Copyright 2009 NBAE (Photo by Brian Babineau/NBAE via Getty Images)
It’s a very simple message to the Celtics if they’re going to shut everyone up and get back on track.
Aside from Rondo cutting back on the gambling on Derrick Rose (something he admits to) there’s no special defense to play on the Bulls rookie. Just make the rotations. Play defense like you’re used to playing defense. On offense, you play like you’ve always played. We’ve been saying since the final buzzer on Saturday… and the Celtics, and Paul Pierce, were saying it after practice yesterday
“After watching tape, we didn’t play well at all and still had a chance to win. I thought we had a real good practice and had a chance to clean up some things. Just really stick with our game plan, we aren’t going to change up our game plan.
Paul pretty much stuck to the same message when talking about getting Ray open
“Our job is to get him open. He’s one of the deadliest shooters to ever play the game, so we have to do a better job of get him open. Despite all that, we still had our chances. The bigs and even myself have to set screens for him, because that’s what we’ve done for him all year. It has to come from all of us.”
Pretty simple stuff. Do what you’ve done all year and you’ll beat the Bulls. Then maybe all the people panicking can shut up.
Herald: Doc’s orders: Wait, KG | Celtics ready to rebound | C’s hope help on the way with Rose | Ainge out of the hospital | Case closed, get Ray open | Globe: Little LeBron, big problem | Offensive plan is to get Allen involved | Bulls old college try successful | Camerato: They call him “Big Cuddly” | Philly upsets Orlando | Lakers win | Nuggets beat Hornets | Hawks destroy Heat
RedsArmy.com: The Voice Of Celtics Fans 
wow….they look ready for vacation in that pic..no?
No.
Baron, you’re a very interesting Celtics fan. Tell me a little about how you came to love the C’s
Big basketball fan, and I grew up and live in Boston and have loved the celtics my whole life.
and im not trying to be pessimistic with saying they look ready for vacation in that pic… they just look ready for vacation in that pic.
Baron might be a little bit busy dodging the wheels of the bandwagon as he jumps off.
Redsarmy there are 3 types of people in this world, some that see the glass half full, some that see the glass half empty, and some that say “Hey I ordered a beer!”
Wahh…what bandwagon am I jumping off?
Ive been a celtics fan my whole life.
Sorry youre so sensitive for pointing out the obvious…they look happy in that picture? no they dont, and I said it sarcastically (not always detectable online) that they look ready for vacation….how do they not?
Anyways, they gotta play with something to prove tonight
I see the Celtics holding at least a 10 point lead most of the game. Rose coming down to earth, 17 and 6, and Ray and Paul setting the example. I also see lots a beers in my future! Bottom line win or lose I love watching this team and am proud of how far Rondo-Powe and Glen have improved.
Baron posted that KG’s mentally unstable, that he’s not a great teammate and does not have good chemistry with the team. Some of the listed evidence is suspect (I have not seen where Doc asked KG to talk to the media about his injury – in fact Danny said not to, and it was Doc who said he couldn’t play lately). But is there truth in what he says?
Is KG mentally unstable? Hmmm…. is there any doubt? He’s a nutjob, which is why we love him and what has made him so great. He’s extremely emotional, yet keeps it all bottled up until he hits the court. No need to go over all the examples… the Thompson interview, his reaction after winning the championship, the Calderon taunting, the panther stance… guy’s a nut. But, we believe, it’s all good. Maybe it is. Maybe.
Good teammate? I don’t know. Does he have any close friends on the Celtics? Was he snake-bitten after his experiences in Minn? The only guy he seems to talk to (as opposed to instruct) is Paul, and that seems limited. When he sat on the bench in the first half, he was like a zombie out there… didn’t seem to say a word, to anybody, and nobody said anything to him. It was weird… really weird.
What about chemistry? In the past, he jelled extremely well with his fellow players on the court. This year? Not as well.
But the weirdest thing is his relationship with Doc. We all know how close Doc is with Paul… two guys who’ve been in the trenches covering each other’s back for years. But when it comes to KG… I remember last year when Doc described how before game 6 fo the Finals he didn’t know if KG was ready, couldn’t ask KG, so he asked Cliff Ray. Doc HARDLY TALKS to KG… their energies are just way too different. I guess KG’s just too weird/intense for him. But Doc’s biggest strength is his ability to communicate with the guys. And yet… he can’t TALK to KG???
Ok, you’ll say it’s because KG gets too intense sometimes, etc. Too intense to talk to the coach? Huh?
I’m not agreeing with Baron about KG (yet). I’m just sayin’…
This is not true. Doc and of have a lot of communication he’s the teams superstar give me a break you think he doesn’t talk to doc your wrong
I know it’s heresy to say anything negative about KG. Fire away… I want to be wrong.
Great Post DRJ, and i know its blashphemy to question KG, but youre exactly right in all the points you make.
ive heard from people that know insiders within the minnesotta timberwolves franchise – and lets just say they dont look at KG in a positive light, and these are people that know him as well as anybody, he was the face of there franchise for over 10 seasons.
Anything from not autographing things for fans, to punching teammates when theyre on the stretching table, to going ballistic if someone scores on him at practice, to being about as bossy and nutty a guy there is in the NBA all while being the highest paid player in the league that goes by his own set of rules..
and to top it off, last night on CelticsStuffLive, celtics beat writer steve bullpet said he doesnt care if he ever talks to KG again. hmmm overwhelming evidence the guy is a total jerk….Again, I know its blashphemy, but bullpet even said just last week KG refused to come out on the court on fan appreciation night, he made Glen Davis bring his shoes to the fans for him…
How often do you see Perk talking with anybody else? Or Rondo for that matter? We don’t see these guys in the locker room, so it would be unfair to say any of those things.
Any criticism of KG is unwarranted at this point.
I would take KG sitting on the bench out of any argument that you have about KG not being a good teammate
look we would all love for KG to be out on the bench yelling at guys firing them up and directing defenses from the bench just as if he was on the court….. but that is not gonna happen, not now, not ever
It is absolutely torture for him to sit on the bench and not play, and thats how he looked saturday, like someone was torturing him, he looked defeated because he could not play, thats what set off the bad body language and blank stare
KG could be the best teammate in the world, or the biggest jackass on the planet to his teammates, what he did saturday did nothing to change that, he is a competitor and i promise you it is killing him not to be able to suit up with those guys
KG is the same guy from last year, the fiercest competitor, the guy who gives the most effort each and every night, the guy that is willing to sacrifice for the good of the team, he is just not the guy that is healthy right now
Accept for the fact hes a psycho that i love.
Here! Here!
(Clink! clink!)
Here’s to the 62-win Celtics reappearing tonight!
And here’s to the refs calling Joakim Noah for setting AT LEAST one moving screen tonight!
That is all.
Cheers!
and baron they dont look like guys that are ready for a vacation, KG looks like a guy that is having to watch his team play terrible defense and with absolutely no energy while he is being forced to sit on the bench and not be able to play
Ray looks like a guy who wet 1 for 10 or 11 or whatever it was and that just missed a dunk
and pierce looks like he just saw rose make another layup
they look disgusted, not disinterested
KG is a nut. KG is upset that he can’t play. KG didn’t want to be on the bench when he couldn’t play and looked like a zombie out there.
But I think it’s a reach to go from that to not having friends on the team/not being a good teammate overall/ not communicating when he’s behind closed doors.
There’s plenty of anecdotal evidence from his actual teammates to the contrary. For example… that video with Ahmad Rashad posted here a while ago, where KG and Ray were joking around about Paul not giving them little cameras like he promised. The sarcastic looks back and forth between KG and Ray were very familair and friendly. For example… there was a side comment in one of the papers a few weeks ago that KG is always commenting on Marbury’s clothing, and Marbury appears to be amused by the comments. For example… at some point this year there was a comment made about the Celtics having a rough flight with turbulance and KG screaming, which Doc proceeded to blame on KG getting doubled down in a card game. For example… CSN recently did a puff piece with Kendrick Perkins playing with his kid, and saying he wanted the kid to have a healthy diet and “I’m gonna have me a little KG.” Even specifically refering to a discrete aspect of life (good diet), does anyone ever say he wants his child to emulate the co-worker from hell?
Crazy? Sure. Socially dysfunctional to the fact that he doesn’t have friendly relationships with his teammates and is a total jerk with them? Probably not.
Papa, CFH… excellent posts. Just hope this injury of his doesn’t push him over the edge… which is pretty much where he lives most of the time.
i think KG has been over the edge for a long time now…. thats why we love him
Garnotonthebench/Baron — KG is clearly weird. And I have some questions about him. But I’m not prepared to conclude that he’s a jerk, or a problem, He’s dealing with something new now… his body giving out… and I’m sure that’s wreaking havoc with his already-addled mind. But I still believe he is what he seems to be… the most intense player in the league, a true warrior. He would not sleep-walk through the first half of any playoff game, like we just saw.
Anyway… today’s game is now a critical test. Today we should find out how serious this team is about winning this year.
WoW–All of a sudden, Celts fans are KG Bashers? Sad day!
I said it yesterday and will say it again (in agreement w/this post)..the C’s control their own destiny. If they play team-ball, Ubuntu and all that, they will win. On Saturday, their was not enough team bball. Baby was trying to manufacture shots, Ray was not loose and relaxed, Rondo(for most of the 2nd half) was walking the ball up and not attacking-does anyone else want to slap him when he lets the ball roll up the floor dangerously close to the defender at crucial points in the game? I know he does it so the clock doesn’t start, but still…A group of the C’s, Rondo, Perk ect..were at King’s yesterday(Boston Herald 4/20) bowling and having some fun-hopefully this speaks to the fact that they are relaxed and not as tight as they seemed on Saturday.
KG bashers????
i believe baron and garnotonthebench were the only one’s who came close to out and out bashing KG, DRJ was objectively criticizing him based on what he observed and the rest were pretty much nothing short of i freaking love the guy posts
To clarify:
#1. KG is not a pyscho. This was part of recreating himself for the C’s. He’s smart. Intimidate the hell out of people to mess with their psyche (case in point- the goaltending after blown whistle that he’s been doing since his twolves days.) He is emotional, he is intense, but he is not as crazy as people think- it’s a calculated front.
#2. He was great friends with Sam-I-Am. Is there any evidence that he is not friends with anyone on the C’s? Or is this pure conjecture? To answer the question, yes he has been snakebitten- Marbury, Joe Smith, Billups, Sprewell (I purposely left out Sealy for obvious reasons). Back when they were teammates in Minnesota, Trenton Hassell even went as far as to say he’d welcome a trade if it meant KG got a championship. People don’t offer that for “bad” teammates.
#3. He didn’t jell with teammates on the court this year? Odd, before he went down, he seemed to have jelled extremely well with the starters (Weren’t he and Rondo on pace to challenge the “most alley-oops in a year” record?)
#4. Regarding the talking to KG before a game- Cassell even noted that before playoff games with Minnesota, KG would be so wound up he wouldn’t talk to anyone. It’s not that he and Doc aren’t communicating, it’s that pre-game he is in a whole ‘nother world.
The Marbury thing hurt, but Sealy’s death really hit KG hard, after that he played a lot of off court happenings close to the vest, such as the birth of his child last year.
Also, I would like to note that if KG was such a bad teammate, ex-training camp teammates would not say things such as “Kevin Garnett is one of the most impressive humans I’ve ever been around.”
source: http://www.slate.com/id/2169154/pagenum/all/#p2
In fact, i cannot find one bad comment from ex-teammates (and he’s had a ton.)
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Paul and Ray dont look ready for a vacation…. thats disbelief on their face over the busch league officiating. It was one game that we still almost won. Payback coming tonight, CELTICS in 5.