The schedule

["hironaka@xxxxxxxxx"<hironaka@xxxxxxxxx>]

Obviously rather than to allow slippage, its the Celtics' 
coaching staff's job to stay positive and set some goals 
this month. A bunch of teams turned around on a dime in 
December out of worse holes, notably but not just Phoenix 
and Portland.

The Celtics basically face a playoff schedule throughout 
January. They either aren't up to it, or the team can 
play again as well as we looked earlier in the year. 
Boston needs to hold opponents to 90-91 points per game 
to start with. Under 43% shooting by opponents needs to 
be a given. 

The Celtics, incidentally, will try to go three straight 
months with a winning record, after going 10-3 in 
November and 9-7 in December. How tall an order is that?

They are still hanging in at 5 games over .500 thanks to 
the early cushion, but have been playing .500 ball since 
December 1st. That's a kinder way of saying that they've 
given back all the ground they had since the end of 
November, as far as games over .500.

When you break the season down into 10 game units, Boston 
is 1-2 on the current stretch that will carry them nearly 
to the midseason point (40 games). 

That's the salient point. Don't panic now. When all is 
said and done this difficult jump-off-the-bandwagon 
month, its still a LONG season. We can't give up on any 
games on this schedule, because the Spring months are 
packed with winnable games down the homestretch.

The Celtics are 0-2 in January, which is arguably the 
most challenging month on the schedule. Can they win 7 of 
11 to finish above .500 this month?

The next four road games are basically playoff tune-ups. 
The Celtics definitely need to try to steal a win early, 
maybe down in New Orleans, and then go get one out of 
three on the Texas trip. 

But let's not look anymore at our cumulative losses, 
and "potential" length of losing streaks. The Boston 
players will have to erase the slate. The NBA is 
obviously too tough for teams with a losing streak 
mentality. They can't go into games afraid of losing, 
even in the back of the back of their minds. We shouldn't 
just try to win, we should expect to win the next game.

Last night we let an MJ team hang around, a grand faux 
pas particularly since Jordan Rules are alive and well 
when the game is close. The Celtics could have gone up by 
10 or 11 probably on ten different 2nd half occasions 
last night, but the 3-ball didn't drop. 

Stackhouse probably will get locked out of this All Star 
game, but that had to be the most impressive shooting 
display by a Celtics opponent all year. When you are that 
explosive and accurate, the game looks too easy. On 
nights like that, he just seems like the best player on 
the floor by far. 

Breaking over the 20 win barrier has been surprisingly 
hard. I anticipated we could do it last night. The 
Celtics need to bust right through, and hopefully it will 
be the start of another consistent stretch where Boston's 
defense takes even good teams out of their games. 

Joe


  



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