Gigi Datome emerges from the bench but Celtics get 'flexed on' by Orlando Magic

http://www.masslive.com/celtics/index.ssf/2015/03/boston_celtics_notes_gigi_dato.html




Boston Celtics notes: Gigi Datome emerges from the bench but Celtics get 'flexed on' by Orlando Magic




Boston Celtics forward Luigi (Gigi) Datome (70) shoots and makes his shot during the second half of an NBA basketball game in Orlando, Fla., Sunday, March 8, 2015. Magic won 103-98. (AP Photo/Willie J. Allen Jr.)
Jay King | mjking@masslive.com By Jay King | mjking@masslive.com


on March 09, 2015 at 4:00 AM, updated March 09, 2015 at 4:05 AM






In this case, one stat spoke volumes about each team's mentality. The Boston Celtics managed only 26 points in the paint. The Orlando Magic bullied their way to twice that.

As Celtics head coach Brad Stevens told reporters after a 103-98 loss, "They flexed on us."

Exhibit A:

After allowing two separate slashers direct passage to the paint, then surrendering an offensive rebound, the Celtics finally grabbed a board. But as Jonas Jerebko turned to wrestle the ball away from his opponents, he got it ripped straight out of his hands. Instead of starting a fast break the other way, Jerebko needed to deliver a foul just to prevent a Tobias Harris dunk.

Exhibit B:

Three minutes into the fourth quarter, Magic guard Elfrid Payton missed a short jumper but tipped out his own rebound to teammate Ben Gordon. Gordon bricked a one-legged runner but teammate Channing Frye batted it off the backboard. Jerebko got a hand on the carom, but, again, got the ball yanked away, this time by Payton.

In getting "flexed on," Jerebko was not alone. During the fourth quarter, the Magic missed 11 shots -- and gathered six offensive boards. They attacked the paint, chased after rebounds and committed to beating up the small Celtics inside.

On the other end, the Celtics could not manufacture anything inside the arc. By my unofficial count, they reached the paint on just three possessions over the first six minutes of the final quarter. The first time came when Isaiah Thomas tried to split a double team, stumbled, literally fell into the paint, somehow maintained possession, and got lucky enough to find Gigi Datome for a baseline drive and dunk. The second time came when Thomas lost his dribble, kneed it, picked it up underneath the backboard, and got lucky enough to find Jerebko somewhat open at the arc (Jerebko missed a long three).

Finally, almost a full six minutes into the quarter, the Celtics managed their first well-executed paint touch. Marcus Smart spun into the middle and dished a beautiful interior pass to Brandon Bass. Bass' layup was swatted from behind. Though the Celtics actually set a season high with 15 made 3-pointers, they could not consistently produce anything closer to the hoop while butchering an early 20-point lead.

Not helping matters, the Magic went small and switched on the majority of screens. Their length and versatility bothered the Celtics throughout the last three quarters.

One example from the fourth:




With the Magic extending into the passing lanes, Boston needed to work just to run their sets. On this play, Evan Turner had trouble freeing himself on one side of the court, while Thomas took quite a while to get the ball on the other. By the time the Celtics finally got into a pick-and-roll, only seven seconds remained on the shot clock. And the Magic guarded the action well.

Aaron Gordon, a power forward in that particular Orlando lineup, switched onto the 5-foot-9 Thomas. Thomas decided to drive, but the supremely athletic Gordon stayed with him. It was unclear whether Thomas could have gotten found a decent shot amid the defender's lengthy wingspan. We'll never find out because the likewise long and versatile Maurice Harkless knocked away Thomas' dribble and forced a turnover.

The Celtics could have played better offense, certainly. They should have been sharper with their cuts and more aggressive with their drives. But the Magic utilized a small, lengthy, young lineup with a heap of defensive potential. According to NBA.com, the Elfrid Payton-Victor-Oladipo-Maurice Harkless-Tobias Harris-Dewayne Dedmon unit outscored the Celtics by 23 points over 21 minutes. During that span, Boston shot 11 for 34 from the field (32.9 percent) and 3 for 9 from behind the arc (33.3 percent) while managing only two trips to the free throw line.


Datome breaks out

One way to look at Gigi Datome's impressive fourth quarter: wow. After barely receiving any chance to play -- with Boston or his previous team, the Detroit Pistons -- the forward drilled two 3-pointers, drove baseline for a dunk, bottomed a one-legged fadeaway (which was eventually waved off because it came a few milliseconds after the shot clock buzzer), and netted a contested stepback jumper from the right corner.

"I felt like Gigi would be able to step right in and be able to score," Stevens told reporters. "And he was able to score (against Orlando). He did a good job. And we needed scoring because we weren't getting scoring, because we weren't playing strong enough, we weren't staying in our lanes well enough. We were trying to do things that sometimes you do, but we've gotta do those less."

Since the Celtics acquired Datome at the trade deadline, this was just his third appearance -- and his first in non-garbage time. Though he had one blatant moment of defensive ineptitude (allowing a Mo Harkless dunk) and is obviously not the swiftest forward, he notched two blocks and cut off angles on a couple of other occasions. Over 10 minutes, Datome (given first name: Luigi) pumped in 10 points and prompted one of the best Twitter pictures of the season:



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Another way to look at it: James Young, who has been given every chance to earn more minutes, continues to struggle at both ends. After the 19-year-old went 0-2 over six first-half minutes, he was replaced by an Italian small forward who could not crack the Pistons lineup and presumably does not figure into the Celtics future. By no means will Young's career be defined by his rookie season, but he still needs quite a bit of development on both ends.




bob
MY NOTE: Are we sure Gigi's not in our future? Next year he is a free agent, who has not been playing much in the NBA (although I'm sure he could go back to Italy for big bucks) and, at $1.75M, he is only a smidge more expensive than James Young at 1.674M.


.

I've already posted that I believe it would be an interesting move, in Bradley's absence, to start GiGi (to provide more offense for the starters) and move Crowder back to the second unit (to provide the general mayhem and energy that are the hallmark of the bench).

It's difficult to watch these games and not become ultra-repetitious about the wisdom of relying on the three through thick and thin.  I don't mind so much during the "thick," but  who can tell when things will turn "thin?"  I can only hope that the reliance on so many threes, like the reliance on small ball, is just a concession to the paucity of options this team, as currently constituted, has.

Sam