Post Game Thread - vs Los Angeles Lakers, Home

[bobheckler]

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4721510/celtics-more-disappointed-with-their-play-than-chants-for-kobe-bryant



Celtics more disappointed with their play than chants for Kobe Bryant


http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=espn:14470979


12:42 AM ET

Chris ESPN Staff Writer



BOSTON -- Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens was conducting his postgame news conference about 10 minutes after the final buzzer of his team's head-shaking 112-104 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Wednesday night, and the same chants of "Ko-be Br-yant" that often boomed through TD Garden could be heard again as joyous Lakers fans -- and maybe those simply swept up in the hype surrounding Bryant's final visit to Boston -- exited the arena.

For some Celtics fans, particularly those watching one of the team's rougher defensive efforts of the season, the idea that Kobe Bryant's name would be chanted in Boston seemed blasphemous. This is a hated archrival, a man who prevented banner No. 18 from going to the rafters in 2010. How could Boston fans possibly be chanting his name at the end of a disheartening loss in which a five-win team snapped Boston's season-best four-game winning streak?

"I think, typically, [the fans] would never do that," said Evan Turner, who tried to singlehandedly will Boston back by scoring 11 of his 20 points in the fourth quarter. "But I mean it just shows how much respect the league and fans actually have for the great career this guy put together. He hit some big shots down the stretch and I think eventually, in a certain way, you kinda lose sight in the bravado of, 'This is Boston.' They're saying, 'I appreciate what a legend did' to a certain extent, you know?"

The Celtics were far more upset with their own play than the way Bryant was received inside the Garden. The vocal swarm of purple-and-yellow-clad Lakers fans that clustered the lower bowl certainly aided the chants for Bryant, in much the same way he was serenaded with "MVP!" chants during a 43-point effort in January 2007, a season in which Boston lost a franchise record 18 straight games and won only 24 overall.


The Celtics' inability to guard Kobe Bryant and the Lakers on Wednesday is what angered them the most, not the cheers Bryant got in his final game in Boston. Brian Babineau/NBA/Getty Images


And yet it was still jarring for Bryant to command this arena. It made some sense at the start of the game, when a goosebumps-inspiring introduction left the crowd chanting "Ko-be!" after he was the Lakers' final player announced. The crowd buzzed as Bryant, staring down at the parquet floor, was spotlighted on the JumboTron before his introduction. Public-address announcer Eddie Palladino let the moment breath just enough that most Celtics fans turned initial grumbles into cheers and a brief "Ko-be!" chant after he patted his heart and waved to the crowd.

But even Bryant loved it when Celtics fans booed him the instant he touched the ball at the start of the game.

"It felt great to get booed. It was like the recognition at the top of the game, and then as soon as I touched the ball they booed. I was like, 'Oh, I'm home,' " Bryant said.

An odd tension grew as Bryant missed his first eight shots, but when he went vintage Kobe with a strong drive to the rim and muscled home a layup with 3:57 to play in the first half, the crowd erupted. The fans were even louder when he scored again soon after.

But it was nothing compared to the constant chants that came later in the game, ones that couldn't be drowned out by "Let's Go, Celtics" chants. Boston fans never even got a familiar, "Beat L.A.!" chant to start, even as the Celtics rallied from as much as 14 points down to close to 104-102 with under two minutes to play. Old friend Brandon Bass bullied his way into the paint and Jae Crowder shuffled over to help David Lee. With Crowder detached, Bryant faded a couple of steps beyond the 3-point arc, received a jump pass from Bass, and calmly canned the 3-pointer as Crowder rushed out to contest.

The "Ko-be" chants boomed louder than ever and Bryant thumped his heart in appreciation as the Celtics scrambled for a 20-second timeout.

"Honestly, if I could cheer for [the Boston fans] I would," Bryant said. "I don't think the fans here really understand how much they drove me. From the signing of the songs, the shaking of the bus going back to the hotel, that stuff really stuck with me [during the 2008 Finals]. It drove me to, like, maniacal proportions. So I don't think they really understand how much they meant to my career."

After smothering Bryant with kindness in the days leading up to Wednesday's visit, the Celtics seemed unperturbed by the hero's reception he received during his last trip to the Garden.

"It should be like that," Avery Bradley said. "Everywhere he goes, everyone respects what he does and what he did."

Crowder said he didn't have a problem with the crowd celebrating Bryant, suggesting some similarity to how Boston fans cheered Kevin Garnett's final visit earlier this month.

"I think the loss is more disappointing," Crowder said.

Crowder added later, "It doesn't bother me when the other team has a crowd on our home court. It's a part of it. The Lakers have good traditions just like the Boston Celtics organization, so it's two good organizations going at it. It's a great rivalry and I really don't mind it."

Like his players, Stevens said he liked the rivalry atmosphere but admitted he's so focused on the game that he blocks out much of the noise. He hammered that home by powering through his news conference while those Bryant chants continued.

"I love our fans. Spectacular atmosphere," Stevens said. "I have to admit that I'm pretty focused on what's going on in the game, so I don't hear all the music and I don't pay a ton of attention other than I can feel the vibe in the arena when big moments happen and certainly [Bryant] made a lot of big moments happen. And we didn't. That's the disappointing thing from my standpoint. He's a great player. We have to play better."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



STUDS AND DUDS: KOBE BRYANT DELIVERS ONE LAST DAGGER TO SINK CELTICS


12.30.15 at 10:26 pm ET

By Ben Rohrbach



After exacting NBA Finals revenge against the Celtics in 2010, Kobe Bryant has softened on Boston, and for the first time since the infamous 2007 “MVP” chants, the city returned the sentiment, offering a standing ovation during the starting lineup role call before playfully booing him on his first few possessions.

It was exactly the sort of reaction Boston reserves for its most worthy adversaries –€” Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera and, yes, Bryant, a five-time NBA champion and one of the greatest players ever to play the game of basketball.

The Boston brass presented Bryant with a piece of the parquet before his final game in the Garden, and then the Celtics gave him more ground on the floor, as the 17-time All-Star sunk a 28-foot dagger of a 3-pointer with 1:40 remaining in a 112-104 victory.

Bryant finished with a double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) in 33 minutes, as the Lakers won for just the sixth time all season. Isaiah Thomas led the Celtics with 24 points and seven assists. Evan Turner (20 points, 8 assists), Jae Crowder (17 points) and Avery Bradley (13 points) also reached double figures for the Celtics, who fell to 18-14 and had their four-game winning streak snapped.

Marcus Smart was benched for the first quarter after missing the team’s walk-through due to a flat tire, Celtics coach Brad Stevens told reporters after the game. Smart scored four points in 11 minutes.

For a complete box score, click here. To go beyond the box, read on.

STUD OF THE NIGHT: Evan Turner.

If not for Turner, the Celtics would never have made this a contest. When they trailed by a dozen and lost on offense in the fourth quarter, Turner repeatedly drove to the basket, breathing life into the fading green. He scored 13 of the C’s first 16 points in the final frame and assisted on the team’s only other field goal –€” a David Lee layup — in that span, as they climbed back into an otherwise ugly game.

DUD OF THE NIGHT: Amir Johnson.

Johnson played 18 minutes and scored all of zero points. In fact, outside of his five defensive rebounds and one turnover, he put up zeroes across the board. And while he helped hold Roy Hibbert scoreless on the defensive end, the Celtics could have used some scoring from their starting big man. In the third quarter, he was replaced in the starting lineup by Kelly Olynyk, who also had a tough night (5 points).

VINE OF THE NIGHT:

https://vine.co/v/

WHINE OF THE NIGHT: “Ko-be Bry-ant” chants.

Prior to the game, I thought it might be poignant for Celtics fans to offer Bryant a few mock “MVP” chants during the game ‘€” maybe on an errant 3-pointer ‘€” but that’s when I figured the C’s would run away with this one. Then, the Lakers took a double-digit lead and Bryant hit that dagger 3, and then the “Ko-be Bry-ant” chants that rained from the rafters were a terrible idea. Whether or not those came from the large contingent of L.A. faithful, Celtics fans should’ve figured out a way to drown those out.

NOTE OF THE NIGHT: Oh, shoot.

Bryant’s worst shooting game against the Celtics? His first in Boston. In 20 minutes off the bench on Nov. 27, 1996, he finished 1-for-7 from the floor (14.3 percent) in a 110-94 at the Garden. In his final game in Boston, he seemed destined for an even worse evening, starting 2-of-12 from the field, but he salvaged a 5-for-18 effort ‘€” tied for the sixth-worst shooting effort of his career against the Celtics.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT: “This place is always special to me.”

“I grew up a really big historian of the game and understanding Boston’€™s history, the players, many different players, championships won, and so this place is always special to me,” Bryant said of his final visit to the hub as a player. “The history I think is what makes this city different than all the rest.”

STAT OF THE NIGHT: 9-6-3.

It’s the sort of stat line Brandon Bass put up all too often on the Celtics ‘€” nine points, six rebounds and three assists in 24:29 ‘€” and this time it helped the Lakers. Overshadowed by Bryant’s return, Bass made his first trip back to Boston after four seasons on the Celtics, and he helped anchor a 52-45 rebounding advantage for L.A. He also played center for the Lakers down the stretch. Silent assassin.

@ OF THE NIGHT:

Boston Celtics ✔ @celtics
Marcus Smart rises high for the putback slam!
6:27 PM - 30 Dec 2015
603 603 Retweets 606 606 likes

[dboss]

I can guarantee you that Kobe Bryant will NEVER be cheered for again in the Gardens.

Here are some observations

If the Celtics shoot poorly from 3 point land and play porous defense they will most likely lose even to a dog team like the Lakers.  7-27 or 25.9% is shameful.  Both Avery and Jae took and missed too many 3 pointers.

On the defensive side of the ball, Brad was slow to address the problems that Julius Randle presented.  Finally in the 2nd half he put Crowder on him.

The Lakers looked decidedly quicker and more aggressive all night long.  I thought that Smart played well in limited action.  If he is ready to play why keep him on the bench until 3 minutes left in the 2nd period?  

The Celtics have lost a few gams to teams that we should have beaten and their inability to play better at home is still very puzzling.

dboss wishes everyone a Happy New Year!

[bobheckler]

Awful, disgusting, pathetic, pitiful, embarrassing, gutless, Pride-less.  If you're looking for a shoulder to cry on then you're in the wrong pew brothers and sisters, you should wait until the next poster and read theirs because you'll get little solace here.

I had Mike and Tommy for most of the first quarter and then I got blacked out and had to listen to the Lakers announcers.  I usually listen to opposing announcing crews, that's nothing new for me.  That's why I get so excited when I get to hear Mike and Tommy.  Most announcing crews are ok, some better, some worse.  Of course they're homies, but I can't complain about that because we have the ultimate homie in Tommy Heinsohn.  This Laker crew was the worst, by far.  They alternated between sickly sweet and oily.  I suppose that's the way you have to work when your team is the 2nd worst in the league, but it was terrible.  Unless we're meeting them in the Finals I'm not sure I'll ever listen to them again.  They made me want to take a shower with a steel wool brush afterwards.

They shot 46%.  Take Kobe's 5-18 and Hibbert's 0-5 out and that balloons to 54%.  Awful, disgusting, pathetic, pitiful, embarrassing, gutless, Pride-less.  Their two young studs D'Angelo Russell, he of the slow feet, and Julius Randle, their 6'8" PF, were demoted to the bench to "help in their development".  That's French for "they're not ready for prime time yet".  Last night we made them look like superstars.

By the end of the 3rd quarter I was ready to blow-torch our entire roster.

1.  Jae Crowder rose to the occasion.  In the first quarter.  He had 12 of the Celtics' total 27 points in that quarter, on a decent 3-7.  Yeah, what does it say about our shooting as a team when 3-7 is "decent".  We shot 41% in that quarter while the Lakers shot 35%, mostly because Kobe was taking and missing every shot.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that he ended up with 17, shooting 1-7 overall and 1-5 from 3 for the rest of the game.  His defense was good, not just on Kobe, but later on Randle.  Brad put just about all of our bigs on Randle and he ate them up with his spin moves inside.  Brad finally figured out the way to slow Randle down is to put speed on him so he cannot get inside, force him to shoot from outside, and put Crowder on him to do that.  Until the lightbulb went on over Brad's head Randle owned us.  Jae had 8 steals last night.  8.  His shooting was terrible, but his defense was ON last night.

2.  Has anybody ever seen Isaiah Thomas commit a turnover that wasn't ugly?  He had a few of his usual beauties last night.  Dribbling into traffic, jumping in the air and then saying "Oh, shit" and throws it away. VERY untimely momentum breaking TOs.  Defensively, every back court player Byron Scott put into the game took turns torturing him.  Lou Williams, Jordan Clarkson, Jordan Clarkson, it didn't matter.

3.  Not that Avery Bradley was much help.  He didn't start playing defense until the 4th quarter.  Offensively he was a poor 6-16 and 1-7 from 3.  He only had 1 TO but it was another momentum breaker and was SO telegraphed Lou Williams had NO problem getting into the passing lane and picking if off WAY before it reached IT.

4.  Sully had 8 boards in 24 minutes.  He played some defense putting his body on Hibbert.  That's about all the good I can say about his game.  He was slow on defense, his defense on Hibbert looking good only because Hibbert's feet are even slower than Sully's.  Another 0-2 night from the line for Jared Sullinger, dragging his season average closer and closer to Dwightmare depths.  How much longer do you think this needs to go on at this rate before other teams start employing Hack-a-Sully defenses against us?  He needs to abandon that BS frito routine he developed over the past off-season where he "found himself".  He'll claim it isn't the problem, but he never shot fritos like this before he created that "look at me!  I'm different now!" shtick.  His frito % is now down to 57%.  The only thing that is discouraging coaches from doing a Hack-a-Sully is that his fg% over the past 10 games is 38%, so the difference between giving up two points @ 38% and giving him two chances at 57% isn't that much.  Remember last year, when many of us were wondering if Danny could talk Larry into trading us Hibbert?  Danny is a lot smarter than the rest of us, that's for damn sure.  Saying Hibbert stunk yesterday is like saying that dog shit has "a scent".

5.  David Lee had a good game.  He was 3-5 for 6 points but had 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in only 15 minutes.  I do not understand why Brad didn't play him more because, to be honest, the rest of our front court was ineffective last night.  Jerebko worked hard, as usual, but Amir and Kelly and the aforementioned Sully were all but useless.  Might as well play the old veteran who knows how to do it.  Larry Nance Jr and Julius Randle took turns working Amir, both too fast for him.  Kelly looked lost out there.  He had a steal and a block but didn't look smooth at all.  

6.  Smart was benched for most of the first half because he missed the team's shootaround because of a flat tire.  He made a nice pass to a streaking IT on a 3-on-2 fast break and threw down a monster dunk off a fg miss but wasn't good on defense in general.  He is going to feel this in his lower back today.



7.  Another solid effort by one of my favorite former Celtics, Brandon Bass-o-matic.  He isn't getting a lot of minutes but he is a professional's professional and he came in and worked well.  6 rebounds AND 3 ASSISTS for No-longer No-Pass Bass.

8.  The only reason why this wasn't even more embarrassing than it already was is because we got Evan Turner's good twin last night.  20 points on 8-15 shooting, most of them layups.  While our offense was a lot of outside shots and 3s Turner sliced inside for opportunities.  Even one that he missed turned to gold as Bradley flew in for the offensive dunk putback.  Turner WAS our offense in the 2nd half.  He had 4 at the half, 9 after 3 and then scored 11 of his 20 in the 4th.  He also had 8 assists and only 1 TO in the game.  Why can't he play like this all the time?  He might actually be worth the #2 pick.  Props to him, though.  Crowder, Thomas, Lee and Turner played like they didn't give a shit about who Kobe was.  Everyone else played like they were star-struck.

9.  Stat Roundup:  They took 94 fgas.  That sucks.  They shot 47% from 3.  That sucks.  They got 52 rebounds, fueled in part by our 43% fg% and 10 TOs, most of which were live TOs.  That sucks, sucks, sucks.  Our transition defense sucked.  They got 17 fast break points.  This is with a SF that can't run anymore.  One time they ran a 3-on-1 fast break and the Celtic back on defense was Kelly, the slowest player on the team.  Where was everybody else?!

Good luck, have fun in your retirement Kobe.  So long.

The chants of 'Kobe!  Kobe!  Kobe!" in the Garden made me sick.  It's ok to show respect it's another thing to cheer him.  When I said last night's game was "Awful, disgusting, pathetic, pitiful, embarrassing, gutless, Pride-less" I was talking about the Garden crowd too.  Oughta have their necks wrung like chickens.

Maybe if we stomp on Brooklyn's guts the next two games it will take some of this taste out of my mouth.  You know that thread that projected we would go 21-11 over the next 32 games?  That's why those analyses are trash.  Did anybody think Houston would suck this year?

This game really, really disappointed me.  This was the first game this season where I really did not like our team, did not respect them nor their effort.  We had some flat games but not against talent this bad.  Brad's game plan, as he stated before the game, was to prevent Williams, Clarkson and Young from developing a shooting rhythm.  So, if that's the case, then why were you having us double up on 37 year old Kobe Bryant to force him to put the ball into one of their hands?  Williams, Clarkson, Russell and Young shot a combined 27-47.  Obviously that was a well-executed game plan.  Time to wake up and smell the sarcasm.  

Freaking awful.


bob


.

[NYCelt]

I get the chants for Kobe.  Boston fans have always shown class and a deep understanding of the game.  Bryant is departing as one of the all-time greats, top two or three of his generation, and part of the historic Celtics - Lakers rivalry.  In fairness, Bryant expressed a deep appreciation for Boston and The Celtics before and after the game.

What I don't get is the Celtics play last night.

[cowens/oldschool]

This team has alot of holes, despite our record. KO stunk both ends, Sully can only rebound, and hit shots within 5 ft of the rim, IT gets abused on defense, AB was off both ends. Lakers outworked us and exposed match ups, IT, KO.....its amazing how good we can look vs Knicks and then how bad we look against a lousy team like Lakers. Only player keeping us in the game was Evan Turner, its amazing how much Stevens has got out of the team to this point.

[cowens/oldschool]

Awful, disgusting, pathetic, pitiful, embarrassing, gutless, Pride-less.  If you're looking for a shoulder to cry on then you're in the wrong pew brothers and sisters, you should wait until the next poster and read theirs because you'll get little solace here.

I had Mike and Tommy for most of the first quarter and then I got blacked out and had to listen to the Lakers announcers.  I usually listen to opposing announcing crews, that's nothing new for me.  That's why I get so excited when I get to hear Mike and Tommy.  Most announcing crews are ok, some better, some worse.  Of course they're homies, but I can't complain about that because we have the ultimate homie in Tommy Heinsohn.  This Laker crew was the worst, by far.  They alternated between sickly sweet and oily.  I suppose that's the way you have to work when your team is the 2nd worst in the league, but it was terrible.  Unless we're meeting them in the Finals I'm not sure I'll ever listen to them again.  They made me want to take a shower with a steel wool brush afterwards.

They shot 46%.  Take Kobe's 5-18 and Hibbert's 0-5 out and that balloons to 54%.  Awful, disgusting, pathetic, pitiful, embarrassing, gutless, Pride-less.  Their two young studs D'Angelo Russell, he of the slow feet, and Julius Randle, their 6'8" PF, were demoted to the bench to "help in their development".  That's French for "they're not ready for prime time yet".  Last night we made them look like superstars.

By the end of the 3rd quarter I was ready to blow-torch our entire roster.

1.  Jae Crowder rose to the occasion.  In the first quarter.  He had 12 of the Celtics' total 27 points in that quarter, on a decent 3-7.  Yeah, what does it say about our shooting as a team when 3-7 is "decent".  We shot 41% in that quarter while the Lakers shot 35%, mostly because Kobe was taking and missing every shot.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that he ended up with 17, shooting 1-7 overall and 1-5 from 3 for the rest of the game.  His defense was good, not just on Kobe, but later on Randle.  Brad put just about all of our bigs on Randle and he ate them up with his spin moves inside.  Brad finally figured out the way to slow Randle down is to put speed on him so he cannot get inside, force him to shoot from outside, and put Crowder on him to do that.  Until the lightbulb went on over Brad's head Randle owned us.  Jae had 8 steals last night.  8.  His shooting was terrible, but his defense was ON last night.

2.  Has anybody ever seen Isaiah Thomas commit a turnover that wasn't ugly?  He had a few of his usual beauties last night.  Dribbling into traffic, jumping in the air and then saying "Oh, shit" and throws it away. VERY untimely momentum breaking TOs.  Defensively, every back court player Byron Scott put into the game took turns torturing him.  Lou Williams, Jordan Clarkson, Jordan Clarkson, it didn't matter.

3.  Not that Avery Bradley was much help.  He didn't start playing defense until the 4th quarter.  Offensively he was a poor 6-16 and 1-7 from 3.  He only had 1 TO but it was another momentum breaker and was SO telegraphed Lou Williams had NO problem getting into the passing lane and picking if off WAY before it reached IT.

4.  Sully had 8 boards in 24 minutes.  He played some defense putting his body on Hibbert.  That's about all the good I can say about his game.  He was slow on defense, his defense on Hibbert looking good only because Hibbert's feet are even slower than Sully's.  Another 0-2 night from the line for Jared Sullinger, dragging his season average closer and closer to Dwightmare depths.  How much longer do you think this needs to go on at this rate before other teams start employing Hack-a-Sully defenses against us?  He needs to abandon that BS frito routine he developed over the past off-season where he "found himself".  He'll claim it isn't the problem, but he never shot fritos like this before he created that "look at me!  I'm different now!" shtick.  His frito % is now down to 57%.  The only thing that is discouraging coaches from doing a Hack-a-Sully is that his fg% over the past 10 games is 38%, so the difference between giving up two points @ 38% and giving him two chances at 57% isn't that much.  Remember last year, when many of us were wondering if Danny could talk Larry into trading us Hibbert?  Danny is a lot smarter than the rest of us, that's for damn sure.  Saying Hibbert stunk yesterday is like saying that dog shit has "a scent".

5.  David Lee had a good game.  He was 3-5 for 6 points but had 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in only 15 minutes.  I do not understand why Brad didn't play him more because, to be honest, the rest of our front court was ineffective last night.  Jerebko worked hard, as usual, but Amir and Kelly and the aforementioned Sully were all but useless.  Might as well play the old veteran who knows how to do it.  Larry Nance Jr and Julius Randle took turns working Amir, both too fast for him.  Kelly looked lost out there.  He had a steal and a block but didn't look smooth at all.  

6.  Smart was benched for most of the first half because he missed the team's shootaround because of a flat tire.  He made a nice pass to a streaking IT on a 3-on-2 fast break and threw down a monster dunk off a fg miss but wasn't good on defense in general.  He is going to feel this in his lower back today.



7.  Another solid effort by one of my favorite former Celtics, Brandon Bass-o-matic.  He isn't getting a lot of minutes but he is a professional's professional and he came in and worked well.  6 rebounds AND 3 ASSISTS for No-longer No-Pass Bass.

8.  The only reason why this wasn't even more embarrassing than it already was is because we got Evan Turner's good twin last night.  20 points on 8-15 shooting, most of them layups.  While our offense was a lot of outside shots and 3s Turner sliced inside for opportunities.  Even one that he missed turned to gold as Bradley flew in for the offensive dunk putback.  Turner WAS our offense in the 2nd half.  He had 4 at the half, 9 after 3 and then scored 11 of his 20 in the 4th.  He also had 8 assists and only 1 TO in the game.  Why can't he play like this all the time?  He might actually be worth the #2 pick.  Props to him, though.  Crowder, Thomas, Lee and Turner played like they didn't give a shit about who Kobe was.  Everyone else played like they were star-struck.

9.  Stat Roundup:  They took 94 fgas.  That sucks.  They shot 47% from 3.  That sucks.  They got 52 rebounds, fueled in part by our 43% fg% and 10 TOs, most of which were live TOs.  That sucks, sucks, sucks.  Our transition defense sucked.  They got 17 fast break points.  This is with a SF that can't run anymore.  One time they ran a 3-on-1 fast break and the Celtic back on defense was Kelly, the slowest player on the team.  Where was everybody else?!

Good luck, have fun in your retirement Kobe.  So long.

The chants of 'Kobe!  Kobe!  Kobe!" in the Garden made me sick.  It's ok to show respect it's another thing to cheer him.  When I said last night's game was "Awful, disgusting, pathetic, pitiful, embarrassing, gutless, Pride-less" I was talking about the Garden crowd too.  Oughta have their necks wrung like chickens.

Maybe if we stomp on Brooklyn's guts the next two games it will take some of this taste out of my mouth.  You know that thread that projected we would go 21-11 over the next 32 games?  That's why those analyses are trash.  Did anybody think Houston would suck this year?

This game really, really disappointed me.  This was the first game this season where I really did not like our team, did not respect them nor their effort.  We had some flat games but not against talent this bad.  Brad's game plan, as he stated before the game, was to prevent Williams, Clarkson and Young from developing a shooting rhythm.  So, if that's the case, then why were you having us double up on 37 year old Kobe Bryant to force him to put the ball into one of their hands?  Williams, Clarkson, Russell and Young shot a combined 27-47.  Obviously that was a well-executed game plan.  Time to wake up and smell the sarcasm.  

Freaking awful.


bob


.

hey bob if your going to call out Sully and deservedly so, then you should also call out KO, who looked like a ragdoll on defense and couldn't hit a thing on offense.

[bobheckler]

Awful, disgusting, pathetic, pitiful, embarrassing, gutless, Pride-less.  If you're looking for a shoulder to cry on then you're in the wrong pew brothers and sisters, you should wait until the next poster and read theirs because you'll get little solace here.

I had Mike and Tommy for most of the first quarter and then I got blacked out and had to listen to the Lakers announcers.  I usually listen to opposing announcing crews, that's nothing new for me.  That's why I get so excited when I get to hear Mike and Tommy.  Most announcing crews are ok, some better, some worse.  Of course they're homies, but I can't complain about that because we have the ultimate homie in Tommy Heinsohn.  This Laker crew was the worst, by far.  They alternated between sickly sweet and oily.  I suppose that's the way you have to work when your team is the 2nd worst in the league, but it was terrible.  Unless we're meeting them in the Finals I'm not sure I'll ever listen to them again.  They made me want to take a shower with a steel wool brush afterwards.

They shot 46%.  Take Kobe's 5-18 and Hibbert's 0-5 out and that balloons to 54%.  Awful, disgusting, pathetic, pitiful, embarrassing, gutless, Pride-less.  Their two young studs D'Angelo Russell, he of the slow feet, and Julius Randle, their 6'8" PF, were demoted to the bench to "help in their development".  That's French for "they're not ready for prime time yet".  Last night we made them look like superstars.

By the end of the 3rd quarter I was ready to blow-torch our entire roster.

1.  Jae Crowder rose to the occasion.  In the first quarter.  He had 12 of the Celtics' total 27 points in that quarter, on a decent 3-7.  Yeah, what does it say about our shooting as a team when 3-7 is "decent".  We shot 41% in that quarter while the Lakers shot 35%, mostly because Kobe was taking and missing every shot.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that he ended up with 17, shooting 1-7 overall and 1-5 from 3 for the rest of the game.  His defense was good, not just on Kobe, but later on Randle.  Brad put just about all of our bigs on Randle and he ate them up with his spin moves inside.  Brad finally figured out the way to slow Randle down is to put speed on him so he cannot get inside, force him to shoot from outside, and put Crowder on him to do that.  Until the lightbulb went on over Brad's head Randle owned us.  Jae had 8 steals last night.  8.  His shooting was terrible, but his defense was ON last night.

2.  Has anybody ever seen Isaiah Thomas commit a turnover that wasn't ugly?  He had a few of his usual beauties last night.  Dribbling into traffic, jumping in the air and then saying "Oh, shit" and throws it away. VERY untimely momentum breaking TOs.  Defensively, every back court player Byron Scott put into the game took turns torturing him.  Lou Williams, Jordan Clarkson, Jordan Clarkson, it didn't matter.

3.  Not that Avery Bradley was much help.  He didn't start playing defense until the 4th quarter.  Offensively he was a poor 6-16 and 1-7 from 3.  He only had 1 TO but it was another momentum breaker and was SO telegraphed Lou Williams had NO problem getting into the passing lane and picking if off WAY before it reached IT.

4.  Sully had 8 boards in 24 minutes.  He played some defense putting his body on Hibbert.  That's about all the good I can say about his game.  He was slow on defense, his defense on Hibbert looking good only because Hibbert's feet are even slower than Sully's.  Another 0-2 night from the line for Jared Sullinger, dragging his season average closer and closer to Dwightmare depths.  How much longer do you think this needs to go on at this rate before other teams start employing Hack-a-Sully defenses against us?  He needs to abandon that BS frito routine he developed over the past off-season where he "found himself".  He'll claim it isn't the problem, but he never shot fritos like this before he created that "look at me!  I'm different now!" shtick.  His frito % is now down to 57%.  The only thing that is discouraging coaches from doing a Hack-a-Sully is that his fg% over the past 10 games is 38%, so the difference between giving up two points @ 38% and giving him two chances at 57% isn't that much.  Remember last year, when many of us were wondering if Danny could talk Larry into trading us Hibbert?  Danny is a lot smarter than the rest of us, that's for damn sure.  Saying Hibbert stunk yesterday is like saying that dog shit has "a scent".

5.  David Lee had a good game.  He was 3-5 for 6 points but had 6 rebounds and 2 blocks in only 15 minutes.  I do not understand why Brad didn't play him more because, to be honest, the rest of our front court was ineffective last night.  Jerebko worked hard, as usual, but Amir and Kelly and the aforementioned Sully were all but useless.  Might as well play the old veteran who knows how to do it.  Larry Nance Jr and Julius Randle took turns working Amir, both too fast for him.  Kelly looked lost out there.  He had a steal and a block but didn't look smooth at all.  

6.  Smart was benched for most of the first half because he missed the team's shootaround because of a flat tire.  He made a nice pass to a streaking IT on a 3-on-2 fast break and threw down a monster dunk off a fg miss but wasn't good on defense in general.  He is going to feel this in his lower back today.



7.  Another solid effort by one of my favorite former Celtics, Brandon Bass-o-matic.  He isn't getting a lot of minutes but he is a professional's professional and he came in and worked well.  6 rebounds AND 3 ASSISTS for No-longer No-Pass Bass.

8.  The only reason why this wasn't even more embarrassing than it already was is because we got Evan Turner's good twin last night.  20 points on 8-15 shooting, most of them layups.  While our offense was a lot of outside shots and 3s Turner sliced inside for opportunities.  Even one that he missed turned to gold as Bradley flew in for the offensive dunk putback.  Turner WAS our offense in the 2nd half.  He had 4 at the half, 9 after 3 and then scored 11 of his 20 in the 4th.  He also had 8 assists and only 1 TO in the game.  Why can't he play like this all the time?  He might actually be worth the #2 pick.  Props to him, though.  Crowder, Thomas, Lee and Turner played like they didn't give a shit about who Kobe was.  Everyone else played like they were star-struck.

9.  Stat Roundup:  They took 94 fgas.  That sucks.  They shot 47% from 3.  That sucks.  They got 52 rebounds, fueled in part by our 43% fg% and 10 TOs, most of which were live TOs.  That sucks, sucks, sucks.  Our transition defense sucked.  They got 17 fast break points.  This is with a SF that can't run anymore.  One time they ran a 3-on-1 fast break and the Celtic back on defense was Kelly, the slowest player on the team.  Where was everybody else?!

Good luck, have fun in your retirement Kobe.  So long.

The chants of 'Kobe!  Kobe!  Kobe!" in the Garden made me sick.  It's ok to show respect it's another thing to cheer him.  When I said last night's game was "Awful, disgusting, pathetic, pitiful, embarrassing, gutless, Pride-less" I was talking about the Garden crowd too.  Oughta have their necks wrung like chickens.

Maybe if we stomp on Brooklyn's guts the next two games it will take some of this taste out of my mouth.  You know that thread that projected we would go 21-11 over the next 32 games?  That's why those analyses are trash.  Did anybody think Houston would suck this year?

This game really, really disappointed me.  This was the first game this season where I really did not like our team, did not respect them nor their effort.  We had some flat games but not against talent this bad.  Brad's game plan, as he stated before the game, was to prevent Williams, Clarkson and Young from developing a shooting rhythm.  So, if that's the case, then why were you having us double up on 37 year old Kobe Bryant to force him to put the ball into one of their hands?  Williams, Clarkson, Russell and Young shot a combined 27-47.  Obviously that was a well-executed game plan.  Time to wake up and smell the sarcasm.  

Freaking awful.


bob


.

hey bob if your going to call out Sully and deservedly so, then you should also call out KO, who looked like a ragdoll on defense and couldn't hit a thing on offense.

Cow,

I believe I said he was useless.

bob

[cowens/oldschool]

sorry bob somehow I missed it and Happy New Year to you and everyone on the board!!!

[bobheckler]

sorry bob somehow I missed it and Happy New Year to you and everyone on the board!!!

cow,

He was easily missed this game, unfortunately. In fact, half the team didn't show up. That would be the half that actually took their warmups off not including Turner and one or two others.

Happy New Year to you too. 新年快樂 Xinnian kualie. (Yes, I cut and pasted the kanji. I'm not that smart).

Happy New Year to all of us.


bob


.

[wideclyde]

Bob,

Anyone looking for roses from me will not get any this time. Your analysis was spot on as usual.

To me this game may have been the worst of the season for the Cs. First, it was a home game which by now (for a second place team) should mean much more. Second, it was against the Lakers. I did not mind the chants for Kobe, but STILL they are the Lakers and everyone (players, announcers, coaches, ball boys, crowd) needs to recognize which team was in the building. Many old Cs probably puked a few times during last night's game if they were watching. Third, the lack of effort by almost the full team was most disgusting.

I can live with a guy or two having an off night because I vividly remember having a few bad days when I was teaching school, but when eight guys have an off night, I am very worried. Does this team yet know the importance of "showing up" every night? Last night too many guys must have been thinking about watching or participating in some type of New Year's festivities.

If Crowder and Turner want to knock some guys in the mouth today, I sure can understand. They seemed to be the only two guys who showed up and played the entire game with the energy that the team usually brings to each game.

Hopefully, the entire team will watch the video and get a wake up call. It may be a "long season" and is always described as a marathon and not a sprint, but games like last night need to be a thing of the past even with nearly 50 games yet to play.

And, for me and for many reasons any game against the Nets needs to be considered almost like the 7th game of any playoff series.

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