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The unabashed joy in Celtic basketball is back.

Great win tonight.

Thanks Rondo for taking one for the team.

Pud

Deep down inside we all know the Celtics will realistically fall short in their quest for a championship this year. They're a notch below the real contenders. But I give them as good a chance as anyone else next season if they trade Rondo for a solid big and otherwise bring back the same roster plus or minus a couple secondary guys.

Must be pure adrenellein... all the guys must have rededicated themselves to win for Rondo. Afterall, hes their leader.. I know this because Doc told everyone Rondo is the teams leader and on floor coach.

Imagine losing a HOF PG/on-floor-coach and losing Sully and taking a 20-23 losing record and running off 13 wins in the next 17 games.

Now that I think about it, I can only figure Sully must have been a cancer to the team... rebounding the ball, hustling, shooting hi gh percentage of his FTs, having a nice touch, a good mid range  and post game, playing team ball not stat ball etc etc .... THank goodness we all saw what DOc couldnt,,,the rookie was tearing this team apart both on and off the court. 

 

What notch is that?

Because casual "self appointed expert" media people say so? Because x NBA players think the Celtics are getting old because the Celtics Stars play limited minutes and so put up limited stats? Because the media falls all over Lebron every five minutes and builds him up to super hero staus to sell ads? 

Last year we were 1/2 of one game from the NBA finala. Why did we fail? Because we had no Bench and the starters ran out of gas and Ray Allen had to guard Wade.

What has changed? 

We will have our starting "2" guard, Bradley, for the whole series, instead of our back up, Ray Allen. Bradley is a Wade stopper. Allen is  a defensive joke.

Jeff Green has become a great defender. Lebron went 3 for 11 while being guarded by Jeff.

Jeffs offense, along with others, more than make up for Rondo's offense.

Pierce is still usually clutch,

KG is still KG

We have a reliable bench!

Since Rondo went down, We have beaten most of the series teams, going 13 and 4. That 5 game in 7 night road trip to the west coast can not happen in the play-offs.

... so why is it again that we are a notch below championship level? 

Only because guys that get paid to sell news paper advertising and TV advertizing say so. Most are journalism majors. They look at stats, and they feed on the hype of other journalism majors.

The Celtics play a unique brand of basketball that is not stat frendly. Defense is an underrated  NBA tool that gets results. Analysis like stats because they don't have to watch the game to create a story line. Analists elevate players that get great stats to super hero status. That is what they did for Rondo, and we all know how that worked out.

I like our chances.

In response to davidap's comment:

I was thinking thw same thing. IF the team continues to ply at a higher level without Rondo, woud AInge/Doc be willing to move him in the off-season.

 

I am not sure what tyoe of player we could get back though.

What big is out there, that would match up trade wise?

What teams would be looking at Rondo in trade?

 

next years roster w/o Rondo:

Garnett

Melo

Sullinger

Bass

Pierce

Green

T. Williams

Bradley

Lee

Terry

Crawford

add in our frist round pick and we'll have 12 players.

 

we certainly need additional bigs...but who?

 

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The C's should push the Heat.  Last year it was fairly close.

C's add Green and AB.  They are easily 2 of the top 5 on the team and the key to the D on Wade and LBJ..

C's improve greatly because Rondo is hurt.

Doc greatly improve schemes on both Offense and Defense.

If C's don't beat the Heat now-- the Rondo assertion above will have to be revisited.

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Rondo isn't going anywhere. He just happened to get injured around the same time the Celtics usually come together and start putting together wins. 

 

Without another big - think about our chances in the playoffs right now if we were 100% healthy with Rondo & Sully. We would easily be favored to play the Heat in the ECF again. 

 

Rondo is not going to be traded!!! Think about this - style aside - do you really think Courtney Lee is a better backcourt player than Rondo? Rondo + Avery = DANGER

In response to R9R's comment:

Rondo + (Fill in the blank) = DANGER.... of missing POs.

Anybody seen Rondo?

Might he be more visible if the Cs were..... say.... 4-13 since his injury?

Pud

In response to puddinpuddin's comment:

yeah, was wondering about that too...has he been to the games? being a good team mate and all?

I think we can beat the HEAT...but I'm bias. :-)

As Doc said we had 8 new guys that it took time to get acclimated and now we're seeing the fruits of that time. Green's confidence should be sky high now. Another test will be Sunday vs the Thunder. I don't expect to win but I don't worry about any West teams until the Finals. It will be a good measuring stick though.

 

Has anyone told Rondo he's played his last game in a Celtics uniform? ACL or no ACL, Ainge can move him before the season. There is no way you bring Rondo back into the fold with his style of play verses how they are playing now. He's not going to change. Let him go to the Kings where he can dribble the air out the ball and dazzle fans with his triple doubles.

Trade rondo to Atlanat for Horford!

Ferry gets a PG to pair with a re-signed Smith (didn't someone say Rondo and Smith are Buds?) and he ahs other pieces to move at Guard to add another big (better him than us).

new roster next year:

Garnett

Horford

Melo

Sullinger

Bass

McAdoo (first round pick)

Pierce

Green

Bradley

Lee

Terry

Crawford

T. Williams

 

12-4 without SULLINGER! Think. 

Gotta love the way they have been playing ball nowadays...

youre all mad. we are better with Rondo we just werent meshing yet ans green wasnt at this level

In response to Kirk6's comment:

INDEED!

In response to R9R's comment:

 

youre all mad. we are better with Rondo we just werent meshing yet ans green wasnt at this level

 

And don't forget! the spirits were out of whack while the stars were out of alignment......STOP! GONDO gets another assist! Thanks, for NOT playing!

 

In response to R9R's comment:

A good cry... and you will feel 100% better.  Guaranteed.

Pud

In response to puddinpuddin's comment:

How sad will you be when Rondo returns to Run this team for the next ten years? :) 

In response to jtkl's comment:

 

In response to puddinpuddin's comment:

 

In response to R9R's comment:

 

youre all mad. we are better with Rondo we just werent meshing yet ans green wasnt at this level

 

 

A good cry... and you will feel 100% better.  Guaranteed.

Pud

 

 

How sad will you be when Rondo returns to Run this team for the next ten years? :) 

 

In 10 years I foresee , Rondo, Perk & you starring in a real life drama, Three men and a baby...

 

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In response to tomobo's comment:

That was your wife.