Celtics can't get off roller coaster
When asked to explain how the Celtics pulled out a 3-point win against the Nets Friday night, then fell to New Jersey by 20 on the road Saturday night, Raef LaFrentz gave a look that seemed to say, ''You have to ask?" Then, without further prompting, LaFrentz stated the obvious: ''We're just up and down, up and down, up and down, up and down."
The Celtics' inconsistency this season has been well-documented. The games against the Nets only served to highlight Boston's biggest problem -- it has won two games in a row just twice. In light of how the Celtics performed Saturday night at
''[The win Friday night] showed a great deal of our potential," said LaFrentz. ''We were able to do some things and feel good about what we were doing on the floor. That translated into great energy. That's why we won the basketball game. [Saturday night] we were flat. They changed their game plan. For whatever reason, we didn't have that burst of energy on the second night that we had the first night."
Why is Boston such a maddeningly inconsistent team quarter to quarter and game to game? How do you explain a 1-point loss to Eastern-Conference leading Detroit one night and a 2-point overtime loss to near-the-bottom Charlotte the next? How do you explain a 32-point loss at Chicago one night and an 11-point win over Golden State a few nights later? How do you explain a 4-point loss to an injury-depleted Sacramento one night and a 19-point win over an Elton Brand-led LA Clippers squad the next?
With the recent promising play of Al Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins, the expiration date on youth as an excuse officially has passed. So, what else is there?
Turnovers. Despite a season-low five turnovers in a win over Minnesota last Wednesday, Boston has yet to show it truly values the ball. The Celtics average 17 turnovers per game, second-worst in the league. They also tend to hang their heads after turnovers, allowing opponents to rack up easy baskets.
And that brings us to defense. The Celtics may be ranked second in field goal percentage (47 percent), but they are allowing opponents to shoot 46 percent, 13th in the league. In contrast, San Antonio, which leads the league by shooting 48 percent from the floor, also ranks first in opponent field goal percentage (42.8 percent). Less quantifiable are the Celtics' dips in effort and energy.
When asked if Boston was destined to be an inconsistent team all season, LaFrentz said, ''We haven't shown any reason to think otherwise, to be honest. There's no way around it. I'm not going to credit all that to the youth, because it's not just the young guys that are up and down. All the way across the board, everybody involved is up and down.
''That's where we're at. It's not necessarily a super-negative situation, because you do have ups, you do have games where we play with great energy and passion."
Coach Doc Rivers probably would say he's been up and down, too. After all, following the Celtics' 103-83 loss to the Nets, he took the blame. Rivers believed New Jersey coach Lawrence Frank had prepared Vince Carter, Jason Kidd, and Co. better.
Rivers thought about having his team practice yesterday after back-to-back games, which would have been a first during his Boston tenure. But he decided a day off before a stretch of three home games, starting with New Orleans/Oklahoma City tonight, might do the team good. Besides, he never knows what strategy might work best.
''Everybody's trying," said LaFrentz. ''Coaches are trying to put together solid game plans. Players are trying to follow those game plans to the best of our ability and bring energy to games. Some nights everything clicks. Other nights we're missing one piece here and there.
''This team isn't necessarily talented enough to overcome not having every aspect of what we're doing down, hitting on all cylinders."
