Stop me if you have heard this before. Celtics play hard and stage a comeback only to lose a close game in the end. Seems like that is the description of every game lately. Other than Turnovers, the Celtics seemed to out play the Raptors. Celtics shot 48% to 41% for the Raptors. Celtics out rebounded the Raptors 41-36. But the Celtics turned the ball over 20 times to only 10 for the Raptors. But we went 7 minutes in the 4th quarter without making any shots and that sealed the loss. The Raptors had a great passing game and had 27 assists on 31 field goals. I would love for the Celtics to get to that level.

My insider said that most of the Celtics were up late last night partying their brains out. Much alcohol was consumed.
This game is as much of a lock for the Raptors as any game this season.

From Marc Stein's column today:

As for Pau's future, Boston is the team I'm hearing strongest besides Chicago, whose interest in Gasol and long list of assets are well-chronicled. The Celts, though, also have a longstanding interest in the Spaniard and can package an inexpensive young player or two with future first-round picks in an offer that would also feature ailing center Theo Ratliff, whose contract expires next season while insurance pays most of this season's tab.

The issue for the Celts is whether to pursue Gasol between now and the Feb. 22 trading deadline or focus on their Paul Pierce-less plummet into Greg Oden-Kevin Durant lottery territory.

He has documented that his father had owned this ring for more than 10 years prior to his death. The son has also stated that he had legally owned the Ring Free and Clear prior to me obtaining the ring from him. The son had no desire to keep the ring as he is not a sports fan and he wanted some collector to be able to enjoy it.

First the Good News... Al Jefferson is ok. He left the game last night with 10:32 left in the 4th quarter with a sprained ankle after coming down on someone's foot. He also went down hard at the end of the second quarter with what was called a knee bruise but came back and played the entire 3rd quarter. Here is what Al had to say from Celtics.com

"It feels good. I'm expecting to play tomorrow. I wanted to come back last night," said Jefferson. "I must have stepped on somebody's foot. I tweaked it earlier in the game and it wasn't as bad, but it happened again. It was a little sore last night, and it's a little sore right now, but it's pain that I've played through before," said Jefferson. "I've iced it and I've just got to get it ready for tomorrow."

The Celtics appeared to have the game well in hand, leading by as much as 18 points in the first half. They played together and looked really good. Then they came out completely flat in the second half. The Hawks went to a zone defense in the second half and it completely took us out of our game. And it gets worse. Al went down hard in the second quarter and was slow to get up and limped off the court. He came back and they said it was just a light knee bruise. Then, in the third quarter, he came down on someone's foot and sprained his ankle and didn't return to the game. Hopefully it is a minor sprain and won't lead to more problems like he had last season. Perk played an inspired game but told Doc in the third quarter that his foot was hurting pretty bad.

Since Gasol has publicly asked for a trade, there is a lot of buzz around the NBA about it. I figured I would offer a few random thoughts about what is going around. The Bulls have offered a package that includes guard Ben Gordon, forward P.J. Brown and a first round draft pick in return for Gasol. Chris Sheridan says that this offer has a 4 out of 5 probablility.

We know that Danny had made an offer previously but we don't know who he offered. And has the player or players offered previously distinguished themselves to become a part of the core group since then? Chris Sheridan has this to say about the Celtics:

The Grizzlies already know the Celtics are interested, so now it's a question of whether West wants what Celtics exec Danny Ainge can offer.
You can assume West would begin his wish list with Al Jefferson and Delonte West, but their salaries don't add up to anything close to the $10 million requisite, so the Celtics would have to add in Theo Ratliff, too, and he is still due to make $11.67 million in '07-'08. In other words, Memphis could probably do better elsewhere.

Tonight we face the Hawks. Last game against them was a loss but of all the teams we face, this one should be a good chance at a win. Some good articles in the papers today and wothe the read.

Steve Bulpett begins with an article in The Herald that reports that the Celtics are losing games but not the fans. How can you not love a team that plays this hard and shows so much heart? They never give up. I would love to see what they could do with a competent coach.

The Celtics Notebook begins by telling us that Wally and Scal were back at practice and trying to acclimate themselves back into the team. It was good to read that Doc isn't going to put Wally back into the starting lineup. I think having him come off the bench is a good thing.

Shira's article in the Globe tells us that our small lineup with West, Rondo, Ray, Gomes and Al play with such energy and heart that they don't back down from anyone. This is the lineup that brought us back from big deficits in the last two games. Good things do indeed come in small packages.

The Globe Blog tells us that Rondo is learning. He spends a lot of time watching tape and analyzing his performances and what he needs to do to get better. He also spends hours after practice and before games on his shot. This kid is the real deal and is going to be an incredible talent in this league. Also in the Blog is a little piece telling us that Perk is still struggling with the plantar fasciitis. Some days he can barely walk. Why Doc doesn't play Powe more and give Perk a rest, I just don't understand.

Eric Weiss has a good article on Celtics Blog that explains why we build chemistry and how we avoid fostering an attitude of losing. He reports that Doc gives players minutes as they earn them. But that doesn't explain why Powe doesn't get more. The kid does good things everytime he gets on the floor. He is such a hard worker, I just don't see him not working hard in practice. It just baffles me that he doesn't play more.

USA Today has a piece that tells us that Green is improving but that he is still very inconsistent. He will have a good game and then follow that up with a bad one. As he gets more minutes he will continue to improve and gain the confidence that will make his bad games fewer and fewer.

Hoopsworld takes a look at Pierce's injury. He is playing it safe by resting his foot. He sees a silver lining in that this rest may help to extend his career since he has been playing a lot of minutes over his career and hasn't missed a lot of games. One thing we know for sure is that the team is benefitting from his absence. We are seeing our young players develop and get more time and that will be good for the future of this team when he returns.

The Enterprise tells us that as the Celtics season continues to slide downhill, Jefferson is blossoming. He has become a genuine low post threat and is now developing a defensive game as well. I think back to last year when everyone was calling him a bust because he wasn't able to play well and because it took too long to come back from the sprained ankle that was actually bone chips. Now I hear the same thing about Perk who is struggling with an injury as well. When Perk has a chance to finally heal and is 100% I think we will see a huge improvement there as well.

Finally, I love this article in the Lowell Sun. We have been hearing a lot of Celtics fans hoping we continue to lose in order for a chance to get Greg Oden.

But don't believe the hype. What sort of logic is it to throw in the towel because you might -- flashback to the 1997 Draft and Tim Duncan -- have the chance at a potentially solid big man?
The idea being that everyone should just forget about the fact that Paul Pierce and Wally Szczerbiak will be coming back at some point. Instead, just say the heck with it all. Let them sit the rest of the year. Don't really try to win. Tank the season.
All this for a guy scoring 15 points per game in 12 games against college players. The same guy who got shut down in the Buckeyes biggest game so far (a 26-point loss to Florida), got hit with the injury bug in his freshman year, and who, at 7 feet tall and 280 pounds, might not even fit the up-tempo style of play the Celtics claim to want to play.

Nobody should be looking to the draft. The hope for the future is already in place. It starts and ends with the improvement of Al Jefferson, Delonte West, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green and Rajon Rondo.

According to the Herald Insider and Celtics.com, Wally and Scal practiced today and should be available to play tomorrow. Apparently their sense of humor is still very much intact as well

Apparently, Wally Szczerbiak was too busy playing one on one against Brian Scalabrine to talk to reporters, so he addresses them from across the gym.
"Day-to-day, re-evaluated tomorrow," yelled Szczerbiak, who was moving well as he drove to the basket.
"Me too," added Brian Scalabrine, who was guarding Szczerbiak while wearing a knee brace.
"Me too," chimed in Sebastian Telfair, who's presumably healthy but been relegated to minor minutes off the bench as of late as Rajon Rondo has taken his spot as the backup point guard.

In spite of another loss last night Celtics fans have got to have some hope for the future. Big Al is proving that he is for real. He played Duncan fairly evenly last night other than one blunder in the end. West is showing leadership on the court and is hitting his shots again. Rondo is so incredibly exciting to watch. Gomes is playing very well at the 3. Things are starting to come together for this team. Now if they could just take it one step further and get past the miscues and learn how to win. You can find reports on last night's game in the Herald, the Globe, Worcester Telegram and Metro West Daily. The theme is always the same. The Celtics get down by 20+ points, play hard and don't give up, cut the lead to 2, come up short in the end.

Mark Murphy has a piece in the Herald that discusses Al's game defensively last night. In the past, the one knock against Al has been his defense. Last night, he played solid defense on Duncan and won some praise from the coach for doing so. It could give Al a boost of confidence going forward as well:

“It tells me that I really can play D,” Jefferson said of the message that came with those two blocks. “If I can get a blocked shot against Tim Duncan, then I feel that I can get one against anybody.”

"Their energy and their youth and aggressiveness I thought was a real credit to what they're trying to do and the circumstances they've been in with all the injuries and losses," said Popovich. "My hat goes off to them. I thought that was a great show of the character they have to hang in that game."

What the Celtics need to do this season is play the young players who are healthy and develop them as much as they can. They also need to make some decisions on which of these players are keepers for the future, and which ones they might want to use in a trade for better fitting pieces going forward.