Re: Celtics Post-Game Thread (Collection of past threads)

by **gyso** Wed Dec 23, 2009 5:33 pm

Here is a link regarding the Pierce issue:

http://www.boston.com/sports/basketball/celtics/extras/celtics_blog/2009/12/pierce_out_for.html

Let's cross our fingers!!!

by **Sam** Fri Dec 25, 2009 7:38 pm

The Celtics beat the Magic on Christmas afternoon in Orlando, 86-77. Orlando jumped out to an early lead on a couple of 3s, and it looked bad as Perk and Sheed were tagged fairly quickly with two fouls apiece. Then the game
degenerated into a grind-it-out, ragged contest; and the Celtics simply outfought Orlando. The Celts surged to a 20-8 second quarter on the strength of very tight help defense and push-it-up basketball. In the second half, whenever the Magic (especially Carter and Lewis) made an incursion, the Celts made stops and hit big shots of their own to keep
Orlando 7-11 points down.

One potentially overlooked Celtics strength was their ability to play through foul trouble, and none of the shorthanded Celtics finished with more than four fouls. To defend as tenaciously as they did without incurring more fouls was huge. Throughout large chunks of the game, Orlando looked frustrated, often settling for quick outside shots despite hitting only 5 of 26 from behind the arc. The Magic recorded a skimpy 7 assists on 26 field goaks (27%), exhibiting little evidence of teamwork—at least partly because of the Celts' defense. Only two Magic figures were in double figures: Carter (27) and Lewis (19). You just can't win in the NBA with that little dimensionality in your offense.

Numerous Celtics deserved accolades:

• My player of the game was Rondo, who was just a whirling dervish much of the time. He finished with 17 points, 13 rebounds (4 offensive), and 8 assists. The fact that he recorded 8 turnovers was also incidental, because even his turnovers helped maintain an often frenetic pace that the Magic just couldn't match.

• My runner-up player of the game was Tony Allen. In 22 minutes, Tony was a major presence at both ends. Yes, he took a couple of ill-advised jumpers, whieh he shouldn't do unless the clock is winding down. But he scored 16 in his usual slashing mode and was a force on the defensive end. And he now has recorded one turnover over four games.

• Ray Allen started out looking determined to score 30. But he didn't force it and finished with 18 points and 6 boards. He also made a number of mid-range jumpers to stall Magic comebacks and hit two freebies to help seal the victory.

• KG scored repeatedly on uncontested jumpers from the left wing, often assisted by Rondo, as he cruised to a 10-point, 7-rebound game. He also took a fearsome spill with a couple of minutes to go and had to leave the game. He went down on his back, and it looked to have nothing to do with the knee. But he was hurting, so we should all
light an extra candle tonight.

• Sheed played 32 minutes and was immense on defense while scoring 11 and garnering 8 boards. He only had one official block and two steals, but he constantly frustrated the Magic's inside game.

• Perk scored only 6 with 4 rebounds, but he alternated with Sheed to stifle Howard's offensive game almost completely. Perk made 4 blocks. Consider this line for Howard. The good? 20 rebounds and 4 blocks. That's it. The bad? 5 points on 1-7 FG shooting and 7 turnovers.

• Even Glen Davis returned for a couple of cameos totaling a little less than 4 minutes, during which he grabbed 3 boards.

• Eddie went 1-for-6 and scored only 5 points, but he combined with Rondo in the backcourt (with Ray playing SF) and was pretty active as the combinations with which he played gained 10 points on the Magic.

Credit this one to Celtics defense, Celtics grit and (a missing word too often lately) Celtics energy. This game can definitely go into the "Pride" category. The Celts had a ball, and that ball is now safely hung on the Christmas victory tree.

Happy happy to all.

Sam

by **beat** Fri Dec 25, 2009 7:47 pm

Sam

Thanks for the summary

missed the entire game with all the traveling today.

Figured RR would play 46 ish minutes.

beat

by **cowens/oldschool** Fri Dec 25, 2009 9:01 pm

Great post game report as usual Sam,my favorite plays that had me screaming and my wife and mother staring at me like I'm nuts at a huge family function were the block by Perk on a Nelson drive that led to a TA finish at the other end and the play Rondo beat Carter to a loose ball leading to another TA finish,the first one helped grab control of the game,the second one was a huge play in killing the Magics momentum and helping clinch the game.Nobody could keep up with Rondo,as usual he can get anywhere he needs to go,what a great feature to have on this team.Love how Tony has contributed,besides great finishing/slashing ability,some really nice feeds as hes attacking,great to see for us.Once he comes in paired with Rondo,you know one of those guys is gonna make a steal and their flying down the court together.Great gritty win without Pierce.

by **steve3344** Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:31 pm

Celtics held Orlando to a ridiculous 2 points over a 10:14 span, from down 25-20 with 7:52 left in the half to leading 39-27 with 9:38 left in the third quarter. On their home court no less.

by **jeb** Fri Dec 25, 2009 10:53 pm

steve33

Great work on the stats! Pearl's back home albeit pain medded up and scared.

by **cowens/oldschool** Fri Dec 25, 2009 11:23 pm

my bad that was Perk blocking Reddick not Nelson and the finish was by Rondo,must have had too much cheesecake and definitely too much food.

by **dboss** Sat Dec 26, 2009 10:59 am

Sam

The Celtics certainly brought their "A" defensive game to the court. As you noted it was a grind it out game.

I think we are now starting to see just how deep this team is.

This December stretch has really solidified my feelings that this Celtics team is mentally tough. They are now 11 and 1 including 7 straight on the road. The Celtics have evolved from being a team with 3 main stars to a team with multiple prime time contributors.

And the scary thing is that the team has a lot more room to get better. With the embarrassing loss to the Cavs yesterday, LA's weaknesses are quite evident. These two teams are like two giants standing on opposite mountain peaks just waiting to get at each other.

It will be a while before that happens but it is clear that Boston and LA appear to be on a another historical journey, on a collision course with destiny where they will meet again to renew one of the greatest rivalries in all of sports.

These are the best of times to be a Celtics fan.

dboss

by **Sam** Sat Dec 26, 2009 11:24 am

Dboss,

You've got that right!

Sam

by **sinus007** Sat Dec 26, 2009 12:28 pm

Hi,
I'm telling you guys, they need to play on the road. Say, 76 games => 74W and 2L Very Happy

One more good point is BBD is back. I liked how he grabbed Carter, very timely.
Thank you very much,
AK

by **bobheckler** Sat Dec 26, 2009 1:50 pm

I'm traveling and only have access to public library computers, so I have very little time to post.

Watched both games on Christmas. The Celts were wonderful in their awfullness. They couldn't throw the ball in the ocean (neither could the magic) but they hung in there and fought like tigers on defense.

I agree with Sam's stars of the game. No Rondo, definitely no W. No Tony, probably no W. No Perk, unlikely W. Our unsung heroes took over when there was no Big 3 to speak of. Now THAT'S depth!!

I thought Scal played good defense on Carter. Carter overcame it, as he usually does, but Scal kept him cold for a few minutes and that's what needs to be done. Keep their big gun cold for a few minutes. DJ was the Grand Master of exactly that.

The Lakers looked really bad. All Kobe shooting horribly, no help from anybody else. Their bench is non-existent. Fisher's turned into a thug. Kobe whined like a girl because the refs didn't buy his "I fell down while taking an off-balance acrobatic shot. Why don't you call a foul?" routine.

As bad as the Lakers looked, the Laker fans looked worse. I hope we never sink to that level.

bob

by **jeb** Sat Dec 26, 2009 1:55 pm

bobheck

Scal is a tremendous position basketball player. If you watch him he is in the right place almost every second of the game and when he is not it is due to a lack of ability not his hoop mind.

by **cowens/oldschool** Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:48 pm

Those fans are about as classy as their teams two starting wings,Kobe is a petulant whiner,Artest is a bully who when challenged by a real man,like Ben Wallace that night right before he went beserk after a 5'7" fan,just ran like the bully/pussy he really is.Shaq was nice just standing straight,he didn't unload on Kobe like he did to Gasol in that game or to KG on opening night.

by **jeb** Sat Dec 26, 2009 2:57 pm

Gasol never recovered. He was thinking about that foul all night. You could see it.

by **cowens/oldschool** Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:09 pm

jeb65 wrote:Gasol never recovered. He was thinking about that foul all night. You could see it.

totally agreed,KG got up and pumped his chest after Shaq hit him,knocking him down,he wasn't scared,Gasol shrunk....all teams are gonna be more physical with Lakers now,where was Bynum?and Artest has no ability to influence the game anymore either,hes a step slower,saw Durant torch him the other night,Pierces D is way better.

by **jeb** Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:15 pm

Artest seems a bit too thick. Which helps his strength but hurts his movement. He is a tremendous on the ball defender but not as good a team defender. Ariza had it all. They were TOUGH last year with him and so much deeper.

Artest just aint that good on O. He has a pretty good floor game and is really trying to play unselfish but just is not as good a fit as Trevor was. A rare mistep by Lakes front office.

Man Fisher is a good guy off the court but really dirty on it.

by **Sam** Sat Dec 26, 2009 3:43 pm

The announcers said Bynum has some sort of respiratory ailment.

by **Sam** Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:27 pm

Here are the good things about last night's game:

!. Glen Davis played 15 minutes and shot nearly perfectly on the way to 8 points, 5 offensive rebounds (6 in total), a block, a steal, and only one turnover.

2. Tony had a double-double (10 points, 10 rebounds).

That's it!

This will be a relatively brief post, as I'm still seething over the way the Celtics lost their composure last night—and not just once either. After a close first half, in which both Chris Kaman and Baron Davis shone for the Clips, the Celtics led by two. Then, at the beginning of the third quarter, they shot out to a double-figure lead, with KG converting and Rondo assisting...and all seemed right with the world. Then their defense fell apart; but at least they still lead by 4 at the end of three.

Then the Celtics led by 5 several times in the fourth. I don't care what Doc says about having to take the threes when they're open; they took plenty of threes that simply weren't within the rhythm of the game. Yet they still led by five late in the game. Then by three. So, instead of using their heads and going to the hoop, they tried two more abortive threes (including one that looked planned coming out of a timeout). And, on defense, they left Butler wide open for a corner three that tied the game.

I posted on the game-on thread—well before the final plays—that the outcome didn't matter. It was still an abysmal stretch performance by the Celtics. Yes, Rondo drove, was fouled, and missed two free throws; and Baron hit a game-winner at the buzzer. But, in my mind those scenarios—though very unfortunate—were incidental to the fact that this team should not need Paul Pierce in order to display some smarts in the clutch.

I can never be convinced that games are won or lost on one shot or one bad call. Never! Never! I'm personally glad that KG took off on Perk, because Perk played so poorly that Dudder must be holding fiesta right now. (For those who don't know him, Dudder's a perpetually sardonic Perk-hater on BDC.) Kendrick looked like a child being schooled by Kaman all night long, in addition to being at his ball-bobbling, traveling worst. Sheed looked like a savior in the first half and did absolutely nothing in the second half. He persisted in shooting from beyond the arc, 0-6 from there for the night, despite having a pretty good night when he went down low.

I could come up with various excuses or extenuating circumstances. The most obvious would be that they're still adapting to playing with new combinations, considering the losses of Daniels and Pierce and the return of Davis. However, they shot out to promising leads despite this circumstance. The fact is that they lost this game because they lost their composure. Period.

Sam

by **jeb** Mon Dec 28, 2009 1:54 pm

Sam

I watched the Lakes come back from a 7 point deficit...in ot. For that to happen both the Kings had to play bonheaded iso ball and every loose ball had to bounce exactly the Lakers way. Kings had to be dumb Lakers had to be perfect and very lucky. It happened. It felt that way last night. You run the end of that game 30 times the Celtics win 28. That's why it is so hard to take. EVERYTHING had to go wrong and it did. WHen Davis hit that shot aside from smarting I thought "that makes perfect sense' Like Kleen said you let teams hang around and they are goin to burn you some.

by **Sam** Mon Dec 28, 2009 2:16 pm

Jeb,

One of the factors that helped everything to go wrong was that, in 23 potentially possessions when they could have stepped on the Clippers' throats, the Celtics failed to go inside at least 16 times. (See my Stat of the Day.)

Sam

by **jeb** Mon Dec 28, 2009 2:37 pm

Sam

Alas I could not see the game. Listened to it on espn and hence am only able to understand what happened through the wise words of fellow board members.

Outside shooting to me indicates laziness.

by **dboss** Mon Dec 28, 2009 5:57 pm

Sam two things I have a question about.

Does the team run the plays that Doc wants them to run? Sheed was a monster in the post but then went 0-6 from the arc. Why nothing inside down the stretch??

Kaman had a nice game but why no adjustments? If Perk could not stop him why not send someone to double team. Take the ball out of his hands. Force him to be a passers. He has 3 TO's

dboss

by **sinus007** Mon Dec 28, 2009 6:51 pm

Hi,
I didn't watch the game but based on other's comments I say: negative experience is also experience. Hope they learn from it.
Thanks as always for the summary.

AK

by **Improbulus** Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:07 pm

I didn't see the game either, but it really seems to me that the Celtics cannot approach the game thinking that they are a good 3-point shooting team anymore. Clearly, they are not when even their "good" 3-point shooters can hardly make them anymore. It is like watching them try to pound square pegs into round holes. Nothing goes in.

by **jeb** Mon Dec 28, 2009 7:44 pm

Improb

Succinctly put. Ray and Eddie get a free pass. PP when he comes back.Other than that no mas.

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Celtics Post-Game Thread (Collection of past threads)