Boston Celtics Doc Rivers' Sends Message to Bench

The Celtics put quite the pounding on the New york Knicks on Friday night. However, all was not rosy for the Celtics in that contest. Doc still has some issues to resolve before the next round against the Miami Heat and I am not talking about the Shaq issue. Simply put, the bench players need to play hard all the time at both ends of the floor.
The Celtics were up 30 plus points at one point. The bench came in to give the starters a rest. However, the lead began to vanish due to players playing like it was garbage time.Doc sent a clear message to the offending parties during the fourth quarter. Jeff Green failed to put the effort in to rebound and defend. The result was that he found his way back to the bench. Nenad Krstic failed to throw a body on his man on defense and that resulted in his man blowing by him for an easy two points. Doc had Krstic take a seat back on the bench. Glen Davis also found his coach’s ire for a complete lack of effort on both defense and on the boards.
The Boston Celtics were still in complete control of this game. Why was Doc so upset over bench players losing focus in essentially garbage time? The answer is simple. This game was not about game three against Knicks or even the Knicks series. It is about the Heat series, the Bulls series or a possible Lakers series. In order to win these series, the bench will have to contribute.The bench has played horrible. Their effort on defense and on the boards has been terrible. The bench has given even less on offense. Energy guys like Glen Davis and Jeff Green have had a severe power outage. Neither is attacking the basket or making plays in the paint. The great rebounding Jeff Green from the end of the season has vanished. Glen Davis seems lost on the floor at both ends. He is neither running all over the floor or fighting for loose balls with the same reckless abandon that had many call him a dark horse for the six man award.
Knowing how important the bench is in the coming rounds means the effort to get back on track must be there. Struggles are except able, should a group of players be playing hard. Right now the it looks like the effort is not where it needs to be. This is why Doc sent some messages. I hope the message was clear because the playoffs will only get harder. Remember Go Green Or Go Home!!!!!!!!