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.
ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg actually had me feeling a little better about this team after reading his piece. Despite the 0-4 record, the Celtics have had a legitimate chance to win each game they’ve played so far this season. But as we’ve seen, turnovers, poor or missed shots and failure to execute on both ends of the floor have kept them winless up to this point.
Even before the Boston Celtics faded late in Monday’s 95-88 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies, there were those who wondered out loud, “Did we know that it was going to be this bad?” Bad!? The Celtics have taken all four of their opponents to the final buzzer, at least giving themselves a chance to win each game this season. You actually could make the case that we didn’t know they’d be this good. Most pundits thought Boston’s young roster under a first-year coach would get run out of the gym most nights.
Ok-so maybe things could be going a lot worse. With the exception of the loss to Detroit, Boston has dropped all of it’s games by single-digit margins. When you looked at this squad on paper over the summer, many fans thought that we could be on the wrong end of a blowout-especially during this brutal first month of the season and it’s numerous back-to-backs. But Boston has shown fight, scrap even, dare I say, resilience. But they simply have not done what it takes to win when it matters.
Boston has played surprisingly decent defense (the Celtics are 18th in the league in defensive rating; 10th in points allowed per possession) and that’s aided the team in rallying from multiple double-digit deficits to make things interesting down the stretch in each of its four games. Right now, the Celtics don’t have the individual talent to win close games and this young roster must figure out how to work together, particularly when things get tense late in the fourth quarter, in order to pull out close games.
So what is it going to take for Brad Stevens and his guys to get some notches in the win column? Some fans were unhappy when Stevens sat Jeff Green in the 4th quarter of Sunday night’s loss to Detroit. Green is a guy who you simply have to get going late in games if you want a chance to win. He is the go to guy right now, and despite some early struggles, he seems to finding his inner “as*hole” as of late. Green showed some of that aggression we know and love last night, but not in the crucial 4th quarter where he went 0 for 3, all on three-pointers, and did not get to the free throw line. I’m personally a Jeff Green fan, and feel that he will find that consistency, but it seems he does much better with a facilitator by his side. Can Jordan Crawford be that guy? As Forsberg noted, the Celtics’ offensive rating is almost 10 points higher than the team average when Steez is on the floor. Seeing that Stevens does not intend on playing Phil Pressey, (not yet anyways) I love the instant offense and energy that Crawford brings. Avery Bradley is more suited as a two guard, but Stevens seems to like him as the starting PG at this juncture. And where does Kris Humphries fit in? Fans on Twitter were wondering the same thing last night. So many questions. Stevens certainly has his work cut out for him.
Tomorrow night, the Celtics are back home and will try to avoid an 0-5 start:
Last time the C's started out 0-5, they dropped an OT heartbreaker to the St. Louis Bombers in 1946: http://t.co/N51CpNSf2d
— Jay O (@MrTrpleDouble10) November 5, 2013
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The rest of the links:
Herald: Celtics Fall To 0-4|ESPN Boston: Rapid Reaction Grizzlies 95 Celtics 88|CSNNE: Green, Celtics Shrink Late In Game Again| MassLive: This Can’t Last Forever
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