Re: GLIMMER THREAD

by **Sam** Sat Nov 22, 2014 2:35 pm

Sloop,

I can only hope that it's a sign of a return to more uptempo basketball and the slow, agonizing death of iso ball. I don't know about others, but the segments of games in which the Celtics display a fast-paced attack are a lot of fun for me to watch—win or lose.

Sam

by **Sloopjohnb** Sat Nov 22, 2014 3:00 pm

We can only hope so. Anything but the tractor pull days of the mid 90's which always seem to threaten to bubble up again.

But of course title #17 was won by a team that specialized in winning ugly. Not too many graceful blow-outs but a fair amount of slow, methodical strangulations.

by **Outside** Sat Nov 22, 2014 4:31 pm

Sloopjohnb wrote:Boston is scoring more but it seems that scoring across the league is up by a lot so far this year. Last night there were nine games in which the winning team scored between 101 and 140 points.

A statistical bump or a sign that something is going on?

In 2013-14, the league average was 101.0 points per game. So far this season, the average is 99.7 points per game. Some teams are scoring well, but Philly, OKC, Indiana, and Detroit are all doing poorly offensively. OKC will obviously do better once Durant and Westbrook return.

Boston is scoring 106.2 points per game, fourth-best in the league.

by **dboss** Sat Nov 22, 2014 4:43 pm

Sam

I again vote that we add this topic as a sticky. It was buried at the bottom and it took me a while to find it. It is the singular most important topic of discussions.

We are on the same page. Same paragraph, same sentence and same word.

dboss

by **Sam** Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:09 pm

dboss,

I've changed the Glimmer Thread to a sticky. Your vote counted in a very close contest: 1-0.

Sam

by **cowens/oldschool** Sat Nov 22, 2014 5:32 pm

dboss wrote:Cow

That was a fun team to watch. Undersized over achievers.

Dboss

and that team could defend

by **Sam** Sat Dec 06, 2014 6:51 pm

Finally, something I consider a genuine glimmer because it's based not just on last night's win against the Lakers but, rather on something that's been percolating for some time. I refer to the Rondo-Zeller partnership, which seems destined to be one of the more productive ones in recent Celtics history (barring injury, the displacement of Zeller by "Mr. Intimidator????" or whatever). Their timing and rhythm are immaculate. Tyler's vision, coordination, and especially his hands are far better than I had hoped. Perhaps neither one of them is the Celtics' "go-to" guy. But the pick-and-roll is definitely a "go-to move. And one of the reasons it can be so effective is that, when other teams start to gear up to stop it (which they almost surely will), it'll open other offensive possibilities for other members of the team. Happy glimmer, Rondo and Z. In this case, I hope that all that glitters IS gold.

Sam

by **Sam** Tue Dec 09, 2014 7:55 pm

After the second consecutive game, I feel comfortable nominating another genuine glimmer. I feel that Jeff Green has evolved into a constantly aggressive, self-assured, incredibly talented package the is currently the most consistent of any Celtic and the most logical choice for "go to" player when the chips are down. His ststs for the season to date compared with last season show a lot of improvement:

Up 7% in minutes per game
Up 16% in points per minute (average of 19.8 ppg—a lifetime high)
Up 7% in free throw shooting percentage
Up 6% in three pointers per minute
Up 57% in steals per minute

Virtually unchanged in terms of assists, turnovers, rebounds per minute

I believe his defense is also better, as he showed against Kobe the other day. Of course, that's a very subjective assessment.

But, stats aside, it's his unperturbed aggressiveness that means the most to me.

Go Jeff!

Sam

by **cowens/oldschool** Tue Dec 09, 2014 10:10 pm

He had a couple great strong drives and spin moves right on Pierce that I hadn't seen him use before or with such purpose and Pierce is still a strong cagey defender. With his length with just a step or two he can get all the way to the rim so easily. His post play seems stronger, I'd like to see him post more, hes just playing with such purpose. Keep it up and we may just need a rim protector/load as I don't see any superstar 3 coming right out of college that is ready. Jabari Parker and Wiggens are gonna take years to get it together IF they even get there and I think Green is getting more and more comfortable in Stevens system and can play even better as the season goes on. As Rondo gets his game better and Smart continues to evolve they will both make Green's play better.

by **Shamrock1000** Wed Dec 10, 2014 2:51 pm

Could Jeff Green's emerging consistency be a glimmer???

by **Sam** Thu Dec 11, 2014 12:38 am

Shamrock,

Absolutely. If you look two posts above this one, you'll see it mentioned.

Sam

by **Shamrock1000** Thu Dec 11, 2014 10:24 am

sam wrote:Shamrock,

Absolutely. If you look two posts above this one, you'll see it mentioned.

Sam

My bad - should have seen this has already been mentioned...

by **Sam** Wed Dec 17, 2014 1:44 pm

Shamrock,

Glad to have reinforcement on Jeff's behalf.

Sam

by **dbrown4** Thu Jan 01, 2015 3:14 pm

OK, guys. This is my first attempt at a glimmer. I've been watching the box scores Post-Rondo and the one stat that jumps out that was very heavily watched during the Rondo Era was the Assist/FGM Ratio. I'm not going to list the stats from those games post-Rondo, but last night's SAC v. BOS game forced my hand. It made up for the one game in this 5+game stretch that fell in the 50-60% range. Last night's game was ~3/4! But the average have been at least 2/3 post-Rondo.

I know Coach is moving things around and by just looking at the box score for SAC v. BOS, he was experimenting with a lot of different combinations and Evan Turner popped out, but when the ball moves around and everybody touches it great things happen. Just ask the World Champion SAS.

db

by **gyso** Thu Jan 01, 2015 4:00 pm

dbrown4 wrote:OK, guys. This is my first attempt at a glimmer. I've been watching the box scores Post-Rondo and the one stat that jumps out that was very heavily watched during the Rondo Era was the Assist/FGM Ratio. I'm not going to list the stats from those games post-Rondo, but last night's SAC v. BOS game forced my hand. It made up for the one game in this 5+game stretch that fell in the 50-60% range. Last night's game was ~3/4! But the average have been at least 2/3 post-Rondo.

I know Coach is moving things around and by just looking at the box score for SAC v. BOS, he was experimenting with a lot of different combinations and Evan Turner popped out, but when the ball moves around and everybody touches it great things happen. Just ask the World Champion SAS.

db

by **Sam** Thu Jan 01, 2015 5:52 pm

db,

A perfect example of a glimmer. Bodes well for the future. Appears to be a significant trend. Why not?

My rule of thumb has always been that 60% is a very healthy figure for A/FD. It seems like a very significant glimmer that, as Brad's motion offense starts to look like a trend that's really catching on, assistance from all quarters are part of the trend.

Good one!

Sam

by **gyso** Thu Jan 01, 2015 8:00 pm

Sam,

That's what I said, except for the words and stuff.

Wink

gyso

by **bobheckler** Wed Jan 28, 2015 9:18 am

This is what I posted on the 'Celtics do something special" thread.

MY NOTE: Does "character" and "grit" on a trip like this qualify as a "glimmer"? How about winning? Even if we lose against Minny we will still go home with a winning, 3-2, road trip where we played 4 games in 5 days. Say what you will about Brad's lineups and substitutions and love of the 3-ball, he and his staff have done a spectacular job of getting this team to focus through some serious turbulence. Remember when Perk got traded, how we went into a little swoon? That was with a bunch of old "seen it all" veterans and future HOFers. Brad has kindergarteners (except for Prince) playing winning basketball, losing so far only to the best team in basketball by 3 points (and they got a 3 point gift at the half from the refs).

I miscounted we were 3-2 at the time and heading to Denver.

You have to look at both individual development and team development. I haven't watched any games, so I cannot speak to individual development but going .500 on a west coast road trip (with 4 games in 5 days with over 2000 miles traveled already) is what solid playoff teams do, they win at home and then go take one away from their opponents in their house. Next step in team development? Holding court at home. That should be the easier one to do, but not for this crew, not season-to-date.

Still, if it's all about the team, and the team is about Ws and not player stats, then we might be sniffing at a glimmer here.

Could the league be seeing us in April? We are only 2 games out of 8th place and the Nets are struggling. Granted that is more about the pathetic-ness of the EC than us but playoff experience is playoff experience. Every team that goes deep into the playoffs has it and there is only one way to get it.

bob

.

by **Sam** Thu Jan 29, 2015 10:34 am

Good one, Bob. Of course, you jinxed them in Minny. Only kidding. With this team, even if they should make the Playoffs, the yardstick of success will never be wins. It'll be growth and preparation for what lies beyond. And, so far, although the future is unknown, I'm pretty impressed.

Nice glimmer.

Sam

by **bobheckler** Tue Mar 03, 2015 10:23 am

Double glimmer alert.

Isaiah Thomas named EC Player of the Week and Brad Stevens nominated for Coach of the Month.

These acclamations come as a result of achievements and not from fan voting. Isaiah came in and, in his first full week as a Celtic, put up numbers good enough to beat out a lot of players for this award, the first Celtic since Sully in 2013.

We were 7-4 in February. That tied us with the eventual COM winner, Frank Vogel of Indy, and was as good as any other team's record in the east. Some of those wins were tough ones on the road in the WC. One of them was against the 2nd best team in the league, the Atlanta Hawks. Brad Stevens is milking every last possible edge out of his players. Rondo used to be the hub the team wheel revolved around. Now, it's Brad Stevens.

bob

.

by **Sam** Fri Mar 13, 2015 2:36 am

The glimmers are starting to come fast and furiously. Actually, these two are really extension of the two BobH posted above, but with a little more focus on implications.

• With the advent of Isaiah Thomas, the bench has taken a step in the direction of perpetual motion and perpetual pace. And, despite the more frenetic moments that can cause, they're also taking better care of the ball and finishing a much higher percentage of fast breaks.

• Brad Stevens' play calling has reached another level of excellence. He does keep it relatively simple, but he also keeps it unpredictable. Most of all, he keeps surprising opponents.

Sam

by **dboss** Sun Oct 28, 2018 6:40 pm

Here is one

by **cowens/oldschool** Sun Oct 28, 2018 7:30 pm

Boy was I WRONG on Jeff Green.

To think where this franchise was, that we were trying to get excited about Rondo, Zeller and Jeff Green....amazing to have such a young stacked team like we have now. Amazing unbelievable transformation. From where we were then to where we are now....I’m blown away!!!

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