Arrogance, Confidence, Boredom, or Slippage?

“You know what? My attitude is that wherever we fall, that’s where it’s going to be,” Paul Pierce [stats] said after yesterday’s practice at Moody Bible Institute. “Regardless of how hard the road may look from whatever seed we get, it’s going to be hard anyway to win a back-to-back championship. So whether we’ve got to go on the road the first three rounds or starting with the second round or however we’ve got to do it, we feel confident that when this team is healthy we can get the job done.

“Me, Paul and Rajon (Rondo), the three of us have the ball in our hands the majority of the time right now," Allen said. "I’m not going to say anyone was purposely trying to win the game by themselves, but sometimes it just takes watching film. You know, you fall into ruts, and then you have to have to watch film and see what you’re doing and see how teams are playing you. I think that’s the case.”

“Whatever happens happens,” Rivers said. “We don’t (want to give it away), but that’s why you play the whole season. “If we’re going to win it, we’ve got to play good teams. So I couldn’t care less about the seedings."

I was watching the Celtics-Suns game at the Gahden. The green dominated, and KG didn't play. You could say that is a sure sign of slippage--showing how far our quality of play has fallen from then until now--except for the fact that both Brian Scalabrine and Glen Davis did play then but have been unable to play recently. Nor had the Celtics added Mikki Moore or Stephon Marbury to the roster. And it's easier to get up for playing the Suns than it is for playing Milwaukee. And so on.

The point here is that with so many balls in the air, it's getting tougher to diagnose the problem. So the easiest thing to do is just assume that the Celtics can simply flip the switch once KG returns, and, if not then, when the playoffs start.