Archive for February, 2010

Save for a couple of games against New Jersey (ahem), the C’s schedule since late January has been brutal. Seven of the team’s last 15 games have come against Atlanta, Denver, the Lakers (twice), Orlando (twice) and Cleveland, and that 15-game span also included five straight road games against Western Conference teams.

The C’s went 7-8 over that stretch, with only two of those wins coming against teams that currently stand at .500 or better (@ Portland and @ the Lakers, with both teams battling injuries).

The next seven games represent something of a reprieve. Only two come against teams with .500 or better records (as of Sunday morning), and none are more than two games over .500:

3/2 @ Detroit (21-38)

3/3 Charlotte (28-29)

3/5 @ Philadelphia  (22-36)

3/7 Washington (20-36)

3/9 @ Milwaukee (30-28)

3/10 Memphis  (30-29)

3/12 Pacers (20-39)

After this stretch, the schedule gets tough again. There are a couple of ways to look at this. » More: The Next Seven Games: A Chance to Get Right?

Well, the 34-year-old big man with a handy baseline J is apparently interested in signing with the C’s if New Jersey, who barely uses him, buys Battie out by Monday’s deadline. If Battie is on the Nets after tomorrow’s deadline, he cannot play for another team in the playoffs, even if the Nets subsequently buy him out. 

WEEI.com’s Jess Camerato broke the story today:

WEEI.com has learned the Celtics are one of the teams Battie would be interested in signing with if he is bought out. According to a source familiar with the situation, Battie would eye the top three or four teams in each conference, which makes sense for a veteran player who is trying to maximize the years he has left in the NBA.

By my count, the C’s have two roster spots open. 

Is there room here for Battie to contribute?

No one was injured, there wasn’t a crash, and the blood alcohol tests aren’t all in yet. But the early facts are bad and suggest Al Jefferson, the centerpiece of the Kevin Garnett trade, was driving drunk. Per ESPNBoston:

Lt. Eric Roeske told multiple media outlets Jefferson was pulled over after being clocked at driving 56 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone. The arresting trooper also saw Jefferson change lanes without signaling and his car drifted to the left, with his tires crossing the outer line.

Roeske said Jefferson was given field sobriety tests, which led to his arrest. A blood test was given and Roeske said the results are pending a Bureau of Criminal Apprehension analysis.

Roeske told KARE, a TV station in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market, that he can’t report Jefferson’s blood alcohol level, but it was above the legal limit of 0.08 percent.

What can you say? » More: Al Jefferson’s DWI

• The discussion among the player’s of Saturday’s disastrous loss to the Nets sounded a lot like their discussion of Thursday’s disastrous loss to the Cavs. A narrative is beginning to form, and if you boil it down to two over-arching themes, they are these: 1) This is not the coach’s fault; 2) The talent on this team is still there, but the effort/motivation/focus/whatever-you-want-to-call-it is not. 

Some sample quotes from the Nyets post-game:

Perk (via ESPNBoston): “How many wake-up calls you going to get?” asked Perkins after the loss. “We’ve got a lot of them, to be honest with you.”

Kevin Garnett (via the Globe): “Doc gives us direction,’’ Garnett said. “Guys have to go out there and follow the plan and execute. That’s all it is.’’

Rasheed Wallace (via the same Globe story): “We can’t sit up here and say, ‘Oh, it’s Doc’s fault that we lost.’ Or ‘Doc’s not doing this’ or ‘Doc’s not doing that.’ Doc’s not on the floor. It’s the five guys that’s out there. So we have to come up with ways to win.’’

KG again, via the Herald: “We’re a team that takes a lot of pride in getting stops,” Garnett said. “We got to get back to that. Hearing it is starting to make my ears ring, but that’s what it is. And we will. We have no choice.”

In a way, the players almost sound like fans—almost. As this team has struggled since Christmas, the most passionate commenters on this site and others have harped on the players’ effort and motivation—on whether the C’s are waiting for the post-season to “flip the switch” and therefore playing without focus now. 

There’s a part of me that is beginning to read these quotes and comments and wonder: What if we’re all over-looking the obvious: that the talent just isn’t good enough? » More: Sad Sunday Notebook: Not Doc’s Fault, Loyalties of the Basketball Gods, Baby vs Shaq