First, let me vent. Doc says if you don't play hard, you will be subbed. Doc says no one was playing defense. Leon Powe gets in the game. No one plays harder. He was playing solid defense in the lane and in those 3 minutes had 3 rebounds and 1 point. So, why does he come out and not play again? I just don't understand it. This kid does good things and plays hard when he is in the game but he just doesn't get minutes even when we are very short on bigs. It just doesn't make sense. Ok, I got that out of my system so it is on to the happenings in Celtics Nation today.

The Herald, Globe, Metro West Daily, Worcester Telegram, Patriot Ledger, and Projo all have articles on last night's game. It all boils down to a lack of defense as an equally depleted Sixer team got to the basket at will. (getting back to my rant, Powe played defense but Doc didn't keep him in- I would have liked to see Al and Powe playing together for a period and I think things may have turned around). Hopefully the youngsters got a painful lesson last night and will take it to heart. I am hoping to see more team play and more defense when we face Denver on Tuesday.

Scott Souza makes the point that the Celtics were hesitant on offense and often passed up open shots when the game was on the line. The game plan has been to give Pierce the ball and stand and watch him, it will take some time for them to get used to being go to guys. They also have to learn that it is defense that wins games, not offense. If they ever get that message on a regular basis, we will be OK.

In the Globe, Green points to lack of defense as reason for the loss. He has some very mature things to say in this article. If he really understands it and if he takes it to heart, good things could follow.

Shira's article in the Globe points out that the Celtics plan is to share the load with Pierce out. No one player has to take it on alone. Teamwork would go a long way toward making this team into a winner. If they play as a team on both offense and defense they could be dangerous. But each player has to commit to team play and no one has to do it all themselves. It is when one player (even Pierce) tries to do too much that we fail.

The Green Room has a list of players who could benefit from the absence of Pierce. I agree that Powe could very much play a big part on this team but not if Doc only plays him 3 minutes. Green right now has a chance to break out as he will get the most minutes in Pierce's absence and if he takes advantage of it, he could be a big difference maker.

The good news today is that Perk is looking at a Wednesday return to action. Wally may also be back then, which would be a very good thing. Kandi may be able to play on Tuesday.

The Clarion Ledger has a good piece on Big Al and his emergence this season. We are finally seeing the Al Jefferson that we have all been waiting for since those flashes in his rookie season. We can only hope that his emergence will continue.

Draft.net has a piece that makes a case for not stacking stars on a team. At times two stars can complement each other, but more often than not, they simply don't play well together. It takes a team and a committment to defense to win a championship.

The Celtics don't practice until Tuesday's shoot around and hopefully there will be some soul searching and possibly some film watching in the meantime along with the Christmas turkey and gifts.

Today's news is centered around Pierce's stress reaction and the lack of live bodies on the Celtics at this point. This could have a silver lining. With Pierce, Wally, and Perk out, it will force some of our young guys to step up. That being said, here is what is going on around the Celtics nation today.

Mark Murphy reports that the pain finally caught up to Pierce forcing him to miss the next 2-3 weeks. He also has an article that reports that the Celtics youngsters have an open door right now with injuries to Pierce and Wally. Roles are changing and it will be interesting to see how they respond when given the keys and the playing time.

The Globe also reports that injuries are adding up with Pierce being just the latest. They are blaming the injury for Pierce's inability to push off and get a shot off in the last game. It is fortunate that they caught it before it became a stress fracture, which could have ended his season.

Bob Ryan presents a very good case for why Philly is about to get worse. In the past, when a team has traded a superstar, they weren't able to rebound afterwards. My guess is that Philly is fine with that for this season so that they can win the Oden derby.

The Green Room makes a point that we all have said at one time or another and that is that the Celtics have relied too much on Pierce in clutch situations. It has been give Pierce the ball and 4 guys stand around and watch him work. With Pierce out, we are going to see some other players have to step up. It will be interesting to see which ones do. Last year, Gomes took advantage of injuries to break out. Will it be Green this year? We are about to find out. Stay tuned.

The Metro West Daily repeats the theme that Doc is desperate for live bodies that can stand on two feet. Pierce is out 2-3 weeks, Wally is out for at least another week and possibly more. Perk hopes to come back sometime on the West coast trip, Kandi is trying to come back but still sore. Scal has the flu. Ratliff is out indefinitely. Some of our young guys have to step up as we play 7 of our next 8 games on the road.

The Patriot Ledger reminds us that we get Iverson on our road trip. Just when we thought that the basketball gods were smiling down on us with the suspension to Melo, the clouds come over again and we will be facing an Allen Iverson who is determined to make Philly sorry they traded him without Pierce in our own lineup. Maybe the basketball gods want us to have Greg Oden.

In another piece, The Patriot Ledger reports that Big Al put the blame on himself for the loss to the Warriors. Many commentators were mentioning that Al's substandard game came right after Iverson was traded and he wasn't in immediate danger of a trade himself. I don't think that is a factor. It is more like that he is still young and will have ups and downs but hopefully from now on, the ups are going to be more often than the downs.

The depleted Celtics face the depleted Sixers tonight at the TD Banknorth Garden. Even without Pierce, we should win this one since Philly has been pretty much tanking. But they may surprise us if we take them for granted, especially since we are without our two top scorers. Philly can still be a dangerous team with Igoudala and Korver so hopefully we will come out strong and play for 48 minutes and win this one before we go out on the road with our kiddie corps. Join us on Celtics Green for the play by play tonight. NOTE: The game was originally scheduled for ESPN but they removed it when Iverson was suspended from the Sixers. At first it wasn't on the LP schedule but now it is showing up on League Pass as NBA 6. Since it was originally to be on ESPN, there will be a late start at 8:00 pm.

WEEI just reported that Pierce has a stress reaction in his left foot and will miss the West coast trip. A stress reaction can lead to a fracture if not rested and treated properly. This is a tough loss for the club. But we can look for a silver lining in that one of the kids, possibly Green will get the start and have a chance to take a leap given the extended playing time. Injuries last year gave us Gomes. Hopefully, injuries this year will give us Green.

The Celtics young players are breathing a little easier today knowing that Iverson is heading to Denver and they are staying here, at least until the next rumors start. But if the young players continue to progress and the team continues to win, that trade may not come. We can only watch and wait.

The news today is the Iverson trade to Denver and both the Globe and Herald have articles reporting it. Danny reinforces his stand that he isn't going to just give our kids away. That is good news.

In other news, The Herald discusses our corps of walking wounded. Soon we will have 14 ft of injured centers instead of 21 as Kandi has made it through 2 practices and hopes to suit up tonight. Gomes is planning a return to action tonight as well. In the absence of Perk, the team has committed to playing tough defense because they can't depend on a shot blocker and on Perk's defense to stop the play at the basket. Hopefully, they will continue to commit to tough defense when Perk comes back and we will be that much more effective. It is defense that has been winning games for us. It will be interesting to see how Doc deals with the rotation as we get players back from injuries.

The Herald Notebook begins with a fun recount of Pierce playing games with Patriots' tight end Daniel Graham. This team sounds like they have fun together and I can see why no one wants to be traded. They all genuinely like each other and have fun. With several of our young players picking up their games, a trade may not be necessary. Also mentioned in this article is the fact that Al may stay in the middle and Perk come off the bench at center.

The Globe Notebook reports that Jefferson may finally be realizing his potential. Doc attributes his recent spectacular play to the fact that he is finally healthy. Or it may be that the trade rumors lit a fire under him. Whichever it was, let's hope it continues because his play is a key to our continued winnning along with a committment to defense by everyone on the team. This article also reports that Wally may return quicker than originally expected.

The Green Room gives us 5 reasons for our current win streak. Credit Pierce rediscovering team play, Jefferson's continued spectacular play, Tony's reemergence as a player, solid point guard play, and Hustle, muscle and pride.

Draft Express has a player profile on Al Jefferson. Al credits defense as the reason for his own and the team's recent successes. Smart guy!!

In the Celtics.com article that reports Gomes' hopeful return tonight, there are questions about the bench scoring with Wally out. One reason I like Wally off the bench is that he shores up the scoring of our second team. In his absence, West and Green are going to have to pick up their scoring. This article also reports on a match between West and Gomes on NBA07 complete with trash talk from West.

Hoopsworld reports on our December so far, beginning with our improbable come back from 20 points down in New Jersey. If we are going to continue to win, we have to continue to play defense and have increased production from our bench especially as we head out West for a 5 game road trip.

Finally, it is game day with the Golden State Warriors coming to town. They have lost 8 in a row on the road and have been struggling lately. This could make them a dangerous team looking to break that streak. We can't take them for granted or get full of ourselves and get over confident. We need to come out and play hard for 48 minutes. I am looking forward to the day when this team can put together a good 48 minutes and build a lead and keep it. Join us tonight on Celtics Green for the play by play and for Q's every insightful commentary. Can we make it 6 in a row?

ESPN is reporting that Philly has traded Allen Iverson to Denver for Andre Miller, Joe Smith and two 2007 first round picks.

I see this as good and bad news. The good news is that we can stop worrying about losing Al and Gerald for Iverson. The bad news is that he should be in uniform and playing when we face Denver later this month.

Now that this is settled, we need more Gasol rumors to keep us busy.

Kandi returned for a full practice today, coming back earlier than he originally planned. He may be activated as soon as Wednesday's game but won't play much at first. Doc is hoping to be able to move him into the rotation for the West coast swing.

Ryan Gomes sat out today's practice but hopes to practice tomorrow and play Wednesday when the Warriors visit Boston.

The news on Wally isn't near as good. The sprain he suffered in the game against Charlotte is worse than the sprain he just returned from. That sprain kept him out 5 games. He is expected to miss the Celtics 5 game road trip later this month.

Speaking of our upcoming trip out west, our first game on the trip is in Denver and we found out today that the Nuggets will be without their leading scorer. Carmelo Anthony has been suspended 15 games and JR Smith has been suspended 10. Hopefully they won't be able to regroup in time for our game with them and we can start out road trip out on a positive note. Hopefully we won't go in there and expect a win to drop in our laps as we sometimes do.