Doc trying not to paint Sully into a box

http://bostonherald.com/sports/basketball/celtics/view/20221007doc_trying_not_to_paint_sullinger_into_box/



MILAN
— Jared Sullinger’s ability to burrow his way into the paint for 16
points and eight rebounds Friday night, including five offensive boards,
highlighted the big rookie’s ability to carve out space with his
considerable bulk.

But the Celtics [team stats]
coaching staff is also looking for ways to get Sullinger the favorable
matchups he will need. As a player with limited lift, some have
predicted that Sullinger will have trouble scoring and rebounding
against longer defenders.

So coach Doc Rivers
is attempting to institute a protection plan. He wants to make sure
that Sullinger is never the biggest Celtic on the floor. That way he
won’t automatically draw an opposing center in the paint.





Otherwise, he could follow in the footsteps of Glen Davis in one
particularly hazardous way, as the Celtic most likely to get his shot
blocked.

“We try to protect him so that won’t happen,” said Rivers. “The
reason we played him with Kevin (Garnett) in the second quarter is
because the bigger guy was always guarding Kevin. We got the matchup
that way.

“Sometimes you have to create the matchup. Some teams don’t have two
bigs like that, they only have one. So when you’re playing with Darko
(Milicic) or you’re playing with Kevin, you really don’t have that
problem. The good thing is that for a long stretch he was guarding a 5.
Early on I thought they were taking advantage of it, but as the game
went on I thought he got better at it.”

Bonding experience

Here’s another sign that Ubuntu may be making a comeback. The old
guys — and there are quite a few of them on this team — seem to be
taking to the youngsters and newcomers.

“They’ve been great,” said Rivers. “One thing you can see is that
they like them. We’ve had groups they haven’t liked, quite honestly, and
we’ve had groups that they’ve really liked, and it’s always easier on
the coach when they like the group that you bring in each year.

“All of the guys we’ve brought in have meshed with the team, and it’s
always easier in terms of the transition. Just getting the team
together and the unity of the team has been pretty easy. It makes a
difference for me, it really does. When the veterans like the new guys —
the new guys like Jeff (Green), (Jason Terry) and all of them and the
young guys as well — it makes it easier to team build, that’s for sure.”

Making benchmark

Considering that the starters turned the ball over five times and
also dug the initial hole during Friday night’s 97-91 loss to Fenerbahce
Ulker, there’s not a lot to say at this point about the team’s core.

Instead, it was the bench that showed itself the best, with reserves
Green and Sullinger each scoring 16 points, and Milicic having an impact
as Garnett’s relief at center. Terry, who freed up for a pair of
third-quarter bombs, is also going to be quite a weapon.

Considering that the bench never gained an identity last season as
the result of repeated injury, this group may already be ahead of the
game.

“We have to come out with energy,” said Sullinger. “We know the
intensity can’t drop. If that drops, we’re going to be in trouble.”
. . .

First someone put his name on a car, and now this. Among the
confections available at the Ulker Sports Arena snack bar were
cream-filled vanilla cookies called “Rondo.” Perhaps this really is a Rajon Rondo [stats] world, after all.

“They all were telling me
about it,” Rivers said. “Rondo says he’s going to play out his contract
and play here for half of that.” . . .

Though Celtics [team stats]
fans will be able to watch tonight’s game against Emporio Armani on
CSN, the only national outlet for fans will be on NBA-TV. . . . Emporio
Armani, a team that has gone through several sponsorship names, was the
team, otherwise known as A.C. Milan, with which Bob McAdoo chose to end
his career. Before Armani took over control of the team, it was also
briefly owned by Joe Bryant, the father of Kobe.




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