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.
“I’m constantly thinking about that,” he said. “But I think what
happens beyond this season will be based more on how this team performs
from here on out than what’s happened to this point.“I think we’ll know a lot more about this team over the next few
months. All we can do now is speculate.”
And be ready to cut in widely divergent directions based on the
findings.“I’m prepared in either scenario,” Ainge said. “We’ll either add to
this team or change it.
“And,” he added, “change it big or small. It will become more clear
as the season winds down.”
Herald: A lot rides on Celtics finish
Steve Bulpett said it last night on The 2 Man Game: The media and Celtics brass are watching the same things we are… and they have the same questions. And Danny says it in the piece:
“(Thursday) night was a good example,” he went on, referring to the
Cavaliers game in which the C’s led by double figures before losing by
20. “We were ready to play. We came out and we were playing good
basketball. We didn’t play great in the first half, but we were playing
good. Then in the second half we looked bored. We gave up four layups,
and it’s like, where is the urgency?”
It sounds like something any one of us would have said. The Celtics look bored… like the just don’t care… as they piss away everything they worked for.
The message from Danny Ainge seems pretty clear: the ball is in the players’ court. You guys have the ability to play better. Hell, you’ve shown the ability to play better. You’ve PLAYED better… even in a lot of the same games in which you’ve utterly sucked. So you had better play better… or else you’ll be playing somewhere else.
By the way, if you missed Steve Bulpett on the The 2 Man Game last night… here he is with some great stuff:
Coming up, Page 2… where Nate is still learning
Were you surprised that Doc [Rivers] used you as much
as he did [Thursday] night with Rajon Rondo?
Right now it makes it easier because I don’t really know
all the plays, I know basic. So he wanted to get me out there to get me a
good feel for the game and playing out there and playing with different
guys. I’m a fast learner, so I’m going to try to learn the plays as
fast as I can so that we can limit [Rondo’s] time so that he doesn’t
have to be so tired. Because he played like 45 minutes last night. Just
to give him a rest because we know the playoffs are coming. So I try to
do everything I can to give him a rest and come in and help the team.
WEEI: Robinson on Dale & Holley
There was a lot of talk about Doc not playing Nate Robinson enough in the second half of Thursday’s game. Sure, he could have maybe played a little more and Rondo could have sat for a couple more minutes… but Nate’s still learning. He’s still figuring it out.
I would expect to see more of Nate against a lesser team like New Jersey today. This will be a good chance for him to get some reps. If I were Doc, I might even pull Rondo a little early to give him some rest and give Nate some first-team reps so he can have some guidance out there.
The rest of the links:
Herald: Nets at Celtics scouting report | Globe: Cavalier approach blasted | Nets thumbnails | ESPN Boston: Cousey’s 28 dimes | Daniels thrives on feverish pace | CSNNE: Road to greatness remains bumpy for C’s | MWDN: Celtics: Defense not getting it done | Celtics Blog: Now is the time for the Celtics to find consistency | Hardwood Houdini: Last 3 games are missing something | The re-re-invention of Glen Davis: Is it working? | LOSCY: Umm, yeah, that Celts/Cavs game was a wakeup call | CSL: Souza-Is this called “bottoming out”?
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