Hopefully home court is going to be enough because I really think this one may go 7 now as the Hawks have all the confidence in the world. Hopefully a big Celts win tonight as the first 2 games were...

I definitely agree with T2. Once Joe Johnson started to light them up why wasn't he double-teamed? Why not bring in Tony Allen to do the "Hack-A-Joe" defense and simply put a hard foul on him every time he got the ball in a prime spot and make him earn the points from the line? It's not like the Hawks have so many options on offense that you can't afford to send extra people at Johnson and Smith and let the other guys try to beat you. I don't think I worry about Mike Bibby hitting many jump shots or Al Horford doing a whole lot of scoring (unless it's off of an offensive rebound).

If the C's don't make it out of this round it would be a playoff disaster of epic proportions and, since the "3" are now here for the duration, I think the coach would be the fall guy and the Celts are in the market for a head coach next year...

Exactly right dboisver! There was absolutely NO reason to have Edie House in game 4 to cover Joe Johnson. They should have inserted Tony Allen or PJ Brown to play hard defense against this youg team. Rather than allow the refs and the Hawks bang up all the Celtics veterans.

Which brings me to another point. Are the refs giving the Hawks all the phantom calls during critical points in the game just because they feel bad for them? I mean, if anybody deserves any benefit of the doubt, it shouldn't be the Hawks. These young guns who are probably playing the series of their lives, thanks to the refs, and will probaly never be heard of again! Except for maybe Horford.

Last but not least, perhaps Garnetts "intensity" or as I refer to it "BIG MOUTH" is the reason they aren't getting any calls. He really needs to stop talking so much to the other team and act like a veteran!

In Doc's defense (did I just type that?), I think the reason he had House in there was because Cassell had turned into psycho Sam in games 1-4 and was shooting far too much. He was better in game 5. It's OK to be a gun when you're hitting your shots, but he was awful early in the series.

I can also understand why he's been tempted to use both Powe and Big Baby, since Kendrick Perkins has done another disappearing act.

However, what he should be doing there is playing Garnett at center in the second half, thereby allowing him to have Pierce, Allen and Posey in the game at the same time. That lineup won't kill them against the smaller Hawks, and it would allow Posey to harrass Joe Johnson. Add in a little well-disguised double teaming and some physical play, and you might not see Joey J. eat you alive(let's face it...he's not exactly the toughest guy around).

Of course, the fact I can see this (along with every other Celtics fan in the world) but Doc can't doesn't inspire confidence in his ability as a coach come crunch time.

Whoa...T2, why is Garnett not acting like a veteran? That's how he displays his intensity, by screaming. And Peirce displays his intensity by flashing gang signs at the opposing bench. Everybody's different. T2, maybe you should display some intensity at work. And all of you leave Doc alone, he's doing a fine job. And the hawks are a bunch of no names... except for horford??? Oh yeah Bibby, Johnson, all talentless futureless players...

Hopefully Doc watched the tape of Game 4 and can make some adjustments in Game 6 as you imagine either Johnson or Josh Smith may start to get hot at some point at home.

Especially when you've got these leads fairly late in the game I would think you would go with more of a "defense-first" lineup. Heck- if you wanted to you could use Garnett to double Johnson occasionally as I really don't see Horford as a huge offensive threat (although I agree he's going to be quite a good center in the NBA I think scoring is not his strong suit right now).

The Hawks certainly have used the officiating to their advantage- however it is that they've gotten it. The Celts need to continue to pound it inside and try to get the 2 big shotblockers into some foul trouble - at some point they need to start getting some calls, right???

Yeah, he has to scream all the time to *!SHOW!* his intenstiy. Imagine how much more impressed you'd be if you could actually hear him roar live!

If the Hawks were a "good" team they wouldn't have finished below .500. So, yes, their "team" basically consists of a couple of decent individual players and the rest are complete no-names (and no-games).

Bibby can't hit a jumper to save his life and is one of the most overrated point guards in the NBA. Johnson is a good scorer and would be fabulous as a #2 or #3 option for a team but he's not a #1. Smith is a good shot blocker and decent scorer- Horford is going to be good but not quite yet and the only other player they even *have* is Childress. Compare that to any other playoff team and these guys just aren't in the same class...

Sometimes at work, after I give a good presentation i like to let out a primal scream, pound my chest, and flash gang signs at my boss.

LMAO!!!