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Post by bobheckler Mon Mar 23, 2015 12:15 pm

Before I go anywhere to this, including to hell in a handbasket, I want to thank gyso for having the Game On threads up and ready for posting before every tipoff.  I just went to the Game On thread, so I can refer to and cite the posts and stats from the game, and there is already a new thread for tonight's game against Brooklyn.  Thanks, gyso.  Moderator, resident capologist and all-round nice guy.  For those of you who haven't made it to a Sam's Celtic board meetup, you really should.  I've been to 4, and I live in the San Francisco bay area.  You meet all kinds of great people, like the people you converse and debate with here everyday.  That's how I know gyso's a good guy.  Several personal, first-hand experiences.


And now back to your regularly scheduled basketball debacle.

Helluva time for the Master of Disaster, the Professor of Panic, the Siddhartha of Screaming (I just made that one up now) to go on a winning streak.  The Pistons just beat the Chicago Bulls by 16 points the game before this one.  For those who point to this loss as evidence we are not a playoff team, well, maybe, but how about Chicago?  Does losing to the crappy team of Detroit mean the Bulls aren't either?  Before they beat the Bulls they lost to the  Philadelphia 17ers by 11 points and before that they beat the #3 team in basketball, the Memphis Grizzlies.  Before that?  A 10 game losing streak.  10 game losing streak, beat Memphis, lost to Philly (who were just the 16ers before they played Detroit), beat Chicago handily and pulled one out in OT in Boston.  The Pistons might suck overall, but they've had a nice week or two and proved it by beating some good teams.  Some of us think we are one of them.  Some of us do not.  We're certainly not better than Chicago or Memphis, though, and Detroit beat them too.

36%.  You can't win a game shooting 36%.  The bench, who has been great for most of this season, couldn't shoot worth a damn.  8-33, with Jerebko going 4-12 and Kelly 1-9 leading on the path to Purgatory.  Avery Bradley, at 3-10, didn't help neither.

Our ball movement stopped.  Our players stood around and were taking shots late in the clock.  Why?

1.  Were my eyes playing tricks on me, or was Rondo and Pierce back in green last night?  Must be me because, if they were, they were both wearing #11.  Evan Turner walked the ball up like Rondo and went hero-ball like Pierce.  Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.  Evan Turner's problem, and therefore our problem too, is that he lacks the conscience to realize when it isn't.  He hit some big shots but his ego doesn't know when to push himself away from the table.  Jackie MacMullan, who was doing the color with Mike last night, said that "Evan Turner is an acquired taste".  Straight from God's mouth to Jackie's ears.  She also said that Turner has never seen a shot he didn't like.  Sounds like she is not a fan.  Yet one more reason to like Jackie Mac.  Evan Turnover wasn't credited with any in the 1st quarter, but he made some bad decisions.  For one, he had Crowder posting his man up in the low blocks and calling for the ball.  Instead, Turner passed it to Zeller, who passed it back to Turner (?).  Once Crowder saw the pass to Zeller he left the low blocks and went out to the 3pt line and THAT'S when Turner passed him the ball.  Crowder missed the 3.  I don't blame him for that, I blame Turner for making him leave his spot down low.  He went on a scoring run, because you couldn't pry the ball out of his hands with a detonator cap, but in the 4th quarter he walked the ball up and ME-balled it.  It is so obvious to me that Turner is more than happy to pass the ball and get people involved when the game isn't on the line, but turns into KoME when it is.  The problem is that he isn't Bryant and never will be.  Our ball movement stopped?  Blame the person who always has glue on his hands.  That used to be Rondo, now it's Turner.  Our players stood around?  Maybe that's because they don't think they're going to get the ball if they move, or are thinking that the best thing to do is to stay out of the way of the guy that they know is going to go solo.

2.  Kelly shot poorly, but his defense was actually pretty good.  He had 2 blocks, both executed the same way as the one he had the game before in San Antonio.  He swoops (if what an earth-bound white boy does can be called "swooping") in from behind and blocks the shot from behind rather than staying in front of him and blocking him from in front.  The 2nd block he grabbed the ball and kept it in bounds.  Sadly, his offense has, once again, become tentative.  He is passing up shots he should take.  He has lost confidence that his length will let him get a layup once he gets his shoulders past his man.  He has lost his aggressiveness on offense and that's his forte.  Somebody needs to kill his puppy.  Between Sully's weight problem and Kelly's minimal progress this year I'd say there's a good chance that at least one of them, if not both, will be gone next year.  If Sully can't keep the weight off Danny will move him because Sully won't be able to go an entire season without his feet or back or knees breaking down under the additional stress and if Kelly doesn't take that next step up he'll be gone too.

3.  Andre Drummond makes DeAndre and Dwight look like Kareem and Akeem at the free throw line.  2-11 from the line.  Wow.  That's so bad I had to look at it twice just to make sure I wasn't looking at the column for 3pters, even though I know he didn't take any.  He's one helluva powerful man, though.  Pure muscle, great rebounder.  22 rebounds last night, 8 offensive.  He was a complete board monster.  He's averaging 13.3rpg this season, but 15.2rpg over the past 10 games.  He's also averaging 39% from the line for the season and none of his shots look like they have a chance of going in when they leave his hands.  In fact, the only shots that look like they have a chance of going in are his dunks.  Otherwise, he's pretty offensively inept.  Maybe that's one reason why Detroit isn't having a good season, despite their last week or two. Maybe it's because they have to play 4-on-5 on offense because their center is a liability. Last night he hit an 8' jumper and a 6' jumper.  Every other shot was a dunk and, for those who would like to blame our bigs, that's not just last night.  If you look at his season-to-date shot chart, he has taken 34 fgas from outside the paint and has made only 11 of them, 32%.

Post-Game Thread, Pistons - Home Avx1hptmMQAAAAAASUVORK5CYII=

4.  The MVP of the 1st half was Crash.  He had 6 rebounds in 8 minutes and some of them were pure muscle, ripping them away from some Pistons.  In his total 13 minutes he had 8.  What a pro.

5.  Crowder had a helluva game too.  He played 45 minutes and had 19 points on 7-16, but he was an awful 1-5 from 3.  I know all about how "that's the way the NBA is going, all 3s and dunks and the mid-range game is a thing of the past" but sometimes it's just painful to watch.  Talk about cognitive dissonance, as much as I bemoan this and wish that it wasn't so, the player who drives me the craziest on this team is one whose entire game is mid-range, Evan Turner (quick break, while I move sharp objects a little further away).  Back to Crowder, it's hard to boil everything he does down to a paragraph.  He's in the middle of everything.  He's posting people up with his linebacker build (even if his teammate won't throw him the ball), he's running fast breaks, he's getting fingers on passes and dribbles (or, at least, intimidating penetration by swiping at the dribbles).  4 of his 7fgm were at the rim.

6.  Jerebko had a bad shooting night, but he piled up a ton of Tommy Points.  He was really trying to make SVG second-guess his decision to trade him.  9 rebounds, 5 of them offensive, and a lot of floor burn.

7.  Gigi played 5 minutes and didn't do anything.  James Young played 7 minutes and didn't do much more.  I saw James Young do something besides take a face-up 3pt attempt!  I swear!  I saw it, I'm not lying! He missed both non-3pt fgas, but he did take them.

8.  Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was 10-20 and 27 points.  That was Marcus Smart's contribution to the loss.

9.  Our bench shot poorly, to say the least.  When IT comes back, that should change.  Phil Pressey had a few good games and a few bad ones.  Last night was another bad one.


1/2 game back, in 9th, behind Charlotte, with 13 to go.  We're at Brooklyn.  This is a big game.  We are only 1/2 game ahead of them and if we lose tonight we will be down to 11th.  Some good news is that Charlotte is at Chicago and this is the 1st game Chicago will play after losing to Detroit, so they might feel they have something to prove.  Miami is @ Milwaukee.  Here's to hoping DWade's pecker freezes off.  I almost don't care who wins the game, I just want his pecker to freeze and snap off at the base.  I'm thinking big picture here.



bob



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Post by Sam Mon Mar 23, 2015 2:53 pm

Bob,

Actually, I would accept a breakage at any point along that two-inch little organ.  One good thing is that, if the Celtics lose, there' always D. Wade to bash.

I bet that, if one were to go back over Crowder's entire body of work with the Celtics, it would be amazing how many of his games have ended with precisely a 1-5 three-point shooting night.  It has gotten to the point where I almost wish he'd get his 1-5 on threes out of the way early in the game, thus freeing himself to be the most impactful Celtic for the remainder of the context.  Last night, he did me one better, going (I think it was) 0-6 and then becoming a one-man wrecking crew while also hitting 7 of his last 10 shots (including the obligatory three).

As much as I love Jae's game, I don't like it when he shoots threes and I especially like it when he starts, for the reason you mentione.  He gets so few touches as a starter that I believe he forces shots on the few touches he gets.  Call it an excuse, but I believe it's just a fact.

If you re-read the Game-on Thread, you'll see that I also felt Crash was the first half MVP.  He definitely was the catalyst for a reversal of Celtics fortune.  I just wish the reversal had been more permanent.

And I also recall, probably some time in the third quarter with the Celtics continuing to nurse an interminable 6-point lead, that I was very nervous because the Celts seemed to be outplaying Detroit and yet couldn't pull away.  Despite their frequent last-minute heroics of late (with another form of reversal of fortune yesterday), double-digit leads give you better odds of winning than relying on last-second miracles.  Let's play a moment of Jeopardy.  Question: Number of Celtics who shot at least 50% yesterday.  Answer: What is "none?"

Speaking of shooting, I thought Jeff Green owned the patent on inconsistency, but I now believe he shares it with Avery Bradley.  I mean, 3-10 in 38 minutes might not be terrible from some players, but not from someone on whom the team is obviously counting for sharpshooting production every time out.  The only guy who's close to a 20-point lock night in and night out is injured.  What the Celtics really need (eventually) is a nucleus including three to five players who are capable of 15-22 every night so that, if one is injured or having an off-night, there's a reservoir of saviors available.

But "inconsistent" is an upgrade over Kelly's game lately.  He made two really nice blocks and another couple of good defensive plays, all of which prompted me to observe that he had a "nice little game" going for himself despite his lack of scoring. But that was the end of it.  A "nice little game" turned into a "nice rebounding game" (9).  But, if I ever wanted to blow the +/- stat (for individuals) out of the water, it would take no more than observing that Kelly led the Celts with +13 yesterday.  But, on the other hand, second place was Datome's +6, which obviously makes all right with the +/- road.  (Sarcasm, for those who might not catch it.)

James Young played 7 minutes, and the Celtics basically lost by one point (in regulation).  There are two ends to the floor.  Seven minutes of mediocre-to-poor defense and sputtering offense (being kind).  I guess Brad's sincere efforts to get James going are admirable.  (Perhaps Brad doesn't want to read about nimrods saying he never plays young guys.)

But news flash, Brad:  IT ISN'T WORKING.  IT'S AT LEAST A SUMMER AWAY FROM EVEN BECOMING A GLIMMER.  I'd much rather have taken my chances with 7 minutes of GiGi and 5 (or zero) with Young than the other way around.

Watching this game was like watching a friend walk, ever-so-slowly, off a cliff.  On terra firma most of the time, but inexorably heading toward disaster.

And, by the way, Bob, thanks for working Siddhartha into a basketball thread.  A truly great book, in my estimation.  I especially liked the metaphor whereby he slowly disappears into the woods.  That's how I'd like to go.  At least it beats inexorably heading for a cliff.

Go Celtics!

Sam
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Post by dboss Mon Mar 23, 2015 4:24 pm

You know we got beat 15 to 4 in fast break points.  The very essence of the game was not in play last night.

In the 2nd half everything was pretty stagnant on offense.  Very little movement.  I do not have a problem with turner going 1 on 1 sometimes because that is still part of the game just like every single team in the NBA.

Turner shot a very respectable 10 for 21 with 6 boards, 8 assists and only 2 turnovers.

You wanna know what the real issue is with the Celtics?

They want to play 3 ball but they are 25th in the league in 3 point shooting accuracy.  Last night they even shot below their season average of 33%.  They shot 29% on 27 attempts.

Zeller played 20 minutes and KO played 29 minutes.  Okay everybody loved the two blocks by Kelly but he is more likely to get dunked on as he is in getting a defensive stop.

James Young is NOT close to being ready for prime time.  

I do hope that Boston gets a playoff spot but truth be told this team is still missing several components.

My wish list for the off season is (1) a defensive center (2) a long and athletic  PF/C defender (Bass is a very good defender but he undersized) (3) a pure shooter with handle (4) another pure shooter with handle.

If ya wanna be a 3 point shooting team then you need three point shooters up and down the roster.

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Post by bobheckler Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:26 pm

dboss wrote:You know we got beat 15 to 4 in fast break points.  The very essence of the game was not in play last night.

In the 2nd half everything was pretty stagnant on offense.  Very little movement.  I do not have a problem with turner going 1 on 1 sometimes because that is still part of the game just like every single team in the NBA.

Turner shot a very respectable 10 for 21 with 6 boards, 8 assists and only 2 turnovers.

You wanna know what the real issue is with the Celtics?

They want to play 3 ball but they are 25th in the league in 3 point shooting accuracy.  Last night they even shot below their season average of 33%.  They shot 29% on 27 attempts.

Zeller played 20 minutes and KO played 29 minutes.  Okay everybody loved the two blocks by Kelly but he is more likely to get dunked on as he is in getting a defensive stop.

James Young is NOT close to being ready for prime time.  

I do hope that Boston gets a playoff spot but truth be told this team is still missing several components.

My wish list for the off season is (1) a defensive center (2) a long and athletic  PF/C defender (Bass is a very good defender but he undersized) (3) a pure shooter with handle (4) another pure shooter with handle.

If ya wanna be a 3 point shooting team then you need three point shooters up and down the roster.

dboss



dboss,


Excellent points. For a team who lives and dies by the 3ptr and with fast break uptempo ball, we are not a good 3pt shooting team. More proof Danny has some work to do this off-season. Even though we keep dancing back-and-forth across the playoff seed line we have to remember this roster is still very much a work-in-process.

As it is I am at a loss to explain how we could have gotten 105 fgas when neither team having a ridiculously high number of turnovers, increasing the total number of possessions, nor a high number of fast break which also increase the number of possessions.



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Post by Sam Mon Mar 23, 2015 5:59 pm

Dboss,

As you know, you're preaching to the choir here with your thoughts about threes and pace.  I agree that just one lights-out shooter won't be sufficient because it's easy for defenses to focus on one guy.  As far as pace, I had thought that perhaps Pressey could be a poor man's Thomas, but that's not proving true on a consistent basis.  And, until Isaiah returns, I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope for a whole lot of fast breaking.

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