[外電] Rivers throws down gauntlet on C's
新聞出處(必填):http://ppt.cc/VItq
作者:By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com
Well, Tuesday night in Cleveland just got a lot more interesting.
Celtics coach Doc Rivers essentially threatened his team after Sunday's
103-88 loss to the Pistons at The Palace of Auburn Hills. After winning a
season-high six straight while rebuilding its confidence, Boston has lost
three in a row to dip to 20-20 overall, and Rivers said a potential shakeup
awaits if his team does not start playing with more intensity and
consistency.
"I think this team wants everything easy," Rivers said. "They want the easy
way out. They want to win easy. And I told them the only way you're going to
win easy is you're going to have to play hard. The harder you play, the
easier the games become. We're taking the wrong approach. I've got to either
find the right combination, the right guys, or we're going to get some guys
out of here. It's the bottom line. Because this group right now, they are not
playing right. It's in them to play right. But right now they haven't been --
either because I'm not getting to them, or they are not getting to each
other. But at the end of the day, either we've got to do that, or we've got
to make changes."
So here's Boston's conundrum: When the Celtics play to their potential, they
are pretty damn good. But, as Rivers stressed in his postgame outburst, the
Celtics really have only strung together three consecutive solid efforts this
season while beating playoff-caliber opponents in the Pacers, Hawks and
Knicks to start the six-game winning streak earlier this month. Boston
endured maddening lulls in play against the Suns and Rockets before topping
the gritty-yet-woeful Bobcats to close out that stretch last Monday.
The Celtics promptly regressed amidst the hoopla surrounding Father vs. Son
against New Orleans on Wednesday, then improbably coughed up a winnable game
while falling to Chicago in overtime on Friday. While Detroit has played
better basketball lately than its record might indicate, the Celtics came out
flat, digging themselves a double-digit hole 4½ minutes in on Sunday. Boston
rallied from an 18-point second-quarter deficit to tie the game before
intermission, only to let Detroit race away.
And that left Rivers fuming.
"[The start of game] was awful, we are playing awful," he said. "I'm clearly
not doing my job with this team. And I'm serious, I'm not trying to take a
bullet for the team. And I told them that. I said, ‘We've got to find
something where, every night, all 12 guys play the same way.' We did it for
three games in a stretch. I told them that games 4 and 5 in that [six-game]
winning streak were garbage; we just won the game. I've got to figure that
out. I told the guys that, I've got to figure it out. Because I don't think
the guys are honest with each other. I just don't think we have committed to
being a good basketball team."
The Celtics seemingly navigated their rockiest waters while closing out the
2012 calendar year. Boston got pummeled in losing three games by at least 18
points against the Clippers, Warriors and Kings as part of a stretch where it
lost eight of 10 to slide three games under .500 at 14-17. Rivers and Celtics
president of basketball operations Danny Ainge preached patience and seemed
to be rewarded with inspired play that coincided with the return of Avery
Bradley at the start of the month.
And now, essentially one month away from the Feb. 21 trade deadline, the
Celtics are forced to once again consider if they have the right pieces to
make another postseason run.
Rivers was quick to clarify on Sunday that he wasn't sure "if we need
changes." But his rant essentially put it on the players: Start playing a
better brand of basketball, or the decision-makers in Boston will have no
other choice but to break up the band.
All of sudden a seemingly innocuous Tuesday night visit to Cleveland got a
little more intriguing. Boston absolutely must put a better foot forward,
particularly with a national TV rematch with the Knicks looming Thursday.
That kicks off another pivotal three-game stretch against a trio of
playoff-caliber foes with a trip to Atlanta on Friday before a visit from the
Heat on Sunday at TD Garden.
No pressure, boys.
Clearly Rivers' preference is to simply get more inspired and consistent play
from his team. Bradley's return ratcheted up the defense more than just a few
notches. The Celtics got back to playing the sort of defense that had been
their calling card during the Kevin Garnett era. Combine that with better
bench play and Boston looked like a true contender again.
But Sunday's lackluster effort wasn't exactly the exception for this team.
Boston has had a propensity to play down to the level of opponents and
sometimes expects to beat those teams by simply showing up. Particularly in
Detroit, where The Palace has been an absolute house of horrors in recent
years, the Celtics absolutely should have known it wouldn't be that easy.
If Boston cannot turn things around, there's no shortage of underperformers
at the moment. Brandon Bass, who inked a three-year, $19.4 million extension
this offseaosn, hasn't been anywhere near as effective as he was last season
-- at either end of the floor. Bass picked up two fouls in the first three
minutes on Sunday and played a mere 10:20 overall. Missing all three shots he
took while finishing with 0 points and 2 rebounds, he was a minus-14 in
plus/minus. Boston used its one big offseason chip -- the mid-level exception
-- to ink Jason Terry to a three-year, $15.7 million deal this summer and
he's struggled to find his shot and settle in as leader of the second unit.
You can't help but wonder how far Rivers and Ainge would be willing to go to
overhaul this team if it can't get itself right. With players struggling,
Boston doesn't exactly have a lot of desirable assets to bring back
superstar-caliber talent, unless the Celtics are willing to move core
players.
The guess here is that the team would have to bottom out before that is
considered, but Rivers' message shouldn't fall on deaf ears. The decision
about where this team goes from here is completely on the players at this
point, and Rivers will let their play determine what this team does moving
forward.
And it starts Tuesday in Cleveland, turning a ho-hum midweek matchup against
a non-playoff team into must-watch basketball and a bit of a must-win game
for Boston.
Celtics players must decide if they want the easy way or the hard way. Rivers
is hoping that, for a change, they chose the latter.
個人感想：
在六連勝之後的三連敗,Bass & Jet 危險了！
隨著交易大限漸漸逼近,河流的耐心看來已經用完
球隊陣容出現變動看來勢在必行！
就讓我們繼續 看 下 去～
--
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