Taking Stock: Celtics – Pistons

After every game, we'll take stock of how each individual performance affects the player's overall value.

Starters

Rajon Rondo:  You just can't lose your cool like that.  Maybe Rondo's frustrated with the way things have been going… maybe he's pissed off at someone in particular… but this is a meltdown that can't happen.  And yes, I saw Greg Monroe land on his head.  That doesn't excuse this incident.

Paul Pierce: The best statistical night of the group, but he still had 5 turnovers. And he's struggling to find that next gear.  I'm starting to think the lockout schedule madness is catching up to him.

Chris Wilcox: 14 points and 6 boards looks like a decent game, but, as I said earlier today, his inability to set effective picks for Ray Allen is killing this offense when he starts.

 J

ermaine O'Neal: 

He had a decent first quarter then faded. I'm not sure we can expect a more consistent effort out of him.

  

Ray Allen:  He's more dependent than ever on the screens that aren't being set for him.  13 points, 6 reb. and 4 assists still means he made the most of the situation.   

Bench

Keyon Dooling: Talk about a guy struggling to find his place.  He looked lost for most of his 14 minutes.

Mickael Pietrus:  20 minutes, 0 points, 1 rebound.  Without 2 key players and looking for a spark from the bench, this is about as terrible as it gets. 

 JaJuan Johnson:  The Celtics needed him last night but he had 3 fouls in 11 minutes.  The learning curve is still big for him.

Greg Stiemsma:  Well, he got a dunk… his first one of the season.  So that's gotta mean something, right?

Avery Bradley:  When Avery's 7 points leads all bench scorers, it's a problem. 3 fouls in 14 minutes hurt.

E'Twaun Moore, Sasha Pavlovic, Marquis Daniels:  Still baffled by Quis, and I want to know why E'Twaun has lost all his PT.

Coaching

Doc Rivers:  I don't know what he's supposed to do.  Maybe he needs more Gregg Popovich in him… wave the white flag early and let the kids play in these crappy games.

OVERALL 

There are few positives to take out of this game.  Even without KG and Bass, the Celtics should be able to pull together a more fluid game.  And with the back-to-back in Dallas tonight, I'm not sure I would have played the starters quite as much considering the effort.  

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