I've been hooked on the NBA, and especially the Celtics, for years. I believe I found a cure for that -- after years of trying -- and I'm here to share it with you.

Since I have no intention of continuing to follow the Celtics, or the NBA, I suppose it does no harm now to talk about my profession, especially since it's part of why I'm writing this. I'm a physician... I work hard at healing people every day. And I'm going to share with you the cure for an addiction, which, if you're reading this, probably afflicts you too.

I'm talking about the addiction to professional sports, in particular and most especially the NBA. The cure lies in recognizing the NBA's problems, in understanding that:

(1) The officiating is dishonest and incompetent. The "errors" refs make are too numerous and too egregious to be caused merely by human fallibility. They are too often weighted to one side or the other. I have no idea, nor do I care anymore to know, why the referees act this way. But they do, regularly. Which means few games are fair contests. It's a show, a scam. So why should anyone care about the outcomes?

(2) There is too much money involved. The results: manipulation of outcomes, and most destructively -- players who don't care about the game. They're just hypnotized by the money. (Plus, they no doubt know that outcomes are often manipulated. How much can you care under those circumstances? What they do, then... is shut up and collect their paychecks. No one wants to derail the gravy train.)

(3) How do I know that most NBA players don't care? First, an ex-NBA player told me so. He also said that in private, most NBA players laugh at the public -- that would be you and me -- for getting so worked up over the silly game they play. This source is excellent and unimpeachable, as he played IN the NBA for many years.

I also know this from watching NBA games. It's obvious. Just look at the series that just ended. The Celtics, faced with ELIMINATION, saw fit to throw multiple careless passes, lose the ball over and over, and score 0 points ... all in the final few minutes. Doc also let the nearly-crippled, one-armed, bad-backed Rajon Rondo play in this game (amazing!). And then.... well... then they nonchalantly walked off the court. And this is a team we all thought was dedicated to winning at all costs.

Ahh yes... the Celtics used to care. Back in 2008, they cared a lot. They, like the Heat of today, had something to prove then. And they proved it. After which.... they stopped caring. Now it's a job. A very lucrative job. Oh, they'll still say all the right things in public... that's the business they're in. But do they give a damn if they win or lose? Nope, not really. Not anymore. Sure, it'd be nice to win... but hey, they have their rings, they have families, they have life issues and problems, and all they really want in the end is that regular paycheck.

And yeah, they do laugh at us for actually caring about silly things like "championships." 'Ha! Are you kidding? I'm making 10 to 15 million bucks a year. What the hell do I care if Boston gets another banner? Just keep those checks coming in, please. Do that, and I'll make believe this really matters. I'll put on a great show for all the suckers out there.'

Those suckers they're talking about? That's you and me. Well... not me anymore. It's just you now.

My hope is that by pointing out these truths, I can save at least one more poor soul out there who is addicted to this sport. If you recognize all these facts about the way things are... you can easily break your addiction, and say goodbye the whole rotten NBA mess forever.

(Just go out and do something healthful instead. Like PLAY basketball.)

...and probably beyond. That's the impression I get reading various reports about it.

What we saw in this game will become legend... so that whatever he does, wherever he goes, Rondo will be remembered for the time he went out and led his team to victory with one arm hanging nearly dead at his side. It's the Willis Reed moment... only better, even more dramatic. Decades from now, whenever a player fights through injury, it will be compared to what Rajon Rondo did.

No one could have known this would happen, or that the kid had it in him. Like great historical figures, great players are sometimes made into legends by the challenges that are thrust upon them. By how they meet those challenges.

Was it just the competition that made him do it? Or was it that he didn't want to let his teammates down? Maybe both. Whatever the reasons, this was an amazing display of courage, and dedication. He certainly deserves to be remembered for what he did on this day.

The Celtics' chances of going all the way to the Finals and winning it all this year have gotten a big boost lately.... and only in part because of the team's play. The other part is what's happening out there to our potential competitors.

Magic -- 1-3 now to the Hawks. Looks bad for Orlando. Scratch.

Bulls -- looking very vulnerable, now that Rose is injured. This was always their Achilles heel... their extreme reliance on this one guy who abuses his body practically every night. I never did like Rose's way of throwing his body at the defense and waiting for the whistle. It works alright, but it's VERY dangerous to his health. As the Bulls are finding out right now.

Lakers -- 2-2 with the Hornets. Kobe (ankle) and Bynum (knee) both injured. Not looking too promising for our West coast friends.

As always, the healthiest team will probably win it all. This year, it's beginning to look like the two healthiest/best teams will be the Celtics (did I just type "Celtics" and "healthy" in the same sentence?? knocking wood like mad!!) and the Heat.

And I think the Cs have Miami's number. Not that it'll be a cakewalk.... but I believe they'll get that job done, based on time, history and matchups.

The extra time between now and the next series will help the Celtics shore up their one remaining weakness, the bench. Already we're seeing those guys improve. Meanwhile the starters are in very, very fine form -- what with the second coming of Jermaine "It's-A-Miracle" O'Neal, and with no more 1st-round games to potentially threaten their health.

All in all... it's looking pretty good now. The clouds have parted, and for the first time this season, I think we can see a clear path... and it goes all the way to the top.

It is true that the Celtics played a great game 3 in MSG, on both ends of the floor. But they don't look ready yet for the coming rounds. One reason: the opposition was both woeful and hobbled. At their best, the Knicks are a pretty bad defensive team. Their best player was suffering from a severe back injury, their 2nd-best player isn't smart enough (not even close) to run that team, and their smartest player, Billups, didn't play at all.

So while it was good to see the Cs finally put together a great game, let's remember that all future rounds will be against much, MUCH better teams. Teams with real defense. Teams that are healthy. And well-coached.

I also don't think a sweep is necessarily good for this team. In 2008, the Cs went 7 games with Atlanta in a challenging 1st-round series... and by most accounts, that helped toughen them up for the later rounds.

Now our starters have flipped their switch. But the Celtics are not going to go far in these playoffs if their bench continues to give up leads at practically every opportunity. This is the Cs' greatest danger going forward. The starters are great, no doubt about it -- but they can't play 48.

My suggestion: Start the bench in game 4, challenge them to finally get their game together and win it. If the Celtics feel the bench needs more practice/playing time -- and it clearly does -- now is their last chance to grab more of it before the going gets a lot tougher. If we sweep anyway, it'll be a huge confidence builder for the bench, and the team will be ready for the rest of the playoffs. If we lose game 4 -- unlikely but possible -- then they can just close it out in Boston.

This story is probably going to get worse before it gets better. It was bad enough watching Salvatore mangle the officiating in Game 2. I'm expecting a Referee Rout on Friday.

I do not believe the NBA is going to let it's biggest-market, newest Big-3 team go down 0-3 in the first round. They'll find the right goon for the job (Bill Kennedy will happily do it for nothing), Paul will be out in Q1 after 3 minutes, etc., etc. We know the drill, we've seen it before. (Finals Game 3, anyone?)

Cs could still win, but only with a monumental effort and a lot of luck.

And to anyone who doesn't believe the refs affect game results.... well.... there's a small bridge in NYC I'd like to sell ya.

And please.... don't tell me 'good teams play through it.' I'm so sick of that. It's almost impossible to beat 8 guys with 5, and you should know that by now.

UPDATE: I couldn't be happier to say -- I was dead wrong. Great.

I thought Baby played hard in Game 1. He hustled his tail off. He rebounded. He missed shots. It happens. But he did his job. And he was far from the worst player on the floor.

The worst player on the floor was Carmelo Anthony. It seems he will ALWAYS be the worst player for the Knicks. A walking mistake. Why? Because that man epitomizes "Hero Ball." Look that term up in the basketball dictionary, and you'll find Melo's picture. With seconds left in the game, only 2 points down... what does he do? He takes ANOTHER 28-foot 3 point shot! After missing god-knows how many before that (6, actually). If the Celtics played great team ball in the 2nd half (which they did, on both ends)... Carmelo did the opposite. Call him Mr. Hero Ball. Despite his talent, he is The Worst Player On The Court.... by far.

It's likely Melo will never be on a real winning team. Reason: him.

Next....

Before Knicks Game 1, I thought the Cs can't go all the way unless Shaq returns. I found out differently. JO CAN, yes he can... do the job. Who knew? If Jermaine plays like he did in those 22 minutes -- and if, as expected, his stamina and conditioning keep improving -- he can absolutely do what Shaq would do. And probably better, because unlike Shaq (and Perk), JO has a jumper. (And he takes charges... including a critical one in the last 3 minutes of the game.)

Of course, he has to stay healthy, and keep doing what he just did. But the point is... the Cs no longer DEPEND on Shaq's ailing body. There is another option here.

All in all, 3 great things became evident from this game:

(1) JO seems for real, as noted.

(2) The Cs took one half to calm their nerves and get to work. But they were SERIOUS in this game. They are serious about these playoffs. And that includes everybody... Rondo (about whom many of us wondered), the Big 3, JO, Delonte, Baby, Green. (Krstic I'm not sure about...  but probably.) This team is ready to get the job done.

(3) As in 08, the Cs need tough early rounds to get their butts in gear, to hone both their skills and ferocity to championship level. Looks like they're going to get what they need.

Those are all great developments. Things are looking good for the Celtics.

Did the Celtics suffer this season from too few practices because Doc Rivers took too many days off  to go see his kids play, and for other family matters? Is this the price Boston paid for getting their championship coach back?

The question struck me after watching the last episode of The Association. (From which, btw, I also gained a new and better understanding of Big Baby.) The trigger quote from Doc: "I've made an amazing amount of (my kids') games this year."

If they get the job done now, the question will be moot. For now... I wonder.

Once upon a time, in a galaxy not so far away, a war was fought over whether the Celtics could win the championship.

That was last year, here.

The pessimists – and there were many of them – looked at the Cs' .500 performance to close out the year and said 'no way.' The optimists looked at their health and their occasional bursts of brilliance and said 'way.' Battles raged almost every day. Blood flowed in the street. Warnings were handed out like candy. (I know, I know.)

And we all know what happened in the end. When the chips were down, the fighting stopped and we marched together with our team into those final battles. And commiserated over those final two games. (Arrghh to that Game 6 forever!)

I consider those times now – to borrow a phrase from my Marvelous youth – the halcyon days of yore.

Now we are met once again by another tepid year's end. Again, the Celtics are playing solidly mediocre ball to close out the regular season. So are we fighting again? Why are the pessimists not jousting with the optimists like in the good ol' days?

Answer: There are no optimists this time. Well... let me correct that. Let's just say that there are no true optimists this year.

Why?

I think it's the way our team has sucked this time around. Yes, there are still some injuries from which they are recuperating (Shaq & JO). But everyone else is healthy. And yet they've often sucked. The team often seems lost. Our new guys are still finding their way. And it seems this time like they're not holding back, like they really believe it's important to perform well in these last few game. And yet they've often sucked.

Added to these considerations is the fact that the competition is MUCH fiercer this year compared to a year ago. Teams that practically didn't exist then are major contenders now.

So what is the optimistic case this year? The best we can do – the best I've seen – is this: They will throw a switch again. They will turn it on for the playoffs. And I believe that. There is no way that this team plays in the playoffs like they did vs. Chicago the other day. Like time travel and non-deficit spending, that cannot happen.

But this time, there is no one who can say with any confidence that that switch, once thrown, will take them all the way to the championship. Or the Finals. We just don't know. We hope, always. But all we can know for sure is that it's going to be a hell of a fight.

That, and.... anything's still possible.

I promised this info, so here it is (though it feels a bit anticlimactic now).

Theory: When the Garden gets NOISY enough, the Celtics, who rely on communication on the court for their defense, cannot hear each other, and their defense suffers. This would NOT be a curved effect, rising with the amount of noise. It would be a sudden switch-like effect whenever the noise in the Garden gets loud enough to block their hearing each other on the court, on defense.

Stats: I followed a bunch of games between January and March, and noted every time the noise in the Garden got to a MAXIMUM while the Cs were on defense. "Maximum" noise occurs when everyone in the Garden appears to be yelling at the same time... typically when there's excitement about the Cs doing well. The key for me was when the ANNOUNCERS have to shout in order to be heard on TV.... it was those Max-Noise incidents that I tracked.

Below are the results for each such defensive possession, including quarter numbers and time markers:

As you can readily see, the result is MUCH, MUCH WORSE for the Celtics when the Garden is noisy.
- There were 20 incidents noted (if I missed any, they were randomly missed, and so would not theoretically affect the results; I also missed some whole games, again randomly).
- Of those 20, one incident is discounted because the play was aborted (1/19 - ball went out of bounds). That leaves 19 incidents.

The opponent either scored or was fouled 15 times out of the 19 incidents. The Opponent's True Shooting Percentage (OTS%) for these incidents is: 85.7%. (Anything over 50% is considered good for them; anything over 60% is considered great for them; 85.7% is completely ridiculous. Note: Scoring from FTs was calculated as 75% of FTAs, which totaled 8 points for this group of games.)

Opponents of the Celtics this year have generated an average TS% rate of 51.6% (source: hoopdata.com). (Note: I am using TS% because it takes into account FTs, and the Cs are often forced to foul in these cases.)

This means: opponents have a 66% BETTER scoring rate, per the True Shooting stat, when the Garden is very noisy, as opposed to when it is not.

Therefore -- when you are in the Garden, and you get all excited and want to shout out -- DO IT WHEN THE Cs ARE ON OFFENSE, BUT NOT WHEN THEY ARE ON DEFENSE. In this way, you can actually help your team win some games.

Noise is BAD when the Cs are on defense. Noise is GOOD when the OTHER TEAM is on defense.

This Friday, the Celtics must play Atlanta in the 2nd of a back-to-back. As was the case in Phoenix, the Cs will likely get NO SLEEP the night before the game: they'll be flying out of San Antonio at approximately 1:30am (which = 3:30am Eastern Time), and will not arrive at their hotel rooms until about 7:00am that morning -- right around the time their bodies want to wake up.

A study done by the US Army concluded that short-term sleep deprivation can cause (in part):
- Decreased alertness. Just 1.5 lost hours of sleep can result in a 32% reduction of daytime alertness.
- Impaired ability to think clearly (sound familiar?)
- More than double the risk of sustaining an occupational injury  -  !!HELLO!!

That last one MUST be shown to Doc and Danny. Come on, guys. If you let our vets play when they haven't slept a wink, you are seriously increasing their risk of injury.  (To read more about this, see here and here.... and hundreds of other references online. Note: If you get a login page when clicking the 2nd link here, just Google the following phrase and click the first non-paid link you see =>> 'medscape sleep deprivation injury risk')

And what would be the point of playing them on Friday? You're almost certainly NOT going to win that game anyway. It's a "schedule loss"... the NBA hands them out like candy. The Cs have had two scheduled this season (Phoenix, and now Atlanta).

Please listen, Doc/Danny......

(a) These guys are CLEARLY EXHAUSTED ANYWAY. They need a break now anyway.

(b) If you play them on Friday on no sleep, THEY'LL BE BEAT FOR AT LEAST ANOTHER 3-4 DAYS. Why do that to our vets? AND they'd be running a significantly increased risk of injury at the same time!! That makes no sense, no sense at all. This game is the perfect time to give them a night off.

(c) There's precedence for this kind of thing. Witness Coach Popovich and his Spurs, who has been doing it for years.

Best suggestion: Let the starters (not including Krstic) STAY IN SAN ANTONIO after the Spurs game. Let them go to sleep at their normal time. They can fly into Atlanta in the morning, and should be able to make it to courtside in time to cheer their comrades on.

Just do it.

This is what Doc has been saying. Every player, every team, goes through shooting slumps. This team sure as hell has lately, and that’s a problem. But that alone can be overcome. The reason they’ve been blowing games is their REACTION to their offensive lapses. What Doc wants to see — what we’ve seen in the past — is guys stepping up in OTHER ways... fighting for those 50-50 balls, intensifying their defense, getting rebounds, and generally helping in any way they can.

This is what’s been missing. There's no urgency, most of the time. When they get a big lead – they let up. When they miss their shots, sometimes their easy layups – they retract and basically sulk. Then the defense goes to hell (helped along by those misses, which set up the other team's transition O), the 50-50s start going the wrong way, and then, well... all hell breaks loose and games slip away.

Doc calls this "selfishness." Maybe he’s right. I rather think of it as something simpler: lack of urgency and focus. (I think that because those are traits usually associated with this time of year -- which also means they are more likely to disappear when the playoffs start. Selfishness is much longer lasting. So let’s hope Doc’s characterization is wrong.....)

I don’t actually see PP or KG doing this. Not sure about Ray. But this is CERTAINLY a problem with Rondo, and most especially Krstic. Those are two pretty big cogs in this machine... more than enough to throw the whole team out of whack.

So how does the future look? When Shaq replaces Krstic, that will help a lot. K's tendency to retract will hopefully fade on the 2nd team (where the pressure and spotlight are not so intense), especially when he sees the starters playing the right way. Which leaves: Rondo. He's the big question mark. We always knew that this team needs Rajon to play his game. That's still true, now more than ever.

These are the components of what the Celtics call 'Ubuntu.' To me, that term encompasses all of the extra spirit and effort that a team and its players can bring to bear. It's that thing that cannot be purchased with money. Yes, these guys get paid millions to play the game, and you would THINK that would be enough to get their best effort. But it's not.

Every human has an extra gear.... that Extra Something that they can bring to a given situation -- if, and ONLY if, he or she is sufficiently motivated. If the extra motivation is missing, you will get a person's "best" if you pay them for it.... but not his Extra stuff.

It's the same dynamic as soldiers in battle who give up their bodies for their comrades. You can't buy that kind of sacrifice with money. It happens only when a group becomes a TEAM, a team whose members CARE DEEPLY.... not about themselves, but about the team, and their buddies on it.

It's some mixture of pride, stubbornness, trust in each other, and on some level, love for one another -- that makes it happen.

So maybe Danny inadvertently killed some critical part of the Cs' Ubuntu with the trade. It now seems that way. More for Rondo than the others (because he's the youngest, and was closest to Perk), but perhaps for everyone, on some level. My guess is that the two most vulnerable elements were trust and love.

I can't blame Danny (or Doc), because this kind of result seems impossible to predict in advance. The trade made sense on paper. But this team's championship hopes have always rested on that (literally) priceless thing it calls "Ubuntu," and that thing might have taken a mortal blow from the trade. That's how it looks now.

But we don't know this for sure yet. They might yet pull it together in time. But if Ubuntu did take a mortal blow -- and we will soon get the answer to that question, one way or the other -- then it's a true tragedy. (Well, in a sports sense, anyway.) A mighty team felled by the loss of a vital emotion that held them together over three hard years, after one of their brothers got sent away.

It's sad. For us, yes. And on the team, I feel it for Rajon and Kevin, the most.

But I still hold the hope that a turnaround will come. Anything is still possible.

Many of the arguments that have raged over Krstic's value to the team vs. Perk's have centered on K's better offense, vs. Perk's better defense. Arguments have been made that K can COMPENSATE for his inferior-to-Perk's defense with superior offensive skills. This argument does not hold water, for the following reasons.

- Basic basketball: If one guy doesn't take a shot in a given possession, almost always someone else will. The % probability of that someone else's shot going in will typically be around 45%-50%, around the team average. So offensive "production" will occur whether Krstic takes the shot or someone else does. Within the flow of the game, for a guy like Krstic to have an impact on the team's fortunes with his offense, he must score BETTER than the guys who would OTHERWISE take those shots.

- The fact that K can make the mid-range jumper is only relevant if he makes that shot at a rate significantly ABOVE Ray's, Paul's, KG's, etc. I.e., above the rate the "average" likely shooter (in his case, the starters) will shoot. If he merely MATCHES the other guys' rate, then he adds little to nothing to the end results with just his offense. (Krstic's actual FG% for jumpers is ~48%.)

- But the defensive end does not follow these rules AT ALL. If you don't defend the paint correctly, the other team WILL score more points. Period, end of story. No comparisons, no teammates involved.... it's a pure loss of defensive 'production' (or 'anti-production' if you will), which cannot be made up. When you screw up defensively, your team WILL lose ground on the scoreboard.

- To compensate with offense for a defensive deficiency (such as K seems to have) is virtually impossible, because you would have to score at a way, WAY higher rate than your teammates, and that just doesn't happen.

Btw, this is also why 'defense wins championships.' It's an irreplaceable part of the game, unlike offense. Any player can score, but every player must play good D or the team loses ground on the scoreboard. Put another way, scoring is "replaceable production", while defensive performance is "irreplaceable production" (because if you don't do it, generally nobody else will).

Conclusion from all this: We're not going into playoff battle with Krstic starting. No way, no how, not gonna happen. Our center MUST be Shaq. That was the key to the big trade, the plan all along... it had to be, because NOTHING ELSE makes any sense at all. Oh, I suppose you could say that JO might/will come back.... but (a) I don't believe in fairy tales, and (b) he ain't no Shaq. He's not even Perk.

So it's gotta be Shaq. The season, the championship, rests on his shoulders. He's had plenty of time off. He's apparently lost weight. He has said he's willing to shoot up in order to play. So.... shoot him up, suit him up, and let's get it on.

Take a look at this video... watch for when you can see Shaq's body, esp when he bends (~0:25, after the ad). That man has LOST WEIGHT! Serious weight. He's in FIGHTING SHAPE:

http://www.csnne.com/pages/celticsvideo?PID=y2C_X1aM2620190O33_HPiIf5hpbywIl

Now, here's the thing: There is no way in hell this man has gone to this much trouble (no cake, even!) to end up not playing. That... is NOT gonna happen. He has said, and I totally believe, that if he must, he will ask for shots of WHATEVER he needs (roids, anesthetic, both?) to get his butt out on the court. (Not that I believe he was ever really injured, but that's another story, and who cares anyway?)

Can he do it through 16 wins? You bet. For one thing, it gets easier when you have less weight to lug around. For another, well... it's his destiny. He knows it. I know it. The team knows it.

It's happening. And it also happens to be the last piece that needs to fall into place, to bring on the Finals.

(I linked 'roids' only because I know if I don't, somebody's gonna come in here and rail about how steroids are "illegal", yadayadayada.)

I am not at all sure that the Celtics care as much about HCA as some believe. We know last year that they did not. It's likely that at this point, HCA has faded in significance and all they care about now is health, and chemistry.

Let's remember: Rondo's current problems began in earnest on the day of the big trade. And there is NO question, at all, that team chemistry took a hit when Perk was traded. Perk was FAMILY.... no doubt about that, as they've all said it and obviously meant it. Tears were shed, all around. I can see how it would be hard to get swagger and chemistry back after an emotional hit like that. Making it even harder is the challenge of incorporating a whole bunch of new players into what once was a solid, chemically-bound core.

This also helps explain why it has been the starters who have not performed up to par lately. The COMBINATION of the trade's emotional hit, the need to gel with the new guys, the bodily insults they've all suffered, and the unending grind of the regular season -- has probably pushed the relevance of HCA down their list of priorities, and accounts for their recent apparently-indifferent play.

So what does this team need most of all now? I think it could be pretty simple: just TIME. Time to forget the emotional wounds, time to gel, time to get their swagger/mojo/confidence back, and (#4) time to finally get to the 2nd season (the only one that counts). This applies most clearly to Rondo, but nearly as well to the rest of the team.

The question is: is there enough time in the remaining regular season to get it all done (the first 3, anyway)? I think yes. And I think Shaq will be there in the playoffs, even if they have to shoot him full of whatever he needs. That's what he's said, and I completely believe him. He's a warrior. So are all the guys in the rest of this team's core.

Bottom line: There are dark clouds threatening, for sure... but I think they will soon part, and this team will step into the breach and go all the way through. I still expect to see them in the Finals.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzcWwmwChVE

In a comment/conversation about Rondo's recent poor performance, Tom Bellinger asked: "Can we as fans do much about it?"... and went on to say that "We hope, and as far as player's performance goes, we’ll celebrate their victories and dissect their failings. That’s what we do, right?" Which begs (well, it actually asks outright) the question: Do fans affect their team's performance, in any way? More specifically, does ANYTHING we say in these blogs make ANY difference to the outcome(s) for our Celtics?

I think yes, we make a difference. Sometimes in important ways. I've got 3 examples:

1) When KG was 'misbehaving' a while back, and some people started calling him 'dirty,' arguments raged on these pages about the issue, for a long time. Personally, I didn't see what there was to argue about: he was fouling and committing techs, and there is simply no reasonable way to argue that that's a good thing. (Though some did. Some said, "That's what he has to do to be KG," or words to that effect. Totally wrong, imo... that's just fans infantilizing the player... he's an adult, he knows when he does wrong, and knows how to correct it. But I stray....)

I believe that in part, the huge brouhaha that erupted amongst the Cs' own fans made a difference. With headlines like "KG's A Jerk, But He's Our Jerk" staring them in the face, Doc could no longer ignore it. More to the point: he had undeniable entrée to bring it up. So he talked to KG and the team about how to handle conflict and questionable plays shortly thereafter. I think KG would have fixed it anyway, but it must have helped to know that their fans were fully aware of what was going on, and many were pretty upset about it. In the end, the whole issue disappeared. And I think we helped it along.

2) Rondo's recent slump: When asked directly, Doc said after the Nets game that no, Rondo's not in a slump... he's just 'playing bad.' Anybody know the difference? Well, there is one, for Doc. The coach has a relationship with every player on the team. And he must get into every player's head and make sure that player has what he needs to do his best. The single most important player on the team regarding that process is Rondo. He's young. He's headstrong. And he's a critical team leader. Doc's job is to keep him in optimal condition, physically and mentally. So he can't just come up to him, or admit to the media, that "Hey Rondo, you're in a slump." He has to approach the issue correctly, advisedly... so as not to make things worse.

It must help Doc to have the team's fans wonder openly, publicly and loudly: 'What's going on with Rondo.' Because then the problem is being brought up by an outside, uncontrollable force. We effectively shove it in their faces. Which means they have to talk about it, figure it out. I.e., we fans make sure that Doc addresses issues like Rondo's obvious slump sooner rather than later. And I count that as a good thing.

So yeah, I think fans do affect reality on the team... if we make our voices heard. It all filters down.

I know I promised 3 examples. The third one is a new sort of statistic I've been tracking for a few months. Real life slowed down the gathering a bit, but I think there's enough data to post it now, and I will do that as soon as I get a chance to write it. The data indicate pretty clearly that we fans can and do affect what happens on the court too: when we're there, attending live games at the Garden. I'll try to post that stuff right here in (about) a couple of days.

...And I don't believe anything they're saying now. Why? Because no one, as in... NO ONE.... has ever seen or reported seeing Shaq either GET injured, or BE injured. So... it's all team manure, so far as I'm concerned, till proven otherwise.

The only thing that really matters is whether or not he'll be there for the playoffs. I think he probably will, mostly because of the likely explanation for all this..... which is that one day Shaq said:

"Guys, I'm old. I'm aching in a 100 places. I got my role. I know what to do out there. I'm just gonna take the rest of the season off, so I can be at my best for the playoffs. And I promise, I'll play till I drop then. Deal?"

And who's gonna argue with that guy, eh?

Anyway, whatever they say, or not... none of it is "news" to me anymore. Come playoff time, Shaq.... suit up or don't. If you do, I think we could see great things. If you don't, well... you were just a waste of our time, weren't you?

It's possible to suppose that a lot has changed for the Celtics after all the trade noise that just went down. Actually... no. Most of what's happened has been on the periphery, with little to no effect on the team's bottom line. What is that bottom line? Championship. Of course.

Due to Danny's activity, the backups for our starters have changed, along with one starting position (5). The backup to Rondo's backup is now Carlos. Good (but not exactly a big deal). Of course, the starting center has changed... but not from what it actually was most of this season (a round robin of big bodies). Whether it's Krstic or Shaq or JO starting vs. backing up... doesn't matter a whole lot. Meanwhile, the backup for KG remains..... Baby, and whoever else we can scrounge up. Paul's backup (Green) is the one place where we can say there's been a substantial improvement (apparently... so far... crossing-fingers), since PP basically had none prior to the trades.

So is all this just "noise?" Apart from Green, yeah... it's mostly noise because none of it makes much difference to the bottom line (championship). What was true before is true now. The championship depends on the health of our key players. That means, in descending order:
- The Big Four
- One able, able-bodied center (please)
- 2-3 other guys

It is still true now that any loss of any one of the Big 4 will = big, big trouble for this team. If it's KG or RR, we might as well forget about it this year. If it's Paul or Ray, it's a huge hit from which the team will be unlikely to recover.

And of course, we need a center... any reasonable one will do. And we need Green, Delonte (or his backup), Baby. But the health of these guys is far less critical (obviously) than the Big 4's. And as you go deeper into the bench, all the moves that the team just made.... well.... they just don't amount to a very big hill of beans. We're talking backups to backups. Guys who won't change the outcome.

What Danny did was improve the team's insurance a little. And yes, he did acquire a really good backup for Paul. (Whew.) But that's about it. The championship still depends on one and only one thing: health. Specifically – the health of the Big Four first and foremost.... plus a center and a couple/three other guys.

As good as any team is, it still needs luck to go all the way. Cs are no exception. We will need SOME health luck to get the ring this time. As always.

What is going on here, and elsewhere in Celtics Land? Why does almost every article have to have some dig about Nenad's hair? Are we in the business of making fun of our players' genetics? Is this supposed to be a great way to welcome a new guy into the family fold?

I get that you who are doing this are doing it in fun. Lemme ask you.... how would YOU like it? Would you take it all as "good fun"? Having a whole city making fun of your hair.... something you're probably pretty damn sensitive about?

Tellya what.... why don't we have all the writers making fun of Krstic's appearance take pictures of themselves, including all their flaws.... and publish it on this site over insulting comments for the whole world to laugh at.

How would you like that?

The recent spate of hagiographic articles in support of first KG, then Bill Russell (and wasn't there some of that on Ray too?), got me thinking about the meaning of heroes, how we seem to need them, and want to 'worship' them. And as I thought about the subject in the context of this particular team -- the Celtics -- I realized that on THIS team, there are no heroes. More than that, heroes are deliberately avoided by the Celtics. If Doc has his way, there'd be no 'hero ball', ever, and there'd be no heroes on the team either.

What does "Ubuntu" mean anyway, if not -- at least in part -- that 'there are no heroes here.' There is only the team, and it must work as a unit, a smoothly running machine with one goal shared by all.

If the Celtics themselves do not want heroes on their team, how does it make sense for us fans to go looking for them? Or invent them? Or worship them?

I want this team to win the championship this year. To do that, I think the team believes it needs to eliminate heroism, not celebrate it. Why don't we fans follow that mode too... and quit looking for heroes.

There is lately some movement toward erecting a statue in Bill Russell's honor, per the words of our own President Obama.

First, let's understand that Mr. Obama's opinion is that of one man. It should in no way be construed as reflecting the opinions of the American people, certainly not in this matter.

Second, I object strongly to the building of any statue for any living human being. I cannot think of a circumstance where that would be appropriate, or even excusable. It is simply Too Much, smacking as it does of hero worship, overstatement and overweening ego.

And besides... Bill Russell was not that great a man.

Oh... heresy? Let's take a closer look...

The Medal of Freedom Russell just got implies that he has done things greater than his accomplishments on the basketball court. It seems he's being lauded now for his role in the struggle for racial justice in America. Otherwise, giving the Medal to a guy whose only accomplishment was winning basketball games would be a travesty against the Medal itself. We should agree about that.* (*Per the comments, this is not true. The "highest civilian award in the land" is, apparently, regularly given out to people just for being good athletes. Something about a "cultural" contribution. Hey, I just live here. Personally, I'd much rather they handed it out to a lot fewer people, but for much better/more special reasons.)

If Russell's role in the racial justice movement had been truly substantial, and meaningful, it would be an excellent reason to give him that Medal of Freedom (and later, statues too). The problem is: it was neither substantial nor meaningful. It seems it was barely significant, and arguably even negative.

It is true that Russell rejected and rebelled against racism. But he did so mostly when it directly impacted him. He did refuse to play a couple of exhibition games in cities where he had experienced racism, and for that he deserves credit. But many observers believe he had little to no impact on the larger struggle for civil rights in this country.

It is arguable, in fact, that his input was a net negative. Where Red Auerbach -- a true racial justice pioneer -- actually DID things in that fight (like hire Russell in the first place, for top dollar), Bill Russell's input was to perceive racial insults where none existed, and hurl hateful statements at all white people, including his own fans. His overreactions on several occasions served to FUEL the fires of the opponents of racial equality, instead of the other way around. (Source: The Rivalry: Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain, and the Golden Age of Basketball, by Taylor, John (2005))

Though Russell was helped by many key white people in his life, from high school on, he never, during his career, expressed any appreciation for their help. (ibid)

His most infamous quote was: "I dislike most white people because they are people... I like most blacks because I am black," in which his view that only blacks, for the most part, were worthy of approbation was made crystal clear. Russell never could make the leap from guys like Red to other white people whose intentions were just as honorable, though outside of his small sphere of personal experience. In that sense, Bill Russell was, in his prime, a man of little vision, and plenty of hate.

He was in many ways the opposite of the great men and women who fought and sometimes died in the name of racial justice.

It was probably for that reason that he steadfastly refused to sign autographs for (mostly white) kids throughout his career, saying once: "You owe the public the same it owes you, nothing. I refuse to smile and be nice to the kiddies." And why, on his retirement, Russell described the Boston media as corrupt and racist... whereupon some in that profession opined that it was Bill Russell who was more racist than most other Bostonians.

In recent years, Russell's attitudes have apparently changed, though there is reason to believe some of that was a careful orchestrated marketing campaign. He now seems to appreciate the city of Boston, and understands, presumably, that not all white people are evil and out to get him.

But that understanding comes now much, much too late. Bill Russell should be judged by the totality of what he did, what he said, what he accomplished... especially when he was onstage. Though the mists of memory leave a glossy film on all things best forgotten, the truth should always remain the truth.

There's one more thing that bothers me about this whole affair. If Bill Russell's relatively small and controversial input in the area of racial justice is truly worthy of the Medal of Freedom, what does that say about the ones who really did fight and ultimately win that battle? Men and women, black and white, whose input in that area far, far eclipsed Russell's: President Lyndon B. Johnson, President John F. Kennedy, Thurgood Marshall, Rosa Parks, Marcus Garvey, Booker T. Washington, Amzie Moore, Aaron Henry, James Meredith, The Freedom Riders, Martin Luther King, Jr., and many, many others.

Oh... but none of them could dunk a basketball.

Could it be that the President chose Bill Russell because Obama is himself a black man who loves basketball, and not for what most of us would consider valid reasons? I think so. And I mark that as one of the perks of being the President. Fine for him, and any that agree with him.

But let's not make the mistake of taking all that too seriously.

If you want to build a statue for a great sports figure, fine, no problem. We have plenty of those, and Bill Russell was unquestionably a surpassingly great sports figure. But don't do it because of the Medal of Freedom.

It's not "racist" to deny Russell his statue. It's arguably hypocritical to build it. I say: wait. Think about this before you do it. Look at ALL the facts, then make the right call. Do not let the haze of time obscure the reality of the man Bill Russell was. Do not make the same mistake President Obama just made.

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A word, please: I realize that you may disagree with (at least some of) the above. I don't expect to change your mind, or any minds for that matter. I've written the truth as I found it, with basic references. If you have a different version of these events, please enlighten everyone by explaining it and proving me wrong. I ask only that you back up your version of reality, and keep the invective to a minimum.

Promoted FanPost

It's true, of course, that the Cs were undermanned in their 2nd meeting with the Lakers. But it was still an excellent opportunity to see where they need to improve.

The main problem was on offense, where Rondo's deficiencies glared in the harsh spotlight of the Lakers' defense. At one point during LA's run in the 2nd quarter, RR had taken several WIDE OPEN, easy jumpers, and missed them all. In each such possession, Cs were one and done. All while Kobe was running around, sagging off RR and wreaking havoc with his D.

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We like to think our team knows what it's doing. We believe that there's a plan behind every move, all carefully calculated to achieve maximum success. I'm afraid that's just not so. I'm afraid they jump from crisis to crisis, putting out fires, all the while PRAYING that what they're doing will work out. No plans, not much credit due (for that, anyway).

You'd think that the team would look at a player like Quis and PLAN AHEAD for the possibility that he might get injured. (It's not like that would be something new for him.) You'd think.

The reality: there were no plans, and they are now scrambling to fill the obvious giant hole in the roster.

You'd think that Doc would recognize how absolutely VITAL Rondo is to this team, and would therefore do everything in his power to prevent (further) injury to RR. You'd think. Nope, again. Doc says he asked Rondo to INCREASE his inside aggression and get at least 10 FTs per game. That sounds just fine as a basketball move, but utterly CRAZY when you remember how Rondo ends up on the floor after absorbing most NBA fouls, and that every foul is another heightened injury risk for Rondo.

In case you think that's ok, remember that this team almost certainly CANNOT win a championship this year without Rondo.

You'd think that Doc, in his function as 'coach,' would try to stop KG from earning techs, unnecessary fouls, and bad PR (for fear the bad PR will affect the refs). Nope. Doc said recently, "Kevin has done nothing wrong," and that his critics would love to have KG on their teams (completely irrelevant, btw), etc. "Nothing wrong??" Wow.

You'd think that, having brought Avery back from DL, Doc would use him to try to stop Shaun Livingston after watching him shoot over Nate like he wasn't there. Nope. Avery warmed the bench as the team lost that game.

I used to think that the 09-10 season was PLANNED by Doc and Danny, as a way of preserving the team's health in the regular season so that they could make their run in the playoffs. I actually lauded them for being so clever. Uhhh... maybe not. Maybe.... it all.... just... happened. And Doc was more witness than architect.

Arguments rage over whether or not KG had a "right" to shove the ref's arm away in the Mavs game, etc. And Cs fans are mostly happy that KG's not going to be suspended. I think we're missing the main point: KG is rapidly slipping out of control, hurting his team and likely to get worse now.

This was not the first recent incident involving KG-running-amok, and it wasn't even the first incident IN THAT GAME (prior to the ref incident, they showed KG purposefully seeking out and fouling Chandler -- as if he'd lost contact with the reality that there are cameras out there). Plus, KG DID commit a flagrant foul according to the NBA (assessed after the fact), which the refs failed to call. Had they called it, it would have been EVEN WORSE for his team. As it was -- that tech cost the team a chance to tie the game in the end (final margin = 4 points).

Altogether, it's the Celtics who are likely to suffer most from the fact that the NBA did NOT suspend KG. Maybe that would have brought him back to reality. Now, he will probably continue his crazy ways -- never apologizing, never even RECOGNIZING that what he does is wrong, that these are OTHER PEOPLE he's shoving around, and potentially injuring. (What's the word when you're egocentric about your whole team?)

I fear KG's heading down a very negative path. Soon, he will tick off not only most NBA fans, and not only the referees... but his own fans too. More important (to most of us, anyway) is that all these ridiculopathies could push #18 just out of our reach (fouls, techs, referee bias).

So stop it already, KG. Grow the hell up.

Remember when the Celtics entered the 2008 Finals as solid underdogs? When everyone not living in Boston or affiliated with a green blog picked the Lakers to win it all? Or 2010, when again, no one picked the Cs to get to the Finals? We didn't know it then, but those were the good old days.

Now, everyone and his uncles are picking the Celtics. All four of our Big 4 are chosen to be All-Stars, and dammit: NOBODY'S SURPRISED! And I'm pretty sure most observers would pick the Celtics to go all the way if the playoffs started today. Something's seriously wrong. The world feels tilted.

I hate it. I loved it when we stalwart fans raved alone in a sea of doubt and disdain. But that's me. I don't matter. The problem is: I think the Celtics may feel the same way. I think they react best when part of their mission is to show the world how wrong it is about them. They won't know WHAT to do as frontrunners. Not when "We'll show 'em" doesn't mean anything.

So I long for the good ol' days. For this: Epic Fail

And I'm pretty sure the Celtics feel likewise, whether they say so or not. And even: whether they recognize it or not.

Now pass the tea and sympathy
For the good ol' days long gone
Let's drink a toast to those who most
Believe in what they've won
It's been a long, long time 'til mornin'
So raise your glass on high
Our green will soon ride out to fight
For the good ol' days gone by.

Clearly, back-to-back games are part of NBA life. Many observers believe that it's an undesirable, rather silly part of the game, giving unfair competitive advantage to one team over another for no reason other than the calendar. But it's a reality, so let's deal with it.

The question here is: do some teams have a built-in ADVANTAGE over other teams from the way the NBA is structured? Answer: yes, absolutely. Western teams have the advantage over Eastern teams. By which is meant: All other things being equal, a Western team has the advantage over an Eastern team in the NBA, by the singular virtue of being in the West.

Here's why:
Looking at the extremes of East coast vs. West coast (so differences are maximized), the facts on the ground include: (a) the time zone on the East coast is 3 hours ahead of the West coast, and (b) most NBA games are played at night.

In regular, non-back-to-back games, players on an East team traveling West are forced to play every regular game at approximately 7:00pm to 9:30pm, which is 10:00pm to 12:30am according to the PLAYERS' INTERNAL BODY CLOCKS. That internal clock is what determines how each player feels relative to the time of day. (Obviously: nobody acclimates overnight.) So we can see that EVEN IN REGULAR GAMES, the traveling East team is at a significant disadvantage compared to the experience of a West team traveling East. Why? A West team going East is going to start their game at approximately 4pm on the players' internal body clock (7pm minus 3 hours). That's a 4pm to 6:30pm game for the traveling West team, vs. 10:00pm to 12:30am for the East team. Not very fair, is it?

But it gets much worse.

Let's see what happens in your typical out-of-town back-to-back sequence. The West team arrives at the destination airport for their 2nd (back-to-back) game at approximately 4am local time, which is *1am* for their body clocks. They go to their hotel, and are checked in and in their rooms ready to sleep by about 2:00am-2:30am, body time. They can wake up 7-8 hours later with a solid night's sleep under their belts, ready to play.

The East team traveling West arrives at the destination airport for their 2nd (back-to-back) game at approximately 4am local time, WHICH IS 7am FOR THEIR BODY CLOCKS! They go to their hotel, and are checked in and READY TO SLEEP AT 8:00am - 8:30am, BODY CLOCK TIME. That's approximately when they'd normally be waking up.

And they're expected to do this with ZERO time for acclimation (to the new time zone).

Most players on the East team are going to get very little, and most probably NO SLEEP AT ALL. Then, a few hours after arriving, they must go and play an NBA game.  (This is why the Cs tried to get the NBA to change the part of the schedule they're experiencing right now... so they could avoid exactly this nasty problem.) Note: there is solid evidence that sleep deprivation directly impairs sports performance (intuitively obvious).

And all this is piled ON TOP of the regular amount of fatigue that any team must deal with when facing any back-to-back.

How crazy is this? Completely. No Eastern team should ever expect to actually win such 2nd-of-back-to-back, opposite-coast games. It's almost impossible, by virtue of math and biology. This is not a question of "professionalism" or "sucking it up." It's just plain stupid planning on the part of the NBA. Faced with this level of implacable imbecility, an Eastern team should just throw in the towel, imo. Tilting at windmills is not a successful strategy. I would advise giving ZERO playing time to ALL starters in these cases. Just give the game to the bench, and wave goodbye on your way out the door.

The point of this is: Western teams don't have this kind of problem, certainly not to the extent Eastern teams do. This is a built-in GEOGRAPHICAL advantage that the NBA's structure bestows on teams physically located in the West. Fair? Hardly. Fact? Absolutely. Despite this, which team has the most championships in the NBA? That would be the Celtics, residing firmly, and happily, on the East coast.

More power to them.

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Update: The question of 'what can/should be done' about this issue has come up. Fact is, the NBA could fix this inequality easily: just stop scheduling back-to-back games during East-to-West road trips. Ideally, don't schedule them on ANY road trips, reserving them for home stands only. If that's not possible, at least the league must NEVER allow it to happen as the first 2 games of an East-to-West road trip. That's just impossibly brutal, and no team should ever be made to suffer through it. Bottom line: it's just a scheduling thing, easily fixed.

At one point in the Cavs game last night, Davis was facing his defender on the left wing, and the defender had his arm out touching Davis' body. Suddenly, Baby pulled the old "veteran move" -- raised his arms up quickly for a shot, which is an automatic in-the-act whistle if there is ANY contact between the arms of the shooter and the defender. He hit his shot, and got the And-1. As he walked to take his position at the FT line, Baby motioned to the bench, nodded and grinned happily. A shot of KG showed him grinning ear to ear, absolutely LOVING the moment, and giving Baby his props.

Apparently, this was the first time Davis had ever successfully done that quick-shot vet move. True, it's usually shooters who do it. Veteran shooters. So I guess that means that Baby has graduated into a 'real shooter', and maybe a near-veteran one at that.

That 'vet move' is probably a lot harder to get than it looks. For one thing, the defender has to be wary enough of your offensive skills to WANT to put his hand on you, in the first place. They're not going to do it to, say... Semih, or Perk. The fact that Baby was able to pull this off can be construed, in part, as indicating that he may have arrived in the eyes of other teams' defenders.

Whatever else it may mean, I don't know. I'm just glad he's where he is. Our Baby's settling into his (expanded) role, and after some hard times earlier this season, he's now doing his job most days exactly the way the team needs him to do it. Great stuff.

And one more reason to believe that this team is coming together on schedule. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that I think they'll reach their absolute peak, oh I dunno... around mid-April through June, or so?

When JO was still playing for this team, and Perk was going to come back one day (soon)... we were going to have an extra big, as insurance, in the season's second half and the playoffs. The team could lose one and not miss a beat. Now that JO is gone, and looks like he won't be contributing much if he ever returns -- and now that Perk's truly back and looking MIGHTY fine -- I think the team is at approximately "zero bubble" there... just about correctly balanced in the bigs department.

But the comfort of having that one extra big is gone, so if the team loses ANY of them now, they'll feel it. Which begs the question: should they still go out and try to pick up another big? The one reason seems to be: to get that comfort back -- the one that comes from having the extra big. But you can make the same case for EVERY position, couldn't you? Personally, I'd LOVE to have an extra big.... AND an extra PG (besides Delonte), AND an extra 3/4. But we can't always get what we want.

So... what DO we want? Do we want that extra big?

I'd vote no. We're good. We can think about picking up whatever looks really good out there for the right price, if anything comes up. Otherwise, we're full... and, I think, good to go. As is.

AP - By Oui R. Dopes

NEW YORK — Stu Jackson, Executive VP of Operations and NBA point man on player relations, announced in a press conference today that the league last month conferred '3-FER' status on forward Paul Pierce of the Boston Celtics. He explained, "We don't do this often. It's a tremendous honor, reserved for only the very best, most worthy players in the league. Truth is, they have to show greatness not only on the court, but also in the community in general. They have to be very special people. And I am very proud of Mr. Pierce. He truly deserves this."

In a press package released simultaneously with this announcement, the league office defined "3-FER" status as: "A special state of play conferred on certain players for whom all referees are then instructed to call only 1 foul for each 3 fouls actually committed on said player. This status is given only to very special players who, in the league's opinion, must be handicapped in this way in order to even out the competition, and allow opponents some possible way to compete with that player's team."

In related news, Paul Pierce announced today that he is changing his name to Paul Pinata.

When asked about his star's new name, Celtics' head coach Doc Rivers said: "Well, at least he kept the alliteration." Later, after shootaround, Kevin Garnett added: "It is what it is, man" -- then smacked himself in the head.
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UPDATE: When questioned after the news conference, Jackson admitted: "Yes, players on some teams are more likely to get this honor than others. And yes, sure, the Celtics are definitely at the top of our list."

Please consider the following as facts:

Player "X" was acquired by Team A in a trade 15 years ago, and has had the following events occur in EVERY ONE of his 15 years with the team:
- Every year, around January/February, Player X is injured during court play.
- Thousands of people and multiple hi-def video cameras feeding millions of television viewers witness every such injury. Despite that, in all 15 years, no one has ever seen what caused ANY of X's injuries. Every "injury" is a mystery, which the team explains subsequent to the event.
- Every single such "injury" has resulted in time off for Player X that's been between 3 and 4 weeks. 15 times.
- In every case, Player X disappears during that 3-4 week hiatus.
- All of these things have happened FIFTEEN times in a row, every single year -- always the same story.

What do you think? Would you say there is something suspicious about these events surrounding Player X? Would you think that there might be some kind of "conspiracy" on the part of the team and/or Player X regarding his repeated, always-unseen injuries, which happen always at the same time of year, and always result in the same amount of time off, during which he disappears?

If 15 years is enough to convince you that something must be wrong... shouldn't FOUR YEARS IN A ROW convince you to AT LEAST THINK ABOUT IT? Because for the past 4 years -- ever since KG arrived in Boston -- the exact event sequence ascribed above to Player X has happened to KG. Here are the facts:

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