal balance between jump blocks and close blocks.
• More impressive than that, Perk has a 1.88 ratio of blocks/fouls.
• Perk is shooting 64% from the field. Whoa.
• Perk is averaging a career high 12 ppg.

But the kicker in all of this? Perk’s game is continuing to develop in ways that still don’t show up in the stat sheet:

• Perk’s improvement in setting legal screens (hip hip, hooray!).
• Perk’s vision to see the passing lane.
• Perk’s ability to execute a pass when a player is on the move and cutting to the hoop (very new).
• Perk’s ability to not only back down a player on the post, but to also front him.
• Perk’s evolving post moves: spins, hesitations, ball fakes.
• Perk’s slowly increasing range from the baseline.

See more of his stats at 82games.com and basketball-reference.com.

Simply put, this man is a beast. Perk is truly contributing to making a great team greater.
Kendrick Perkins is a freakin all-star, so go get your vote on at http://voteforperk.blogspot.com (created by none other than @kwapt).

A vote for Perk is a vote for you.

Vote this beast onto the all-star team: http://www.voteforperk.blogspot.com/

We’ve all been lost before. As a kid, I would get separated from my parents when I wandered off to explore something shiny. As a teenager, I would get separated from my friends when I wandered off to explore something shiny. As a husband, I still get separated from my wife when I wander off to explore something shiny.

There is a moment when we look around, can’t find our familiar faces, and we are overcome with emotion. That very instant of realization that we are lost is followed by either extreme panic or detective mode. We either become frozen from fear or look to find our way. The cool, calm, and collected approach is always the way to go.

In the last couple of weeks, some fans have been lost because they felt the Celtics were lost. We looked old. We looked slow. We looked out of sync. We looked old. So many of you that are reading this are shaking your head saying, “No, I didn’t think that! I knew it would be okay!” But don’t fool yourself. Lots of people were panicking. Lots of people were convinced the Celtics had lost their way.

But you know who wasn’t panicking? The Celtics. You know who knew the Celtics weren’t lost? The Celtics.

In the last 5 games, the Celtics have been playing pretty well. The Celtics didn’t go into extreme panic when dropping a few games in a short week and a half span; they went into detective mode. There were comments from Danny. There were comments from Doc. Both gentlemen made it publicly clear that the players needed to clean up their act. They were the only ones that could fix the inconsistencies in their play. The players figured out what they were missing: they returned to playing within their means and rediscovered their identity.

Dare I say it... is he back?

The current Celtics team is built on team defense. We win by playing defense. We have weak-side helpers that force opponents into tough shots. We have weak-side helpers to help the helpers force opponents into difficult situations. We rotate. We share the defensive load. Our perimeter defenders are just as important as the interior ones. Two years ago, the team talked about the “no lay-up” philosophy. If a team kills us because they are making tough, long-range, low-percentage shots, then so be it. The Celts weren’t going to give up any bunnies.

But this year, in games that we have lost and in close games that we have won, our defensive rotations were egregiously slow. Recently, though, we have been rotating. From my couch and section 322, we are playing with a fiery intensity. We aren’t giving up when players get by. Instead, we are fouling them, sending them a message, and forcing them to earn their points. We aren’t taking defensive possessions off. We are playing hard on defense to get the ball back to the other side of court. We are sliding. We are talking. We are rotating. We look alive. Thank goodness, we look alive.

Collpase! Collapse! Collapse!

When we played Phoenix (and lost), Indiana (and lost), and Orlando (and lost), we played to their game. We accommodated and adapted to their style. We are not a flat-out uptempo team. We are a team that can have up-tempo possessions, but all fast pace / max out on shot attempts doesn’t play into our strength. Quality, not quantity. Our strength is in our half-court sets. It’s not always the traditional half-court set: we can push and set up quickly because our PG is the damn near fastest thing on earth besides U-Bolt. We have bigs that can run. We have swingmen that know where to set up on the wing and when to move. When Rondo is aggressive and getting to the hoop, shots open up. When players are making cuts, shots open up. When we are mixing up the tempo by pushing the ball up the court and settling into our offense, shots open up. When it comes down to it, though, when we move the ball, we get good looks. Our starting 5 are all competent passers. The unselfish mentality makes passing even easier. We have a pure point guard that looks to create and has incredible court vision. We have one of the best passing power forwards in the history of the game. We have a small forward that can do anything he wants whenever he wants.

All day. Every day.

If we make our defensive stops first and just move the ball on offense, this team will be unstoppable. We are too deep, to cohesive, and too good to lose if we play the way we play.

It’s actually pretty simple: our defense breaks down other teams’ offense and our offense breaks down other teams’ defense. In the last few games, we’ve been doin it and doin it and doin it well.

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Article of the day: The Semi Transition Game: Embrace it (via CelticsHub)

Picture of the day:

By Jordan.