POST GAME TORANTO

I love games like this. Sit back and enjoy without the pressure of loosing. Celtics passing was outstanding and their defense stiffened. GREAT TEAM BALL WITH 30 ASSISTS!
I would not sell short Bradley as a point guard nor Moore, although Moore could become a nice shooting guard. Could this be a nice breakout game for Johnson. This kid can shoot and leap. At 6'9 - 10" and his long arms, he's going to be tough to block. he just needs some conditioning with diet and some weight training and he's going to be tough to keep out of the line up. Looks like Sash Pav. has played Daniels to be a bench sitter. Pav brings some nice energy and scoring from the bench which is essential to keep pressure on the other team.

Next game Friday NY KNICKS - CSNNE/ESPN 8PM.

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GAME RECAP WEEI 850

FAST BREAK: CELTICS TEAM EFFORT SCRATCHES RAPTORS
By Ben Rohrbach


Without starting point guard Rajon Rondo for the eighth consecutive game, the Celtics shared the wealth anyway — assisting on 28 of their 37 field goals — to dominate the Raptors from start to finish, 100-64.

Captain Paul Pierce led the way with just 17 points for the Celtics (11-10), who eclipsed .500 for the first time since Jan. 4 and improved to 4-2 on the second night of the deadly back-to-backs. Ray Allen (12 points), Brandon Bass (12 points), Avery Bradley (11 points) and JaJuan Johnson (11 garbage points on 5-5 FGs) all reached double figures as 10 different Celtics scored at least six points.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Start C’s up: Considering both teams were on the second night of a back-to-back, it wasn’t pretty basketball early, but the Celtics went on a 12-0 run midway through the first quarter — thanks to six straight Bass points sandwiched by four from Pierce– that gave the C’s an early 25-9 advantage they never relinquished. Even against the likes of the Raptors, the Celtics have had trouble getting off to good starts, so Doc Rivers had to like what he saw against Toronto.

Moore Bradley: Without Rondo for an eighth straight game and Keyon Dooling for his 11th game in 12 outings, the point guard duo of Bradley and E’Twaun Moore (8 points) continued to hold court — this time both in the same game. Bradley’s getting a knack for getting free under the basket, and his fellow starters are rewarding him for easy buckets. And Moore is proving himself as simply a good NBA offensive player, especially evident on one particular shot clock-beating pull-up jump shot.

Downtown Kedrick Brown: The Celtics connected on 12-of-24 3-pointers, actually shooting almost as well from beyond the arc than they did overall (52%). The dozen treys tied a season high for the C’s. Pierce led the way, burying 4-of-6 from long distance, while Allen, Pietrus and Sasha Pavlovic each added a pair.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Where’s the Quis? It’s becoming increasingly clear Marquis Daniels has fallen to fourth on the small forward depth chart behind Pierce, Mickael Pietrus and even Sasha Pavlovic. When Rivers looked to the bench in the second quarter, he turned to Pavlovic, who submitted another strong first-half outing (6 points).

That darn Cavs loss: Considering not much went wrong in the Celtics blowout of the Raptors, let’s return to that blown 12-point lead in the final five minutes on Sunday. If not for that loss to the Cavaliers, the Celtics would be on a seven-game winning streak, owners of a 12-9 record. Instead, they’ve climbed over .500 for just the second time all season. It could be worse, considering they almost blew a 22-point lead against those same Cavs on Tuesday. Currently, the C’s are tied with the Magic for the seventh seed in the Eastern Conference.

Hi,
It's a W. What else do we need.
Thanks for Raptors, Wizards, et al - the team can build chemistry and we can see what 3J is capable of.

AK

Dont understand why not playing Marquis is under what went wrong?

Either Doc is unhappy with his attitude, feels the match ups favor other players or something else. But that only way that falls under something being "wrong" is if they were getting no production from their bench 2's and 3's which is NOT the case.

Solid game against a very poor team. I predict you wont see an NBA team in Toronto for much longer.

Toronto could wind up in New Jersey to fill void of Nets. There has been some talk in local papers of New Jersey looking for another team.


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Weird. The Nets are third from the bottom in attendance as it is. Doesnt seem like they even support the team they have, never mind being able to support another team.

NY is a hockey/ football state/region not basketball per say. The Nets are moving as you know to Brooklyn which should bring out a new fan base with JZ being from the area. It will attract new fans from Long Island who now would never travel to NJ and by now are sick of the NY Islanders and their poor play for years and would seek other professional sports entertainment.

Also with a lower ticket price verses the Knicks, they will attract a lot of families to the game. Also NJ could offer an attractive sharing arrangements on concessions/parking/arena rent/state tax credits to entice a team to move there.

Why this deal would work regardless how the Nets do or attract fans, it was a real estate play by the owners of the Nets. They got huge State & NY City tax concessions/ they own the arena and land and are making a killing on other retail space incorporated into the complex. That is why the Russian was enticed to by into the Nets. A Pure Real Estate Play!


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I'm really glad of the teams better play of late and doing it without Rondo. Love seeing improvements of the kids, AB, ET and now JJJ, gotta love the production were also getting from the vets Bass, Sasha, Pietrus, Wilcox. Never in my wildest dreams did I think we would have this kind of depth and all without Jeff Green.

We're really turning the corner and its great to see. Danny knows more about this game than alot of GM's, without signing any big names and alot of limitations, hes really done a masterful job of getting a winning team on the floor.

I believe the tradeoff of Sasha for Quis is pretty obvious. The bench has needed someone (besides Moore) to help space the floor while holding his own on the defensive end. Sasha fills that bill perfectly. Moreover, he's more physical and athletic than Quis is. There must be nearly half a dozen times in the past week that he has raced downcourt to block shots at the same time another Celtic has been fouling the shooter. If only they could work out some quick signal for everyone else not to foul while Sasha gives it a try.

Because there wasn't a lot of pressure that made me want to analyze the overall game last night, I took the opportunity to isolate my viewing on Sasha for quite a while. He follows the fundamentals beautifully. ALWAYS between his man and the basket on deefense. Defends against baseline drives like a rock. Recovers quite well when picked off on the perimeter, although he got beaten once last night. Among the Celtics leaders in lack of turnovers per 36 minutes. Nice stroke on threes. And has a knack for knowing when to make the occasional dash to the hoop. I really like Sasha's game. And he's taller than Quis, which makes Sasha a more legitimate foe of small forwards.

That doesn't mean my opinion of Quis has gone south. He's a great guy to have around, especially when the team's failing to get points in the paint. He is as slippery as it gets around the basket, and he has good passing instincts when doubled down low. He's not a bad defensive player either, although I think Sasha's better. I do think Quis is often overmatched against guys like Lebron and Melo, and he's better suited for SG than SF; and Quis is definitely not a perimeter scorer. Both players know the game really well.

The redundancy between these two guys could mean one of them might become part of a trade. Based on how Sasha has blended with the bench recently, I'm guessing it could be Quis who might be leaving.

The next few weeks should be very interesting. First, can the team avoid Cav-type games while improving on its newfound coherence and deployment of its youthful energy? Second, is a trade or free agent acquisition in the offing? Third, will Danny decide to accelerate the rebuilding sooner rather than later.

In short, it's now February. (Remember, "See me in February?") This could easily be a pivotal month (with a difficult schedule) in Celtics history. I can't recall a time more worthy of vibrant discussion by the real Celtics fans on this board.

Sam

Missed the game last eve completely but appears we toyed with the NBA's version of a poor JV team at best.

Not going to put too much stock in anything from that game butit is nice to see the pups progressing.

Looking ahead starting Friday 11 games in 20 days against some very good teams. Then the 5 day break for the AS weekend. The 11 games are closed out by a 4 game road trip. 3 back to backs along the way. Chicago and Detroit both Home and Home among them.

4 of these games are with perhaps the NBA's worst teams Det (2) Charlotte and Toronto. Would be nice to continue the climb above .500.

After this we will be at the 1/2 way point lots to be sorted out n the standings over these 3 weeks. We shall see.

beat

Could I place an order to play these guys every night, please?

Listened to the Toronto announcers last night. The play-by-play guy went to Boston College and BC came out of his mouth every other minute (did you know that BC has more players in this year's SuperBowl than any other college?) and the color commentator was former NBA player Andy Rautins. Did you know that one of the big-haired dancers on Gino-time was Andy Rautins? Couple of good laughs there last night by them...Like every other Canadian I've ever met (or people who live amongst them) they were almost ridiculously polite. Even when they were disparaging a player they did it so softly it didn't feel like they were talking smack.

Before we get too giddy, let's remember than Andrea Bargnani didn't play. Having said that, I don't think it would have ended up any differently.

1. No Celtic starter played more than 26 minutes. KG only played 17. Nice to have a night off. I never knew just how much KG enjoys Gino.

2. JON didn't have a big night (how much can you do in 14 minutes?) and got into foul trouble early on (2nd foul with only a few minutes into the game) but he did pick up a couple of charging fouls. Not a big fan of his game, never really was to be honest, but I gotta give him props for this. His body might be moving like it used to, but he's getting it in front of people and letting them bowl him over. That's gotta hurt, night in and night out, but he's giving it up for the team. Good for you, Jermaine.

3. Bradley has learned how to move without the ball and score points. His teammates are now starting to look for him on the cuts. Would I love if he could open the floor by hitting his outside jumpers? Absolutely, but I'll take layups too. Jose Calderon did a nice job of playing floor general, with 7 assists, but his own offense was completely smothered by Bradley.

Here are two Bradley offensive highlights. One is an aggressive drive to the hoop (love that) and the other is a fallback jumper. If he can hit that, that'd be very big. As it is, his confidence to take that shot is big.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=BKo9-9exBg4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nRRna-drDTM&feature=player_embedded


4. Andy Rautins extolled the virtues of Ray Allen all night, repeatedly calling him "one of the best to ever play his position". He also described Ray Allen as a "lockdown defender". We all know Ray's defense has improved since he's come to the Celtics. Some of that comes from knowing you don't have to expend 100% of your energy on the offensive side of the ball for your team to have a chance to win and some of it comes from KG and Doc's priorities, but a "lockdown defender"? Last night he locked down DeMar DeRozan, who has never seen a shot he didn't like. Multiple 24 second violations by the Raptors last night because Ray Allen completely stymied DeRozan, who was trying to play one-on-one. DeRozan is a streak shooter who can go off on you at any moment. Last night he had 8 points on 3-12 shooting. That was Ray Allen's doing.

5. Chris Wilcox can't have a good game against Aaron Gray? That doesn't make me feel good. What has happened to him, he started off like gangbusters?

6. To wade into the Sasha vs Q debate, I think Sasha has gained a lot of confidence the past week, while Q's shooting woes have cost him some of his. Sasha's bigger and stronger. He has been playing very good man-to-man as well as help defense. He has been hitting his 3-ball shots and has put it on the floor. What Sasha does not bring to the table is ballhandling and floor generalship, and that's something Q does well. I have found the absence of Daniel's presence on the floor puzzling, and have said so in other post-game threads. One would think that being down both of your point guards would make you play the guy who knows the offense better and floor generals better than a second year player who is a defender and not a facilitator and a rookie that is no point guard? Still, Sasha has been doing just about everything right and Q has struggled. Maybe it's just as simple as that. Maybe Doc is just riding the hot hand...

6. JJJ is the King of Garbaage Time! Granted, he played against the end of the bench of a poor team, but he looked good. Two things I noticed is that he and Steamer had a nice little two-man game going, where Steamer would have the ball at the high post and drop a bounce pass into JJJ who had slashed his way to the front of the rim. No shots out of those plays (which they ran twice in a row, so I don't think it was just "opportunism") but they did pick up two fouls on JJJ's defender. The other thing I noticed was JJJ getting the ball about 12 feet away from the basket and maybe 8 feet from the baseline, he then took a dribble away from the baseline and did a turnaround jumpshot (which went in). What I like about that is that A) turnaround jumpers, if you can hit them, are very tough to defend. Think Kevin McHale and B) JJJ knows his sweet spots and went to it rather than take a shot that he wasn't as comfortable with, even though that took him away from the hoop. Unfortunately, JJJ also showed he still lacks the lower body strength to hold his position in the low post defense. That won't improve until this summer, when he can, and should, live in the weight room. These comments from Doc Rivers, after the game, about JJJ:

“I told you guys last week, JaJuan will play — I really believe this,” Rivers said. “Sooner than later. You see it in our silly practices we have — the 3-on-3 practices — he just keeps getting better. His energy is unbelievable. He’s an offensive weapon, he can shoot the ball, he can run the floor. And where he’s really improved is his position defensively on the post. Early on, guys were just bowling through him. He’s learned now you can use your chest, you can use your arms, you can slide with your feet — and he’s doing all that. JaJuan’s going to be a good player. And I really believe that. Maybe this year.”

Uh, ok Doc. No offense meant, but I'll believe it when I see it.

7. We were 12-24 from 3. It was just flowing out of our hands all night.

8. Jerrod Bayless came in and gave them some offensive energy and points off the bench, but he was the only one and he's not good enough to carry the entire team. Still, I liked Bayless.

9. 30 assists on 39 fgm by the Celtics. Wow. I can't remember an assist-to-fgm ratio that high. Ever.

10. Only 10 turnovers. It was just flowing for us last night.

Give me 60 more like this...

bob

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bobheckler wrote:5. Chris Wilcox can't have a good game against Aaron Gray? That doesn't make me feel good. What has happened to him, he started off like gangbusters?

It's always been this way with Wilcox. He's got that big, powerful body and has games where he looks like one of the better players on the floor, then disappears. The hope was that he would figure out eventually how to bring his A game or B game every night, but instead he shows flashes of A and B with a lot of disappearances. Whatever the reason, this has been the way it is throughout his career. I'd hoped that Doc could figure out how to get more out of him, but that's probably too much to ask during this lockout season, which means hardly any training camp and so few practices to work with him, plus a ton of higher priorities on his plate. If he could get it together on a more consistent basis by playoff time, he could be a huge plus, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for it to happen.

Outside