Sam’s Game Retrospective: Exhibition at Raptors, Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Each Celtics game will be followed on this site by a “Game Retrospective,” which hopefully will inform as well as stimulating commentary by many posters. Any time a poster wishes to be a guest commentator, (s)he need only ask.

*****

On Tuesday, I felt the name of the game was "pride." On Wednesday, it seemed to be "chemistry." Both the starters and the bench (minus a resting Sheed) seemed to be in sync on both ends of the court. On offense, 67% of the field goals were generated by assists, and the Celts had only 11 turnovers (both preseason bests by comfortable margins). The team defense seemed one step ahead of Toronto all night...ball-hawking; deflecting passes; disrupting plays (especially down low); getting in the passing lanes; switching smartly; even defending the pick-and-roll well (not the strongest Celtics attribute). The net result was the largest margin of Celtics victory of the exhibition season (16 points). Some observations:

• The minutes have inched up for the starters. When all five regular starters have played in a given game, the average minutes per starter have progressed from 16 to 22 to 25 and then 25 again.

• KG submitted a preseason high of 23 minutes in this game, and he was definitely most like the "old" KG in this one...moving well on defense, out in front of the pack on several fast breaks, and successful on three alley-oop plays on his way to 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks. One can tell he's still aware of his knee, especially when he lands after leaping (he tends to put a little more weight on the other leg in cushioning the landing process). But, in general, he's playing with relative abandon. To put his point total in perspective:

In the 2007-08 championship season, he averaged .57 points per minute
In 2008-09, he averaged .51 points per minute
In his career, he has averaged .54 points per minute

Last night, his 16 points amounted to .71 points per minute.

KG's points per minute have improved over the preseason:

Game 1 .45 points per minute
Game 2 .47 points per minute
Game 3 .57 points per minute
Game 4: Did not play
Game 5 .71 points per minute

Obviously, points are not the only indicator of readiness; but KG's offensive efficiency is a pretty good indication of his ability to play effectively in whatever physical shape he's in...and his conditioning seems to be improving with every game.

• KG seems well on the road to recovery. Kudos to both him and Doc for not over-rushing things. For Kevin to progress gradually, the way he has, AND for the team to be looking quite good at the same time is a very good sign. One would have a right to expect the team to sputter somewhat in trying to adjust to having him at less than full strength.

• KG still shows signs of being a bit careful with the leg. I've noticed that, on those occasions when he does go up, he cushions the blow of the landing, ever so slightly, with the uninjured leg. I doubt that it's because he's hurting but probably just Kevin picking his spots and knowing enough to be careful when he does.

• Glen Davis was my MVP for this game. I don't know who won the award from the tv guys, but Baby won their Tommy Point Award for his energy and scrappiness (as well as his 13 points and 5 boards in 20 minutes). He has obviously dedicated himself to playing a Leon-like role on offense by bulling his way to the hoop; although he outdoes Leon by occasionally hitting a jumper too. True, his lack of height and lift mean he doesn't score a lot of field goals. But he's getting blocked less than earlier in his career, and he's getting fouled a lot and is making his free throws. He's rapidly learning how to use his body to keep opponents away from their offensive baskets because he knows he's usually at a disadvantage if they get down low.

• Eddie House was just fair from the perimeter in this one. But his passing—especially interior passing—sometimes bordered on the spectacular. He has become quite good at threading the ball down low. (I just wish Rondo had the same ability.) I'm personally very happy with Eddie sharing backup point duties with 'Quis and Hudson and alternately being freed to bomb away.

• "Quis did practically nothing in 16 minutes. (I suspect he had residual problems from his intestinal bug the night before.) But Hudson continues to grow on me. In 13 minutes, he scored 12 points in 5-7 shooting (including a three-pointer) and 2-2 from the line. He also had two assists (and two turnovers) and was a true pest on defense. Once, he made a beautiful interception in a passing lane for a breakaway. Although he does not yet possess true PG abilities, he continues to demonstrate a passing mentality, which is half the battle. I'd say he has not only made the team but is also challenging mightily for that 12th slot.

• Giddens continued his scrappy play. Like Scal, he's not a stat sheet-filler, but he plays very tough defense. He's a natural rebounder (four in 13 minutes) and loves to surprise the opposition defense by slashing in for occasional jams. Since the occasional jams represented Walker's main attribute, I'd put Giddens well ahead of Walker (even if he weren't injured) on the depth chart at this juncture.

• Perk still needs more consistency, as he's been up-and-down and sometimes hampered by fouls. But, on a 30-minute basis, his exhibition stats would project to 12.4 points, 8.4 rebounds and 1.4 blocks.

• In about 26 minutes apiece, Pierce scored 17 and Ray tallied 8 points. Doc reiterated, after the game, that he hasn't yet put in any plays for either of them and that it would be a priority in the remaining seven practices and three games prior to the start of the season.

• The team is looking more cohesive, self-assured and potent with every game. And Doc has done a masterful job of simulating "real game" conditions by pushing each of them with extended minutes at one point or another. One after another, we've seen virtually every likely member of the rotation (and a couple of less likely ones) fise to the challenge Doc has presented. And, with the possible exception of Sheed's tweaked ankle (which doesn't seem serious), they've responded to the extra pressure without getting injured (or, in KG's case, without exacerbating the injury). This sort of gathering momentum, without much of a hitch, is rare indeed. So much so that one almost hesitates to post about it for fear of incurring the wrath of the gods.

• Even Williams had his moments last night. He a couple of nice jumpers and was fairly active in the offensive end. I'd take 3-6 shooting and four rebounds in 16 minutes from him any time (although I don't expect him to get nearly that number of minutes under normal circumstances).

• Tony may be the only one who has played (for just a few minutes) who hasn't shown some pretty positive signs that he's capable of being a solid contributor in one way or another.

• Perhaps what pleased me most, in addition to the Celtics' game-long alertness and relatively smooth play, was the sheer joy they continued to display. Lots of smiles and happy exchanges on the floor and the bench. Rondo and KG seem to sit together a lot. Kevin and his intensity obviously crack Rajon up from time to time.

Another nice outing, neatly put into perspective by Doc in his comments to the press: "These are not really games. They're serious practices."

Sam

Sam,

It was kind of a weird game for me. As I was watching in the first half, it seemed that the Raptors were making one run after another, yet whenever I looked at the score, we were usually ahead by 2-4 points. It [edit: IF] they didn't display the score, I would have sworn that we were losing.

I think that KG was the Supercuts(tm) PotG. I liked what Hudson brought again. He comes out with a lot of energy and Tommy commented that he needs that (young guys in general, I think) to compliment his game. That is something that seemed to be missing from Pruitt, Gabe was too laid-back.

Glen Davis continued to show that he can mix it up under the basket. He has a play or two each game where he "creates the Blue Sky". He creates separation with his body and moves his defender back just enough to squeeze up the shot. He even kicked the ball out once or twice, so he isn't so much a black hole after all!! (LOL) I love to post that [edit: (the Blue Sky thing)] on the GO! thread, but lately I find myself too far behind in time (DVR) so that the play is already 5-10 minutes old when I see it. Please forgive me if this happens in the future, I just may post it anyway in the upcoming games.

I saw that thing where KG & Rondo were on the bench late in the game. KG was yelling at the guys on the floor and Rondo was laughing. That didn't affect KG at all, so it seems that they have created a bond. Their connection on the alley-oop plays is great to see.

Giddens continues to give Danny reasons to keep him around, two games in a row now. That leaves, IMO, Walker or Sweetney as the 16th man. I wish Sweetney would take the cut, sign on with the Red Claws and get on a weight loss program. Sweetney did have a nifty shot off the glass, so it does seem that he has the touch on that end.

Last night, we has a POB sighting (in red!!) and Donny said that there always seems to be a place for 7 footers. I'm glad it is not here. We also saw Marcus Banks, and some are comparing him to Hudson. (or visa-versa) As a 3rd or 4th option that isn't all that bad, but I Hudson wants to be the 1st PG option, he will have to show a little more. I hope he can do it, my fingers are crossed.

Preseason games, "serious practice", whatever. It is a lot of fun for us to finally see them play against serious competition. We'll see the Raptors again on Sunday. They are projected to be one of our strongest competitors in our division.

gyso

Sam

Cosidering Doc has installed no plays for PP or RA ( I have trouble really believeing that when the starting 5 have been here toghter 2 years now) so he says, the team is scoring from inside and out.

We had 6 players in double digits last evening, none over 20. 3 of these were off the bench too.

Now if we can get 3 players on the bench to average 10 PPG I think we will be in very good shape. I can see 6 players averaging 10 PPG on this team especially if the minutes are spread out, and the occasional game off for PP, KG, RA, and Sheed giving a few extra minutes to RR, Perk , BB, and House, heck if things were to work out we could have as many as 8 players with 10 PPG and that would be tough to beat!

beat

GYSO,

I really like the "blue sky" description. If it's original with you, then you've done a service to basketball commentary everywhere. When Baby creates blue sky, that's a heck of a lot of sky.

Great observation that Baby's not a black hole. That tended to be one problem with Leon, although I'm not knocking the sad departed. It's just nice to know that the Celtics could be likely to preserve a couple more possessions by timely kicking out of the ball. And they certainly have loads of perimeter shooters to kick it to.

Beat, there was a time when the first thing I would do when looking at a box score would be to count the number of players in double figures. At that time, I estimated that the team with more players in double figures won the game somewhere around three-quarters ro 80% of the time. That was in a different era, but it's something to watch now.

It might be fun, as time goes on, to develop a list of "win indicators"—factors or stats that tend to be correlated with winning games—and to keep track of the number of times they're accurate predictors. Who knows? I might even get to like predictions? LOL.

Sam

Sam,

I didn't invent the term, "Blue Sky". Either Tommy or the Couz get credit for coining the phrase. I just like to post it because it means that Davis is learning how to deal with the taller trees and it gives me something to post with all !!!!!!!'s I like to add on the GO! thread.

My favorite win indicator is "First to 100 Points wins the Game". I believe that came from Donny, as did the phrase, "Ball Don't Lie", which is for when a questionable foul was called and the resulting free throw is missed. It is sort of like Instant Karma.

I used to include the "First to 100" in prior GO! threads when I felt it was obvious that the result would be in our favor, like Gino. I usually say it to my self and I have found that there are seldom any exceptions to the rule now. Years ago, when the scoring average was higher, that result may not have been so accurate.

gyso

GYSO,

That's a good one. Especially in a tight game, with the score see-sawing, it could be interesting to see if it holds up. I really like the idea of developing a list of factors such as that and keeping track. Maybe we can use the game-on threads to gather "candidates" for the list.

During the championship season, despite my aversion to predictions, I used to ask myself at the end of the third quarter how many points it was going to take to win the game. And I started tracking how close I came to guessing exactly one point more than the losing team's final total (my definition of the number of points it took to win).

There was such a rhythm to the team's games that season that I found I could usually get within a point or two of the exact total needed to win. When the injuries began piling up last season, the rhythm no longer existed and things such as fourth quarter fades became all too frequent; so I gave up an exercise that had become frustrating.

Maybe that's a contest we could institute on our game-on threads during the regular season. Before the beginning of the fourth quarter, posters guess at what the losing team's final score will be and submit a figure one point higher than that. Maybe we'll keep track of who comes closest to the exact correct figure with each game and crown the most frequent winner "Champion Board Guesstimator" at the end of the regular season. Bragging rights and batteries included.

Sam

Gentlemen,

I was under the impression DirecTV was going to black out all pre-season games but magically the Celts were on last night. If only I had discovered this with more than 6 minutes remaining in the game!

An interesting comment from Mike Gorman was that Doc said as long as Giddens understands his role is defense first and foremost there will be minutes for him this season. Sounds like a guy who is going to be sticking around to me.

Regards