POST GAME BOB CATS

Games against teams like Char. really throw off the rhythm of good ball clubs which leads to sloppy play. Just glad we got another W and inch our way to a first place tie in the Atlantic Division!


Next Game - Wednesday vs. Utah Jazz - 7:30 pm CSNE/NBA Ch.

112288

POST GAME RECAP - WEEI 850 AM

FAST BREAK: C’S BOB & WEAVE TO VICTORY
By Ryan Hadfield

No Ray Allen or Mickael Pietrus? No problem for the Celtics. Riding the coattails of Paul Pierce (36 points on 10-of-20 shooting, 10 rebounds) and Kevin Garnett (24 points on 10-of-20 shooting), the Celtics won their second game in 48 hours in Charlotte on Monday night, 102-95.

The Celtics are now tied with the 76ers in first place in the Atlantic division, are 12-5 since the All-Star break, and could get Allen back on Wednesday night when they return to the Garden to face the Jazz.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Backing Up The Truth: Last night Pierce said the Celtics SHOULD beat teams like the Wizards who are in rebuilding mode. The seven-win Bobcats fall under the same umbrella as the Wizards, and Pierce helped make sure Monday’s “gimme game” did not turn into an ignominious loss. His line in the first half filled up the stat sheet: 17 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals, and even two blocks.

In the second half Pierce continued to lead the way, scoring 10 points in the third quarter to give the Celtics some breathing room after the Bobcats crept back into the game. The captain was stellar, cutting to the basket and engaging in an aggressive style of play to help set the tone. He earned 18 trips to the foul line (converting 15 attempts).

Avery Ascent: This is the second stint this season in which Avery Bradley has played with the starting unit (earlier this season he started eight games while Rajon Rondo recovered from a wrist injury). In both instances the 21 year-old has risen to the occasion and flashed great potential.

Anyone watching the Celtics this season knows Bradley plays tenacious defense, but what has been a positive sign for Bradley has been his offensive growth. He was productive against Monday night, scoring 11 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

Board To Death: For the first time in a long time, the Celtics weren’t annihilated in the rebounding department. No, no, no. In fact, Boston grabbed eight offensive boards, and held an overall 37-33 advantage on the glass.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Reluctant Rondo: Going into Monday night’s game, Rondo had been extremely passive. The last three games Rondo has only taken 19 shots and scored 20 points. Always the enigma, the cerebral point guard has 42 assists over that same stretch, so it’s difficult to fault his performances.

The trend continued against the Bobcats as Rondo had 13 assists (nine in the first half), but only had seven points on 1-of-7 shooting. Against non-lottery bound teams the Celtics will need Rondo to assert himself more in the scoring department.

Nine Lives: The Celtics were great in the first quarter. Against an inferior team on the road, Boston jumped out to an 18-point lead at the end of the first 12 minutes. Dreams of an early blowout vanished after a dismal effort in the second frame. Boston executed poorly offensively and even worse on defense, as they were outscored 35-19 in the second quarter.

The Bobcats managed to hang around late cutting the lead down to four with just under two minutes left despite the Celtics holding a double digit lead early in the fourth quarter. The Celtics were able to stave off the run, but things were still more difficult and uncomfortable than they needed to be.

Help Wanted!: It’s tough to jump on the Celtics’ bench for their lack of scoring. With Bradley starting in place of Allen, and Pietrus still unavailable, one figured the starters would have to carry the load (again). Unforeseen, however, was the Bobcats’ bench keeping Charlotte in contention. In the first half Byron Mullens, Derrick Brown, and DeSagana Diop — you’re probably muttering to yourself “Who? Who?? Who?!?!” — combined 30 points on 12-of-21 shooting, and were vital to their second quarter comeback.

Personally, I think this game fits what I see as the one feasible "formula" for this team to go deep into the playoffs. (That's not a guarantee or a prediction. I just believe it represents a very attractive opening.) The most positive and doable approach for this team is (1) to get off to an early lead, (2) force the other team to debilitate itself playing catchup, and (3) grind out wins down the stretch.

That is exactly how they've played at least the last two games, and it's one of the most exciting developments I can imagine. Among other things, this approach doesn't sink or swim based on finely tuned finesse and exquisite chemistry. It depends more on an ability and willingness to dig, dig, dig. It seems to me that this team has just that kind of ability and willingness.

Dependence on finely tuned finesse leaves them too susceptible to roadblocks such as injuries, other forms of discontinuity, and fatigue. It's a lot easier for this team—in almost any roster configuration—to depend primarily on effort and grit to harness and blend the experience of whatever veterans are available with the athleticism and energy of the younger guys. It's a different formula from previous years, but it seems to be one that works for this year's edition of the Celtics.

The one tendency this team has displayed consistently this season has been the instinct never to quit and (in increasing measure) to outscrap the opponent down the stretch. As long a they continue to come out strong, present the other team with a draining early challenge, and fight like tigers in the clutch, I can accept interim lapses that may be caused by any manner of factors about which I wouldn't even bother to micro-analyze.

I'm not going to beat myself up waiting for them to play a perfect game. There will always be pluses and minuses—perhaps more minuses this season than during the past few years. They're not a tough rebounding team, and I don't see some miracle changing that against strong rebounding teams. They're a high turnover team; and, if that's price they must play for taking the kinds of risks that can lead to runs like they've been fashioning lately, I'm fine with that. They do seem to be getting the word about the importance of attacking the hoop, and I'm hoping that will be a major factor in sustaining or increasing their aggressiveness with points in the paint at the beginning of games.

In short, there's still time for modest improvements in many areas of their play. (For instance, led by Bass's surge at the line, their free throw shooting as a team has improved.) But, for the most part, they need to play to their strengths rather than beating themselves up about their weaknesses.

Sam

I had to leave with 6:10 left in the 3rd quarter, the score 69-58 Celts. All my observations refer to the game prior to that time.

I was listening to a feed with the Charlotte announcers. Probably the nicest pair I've heard yet. Made a few comments about how Avery Bradley was clutching and hitting people (aka fighting for position) but was otherwise very complimentary towards the Celtics. They had a female color woman (didn't catch her name, but the play-by-play guy kept mentioning she was a coach) who knew her stuff. First female commentator I've heard, in all the feeds I've listened to. She said that the Celtics all seem to keep 1 foot in the paint, daring you to drive into it so they could collapse on you. Nice observation.

1. Bradley attacked the rim. He went coast-to-coast and drove the defense backwards. He wasn't given credit for any steals, but he sure was in the middle of stuff when steals were made. THIS is what we need, in general, but in particular from the lightning-quick Avery Bradley. Rondo and Bradley running the opposition out of their sneakers? Maybe a glimpse into the future. Solid D, as usual, but this aggressive push-the-ball-up fullcourt play is new. Bradley is just finding his way. Last year, he was too intimidated to even practice. Early this year, he realized he could gain minutes by playing lockdown D. Then he figured out that he could score points by slashing baseline when his man was caught watching the paint dry. Now, he's running. The kid is starting to make Danny look good. Really good. Why did we expect a lower half of the 1st round pick to be an immediate impact player?

2. The Truth set us free. The female announcer pointed out that Pierce is not a selfish player, despite his scoring. She noted that he averaged more assists/game than their point guards (the other announcer responded repeatedly to that statement "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!). Sure enough, right on cue, Pierce earned 4 assists last night while their point guard, DJ Augustin, only had 1. Kemba Walker, off the bench, had 7 but that's another bullet.

3. We built up an 18 point lead at the end of 1 (33-15) and then almost gave it up in the second (52-50). That comeback was fueled by the Bobcat bench and a lot of it was against our starters. The abovementioned Walker ran a good offense while Byron Mullens delighted in torturing KG. I like Mullins a lot. Shoots from range, good movement without the ball, He got a 3 with KG in his face and a baseline dunk via off-the-ball movement. He played 33 minutes while the starting center, Bismack Biyombo only played 15. I foresee a time when Mullins starts, he's coming on. My old friend from GSW, Reggie Williams, came in and did what he does so well, and that's shoot. This kid attended the little-scouted Virginia Military Institute and led the NCAA in scoring 2x and yet went undrafted. Was signed by GSW out of the D-league. How the hell can a kid who led the NCAA in scoring 2x and is a 6'6" SG NOT be drafted? Mullens was the 24th pick in 2009 by Dallas and was bounced around before the season started before sticking in Charlotte and he's a keeper too. To sum things up, their bench outscored our bench 59-9, outrebounded our bench 16-8 and out-assisted our bench 19-2. In fact, their bench completely outplayed their starters, and as I pointed out earlier, a lot of the Charlotte comeback in the 2nd quarter was accomplished by their bench against OUR starters. Wow. How do we get one of those?

4. Before the game, Rondo said he wanted to play "fast". He ran a few fast breaks but for the most part he slipped back into his usual routine of standing out on top and watching the plays develop in front of him. It's becoming maddening to me the way he just cannot or will not maximize his great talent consistently.

5. Hollins is trying to be active (as pointed out by Swede on the Game On thread) but his activity is somewhat undirected. He gave up to dunks because he overcommitted on a pick-and-roll and his man rolled free to the hoop. Doc's defensive schemes are complex, I don't expect Hollins to understand all the nuances, but defending pick-and-rolls are basic. Ok, I'll cut him some slack again. Too soon to jump on him. Besides, I'm the one who has been saying we need height or bulk or both. I got height, I should just smile and say "thank you", right?

6. Another big game for KG. He is really, really stepping up for this second half of the season. He was pissed off when Mullens scored on him. He was draped all over him at the 3pt line and Mullens still hit it and then he forgot about Mullens on that baseline dunk and you could see KG's eyes roll up into his head.

We are tied with Philly for 1st place in the Atlantic. They play the 17-29 Cleveland Cadavers tonight while we host the 27-23 Utah Jazz tomorrow. This is an easy week for them (going to Washington after that), while we travel to Minny and then host Miami at home on Sunday.

Reminds me of the story of Sisyphus. He kept trying to roll that boulder up the hill and, just as he was about to get to the top, something would happen and it would roll back down to the bottom and he'd have to push it back up just to have something happen and have it roll down again. Let's hope the Celtics, in their pursuit of Philly, are not Sisyphus. I'd rather have a homecourt series against Indiana to start the playoffs than Miami.

bob

.

Bob

Didn't the boulder roll over him the first time?
Or was that a Road Runner- Coyote cartoon I was watching.

beat

bobheckler wrote:I had to leave with 6:10 left in the 3rd quarter, the score 69-58 Celts. All my observations refer to the game prior to that time.

I was listening to a feed with the Charlotte announcers. Probably the nicest pair I've heard yet. Made a few comments about how Avery Bradley was clutching and hitting people (aka fighting for position) but was otherwise very complimentary towards the Celtics. They had a female color woman (didn't catch her name, but the play-by-play guy kept mentioning she was a coach) who knew her stuff. First female commentator I've heard, in all the feeds I've listened to. She said that the Celtics all seem to keep 1 foot in the paint, daring you to drive into it so they could collapse on you. Nice observation.

1. Bradley attacked the rim. He went coast-to-coast and drove the defense backwards. He wasn't given credit for any steals, but he sure was in the middle of stuff when steals were made. THIS is what we need, in general, but in particular from the lightning-quick Avery Bradley. Rondo and Bradley running the opposition out of their sneakers? Maybe a glimpse into the future. Solid D, as usual, but this aggressive push-the-ball-up fullcourt play is new. Bradley is just finding his way. Last year, he was too intimidated to even practice. Early this year, he realized he could gain minutes by playing lockdown D. Then he figured out that he could score points by slashing baseline when his man was caught watching the paint dry. Now, he's running. The kid is starting to make Danny look good. Really good. Why did we expect a lower half of the 1st round pick to be an immediate impact player?

2. The Truth set us free. The female announcer pointed out that Pierce is not a selfish player, despite his scoring. She noted that he averaged more assists/game than their point guards (the other announcer responded repeatedly to that statement "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!). Sure enough, right on cue, Pierce earned 4 assists last night while their point guard, DJ Augustin, only had 1. Kemba Walker, off the bench, had 7 but that's another bullet.

3. We built up an 18 point lead at the end of 1 (33-15) and then almost gave it up in the second (52-50). That comeback was fueled by the Bobcat bench and a lot of it was against our starters. The abovementioned Walker ran a good offense while Byron Mullens delighted in torturing KG. I like Mullins a lot. Shoots from range, good movement without the ball, He got a 3 with KG in his face and a baseline dunk via off-the-ball movement. He played 33 minutes while the starting center, Bismack Biyombo only played 15. I foresee a time when Mullins starts, he's coming on. My old friend from GSW, Reggie Williams, came in and did what he does so well, and that's shoot. This kid attended the little-scouted Virginia Military Institute and led the NCAA in scoring 2x and yet went undrafted. Was signed by GSW out of the D-league. How the hell can a kid who led the NCAA in scoring 2x and is a 6'6" SG NOT be drafted? Mullens was the 24th pick in 2009 by Dallas and was bounced around before the season started before sticking in Charlotte and he's a keeper too. To sum things up, their bench outscored our bench 59-9, outrebounded our bench 16-8 and out-assisted our bench 19-2. In fact, their bench completely outplayed their starters, and as I pointed out earlier, a lot of the Charlotte comeback in the 2nd quarter was accomplished by their bench against OUR starters. Wow. How do we get one of those?

4. Before the game, Rondo said he wanted to play "fast". He ran a few fast breaks but for the most part he slipped back into his usual routine of standing out on top and watching the plays develop in front of him. It's becoming maddening to me the way he just cannot or will not maximize his great talent consistently.

5. Hollins is trying to be active (as pointed out by Swede on the Game On thread) but his activity is somewhat undirected. He gave up to dunks because he overcommitted on a pick-and-roll and his man rolled free to the hoop. Doc's defensive schemes are complex, I don't expect Hollins to understand all the nuances, but defending pick-and-rolls are basic. Ok, I'll cut him some slack again. Too soon to jump on him. Besides, I'm the one who has been saying we need height or bulk or both. I got height, I should just smile and say "thank you", right?

6. Another big game for KG. He is really, really stepping up for this second half of the season. He was pissed off when Mullens scored on him. He was draped all over him at the 3pt line and Mullens still hit it and then he forgot about Mullens on that baseline dunk and you could see KG's eyes roll up into his head.

We are tied with Philly for 1st place in the Atlantic. They play the 17-29 Cleveland Cadavers tonight while we host the 27-23 Utah Jazz tomorrow. This is an easy week for them (going to Washington after that), while we travel to Minny and then host Miami at home on Sunday.

Reminds me of the story of Sisyphus. He kept trying to roll that boulder up the hill and, just as he was about to get to the top, something would happen and it would roll back down to the bottom and he'd have to push it back up just to have something happen and have it roll down again. Let's hope the Celtics, in their pursuit of Philly, are not Sisyphus. I'd rather have a homecourt series against Indiana to start the playoffs than Miami.

bob

.

Bob - We're not exactly tied with Philly for 1st place. We lost the season series to them so being tied gets us nothing but a second place finish in the division and a probable 7th spot in playoff positioning. That's why Philly is listed above us in the standings. We need to win the division. On a bright note, we now have played two more road games and two fewer home games than Philly so we have a slight advantage in the schedule (not figuring in won-loss records of future opponents) the rest of the way. Go Celts.

Hi,
It's kind of OT but since some are talking about the seeding in the playoffs I'll chip in.
Frankly, I don't understand the importance of the 4th seed other than home court in the 1st round. Anyway, Celtics will have to play Mia and Chi. Well, of course there's a possibility that one of them or both will poop their pants and don't get out of the 1 st round. But the chances of that are slim to none...
Maybe it's my approach: better start with most difficult stuff. Maybe I'm missing something.

AK

steve3344 wrote:

bobheckler wrote:I had to leave with 6:10 left in the 3rd quarter, the score 69-58 Celts. All my observations refer to the game prior to that time.

I was listening to a feed with the Charlotte announcers. Probably the nicest pair I've heard yet. Made a few comments about how Avery Bradley was clutching and hitting people (aka fighting for position) but was otherwise very complimentary towards the Celtics. They had a female color woman (didn't catch her name, but the play-by-play guy kept mentioning she was a coach) who knew her stuff. First female commentator I've heard, in all the feeds I've listened to. She said that the Celtics all seem to keep 1 foot in the paint, daring you to drive into it so they could collapse on you. Nice observation.

1. Bradley attacked the rim. He went coast-to-coast and drove the defense backwards. He wasn't given credit for any steals, but he sure was in the middle of stuff when steals were made. THIS is what we need, in general, but in particular from the lightning-quick Avery Bradley. Rondo and Bradley running the opposition out of their sneakers? Maybe a glimpse into the future. Solid D, as usual, but this aggressive push-the-ball-up fullcourt play is new. Bradley is just finding his way. Last year, he was too intimidated to even practice. Early this year, he realized he could gain minutes by playing lockdown D. Then he figured out that he could score points by slashing baseline when his man was caught watching the paint dry. Now, he's running. The kid is starting to make Danny look good. Really good. Why did we expect a lower half of the 1st round pick to be an immediate impact player?

2. The Truth set us free. The female announcer pointed out that Pierce is not a selfish player, despite his scoring. She noted that he averaged more assists/game than their point guards (the other announcer responded repeatedly to that statement "Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!). Sure enough, right on cue, Pierce earned 4 assists last night while their point guard, DJ Augustin, only had 1. Kemba Walker, off the bench, had 7 but that's another bullet.

3. We built up an 18 point lead at the end of 1 (33-15) and then almost gave it up in the second (52-50). That comeback was fueled by the Bobcat bench and a lot of it was against our starters. The abovementioned Walker ran a good offense while Byron Mullens delighted in torturing KG. I like Mullins a lot. Shoots from range, good movement without the ball, He got a 3 with KG in his face and a baseline dunk via off-the-ball movement. He played 33 minutes while the starting center, Bismack Biyombo only played 15. I foresee a time when Mullins starts, he's coming on. My old friend from GSW, Reggie Williams, came in and did what he does so well, and that's shoot. This kid attended the little-scouted Virginia Military Institute and led the NCAA in scoring 2x and yet went undrafted. Was signed by GSW out of the D-league. How the hell can a kid who led the NCAA in scoring 2x and is a 6'6" SG NOT be drafted? Mullens was the 24th pick in 2009 by Dallas and was bounced around before the season started before sticking in Charlotte and he's a keeper too. To sum things up, their bench outscored our bench 59-9, outrebounded our bench 16-8 and out-assisted our bench 19-2. In fact, their bench completely outplayed their starters, and as I pointed out earlier, a lot of the Charlotte comeback in the 2nd quarter was accomplished by their bench against OUR starters. Wow. How do we get one of those?

4. Before the game, Rondo said he wanted to play "fast". He ran a few fast breaks but for the most part he slipped back into his usual routine of standing out on top and watching the plays develop in front of him. It's becoming maddening to me the way he just cannot or will not maximize his great talent consistently.

5. Hollins is trying to be active (as pointed out by Swede on the Game On thread) but his activity is somewhat undirected. He gave up to dunks because he overcommitted on a pick-and-roll and his man rolled free to the hoop. Doc's defensive schemes are complex, I don't expect Hollins to understand all the nuances, but defending pick-and-rolls are basic. Ok, I'll cut him some slack again. Too soon to jump on him. Besides, I'm the one who has been saying we need height or bulk or both. I got height, I should just smile and say "thank you", right?

6. Another big game for KG. He is really, really stepping up for this second half of the season. He was pissed off when Mullens scored on him. He was draped all over him at the 3pt line and Mullens still hit it and then he forgot about Mullens on that baseline dunk and you could see KG's eyes roll up into his head.

We are tied with Philly for 1st place in the Atlantic. They play the 17-29 Cleveland Cadavers tonight while we host the 27-23 Utah Jazz tomorrow. This is an easy week for them (going to Washington after that), while we travel to Minny and then host Miami at home on Sunday.

Reminds me of the story of Sisyphus. He kept trying to roll that boulder up the hill and, just as he was about to get to the top, something would happen and it would roll back down to the bottom and he'd have to push it back up just to have something happen and have it roll down again. Let's hope the Celtics, in their pursuit of Philly, are not Sisyphus. I'd rather have a homecourt series against Indiana to start the playoffs than Miami.

bob

.

Bob - We're not exactly tied with Philly for 1st place. We lost the season series to them so being tied gets us nothing but a second place finish in the division and a probable 7th spot in playoff positioning. That's why Philly is listed above us in the standings. We need to win the division. On a bright note, we now have played two more road games and two fewer home games than Philly so we have a slight advantage in the schedule (not figuring in won-loss records of future opponents) the rest of the way. Go Celts.

steve,

Quite correct. They own the tie-breaker. Our W-L record is the same.

Thanks,

bob

sinus007 wrote:Hi,
It's kind of OT but since some are talking about the seeding in the playoffs I'll chip in.
Frankly, I don't understand the importance of the 4th seed other than home court in the 1st round. Anyway, Celtics will have to play Mia and Chi. Well, of course there's a possibility that one of them or both will poop their pants and don't get out of the 1 st round. But the chances of that are slim to none...
Maybe it's my approach: better start with most difficult stuff. Maybe I'm missing something.

AK

sinus,

A 4th seed buys us a home series, always a good thing. Also, suppose Derrick Rose's groin injury flares up again. Or DWade's knee? The more games they play before they reach us means more chances of a break going our way. I'd rather have us be in a completely dominating position, like we were in 2008, but we're not there.

bob

.

Sam, I agree that getting out of the gate fast is important and I think that Bradley, starting, helps us do that. He had a very good, then passable offensive game in the last two, but he also stymies opposing guards and cuts down on drives that too often result in points or fouls on our bigs.
This game was good in that we beat a team we should beat, but I'd still like to see the Amigos' minutes reduced 3-to-5, with a little more Steimsma and some Johnson and Moore. I think that like Bradley, they might begin to click with some regular minutes. Still, it's late March and amazing that after all the injuries, we still have a very watchable, talented club.
Next game, I'll try to log on with you guys! Go Celts! Hawk

Bob,
I don't buy your argument about "completely dominating position": Celtics this year won't be against Ind, Atl or Orl if they get the 4th seed.
Or, did I misunderstand you?

AK

sinus007 wrote:Bob,
I don't buy your argument about "completely dominating position": Celtics this year won't be against Ind, Atl or Orl if they get the 4th seed.
Or, did I misunderstand you?

AK

sinus,

What I meant was that in 2008, we were the most dominating team in the league. We're not this year.

Having a homecourt series would help offset that lack of dominance.

If we win the Atlantic Division, we are guaranteed no lower than 4th seed.

bob

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bob


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