Post by FLCeltsFan on Mar 17, 2009 6:38:56 GMT -5
www.bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view.bg?articleid=1159138&format=text
Celtics priority not wins
Healthy choice
By Steve Bulpett | Tuesday, March 17, 2009 | www.bostonherald.com | Boston Celtics
Photo by Matt Stone
CHICAGO - The Celtics [team stats] no longer have to worry about Orlando breathing down their neck in the Eastern Conference race. The Magic now are nearly astride them - even in the loss column and just one win away.
Looking ahead to Cleveland has been replaced by the desire to maintain what the Celts have. But for a team that has begun to stumble badly under the weight of its injuries, the Green remain stunningly confident.
“You know what? My attitude is that wherever we fall, that’s where it’s going to be,” Paul Pierce [stats] said after yesterday’s practice at Moody Bible Institute. “Regardless of how hard the road may look from whatever seed we get, it’s going to be hard anyway to win a back-to-back championship. So whether we’ve got to go on the road the first three rounds or starting with the second round or however we’ve got to do it, we feel confident that when this team is healthy we can get the job done.
“We’re not ready to push the panic button or anything, but definitely we want to get homecourt advantage throughout the whole playoffs. It’s just about us picking up our play and playing better basketball and stop letting these games slip away.”
Slippage was very much on the minds of Doc Rivers and his staff when they put the Celts through an intense session under the scheduling circumstances. With 10 available bodies, the C’s ran through sets and scrimmaged in a workout that lasted more than 75 minutes.
“I just don’t think we’re playing very well,” said Rivers, whose lads turned the ball over 25 times in Sunday’s 86-77 loss in Milwaukee. “So that’s what you do when you don’t play well; you practice hard. We played awful. We were in slow motion the whole game - didn’t set a pick the entire game, didn’t move the ball the entire game. We just showed up and thought we were going to win. You’ve got to play.
“We’re playing desperate teams. Milwaukee’s desperate. Chicago’s desperate. We’re not, but we should be.”
Too often lately, the C’s forget how easy their life is when they push the ball up the floor and move it freely.
“I talked about that at halftime (Sunday) because it was evident just watching Milwaukee,” Ray Allen said. “They moved the ball and didn’t care who got the shot, and it forced our defense to shift a lot. When we pass the ball, we get good shots and we make the defense work. At halftime, we had more turnovers than assists, and I sat in the locker room and said, ‘Fellas, this is our negative trait when we lose games. We have more turnovers than we have assists.’ When we have 25-30 assists, that’s when we win games.
“Me, Paul and Rajon (Rondo), the three of us have the ball in our hands the majority of the time right now. I’m not going to say anyone was purposely trying to win the game by themselves, but sometimes it just takes watching film. You know, you fall into ruts, and then you have to have to watch film and see what you’re doing and see how teams are playing you. I think that’s the case.”
Squandering games can be maddening for a team that needs all the home playoff games it can get, but Rivers still is confident.
“Whatever happens happens,” he said. “We don’t (want to give it away), but that’s why you play the whole season. We’ll see where it lies at the end and we’ll be ready to play. My goal, as it was last year, is that come April and the playoffs, be ready. Obviously I thought homecourt was very important. I think it is this year, but I think we’re a better team in some ways for handling that.
“If we’re going to win it, we’ve got to play good teams. So I couldn’t care less about the seedings. And the best thing about us over the NCAA is we determine the seedings. We don’t let somebody in a room determine them.”
Celtics notes
Eddie House, who twisted his left ankle late in the Milwaukee game, didn’t practice yesterday, but he plans to be available against the Bulls tonight.
“I’ve been getting ice and treatment,” he said. “I’ll give it a go (today) and see what’s up. It should be all right. It feels OK. I could have played on it, but Eddie (Lacerte, the trainer) told me not to. I just feel blessed that the X-rays were negative.”
