Post Game Thread Toronto @Boston Preseason Game # 1 Oct 7th 2013

[dboss]

My Observations: (must be considered in the context of limited minutes and multiple combinations)

The Celtics ran more than I can recall however they were not able to maintain that pace in the second half.

Humphries is a solid PF but he cannot defend the center spot.

Wallace is who I thought he is.  An energy guy that can run at both ends and defend multiple positions.

Vitor did not look half bad.  I could actually see him starting at center at some point in the season.

Bradley flashed his defensive skills and also made some shots but in the second half he struggled to run the offense because they were playing more halfcourt offense in the 2nd half and he was being contested.

KO can really pass the rock.  You could see that he has a good feel for the game,  He however had problems rebounding and keeping his man from the ball.   Kelley needs to spend a lot of time in the weight room this year.

Lee played very good defense but did not really get into the offensive flow.

Green really was a non factor.  he was not getting the ball in a position where he could score easier.

Brooks made a cameo appearance.

Bass was pretty average

My star of the game was Jared Sullinger.  He had an all around solid game at both ends and considering that he has not played since February, He was very impressive.

The Celtics must improve their rebounding.  I did think that they took very good care of the ball in the first half.  Playing uptempo basketball takes discipline.  The Celtics will need to run as much as possible to avoid getting bogged down in a half court game where they do not have anyone with above average PG skills.

dboss

[sinus007]

Hi,
I'm pretty much in sync with Dboss. There're a few additions, thou.
JG: I had a feeling that he stayed in the shadows on purpose.
AB: Once again - he is not a pg. I wonder what BrSt gonna do about it.
JC isn't pg either. Speaking of which, I wonder when/if PP is going to be put to test?
KO, besides the weight room, needs to settle down and start to "collect" as much experience as he can find. Sky is the limit. Pity that he can't get tutelage from KG.
It may sound funny, but I felt that Celtics looked like a better team than Raptors. Except for the final score, obviously.

AK

[bobheckler]

I got my new Galaxy Note in time for the game but couldn't get a link.  So I followed the ESPN play by play and the game on thread.  My 'observations', therefore, weren't actually observed.  Gleaming what I could from stats and the thread:

1.  We have two excellent passing big men in Kelly and Sully.  This could pay dividends if they play a two man high-low game with each other.  Kelly had 5 assists in 19 minutes and would have had more but for blown bunnies and shots getting blocked.  Sully had 4.

2.  We have some really poor passing guards.  This could be a problem with teams with good transition defense or if we slow down from fatigue.

3.  Gerald Wallace has a nose for the ball.  When he was on the floor his name kept coming up.  High scorer, 4 assists and the only Celtic to shoot over 50%.

4.  Expectations for AB was that he needed to improve his offense.  The expectation for Jeff Green was that he'd show up for every game.  Both underachieved.  Bradley shot 5-16 and Green shot 2-7.  That is wrong on so many levels.  For one thing, there is no way Bradley should be taking twice as many fgas as Green.

5.  As thin as we are at point guard we are see-through one-ply toilet paper at center.  Nowhere is there better opportunity than at 5.  The door is wide open for Vitor, and it's a barn door.  Vitor's offensive stats weren't good but he made 2 steals and had 2 blocks.  Without seeing the game, that sounds like a decent start for Vitor.  I want every Celtic to overachieve but I am really, Really, REALLY rooting for Vitor.  What did you see?  

6.  83 fgas is decent pace (they only had 71), 39% shooting is not (especially when they shoot 52%).  Rebounding?  What rebounding?  25 assists on 33fgm is pretty good for what is basically a new team.

What did I miss?



bob



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[NYCelt]

Who would have thought...an exciting game between the Jets and Falcons...

Caught this one on delay, too little sleep as a result, but I love when football, baseball and basketball overlap.

No conclusions from one game, but the prior three posts seem to have caught all the finer points.

I'll "4th" the notion that rebounding is something we need to tend to as if the whole place was on fire, however.

I found it interesting that the starting guards played over 30 minutes apiece in the first pre-season game.  Doc, er, I mean Brad, must not have much trust in the others yet.  Crawford was OK in his 20min of play.

I much prefer a combination of forwards using Sully, Wallace and Olynyk than Bass, Green and Hump; well, again, based on one game.  Combining each trio there were similar minutes played and equally overall poor rebounding,  excepting Sully.  Sully, Wallace and Olynyk were far superior on the offensive end.

To me the bright spots were Sullinger and Wallace.  I thought both made a meaningless pre-season game very much worth watching.  I hope both get similar or increased minutes next game.

Off-court and of note; the broadcast crew next game is Mike Gorman and P.J. Carlisimo.  Really?  OK, but I didn't see that combination coming.

[Sam]

I watched the game bassackward—from the middle of the first through the end and then (on the 2:00 a.m. replay) the first quarter and a half. I started preparing this post as a glimmer post, and I intent to duplicate my glimmers on that thread. But it was virtually impossible not to interject a lot of "buts" and "howevers" because there was loads of material in the need-for-improvement direction.

My glimmers:

• The Celtics are going to be playing uptempo basketball. Dboss and I are doing daily tribal dances to the transition gods in hopes it continues.

• At this moment in time, Gerald Wallace is arguably the Celtics’ most complete player. He does a lot of things well—playing really tight defense, being a running stuff threat in transition, and spacing the floor as a legitimate three-point threat in the half-court offense—all with zero turnovers and four assists last night. He doesn’t appear to be that much of a rebounder.

• I love Olynyk and Sully’s passing abilities and instincts and their inside and outside offensive versatility. As Bob mentioned, playing those two together could give the Celtics a serious inside-outside weapon.

• Aside from his other attributes Kelly Olynyk sets timely and solid picks. Despite his lack of bulk, he has the ability to spread out and take up space.

• Olynyk in a motion offense is like a mongoose confronting a cobra. How's that for an analogy, BobH? But seriously, Kelly is amazing at taking advantage of openings created by motion and spacing. He can anticipate instantly and has the ability to thread passes through traffic. And he just loves to get out on the break. Let someone else be the trailer when this guy's on the floor.

• Pending Phil Pressey’s appearance on the court, Jordan Crawford deserves some time at PG because he's currently the best ball distributor on this Rondo-less team. And he took three shots in 18 minutes—not exactly the calling card of a shameless gunner. And he made two of his three shots—both three-pointers.

• The Celtics showed an ability and a tendency to space the floor well on offense, especially with Olynyk, Sully and Wallace occasionally complementing guards on the perimeter.

In the neutral department:

• I believe Brad Stevens learned, in the first half, that giving a combination a couple of minutes before breaking it up is not anywhere near sufficient to get a read on how they play together. He gave them longer runs in the second half.

Now for the not-so-good things (and I'm omitting a lot for board morale reasons):

• Whenever Avery Bradley is placed in the role of ball distributor in the half court, I’d suggest they save some time and just hand the ball to the competition. I’m still waiting for him to pass the ball—even once—from north to south (or even south to north) in the halfcourt game He did make one nice pass to a wing on the break, and technically that was a few feet north-to-south.

• If Avery Bradley can’t play the role of ball distributor in the halfcourt (and he definitely can’t), what’s the sense of playing him at PG with some hoked-up scheme for other guys to be ball distributors? Starting out with a jury-rigged compromise is no way to move forward. I’d much rather get a good look at Phil Pressey because at least, for better or worse, at least he’s a bona fide “1.”

• I didn't see as much of the promised motion offense as I had hoped. Bradley and MarShon Brooks made a number of cuts to the hoop, but that turned out to be what I’d call “wasted hustle” because both have a tendency to drive into traffic underneath and get blocked.

• The absence of KG’s and Paul Pierce’s 14 RPG is palpable. And, even if the Celtics had possessed an extra 14 boards, they wouldn’t have rebounded enough to win most ball games. It’s not that they failed to get enough possessions (after all, they had 83 FGA, which is not bad). But lack of rebounding will severely diminish their ability to run what could otherwise be a very promising uptempo game. I believe that, in the repeated lack of points in the paint, they’ll need at least 20-25 fast break points per game to give themselves a shot at winning games with any slim degree of regularity—and it will take a lot of rebounding to approach that level of easy points.

• Pending some appearances of Phil Pressey, nothing has dissuaded me from thinking Crawford's their best PG after Rondo. Yes, TJ, he'll always look awkward (which I believe is why BobH calls him "Herky Jerky), but that's not always a bad thing because it can throw off the timing of opponents.

• The Celtics are currently having to improvise on a lot of shots rather than being set up in their sweet spots. I know that added familiarity with one another should make this a less problematic situation, because walk-throughs don’t usually inculcate this type of knowledge

Sam.

[Outside]

The toughest part about this season will be patience.

The (pre) season is finally here and a good chunk of the board is more than eager to see what this team has, but I think this season will be a journey that must be examined mostly in hindsight. Sam's "see me in April" line has been appropriate in years past as an admonition to not assess the Celtics' playoff worthiness too soon, but I think it's advice that is more appropriate than ever this season, even though they likely won't make the playoffs and would get thumped in the first round even if they did.

The task facing this team is enormous:

Implementing both a new offense and a new defense
with a roster that doesn't know each other
and a head coach who hasn't spent a minute in the NBA
and will have to bring their all-star point guard on board mid-stream.

Any one of those factors justifies a "see me in April" plea for patience, and they have to deal with all of that and more. I'm actually optimistic that the experience will bond them together as a group and that they'll make some big strides by March and April.

If you can separate yourself from the inevitable early season stumbles, it could be a most interesting season. It will definitely be a different type of season. Instead of hoping that the aging veterans can survive the 82-game gauntlet and pull together for a postseason run, you get to watch a garden grow and hopefully bear fruit. If Ainge, Stevens, and the coaching staff are good gardeners, there might be some fruit worth picking in April.

[worcester]

Regarding rebounds, don't forget Rajon's 5+ are missing too.

[k_j_88]

Faverani had a few blocks in that game. Small sample size, but that's certainly a positive sign. If they can nurture his offense and polish his defense, he could become a legit center.


KJ

[Sam]

Faverani was sort of a tale of two halves. He had an impact in the first half, although I felt that he literally stumbled into some of his good defensive plays. He pretty much stumbled in the second half. You can tel that he's not a naturally gifted athlete. For example, he has to work hard to muster decent footwork. But he's just as obviously a very hard worker, and he does know the game.

Go Vitor!

Sam

[dboss]

Sam

Vitor is perhaps the most unknown player on the roster.  He did run the floor and dunk off of a beautiful feed from Kelly.  It is always nice to see a center run and score on the fast break

He has a long way to go but he may very well be one of the 5 most important players on this roster.  He is the only real center on the team so he better get better or else we are going to get killed in the paint.

The Celtics will probably be forced to play 2 PF (Sullinger and ?)   I really do not like to see guys playing out of position because it ultimately will compromise the abilities that they possess.  Watching AB try to run the offense (particularly in the 2nd half) gave me a quick flashback to the playoffs)  We are still waiting to see what PP has to offer.

A lot of the rebounding woes is still about fundamentals, communication and discipline (you block that guy out and I will go get the rebound)  The unspoken understanding that rebounding must be a team effort.  

I am sure that Stevens recognizes this and will have the team focus on techniques and the repetition required to improve the team's rebounding.  If he can do that, he will have run circles around former coach Doc Rivers.

I think we will see some very different defensive tactics.  Under doc we saw a lot of filtering and switching and I already noticed that Stevens wants guys to stay on their man as much as possible.  However, defending the pick and roll will ultimately define the defense.  The Celtics have some pretty good on the ball defenders so I think before long the defense will be even better than the offense.

As fans we will need to grow with this team.  I think that as long as there is a process in place that is designed to bring about improvement and we are intuitive enough to embrace some of the mundane activity that must occur, we will weather the storm right along with our team.

dboss

[bobheckler]

Redsarmy has highlights from game 1. Granted, they're highlights so they won't show the defensive breakdowns but I Loved the 3 man play between Sully, Kelly and Wallace.

If I figure out how to cut-and-paste from this tablet I'll start that again. Otherwise I'm stuck until the new cord for my laptop shows up.


bob


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[dboss]

Bob

I usually DVR the games but I forgot to hit the record button.

I plan to record the NYK game. Always fun to go back and review things.

Dboss

[bobheckler]

bob


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