Not much going on today in the news. I guess everyone is still hung over from all the turkey and dressing or else they are out shopping. Perk is once again showing his leadership (see article below)and challenging his teammates to be more consistent and give more effort. Tonight's game is important. It is a game we should win and if we don't bounce back and win tonight, the character of this team will be challenged. Doc said after the Charlotte loss that he obviously needs to coach better and that is an understatement. He continued to play his starters who weren't playing well in favor of a bench that came out with energy and brought us back into the game. He also didn't play Powe who could have done a lot more to help the team against their big front line than Scal did. I am looking forward to tonight's game and hopefully the team will respond to Perk's challenge and come to play. In the meantime here are a couple of things to check out:

In the Herald, Telfair blames a lack of rhythm for the loss against the Bobcats and he comes just short of guaranteeing a win in our next two games. I think it was a lack of effort. Our starters (except Perk) came out flat and didn't give the kind of effort that it would take to win a game. But Doc didn't take out the offending players and keep in the bench players who were getting the job done. So, some of the players weren't in rhythm but some were and the ones that were didn't get the minutes.

The Globe article centers on Gomes' contributions to the team this season. He is a very smart player and hardly ever makes mistakes. He is always in there fighting for rebounds and he gets his points on sheer effort. I don't see how he won't be invited to the Rookie/Sophomore game. The kid is just so solid.

CelticsStuff Live has a Podcap of the Bobcats game. In spite of all the negatives they do find a few positives to discuss. No announcements yet as to Sunday's show, but Jughead promises it will be a good one so plan to tune in as you won't find better Celtics talk anywhere.

The Globe also has Knicks Thumbnails to get you ready for tonight's game. You can also check out the game thread on Celtics Green for more info on the game. Also join us on Celtics Green for the Play by Play of tonight's game. Hopefully we will have Q back for his insightful commentary as well. You won't find better game coverage anywhere on the web.