Gross…

What have we learned after two games?

We need everyone to play well.  In game 1 our starters kept us in it until Pierce got tossed (which was ridiculous).  If our bench gave us even anything…anything at all…we could have easily stolen game 1.  In game 2, our starters played horrible.  How is it that Ray Allen only gets 7 shots?  No way can Miami contain him that well.  Why is Rajon Rondo not tormenting the old bum of a point guard (Bibby) and the young, inexperienced Chalmers?  Is he hurt?  He must be hurt.  Hopefully he’s fine after 3 days rest.

On a positive note, Jeff Green and Delonte West played great.  Not good…great.  Celtic fans can finally see why we had so much faith in our second unit.  With that being said, why is Nenad Krstic still playing?  I understand he only plays very limited minutes, but he has brought absolutely nothing to the table.  He was playing effectively over a time because he was playing starter’s minutes, but now we have a Jermaine playing like it’s 2004.  We made that trade for Jeff Green and for an extra body to have, just in case, in Krstic.  We took a gamble bringing in Troy Murphy.  When we got him, everyone was talking about what a great addition he could be to this team.  Why hasn’t he been playing Krstic’s minutes?  He’d offer the same on defense (very little), but at least he’d have the ability to stretch the floor every once in a while.  All of that should hopefully be irrelevant now because…

Shaq.  Shaq, you need to play.  That’s enough.  We traded Perk because we thought we would have two reliable centers without him and we needed an offense spark off the bench.  We got that spark last game but it wasn’t enough.  Why?  We need size.  Joel Anthony is a pain in the ass defensively and Big Z has been around forever so he knows how it’s done.  All of those guys are dismantling both Krstic and Baby.  With Shaq coming back, that’ll ease the rotation back to how it should be.

So let’s break it down.  To win game 3 we need: The starters AND the bench to play effectively.  Big Baby to stop looking foolish and play like he has the last two seasons.  Rondo has to play like an MVP and Shaq…get your ass on the court.  The way I always look at it is….both Dwayne Wade and Lebron James are good enough to win a playoff game or 2 by themselves.  Last season, Wade single handily won Game 4 against us.  That’s what superstars do.  We just have to hope that they both used up their win nice and early…oh and Chris Bosh is not a superstar.

As bad as we’ve played we have still almost won both games.  No, the refs haven’t blown this series.  We have.  Although I think the Pierce ejection was terrible, we have enough experience to be able to grind out a win.  Reggie Miller said it the best.  He said during game 2 that, “these are games the Celtics tend to win.”  We have to take better shots down the stretch and lock down defensively.  Glen Davis should not be taking three or four shots in a row in an 80-80 game.  Whatever.  A series isn’t won until someone wins on the road.  We still got it.