It took 4 stitches over his eye to fire him up, but Wally came out firing and hit for 33 points last night. Gerald Green is close to seeing more playing time. Ratliff and Scal close to return. I have mixed emotions about this. With Ratliff available, Perk's playing time is going to be even more erratic. And Scal will probably get valuable playing time that both Gomes and Jefferson can use. It will also probably move Powe to the end of the bench without even getting a chance to prove he can pley.

Celtics offense firing on all cylinders but the defense is missing in action. Also, excessive turnovers haunt the Celtics once again.

NBA Notebook reports on the zero tolerance policy for no whining this season. Celtics got to see it in action when Wally drew a T for complaining. Also, the new ball is here to stay according to Commissioner Stern.

The Globe reports that the Celtics can use some toughness. I agree but when our toughest player plays only 10 minutes and our second toughest player hasn't played a minute, what can you expect? We need to learn how to play in the 4th quarter instead of disappearing as we have been. I believe that the excessive turnovers are in part due to the lack of a set role for any of the players as well as Doc making things too complicated by having too many plays.

Shira reports that Doc has big plans for Jefferson but wants his first option to find an open Pierce or Wally. Doc doesn't know how to use bigs. I was hoping that the addition of Clifford Ray would help, but so far things appear pretty much as before. Pierce predicts that most teams will abandon the running game by mid season and that the Celtics have the players to keep it going here. So far, we haven't seen the running game. We do have the players, but it isn't translating to the games. I have to wonder if Doc is trying to call too many plays that hinders the players from just getting out and running.

Scott Souza once again has a very good article with info not given in the other papers. For one thing, Doc is saying he won't over use Pierce and Wally this season and wants to get them plenty of rest. Second, Al reveals that the second team has an entirely different set of plays than the first team. No wonder these kids are confused. The not only have to learn Doc's 8 or so defensive sets but they have 2 separate sets of plays to learn. Can you say, "Over Coaching"?

Our next chance to break out of the doldrums and come up with a win is on Wednesday night at home against the Bobcats. I am hoping for a win but with Doc's micromanaging and lack of a rotation, I am becoming more and more skeptical.