Latest Celticsblog Post

By: Greg Payne

Check out my latest article over at Celticsblog.

I hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving.

Celticsblog Superlatives

By: Greg Payne

I handed out some superlatives to the guys on this year's roster. Check them out over at Celticsblog.

Everyone Take a Deep Breath

I just tweeted the following:

We're 8-3...I'm cool with that right now. Scrap the record talk in all regards...Let's improve now to be our best come playoff time.

I mean it, too. We're in a good spot right now. Let's not jump ship. Sure, the losses are frustrating, because we're expected to win, but if mistakes are to be made, let them be made now so we can address them and be our best when the playoffs roll around. After all, the postseason is what counts. Regular season records don't mean a damned thing if a championship isn't the end result. Just ask Patrick Ewing.

The Celtics Just Didn't Have it Against the Hawks

(DGA Productions)

By: Greg Payne

The Celtics fell to the Atlanta Hawks last night in what I deem as the first "blah" game of the season. The Celtics simply didn't have it last night. It was painful to watch in some instances and I specifically remember groaning in frustration on at least five occasions. They weren't caught up in any tough stretches of the schedule this time and they hadn't suffered a long period without significant practice time. They simply did not play well against a young, athletic and hungry Hawks team that wanted it more.

"Blah" games happen every once in a while, so I suppose we shouldn't panic (quick note: This is not the paragraph I originally wrote), but it is frustrating when the team's capable of winning a game and they simply appear "not to have it" that night. But such is sports and such is life, I suppose. I "didn't have it" on a test I took yesterday. The washer in my dorm "didn't have it" last night when it failed to complete the "drain" cycle, leaving my clothes waterlogged. It happens.

The complacent play began with the starters, who failed to establish a defensive tone early on in the contest and as a result trailed heading into the second frame, despite shooting 10-16 (62.5 percent) as a team in the opening quarter.

"I just think we have to get off to better starts," said Paul Pierce after the game. "I think we're setting a trend to really not getting off to good starts and it's been about four of five games where we've been down in the first quarter. It's up to the starters just to really come out and set the tone. It (doesn't) matter if we have three days of practice and any kind of rest, we've gotta do a better job coming out at the start of ballgames."

The most glaring stat that jumped out from the box score was obviously the rebounds as the Hawks snagged 47 boards to the Celtics' 29. Worse than that was the difference in offensive rebounds, as the Hawks tallied 16, while the Celtics recorded only six. That large disparity in offensive rebounds always helped give way to a noticeable difference in total team shots, as the Hawks put up 84 field goal attempts, while the Celtics managed 73.

"Some nights (the ball) bounces your way and you get 'em and tonight they was the ones to all the balls and they got easy second chance points and when you get outrebounded 47-29, it makes it pretty difficult to win," said Kevin Garnett.

Pierce left the game with 3:15 left in the third due to a left knee injury and I give him credit for returning in the fourth, but in the wake of his absence, no one really stepped up to try and get some sort of momentum going. I was disappointed with Rondo only taking four shots in this game, especially since he was up against Mike Bibby, who I thought he had a distinct advantage over. Rondo did dish out nine assists, but we've seen him control games with his assists before, like the way we see Pierce control a game with his scoring, and last night Rondo's assists just didn't jump out the way they usually do.

Granted, he suffered some sort of hand injury in the first half, which might have derailed him for the rest of his time on the court, but when Pierce went down, I was surprised he didn't make more of an effort to try and either drive to the hoop himself or at least penetrate more to try and free things up for someone else. People always say this team plays very well when he's aggressive and I don't think it's a coincidence that a lack of aggression on his part last night translated to a lack of aggression for the rest of the team.

Then of course, with the exception of Marquis Daniels, the C's didn't receive too much of a spark from their bench. Daniels was arguably the most aggressive player for the Celtics last night and it translated into a 4-6 performance for for nine points in 19 minutes. But beyond that, Wallace continued his noticeable struggles from three-point nation (1-5 last night), which included missing what would have been a game-changing three from the right corner with 1:35 left that would have made it a four-point game. As a team, Boston was a mere 1-15 from deep, good for 6.7 percent. I'm not sure what hurts a team more: shooting six percent from three or grabbing 18 less rebounds than its opponent.

Eddie House, who we typically rely on for some sort of offensive spark, continued his recent shooting slump, going just 1-5 from the field last night (0-2 from deep) in 13 minutes. He also had trouble with Jamal Crawford on the defensive end, who came off Atlanta's bench to put in 18 points. House's numbers last night bring his most recent four-game total to a whopping nine points on 3-18 shooting, including 1-6 from three-point nation.

Now I'm concerned with tonight's game against the Pacers, which I'll deem as a "trap" game. The C's are fresh off last night's tough loss in which they didn't play well, they had to hop on a plane right after and arrived in Indiana very early in the morning and have to gear up for a seven o'clock game against a young and scrappy team who will probably be up to play against one of the league's best, especially with Jim O'Brien at the helm.

Realistically the Celtics will be fine. It was one game over the course of a grueling 82-game season, but seeing as they have another three day stretch between games after tonight's bout with Indiana, they'd do well to secure a win and right the ship, so they can take some positives into Monday's practice.

Suns Set on Celtics

By: Greg Payne

The Celtics lost their first game of the season, 110-103, to the Phoenix Suns earlier tonight. The Celtics are now 6-1 on the season.

Boxscore

Rondo Agrees to Extension

From Yahoo! Sports:

The Boston Celtics and Rajon Rondo(notes) have reached an agreement in principle on a contract extension, Rondo’s agent, Bill Duffy, said early Monday.

League sources said the extension is for five years and guarantees Rondo at least $55 million. With the two sides facing a Monday deadline to get a deal done, Duffy said he called Celtics president Danny Ainge on Sunday to inform him Rondo was prepared to play out his contract and become a restricted free agent next summer because they weren’t satisfied with the team’s previous offers. Ainge, however, surprised Duffy by responding that Rondo’s contract hopes would be met.