Boston vs. Atlanta - Series tied (2-2)

[Feed Your Head]

Hey, Curmudgeon. Welcome back. Want to give us an overview of why we should bench Pierce in the next playoff game?

Lol, i dont think any Celtics fan can have anything bad to say about Pierce after the way he played this season.

[Curmudgeon]

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Lol, i dont think any Celtics fan can have anything bad to say about Pierce after the way he played this season.

Nope, and the fact that Pierce has improved so dramatically this year, particularly at the defensive end, absolutely justifies my criticism of his play in prior years.

Until this year, he was playing like crap compared to what he was capable of, and he deserved every bit of the criticism I gave him. This year he's turned himself into a basketball player instead of just a chucker, and it's a pleasure to watch.

[Joyeuse]

Nope, and the fact that Pierce has improved so dramatically this year, particularly at the defensive end, absolutely justifies my criticism of his play in prior years.

Until this year, he was playing like crap compared to what he was capable of, and he deserved every bit of the criticism I gave him. This year he's turned himself into a basketball player instead of just a chucker, and it's a pleasure to watch.

I'm going to disagree. Pierce's role on offense have changed based on the teammates he's surrounded with, and thus the changes in his play don't represent a change in abilities or willingness to sacrifice on his part so much as a decreased need for Pierce to take on the primary scoring load. On defense, you have more of a point; he's clearly picked up his defense from the past couple of years. But as far as I could tell, he was never a bad defender, just putting less effort in. I imagine this was partly because he didn't see a point to playing great defense on a bad team (I know, really horrible of him, but it's hard to blame him) so didn't bother actually putting as much into it on every possession, but also partly because he had to expend a lot of energy on offense prior to the less active role he's playing on offense on this year's Celtics. Clearly Pierce was not put in a position to succeed for the five or so seasons prior to this one.

[Curmudgeon]

No one denies that Pierce always had the ability but he wasted it.

The fact that he was on bad teams is no excuse for lackadasical, selfish play. Good team or bad team, good players play the right way.

[francishsu]

So what kind of adjustments will the Hawks make? Or will they play the same and hope that more of their shots will fall this time around?

[High 5]

Hawks need to play smarter for sure. Can't be as lazy on the boards. They had a lot of open J's that just didn't fall. They just need to be more focused, I don't think they need to really change up their gameplan. They didn't play terrible defense, Rondo most likely won't play as well. I also wouldn't count on Josh Smith being a near no show two nights in a row. Game 2 should be a lot more competitive.

[NDaATL]

So what kind of adjustments will the Hawks make? Or will they play the same and hope that more of their shots will fall this time around?

Our head coach is Mike Woodson, "adjustment" isn't a word that he's familiar with.

[Kobay]

I think the best option is for ATL scrubs to break pierce, allen and kG's legs intentionally.

[Curmudgeon]

1. Atlanta has to get out and run.
2. Put Bibby on the bench. He can't control Rondo. Unfortunately, the Hawks don't have too many viable alternatives, but I'd try Stoudamire.
3. Joe Johnson has to stop trying to dribble into the teeth of the Celtics' defense.
4. Hit the offensive glass.

The Hawks could win a game or two in this series if they can do the things I've listed above, although I doubt that they will. The Celtics are too focused.

[NDaATL]

1. Atlanta has to get out and run.
2. Put Bibby on the bench. He can't control Rondo. Unfortunately, the Hawks don't have too many viable alternatives, but I'd try Stoudamire.
3. Joe Johnson has to stop trying to dribble into the teeth of the Celtics' defense.
4. Hit the offensive glass.

The Hawks could win a game or two in this series if they can do the things I've listed above, although I doubt that they will. The Celtics are too focused.

1. That's a must.

2. Don't think Bibby belongs on the bench, yet. Salim is NOT a better PG at all, and he can't set up teammates at all. I absolutely HATE the idea of Childress at PG, it takes away from all his advantages of floating around the baseline getting rebounds/putbacks/open looks. Not to mention he's 6'8 and can't guard quick PGs.

I'd much rather Law get the nod. Law at least plays very good defense and is so quick that he gets to the basket at will. Much better at setting up teammates than Salim, although he doesn't have the 3pt shot.

3. You're right, JJ is getting doubled and tripled as soon as he gets the ball, he needs to keep it moving if he wants those isolations.

4. That won't be a problem, Horford had 7 OR's in Game 1 and Childress had a couple. That's one of our strengths so I'm not too worried about that.

[Truthiracy]

No one denies that Pierce always had the ability but he wasted it.

The fact that he was on bad teams is no excuse for lackadasical, selfish play. Good team or bad team, good players play the right way.

Will Curmudgeon ever make another appearance on the Boston Celtics forum?

[3pt %]

dont know, Darth has effectively left so the door is open.

BTW, who ARE you?

[Curmudgeon]

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Will Curmudgeon ever make another appearance on the Boston Celtics forum?

Not very likely. Not much point to it.

[greenbeans]

im gon put this here too, just cuz damnit

this is awesome, it really is. it would have just been a boring old sweep, but apparently Bibby feels the need to put his life in danger.

At another stage Bibby said,

[JoshB914]

What Bibby said was dumb. Of course the C's have bandwagon fans just like any fan base, but everyone knows what great sports fans there are in Boston.

If the crowd is louder because of it, it won't effect him. He has been here before. However, it could have an adverse effect on our young guys, who have never been a part of anything like this before.

GO HAWKS!

[dsorc]

I like the way Garnett called the team out to the court when he received the DPOY award before the game. Good sign of the team first mentality.

[dockingsched]

hope pierce can come back out soon.

[amb1ent]

it's cute how boston is trying to boo bibby.

[dockingsched]

bibby looks like he needs an oxygen tank.

[greenbeans]

it's cute how boston is trying to boo bibby.

not their fault nobody knows who that scrub is. and trust me, there is a LOT of hateful, personal things goin his way from the diehards.