Exhibition game # 2 thoughts

Nice start to grab the lead then held it with the kids most of the rest of the way. Toronto still had starters in and made some runs cutting it to 4 I think but the kids pushed the lead up to 12 again and crused home with the win.

Kids brought another one home, hope Doc trusts them enough to give them minutes.

SO it appears the C's will keep 14 players fo now and keep a spot open. So who to we pick up a big I suppose?

Moore looks like a seasoned vet, JJJ had his moments, Stiemsma played himself into a spot no doubt, Sweetney ate himself out of one.

Boards still appear to be an issue. Toronto just got too many second chances. Otherwise no real disturbing issues aside from PP all appear to be about as healthy as they can be.............fingers crossed now.

beat

It was a solid game....agree down the line with Beat.

Couple of points on the starters.

Rondo looked GREAT. He hit jumpers, distributed the ball well, and threw a few passes away that in the long run will ensure his teammates keep running hard...which is great.

KG looked energized....and JON looks fantastic. Ray looks like he is on his game offensively as well. Very promising start for the starters.

-Sasha looks lost on offense, but that is fine - as he defense was solid.
-Dooling looks like he is still finding his stroke, but played solid. No bad passes, not stupid plays - good solid basketball.
-Moore looks like a veteran....very solid.
-Quis didn't get much time, looked fine.
-JJ looks like a project worth investing time in. I am glad that KG is taking him under his wing
-Stiemsma made the team last night, totally agree with Beat.
-I actually think Gilbert Brown is and NBA player...just not sure that will happen here.

I am pleased with what I have seen so far....albeit the Raptors are a terrible team. The test of dealing with a hostile crowd and mello and amare will be much different, but I think they come out of NY with a win.

Very excited for the season to start and Merry Christmas to my board brothers and sisters. Have a great holiday.

Hi,
100% agree with mrkleen and beat.
Just wanted to add a couple things.
They need to double the dosage of whatever RA ate for lunch yesterday and he'll grab half of the team rebounds.
Secondly, RR probably got a whiff of it: 5-6 at the line and several nice long jumpers. I hope the trend will continue.

Happy holidays, everyone!

AK

Howdy,
Looking forward to seeing the game on Sunday so I will know what you guys are talkin bout, cuz I know u know what ur talkin bout. lol Wonder how many top 5 pg lists Rondo will be on at the end of this season? Once again DA has done an outstanding job of giving Doc the tools he needs to work with, as per usual, injuries will be the key to the season. Hope everyone brought a little more light into the world on the Solstice yesterday. Happy holidays everyone!
Mulcogi

I only saw the first 3 quarters, but essentially agree with MrKleen and Beat too.

My internet link actually had announcers in french. I speak french, but they spoke FAST. Still, I was able to follow their gist. They made a big deal about KG being around a loooong time. They mentioned how Bass was more mobile than Davis. I also got a kick out of how they pronounced players' names. Rajon Rondo (Rah-jonh Rondo', with the accent on the last o in Rondo), Bargnani (Bar-nyani'), Jerod Bayless (Jair-od Bayless', with the soft "j" of french and the accent on the 'less') and Doc Rivers (Dawk Rivaires).

1. STIEMSMA!!!! Congratulations on making the team! A bit premature, perhaps, but he's becoming increasingly confident and in the flow. He showed up last night. 5 rebounds, 2 blocks and 7 points in 18 minutes. That's what we need. I loved it when he led a fast break and was rewarded with a dunk by Rondo. Unless Samuel Dalembert comes to Boston for the vet's minimum, The Steamer's a keeper on a team that desperately needs height and bulk at center.

2. I agree with MrKleen about Sasha. Good defense, not good offense. Off game or par for the course? We'll have to wait to see that. Sasha's +/- was the highest of any player, Celtic or Raptor. Does that say something about his unquantifiable values or of the uselessness of that stat. Sam?

3. Moore is another one I'm predicting making the team. He's not making dumb rookie mistakes (at least, not yet and none we're seeing) and he's showing icy veteran calm on his shooting. He was also 6-8 from the line. It's not the % that I like, it's the fact that he got to the line 8 times in 18 minutes. That says he's around the ball a lot.

4. Neither Sweetney nor Sampson got many minutes despite not playing in the first game against Toronto. That either tells me that they're more of a lock than I think, and Doc is playing the bubble players more, or it's "glad you could join us for a cup of coffee, have a nice career guys...somewhere else". That's two down. How many more need to go before we're at or below limit? That would take us down to 15, right? Probably one more.

5. I have to believe that Doc told Bradley to go out there and "shoot, shoot, shoot", because that's what he did. Out of a team total 69 fga, Bradley had 10. He only hit 1. The question now, for Doc and Danny is, do we need depth at 2 or 3? If 2, and the roster looks like that's so, then Bradley's here and Brown is probably the one gone. If it's 3, then Bradley's shooting will kill him. In fact, considering that Doc has specifically said that Dooling's signing means that Bradley will play more at 2 than 1, his poor shooting might kill him anyway.

6. One open scrimmage, 1 1/2 exhibition games (that I saw) and I have yet to see Keyon Dooling run a fast break. The best we can ask for from him, I guess, is that he'll hurry the ball over midcourt and go into the halfcourt sets sooner. Not crazy about that considering he'll be on the floor with Bass, Moore, Quis and possibly STIEMSMA!!!! That unit deserves a higher gear. Oh well. It's still early. Maybe Doc is telling him to run more halfcourt sets, to see how he is settling in.

7. Not great games by Q or Wilcox, but they are the least of my concerns. I'm already comfortable with them.

8. We shot 39% and had only 69 fga. Sure, Toronto was worse, but that's why they're Toronto. Those are not the numbers we're going to want to see during the season. We need more opportunities and we need better efficiency. We had 20 turnovers last night. If there was a darkside to Moore's performance, it was his 3 turnovers.

9. It is not good when Ray Allen is your leading rebounder.

10. It's good that KG is taking JJJ under his wing. The bad news is that I don't see JJJ getting much floor time this year and so Maine might give him more experience. On the other hand, is there anything better than actually being tutored by the master himself?

bob


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One more thought about this game that I forgot to add:

Rondo's shooting is looking much better. Statistically, of the 5 shots he took from beyond the free throw line, he was 3-5. He was 5-6 from the line.

From a purely observational perspective, his shot is a lot more fluid. He's not rushing it, he's not shot-putting it off the base of his palm instead of letting it roll off his fingers. It just looks like it can go in right off his fingers now.

If Rondo has fixed this part of his game then he is one helluva more dangerous player than he was last year and he was an all-star last year.

bob

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BobH,

Congratulations on wading through the French account of the game. I thought that they talked fast only when speaking with me!

As you know, I use +/- only to gain some perspective on combinations—not individuals. I think you've got the right slant on who stays and who goes.

Barring a last-minute deal by Danny (never out of the question), who would you rather keep on the team? A veteran without much offense who can defend at two positions or a kid without much offense who can defend at SG but is undersized at that position?

I think the fact that Doc's apparently still deliberating about whether to start Quis or Sasha in Paul's absence goes a long way toward answering that question for me.

Happy holidays.

Sam

Not a part of the game but just read this about the C's

Over the last four seasons, the Celtics were an incredible 94-14 in games played before Christmas. No such games this season.

beat

I have watched the game 3 times now just to really get my Celtics fix on..

I like and agree with the commernts that I am reading here.

If doc wants some offense at the 3 spot he needs to start Daniels, If he wants to bang Carmello around early then Shasha gets the nod.

I intently watched KG's lateral movements and I truly believe that he is really all the way back.

JON has not looked this good in a few years. His 4 block shots reflect a solid presence at the 5 spot... Stay healhy and we will roll!

I agree with Bob about Rajon's shooting. I believe that it is now his challenge to knock shots down fron the outside and the line...The shots that he took and made are ones that he has passed up before.

Bass/Wilcox/Dooling all solid

The pups Bradley, Moore and Johnson...I think that Avery has been knocking down shots in practice and he is going to make shots this year. Moore is surprisingly mature. He has an all around game from what I can see and I think he can help this year. JJJ has talent and will be developed over the next few years. He could move up if one of our 4's gets hurt.

I had a feeling that Stiemsma was going to be pretty good after Sam posted a video of him. He can play and contribute because he is surrounded by some excellent talent and will be able to focus on the things that he does best.

dboss