Pre Game Thread Celtics host Washington 11/17/2010 @ 7:30 PM

[dboss]

Well it looks like the much anticipated matchup between our Wildcat and their Wildcat will have to wait for a while.

The Wizards play against Toronto tonight and make their first season visit to the Gardens.

The Wizards are a horrible team. At 2-6 they shot poorly at .444. They turn the ball over at a rate of 18.4 per game and their defense stinks (104 PPG allowed)

With Wall not expected to play former agent zero Gilbert Arenas will need to step up and carry more of the scoring load. He is averaging 14.2 ppg but only shooting .348 from the field. The second leading scorer is Blatche at 16.4 ppg and 8.1 boards. I like this kid but he is still not takingn advantage of his 6' 11" size. He loves to shoot the ball from the outside, tends to be streaking and as a result his percentage is poor at .406. He is however an excellent free throw (26-28 for .929) shooter.

Hinrich 11 ppg gives them some limited stability. Yi Jianian came over from the Nets and the youngster McGee is a pretty good shot blocker but still far from being a consistent player.

Although Washington is a poor team there is no good reason for the Celtics to take them lightly.

This game has an added attraction with the anticiaption of Delonte West making his first regular season appearance for the green since 2007.

Keys to the Game

Shut them down. Timely defensive rotations will be beneficial

Control the defensive glass. The Wizards average 10 offensive rebounds per game

Continue the recent trend of moving the rock inside and out, over, around and through the defense.

Get Shaq involved early since he will destroy anyone that tries to check him.


Enjoy the game

dboss

shorten the minutes played by the starters.