1. Did the Perkins trade destroy any chance of success?
Kendrick Perkins was a key piece to the success the Celtics had last year and it was said many times that the Celtics could not lose if the entire starting line up were to be healthy. The team seemed to finally have all the pieces when Perkins stepped back on to the court and the team continued to play at a high level. Fans began to feel that Banner 18 was within sights as the Celtics greats took the floor and looked young once again. In the blink of an eye Perkins was shipped off to the Oklahoma Thunder along with reserve Nate Robinson in return for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. Although both Green and Krstic did not play up to the level expected of them for most of the season and entering into the final games of the playoffs, the Perkins trade can not take the entire blame for the team's failure. Although team chemistry fell apart soon after these trades (including the departure of most of the Celtics bench), the Celtics would have been in a much worse position without them. All of the players traded away, including Perkins at the time, had a major injury that would have left the Celtics with barely enough players to dress a full starting line up and bench. These issues required new players to join the team with or without the Perkins trade, which would have equally hurt the team chemistry at the time. With chemistry being an issue whether Perkins had been traded or not, the real issue was the health of Shaquille O'Neal. If Shaq were healthy the Celtics may have had a better series against the Heat and could have moved on, but his injury left the team short at the Center position. It left the paint open for the Heat to drive to the rim, with Jermaine O'Neal being the only player to really slow down the athletic Miami starters. If Perkins had remained on the team we may have had a stronger rotation in the Center position, which would have helped on the defensive side of the ball. However the big issue in the series was the Celtics inability to score on multiple 10 minute drives causing the Heat to take slight leads and Perkins lack of offensive ability would not have helped in these situations. Although the Perkins trade did shake things up, it was the right choice at the time it was made and left the Celtics with one or two players that could be a part of the future roster, especially with the high chance that the Celtics would have been unable to re-sign Perk at the end of the season.
2. What injury caused the Celtics the most problems?
There were many injuries that plagued the Celtics at the end of the season, whether it was Shaq's achilles, Rondo's elbow, or the numerous injuries that took the life out of the remaining star players. Danny Ainge put complete faith in the aging Shaq's ability to return from injuries that took him from the court for most of the season, and it proved to fail as Shaq limped off the court during the Playoffs. Without Shaq the other O'Neal took the grunt of the work with an ailing wrist and many small injuries that limited his minutes. Although Jermaine played extremely well for the minutes he played, the lack of Shaq's presence left a hole in the line up that was not even remotely filled by Nenad Krstic. Pierce and Allen were banged up during the final round of the Celtic's Playoff, possibly causing them to play below their full potential for the year and forcing Doc Rivers to rely heavily on a bench that played short of expectations.
As Rajon Rondo writhed in pain on the ground in the 3rd Quarter of Game 3, fans watched the remaining hope for a championship slip away. Although he returned and gave the Celtics one of the greatest come back performances in a storied franchise history, his inability to use the hurt arm became apparent. Although Rondo playing with one arm is still a much more effective point guard than most in the league, it took the largest advantage Boston had over the Miami Heat out of the entire series. The speed and vision of Rondo was lost, and the elders of the team were unable to pick up the pieces. In the games to follow the Rondo injury single handedly took the remaining wind from the sails of Boston and ended their playoff hopes.
3. Which players inefficiency in the Playoffs caused the most issues?
Injuries and age required the Celtics to rely heavily on a bench that was neither ready or able to play up to the level necessary in order to advance to the next round. One player in particular was expected to come off the bench and play strongly defensively in the power forward and center positions. Glen Davis was considered one of the strongest sixth-man in the league during the regular season and was playing at an extremely high level during most of the season. However, during the playoffs he went from one of the most effective players to being the single most ineffective players that caused the bench to fail greatly. He was unable to score at a high percentage and was being generally outplayed on both ends of the floor. He had glimpses of his strong performances on a few plays each game, but he was often out rebounded and out scored. He did not provide the defensive relief that we needed when the starters left the court and caused many break downs in the offensive plans. His inability to play at a high level allowed the Heat to pile on the points as the starters grabbed a breather and caused many leads held by the Celtics to dwindle. Glen Davis was a major key to the benches success and overall led to the inefficiency of the Celtics reserve.
This season did not reach the high expectations of Boston fans, but it did show that the Big 4 have plenty of basketball left in them and with a better supporting cast may be able to hang "Banner 18" after all. Check in for postings over the next few weeks about possible solutions to the Celtics needs and what moves could be made to make the team even stronger.
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