Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here… highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.
“It’s important how we start games,” said Ray Allen. “If you look at Game 1 in Atlanta and you look at both Game 1 and 2 in this series, I don’t think we started the quarters particularly well. You’ve got to start in good fashion where you establish a tempo at both ends of the floor. You have to make sure that you start at the beginning of the third quarter in that same fashion, because you don’t want to give a team any bit of confidence.
“If you get a guy that’s been struggling going, then all of a sudden, that’s momentum on their side. So that’s huge for us. We can’t have any letdowns. We can’t walk into a series or a game thinking that this team is going to bow down to us, because now everybody’s here and everybody knows that they can win and move on. We have to continue to feel as though we have to be the aggressors and we have to attack and we somewhat are the underdogs.”
Herald – Celtics look to avoid a letdown
Can the Celtics drop the hammer tonight in Philadelphia and seize control of this series?
My gut says no. Despite all their success since the All-Star break, they still have the maddening tendency to overlook certain teams in certain situations.
To be fair, the Celtics didn't have a letdown game vs the Hawks. The effort was there in the Game 5 loss, it was the lack of execution that killed them.
Related links: Globe – In Rivers' eyes, one is not enough | ESPN Boston – Celtics expect Philly's best punch
On Page 2, the bench guys explain their flex dance.
If the camera pans over at the Boston Celtics bench following a big play by the C's, there's a good chance that you'll see Keyon Dooling, Marquis Daniels or some other backup with doing a double-fist pump in what they refer to as, "flexin'."
"It's something we do, it's like a rallying celebration," Dooling told CSNNE.com. "It could mean a lot of different things. It definitely means, 'Let's go, it's time to bring the energy up.' We usually do it after a good play; something to get our teammates going."
Dooling added, "We're all connected. Just because guys don't play a lot or whatever, we still have a role on the team. We still feel those guys are playing through us, and we try to help them any way we can."
And "flexin'," Dooling says, is one way they achieve that goal.
"(Flexin') . . . is something, it's a verbal, sign language communication," Dooling said. "It gets our guys going."
Love the bench antics. Anything to continue the Ubuntu attitude.
One question – Does Steamer do the flex?
The rest of the links:
ESPN Boston – Allen not worried about his shots | Herald – One last Big 3 hurrah | Ray Allen fine with current place | Bass takes a shot at regaining range | Rookie set to stop Garnett | Globe – Rondo had Sixers under his control | Sixers relive horror show | Tough opponent up to 'old' tricks | WEEI – The true genius of Doc Rivers | Garnett: the unselfish superstar
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