After each game, we'll be taking stock in each players… and maybe coach's… performance. If we like what we see, we're buyin'. If we don't, we're sellin'. Or maybe we'll just hold onto our stock until we see more next game
Ray Allen: Early on Ray Allen was the only guy who could hit a shot for the Celtics. He seemed to be the only guy who came in comfortable and ready to lead the team to a win. On a day like yesterday, I'd have been happy to see him get 30 shots instead of 13.
The Bench: How much longer are we going to get crap performances out of these guys? Glen Davis hit a few jumpers but only managed 4 rebounds and was a horrific -21. Jeff Green hit a 3 and got that nice Dunk-And-1. But those plays are too few and far in between. And Delonte West's head doesn't seem to be here for stretches. Getting a tech for tossing a ball at a player is a dumb, DUMB move.
Paul Pierce's lost cool: I know he was frustrated. I know James Jones came down on his head. But Paul Pierce has been around too long to lose his head the way he did there. Getting the tech there put him in the position to let an overzealous ref toss him for nothing. If Pierce had kept his head earlier… that BS 2nd tech would have just been a blip in the game.
Ed Malloy: Refs are supposed to keep their cool out there. What he did on the Pierce/Wade play was the opposite of that. The NBA needs to discipline him for being overzealous and overreacting. It will be interesting over the next day or so to see how the league responds to what happened in this game.
Every starter not named Ray Allen: Pierce was off early but I'm not expecting much out of him offensively because he's guarding LeBron. KG and Rondo gave the effort… but their games weren't there. And Jermaine O'Neal almost seemed more concerned with his offense than his defense… which showed in 0 blocks and 3 rebounds in 21 minutes. All of these things, however, are correctable (except for Pierce, who will likely continue to struggle offensively). I'm not even close to selling these guys… and I expect them to return to form in Game 2.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!