POST GAME MINN TIMBER WOLVES

WE ARE ON TOP OF THE WORLD..............OR AT LEAST ON TOP OF THE ATLANTIC DIVISION!!!!!

Celtics came out with their game face on and looking for raw meat. They found it in the Timber Wolves. Great all round game played by all players! A balanced approach.

How about KG....You knew he would get up for his old team with 10 rebounds and 24 points. How about Bradley 17 points and 3 steals and 4 assists. I cannot imagine how it would be for him flying down the court with Rondo and Green on the wing........that will be something to behold!


AINGE: NO RUSH TO GET PIETRUS BACK
By: Paul Flannery

Appearing as guest on The Big Show, Celtics president Danny Ainge said that Mickael Pietrus is improving, but still not ready to undergo baseline testing as outlined by the NBA in their new concussion program.

"He still has concussion symptoms and until he's asymptomatic, no headaches and no sensitivity to light, we won't even be able to test him," Ainge said. "The league has implemented new procedures once he becomes asymptotic and he's not there yet, although he is improving each day."

Asked if he thought there was a chance that Pietrus doesn't return this season, Ainge said, "We're not thinking that way at all. There's not a whole lot we can do. If we find that information out we'll have to react and go get someone out of the D-League or something. Right now, I don't see how that would happen. He is getting better each day.

"I anticipate within the week that he'll start getting tested and get back to practice," Ainge continued. "I don't know how long that process goes either. We're not in a rush to get him back as much as we want him to come back and be healthy. I think we'll know more in the next four or five days."


KEY GAME WATCH: Washington all over Philly, Atlanta downs the Knicks,

Next Game Sunday @ Home Miami 3:30 pm ABC/ CSNE

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POST GAME RECAP WEEI 850 AM

FAST BREAK: CELTICS ALL ALONE IN FIRST PLACE
By Paul Flannery

You’ll have to excuse the Celtics if they never want March to end. After a 100-79 win in Minnesota on Friday night, they capped off the month with a 12-5 record and sole possession of first place in the Atlantic Division after the 76ers inexplicably lost by 21 points at Washington.

The Celtics are hitting their stride and playing their best basketball of the season. Their timing couldn’t be better with a brutal week on tap that starts Sunday with a game against the Heat and features the Spurs, Bulls, Pacers and Sixers.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Avery Bradley, scoring machine: The Celtics found out before the game that Ray Allen would miss his fifth straight contest with a sprained ankle, but the Celtics haven’t missed Allen nearly as much as they thought they would. Since moving into the starting lineup, Bradley has scored 60 points in four games. He had 14 in the first half on 5-for-6 shooting that once again included backcuts and open jump shots.

Rajon Rondo, assisting machine: The last time Rondo took 10 shots in a game was a week and a half ago against Atlanta. Since then he’s racked up 86 assists. He had 12 in the first half, and no turnovers. This was the 12 straight game that Rondo has recorded double-digit assists.

Kevin Garnett, simply a machine: There was some talk in Minnesota that the home crowd should boo Garnett after he said on Wednesday that he had no feelings for the Timberwolves organization. That’s an odd reaction considering everything Garnett gave the franchise during his 12 seasons there, but there was much anticipation for his return, especially considering the way Kevin Love has put himself into the MVP discussion recently. This was no contest.

Garnett got the better of the matchup from the opening tip and scored 24 points on 12-for-18 shooting with 10 rebounds. Love, meanwhile, went for 22 and 11 but shot only 5-for-18 from the floor.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Is this a trick question? Nothing went wrong in a game the Celtics led from the opening minutes. It was one of their most complete road victories of the season.

SOLID.

They controlled all aspects of this game.

Rondo was totally in command of his game. 17 assists with 1 turn over is an unreal stat line.

AB was solid again. Pierce was on his game. Steamer, Bass, hell - even Dooling is really starting to round into his role.

But game ball goes to KG. Big game on both ends. Made Love work for everything....and just played with a ton of energy and heart.

To top it off, I got to watch that clown Brad Miller - piss, moan, cry and show what a waste of space he is.

Bring on the Heat.

MRK

Did you notice how heavy Brad Miller got. He really looks out of shape when compared to his days in Chicago.

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Miller is one of those guys that it is easy to dislike. Dirty, cheap and then cries when people do it to him. He is retiring at the end of the year. Clearly he has already started hitting the all you can eats in Minnesota.

Well Said!!!!!! His skills have just about vanished. He did have a nice outside shot once.

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This is the fourth consecutive game in which:

• they've gotten out to a great start and made the other team play catchup throughout most of the game;

• they then eased off the throttle while the other team worked like crazy to come back or (like last night) to trade baskets;

• and they had plenty left in the tank at crunch time.

I have no idea how that will work against the iron of the league, who could potentially be able to come back in the middle of the game and continue that momentum until the end. And, of course, there's no guarantee the Celtics will jump out to a lead in every game, especially if Ray replaces Avery in the starting lineup.

There's one question I would like to have asked of Doc. During a large portion of the game, Avery guarded the opposing PG, and the announcers very correctly remarked about what a great job he did. I'm wondering whether Doc utilized that strategy more because he thought Avery would do a better job than Rondo on the PG or because he though Rondo would do a better job than Avery on the SG.

Sam

Avery on Wade and Rondo on LeBron vs the Heat (semi kidding)

I am not really surprised Rondos defense on LeBron worked well, LeBron cant beat Rondo by going by him and he does not really like posting people up.

So both Wade and LeBron are strong and taller than Rondo/Bradley but they would have to use skills other than the ones they usually beat people with.

Swede -

Lebron is not a SG, so in a series - most of the time Pierce / Pietrus / Daniels will be dealing with him, not Bradley or Rondo

Mrkleen,

I think Swede is referring to the occasions (earlier in the season) when they switched Rondo onto Lebron. Lebron's effectiveness was reduced.

What I'm a little leery of is the possibility that it was mainly the element of surprise that the Celtics had working for them. Whether it could work on a routine basis is a major question.

Sam

mrkleen09 wrote:Swede -

Lebron is not a SG, so in a series - most of the time Pierce / Pietrus / Daniels will be dealing with him, not Bradley or Rondo

It would not surprise me in the slightest if either Rondo and AB guard Bron and Wade and do it quite a bit. Of course like all great players it will take a team effort to contain them regardless of whom may be guarding them.

beat

Yeah, maybe in a pinch or on switches.

Rondo has guarded Bron for small stretches, to switch things up here and there. But Doc isnt going to start the game (or end the game) with AB or Rondo guarding Lebron.

sam wrote:Mrkleen,

I think Swede is referring to the occasions (earlier in the season) when they switched Rondo onto Lebron. Lebron's effectiveness was reduced.

What I'm a little leery of is the possibility that it was mainly the element of surprise that the Celtics had working for them. Whether it could work on a routine basis is a major question.

Sam

Yeah part of it was probably change of pace but it also gives Pierce some rest so he can play the minutes he does play against LeBron better.

I guess it also depends if it is one of those games where LeBron is feeling it from outside or not, if he is hot from outside and he can just rise up over Rondo its no good.

mrkleen09 wrote:Yeah, maybe in a pinch or on switches.

Rondo has guarded Bron for small stretches, to switch things up here and there. But Doc isnt going to start the game (or end the game) with AB or Rondo guarding Lebron.

Oh for sure not.

If Bradley can take care of Wade I have trust in LeBron to not deliver.

I only got to watch the 1st 3 quarters, but from the look of it I didn't miss much. It looks like the 4th quarter was the same as the previous 3, just more so. The Wolves were severely depleted, with Beasley and Darko and Barea and Anthony Randolph all not playing. Tough shit. I don't hear violins playing for us when we lost JON and Wilcox and Green. Nobody is consoling us because Ray Allen is out.

Every Celtic player had a positive +/-. Sam may shoot holes in this, but I believe that means that EVERY Celtic lineup combination beat EVERY Wolves lineup combination. That's nice chemistry, and great matchup coaching by Doc.

Minny shot under 35% for the game. That's ferocious defense. A lot of that was KG on Love but Dooling and Bradley were fierce too.

The Wolves' jerseys said "Muskies" on it. The name "Muskeelunge" comes from a native american word meaning "ugly pike", by way of the french "masque allonge", meaning "elongated face". Well, they looked pretty ugly last night. Time to switch the jerseys back. Wolves are beautiful creatures. Unless you're a deer...

1. Avery Bradley must have heard Jackie Mac's interview. He has been on a scoring tear the last few games while Ray has been nursing his ankle. Only a few shots from outside, but so what? I'd rather have a layup than a jumpshot anyway. Sam has pointed out that Bradley seems to come out strong in the 1st half and then diminish in the 2nd half as teams adjust to him. This may be true, and that might create a problem for the kid next year when he's scouted more and prepared better for, but this year it's giving the Celtics those wonderful hot-right-out-of-the-gate starts that take the pressure off us and onto the opponent. If the rest of the team has to pick up his slack in the 2nd half, well, that's their job. He did theirs in the 1st half. Boy, has Bradley learned the joy of moving without the ball? The % of his buckets that are assisted and that are inside of 5' must be sky-high. Also, the backcourt duo of Rondo and Bradley is a MUCH more effective uptempo, fastbreaking unit. Bradley is one of the few, if not only, Celtic that can and will run with Rondo. At one point in the 2nd quarter Bradley was the leading scorer in the game, for either team, with 12 points. As far as guarding the point guard, why wouldn't Doc do that? Rondo's a gambler. He swipes at balls from behind but will often allow his man to be funneled into the paint and the help defense. Bradley will stay between the basket and his man, and from my perspective, that's definitely what you want. I'd rather have a point guard pass from 20' out than from 2' out. The lightbulb is finally going on over Avery Bradley's head.

2. A very good game by Steamer too. He was very active in the 1st half and pretty good in the 3rd quarter too. He's only given credit for 5 rebounds, but 3 of them were offensive and there were a few more where he tapped the ball out to a Celtic. He didn't get credit for that board, but it was because of him. He was also aggressive scoring. So aggressive, in fact, that one time he saw he had space between him and his man and he put the ball on the floor and tried to take it to the iron. Offensive foul by Steamer, as his man easily got position, but I like the fact that he attacked. He forced the defender to make a choice. This time it was the right choice, but next time...? I think the arrival of Hollins has lit a fire under Steamer. Not that he was indifferent before, but he looks like he's playing harder now, is more active now. He's making more steals, swatting more passes and just generally moving his body more. Some of that comes from having almost an entire season to learn the rotations. I don't know how far this team will go this post-season. We're an older, veteran team that has taken some body blows from key injuries, but I have really enjoyed watching the maturation of Bradley and Steamer. They will be key players in our next championship team. A little bit of luck and a whole lot of good execution, maybe that championship team will be this year's.

3. I've gotten on Dooling all season. He has played a few good games, this past week or so. If he keeps it up, I'm happy because it will help the team. That still doesn't mean he wasn't excrement the first half of this season. He hit some shots and played some very good D last night. A couple of Minny turnovers were a direct result of his on-the-ball defense. Those turnovers resulted in Celtic points on the subsequent possession. We just need him to keep playing like this and not regress.

4. KG was monstrous in another return to "his Minny". He completely outplayed Kevin Love. Statistically, they were close, except for fg% (12-18 for KG vs 5-18 for Love) but that doesn't tell the story. KG smothered Love for most of the game. Love shot 10-11 from the line and some of those calls were gifts. I know it's crazy saying that Love was outplayed when he had 22 points and 11 rebounds, but when you consider what he's been doing the past month, this is an off night. Quite frankly, I thought maybe half of Love's rebounds were gimmes. Missed shot, nobody around to contest the rebound, easy stat. He had to earn his shots though, with KG on him, and he shot only 5-18. Not as easy when your man is taller than you, more mobile than you and a defensive specialist, is it Kevin? KG was just everywhere on offense and defense. The Minny announcers kept talking about how KG was constantly grabbing Love. Yeah, well, so what? You have to play the game the refs are calling and not the game you'd like them to call. They kept mentioning how "amped up" KG was and how, in the past, that would undermine his performance a bit. Not last night. Last night he was hard-wired and all but owned his former team.

5. Rondo, never a good shooter, seems to have forgotten what little he did know about shooting. 3-11 for 6 points? C'mon...He had 7 assists after 1, 12 assists at the half and 17 for the game with only 2 TOs. That's an outrageously, over-the-top splendid ratio of assists-to-turnovers for a point guard. I realize most people would kill to have a point guard that could generate that many assists on almost any given night, but it would be nice if he scored more. Oh well, we've always known Rondo's not a complete player. We just have to keep hoping the lightbulb comes on over his head, like is has over Bradley's. Tony Allen's brain was his weakest muscle. With Rondo, it's his strongest as well as his weakest sometimes. He needs to attack the rim more. If he won't do that with the ball how about KG or Steamer in the high post while Bradley and Rondo flash baseline? We saw that last night once. KG had the ball out top, Rondo was forgotten underneath, bingo. It'll work a lot more times than it won't.

6. Doc went with, essentially, an 8-man unit last night. The 5 starters, Steamer, Sasha and Dooling. The only one who didn't look good last night was Sasha. Missed his 5 shots, made a few goofs and just didn't contribute much. Over the past month or so I've been very happy with Sasha, but last night is not going into his scrapbook.

7. 15 fastbreak points for the Celtics vs 11 for the Wolves. 46 points in the paint for the Celtics vs 36 for the Wolves. 45 rebounds for the Celtics (13 offensive) vs 45 rebounds (14 offensive) for the Wolves. 9 steals for the Celtics vs 5 for the Wolves. 9 turnovers for the Celtics vs 20 for the Wolves. The only major statistical category we didn't beat them (I consider a tie, by the worst rebounding team in the NBA, to be the equivalent of a victory) was in fta and, as I said earlier, I thought a lot of those fta were gifts by the refs to Love. Stats can't tell you about flow, about chemistry, about execution or about why some things worked and others didn't. They're just barometers and not incontrovertible heralds of truth, I know, but our barometric readings were real good last night. Miami's flying into a storm tomorrow.

A few more minutes than I would have liked the starters playing, given it was a blowout and we play Miami on Sunday, but that's about the only thing I can bitch about. Nice game by the Celtics.

Sunday's game will be a barn burner. Let's hope we're the ones bring "the heat".

bob


.

There could be combinations where its not a +.

The bench being in plus is a good sign for us though.

Bob,

No gripes from me in your usage of the +/- stat. You were using it to draw conclusions about consistency among combinations. I object to its use as an evaluator of individuals.

+/- or not, I think it's remarkable how the combinations available Doc have been dwindling in number, but the number of combinations (some impromptu) that have been effective is quite high.

I think back to the abbreviated preseason and the early season, when Doc spent considerable time trying various combinations. I wonder how much of that experimentation may be bearing fruit now. I expect that it's more a matter of how guys have been forced together by necessity and have worked hard to figure out how use their respective skills to the optimum in playing well together.

It's easy to see why Doc loves this team. In some ways, the entire season has felt like one long barnstorming trip, with landmines planted along the way. But they've been steadfast in meeting challenges—from KG's reinventing himself to the two kids persistently carving out productive roles for themselves. I'm not at all sure I can recall another Celtics team quite like this one.

Go Celtics!

Sam

As an aside, Keyon Dooling has been playing very good ball off the bench.

Maybe we are starting to see what Doc sees in him...and if he can continue to hit shots down the stretch and in the playoffs - he will be a valuable role player.

MrK,

Liked Dooling's defense and ball pressure that he was applying last night. I think Bradley's ball pressure is rubbing off on the rest of the C's!

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Mkleen,

Can you (or anyone else) think of a single Celtics player (currently playing) who is not doing an outstanding job of playing the role he's most ideally equipped to fill for this team? And they still have something like a dozen games to hone their collective craft and (hopefully) reintegrate returning players.

It's difficult to avoid over-enthusiastic about what is probably a long shot for a deep playoff run. Here's hoping the upcoming stretch of very difficult opponents doesn't sober us up in a hurry.

Sam

sam wrote:Mkleen,

Can you (or anyone else) think of a single Celtics player (currently playing) who is not doing an outstanding job of playing the role he's most ideally equipped to fill for this team? And they still have something like a dozen games to hone their collective craft and (hopefully) reintegrate returning players.

It's difficult to avoid over-enthusiastic about what is probably a long shot for a deep playoff run. Here's hoping the upcoming stretch of very difficult opponents doesn't sober us up in a hurry.

Sam

I think Sasha, Marquis, and Hollins are still trying to find their place....and one or two of them getting more confortable would be a BIG help should Pietrus remain in limbo. Otherwise, I think they have all found a good place.

Mrkleen,

For the minutes he's getting in what amounts to an emergency role, it seems to me that Quis is contributing nearly as much as could possibly be expected. He has come in when they've been jumper-happy and has made foray after foray to the basket while contributing solid defense. I believe he has had some difficulty regaining his timing in limited minutes.

I would have had more positive things to say about Sasha had it not been for yesterday's game. For some reason he gives me confidence when he's on the floor. I tend to isolate my focus on him in the defensive end. He's constantly doing little things that alter the opponent's plan, to say nothing about vigorously contesting shots, sneaking away for touchdown passes, and the occasional three-pointer. I agree that he can contribute more, and the Celts are about to face some teams that may bring that out in him. I can't think of any active Celtic who is a better candidate to guard Lebron effectively without getting into early foul trouble.

Yes, Hollins still has to find his way. In his limited minutes, he's been concentrating on boxing out people. At present, and based on relatively few minutes of action, Ryan ranks third among active Celtics in rebounds per 36 minutes (7.7 compared with 6.9 for Bass 8.8 for Stiemsma and 9.5 for KG). Perhaps even more impressive (although obviously based on scanty minutes), Hollins ranks #1 on the team in terms of offensive rebounds per 36 minutes (3.9, with no other player in sight). And I do like the fact that he seems to love hustling down in transition to finish on passes from Rondo.

So, while Quis, Sasha and Ryan certainly could contribute more, it could be difficult if they don't get more minutes....which could be counterproductive to the overall chemistry of the team core. At least it's nice to know all three have some upside on which to build if thrown into emergency situations.

Sam

On Hollins and rebounds, wouldnt that suggest they told him to focus on doing that and defense and let everything else come later.

I think he is supposed to be a rather poor rebounder but I guess that could be because of lack of focusing before.

Swede,

Hollins and Doc have both been very vocal about the fact that he's been told to concentrate on rebounds. That doesn't mean he's suddenly likely to morph into the second coming of Dwight Howard. But sometimes a fresh start, coupled with a narrow focus, can help a player perform to the best of his capabilities

Let's see if he gets any run (aside from emergency needs or garbage time) against some of the better teams on the upcoming schedule.

Sam