I think the explanation for the Celtics’ struggles this season is pretty simple:
(1) KG is not KG anymore; it’s the bad knee; he is a mere shadow of himself, and the knee apparently is not going to get better. It’s painful to watch KG getting his shots blocked, repeatedly. And, on defense, KG’s man goes by him like KG is wearing cement shoes. He doesn’t intimidate anyone, anymore. His game was built on his freakish athleticism, as much as his freakish intensity. And the former is gone. And the latter without the former makes the KG of today look more and more like a cruel caricature of the KG of 2007. There’s still the pre-game banging his head routine and the in-your-face-talking-trash. But he can’t back it up any more. His teammates know it, I think. That is why there is a crisis in confidence and effort — they know that sans the real KG they have no chance of going anywhere in the playoffs.
(2) PP is banged up. maybe the Cs could compete with a 70 percent KG, if they had a 100 percent Paul Pierce. But they don’t. Pierce has suffered one nagging injury after another, and he probably is only at 70 percent.
Here are some positional comparisons from the Cavaliers games.
GUARDS — Ray and Rondo versus Mo Williams, Parker and Delonte. I added up points, assists and rebounds. Cs by 61-45. +16
BIGS — KG, Perk, Sheed, Baby versus Jamison, Hickson and Varejeo. I added points and rebounds. Cavs 69-53. +16
THREE — Pierce versus Lebron. Added points, assists and rebounds. Cav’s 45-25. +20.
You expect to lose the match-up with Lebron, even with a healthy Pierce, but it is a huge disparity. The Cs guards soundly outplayed their counterparts; the Bigs didn’t hold up their end. Indeed, the Big Ticket was outplayed by both Jamison and Varejeo.
One and done, I guess.
Told you so — Ray Buckley’s favorite political-writer John Distaso has wasted no time in defining Karen Testerman as a “social conservative.” Here is the first sentence from Distaso’s article: 
I admit that I thought that Houston Alexander would knock out Kimbo Slice within the first few minutes of the fight. Instead, he decided to turn into Forrest Griffin. Problem was his leg kicks had no power. True, he did knock Kimbo down in the third round, but I chalk that up to fatigue. Kimbo was clearly gassed after the 2nd round.
Could one of the reprecussions of Big Baby Glen Davis breaking his hand in a 4am altercation with a friend be that Baby loses his minutes to Shelden Williams? Opportunity is knocking for Mr. Williams, and so far he is stepping up. Granted it was against the Bobcats, but 9 boards last night.
Kimbo Slice or Roy Nelson? As I posted on my facebook, I think that Kimbo is going to rock Nelson at some point, but that Nelson will survive and his superior grappling skills will enable him to earn a decision.
With the Red Sox in danger of being lapped by the Yankees, it is time to start apportioning the blame. So, I ask you, is Theo Epstein the Boy Blunder, not the Boy Wonder? I don’t fault him for rolling the dice on Penny and Smoltz. However, I do think he blew it when he did not make a hard push for Pedro, with Matsuzaka injured, Wake’s recent history of breaking down in the 2nd half of the season, and the uncertainty over whether Penny would have another 2nd half swoon. Who would you rather have as your fifth starter, Paul Byrd or Pedro? Given what Pedro has done so far with the Phillies, it’s not even a close call.
Josh Beckett gets lit up by the Yankees, while cast-off John Smoltz gets nine strike-outs in his debut for the Cardinals, and Pedro, who was told thanks but no thanks when he made overtures to the Red Sox about returning this year, got his second win for the Phillies. It certainly appears that the baseball-gods have abandoned the Red Sox.
Congrats to the USA for retaining the Solheim Cup. But I have to say the European golfers are much hotter. Check out, for example., Norway’s Suzann Pettersen.