CELTICS GREEN BLOG by and for boston celtics fans: Random Thoughts

by FLCeltsFan 10:33 PM

Watching Tony Allen take any more than one or two dribbles is painful. It won't take teams long to realize that all they have to do is press a little and he will turn it over. With Rondo out, it would be a good time to give Pruitt a little playing time to see what he can do. He can't be worse than Tony at bringing the ball up. It is tough because Tony's defense is so good, you want to keep him out there, but his ball handling is so poor that he becomes a liability.

Still thinking about the point guard position, it is becoming more and more obvious that the Celtics need a back up point guard for times like this, and for the playoffs when the defenses become much harder to beat and converted shooting guards just won'tcut it. Gary Payton has said that he can help the Celtics. He has several pluses on his side. He knows Doc and got along with him. He knows Doc's system already and wouldn't have as much to learn as other PGs brought in. He is good friends with Pierce and because he is a veteran, he would be accepted by KG and Ray Allen. He has championship experience and has played with Posey. He may be 39 years old, but he has kept himself in great shape and would be able to give us 10-15 minutes a game to back up Rondo.

Danny may be waiting to see how the other rosters shake out to see who will be available before making a decision. Danny has met with Payton's agent but he isn't tipping his hat as to what he has in mind. I still like the idea of trying to trade Scal for Tyronne Lue. Earl Boykins, Randy Livingston and Mike Wilks are available and could be brought in on a 10 day contract to see how they fit with the chemistry of the team. The bottom line is that we need a PG and hopefully Danny will not allow the luxury tax stand in the way of bringing in the missing piece for this team.

I have been reading articles that mention Tom Thibodeau for various projected coaching vacancies. The latest article looks at coaches available to replace Isiah. Thibodeau is signed only for 1 season and could look to take a head coaching job this off season. Hopefully the Celtics can keep him, either as head coach or as an assistant for another year. But, it is looking more and more like we may lose him this off season.

I am getting so that I really don't like small ball. We are getting out rebounded by 19 and yet Doc keeps Perk on the bench. KG rebounds better when Perk is on the floor since Perk does a great job of blocking out and allowing KG to get to the glass. We aren't going to win many games allowing teams to out rebound us by that many. But then, KG has led the league in rebounding without a Perk beside him so it all has to come down to effort and desire. If players want the rebounds bad enough they will find a way to get them.

It is no secret to anyone that I love Perk. He had some very wise things to say as reported in this morning's Herald.

“I just think we need to all go back to what our roles are and stick to them,” Perkins said. “You know what I mean? I think guys have been getting outside their body in what they do. We’ve all got to realize what got us playing time and what made us successful as a team.

“We’ve all got to know that we’re going through Paul (Pierce), Ray (Allen) and KG (Kevin Garnett). If we get shots off of them, that’s fine. But as far as us trying to create shots on our own, I’ve just seen too much of that. I just think we’ve got to clean it up.

” The Celtics have been getting away from what made them so successful early: tough defense and great ball movement. They have been doing neither in their last 3 games on a consistent basis. They have played defense in spurts and have moved the ball on occasion, but they have to get back to doing that from start to finish like they did in earlier games. Hopefully it is just a matter of focus because if fatigue is a problem already, then this team is in trouble.

I really enjoyed watching the arrogant Pistons get blown out by the lowly Knicks last night. It kind of makes that loss to the Bobcats not look so bad. The Pistons were totally annihilated. sweet. Jeff over on CelticsBlog said it best with this graphic.

Not to overlook tonight's game against the Wizards which is important for pride and for revenge factors, but coming in Wednesday are the red hot Blazers. Even without Greg Oden, they have been playing very good basketball. Hopefully the Celtics will come to play that night.

The officiating has been terrible this season. Aside from taking the momentum from the game and allowing one team an advantage, it is getting dangerous. When refs let a lot of contact go, teams play a lot rougher and players get hurt. For all his posturing this summer, David Stern has really done nothing to clean up the officiating. If you doubt what I am saying, watch the Bobcats game again and count how many terrible calls and non-calls Ken Mauer was responsible for. That was the worst I have seen this season, but rarely are games well officiated these days.

Tonight's game should be a good one. Pierce and Butler were jawing at each other and were shoving each other around the entire game. This could heat up quickly. It should be a fun one to watch and hopefully the Celtics will put some effort into winning it. If, as Perk suggested, the Celtics can get back to what made them successful early, they should win this game easily. If not, they could have their first 2 game losing streak this season.

Should be a good game and since it is at home, those of us with League Pass should get Mike and Tommy which is a very good thing. I hate having to listen to the other team's feed. Mike is probably the best at play by play in the game. I could close my eyes and still know exactly what is going on. And, I just love Tommy's homerism. A man after my own heart. Speaking of Mike, if you missed CelticsStuff Live last night, you need to listen to the podcast of it. Mike Gorman was excellent, as always and Scott Souza is one of the best Celtics writers out there. It was one of their best shows yet.
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