Three disturbing trends so far
I couldn't find a picture of Wallace shooting. |
1. No offense down the stretch:
The Celtics have lost all four games they've played this year by margins of 6, 7, 10, and 7 points again. They have even held a lead in the 4th quarter on every occasion. In fact, through three quarters this season the C's have actually outscored their opponents 284-271. Unfortunately they've only been able to put up an average of 16.5 points in the 4th quarter (they're averaging 23.67 points in quarters 1-3), and they've been beaten by a combined total of 109-66 in the final period. Because of this they have yet to score 100 in a game this season, and the only time they even reached 90 was when they already had 63 at halftime.
2. Gerald Wallace can play A LOT of minutes without scoring:
In the home opener Wallace was on the floor for 36 minutes, and managed 14 points. But, in the other three games he has a combined total of 8 points over 104 minutes of action. And it's not as if he's filling up the box score in other ways, Wallace is averaging just 3.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists per night.
3. The rotation appears to have been set at 9 guys:
Normally this would be a good thing, but not with this team and these players. Back in the summer when I looked at the roster (and hoped Rajon Rondo would be back already) there were four names I figured wouldn't see much court time: Vitor Faverani, Phil Pressey, MarShon Brooks, and Keith Bogans. But with no Rondo, the C's have been playing without a point guard. Why keep the only ball handler you have (Pressey) glued to the bench while the club continually struggles to score? And as much as I love seeing Faverani earn his minutes, they have come at the extreme expense of Kris Humphries. The $12 million man has yet to take the floor (3 straight DNP-CD's) since opening night, and likely only saw action then because Jared Sullinger was suspended.
RELATED: Where is Gerald Wallace?
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