What's Going On?

A Moose Track

"Mother, mother
There's too many of you crying
Brother, brother, brother
There's far too many of you dying
You know we've got to find a way
To bring some lovin' here today"

An NBA season can do a lot to a team. Sometimes it takes a year for the players to jell, to get used to one another, and to perform well. Sometimes a team starts out strong, builds steam, and comes into the playoffs looking for blood. And, sometimes a team starts out strong, and then tapers off . . . like the 2009-10 Boston Celtics.

Before the all-star break, the Celtics were playing their worst basketball of the season. From January 11 to all-star weekend, they went 6-9, dropping games to Atlanta (2), LAL, New Orleans, Orlando (2), Dallas, Detroit and the LAC. The short break was going to be their resting time; they were going to come back and take the league by storm.

And they did, for a second there. They came back to face a west-coast trip with match-ups against Denver, Portland, Los Angeles and Sacramento, going 3-1. Ray Allen was shooting, something that he hadn't done since the middle of the season last year. Kevin Garnett was looking like KG, the first time he had played like he can since the surgery.

And then they came back home, beating the Knicks 110-106. On the surface, this looks fine. But the Celtics, who have prided themselves as a defense-minded team for the better part of three years now, looked like they just didn't give a rip about giving up buckets. The next two games the Celtics were matched up against the top and the bottom: The Cavaliers and the Nets.

Boston led for most of the matchup, and suddenly, in the middle of the fourth quarter, something changed (I didn't watch it because a power outage in Massachusetts took out my TV in the middle of the 4th. Huge storm with a ton of damage took us down, bunch of rain, most people didn't have power until yesterday). The Celtics blew the lead, eventually losing by 20 to the best team in the league. A loss is understandable, but a blown lead late in the game is inexcusable. It shows that they can't handle any of the elite teams in one game, much less a seven game series.

On Saturday, the Celtics played the Nets at 1 o'clock. I didn't even consider watching it. I was hanging out with my friends during the game, I didn't even see a point in watching it. When I got home, my mom informed me that the C's had lost to the Nets. I was more confused than Wally Szczerbiak in a half-court trap. The Celtics are considered to be title candidates, and even my Mom knows that the Nets suck. It was their sixth win of the year. Their sixth.

But then I looked at the box score, and three things stood out. The Nets were 34-41 from the charity stripe. 34-41. 34-41. The Celtics were 9-11. The Nets shot 44.4% from the field. Boston shot 50% and still lost. The Nets went 6-13 from downtown, where the Celtics went 3-19. There are only a few justifiable reasons for this loss.

The Celtics aren't playing defense like they used to. Yes, Pierce was out for these last two games, but this isn't just about those last two games. The Celtics have lost something. The defense isn't there. Nobody should let the New Jersey Nets take 41 free throws. Nobody. Our defense is gone.

The other thing. Rasheed Wallace needs to play like he should. He shouldn't be taking five or six threes a night. He needs to get on the block, post up and do what he does best. His leadership should be a big part of the team, and instead he just gains us four or five bricks from long a night.

We needed to do something at the trade deadline. So we got Nate Robinson. Did it improve us all that much? We aren't sure. But all this failure from such a talented team begs one question: What's going on?

--Moose