Re: Celtics Pre-Game Thread (Collection of past threads)

[dboss]

jeb

I also feel a little nervous about this game but it is certainly one that the Celtics should win if they play their game.

dboss

[dboss]

gyso

Late games on the left coast are hard to stay up for but I took tomorrow off so I have no excuses.

dboss

[jeb]

dboss

we got to show up and play. We'll grease em if we do.

[dboss]

The best thing about losing a game one night on back to back games is that the opportunity for redemption is swift.

The Celtics will do battle with the Warriors tonight at 10:30.


The Warriors are led in scoring by Monte Ellis and he is averaging 31 ppg over the past five. Corey Maggette is a solid well built SF who averages 17.6 ppg and grabs 5.7 boards pr game. Baby face rookie Stephen Curry is playing the point and the kid is playing well. He averages 12 ppg and 4.7 assists. Andris Biedrins is the center.
He has only played 4 games this year but is expected to return tonight Anthony Randolph is the PF and at 20 years of age he is doing pretty good. He averages 11,6 ppg and 6.5 rebounds.

Let me see…who else… I’m so damn mad about last night’s loss I can barely think.

GS likes to run and gun and are averaging 107 ppg. They give up more than they score but the point is that if you do not play defense against them they can blow you out..

Keys to the game

Contain Ellis

Rebound the basketball

Push the ball when the opportunity presents itself

Stay with what works. (i.e. if sheed is killing them in the post do it all game long.

Execute on offense

dboss

[Sam]

Dboss,

These things are difficult to write when one is furious about the previous game. I found today's post-game thread very hard to write. You deserve a lot of credit for persisting anyway. Thanks a lot.

Sam

[bigpygme]

thx for the post, dboss. i always appreciate your research and knowledge of our opponents.

nice to hear Stephen Curry is playing well ... it was hard not to root for him in the NCAA's while he was shooting the lights out ! <G>

[dboss]

Things do not get any easier as the Celtics play the Suns in Phoenix tonight.

The Celtics are coming off 2 straight losses. This could not come at a worse time because Baby is out along with KG and Rondo also may miss the game.

The Suns put up a ton of points led by Nash. Amare , J Richardson Frye and Grant Hill are the starters. They average 109 per game and are 20-12. Nuff said...this team can score.

Keys to the game

If Boston tries to run with the Suns they will get blown out.

A patient deliberate half court game may keep the score close. Feed the post, limit a lot of 3 points shots.

Hit the boards

Pray

dboss

[dboss]

The Celtics are at home tonight where they play host to the Toronto Raptors.

As we all know Boston has dropped 3 straight games all on the road and it reminds all of us of the volatility of an NBA season. Nothing is set in stone. Nothing is guaranteed.

The Raptors are an average team at best posting a 16-17 record. Led by Allstar Chris Bosh, 23.8 ppg and 11.3 rebounds, the Raptors are a team structured like a wannabe Euro team. Bargnani the 7 footer has developed into a solid contributor at 16.7 ppg and 6.1 rebounds.

The other starters include PG J Jack. He has been starting in place of Jose Calderon because Calderon has a bad hip. The only thing I know about Jack is that he has a huge head.

Hedo was a better player with Orlando. But the Raptors wanted him and were willing to shell out big bucks for his services. Hedo is shooting poorly from the fields .427 but remains a very good shooter from behind the arc. He has been bothered by a bad knee that may be affecting his play.

The starter at SG is Demar Derozan. He is a kid and still learning the game. He is athletic like many 20 year olds in the NBA

The Raptors have been playing well as of late winning 5 straight games.

Keys to the game

With Garnett , Pierce, Rondo and Baby out the Celtics must rely on their reserves.

Close out the perimeter

Control the Paint

Share the basketball

Would be nice to see Hudson, Giddens and Walker get some run tonight.

[dboss]

The Celtics will be in Miami tonight against the Heat. The Heat (17-15) are coming off of a nice win over the Hawks on Monday.

This is one of those teams that I just cannot fugue out. They have a superstar in Dwayne Wade (26.4 ppg, 6.2 assists and 5 rebounds) a legit center with O’Neal who still puts up 12.7 ppg and 7.6 boars, a young promising player in Michael Beasley 15.9 with 6.7 rebounds, a long distance shooter in Q. Richardson and a very competitive PG in Mario Chambers. Their record indicates that they are barely better than the competition night in and night out. (96.7 PF and 96.1 PA)

In the first meeting on November 29 the Celtics beat them 92-85. In that Game KG led the Celtics in scoring with 24 pts and both Rajon Rondo and Perkins recorded double doubles. This will be a very different match up.

KG is out and O’Neal is a game time decision due to the hip injury and Rondo may also be out

Keys to the game

Wade dropped 27 in the last meeting so I guess if you can hold him below that the Celtics may have a chance to get the win. TA will probably match up with Wade on defense. TA is 6’ 4" and is also a Chicago native. Ray will probably chase Q around on the perimeter. The TA /Wade match up will give us another opportunity to evaluate TA’s ability to be a defensive stopper.

TA also has to play PG and if he can limit turnovers he should be able to run the offense.

I suppose as always rebounding the basketball would be good.

I would also like to see Sheed deep in the post matched up with O’Neal.


dboss

[beat]

Dboss

Wade has been shooting nerly 50% over his last several games.
Beasley actually concerns me a bit more than Wade as far as going off and scoring a whole lot more than his average. He will need to be contained.

If we can keep this in the 80's to low 90's I give us a good shot but if Miami get to triples on us I don't think we keep up.

beat

[KellyGreen17]

I just read on BDC that Pierce and Rondo will both play tonight, although neither is at 100%. Perkins was questionable with a stomach bug, but it looks like he'll play as well.

[Outside]

I agree with Beat. The key isn't controlling Wade since he'll get his numbers; the key is keeping other guys like Beasley and Chalmers from having a big game.

I also agree with dboss that Miami is a difficult team to figure out. Although they aren't deep, they do have some good pieces, but they put in some head-scratching performances. In the past month, they're 7-6, and that includes a 3-game winning streak followed immediately by a 3-game losing streak. In that span, they've beaten the Pacers by 34, beaten the Hawks by 17, and lost to the Spurs by 30. Lord help anyone trying to bet on this team.

What little I've seen of them, their defense is fair and their offense goes too often into "watch Wade" mode, especially in the fourth quarter. I've also noticed that apparently there is a league rule that when Wade drives down the middle in the fourth quarter, the defense has to part like the Red Sea so he can throw down an unchallenged thunderous dunk. I know he benefits from foul calls, but his free throw percentage doesn't match his dunking percentage, so why not put him on the line? Add it to the long list of things I don't understand.

Jermaine O'Neal is questionable for this game, the cupboard is pretty bare in the backup center department (Jamaal Magloire, anyone?), and Beasley won't be winning any DPOY awards, so you'd think they'd be vulnerable inside.

Outside

[dboss]

The Celtics will be playing the Hawks tonight here in Atlanta. I will not be at the game but I plan to attend the game on the 31st.

During their first meeting in Boston, the Hawks came away with a 97-86 victory. Two key stats in the game was the 47-29 rebounding edge including a whopping 16 – 6 on the offensive glass.

There always seems to be 1 or 2 teams every year that give the Celtics fits. Atlanta is one of those teams.

Led by Joe Johnson, the Hawks are very athletic, high energy team that will try to run you out of their building by pounding you on the glass. Josh Smith IMO is the most athletic PF in the NBA. He can rebound with anyone, block shots and runs the floor like a SF.

The other bookend is Al Horford. He is tenacious on the glass, can shoot, rebound and plays physical defense.

The small Marvin Williams is also very athletic. He has worked on his outside shot and also you will see him on the front end of a fast break.

Veteran Mike Biddy runs the point and can be a dangerous if not streaky shooter from behind the arc.

The acquisition of Jamal Crawford gives the Hawks an excellent 6th man that can come off the bench and carry the team offensively.

Keys to the game

The Celtics must block out and control the defensive glass and thus limit the Hawks to one shot per trip.

Ray Allen cannot cover Joe Johnson. When JJ heads to the hoop or tries to penetrate the help defense must come quick. It also may not be a bad ides to bum rush him when he is out on the perimeter and force him to become a passer.

Turn Rondo loose on Bibby. Bibby cannot check Rondo so the Celtics should set picks for Rajon so that he can get to the rim and expose the soft underbelly of the Hawks defense.

Get Sheed more touches in the post because the Hawks do not have anyone who can check Rasheed.

dboss

[dboss]

The Celtics travel to New Jersey to play the Nets tonight.

The Nets are horrible and that is why this game scares me a little. They have nothing to lose from losing.

The Celtics usually bounce back from a loss and we are all hoping that Monday night’s defeat at the hands of the Atlanta Hawk will not be a lingering issue.

I won’t get into the individual stats. Needless to say the Nets do have some talent at center with the big kid Lopez. Did you know that he leads the team in scoring rebounds assists and block shots?

I guess if you can contain his impact you can beat them.

They also have a good point guard in Devin Harris and the PF Jianlian has settled in nicely. CDR can score and is very athletic and Courtney Lee round out the starting five. This is a young but talented starting unit. The margin between winning and losing is very small but they have not been able to close that gap.

Keys to the game

As always defense wins games and the Nets allow 101.1 PPG but only score 89.9

The Celtics should be able to play man to man coverage and should limit the number of switches.

Keep the nets off the Glass

Play the bench ..

dboss

[swedeinestonia]

Is Lopez a good defensive player?

[KellyGreen17]

Swede I can't remember much about him from our previous game vs. the Nets, but the below link sums up his game. I just don't know how accurate it is...

http://www.draftexpress.com/profile/Brook-Lopez-545/

[swedeinestonia]

Thanks Kelly.

Lopez seems to be an interesting player, will be interesting to see if he can keep developing.

[dboss]

The Celtics back from their tough 2 point loss to the Bucks will host the Memphis Grizzlies tonight at the gardens.
Memphis will be trying for a franchise record 7th straight road win. Combine that motivation with the home issues that the Celtics have had makes for an intense and highly competitive contest.

The Grizz are lead by Zach Randolph who is averaging a double double with 20 and 11 but the strength of this team is in the 5 players that average double digits. This team can score. Rudy Gay (we could have drafted him) has developed into a solid wing player that can score inside and out. OJ mayo is nifty with the ball, Conley is developing and Gasol is a better center than Gasol.

This team likes to get up and down so Boston will need to get back on defense.

They are also a good rebounding team.

Look for Boston to get Ray Allen involved early.

The keys to the game are:
Pass the damn ball
Rebound the ball
Value the ball
Run run run (without the ball)
dboss

[Sam]

Hey dboss,

Great to see you and this feature on the board again.

Let's hope for a lively starters combination tonight. The perfect game to get more into synch against a tough team. I'm becoming concerned that the synergy of the five starters isn't as good as that of the same five starters two years ago. I'm thinking there's a transition occurring in terms of catalysts and leaderhip, and it may not be going all that smoothly.

Just heard that Randolph will play tonight.

Enjoy the game,

Sam

[worcester]

Again, our offense sucks wind. I did like Michael Finlay a lot and hope he gets to see a great deal more floor time.

[worcester]

dboss - I fully agree ...run, run, run - and pass out to Ray and M. Finlay and Paul.....too bad there was so little of that tonight.

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