Re: Celtics
If possible, this team has regressed from last year.
They have no point guard. Rondo can penetrate and dish, but can't shoot. Opposing guards don't even bother defending his outside shot. Telfair can drive and score, but he can't pass. When he gets an assist, it usually is by accident.
They have no bigs. Jefferson is hurt but he was nothing more than a decent offensive force inside. Between him and Perkins they haven't met a foul they couldn't cause. Powe showed signs of life last night but that was just one game, and he is still undersized, just like Gomes.
Wally can't defend and is nothing more than a decent spot shooter. Paul Pierce is obviously very good, but eventually having to continuously play with young kids who make mistake after mistake after mistake on both ends of the floor has to sap his will.
Opposing point guards light the Celts up. It is a fact, they cannot stop a good guard, hell even a mediocre guard. They made Jameer Nelson look like Chris Paul last night.
I like Doc and have tried to give him the benefit of the doubt but I'm about ready to jump off the bandwagon and so are all Celts fans. They fans boo him before every game and mock his substitution pattern. Someone called in on the postgame show after the game last night and said Doc wasn't a coach, he was a personality. Meaning, he could manage other teams with good talent, but he can't coach young players, and I agree with that assessment based on what I've seen so far. Even Doc on his postgame interview last night started to crack, you can hear the tension in his voice.
Even worse, it is getting ugly at the Garden. The boos started early last night and I almost felt bad for Scalabrine when he entered the game to a chorus of boos and left a few minutes later while his sub, Powe (who hadn't played a minute yet this year, or very few), got a standing ovation for replacing him. Then I realized that Scalabrine was getting 5 mil this year for sitting on the bench and looking like Michael Rappaport so I stopped feeling so bad.
I have a 12 game pass to Celts games and I'm not sure they can win a single game left on my schedule. 0-12 here I come.
|