What's Wrong With the Celtics?

I've been hesitant to write this post for a couple of weeks now. Could the Celtics really play this bad? We truly thought this team was just in a lull and would figure it out after a couple of embarrassing losses. The Celtics continue to disappoint us, and we've tried to pinpoint some reasons for the team's recent struggles:

1. Settling for jumpers instead of attacking the rim.
   Has anyone else noticed that the C's are chucking up the three ball at an unforeseen rate? The team has been taking it to the hole significantly less than we're used to seeing. Because of this, the C's aren't getting to the line as much and are missing out on valuable opportunities to put points on the board. The team needs to re-establish a post presence beginning with Perk and Garnett.
   
   
2. The team is last in the Eastern Conference in rebounding.
   Where are the bigs? Just two years ago when this team won a championship, they were critically acclaimed rebounders, always aggressive on both sides of the glass. Perhaps the departure of Leon Powe has left the team without some of its aggressiveness on the glass, but there is absolutely no excuse to be last in the conference. This team, who has proven rebounders, needs to figure it out.
   
   
3. The play of the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett has been weak.
   Yes, they have been injured at times this season, and are probably playing injured, but they need to carry this team. Despite the emergence of Rondo and the supporting play Ray-Ray, Pierce & Garnett are the soul of the team. They haven't stepped up in the clutch recently, and each of their numbers are way down from last season. The Celtics' success is contingent on the success of these two players.
   
   
4. Is this team waiting to turn it on for the playoffs?
   This Celtics team, comprised of many veterans, is not showing up with a fire every night. These players have been around the block a few times, and it's a long, grueling regular season. Perhaps they're content with just getting to the NBA playoffs, and focusing on knocking off teams series by series. If this is their intention and they're mailing it in for the regular season, they will not find postseason success and will have a very hard time capturing another title.
   

This team needs to find a rhythm. After bottoming out against Memphis at home on Wednesday night, they currently sit fourth in the Eastern Conference, but securing the third seed is very important to their playoff hopes. If the Celtics stay in the fourth spot, they'd face a very tough Cavs team in the 2nd round assuming they advance out of the first--which is no given.

The Celtics have 19 regular season games remaining to figure it out.