Celtics Stuff Live! Tonight-Post game.

[JB]

   I imagine we'll all be up, well past the witching hour, following  
tonight's game, either celebrating or mourning.

In fact, witchcraft is as good an answer as any for why the Celtics  
have played so well at home and so poorly on the road.

Is it time for a talisman? A good luck charm? Or is that superstition  
stuff just another excuse?

Well, one thing is for sure, Celtic Nation is getting restless. Call  
it impatience, frustration, or exasperation; even the usually hard  
boiled  press corps seems to be doubting this teams heart...perhaps  
reflecting their collective embarrassment in being drawn in,  
emotionally, from the season's historic success.

Here is Marc Murphy, veteran scribe for the Herald, in this morning's  
edition, quoting Paul Pierce and adding a bit of his own  
uncharacteristic sarcasm

   [quote]  “We all need this win on the road,” Pierce said. “It’s  
become like a gorilla on our back. The whole state of Massachusetts is  
waiting for it. But it was definitely worse once we looked at the tape."
     “I didn’t even recognize our team.”
     Now Pierce understands how the viewing public feels. [/quote]

So what can the coach and players do to break through this perplexing  
indisposition?

Doc ran them through a tough "training camp like" practice yesterday  
and we can be sure that ball movement on offense and quicker rotations  
on defense were stressed.

For the players, everyone is looking for more intensity, but I think  
Paul Pierce  has it right, as quoted in Steve Bulpett's Herald column  
today(note the tag of irony,in Steve's closing sentence).

   [quote]  “When we get down, we tend to rush things and get out of  
the flow of some of the things that we’re trying to do. We looked at  
that today and we said, ‘Hey, when we get down, we’ve just got to  
trust our stuff.’ The tendency is one guy says they can get us back in  
it. But if we can just move the ball, run our offense and just have  
patience in it, I think we’ll be fine.”

     To pull that off, they’ll need to lean on each other at both ends  
of the floor. The other way doesn’t work. After all, none of the  
Celtics All-Stars had to worry about the playoffs last year on their  
own.[/quote]

If the Celtics do not win tonight, it means they will all have to  
tramp back to Cleveland for game 6 and from what I'm hearing, they'll  
have to endure the press corps watching the game with bags over their  
heads.

  In any event, the Celtics Stuff Live team will be on board, even  
into the early morning hours, to do our part in this "Ubuntu" thing.  
We hope you will join us.

   If you have a question for our guest or the show you can call our  
toll free number (1.866.751.9649), send us an e-mail to CSL at CelticsBlog.com 
, or join us in the “pit” (chat room) during the broadcast.

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