Why These Cs Aren't Even Average

Fresh off a couple recent posts I'm running on an all time high, in productivity, so I thought I'd spit out an update tonight. Nothing seriously mind bending, just an update on the 'professional' basketball team in the city. Although everyone in the city, even NBA fans, pretends the team doesn't exist, I've been informed that they do still in fact occasionally play games at the Fleet Center, sorry Garden. The big news in the off season had nothing to do with the team actually improving of course, No, the Celtics' dancers were the hot button topic in the papers, over the airwaves, and on the web. They've caused a lot of debate and intrigue in the city of Boston, but unfortunately for you, this blog isn't about them. I just wanted an excuse to run the picture. In fact, this is the last time we'll mention them, so take a nice long look now. Instead, it's the state of affairs within the sorry ass team they are paid to dance for that will be under fire.


Friday night the Celtics play the Suns in Boston, and I'll be at the Garden for the first time this season. After attending a number of games last season, their problems [courtesy Deadspin] were fairly obvious; too many young guys, no reliable second scorer, and big men who only excelled in one area of the game (either offense or defense, but never both). But the major issue, at least from my vantage point, was the lack of a consistent rotation. It was never out of the question to see 13 guys play on one given night. In no way is that concussive to well-played, efficient offense. Heading into this season, the logical move seemed to be to trade for a vet, any vet, that would replace the potential [Globe] of a couple of the young guys for actual production. In the weak East, a record close to .500 would have again won the Atlantic. Instead, the Cs are currently 5-12, half a game out for the worst record in the league, and not getting better any time soon. But as has been the case the last couple season, it seems as if Ainge is waiting for the perfect deal, and sat tight during this past off season. That's not entirely true. He found a way to unload Raef's contract for Telfair, another young point that's still green behind the ears.


So the problems of last season are simply much more pronounced this season, since we know what direction they are heading in. The direction isn't up. The Cs are still without a solid rotation. As of last night 9 guys were getting 15+ minutes per game. That doesn't even take into account Scalebrine! Everyone's favorite whipping boy is getting 12 minutes a game to do his thing, or more accurately, not do a thing. We're not even going to go into last nights game, where the Cs were trailing the worst team in the league by 17 (!!!) at home in the fourth. It's almost as if Doc is testing the entire front office, and city, seeing how far into the Greg Oden sweepstakes he can push the team before he gets the axe. Of course, if they 'win' his draft rights, it will be the best thing that Doc has done in his tenure as coach.


Despite a superstar and second fiddle, these guys can't get it done in the clutch, can't play D, and most of the time run around like headless chickens. It's not pretty basketball. All the high hopes and playoff aspirations for the team have been dashed in the first month of the season. Despite the ridiculously weakened state of the Eastern Conference this team, with this coach, will never even be a .500 ball club, let alone a playoff contender. You know what, I'm depressed, let's run another pic.

It's a Mailbag! [Loose Balls with Tibbs]
B1 East Regular Season Awards [Loose Balls with Tibbs]
Five Tiny Tidbits On: The Boston Celtics [Deadspin]
The Green Room [Boston Globe]