Do The C’s Really Have Chemistry Issues?
Posted by Brian Robb on Feb 3, 2010
AP
It’s the hot topic of the day in ever evolving Celtics world, based on today’s story by Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett The terrific beat writer, ESPNBoston’s Chris Forsberg, summed up the situation quite nicely with a couple excerpts from the Herald article from Rajon Rondo, as well as some comments from Perk this past weekend on the team’s chemistry:
Rondo’s Quotes From Boston Herald’s Steve Bulpett:
“We are getting bored with it some,” he said, “but I think it’s a little bit of different agendas maybe creeping in. It just all depends. You know, I think if we all had the right spirit as far as one goal, one thing in common, I think we’d be a lot better.”
“I can’t really elaborate on it too much, but I think we’ve just got to be a team with no agendas,” Rondo said. “We’ve got to play unselfish, you know? That’s on defense and offense. You’ve got to want the best for the next man out there regardless if you’re in the game playing well or you’re out of the game not playing well.”
Asked if he and the Celts had tried to clear the air on this, he said, “We haven’t really been talking about it, but you’ve just got to know.
“In the locker room, you can feel it,” Rondo added. “You don’t feel like it’s the same continuity and camaraderie in the locker room as it was the first year. The first year, it was a crazy spirit in the locker room. But now it doesn’t feel the same. It’s not the same right now. We’ve got to find a way to get that back somehow, some way.”
Paul Pierce’s on the team’s lack of focus this year:
“We were talking about it,” Pierce said. “Earlier in the year we didn’t turn the ball over much and we won a lot of games. We score when we don’t give up the ball pretty much.
More quotes from the C’s locker room, along with some analysis on the entire situation, after the jump
More from Pierce:
“It’s just the little things, man. That’s what we always talk about. Little things like rebounds and turnovers, stuff like that. If we can take care of those things, we’ll go back to winning games. We’ll be more consistent.”
Pierce then shook his head and added, “It’s like you have the answers to the test and you still fail. It’s just like that. We know the answers.”
Rondo on Pierce’s statement:
“That’s a great quote,” he said. “I can’t really describe it any better. He’s exactly right. We’re just not getting it done.”
From ESPNBoston’s Chris Forsberg
Is the Celtics’ locker room divided? If nothing else, Rondo’s comments are the most condemning of what others have been saying. Celtics center Kendrick Perkins stressed after Sunday’s loss to the Lakers that the players in Boston’s locker room are behind each other more than ever.
“I don’t think it’s anything,” said Perkins. “I know a lot of people are turning their backs on us, which is cool, that’s fine with us. We just gotta keep believing. Everybody’s got to be accountable for their actions… Don’t point the finger, everybody look at themselves in the mirror and go from there.
“We’re cool, we real cool. There’s no beef. Guys still talk, laugh, joke — we’ve all got each other’s back. That’s one thing you don’t have to worry about in this locker room, especially with [Kevin Garnett], Paul [Pierce], Ray [Allen], and [Rasheed Wallace] in here. Guys will stick together.”
Celtics Hub’s Take:
Lots of interesting stuff to go around here. A few critical things first though. There are two kinds of chemistry a team can have, one is one the floor, the other is in the locker room. While the comments from Rondo may make it appear to be a deeper rift, I think it’s evident that the main issue he has is with the team’s on the floor chemistry. And you know what? His analysis, along with Paul Pierce and Perk’s are dead on.
In the last month, these guys have gotten flat out lazy and stubborn with their play. You don’t continuously blow leads and get outscored in 2 out of 14 4th quarters if you have good chemistry and the talent the C’s have. Yes, there have been injuries, but the C’s still had enough talent to win a lot of those games.
It’s the little things that have been slowing them down. I can’t tell you how excited I was to see Paul Pierce talk about the turnover and rebounding problems. We’ve been harping on that for months here at Celtics Hub, but those issues have finally hit home with the Green during this recent stretch. The C’s have regressed a bit, talent wise and can no longer get away with lazy unfocused play when it comes to basic elements of basketball. Crucial elements such as taking care of the ball and boxing out your opponents are the things this team has been lazy with lately.
The C’s have not been able to put together a consistent 48 minutes recently, primarily due to a lack of attention on these little things. So, yes the C’s have on the floor chemistry issues and I’m glad Rajon Rondo and company are stepping up and acknowledging it. The C’s have shown they can put it all together this year, (11 game winning streak in December) they just need to start doing it together again consistently.
It’s funny actually, I spoke about this chemistry subject yesterday, even before the Herald story came out with the Rondo quotes in it. Joe Mead asked me about the chemistry issues with Rondo, Perk and the Big 3 and I spoke about them at length, along with TA’s improved play, KG’s return, the 4th quarter struggles and much more. You can check out my appearance on the ESPN.com’s NBA Today Podcast with Joe Mead and Frank Dale here My segment starts at the 9 minute mark.
In the meantime, I pose the question to you readers out there. What do we make of Rondo’s comments? Is this just giving the team a well deserved kick in the ass? Or are the problems running deeper, (remember last year’s plane team meeting that went awry?) I guess do you see more harm or good coming from these comments and chemistry talk today as a whole?
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