Celtics are currently on a three game losing streak, and the championship swagger they once had is all but gone. One thing I have noticed in recent weeks is that the Celtics are getting involved in more scuffles on the court. The majority of these scuffles are a result of excessive trash talking by the Celtics. KG in particular, makes me sick. He gives out a lot of cheap shots, is always yelling and screaming and loves to go at the other team’s weakest player. For example his shouting match with Jose Calderon earlier in the year. I mean Jose Calderon, come on KG your better than that. There is a difference between having championship swagger and being an a-hole. The Celtics apparently are the latter. Here is a quote from DJ Augustine after they upset the champions on Tuesday night.

"They come in and intimidate you and try to punk you. But if you don't back down from them, they kind of fold."

That is exactly what is going on; teams are no longer allowing the Celtics to come in and push them around and are now pushing back. LaMarcus Aldridge took a swipe at KG in a win last week against the champions. There is no love lost between Pierce and Q-Dawg from the Knicks, and that was evident during Sunday night’s loss at Madison Square. And what changed the game for the Bobcats on Tuesday night was when Raymond Felton and Big Baby got into it. The Celtics looked like they were going to pull away and then the Bobcats just stormed right back.

MJ’s Bulls, Kobe & Shaq’s Lakers and Duncan Spurs never carried themselves in such a manner. When those teams went into opposing arenas, they commanded respect, while the Celtics are all about disrespect.

Besides all the trash talking, the Celtics have some serious holes. Right now Ray Allen couldn’t guard a home with a Brinks Home Security system never mind opposing NBA guards. Against the Bobcats, whoever Ray Allen was guarding was attacking him. If Ray was guarding a player, Larry Brown gave that player the green light. Even Adam Morrison scored on Ray few times. Not to throw all the blame on Ray, but if you’re in a shooting slump, why do you insist on continually shooting the ball? Take it into the paint and try get to the line. When Ray Allen is not hitting his wide open shots, the Celtics are very easy to defend. If Ray Allen is not hitting, you do not have to make any adjustment, you don’t have to switch and you can double down on Pierce and KG.

Speaking of KG, he has to be more effective on the block. Boris Diaw is 6-7, KG is 7 feet. KG does not need to dribble ball ten times and then make himself smaller on a turn around jumper. He simply needs to establish deep position, make one power dribble and go straight up. It makes me sick watching him struggle against a guy like Diaw.

I was actually in the building for the Celtics and Rockets on Wednesday night. The weather was terrible outside, so I did not encounter much traffic on the way to the game. I even got there an hour early to see a few Rocket players out there getting shots up before the game. I was impressed by the shooting drill Von Wafer was doing. He was hoisting up shots while having one of the ball boys jump at him with both hands up. It is a great drill; I personally wish I did stuff like that as a child rather then playing several meaningless games in the backyard. It was no surprise to me that Von Wafer hit the go ahead three that pretty much iced the victory for the Celtics. The Celtics were sending another defender at Yao Ming while he was trying to establish position on the block, which left Von Wafer open in the corner. The first time the Celtics did it, Von Wafer rewarded them with an air ball. I turned to my girlfriend and I was like they are lucky he missed that shot. The next trip down the court, Von Wafer made them pay. I’m not a homer like that; I prefer to see a good game. I also love players who put in the extra work to get better. Not everybody can be as talented as LeBron James, but with hard work, anyone can become a player. Watching Von Wafer put up extra shots before the game, then come out and hit such a big shot, I can’t help but be happy for the kid. As for the Celtics, I’m sure you guys get my drift.

On to the rest of the NBA: The Lakers are not going to run away with the West, not if Chris Paul has anything to do with it. The Hornets vs. Lakers on Tuesday night was one of the best offensive games I have seen in a long time. It wasn’t that the teams weren’t playing any defense; it was just that both teams were playing great offense. Let me re-phrase that, one team played great, and the other team had one player play great. The Lakers looked like the team that forced Kobe to make you tube videos about his teammates. The Hornets came out with a lot of energy and the Lakers seemed to not know how to respond. Bynum was missing bunnies 3 or 4 feet from the basket. Derek Fisher, Trevor Ariza and Vladimir Radmonvic missed several completely wide open jumpers. I’m still not sure if Gasol played in the game or not, either way he did nothing. So Kobe did what Kobe does and that was taking over, he took over in NBA 2K for Xbox style making several ridiculous shots including a 20 point explosion in the third quarter where he shot 8-9 from the field 4-4 behind the three point line. Most teams would have given up at that point, but Chris Paul and David West never stopped balling. After every Kobe basket, Chris Paul continued to push the ball up the floor and look for teammates or his own shot, unfazed by Kobe’s actions. That is greatness my friends.

The turning point of the game was when Phil Jackson decided to give Kobe a break. I’m not sure what he was thinking, but the Hornets were able to erase a 5 point lead in about 30 seconds and take a 1 point lead they would never give up.

The main problem for the Lakers in this game was that nobody stepped up. Kobe scored 39 points and second highest scorer for the Lakers for the night was Derek Fisher with 19 points. Don’t let the point total fool you, Derek Fisher missed several key shots, several. He missed so many shots I had to write several twice in the last sentence. He finished the game 6-18.

Chris Paul was relentless scoring 32 points and dishing out 15 assists. If you figure each assist is worth two points, then Chris Paul was directly responsible for 62 of the Hornets 116 points.

I’m not sure what got into David West, maybe it was hearing over and over again that him and the rest of the Hornets rely too much on Paul. West went for 40 points, destroying every Laker big in his path. He was shooting over Gasol, going by Bynum and backing down the smaller players on switches. In the fourth quarter, CP3 only needed to get the ball over the half court line, get the ball to West on the wing and instruct the rest of the Hornets to go to the weak side. If West can continue with this sort of production, we are looking at a thrilling 7 game series come June.

The Minnesota Timberwolves have won 6 of their last 9 games and a lot of the credit has to go to Kevin McHale. He did the one thing that Randy Wittman and Dwayne Cassey didn’t do. He came to the conclusion that Randy Foye is not a point guard and that he is best suited looking to score. Since Randy Foye has been moved to the 2 guard spot, he has averaged 20.3 ppg which is an 8 point jump from his career average of 12.1 ppg. Sebastian Telfair has also been moved into the starting line up and the quartet of Al Jefferson, Ryan Gomes, Kevin Love and Craig Smith are producing. There is a lot to be said of a coach who can get the best out of his players or just have them be in a position to be successful on a nightly basis. Good one McHale, for a change your not being dissed.

Stephen Curry is the real deal and he showed it against the Duke Blue Devils. With Curry unable to get clear looks at the basket against Duke’s long armed defenders, Curry showed he can be just as effective taking the ball to the basket. Curry finished with 29 points in a 12 point loss. I’m not sure how much more evidence scouts need to determine Curry is the real deal. I am still hearing questions about how he is going to be able to get his shot off in pros. Well he has no problem getting his shot off, he knows how to use screens, he can hit the shot off the dribble, has a nice little step back move and he showed against Duke he can get into the lane with relative ease. The one glaring thing that everybody is ignoring is that he plays with 11 other Division 2 college basket ball players. What will happen if he ends up in Toronto, Utah or any team that desperately needs scoring from the wing position? If you think he won’t excel with better players around him then you just don’t understand. That’s All Folks