Celtics Fall to the Jazz 105-87

I hate to say it, but I think the losing is finally getting to the Celtics and they are losing their fight and their confidence completely. In the last 2 games, we just haven’t been competing. It seems as though individual players have been progressing but the team is not. I just have to believe that it is the coaching. Our point guards seem to be regressing and we aren’t playing as a team. I keep seeing Doc’s comments about what he plans for training camp and next year and that is very worrisome. If he isn’t fired, we can expect more of the same next year, even if we get the top pick. No matter how talented a team is, if the coach can’t pull them together and build chemistry and give them a system they can play within, the team isn’t going anywhere.

One positive tonight was that Doc finally realized that Powe can play and game him the start. As I expected, he played very well and finished with 10 points, 9 rebounds and 1 assist in 24 minutes. I really like this kid and hope to see him playing a lot more. With a little experience, he is going to be dangerous. I don’t know why Doc didn’t play him more in the 3rd and 4th quarters but I guess he was playing too well. Al had another double double with 12 points, 13 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 blocks (and 8 turnovers - although a couple were bad calls). Other than Al and Powe, I really didn’t see much to get excited about in this game.

As a team we turned the ball over 23 times with 11 coming in the 3rd quarter and 5 in a row at one point. That is inexcusable! We shot only 42.5% from the field and were out-rebounded 42-36. We should be playing better. I know that the prevailing school of thought is that we need to lose to garner ping pong balls. But, at some point, the losing and Doc’s coaching is going to destroy the confidence of this young group and that may be very hard to recover.

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