Your Morning Dump... Doc has figured it out

Every morning, we compile the links of the day and dump them here... highlighting the big storyline. Because there's nothing quite as satisfying as a good morning dump.

“People talk a lot about this team vs. the team that won it, and there is one difference we’ve found,” Rivers said. “There’s one thing we’re doing now that we didn’t do in the past.

“Before, we never got down when our offense was down, and now we do. We hang our heads when we’re not making shots, and it leads to bad defense. And that’s a hurdle we haven’t gotten over yet.”

It’s a hurdle that fells young teams that don’t yet understand the simplicity of the game and base their self image on scoring.

Herald - Relentless defense critical to Cs

That's it? You mean, the singular issue plaguing the Celtics that has driven us fans mad all season long is... confidence?

Statistically, this season’s bench (26.8 points, 11.5 rebounds) and the 2008-09 bench (26.2 points, 11.6 rebounds) are a wash, even though the Celtics brought in reinforcements in Wallace and Daniels. Defensively, though, it has been more of a challenge, as Wallace is still picking up the schemes.

“The guys that are here now, they know the system,’’ point guard Rajon Rondo said. “Marquis is a smart player. Say if Paul wasn’t playing, Marquis steps in. [Tony Allen’s] been in the system five, six years. As far as bigs, when Baby comes in, he’s [experienced]. The only thing is Rasheed’s still learning the system. That may be the only exception as far as rotations on defense. Other than that, we’ve been together a long time.’’

Globe - Finley role to come in time

It surprises me that a veteran, high basketball IQ guy like Rasheed Wallace is still learning the system. What the hell is Thibs running?

On Page 2, a couple of cool stories about Red.

Steve Pagliuca, part owner of the C’s, told a story about visiting Red Auerbach’s office in Washington, D.C. shortly after his group purchased the team in 2002. “[Auerbach] hadn’t changed anything in his office since the 1950s,” Pagliuca told the crowd. “He had rotary phones and about 500 letter openers.” 

Red offered the new guys two pieces of advice:

1) No cheerleaders. “Nothing but trouble,” Red said, according to Pagliuca.

2) Auerbach wanted the C’s “to go out and sign instigators, not retaliators.” 

A few years later, Pagliuca went back to D.C. to argue for the merits of cheerleaders. Auerbach again objected. Pagliuca mentioned that the team could sell the rights to sponsor the dance team for $500,000. Auerbach’s response: “That’s a no-brainer.”

The Celtics hired some cheerleaders.

Celtics Hub

The rest of the links:

ESPN Boston: Lockdown defense steadies KG | Herald: Bucks/Celtics scouting report | Globe: Finley role to come in time | CSNNE: Cs pick up their play, trash talk | Daily News: Streaky Celtics better buck up | Celtics Blog: Love and Marriage