POST GAME INDY

PACERS 107 CELTICS 100


I can live with this loss in the fact that the Celtics finally found a new territory on the court called the paint. The third quarter was one of the best quarters of basketball in which the Celtics continued to attack the paint. Nice to see Rondo come out of hibernation and TOMMY POINTS TO BIG BABY!!!!

Problem you have your starting center collecting 5 fouls in 16 minutes of play. Perhaps sending him down to D league may help him more then my sarcasm!

112288

Two days off, I'm guessing one day of rest and one good practice to begin getting Jermaine back in the swing of things, and then we kick the Spurs butt on Thursday night.

That's the spirit Bob!!!!!


112288

Hi,
The last several games looked like a continuation of the same game. A few big and small island, even continents, of good solid play. But everything surrounded by oceans of apathy, bad execution.
A few observations.
Doc's primary task, IMO, is to figure out how to get NK going. So far he is a total mess.
There's a lot of work to be done with JG. He has a huge potential. If Doc finds a way to utilize at least 50% of what he's capable of the 2nd unit will demolish any other 2nd unit in the league.
RR is waking up. Plus 4-4 FTs is not bad.
Give PP and RA a game or two off - the do need it.

I'm preparing myself to watch JON next game: he's going to be awful, but I hope it'll take him only 2-3 games to get into shape and to the level.

Is it playoffs yet?

AK

What I like about JON is his shot blocking which they need badly!

112288

Ain't this fun!? Not.

Another hot start wasted. We had a 33 point first quarter, then a 16 point second, then a 36 point third and 15 point fourth. What a yo-yo. Is there something here? Is there a reason for this? Pierce played 39 minutes, Ray Allen played 36 minutes and Rondo played 40. I thought the reason why we got Sasha and Green was so that Pierce could have backup? IMO, Doc's playing the starters too many minutes.

1. Rondo started out unbelievable. 5-5 for 10 points in no time flat. Taking it to the basket every time. Aggressive as all hell. He even hit both his free throws. And that was just the first quarter. In the second quarter, he scored two baskets. Rondo had 3 assists, 4 points in our strong third. In the critical 4th quarter, almost nothing from Rondo. 3 rebounds (including the two offensive ones in the last minute) but no points and no assists. No wonder we only scored 15 points. At one point Collison made a play for the ball and made Rondo lose control and then Collison just plain outhustled Rondo for the loose ball and Rondo gave up on it. That was disgusting. I understand making mistakes, but don't give up, it's contagious. Rondo played half a game, the 1st and 3rd quarters. We lost the game in the 4th, the quarter he didn't show up for.

2. Another NBA center licking his chops at facing the Celtics. Roy Hibbert scored 26 points on 12-17 shooting. At one point I think he was 9-10. This is getting ridiculous. This is the 3rd straight game where second tier centers have posterized us. Krstic was inept last night. Usually, I give him credit for working hard, but not playing well. Last night, he was committing dumb fouls early. What made it worse is that KG was picking up fouls early too. Due to our thinness up front, we had to play smallball almost all night and Hibbert made us pay and pay big. Even so, we still almost pulled this off.

3. I saw there's another thread that says that Ray Allen is pissed. He should be. They've stopped running plays for him. They've stopped doing pindowns for him. He's probably the best "off-the-ball" player in the league, but that doesn't mean he shouldn't touch the ball. It's Rondo's job to call the plays for Ray and it's Rondo's job to get the ball to Ray. If players aren't setting picks long or strong enough, then it's Doc's job to make that happen. None of it did.

4. KG missed two fts, Green missed 2fts, Ray Allen missed a ft (WTF?), Baby missed a ft. Those were all in the 4th quarter. That's 6 points we should have had and we only lost by 7. Those are game changers since the strategy in the final minutes is very different if you're down 2-3 instead of 6 and it's a much different game if you're up 2-3. The game was neck-and-neck until 5 minutes left. With those 6 points, we could have been up a bucket or two, maybe even 3.

5. Once again, I thought Sasha did a credible job in the short time Doc played him. Missed his only shot (a 3) but he seemed to be on his man on defense. I'm not sure I understand Doc's substitution strategy for Sasha. I don't see him coming in for defensive stands, nor do I see him coming in for extended periods to give Pierce some rest. Davis, Krstic, Green, West and Sasha was one lineup, with Sasha playing 1:28, to the end of the quarter. Sasha took, and missed a 3ptr. He's then replaced 41 seconds into the 2nd quarter by Pierce, never to be seen again. Ok, so I guess he was in to give Pierce the few minutes rest at the end of the first and the beginning of the second. That's not a lot of rest nor is it enough time for a player to come off the bench and get any rhythm going.

6. We only took 62 fga this game. They got 77. It's hard to win when the other team takes 15fga more than you, and they're shooting 54%. 62fga is really low.

7. Jeff Green was not involved in the first half, neither was Ray Allen. It was the Rondo, Pierce and Davis show. He started out the 4th quarter red hot. Getting inside and getting fouled. Hitting a basket. Like Ray Allen, he didn't get the ball enough. Green played 28 minutes, but they were uneventful because he wasn't involved enough.

This is a game we could and should have won. It was no more than a 2 point game either way with 5 minutes left. Then Collison started playing hard and Rondo disappeared. I think Doc is overplaying the starters. I'm glad Ray Allen is pissed off and I hope he gets in Rondo's face. We need an O'Neal to provide some size, bulk and toughness. Any O'Neal. Is Tatum available?

bob

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