Post Game Thread vs Knicks

[Matty]

we won.

take it from here Bob...

[bobc33]

Matty BobH couldn't watch the second half and I think he said no post game analysis because of that.

Here is a post game link for A. Sherrod Blakely.  He cant hold a candle to our BobH but we'll have to deal with it tonight.

Celtics start strong, hold off Knicks starters late, 99-85

http://www.csnne.com/boston-celtics/celtics-start-strong-hold-knicks-starters-late-99-85

[kdp59]

Sully got a lot of minutes in the game, either to get himself back into rhythm or to show him off for possible trade suitors.

overall the starters ( Zeller, Lee, Crowder, Bradley, Smart) all looked good .

Bradley has been playing very well in the pre-season and seems out to prove he is a go- to shooter on this team now. Bradley did leave the same with what looked like a shin/leg bruise of some type that was iced heavily.

Smart continues to improve his ability to run the show at the point also.

Zeller was on a tear early in the game and continues to out run opposition centers down the court.

Rozier again showed he can play in the NBA in the minutes he played. Hunter and Mickey got some time and didn't hurt themselves either.

P. Jones seems the odd man out or the 16 man on our 15 man roster.

[dboss]

It was nice to see Sully score and rebound well.  If there is one reason you keep him it is because of his ability to rebound the basketball.  But his trade value has slipped thanks to Danny talking about him.

I think Danny should stop doing that.

Lee played very well against the Euros but I have to tell you that his game looks very average since the first 2 pre-season games and his defense as expected is pretty much is non-existent.

Marcus Smart really looks the part of a seasoned point guard.  Much better decision making compared to last year.

Young has won the final roster spot.  There is no way Danny cuts him in favor of Jones.  I feel bad for Jones who has not really had an opportunity to play, partly due to a death in the family, a sore knee and a coach that has over-looked him.

One more game and the season is on.

Overall this has been a very good exhibition.  

At this time I still do not know who Brad will start but I also think the lineup will be in a state of flux.  I expect to see several variations until the right mix is found.

dboss

[wide clyde]

Sullinger was the guy he is meant to be last night. Get into the paint and play. I could care less if this guy ever, ever shoots another three point shot while wearing a Celtics jersey.

I absolutely love what Stevens has brought to the team, but I still greatly disagree with him letting and even encouraging Sullinger to take three point shots as it is an example of not using this guy's personal strengths. If to make his offense complete he thinks that he needs to have Sullinger take three point shots then the Cs need to trade Sullinger before tomorrow night.

Again, Sullinger is an all star candidate if he plays like he did last night and very worthy of a contract extension.

[bobheckler]

Thanks to Matty for starting this thread.  Teamwork!

I was only able to catch the first half, as BobC pointed out, so I didn't think it was appropriate to do a full game summary.  I would appreciate anybody who saw something different, either in the first half which I saw or in the 2nd half I did not see but represents a change to what I am writing, to let me know.  I only had eyes on the game for the first 24.

First half: I loved that Sully played down low and fought for traffic rebounds.  Best game of his so far this year, by far.  He took one outside shot in the 1st quarter from on top and in the 2nd quarter he took 5 fgas with 3 of them in the paint.  MUCH better.  Zero 3pt fgas makes me happy.  What's up with his free throw shooting?  He was 2-6 at the half.  He has that stupid gesture just before he takes them, where he jabs the ball straight out in front of him.  I don't remember that from a year or two ago.  If that's just part of his "I want to stand out" thing, like with his hair, then I don't approve.  The Sully I saw in the first half is the Sully I love and want.  You can keep the hair and the frito twitch and the rest of that crap. Just give me my baby Brahma bull back.

Smart had 8 assists and only 1 TO at the half.  He played the pnr really well, with Zeller and Sully being recipients.

Zeller completely outplayed Robin Lopez at both ends of the floor.  He outran him, he outplayed him down low, he just looked much better.  He led ALL scorers in the first half.  Pretty impressive considering Melo was on the floor too, but Crowder was playing him very tough.  Robin Lopez is a legit NBA starting center.  He might not be considered elite, but he is a starter and Zeller showed well against him in the 1st half.  If we can just neutralize, or even almost neutralize, the opposing center we've just minimized our biggest weakness.

Porzingis looked rusty except for one move.  He had a Dream Shake-and-Bake along the baseline that, if he can do that reliably, will make him extremely tough to stop in critical scoring possessions.

I have noticed, over the entire pre-season, that we are doing many, many more pnrs.  That has become one of our staples.  Well, this is a pnr league, so I guess that's good.

And on to New Hamster to take on the 26ers in our first back-to-back.

It has been hard, for me to judge this pre-season because 2 of our games have been against Euro talent and style.  Good or bad, it's different and so trying to say "we beat them, therefore we're a good team" is not a good extrapolation as far as I am concerned.  Against the NBA teams we have played we beat the pathetic Nets twice and are 1-1 against the revamped and upgraded NY Knicks.  Tonight's game is more just a test of the state of our conditioning than of anything else.  To paraphrase Moses Malone "me and fo' guys from San Carlos could beat them".  Still, looking pretty good against the irrelevant and pathetic.


bob


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[sinus007]

Hi,
I watched only until the mid- 3rd quarter. But I liked what I saw.
Celtics showed a very good defense, despite a few oopses here and there.
JC did a very good job on 'Melo
Agree with Clyde and others about Sully - excellent bull for an opponent's china shop.
Zeller was very good.
The only major issue that I noticed was ET getting into iso or trying to penetrate without any plan B when he got swallowed by defense. Unlike Smart, who did quite a few drives but always finished either by himself or dished out to a completely open shooter.

I was really interested to watch NYK's Porzingas. I think he's got future in NBA.

AK

P.S.
Bobh, just read your post. Sully's been doing this move at FT for the last couple of years. I don't think it's for show - just a part of his prep routine.

[bobheckler]

Excellent court vision by Smart, knowing who is supposed to be where and making the correct pass to the open Zeller drifting into the paint and NOT try the difficult pass over the top of Porzingis to Lee just because he was the closest man and the one who set the pick.

https://vine.co/v/eVnmWLxLvvg



Here Smart draws his man and Robin Lopez to him on the partial penetration off the Sully pick-and-pop, and then the pass back for the wide-open shot.  Now that is an outside shot I am more than happy Sully taking.

https://vine.co/v/eVnKBxnOtjl


Here, Smart sees the slower Robin Lopez guarding him by himself with no help nearby, so he does the jab step to get Lopez moving backwards and then sticks the 18' J.

https://vine.co/v/eVnvW0IU9FM


It's pre-season and, improved or not, we're still talking about the Knicks but it looks like Marcus Smart is starting a step up.



bob


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