POST GAME NY KNICKS - HOME

I was worried aboy Jaylen. No longer. I was worried about Gordon. Not now. He is quick, has a good sense for where to be to grab a rebound, is a helluva passer and play maker, and is a good shooter. He is not aggressive at taking shots, but he's probably just trying to be generous with his teammates and integrate if not ingratiate with them. He'll be a huge plus as the season rolls on.

Worse agreed Hayward can and will play much better down the road....

GH always thinks pass first.

But it is ok for him to look for his shot more,  He had his man beat several times but choose to pass off the bounce.

Jay King
Jay King @ByJayKing
about 3 hours ago
Aron Baynes being doubtful, rather than out, after the ankle sprain he suffered last night is impressive. Kyrie Irving not on the injury report after tweaking his shooting shoulder so Celtics fans can exhale.


Jared Weiss
Jared Weiss @JaredWeissNBA
about 2 hours ago
ICYMI: Since November 19, the Celtics have gone from 22nd to 2nd in the NBA in pocket passes per game. That just so happens to be the day Gordon Hayward hit the bench.



bob


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Two small points. Yes, 91 fg attempts by the Knickerbockers is a lot, but that is somewhat a function of us pushing the pace. The faster the pace, the more shots will be taken, some of them by the other team . IMO, the quality of the Knicks looks was shite, at least in the second half. As for shooting 3s, I don't see that as the issue. Shooting CONTESTED threes is a problem . The majority of the 3s the Celtics took were either taken after several passes or kickouts from penetration. It should be kept in mind that , while missed threes can turn into runouts by the opponents, after long rebounds , and create matchup problems on the other end, for scoring purposes 34 % of 3s = 51 % of 2s.

jrleftfoot wrote:Two small points. Yes, 91 fg attempts by the Knickerbockers is a lot, but that is somewhat a function of  us pushing the pace. The faster the pace, the more shots will be taken, some of them by the other team . IMO, the quality of the Knicks looks was shite, at least in the second half. As for shooting 3s, I don't see that as the issue. Shooting CONTESTED threes is a problem . The majority of the 3s the Celtics took were either taken  after several passes or kickouts from penetration. It should be kept in mind that , while missed threes can turn into runouts by the opponents, after long rebounds , and create matchup  problems on the other end, for scoring purposes 34 % of 3s = 51 % of 2s.

Foot

I want to mention that NYK averages 91 FGA per game so our pace had nothing to do with their pace.

34% is 51% on 2 but you do know we shot 53% overall.  34% was not good in that game.  I'm just saying.  I would like to see them in the 37-38% range like last year.

More specifically Celts shot 66.6% on 2 point shots.

Actually considering how bad/gruesome his injury was GH is playing well, he’s not the GH that was tearing it up, averaging 24 points in the 17 playoffs, but look how much better he’s playing than Marcelle Faultz, and who had the worse injury? Until he gets over his hesitations, until he can get back to attacking aggressively, I wouldn’t even throw him alley opp passes, save those for specimens like the 2 J’s, as he still is not fully confident yet....

Couple of comments, to no one in particular.

When I see the type of game Hayward played last night, I think of that old Paul Pierce quote of "giving the game what it needs"

Last night, Brown was hot, Kyrie was hot, Tatum was hot, Horford got hot- Gordon played a much better game last night than many are giving him credit for. He was a +13, had 6 rebounds, 4 assists and played good D. You cannot have every player on the court being aggressive every night, simply not possible. GH did a great job of reading the game

For all the talk of their poor shooting from distance, the Celtics are back up to #9 in the NBA is 3p%. I see no indication, irrespective of all the complaining out here, that they will be taking less 3 pointers as the seasons goes on. The key is the move the ball, have it hit the paint, and THEN if you get an wide open 3, take it.

Patience. Its coming.

What are "pocket passes?"

worcester wrote:What are  "pocket passes?"

worcester,

A pocket pass is a bounce pass that is thrown so well it comes right up and hits the receiver "right in his pocket".  He doesn't have to break stride or reach down or up to get it, it comes right up into his hands.  It is considered harder to do when the passer and receiver are significantly different heights.  A 6'1" guard throwing a pocket pass to a 7'er requires it to come way up, and it is also hard for a 7'er to make a pocket pass that doesn't come up higher than a 6'1" guard's pocket.


bob


.

Good to know that we are one of the best pocket passing teams.

worcester wrote:Good to know that we are one of the best pocket passing teams.

worcester,

Better than being the best pocket pool team...



bob



.

I think there is plenty of reason to complain or point out the 3 point shooting because they take too many especially given their percentage.

Although they are now 9th that is not good for a team with a roster full of 3 point shooters

Plus they were 2nd in the NBA last year at .377.  Their 3 point shooting was one reason why I believed they could be a serious contender with GSW who were #1.

A faster paced game means more shots for both teams. I agree that 34% is not a great percentage for three point shooting. My point is that it isn't terrible and the Celtics are going to continue to shoot a lot of them, because today's game requires it, ESPECIALLY if, as someone pointed out,we have a lot of good 3 pt. shooters. Does anyone actually think that we would shoot a higher percentage from 2 if we shot less 3s? Penetration leads to open threes and three point shooting ability leads to passes into the paint and lobs. I just don't see how anyone can complain about the offensive performance against the Knicks. Morris was 0 for 7 from 3. That brought the percentage down considerably . It happens. At least two or three were in and out. Most weren't contested. He will , and in my opinion should continue to take them.  Three point shooting is an essential element of every NBA offense, like it or not.

bobheckler wrote:  


worcester,

A pocket pass is a bounce pass that is thrown so well it comes right up and hits the receiver "right in his pocket".  He doesn't have to break stride or reach down or up to get it, it comes right up into his hands.  It is considered harder to do when the passer and receiver are significantly different heights.  A 6'1" guard throwing a pocket pass to a 7'er requires it to come way up, and it is also hard for a 7'er to make a pocket pass that doesn't come up higher than a 6'1" guard's pocket.


bob


.

It is actually the opposite of this explanation, as the "pocket" part of the Pocket Pass refers to the passer throwing (often a one hand) pass from his waist or "pocket" area, not the player catching the pass in his pocket area.

http://www.nba.com/video/games/nuggets/2015/11/24/0021500212-lac-den-play1.nba

dboss wrote:I think there is plenty of reason to complain or point out the 3 point shooting because they take too many especially given their percentage.

Although they are now 9th that is not good for a team with a roster full of 3 point shooters

9th AND RISING. They will finish in the top 5.

People have to be trying really hard to find fault with this team at this current juncture.

mrkleen09 wrote:

dboss wrote:I think there is plenty of reason to complain or point out the 3 point shooting because they take too many especially given their percentage.

Although they are now 9th that is not good for a team with a roster full of 3 point shooters

9th AND RISING.  They will finish in the top 5.

People have to be trying really hard to find fault with this team at this current juncture.  

In absence of perfection there is room for improvement. No one has to try hard to do anything. You watch and see good and bad. And hopefully you are honest enough to point out what you like and what you do not like.

Celts are shooting the ball much better but they are not shooting as well as last year. I do think they can get there.

Might want to check the updated stats D.

This year they are

*rebounding better
*scoring more
*shooting higher 2pt%
*more blocks
*more steals
*less turnovers
*overall FG% is .449 (vs. .450) basically a statistical tie.

All this on a team still figuring things out.

OK, the Pacers didn't follow suit last night and fall to SAC to go further south than us in the standings, but tonight you have TOR vs. MIL so either one of those two teams losing will be fine. Both has lost their previous games coming into this one. Someone will be 0-2 after tonight. We're at worst 2 back in the loss column from 2nd place.

db

112288 wrote:

Shamrock1000 wrote:

112288 wrote:I HAVE BEEN PREACHING DRIVING TO THE HOOP FOR 2.5 YEARS NOW ON THIS BOARD............FINALLY STEVENS GETS ITS, AND SO DOES HIS PLAYERS!  

THIS IS NOT THE SAME TEAM FROM 2 WEEKS AGO REGARDING SHOT SELECTION AND PASSING.

LET US SEE IF THEY CAN CONTINUE THIS STYLE OR GO BACK TO HEAVING 3 POINT BRICKS!

"FUNDAMENTAL WINNING BASKETBALL STRATEGY HAS REMAINED THE SAME SINCE 1947..........ATTACK THE PAINT AND THE BASKET................ONLY THE NEXT BOY WONDER WANNABE GURU STRATEGY CHANGES FOR HIS 15 MINUTES OF FAME "...........112288

112288

Celtics took 38 3 pt shots last night.

They were 13/38 or 34% which sucks.  If they did not attack the paint and score easy buckets, they would have lost the game as the Knicks were hanging around for a long period of time.  Also that is a misleading stat of 38 3 point attempts as many  3 pointers were attempted well after the game was decided and it did not matter anymore, so you go heave happy and see what you can score. BTW The Celtics team average is 34 shots per game.

112288

Celts took 43 threes against the Bulls last night.

I have to say I agree with Kleen here. The Celtics haven't fundamentally changed their game plan, they are just executing it better. The improved chemistry in the revised lineups has helped. The Kyrie-Brown-Tatum-Hayward-Horford line was surprisingly ineffective. It is possible though that they were just in a weird slump - will be interesting if we see that lineup improve now that the Celts have developed more momentum.

Another factor to consider is schedule. The 1st part of the season we eere on the road a lot. Recently we haven't been playing the best teams. So the truth is somewhere in between. We are better than a .500 team, but we are not going to win by 56 every night.