POST GAME DALLAS

This game was another wasted effort. We will play for this come playoff time I'm sure. I said to my daughters when Rondo had a clear layup and decided to dish off and the basket was missed that that was going to hurt them at the end and it did. Big Baby missing 2 free throws did not help either.

Hope Shaq is back come Sunday.

112288

I hate when Rondo passes up good looks,hes gotta take those

Cowens,

They also did not score in the last 2:28 of the game. They always drive into the paint and pick up fouls......where did that strategy go to?

Looks like the cold froze their brains!!!!!

112288

Right 112288 way too many jumpers,if we drive hard we can scramble for the offensive board or go to the line.....frustrating with the Heat closing in,we better bring it like we did to Lakers,was team jetlagged?

cowens/oldschool wrote:Right 112288 way too many jumpers,if we drive hard we can scramble for the offensive board or go to the line.....frustrating with the Heat closing in,we better bring it like we did to Lakers,was team jetlagged?

First game back after a West Coast road trip bites another team in the ass.

Finally had the chance to catch the recording.

It was just one of those games we deserved to lose.

Our shot selection in the last few minutes is bound to get that classic Charles Barkley description; "terrible, just ter-rible".

Nice to see Perk making good progress at least.

Hi,
Tough loss. IMO, Celtics just gave the game to the Mavs.
I don't know why they couldn't score in the last 2+ minutes. Could it be exhaustion?
Another negative moment I noticed was SE on defense.
On the positive side: 99% probability Celtics won't play Mavs this year; Perk is making very good progress.
Also, I hope, this loss will give extra motivation for the rest of the Tough Stretch games, especially on Sundays.

AK

Sinus,

You are right...Perk has not lost a step or any of his skills.

112288

Cow,

That strategy of driving to the basket and picking up fouls in the last couple of minutes was sitting on the bench, wearing number 11.

This game was the best example I could think of to illustrate why, although Perk and Shaq are invaluable in slugging it out during much of the game, when the game's on the line and the Celts need the best possible balance of offense and defense, I want Glen Davis out there with KG, Paul, Ray and Rondo.

I know people will argue that Dallas had to big guys in Dirk and Chandler, and I would reply that it doesn't matter. I think that, for two minutes, Davis can body up Chandler well enough that it's an acceptable tradeoff for everything else Glen brings to the game. And Perk had to be dragging by then anyway.

Sam

sam wrote:... when the game's on the line and the Celts need the best possible balance of offense and defense, I want Glen Davis out there with KG, Paul, Ray and Rondo.

Sam

Amen

Sam,
Agree with you re: BBD. Unfortunately, who could've thought that the 3 best team shooters'd miss totally open shots.

One more completely unrelated observation. I was watching the game on ESPN and their cam caught what seemed like a friendly chat between RA and Chandler. This surprised me. KG's trying to get under TC's skin and RA kind of negated his efforts. I know that RA's a friendly guy, class act, etc. but it's your enemy for the next 15-20 minutes.....

AK

Sam

We recently discussed the observation that the Celtics are a more balanced team when baby plays down the stretch in favor of either Shaq or Perkins.

To his credit Perk did play very well last night and Doc wanted to match up with the mavs bigs. But Chandler is really no offensive threat if you keep him off the glass. baby logged 21 minutes and Perk got 33. Oh well.

The Mavs match up pretty well against Boston and if you take a look at the stats, the game was pretty even. It took one play down the stretch to decide the winner and it was a poor defensive decision by Ray, jumping out and over Jason Kidd, that opened the door for the key go ahead basket.

dboss

If this team ever figures out how to put teams away consistently...watch out. Rondo mentioned somewhere that this is what he has to work on the most as far as being the quarterback and hitting shots down the stretch.

sam wrote:Cow,

That strategy of driving to the basket and picking up fouls in the last couple of minutes was sitting on the bench, wearing number 11.

This game was the best example I could think of to illustrate why, although Perk and Shaq are invaluable in slugging it out during much of the game, when the game's on the line and the Celts need the best possible balance of offense and defense, I want Glen Davis out there with KG, Paul, Ray and Rondo.

I know people will argue that Dallas had to big guys in Dirk and Chandler, and I would reply that it doesn't matter. I think that, for two minutes, Davis can body up Chandler well enough that it's an acceptable tradeoff for everything else Glen brings to the game. And Perk had to be dragging by then anyway.

Sam

Right Sam and Doc went with Baby vs Lakers with great results,Baby was cold in this game missing a few wide open looks,the shots we want him to take and Perk did have a strong overall game.I think Doc was just going with his instinct and who was having the hot hand,Perks offensive rebounding was great,he looks great coming back and this is something I feel he can build on.With Perk in were a much better defensive and rebounding team,Doc didn't want to lose this game on the boards.Rondo has to create his own shot better especially at winning time a la Tony Parker,I'd like to see him be able to pressure a defense even more with his scoring finishing ability as teams are starting to play him for the pass and he still forces it at times....hes leading the league in turnovers.

Cow,

Perk did have a good 4th quarter, but he played all except the last 2 seconds of that quarter.

Considering the fatigue Perk had to be feeling and the fact that that there's no room for error (not a fraction of an inch) in the clutch, the odds would have favored having Glen in there. In the last two minutes, rebound and defense are important, but Glen's no slouch at either. And there's no comparison about about how much more smoothly the Celts' offense works against tough defense with Glen in there rather than Perk. Perk incurs far more than double the number of turnovers of Glen Davis per 36 minutes on the floor.

True to form, Perk had two rebounds in the last two minutes but committed a costly turnover with a little more than a minute left.

Scoreboard don't lie.

Sam

Sam those are all legit points and facts,Baby has much better perimeter and mid range skills than Perk,however as help defender Perk is a BIG big and Doc muct have felt the great KG needed help with Dirk and Chandler,two 7 footers,Nowitzki was posting on Baby too easily in that game,so I can't question Docs player rotations in that game.Perks offensive rebounding was huge in that game,as he is our best offensive rebounder.I would like to see Rondo limit his turnovers and become a more diversified scorer the coming weeks into the season.If he is really in the discusion for best point he needs to have more scoring ability a la Rose,T Parker,D Will,C Paul the last two minutes,even though I thought we got good looks last game.He can't pass wide open looks while his defender is doubling on our hot scorer.

cow

Good point about Rondo's turnovers. In his first season, he averaged 2.7 TO per 36 minutes. In his second season, he played more regularly, and they decreased to 2.3 per 36 minutes. Since then, they've steadily gone up to 2.8, 3.0 and now 3.8 this season. In 3 of his most recent 7 games, he's had totals of 6, 6, and 7 TO.

So what's your theory on why that trend is happening?

Sam

hey Sam I actually think after torching alot of teams earlier,teams are playing for his passes more and sometimes hes driving to the basket,but instead of finishing himself,hes throwing it away a few times when he was in better position to finish himself.Tonights game he attacked and shot more with great results,at times when we need that from him hes got to play like that and give us that.

Cow, he must have read your post.

Sam