POST GAME - INDY PACERS - AWAY********PLEASE PLEASE DONATE TODAY****HORIZONS FOR HOMELESS CHILDREN

Got to be proud of the effort the Celtics put out against Indiana. Playing without a real center against Bynum and Hibbert and almost pulling it out is very impressive. Kudos again to Kris Humphries. Nice to see Johnson hitting his shot.

What we need besides a dominant center is an assassin at the three-point line ala Eddie House or Ray Allen. Just those two additions would make this team a contender next year.

I'm proud of those guys.  They fought, they just didn't have some key pieces, like a player the average Pacer couldn't shoot over flat-footed.

Jackie Mac on the mike last night!  With 79 year old Tommy Heinsohn deciding he didn't want to do road games anymore (other than the Knicks) they are auditioning everybody for his replacement.  I like her, she's pretty fair.

I thought the officiating was horrible last night, but in our favor. We got a lot of breaks. Can't play the victim card this time. Pacer fans should be pissed.

Execution is important, obviously, but it's a waste of perfectly good practice time if you don't finish.  We didn't finish 6 or 7 times.  If we had on even half of those bunnies this might have had a different ending.  How do you teach finishing?

1.  Too bad Hump's the only starter to show up but show up he did.  An absolutely rocket-start for him.  He was engaged right from the beginning.  49 seconds into the game he got an offensive rebound while he was in the middle of three Pacers.  Three.  It was beautiful, a pure ganas rebound.  He just wanted it more than all three of them.  He had another rebound in the 2nd half, an offensive one, where he just flew in and saved a possession by just pure ganas.  What a professional.  He's a starter all his career, he comes here and doesn't start, he doesn't care.  He stays ready and just works hard when his number is called.  His teammates can't find their own butts with both hands he doesn't care.  He stays ready and just works hard when his number is called.  I know he comes with a high price tag (this year) but I can't believe nobody wanted him for a playoff run by the trading deadline.  I'm going to be watching very closely how much money his agent will demand this summer.  You're already rich, Kris, play where people love you.  We love you (in a manly, bromance kind of way, worcester).

2.  Our starters shot 31% (17-55).  Take Hump's numbers out of that and the remaining four shot 24% (11-45).  Not only aren't we going to win any games shooting like that, I'm amazed this one was even this close.

3.  Rondo struggled in the first half, with only one assist in the first quarter and only 2 at the half.  He shot an abysmal 4-15 on the game.  Sure, one or two of them were buzzer beaters but that's his fault too.  He has got to get people moving in the half court set faster.  He can't take the clock down to 7 or so and then expect one play with no options off it will fool a good defensive team.

4.  Jeff Green got half his points at the line and, I think, those all came in the 2nd half.  He, along with the rest of the starters, were invisible in the 1st half.  3-16 from the field, making Rondo look "good".  When his outside shot isn't dropping he has to take it to the rim and his teammates need to set a screen down low for him.  He tends to pick up his dribble and try to fly in a little too soon, so having someone like Sully keep his big a step away from Green so he could finish would work great.  

4.  The reason why Larry traded for Turner and signed Bynum is because they needed more off their bench.  "The best player under the rim" (according to his agent) had 11 points on 5-7 and 5 rebounds in just 13 minutes, teaching Kelly a few things about how to be an un-athletic big with long hair in the league without getting laughed at.  When Luis Scola does that "turn and face up" jump shot he reminds me of Jack Sikma.  I love Scola.  Argentinians have made their mark in the NBA.  Turner had 9 in 23 minutes and, quite frankly, struggled offensively and defensively against Green.  Jeff came on strong towards the end, and shot most of his free throws, when Turner was on him.  Other than Bynum their bench still sucked.

5.  Bynum was a force and changed the whole game.  Hibbert's taller but Bynum is BIG.  Poor Sully.  He was bent over double, literally, trying to get the leverage to keep Bynum away from the basket and then when the shot went up Bynum was able to just reach over him and get the O-board.  We all know we're not a tall team but it was ridiculously obvious last night.  This was Bynum's first night on the floor as a Pacer.  We'll see how healthy he stays AND how well he can play against teams that are both tall and athletic, but if last night is any indication then Larry pulled off another one (like he did with the Scola deal).

6.  Paul George struggled all night.  Some of that credit has to do with the defense Green was putting on him and some of that was just him not being "on".  He heated up when Chris Babb was put on him but Babb played him hard, he's just at a physical disadvantage (6'5" guarding 6'9") just as Turner was at a disadvantage against the bigger Jeff Green.  Still, very sticky defense by an undrafted D-leaguer still on a 10-day on a player that had MVP written all over him the first half of this season.

7.  What a tough game for Sully.  Talk about Mastodon Mamba, he had to guard perhaps the two biggest Krakens in the league last night.  Together, Hibbert and Bynum played 48 minutes, scored 14 points on 6-11 and grabbed 19 rebounds 5 offensive.  Sully played 26 minutes (just slightly more than half) and had 17 points on 8-17 (some of those "misses" were offensive rebound taps that didn't go in) and 9 rebounds, 7 of them offensive.  What a beast on the O-boards.  I heard Brad say, in the post-game presser, that we're 14th in the league in offensive rebounding.  What a change from Doc.  Just imagine when we have an actual center and some poor bastard of a PF has to keep Sully off the boards.  Tommy gave the Tommy Award to Sully for his trench work.  It's hard not to recognize Hump's carrying of the team this game, but Sully made every poor perimeter defense sequence by the Pacers pay off.

8.  This is a "make or miss" league.  You can run around all you want but you have to hit your shots.  We shot 35% on the game and that's an improvement over the first half.  You're not going to win games shooting like that.  Period.  

9.  A nice game by CJ, who has cooled off a bit from his torrid first 20 days.  He was 2-4 from 3, which is his signature, but he was also the recipient of Rondo's one-and-only fast break assist.  I get excited when I see Johnson doing things besides shooting 3s.  When he runs the floor like that, it gets me excited.  When I see him sneak in for an offensive rebound or, in one case, almost get one, I get excited.  14 points on 6-8 in 28 minutes.  He was very actively defensively, with 2 steals and pesky defense (although he was backdoored once by Paul George.  Welcome to the NBA, it has happened to everybody).  He has some work to do this summer, especially on his ballhandling, but he's doing well.

10.  David West owned us.  11-13, with a lot of those points coming from baby hooks in the paint.  That is just not acceptable.  I can deal with Hibbert getting those shots, he's just too big for us now and once he gets that position we're sunk, but David West?  I'm sorry, but we have players on the roster today that should have been able to do a better job of preventing 11-13.  He shoots 7-13, still over 50%, and this is a different game.  Oh well, I guess this is the payment for Paul George having an off night.

11.  We had 41 total rebounds and 20 of them were offensive.  That is truly spectacular.  We only had 10 TOs, so we did a good job taking care of the rock.  We had 91 fgas, and that's very good.  Those "extra" fgas came from offensive rebounding (which were available due to our execrable shooting percentage).  What's amazing is that there were a grand total of only 4 fast breaks credited in this game, 2 for each team.

Brad Stevens is fond of preaching the importance of each possession.  Well, if we made just half of the 6-7 bunnies we missed and if we kept David West to a more reasonable shooting percentage, we would have won this game and that's pretty amazing when you look at our two teams.  We're in obvious transition mode, with a very unbalanced roster, and they are expected to play in the EC Finals this year and maybe even the Championship.  The Indiana Pacers did not cover themselves with glory last night.  

Playing hard, playing with pride.  That's Job 1.  We got it last night from our guys and I slept well because of that.

Next year we'll have a center, one way or the other, and that will make a big difference.  Kelly, with a year under his belt and a summer of weight-training, will be readier to play more minutes at center too (although I hope he's not "the center" I referred to but is a PF who plays some effective minutes at center).  My bet is we'll get our assassin too.


bob


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Bob

It's sort of like driving a V-6 at the Daytona 500...........runs pretty good, but our motor lacks a couple of cylinders. And when we get those, a center and a shooter. We'll be in the thick of things in the east again.

beat

I dont like Jackie Mac at all as a color commentator.  She is very knowledgeable about the NBA without a doubt, but sounds like she is doing the game on a national channel - where she is supposed to in essence root for both teams. 

Saying stuff like - there you go, that's the Paul George we have been waiting for....is umm, NOT what I want to hear.

I would much rather hear Dave Cowens get the nod over her, or PJ or Max - but finding a replacement for Tommy wont be easy.