Justin Poulin

Celtics Stuff Live hit the airwaves and went almost wire-to-wire with Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald. Bulpett lent tons of insight into the current state of the Celtics and even went toe-to-toe with one of the callers in one of the most unforgettable CSL exchanges of this bizarre season. No stone was left unturned in terms of what might ail the team so be sure to download the show to get some of the answers.

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Scott Souza has some excellent quotes and analysis following yesterday's debacle:

Rasheed Wallace determined: "At some points of the game, they had more energy than us. It looked like they wanted it more in certain points. You know, you can't fight that."

Can't fight that? How can you not fight that? If you can't fight that against a 5-52 - OK, now 6-52 - team, then how exactly do you expect to fight for home court advantage in the second round of the playoffs? If you even still want it at after dropping to just 16-11 on the parquet this season?

Exactly Scott.  And that is assuming they can get out of the first round, which I have my doubts.  The last two seasons they narrowly escaped the Hawks and Bulls, who were clearly hungrier and more athletic in the first round.  If the season ended today they would face the Bulls again this season, a team that has stayed thirsty and improved.  How can you fight that?!

Kendrick Perkins wrapped up the sentiment of many who endured the performance: "How many wake up calls are we going to get?"

Rivers has stopped counting, and wasn't exactly shouldering the load for the downturn either.

"We told them yesterday: It ain't the system," he said. "It's our heads. It's between our ears."

The two quotes above illustrate two very different neuronal pathways between the ears.  I'm not clear why Sheed has been on the floor to finish games, when we clearly need stops.  I assume it is because we are falling behind by double-digits and Doc wants Sheed out there to spread the floor and help shoot our way back into a game.  I don't agree with that logic, but I can't come up with another explanation.

"We're all trying to figure this thing out," Allen said. "There's no dissension. There's no bad air in the locker room. Everybody's ears are open to listen."

Whenever the questions ranged toward strategy and motivation from the coaching staff, the players quickly shrugged that off as a potential root cause. Perhaps it was because they are embarrassed about needing more direction or discipline. Perhaps it was because they simply knew finger pointing wouldn't help fix whatever is wrong.

I'm officially nicknaming Ray Allen, The Tugboat, because he seems to have the company line in tow.  I'm sorry, but none of this is adding up.  Maybe, there's no dissension, but there is clearly a lack of buy-in.  Sell me on a simple lack of execution against the Cavs and I'll believe you, but sell me the same line after a loss against the league's worst team...and I'm calling shenanigans.

Dear Celtics Players:

You suck.  I'm pretty sure that the Maine Red Claws could defeat you on a TNT Thursday night right now; even if the remainder of your season's salaries were on the line.  You're wasting my time, and the hard earned money of the patrons still attending the Garden for one of your shameful performances in a difficult economy.  You obviously could not care less right now, and the that's the worst part.  The fans are turning on you.  Today you recieved a hefty dose of boos (in the first half!) and they came the old fashioned way...you earned them.  The fans hate you because they love you, and because you have been a black hole for that love.  It's high time that you began giving back, and just a shread of hope would do.  I don't know what is going in that locker room of yours, but it is so clearly a mess with each noggin crammed far up a colon.  I hate you because I love you too, and I am lashing out from that love.  I'm offering up my limited credibility as a metaphorical sacrifice; so that you have reason to rally together against a common and most familiar enemy; the media.

You are a dispassionate and awfully uninspiring bunch, in desperate need of purpose.  I would have thought that playing for us would be reason enough.  Apparently not, and we reserve the right to take it personally.  You see, we earned that right for packing the house when the men in green were a 24-win team.  And if memory serves me right, that team never gave up despite suffering several injuries of their own and an atrocious losing streak.  You know what else?  That team rewarded us with a St. Patrick's Day win against the perenially contending San Antonio Spurs (and draft history sore spot Tim Duncan).  You have given us nothing to hang our hats on, and now we are ashamed to wear them.  You should be too, and the color green removed from your wardrobes.

We have turned our backs on you, halfway through the 4th quarter, for consecutive home games.  You can charge us with fairweather fanhood if you like, but you have let us down repeatedly on our home turf this season, and I'm more surprised by the fact that it didn't happen sooner.  Remember, I hate you because I love you and it is my wish that you band together...and prove me wrong.  Put a picture of my face on a dartboard.  Imagine that I was one of the unanimous ESPN staffers who picked the Lakers in 5.  Understand, for real, that I do not believe for a second that you will be able to escape the first round against a younger and hungier opponent again this season...prove me wrong.

There are seventeen banners hanging in those rafters above you.  Wake up and smell the shamrocks.

Steve Bulpett has an excellent interview with Ainge in today's Boston Herald:

The way the C’s have played these last months, alternately with brilliance and utter mediocrity, has left the franchise wondering if it may have to make more serious moves this summer.

Ainge is watching the same things you are, and he’s well aware the time is coming when he’ll have to hold, draw or fold.

“I’m constantly thinking about that,” he said. “But I think what happens beyond this season will be based more on how this team performs from here on out than what’s happened to this point.

“I think we’ll know a lot more about this team over the next few months. All we can do now is speculate.”

Ainge is a patient man, and I am sure that he was searching for bigger deals at the deadline, but this explains why he did not get desparate.  They may have missed an opportunity in not trading Ray, or maybe they were gambling on this season knowing they still have sign and trade options for this summer.  But one thing is for certain, "all we can do now is speculate."  And speculate we will...