Greg M. Cooper-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Celtics are a disappointing 20-18 through 38 games–almost midway through the season–this year. Obviously, the departure of Ray Allen to the Miami Heat this past off-season definitely didn’t help, but the aging portion of the “Other Big Three” is becoming a serious problem. This is part of the reason why the Celtics are the worst offensive rebounding team in the NBA, a problem that must be fixed immediately if this team has any hopes of making another run at a title this year.
The Celtics are currently third in the Atlantic Division, two and half games behind the Brooklyn Nets and five games behind the division-leading New York Knicks. If the playoffs ended today, the Celtics would be in–barely–but that may not be the case two months from now unless the offensive rebounding improves.
God bless Kevin Garnett, but dang it, the dude just isn’t what he used to be. He’s like the Ray Lewis of basketball except he’s not playing his best ball in his twilight years. He’s obviously still the emotional leader for Boston, but that doesn’t necessarily translate into wins on the court.
Garnett isn’t grabbing nearly enough boards on offense and neither are any of his teammates, save Rajon Rondo. Where are Paul Pierce, Jeff Green, Jared Sullinger, Fab Melo and Brandon Bass? These are all relatively big guys who should be crashing the boards, but instead, they’re playing finesse ball, which is uncharacteristic of the Celtics under Doc Rivers. Well, Doc, you better get your boys back to the basics or you can kiss the playoffs goodbye this year, and likely the “Other Big Three” as well.
Jeric Griffin is the Director of Content for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @JericGriffin, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google
