Dayyaaam is right - I have never seen a team down by sixty points in any sport. After the game the coaching staff and verteran players decided to close off the locker room, outside of which all of the Celtics players were being heckled. And you guys rip Steve Francis and Rudy T after every single Rockets loss. Still, this is the second time this season that the Celtics have been handed their worst loss in franchise history - and they still hold home-court advantage in the Eastern Conference playoff picture. I'm not too worried. I think that Walker should have sat this one out; he hoisted five horrid threes, and when he made his trademark spin-moves inside he couldn't find any lift from his bad ankle to get a shot off. When he did get good looks, he never got the bounce. As for the rest of the Celtics, what can I say? A combined total of eleven assists. Unlike on Wednesday night the team didn't exploit matchups (i.e. Eric Williams vs. any of the Piston's backcourt, Tony Battie getting decent mid-range looks off-screens, etc.) and did not hustle on defensive plays even when they were making dents in the lead (before it got out of control). I'm now wondering why Rick Pitino gave up on Chauncey Billups even as he was showing promise.
The Celtics are even more erratic than the Rockets. Sometimes you'll see them play a really nice game and get some good offensive flow and solid defense, netting a good win. But other times, the team just looks AWFUL. And apparently tonight was as bad as it will ever get. Although, I suppose that was the thought after that other terrible loss this season. Either way, I really don't see this Celtics team ever becoming anything. Personally, I'm not a big fan of Antoine Walker. If I were the Celts, I'd try to dump him and restructure the team around Paul Pierce and someone they can get by trading Walker. I dunno, I just don't like Walker's game very much. Reminds me of a (much better) Maurice Taylor and Kenny Thomas hybrid with much better shooting and ballhandling, but equivalent defense.
The Eastern conference is so awful that this type of team still holds a playoffs position. And I think recently Pilly had a 6-7 game losing streak but was still in the playoffs picture. We must be at least a top 3 team in the East and don't need to worry about if we can make the playoffs or not all the time. Huh if only we could move to the Eastern conference...
You aint the only one. I dunno how good a team can be if its power forward is bringing up the ball and jacking up threes left and right. Does the guy even have any post moves? A power forward should not be hitting only around 40% of his field goals.
Like i've said before, the only player that is fatter and more useless than walker is vin baker, ironically on the same team.
Antoine Walker is the heart and soul of the Celts. He was playing the best basketball of his career up until that injury. Rumor has it Rick Pitino was trying to trade him for Austin Croshere or Derek Anderson. He also considered drafting Keon Clark ahead of Paul Pierce. If he followed through on either, the team would have been set back five years. As for Vin Baker, O'Brien has been trying to convert him into a defensive role. Maybe every fifth offensive possession does he even touch the ball. Is he the player he was in 1997? No. But he can still give you 10-15 ppg when given the chance.
I attended that game when I was a teenager. Against Seattle. I believe that was around 1987 or so and they whooped us by 53 points I think.
