Post Game - Round 1, Game 1 vs. Nets

Bob,

Nice post game write-up, as usual.  You wrote,

Here's the last 1:31, with the score tied at 109:  KD with a 2, Smart with a miss, Al with an O-board and 2, Kyrie with a 3, Celtic time out with 45.9 left.  Jaylen with a layup, KD miss, Al rebound to the Tatum game winner.  The difference is one more fga, one more fgm, one more offensive rebound.  Ok, I'll stop talking about offensive rebounds now.

One cool thing about the last sequence is that every Celtic player touched the ball once.  Al got the rebound, passed it over to White, who quickly got it up the sideline to Jaylen.  Meanwhile, everyone else is running down the floor.  Jaylen probes the paint, sees that he is covered and passes it out to Smart.  Smart's up-fake takes out two Net defenders and then Smart dribbles past them, sees Tatum and passes the ball in stride to Tatum.  Tatum catches the ball, spins away to avoid the last Net defender and lays it off the glass.

All in about 10 seconds.

I read after the game that game-winning shots rarely result from a play that involves player and ball movement.  Most (if not all) game winners result from iso plays as time expires or hail-Mary shots.  I have no idea if that is true, but it sounds like it could be.

worcester wrote:What an immensely satisfying win, and what a classic photo, Gyso. Says so much. More than 1,000 words.

W,

When I saw that photo, I knew I had to bring it here.

My big surprise was when I came across the art-work picture, the one with Jaylen, the shamrock on the glass and two Net players watching the game slip through their fingers. That was one quick piece of art-work that captured that moment in a big way. The use of the shamrock instead of the ball was perfect.

db

You canned it  "a boa constrictor" effect.  I cannot think of a better analogy my friend.

If the refs will let us play we can knock them all over the court.  They are a team overflowing with non-defenders.  They have no one to check Jayson or Jaylen straight up.  It is too late for them to be something they are not.  NBA history is a killing field littered with magnificent offensive players that have a repugnant disrespect for playing defense.  

The one thing about the Nets that I find most distasteful is their arrogance towards respecting both ends of the court. That team is centered around a pair of prima donnas and surrounded by a bunch of come join me leeches that are hanging on to the tit of opportunity.

What a picture Gyso...loved it. How fitting, maybe someone can turn Tatum in to Lucky the Leprechaun and show his shooting the shamrock with mr no class watching it go thru the basket.

What a game Al had. Mr dependable all year long. He had a stretch in the middle of the season where he looked tired. After that time he has been the one player who stayed consistent. There were nights when he did not score, but his presence on the floor was invaluable. Yesterday, he kept the Celtics in the game at times when they could have ben blown off the court. And, others finally followed his lead and this team just took off.

I expect a different game Wednesday night, Durant is going to become for forceful. Our defense on him will have to be strong. mr no class has had his best game of the series I hope. Someone has to bother him more, play him tougher. This is not going to be an easy series, but I still believe it is one we will win.

That finish yesterday made my Easter!!!!! My yelling could be heard halfway down the street. Here's hoping for a repeat

dboss,

You set me up!  With my free, roaming mind plus time, I can come up with just about anything!  We'll see how good the descriptor "BCD" is starting Wednesday.  Perfect for a series as you have to play the same team over two weeks.  

Rosalie, my beautiful wife, who was sitting in the other room, after the game told me I can  never act like that again!  I gave myself a headache yelling so loud!  I never get headaches!  

I only reacted that way two other times that I remember.  When NC State beat Maryland in the 1974 ACC Tournament Finals and that same year when NC State beat UCLA in the 1974 NCAA Semifinals.  That was 48 years ago.  

I'm still hooked on the blowout for Wednesday.  It needs to be disheartening.  Gotta have it.  Anything less, we don't need.

db

gyso wrote:I'd like to start with this . . .

. PERFECT!

gyso wrote:

That particular 7-11-closed for maintenance

I just discovered something. I don't think I despise a team more than I do the Brooklyn Nets. Not even the Lakers. I actually respect the Lakers even as much crap as I dump on them.

I don't know why I despise them. I just do. Maybe it's Kryrie, KD, Coach Nash, their management, whatever. I would be very happy if they never win a game again! I know...very childish!

OK, that's enough!

db

I love the look on Derek white’s face!!!!

RosalieTCeltics wrote:I love the look on Derek white’s face!!!!

That's a cool part of that picture, Derek's expression.

To be honest, that's what my face looked like in that moment. I was screaming and that got our two dogs barking and spinning around.

A totally incredible ending.

Gyso: Two classic pictures.

dboss: a classic comment - "a bunch of come join me leeches that are hanging on to the tit of opportunity

Another observation. It is really good to see these guys across the NBA going crazy at their jobs. This normally only happens in college basketball but it is good to see the excitement in these teams trying to get into the playoffs and now with this game on Sunday, during the playoffs.

This is good for the NBA and great for the game we all love to either participate in or watch. We all know, in the end, this is just a game. A child's game for the most part. Far, far more children play basketball than adults. I acted like a child Sunday. It felt great!! I liked that and will do it again if Boston pulls off another victory like that tonight.

I'm calling for the only logical option for G2 which is a blowout by us simply because we're that good and the BKN team along with the organization is being and needs to be exposed for the frauds that they are. It doesn't matter if we win by one or win by one hundred, we're still up 2-0. Only the games won count and it's the first one to 4.

The Celtics need to ever so subtly let the rest of the world know starting tonight that this is not going to be the series the "world" (a.ka. Stephen A., TNT, etc.) has been hoping/waiting for, nor that BKN has any chance of winning this series. We'll handle BS when/if he shows up. I can assure you, it won't be pretty.

BKN also better be EXTREMELY careful bringing him back if the mental issues are even a remote problem. They could very well be responsible for ending his career in short order ala Chuck Knoblauch if they insert him into this environment too soon. (Note in which game they "plan" to insert him. Game 4, home game for them worst they can be down before tonight is 0-3, nothing to lose for them at that point and unfortunately for us, everything to gain.) HUGE risks implying desperation if they bring him back and don't shut him down for rest of their season. I'm not a psychologist nor a psychiatrist but it would seem putting a mentally frail person into the ultimate pressure cooker would be the stupidest move any rational human being or entity could do to another human being just for the sake of winning a child's game. Maybe worcester can shed some light. But go ahead Brooklyn. Let's see if that wins you over any more fans.

Also, remember, we still have RWIII in the wings. Bringing him back ala Willis Reed will cancel any perceived momentum BKN would hope to gain by bringing BS back.

Very interesting game of chess going on. Pretty sure via wife's paycheck Steve Nash is going to get checkmated by the brainchild Ime Udoka and then get unceremoniously canned. Just a few more games to go.

db

dbrown, Regarding Ben Simmons, I'm not a psychiatrist nor do I play one on TV.  I 've resigned from the "Giving free medical advice on this website" job, so henceforth please just expect to read my flawless basketball related insights and analysis (for which I also get paid zippo). Without naming names I will say this, though: Brooklyn has more than one mentally-challenged player on that squad!

The funny thing with Kryrie is the fine he had to pay in negligible for him.  He carries $50K around in his wallet.  

The operative words above are "had to pay".  Even though he thought he was being cute or matching tit for tat with the fans, we have entered his brain and his consciousness.  Now it is time for our team on the floor to take over.  The crowd will continue to do their respective jobs as fans.  Fans is short for fanatics and per Oxford is "a person filled with excessive and single-minded zeal..."  We're good there.  

It really doesn't matter how he or KD or both come out tonight, the result will be the same.  Vegas has dropped our line to BOS (-3.5) from (-4.0) for G1.  Not a big deal and deserved.  Our BPI is about as high as MIL's G2 vs. CHI.  Ours is 87.9%.  That's pretty strong barring anything out of the ordinary happening.  

Begin looking for the wheels to wobble noticeably with BKN.  That was a massive punch in the gut for G1.  Our physicality on both ends needs to be more than in G1.  We have far more to improve from G1 than BKN.  Everyone is looking for KD to go off.  Please do, but check with Michael Jordan first.  (This includes you, Stephen A.)  You want points or a steal on the road?  Can't have both.  Not at this level.  Michael chose points and that series ended quickly thereafter.

Drive for show, putt for dough.  

db

P.S.  Great answer, worcester.  Priceless.  Your analysis is spot on.  

We can play a lot better.

Re carrying money around in an NBA player's wallet. My nephew was standing behind Jayson Tatum at an ATM machine at the Atlantis Resort in the Bahamas just before JT started his rookie year. Jayson pulled out some cash and walked away but left his receipt on the machine. My nephew picked it up and still has it. Back then JT had $19,138 in his account!

Let's put that into present-day perspective.
Assuming JT makes $35M a year now and plays 48 minutes a game for 82 regular season games (3,936 minutes), he's earning $8,892.28 pre-tax per minute of the regular season.

That's a great story, worcester! Maybe that's what bothers me about BKN. They are trying to buy a championship. Reason #47 why they aren't going to win this series.

db

Reasons #26, #42, #0, and #7 are pretty compelling too.

Speaking of #42 and pretty compelling, so is his wife Amelia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amelia_Vega

Al Horford is one tremendous human being, and he brings so much to this young team in so many ways. After the Gators won teh NCCAOM championship in 2006, writers were going gaga over Joakim Noah, but Billy Donovan said that Al Horford was the real talent on that very talented team. He sure was right.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2006%E2%80%9307_Florida_Gators_men%27s_basketball_team

Most of my reasons include in the analysis three-word recurring phrases very similar to but not limited to "because Brooklyn sucks!!"

db

If you look at the box score from G1 and let's just assume BS was back. Who's he going to "shut down"?! Yeah, our bench was a little weak but they did that on their own.

All we have to do is continue to play Hot Potato/Sucker In The Middle and he will be gassed in about 3 minutes.

db