Thursday Practice Report: Doc on Home Court Advantage

Posted by Brian Robb on Apr 1, 2010 719312 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F04%2F01%2Fthursday-practice-report-doc-on-home-court-advantage%2FThursday+Practice+Report%3A+Doc+on+Home+Court+Advantage2010-04-01+20%3A37%3A38Brian+Robbhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D7193

Greetings from Waltham, as the C’s have wrapped up a short practice session before gearing up for a showdown with the Houston Rockets tomorrow night at TD Garden.

Everyone was in uniform, everyone practiced, and there were no injury reports to give out for tomorrow night’s contest.Things were quiet, scary quiet for a change, which, in all honesty must come as a sign of relief for this coaching staff.

Coming off of a tough loss against the Thunder, it was surely good motivation for these guys to clean up their mistakes at full strength, on both ends of the floor as they enter the home stretch of the regular season.

Doc Rivers had an extended session with the media, where he commented on a variety of topics. One thing he addressed was the issue of home court and whether teams are no longer fearing The Garden coming into the playoffs.

On Home Court Intimidation Factor:

“That will be up to the playoffs and the way we play. Let’s put it this way, if we get into the playoffs and win the first two games, all of a sudden The Garden is a tough place to play again. That’s how it is.

“I think we forget, a couple years ago Atlanta wasn’t a tough place to play, then they won a couple games in the playoffs, and all of a sudden, it became a tough out. That’s the playoffs. That’s what it comes down to, when you get to the playoffs, it’s a clean slate.”

Interesting points there by Doc, that quite frankly are tough to disagree with. A lot of places will have energy in the playoffs that didn’t earlier in the year and it’s up to those home teams to take advantage of it. The Hawks did it a couple years ago, with some help with the subpar play of Boston on the road in that series. Let’s hope Boston can do it this year.

Let’s put it this way. If you have a team, would you rather they be vulnerable at home and one of the best on the road…..or vice versa. In all honesty, I’d go with the latter. When you are unstoppable at home, there’s so much pressure for you to win those games at your place in the Garden. And while those games will without a doubt, be crucial to the C’s, it won’t be panic time for The Green if they drop one at the Garden, since they have proven they can win almost anywhere on the road. Cleveland, LA, Orlando, Dallas. It’s an impressive track record.

They shouldn’t be counting on being able to do that, but it’s still a nice chip to have in your back pocket, if you are Doc Rivers, knowing you are fully capable of stealing a win on another’s team floor at anytime.

More from Doc and Ray Allen at practice, later this evening.