POST GAME WASHINGTON - AWAY

Nice win by the Celts.

A game of runs in the second half, we held them off again and again and again. I don't know what I like more: just holding the lead or stopping the momentum of their runs with a run of our own? The killer in me says "bury them and keep throwing dirt on them all game. Never let them breathe", but another part of me says "runs are part of the game and being able to reach down and beat them back is Championship ball". I say pohtaytoh, then I say potahtoh, who cares? We won.

How can you tell NBA TV uses the local announcer's feed for their audio? When longtime Bullet (now the politically-correct Wizards) great Phil Chenier calls all the Wizard players by their first names and all the Celtics by their last name, that's how.

1. Amazing game by Rondo. He had 11 assists before he got his first turnover. He did it all tonight and had to stay in front of possibly the quickest player in the NBA, John Wall. Speaking of Chenier, he positively gushed over Rondo all game, as did the other announcer, whose name escapes me. They kept talking up the Kentucky connection (John Wall is also from UK), even when Rondo was having a field day. Anything for some reflected glory, huh guys? I could almost see Chenier shaking his head in amazement and the other guy's jaw dropping. When Rondo grabbed his last rebound, stealing it from Blatche, he just kept yelling into the mike "Are you kidding me?! Rondo just took that away from Blatche! Are you kidding me?!". Every word well deserved. A solid triple-double for Rondo (11rebs, 14asts, 18pts).

2. Leading scorer for the game? KG. Wow. It has been a long time, not just this season, since I've said that. 24 points on 9-17, 9 rebounds and 3 assists (including a beautiful backdoor pass to Rondo all alone underneath). He worked outside and inside, but a lot more inside this game than we've seen so far. Perhaps the reports of his demise are premature? Him and Rondo had a nice top/bottom two-man game going tonight. And Doc was still able to keep him under 30 minutes (28). How many like this can he give us this season?

3. NEWS ALERT! RAY ALLEN AND DOOLING BOTH MISSED FREE THROWS! Ok, so we knew that wasn't going to last forever.

4. The Steamer played 12 minutes, with only the last 2 being meaningless. Another 3 blocks for him, all in the 10 meaningful minutes, but more significantly a nice elbow-extended jumper. Doc said he had a nice elbow jumper and we finally saw one last night. Then again, Doc has also said that Moore passed Bradley on the depth chart, said that JON was the best player in camp and that he would carefully monitor KG's minutes. I'm not sure I should quote Doc here, huh? If Steamer can contribute to the offense at all, that's a big bonus. As it is, I think he'd be a keeper for his defense even if we weren't as thin at 5 as we are.

5. Bass had a nice night. Not gangbusters like his other games, but nice. He was 4-8 for 8 points and 4 rebounds in 31 minutes. He'd have more points, except for two blocks by the Wiz's shot blocker par excellence, Javale McGee. Two blocks at the iron by McGee on Bass. Bass was 2-4 in the paint, intimidated by Washington's baseline defenders but he was 3-5 from outside the paint. Baby did some things well, even very well (like taking charges) but I know I'm not alone when I say I hated the Trick-or-Treat nature of his game. I love and appreciate that steadiness and reliability of Bass' game. By comparison, this season so far, Bass is shooting 53% from the field, 79% from the line, averaging 5.8rpg and 15.6ppg while Davis is averaging 33% from the field, 71% from the line and averaging 3.8rpg and 7.8ppg. These stats are not adjusted per 36 mpg, and Davis is playing fewer minutes than Bass so he wouldn't look quite so bad if they were, but maybe there's a reason for that. On the other hand, 33% would still be 33% no matter how many minutes you adjust for. Maybe Bass is playing more minutes because he's playing much better. Von Wafer, who was also part of that deal, isn't doing much either. Good horsetrading by Danny, I say, using a player that was an unrestricted free agent (Davis) and therefore not really his to trade. The art of negotiation lies in convincing others that your plan is in their best interest.

6. I sorta get that Doc wanted to put a quick, young player on Wall when Rondo was out, so he put in Bradley, otherwise I don't get it. Another ho-hum game for the kid.

7. I feel sorry for JJJ. He can't get any feel for the game in the two minutes he's getting per game (only 1:39 this game) and he's looking really uncomfortable and lost out there. Is this a chicken, or is this an egg? Is he uncomfortable because he's not getting the minutes or is he not getting the minutes because Doc can see he's not ready for primetime?

8. Washington's starting frontcourt is 7'0", 260# Javale McGee, 6'10", 230# Rashard Lewis and 6'11", 260# Andre Blatche. That's a BIG frontcourt. At least it would be if Lewis didn't play like he was 6'6". He's having a bad influence on Blatche too. Last year Blatche was a monster inside. This year he's fallen in love with the mid-range jumper. Blatche was 4-7 tonight, not one shot taken in the paint. That's a disgrace for a 6'11", 260-pounder. Lewis was 2-4 in the paint, 4-12 overall. That made him 2-8 from outside, but we're used to him thinking he's a SG from his Orlando days.

9. JON turned back into a pumpkin. No lift, no lift at all. And now he has a leg injury? They shoot horses, don't they?

10. The Celtics had 7 assisted baskets on 8 fgm in the 4th quarter, until the bench was emptied at 1:39 left in the game. And that's what finally broke their backs, good team offense.

On the dinner menu for tomorrow night is leftover Wizards...

bob

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Hi,
One more W.
As others commented Wizards were overmatched in all departments.
I just wanted to note about PP. Even on a very quiet night like yesterday he gave Celtics stability. Plus, of course, everybody has to respect his offensive capability thus giving other players more opportunities to score.

AK

tjmakz wrote:

Matty wrote: would Steimsma be also consodered what went right?

just looked up how his stats and while the season is young we've also already expereinced 1/12th or so of the season.. and Steimsma is 2nd in the league with 3.3 blocks a game- by contrast he's playing 16.3 minutes a game wheres as the league leader with 3.8 blocks a game is playing 32 minutes a game and mr. Howard (no not jessie james) is getting 3 blocks a game in 39 min of PT..

per 48 the kid is getting 9.8 blocks.. I wonder what Russel thinks of his skill set in this department?

I know this isnt an indication of what he is per say, but rather likely an indication of what he could be im sort of impressed.. This might be one of those deals that leaves Danny looking like a genius.

Matty,

It is way early to be analyzing Stiemsma's block numbers. Even though he has more fouls then points in the 48 minutes of his NBA career, it wouldn't be fair to assume that would continue, just as his rate of blocks won't keep the pace that he has in his first 3 games.
It is like a guy that hits 4 HR's in the first week of his baseball and trying to assume that this will have any meaning over the course of his career.

TJ,

I agree. I'm a bit guilty of exalting Stiemsma more than is justified so early in this season too. A good friend of mine, a Laker fan, is all excited about Devin Ebanks. I pointed out to him that Ebanks hasn't been scouted yet, and how he's doing in April will say more about him than now because by then there will be enough video for every SF and coaching staff in the league to prepare for him. The same can be said about Stiemsma, although there is already a lot more scouting on him, due to his time in the D-league, than on a player that didn't hardly play last year.

What can we say? It's NBA time again and our teams are playing. We're excited about the prospects...

bob

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sam wrote:BobH,

I subscribe to most of what you said above. But I have to keep asking you exactly what you're expecting of Doc with respect to KG's minutes.

Yes, on opening night, with no fatigue factor as an antecedent, no game scheduled the following night, and missing a very valuable member of the starting lineup, Kevin played 37:03 in a game they nearly pulled out. I'll give you that one, although I'm not sure what alternative Doc had as he tried to win while playing with a load of "unknowns" on opening night.

With Pierce still out, KG's minutes dropped to 33.34 in the following game against arguably the most formidable opponent they'll face this season. Was this a positive trend in Doc's monitoring of KG, or didn't you see it that way?

In the three games since (including one in which they were still missing Pierce), KG has played 26:39, 25:38, and 27:45 minutes respectively. Doc has seldom (if ever) played him in more than six-minute stretches. And yet you're still intimating that Doc's backtracking on his pledge to monitor KG's minutes.

Maybe you could clarify exactly what you're expecting. I mean, seriously, how low is low here? KG's now playing slightly more than half of each game. Doc has become scrupulous in limiting him to around six minutes at a stretch. And recent evidence (which could change for the worse, but who knows?) is that KG is playing better as the season progresses.

It seems to me that Doc is doing a very good job of monitoring KG's minutes and working toward the formula that will get the most out of KG. Maybe it's an aberration, but I don't believe so. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your comments, in which case I apologize.

Sam

sam,

Yes, KG is playing better as the season is progressing. As you pointed out, he's also playing fewer minutes. How much of that improvement is due to the reduced minutes and how much is just the shorter pre-season requiring a few regular season games to get his rhythm back, I don't know. Maybe playing KG that many minutes on opening night, when he hadn't had a normal training camp to ramp up his stamina, might have had a greater effect on him over the next few days (going a little harder when you're in great shape is not as big a deal, and doesn't have the same cascading effect, as when you go a little harder and aren't in great shape to begin with). But it was clear to me, in the game in NY and Miami, that he was getting tired and wasn't very effective. Considering they played 4 games in 6 days fatigue should be expected, but it also should have been anticipated, by Doc. Doc said he was going to play KG in 5 minute sprints. As you say, it has been closer to 6. I realize you can't always stop the game to pull a player out "on schedule" but overall it adds up, especially in a compressed schedule like they've played so far. I did not watch the NO game, but based upon everything I've read, it was never close and Carl Landry ate KG for lunch (personally, I'd rather eat at Mother's on Tchoupitoulos and Poydras). It's not just the number of minutes/game but the total number of minutes in a ridiculously intense week that can wear you out. It is critical, absolutely critical, for this team to be healthy and fresh come playoffs. Having homecourt advantage is secondary to that, as is just about everything else. This team, if healthy and fresh, can win anywhere.

I realize, when I re-read my post, that I was lumping Doc's promise to monitor KG's minutes with a few other inconsistencies. Perhaps they were not all equal but KG's poorer performance in the first few games, when he played more minutes, suggested there was some support for that conclusion. An inference drawn from my writing might have been that the hammer came down equally hard on all three examples. Perhaps that was a mistake on my part.

Thanks for pointing that out.


bob

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Hi,
Re KG's minutes. I think it's too early for any meaningful comments. It's very early in the season. The last 2 games they played against bottom teams. The regular rotations are not set, yet: PP just came back, MP (I presume he's gonna be PP's main backup) will come in about 10 days (I hope). So, give it some time, guys.

AK