Lee and Bradley are the best defensive guard pair in the NBA.  We just played our best game of the year.  We have played very well without Rondo.  The ball and players move better and are more lively and into the game.  Keep em, get us a good big and we have just as good a chance as any iin the East.

In response to maryngary's comment:

Lee and Bradley best defensive guard pair - +1

Better ball movement - +1

Get a good big - +1

good to see Courtney Lee contribute and Avery Bradley come back strong from his injuries,

no reason now to hold Fab Melo back, give him as many minutes as he can handle,

Green Bradley Lee Sully Mello and KG are the only players I do not want to trade.

I agree with almost all points, but Lee and Bradley are also one of the worst scoring backguards in the league. And they aren't great rebounders either. Especially compared to Rondo.

Additional hint: AB bringing the ball up looks terrible. Head down and go for it ...

I believe other teams wil press us (if they are not to lazy) full court for long stretches.

Yes the defense is better. If Pierce and KG were younger I'd be more optimistic but I'm not sure they can assume as much of the ball handling duties at this point in their career. 

I'm honestly fed up right now, on both sides. I'm fed up with Rondo lovers who are certain the team will be worse off now, and I'm fed up with Rondo haters who are certain the team will be better. 

I know one thing: Rondo's upside is higher, he singlehandely won one game against the Heat last year and almost/should have won another. 

But: the team clearly needed a change, and this turns out to be the change. I'm not going to pass any judgements yet. Yes, the team will be better defensively, no doubt about that. We're going to learn a lot about the team and Rondo in the next couple of months. 

Personally I don't believe any further backcourt moves will be made, Barbosa can play more minutes too. There isn't a true point guard but Doc will try going through Pierce and KG. 

As long as we don't get trapped and punished for taht as Gas says, I see us standing pat at the trade deadline for guards. 

Ainge may try for a big but now there are no guards to spare so don't be surprised if Ainge waits it out and treats this season as a debate as to whether Rondo is expendable once he recovers. It will be fascinating that's for sure. 

And no, Fab Melo will not be joining us. This team is going to try to win games and stay in the hunt, that's the whole point right now, to prove they can do it. Working in a raw big is not in this year's program...Melo is developiong fine where he is at.

p.s. I meant the Heat playoff games last year. That's where Rondo's upside is felt, playoff time. But the team was in a funk right now and Rondo bears some responsibility for that. Just how much is what we are going to find out. But not next week - next month or in two months. No small sample sizes folks, let's see this over the long haul. Then we'll have a much better idea.

In response to BostonTrollSpanker's comment:

There's really only 3 ways this can turn out & unfortunately both sides could claim victory in their love/hate arguments(simplifying it here). There is a good chance that the team's record will be worse just due to the fact that a trade involving him is now moot & won't bring a coveted big or a PG that can compensate for the things that he can do. So if we do tank , we would never truly know if we were better off because there would be no quid pro quo. However, I suspect that the small sample trend will continue to show a wash over the long haul, thereby confirming the doubters' view that Rondo is replacable. The only way we can know for sure is if zero changes are enacted and time allows us to discern a pattern either way. Any new players that play significant time however could change the dynamic and keep both camps firmly entrenched in their positions. This time the gods are cruel and indifferent by prolonging our agony(and Rondo's)...

Rondo will not be missed that much if Pierce and KG rise to the occasion. 

We've all seen how bad the Celtics are even when Rondo has great stats. It's Pierce and KG that makes the Celtics a great team.

In 2008 Rondo was just a role player. It was KG who averaged 18 ppg and 9 rpg and Pierce, who averaged 19 ppg, that did all the heavy lifting. Ray Allen too.

If no changes are made, the Celts will still make playoffs. But they're not going to get to the Finals.

In response to Gasthoerer's comment:

Right on the money!

Im just hoping Lee starts to hit his shots and Doc uses Barbosa more often to handle the ball... Although Barbosa has alot of Nate Robinsonitis, if he can adjust his game a little and act more a PG, we'll be ok

I like the idea of Bradley and Lee starting for now and see how it works for a few games. This keeps JT as a bench player and probably not as many minutes.  I hope we see a lot more of the Blur.  If we are struggling for pts with Lee and AB starting then maybe put LB in the lineup.  With AB and CL we have a very good defensive backcourt,  not real big but they get a lot of deflections and push the ball off turnovers.  The do a pretty good job of stopping penetration as well.  One or both will have to bring the ball  up.  

Adrian Wojnarowski: For now, Celtics content to go w/ the four guards on roster and see how it plays out, league sources say. Barbosa's minutes likely to rise. Twitter @WojYahooNBA

They are excellent defenders.

They are also average shooters and poor distributers.

In response to snakeoil123's comment:

Yes they are.  But I think the Miami game showed that one man doesn't have to dominate the ball.  We had the best ball movement,  player movement during the game than  we have had in a while.   One thing I hated about our team was you saw the same thing nearly every time down the court with RR.  Now with different people starting the offense it might make us a little harder to guard.  If we can keep our turnovers low it would be huge.

Without Rondo holding the ball most of the hafl-court sets, Jet will likley play better on offense now with the ball in his hands moreoften where he can create.  This year, his mid-range game has looked fine as has his dribble penetration; but he's not a catch and shoot 3 point gunner in the mode of Ray Allen coming of screens, etc. This was more on coaching than on Rondo, but now hopefully they can play to his strengths more.

I thought in the Miami game it got tough when they double teamed in the final minutes of the game and overtimes to MOVE the ball without Rondo in there. I think the loss will be in the ball handling at the end of games....it may prove costly.

Rondo will be missed in big games where Rondo rises up to the occassion.  We won't have this but on the nights when Rondo takes it off and we struggle we may actually win games.  You never know what will happen, we could see injuries effect other teams and benefit like we did last year.

 

 

Well we won another one. 

i dont think we will be bad w/o Rondo this season. We are still too talented to be horrible. We underachieved bc of various issues, including Rondo not always bringing his best. We can still make the playoffs. But does that mean that we are BETTER w/o Rondo? Not neccessarily. It just means everyone is playing better.

In response to concord27's comment:

that may be part of the problem,   we didn't play enough "big games"

This post has been removed.

In response to Kirk6's comment:

Seriously, Kirk, how many times can you flip-flop in one week?

In response to Fierce34's comment:

Fierce could we still get Gortat? Sullinger in a package with Bass might have gotten it done a week ago.

In response to concord27's comment:

 

 

Gortat is now a long shot. The Suns are reported to be talking with the Hawks about Josh Smith.

 

NBA PM: Phoenix Suns Pursuing Josh Smith
Read more at http://www.hoopsworld.com/nba-pm-phoenix-suns-pursuing-josh-smith/#ykADThYBOOGj3v48.99 

 

Looks like us Celtic fans will have to settle for less.

I wouldn't be surprised if we only end up with Redick.

The Celts have 2 glaring needs, rebounding and scoring. If the Celts can't find any good deal on a big, might as well settle for solving the other problem which is scoring.

 

In response to concord27's comment:

No Sullinger,  if you want to give bass and a pick, and maybe a guard that would work.  We don't need to lose our best rebounder.  We can give them Melo.  Yes Gortat could be had from anyone if the Suns get what they want in return.