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 starts with me,” said Green, who turned in seven points on 3-of-13 shooting with one rebound in 26 minutes. “I would blame myself for the way we’ve come out and played. As a leader, you have to lead by example, and I don’t think I’ve been doing a great job of that, so you can put the blame on me if you want.”
Herald: Jeff Green admits he needs to be better
“[Our effort has] been good most of the year, but [Monday] night it’s on me,” Stevens said. “They are wrong. I just thought the other team looked faster, had more purpose toward the ball. I really appreciate the fact that those guys would say that, but a coach’s job is to have your team put their best foot forward. It doesn’t mean you’re going to win every game, it doesn’t mean you’re going to play perfectly, it doesn’t mean you’re going to do every little thing right, but our best foot wasn’t put forward and that is a coach’s first-and-foremost responsibility.”
ESPN Boston: Enough blame game. Celtics need to show urgency on the court
This is the part of The Dump where I opine and give my take on the quotes pulled from this morning’s offerings. But I think I’m going to let Chris Forsberg kick it off.
But there’s only one way to prove you actually mean what you say: Show it on the court. Until then, it’s just talk. If the Celtics come out flat in Brooklyn, then maybe this team simply doesn’t get it and bigger changes are needed.
There you go. That’s basically all that needs to be said.
But of course I’m going to say more ¯_(ツ)_/¯.
Bigger changes are indeed needed regardless of that happens in Brooklyn tonight. Yes, it’s sheer lunacy that the Celtics continue to come out and get waxed in first quarters when they’re a team that should understand that they’re going to succeed by out-working other teams. But we all understand the need for Jeff Green and Brandon Bass to find new homes is paramount.
The Celtics played 13 guys against Charlotte. THIRTEEN. There are three reasons to play all 13 guys on a roster on any given night:
- It’s triple-OT and a bunch of guys fouled out.
- There’s a fight where guys got booted for leaving the bench.
- It’s a 40 point blowout in the 4th quarter and you’re just using the last 8 guys to get through the game.
Brad Stevens played 13 guys Monday night out of desperation. He finally found a unit that clicked when he reached down to James Young, whose seat at this point is in Loge 11, Row R. A normal rotation is about 8 or 9 guys.. 10 or 11 when you have a really deep team or if you’re the Spurs.
Thirteen players is insanity and a sign of true desperation.
It’s decision time for the Celtics.
I know Danny Ainge is working the phones and trying to find a taker for Green and Bass. The question now is if he’s going to have to pull what he pulled with the Rondo trade and accept lower than anticipated return for them. Whatever the deal ends up being, the Celtics need to clear the way for the young guys to play and be evaluated.
If the Celtics are going to be the mess that they’ve been, then there’s no reason whatsoever to play Green, Bass, or Evan Turner. None. If they’re going to pull this…
“Well, I mean, when you’re playing so many games, you’re not going to be up for every game,” Green said. “It’s tough, and I think lately, with the way we’ve been playing, I think we’ve been down on ourselves. So I think the effort, we just have to pick up.”
… then it’s time to just sit the F down and make room for the future. And I say this as a person who fully acknowledges that teams have off nights and that it’s hard to get up for every game. I’m also the first person to shout from the rooftop that wins are a necessary reward for struggling young teams, and these vets should be part of helping the team win some of these games.
But in this situation, on this team, there’s no excuse for coming out so flat, so often.
Going back to Forsberg’s sentiment… if the team comes out tonight as shits the bed like it has been doing, then it’s time to start looking at sitting Green down and starting either Jae Crowder or James Young. Enough is enough. We know that these young guys will at least give 100% effort, even if they screw up from time to time. And as much as I feel bad for Bass getting drastically reduced minutes, it’s probably time for more Brandan Wright in the mix with Jared Sullinger and Kelly Olynyk.
I’d rather see a team of young, hungry, potential pieces of the future play hard and lose than veteran guys who are going to be traded or gone as free agents stumble their way through a loss.
Related links: CSNNE: Green gobbles up slice of blame pie | WEEI: Sullinger: We can’t play hero ball because we don’t have any heroes | MassLive: Green becomes latest to blame himself for Celtics struggles | Globe: After another loss, Brad Stevens blames himself
Page 2: On a related note…
“Obviously you want guys to be comfortable in the role that they play on the team, to get that experience, especially the young guys. But also the veterans,” Nelson told reporters in Waltham before Tuesday’s practice. “I mean, I’ve never been on a team where I’ve played 14 or 15 minutes. To be honest, it’s hard to go out there and be who I am with 14 minutes.
“But I’m not going to complain about it. I’m not going to go to coach and tell him I need more minutes or anything like that because my job is to play the minutes he’s going to give me. And I’ve always been that way. Any player that’s competitive and wants to win, and wants to play, thinks he should play 48 minutes. If you … have a guy on your team that thinks like that, he shouldn’t be on your team anyway. I think I should play all the minutes. But that’s not my job to say. My job is to play the minutes given to me and play them hard.”
MassLive: Jameer Nelson would like more playing time
My instinct is to tell Jameer Nelson to STFU, be happy that he’s saving his legs, and collect a check until the end of the season. But I can appreciate the sentiment here.
If you’re on a team, you should want to play all the time. Everyone should want more minutes.
But Nelson isn’t going to get them unless Stevens is trying to teach guys like Green a lesson: you get minutes when you play hard in games. At this point, I’d rather he play point rather than Evan Turner. And I know I just wrote something advocating for Evan Turner to start, but the past couple of games make that post the equivalent of one of those embarrassing, “I’ve had half a bottle of Jack and it’s 3 a.m. so whatever” one-night stands. Yeah I did it… I’m going to get my balls busted for it… I’m just going to have to try to move on from it.
Anyway, I appreciate Nelson’s honesty and sentiment. I don’t know if he’s going to get any minutes or if he should get many more than 15 a night… but he’s the closest thing to a mentor Marcus Smart has at the position, and Nelson’s game is at least more similar to Smart’s than Rondo’s was… so there’s some merit to letting him mentor Smart a little.
And Finally…
The NBA rescinded the technical foul assessed to Boston Celtics rookie Marcus Smart during a Dec. 31 win over the Sacramento Kings.
Smart and Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins were tagged with double technical fouls afterCousins slammed Smart to the floor in the fourth quarter of Boston’s 106-84 triumph. Cousins was ejected for registering his second technical foul of the game.
I’ll just take this opportunity to reiterate my stance that all rescinded techs should result in fines for referees. This practice of immediate double-techs is total bullshit in situations like the Smart/Cousins dust-up because it was obvious Cousins was the aggressor and Smart did nothing at all to escalate it.
It meant nothing in this situation, but giving a player a tech changes a lot about the game, and knowing a key player having a tech could get another just by you instigating some kind of confrontation is no way for a game to be influenced.
A lot of double-techs are warranted, but they’re thrown around way too much.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Slow starts doom Celtics | CSNNE: Vegas no fan of Cavs trading Waiters, acquiring Smith | WEEI: Young begins earning his role with Celtics | MassLive: Recently, James Young really impressed one D-League coach
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
