CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Friday Odds and Ends

December 15, 2006

There are conflicting stories today about the Celtics interest in Iverson. Marc Stein came out with a piece that says that the Celtics are still very much in the race for Iverson.

Even if Danny Ainge publicly brands the Celtics' chances as "slim," they will stay in the race – at some level – until the finish.... Then there's the under-pressure Ainge in Boston. Given the obvious odds against finding a third team to take on Ratliff, can anyone say with certainty that the Celts won't relent and give up Jefferson or Green?

Bur then you read the piece from Bulpett and Murphy this morning in the Herald and it tells a completely different story.

The Celtics appeared to be falling out of the running for Allen Iverson yesterday, but new information leaves open to question how deeply they were ever truly in it.
According to sources, the Celts and 76ers did have discussions on a potential trade, but, contrary to published reports, at no time did the Celtics make a specific offer or did the Sixers make a specific request.

So, depending on who you believe, we are either one of 3 teams close to making a deal, or we never really were all that interested and are even less interested now. I vote for the second option.

The Globe discusses the importance of defense in our latest 3 game win streak. I have said it from day one, when we play tough defense, we win. When we don't commit to defense for 48 minutes we lose. It is our defensive lapses that cause us to end up in big holes and also that allows other teams to come back when we have a big lead. Also in this piece we learn that Tony Allen finally has an April 23 trial date. If it interferes with a Celtics playoff series, he may get a continuance.

The Green Room takes a look at our recent 3 game win streak and discusses the individual performances of some of the players. Telfair in particular has been in a slump. At this time, Rondo has been playing much stronger and should be getting more minutes. He has even been hitting some jumpers which is more than Telfair has been doing lately. Now what is Doc's excuse? Big Al, Tony and Delonte seem to be breaking out lately and that is good news.

Boston Sports Review has a new article up that discusses the fact that the Celtics have not been progressing or regressing but more like moving sideways. I think we are progressing. Again this season we have been hit with a lot of injuries but the players have been picking up the slack and when we get healthy, which will be hopefully soon, I think the team will come together and make a run. We are already seeing some signs of it and I believe it is only going to keep getting better. Of course I live on green koolaid, but the signs are there. Now we just have to be more consistent.

Ryan Gomes sends his Holiday Greetings in the Celtics Beat.

We've had some good practices lately and I think it's starting to click for us. Our veterans Paul, Wally and Scal really set the tone, and Doc is giving us some great game plans. When we execute them with consistency like we did on this recent trip, it shows us we can play with anyone. Now if we can just get some of our big guys back from injury we'll really start to come on and make some noise.
So stick by us fans and I know you won't be disappointed. Just know that all of us love what we do, we love playing for the best fans in the NBA and we enjoy winning just as much as you do. My teammates and I have talked a lot about this in the past few days. We all really like Boston a lot, and know this team is moving in the right direction.

Tonight we face the Nuggets at home. The last time we were sitting on a 3 game win streak we put in a dismal performance against the Bobcats. The team has admitted they may have taken the Cats too lightly and maybe let the 3 wins go to their heads. Hopefully they won't take the Nuggets for granted as they come in here 12 and 8 from a much stronger Western conference. A win tonight would go a long way toward boosting this team's confidence and showing that they are coming around. On the other hand, a loss would show that we are still an inconsistent team. Join us on Celtics Green for the Play by Play and for Q's ever insightful commentary.

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