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Gorman: No Sense Of Urgency Among Celtics Players

BOSTON (CBS) -- A very down Brad Stevens took the podium Monday night following an embarrassing home loss by his Celtics to an undermanned Charlotte Hornets team.

Stevens shouldered the blame for his team's lack of effort in the game, but many of his players were there to take it from him -- including newcomer Jae Crowder.

At 11-21 there is no doubt that Stevens is frustrated with his second NBA season, but the blame cannot fall squarely on the man in charge. CSNNE's Mike Gorman joined 98.5 The Sports Hub's Toucher & Rich on Wednesday, and said Celtics players need to start being more accountable themselves for their lack of effort.

"I don't think he's hit the breaking point, but I think his frustration level is pretty high," Gorman said of Stevens. "The comments yesterday from Jae Crowder were very telling. He came from a contender to a team who is really struggling, and seemed shocked at the lack of effort. He called his teammates out, which was very good.

"I don't think there is any question that these guys don't have a sense of urgency. As much as Brad is the captain of the ship and wants to take that responsibility on, there is only so much a coach can do to get guys ready to play. Guys have to come out and play hard or not play hard. You can take away minutes, threaten them and yell at them, but it's up to the guys to play," he said.

"Frankly, the Celtics haven't played all that hard all that much," said Gorman. "It's up to the players themselves to motivate themselves.... I think this is much more at the feet of the players than it is the coach.

"No one would question Brad Stevens' coaching credentials. What is being questioned now is some of the player's credentials," he added.

The one bright spot in Monday night's loss was a 13-point effort from rookie James Young. The 17th overall pick in June's draft hasn't seen much action with Boston, but has flourished whenever assigned to the Maine Red Claws of the NBA Developmental League. Young brought plenty of energy to the floor against the Hornets and shot 5-for-7 from the field (including 3-for-4 from three-point range), which should lead to some more playing time for the rookie.

"His moments will continue to grow. He gives the Celtics something they need, which is scoring," said Gorman. "He's shown that he is beyond the D-League, because every time he goes up there he scores 25 points. The Celtics like to send him up there occasionally to get the playing time, but he doesn't have anything left to prove at that level. He now has to prove it at the NBA level. I think as we go forward his minutes will grow. I think he'll be active more than he's not active."

Gorman also talked discusses the play of the Detroit Pistons since they released Josh Smith, and playing squash  with Brian Scalabrine:

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