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Now we completely know how Boston is royally screwed. Chicago and Miami abused them in a span of 72 hours
Good point. The fear of getting sandwiched between KG and Perkins under the basket made defending Ray Allen a nightmare.Do you know why Perkins was so important to Boston? Dude set some of the best moving screens ive ever seen.. Now their players have to work harder to get open looks.
Now we completely know how Boston is royally screwed. Chicago and Miami abused them in a span of 72 hours
Also being emo about Perkins has probably made it impossible for Jeff Green to get comfortable.
Agreed about the importance of defensive centers, but the Celtics were playing their best ball of the season with Snaq, when Perkins was out. I'm not sure Snaq can regarded as a strong defensive center anymore.
Furthermore, Perkins is a fine role/complementary player, but is he really the defensive anchor were Mavs were looking for? I have a hard time seeing him as a transformative force on any team.
On a team that badly needs defense, he is a great fit imo. He sets great picks as well. Players like that don't show a lot on the stat sheet but are very effective. It's not always easy to know which players can change your team for the best either due to these intangibles. I think Devin Harris had his own intangibles that were lost when we traded him. Diop became a lazy and lost what he was great at (intangibles). Dampier was slow but against certain teams he could be effective. Though not as much as hoped for I have to admit.
No, it isn't. Everyone talks about how well they were playing without him, without mentioning the fact that they only did it for a few months. It's not like there was a full season of evidence to go off of. It's like the '08 Lakers. Sure, they were playing well without Bynum . . . until the Finals, when not having him was glaring. Also, that ignores the reality that the O'Neal's (particularly Shaq; because he's the more important one) are part time players at this stage in their careers. To think Shaq was going to play 70-75 games at or near the level he started off the season at was shortsighted.
People can talk all they want about how Perkins was a liability offensively at the end of games and that they closed with Davis anyway; that's fine. But Perkins was a big part of getting them to those last six or so minutes in position to win. Without him, they're somewhat like the Spurs of the past few seasons defensively. Garnett (even though he doesn't guard C's), basically has to be the C for long stretches and down the stretch of games. Unfortunately for them, unlike Duncan, he's not capable of anchoring a defense, playing heavy minutes or being a glass cleaner at this stage of his career. Even if O'Neal comes back and miraculously get's into game shape/rhythm quickly, they need him for more than he's capable of giving them.
Perkins was their iden y. All that false bravado and swagger is gone, because they know no one fears them without him on the back line. The chemistry is clearly not the same, nor is the belief. It was a stupid trade. Green isn't a good enough building block to sacrifice what was a roughly 20% chance at a championship, when this is quite possibly their last realistic chance with this group.
I rarely revise my predictions from the start of the season, save for two exceptions: debilitating injuries and trades involving core players. While I'm not going to rule the Celtics out, I no longer have them making the Finals. I've got it roughly 50/50 between the Bulls/Heat.
TD 21 said everything that I would've said.
I must say I dont know if I am ready to write off the C's but TD21 makes some great ing points. Perk gave their team swag that they seem to lack right now. Plus he sets great screens which I bet if you look at Ray's numbers I BET (havent looked) he has suffered the most without Perk, outside of Rondo.
Perk's defense wasn't very impressive at all against the Lakers. In fact the Lakers made a point of exposing him.
Perkins = overrated.
Celtics are ed.
Ainge did pull a heist getting KG and Ray. They did get a chip; that is pretty damn good.
That said Ainge will probably be looking for a job this summer.
lol
Celtics rest Garnett, Allen, Rondo vs. Wizards
By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer 1 hour, 10 minutes ago
WASHINGTON (AP)—A day after a beatdown by the Miami Heat, Boston Celtics coach Doc Rivers chose rest over seeding when he sat Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo for Monday night’s game against the Washington Wizards.
Rivers also said Paul Pierce probably wouldn’t play, and that Jermaine O’Neal would see limited minutes.
“The way we’re playing right now, I think we do need it, so we’re going to take it,” Rivers said.
Rivers made the move even though his team was still in contention for the No. 2 seed in the Eastern Conference. Boston trailed Miami by one game after Sunday’s 100-77 road loss, but the Celtics own the tiebreaker between the two clubs. Boston would claim second place if it defeated the Wizards on Monday and beats the New York Knicks in its regular season finale on Wednesday—and if the Heat were to lose at Atlanta on Monday or at Toronto on Wednesday.
“It’s a very difficult decision,” Rivers said. “Miami has a tough game tonight, but overall it’s right for the team.”
Rivers said he plans to rest his stars again at New York, but he “probably” would change his mind if the Heat were to lose at Atlanta. He said Shaquille O’Neal, who hasn’t played since April 3 because of a strained right calf, will not play Wednesday regardless of the standings.
Rivers figures if his veteran starters get a three-day mental break—Monday through Wednesday—they’ll be ready for three good days of practices Thursday through Saturday before the playoffs start. He said his message will be: “Just reset yourself. Reset the team.”
“Mostly it’s mental, all the time, with anybody on any team,” Rivers said. “They’re the best conditioned athletes in the world, so I don’t believe in the whole getting-tired theory unless you’re allowing yourself to get tired. They just need the rest. And the break. The whole reason is it allows us to have practice with energy, and we need that more than anything.”
The Wizards are banged up and lottery-bound, but Rivers said the opponent didn’t factor into his decision.
“The decision was made on how we played (against Miami),” Rivers said.
Paul Pierce isn't playing either. It's basically the second unit starting.
How is Carlos Arroyo still drawing a paycheck?
So Garnett, Allen, Rondo, and Pierce aren't playing?
That will be good practice for The Finals.
It was obvious when it happened but man that was a stupid ing trade.
CROFL Ainge
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