Bulpett: Celts at big disadvantage

http://www.bostonherald.com/sports/celtics/2016/02/bulpett_celts_at_big_disadvantage



Bulpett: Celts at big disadvantage


Steve Bulpett Tuesday, February 23, 2016




Credit: AP
IN PURSUIT: Jae Crowder tries to get a jump on the ball as he races away from Minnesota’s Karl-Anthony Towns.



MINNEAPOLIS — There have been numerous Bigfoot sightings here in Minnesota. I mean, you can look it up. Seriously.

But while most of those involve some guy named Rusty and a hunting trip with more alcohol than ammunition, the Celtics bore collective witness last night to the dangers of an encounter with an oversized fee-fie-foe. (Pleads guilty to mixing metaphors.)

That the visitors lost by just 124-122 to the Timberwolves may say more about their basketball character than some of their victories. But that the now 33-25 C’s fell to a team that came into this one 22 games below .500 speaks to a force that can overcome even that great a discrepancy in records.

Minnesota may have just 18 wins, but it has size, and sometimes that just matters more than whatever you possess.

The Wolves started a 7-foot, 6-11, 6-8 front line (Karl-Anthony Towns, Gorgui Deng, Andrew Wiggins, respectively), while the Celts countered with 6-9, 6-9, 6-6 (Jared Sullinger, Amir Johnson, Jae Crowder).

The Twin Cities Towers aren’t exactly Sasquatch, but they left their footprints on the Celtics. Rookie Towns went for 28 points and 13 rebounds. Dieng had 17 points and 12 boards.

The C’s had a problem.

They outscored Minnesota 58-48 in the paint, but that was mainly because the Wolves were getting fouled and going to the free throw line for 40 attempts to the Celts’ 17. The Towns-people outrebounded the C’s, 51-38, and had a 26-12 advantage in second-chance points.

“There are some things we can control that I think we can do better,” said Brad Stevens. “And I thought size was a huge factor.”

Extremely huge. Hugely huge.

“I thought we physically got handled, and especially by Towns and Dieng in the interior,” said Stevens. “They really hurt us in the interior and on the glass, and that’s been a little bit of an issue for us anyways throughout the year.”

It will continue to be an issue for the Celtics until they get people on their roster who can match up with the tall and the strong of the NBA. That’s why Stevens talks about the need for a rim protector. That’s why Danny Ainge was on the phone with Philadelphia last week.

Asked about the difficulty going against a front line like Minnesota, 5-9 Isaiah Thomas said, “I mean, it is, but we’ve got bigs, too.”

But the Timberwolves, and others, have biggers.

The Celtics lost two of three games on this trip, the other defeat last Friday against the large and agile Jazz, who blocked eight of their shots and outrebounded them by 17 and beat them by 18 points.

It’s an issue.

“But we’d better figure it out,” said Stevens, looking ahead on the schedule, “because Milwaukee’s bigger and has given us fits with that length. And certainly Miami (Saturday) and then Utah (Monday), and then, I mean, it just doesn’t stop.

“So you’ve, again, got to control the ones you can, and we just didn’t do it enough. The guys fought again. They found a way back in it somehow. I don’t know how they do it, but it seems like we always have a chance — except for the game at Utah.”

The Celtics are well aware they can’t beat teams with just their skill. They have to do it with a work ethic that allows them to be greater than the sum of their parts. But in the NBA, David doesn’t sweep Goliath.

“There’s a talent factor in every game you play,” said Stevens. “That’s why you have to be perfect in your execution. And, hey, sometimes you have a talent advantage; sometimes you have a talent disadvantage. Some matchups are that way and you have to figure out what you can do to make it as difficult as possible.

“But that’s life in the NBA for everybody but four or five players maybe, right? It’s just the way it is, and you’ve got to figure it out and be as solid as you can be and make it as difficult as you can. I think the idea is to make guys that can really get a rhythm, make them earn everything. And that’s easier said than done. We can sit here and talk about it all day long, but it’s very difficult to do.”

The Celts did very well to remain as close as they did here, though the Wolves always seemed within a dump-it-into-Towns away from breathing room. Jae Crowder had 19 of his season-high 27 points in the second half, and if Marcus Smart’s 3 at the buzzer falls, the Celtics would have rushed to the airport with a stolen W.

But big wins are hard to come by when opposing bigs play well — and you’re smaller.


bob
MY NOTE:  Yeah, it's hard to get big wins when opposing bigs play well.  It's also hard for them to get big wins when our wings and swings play well, or when our bigs run, or when our bigs are hitting from outside.  If all it took was a big, tall front court then the Sixers would own the east.  Nobody talked about how our front court wasn't able to compete when we beat the Clippers, or when we destroyed the Nuggets who have 6'10", 250# Jokic and 7'0", 280# Nurkic and 6'11" Gallinari or the Kings with Cousins, WCS and Koufos or the Cavaliers with Mozgov and Thompson and Love.  Whenever we win a game everybody is happy and when we lose the sky is falling because our front court is too short or because we have no rim protector or whatever.  We have an elite defense.  We had the 6th best defense 5'-9' yesterday and are now 7th by a smidge because of last night's loss.  We are 15th, dead center, in the league in fga 0'-5'.  So, it's not like playing against us is a dunk fest.  We are 19th in the league in fg% 0-5' but you know what?  The Minnesota Timberwolves are 28th.  So, the team whose bigs Bulpett and everybody else is swooning over today are one of the worst rim protectors in the league.  They also allow more fgas at the rim than us.  So, they allow more shots at the rim than us and they get scored on more at the rim than us.  They played a great game, their bigs in particular, and they still barely held on for a win even though we played like shit. How about that we have the best pace in a league that is now, and is increasingly, pace-driven?  How about that all those bigs can't get up-and-down the floor like ours?  Zeller and Kelly run and everybody says it's a good game but doesn't see that as "a strength that separates from others".  I'll bet if we had access to these stats (and I'm SURE Brad does) I'll bet we'd see we have the highest percentage of bigs finishing fast breaks in the league.  Why is it better if a big needs to take 20 seconds off the shot clock to take a contested shot from low but not a layup or dunk because they are the first or second Celtic down the floor?

Relax.  You will be provided ample opportunity to panic later.


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