POST GAME ORLANDO

Really like Bass but must learn to pass the ball when he is doubled team or when his opportunity to score is diminished.

Dboss

That is why they call him "No Pass Bass"!!!

112288

You really think your back up PF is in the game to pass?

Wow, what a post game interview!!!!!

In what will go down as one of his most memorable post-game interviews, Garnett got emotional with TNT's Craig Sager immediately following Boston's 91-83 victory. "Goddamn bar fight! Goddamn bar fight, man! It's a bar fight, Craig," Garnett shouted, shifting his weight back and forth as he often does when the adrenaline is flowing. "Bar fight! Tonight was a bar fight, man! We knew they were going to come in with a lot of energy, tonight was a bar fight. Have you ever been in a bar fight? Ask Charles [Barkley], he's been in a bar fight. This is what it was tonight."

In case you weren't counting, that was eight "bar fights" in less than 20 seconds. "We won in the second half," Garnett continued. "In the first half, they came out with a lot of energy, put ourselves in a hole, then we simplified our offense, came out... I forgot you were doing the interview. Go ahead." He then paused to catch his breath. "Woo man." Sager then asked if he believed Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who said earlier in the game that a comeback was possible. "Absolutely. Since I've been here in Boston, Doc has never told me nothing that wasn't true. We were in the Finals one time, we were down whatever it was, he told me we could come back, I believed it and we did. Tonight was no different. Woo." CBSSports.com

112288

112288 wrote:Wow, what a post game interview!!!!!

In what will go down as one of his most memorable post-game interviews, Garnett got emotional with TNT's Craig Sager immediately following Boston's 91-83 victory. "Goddamn bar fight! Goddamn bar fight, man! It's a bar fight, Craig," Garnett shouted, shifting his weight back and forth as he often does when the adrenaline is flowing. "Bar fight! Tonight was a bar fight, man! We knew they were going to come in with a lot of energy, tonight was a bar fight. Have you ever been in a bar fight? Ask Charles [Barkley], he's been in a bar fight. This is what it was tonight."

In case you weren't counting, that was eight "bar fights" in less than 20 seconds. "We won in the second half," Garnett continued. "In the first half, they came out with a lot of energy, put ourselves in a hole, then we simplified our offense, came out... I forgot you were doing the interview. Go ahead." He then paused to catch his breath. "Woo man." Sager then asked if he believed Celtics coach Doc Rivers, who said earlier in the game that a comeback was possible. "Absolutely. Since I've been here in Boston, Doc has never told me nothing that wasn't true. We were in the Finals one time, we were down whatever it was, he told me we could come back, I believed it and we did. Tonight was no different. Woo." CBSSports.com

112288

KG also said he looked nice and liked his suit!

beat

That was a great interview

One must have priorities and the #1 priority should always be addressed before the rest. I must start this post, therefore, by extending my most sincere and positive hopes to Worcester and his family (including his girlfriend). Basketball, even Boston Celtic basketball, comes in a very, very distant second. I wish your friend peace and grace and your son a speedy and full recovery, my friend.

And now, just to show how quantity is not preferable over quality, on to a more verbose but decidedly less significant distant second...

What an amazing and highly improbable victory. Pure ganas. Pure hunger. Pure will to win. Pure Celtic Pride. Nobody gave the Celts the chance of a snowflake in hell to win, down 3 starters, against a team they humiliated just a few days earlier (and were looking for some payback) and who had just demolished a very good Indiana Pacer team (who had themselves demolished the Celtics a week earlier). We were down by 27 points with 3 minutes left in the half, 23 points with 1 minute left and by 21 at the half. That, as they say, should have been that. But Orlando shot 6-18 in the third, with the Celtic defense making steals and blocks, and 2-17 in the 4th. Orlando had one fgm in the last 6 minutes of the game. The technical basketball term for this is "discombobulation". Ok, maybe not, but it is apt.

1. After starting 0-5 from the field, the Captain showed up to play in the 2nd half to end up 7-18 for 24 points and, perhaps more importantly, 10 assists. With Rondo out, Doc has been running the offense through Pierce and it has been working. Why didn't they do whatever they had to do to take the ball out of Pierce's hands? Oh right, I remember, SVG is their coach. Some real great gut-check games by Pierce since Rondo went out.

2. I think I have underestimated just how out of shape most of this team came to play this season. I know Doc has spoken of it, but I take Doc's words with a grain of salt (like how he was going to play Moore over Bradley) but it's starting to show itself in improvements in play. Especially with KG. His defensive rotations, up to last week, have been slow and he has had no lift in his legs. These past two games against Orlando, though, he has been playing vintage 2008 KG defense. In one sequence he went out 17' along the baseline to challenge a shooter left alone and, when the pass rotated the ball and dumped quickly underneath to Howard, he was able to get back in time to block the shot. 4 blocks last night. If this is what we can expect from KG from now on, we're good. Phew!

3. Bradley did ok last night. He didn't lock down Nelson like he did the first game, but he still did ok. The kid's confidence is growing daily. If nothing else, he has considerably elevated his trade value.

4. Moore's confidence must be sky-high today too, huh? The shooter's shots finally started to drop. 5-6 fgm, 4-4 from 3, 2-2 ftm, 1 blk and an offensive rebound. That's quite a night for a barely used rookie in 18 minutes. He played good defense too, including a block on the MUCH taller Ryan Anderson. I'm going to hold in abeyance Sam's comparisons to the Jones boys until these two can show they can do it night-after-night like they did. I remember when Danny Ainge left the Toronto Blue Jays to come play for us and people were describing him as "the next Jerry West". Let's let these kids be themselves first and then, if we're lucky, we'll be able to start matching them up with legends. Steamer had a few good games and he was being compared to Russell (by Tom Heinsohn, no less!). A bit premature, as it is turning out.

5. Steamer is moving backwards, and it's all mental. He's not setting picks and holding them, which he did in the early games. He's not popping out to his shooting spots, like he did in the early games. But most significantly, last night, he didn't keep either of his hands up on defense on numerous occasions. He's a shotblocker who didn't have his hands up. JJ Redick drove baseline, Steamer moved to cut him off and Redick still got a layup because Steamer had both his hands over his chest and didn't have one hand up to intimidate the shot. He's trying to take charges and not putting his hands up. I'll give him credit for moving his feet on defense, but you have to keep your hands up if you want to intimidate or block a shot. They are not going to shoot the ball through your chest, so it doesn't make sense to keep both your hands there. The game is moving too fast for Steamer, his brain is struggling right now. I'm not giving up on him, but he needs a "chat" with KG and a big-man coach to get himself right again. Yes, he blocked two shots, but he could easily have intimidated twice that many if he had just had one hand above his shoulder.

6. Speaking of brain-farting, the Magic imploded in the 4th quarter because their brains ran away from them. Considering their coach is a screamer and panicker, this should be expected. Compare that to the steady confidence of Doc Rivers that produced steady positive results. That last sentence was directed at you, Dwight. You have pissed off your point guard, Jameer Nelson, by saying how nice it would be to play with a good point guard (you had to say that to the press?). Well, I'd take any one of our point guards, including Moore who isn't even a point guard, over Nelson. Nelson's on the downside. 3 of our 4 are still improving and 1 of them, Dooling, is steadier than Nelson.

7. Another 3-11 game by Davis. Thanks for everything Big Baby, and don't let the door hit you in the ass when you leave. Brandon Bass, on a bad day, is preferable to Davis. And Von Wafer isn't getting off the bench except in blowout garbage time.

8. No Rondo, very little Dooling and we still had more fastbreak points then them (8-5). I'm liking that stat a lot, since it shows energy.

9. We out assisted them 23-16 without Rondo. That's how disfunctional SVG's offense is (and how great Pierce played last night). Their offense is soooo predictable. Dump it in to D12 and wait out at the 3pt line. If the double comes, expect a pass. If it doesn't, D12 overpowers his man. Of course, putting D12 on the line is the best defense you can play against him. Just to ask the question, "Do we really want him? Do we really want the offense, in crunch time, going through Rondo or Howard's hands? Do we really want to rally to win, or try to hold on to a win, with the opposing team hacking our starting point guard and center for the last 2 minutes of the game? Can we really run a fluid offense when the other team is happier stopping play and forcing the two worst free throw shooters in the league to hit their free throws under pressure?

10. The Magic had a 20 point half the last game. Last night they had a 25 point half, with an 8 point 4th quarter. Somehow I don't think they're pleased with that improvement. Maybe SVG's screaming in the locker room will fix that? Maybe not...

The wires were going crazy after the first Celtic defeat of the Magic with the suggestion that Howard would consider signing with the Celtics (112288 started a thread on that). As I asked earlier, do we really want him? The Magic offense tore us a new asshole in the second quarter after Howard had to sit with his second foul, outscoring us 35-17 in 12:54. Just a question...

HUGE confidence lift here. HUGE confidence lift for Bradley this week, HUGE confidence lift for Moore last night, HUGE confidence lift for Celtic fans who are seeing the return of the team they're used to. And last night's victory was against a good team, with a solid winning record, on the road, without 3 starters, the second time in 3 days so it's not a fluke. Wow.

Finishing where I started, as much as I'm estatic about this game, there are more important things. My thoughts and prayers are with you, Worcester, and all those near and dear to you.

bob

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Some post-game quotes and commentary:

Doc Rivers

“That was a character builder for our team,” said Rivers. “It really was. It’s all we talked about at halftime — not a big game plan thing. We didn’t make any changes. We just kept talking about it being a character builder for the basketball team. Let’s get back in it. Let’s hang in there long enough to give yourself a chance to win.”

Dwight Howard

“What the Celtics did was they stuck with the game plan,” Howard said. “Not once did they fight or get mad at each other. They just kept playing. They stayed together, and that’s how they won the game.”

The Orlando Sentinel

Three starters down, two of them All-Stars, on the road, facing a 27-point deficit. Boston entered halftime with a chip and a chair, a hope and a prayer, and a group of players that still — after all the painful losses this season, all the half-assed nights when winning teams rolled them over — believed.

Paul Pierce

“I told the guys in the locker room [at halftime], if we just cut this lead in half, they’ll give us a chance to win the game,’’ said Pierce. “Once we saw the lead go to 11 at the end of the third, we were like, there’s some life right here. Usually Doc will pull the plug, especially in a back-to-back situation, if we’re down 18 going to the fourth quarter, but he saw there was life in us.’’

Stan Van Gundy

"He shot the crap out of the ball" - referring to Moore

My notes:
This is why Doc Rivers is a championship coach and SVG is not. Doc Rivers talks about character and SVG talks about shooting. One is a motivator and the other is a tactician (and not a particularly good one at that). That's why the entire Celtics team effort went up in the second half while Orlando players were frustrated because their shots weren't going in and the refs weren't bailing them out.

bob

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bobheckler wrote:Their offense is soooo predictable. Dump it in to D12 and wait out at the 3pt line. If the double comes, expect a pass. If it doesn't, D12 overpowers his man. Of course, putting D12 on the line is the best defense you can play against him. Just to ask the question, "Do we really want him? Do we really want the offense, in crunch time, going through Rondo or Howard's hands? Do we really want to rally to win, or try to hold on to a win, with the opposing team hacking our starting point guard and center for the last 2 minutes of the game? Can we really run a fluid offense when the other team is happier stopping play and forcing the two worst free throw shooters in the league to hit their free throws under pressure?

The wires were going crazy after the first Celtic defeat of the Magic with the suggestion that Howard would consider signing with the Celtics (112288 started a thread on that). As I asked earlier, do we really want him? The Magic offense tore us a new asshole in the second quarter after Howard had to sit with his second foul, outscoring us 35-17 in 12:54. Just a question...

The short version of my answer to this question is, "Yes." The long version of my answer is, "Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes!"

You bring up a valid point about Howard and Rondo both being awful at the line, but it's been so long since you've seen the Celtics with a genuine post threat that you must've forgotten how much impact that can have on a game. And while he shouldn't have said it to the media, Dwight is correct that he would benefit tremendously from playing with a great point guard. He also needs outside shooting to keep the defense from packing it in around him, and Rondo obviously doesn't provide that in a single package like other elite point guards, so he's not the ideal complement to Dwight, but he would be a ridiculous upgrade over Nelson and would make Dwight's life soooo much easier.

But a combination inside-outside threat is the most difficult to defend and most durable in the playoffs. The outside threat makes the defense pay when they sag on the post threat. The post threat makes the defense pay when they man up on the perimeter threat. And a great point guard can deliver the ball to whichever one is open. Oh yes, you want this. You want this bad.

I'm not as down on SVG as you are. It seems obvious to me that he has to space the floor to open up the post for Howard. I'm not wild about going all-in on three-point shots; I think a good mid-range game can be just as effective at keeping the defense honest, and the ideal is of course to do it all well -- post, mid-range, and threes. But look at the Magic's roster. Personally, I think SVG is doing wonders with it, and I think he has for years. Yes, he looks like an emotionally imbalanced fire hydrant out there, and I'll take Doc in a heartbeat hands down, but what exactly would you do with that roster? With all the uncertainty around Howard's status, I expected them to collapse under the pressure like Denver before the Carmelo trade, but they've kept it together really well. SVG deserves credit for that.

Unless we're talking about the original Dream Team, no team is perfect. The weakness of Rondo and Dwight at the free-throw line is definitely a weakness and would be particularly worrisome in the playoffs, but 15 extra points from an actual post game would more than make up for a couple of missed free throws.

Outside

Worcester,

My thoughts and prayers are with you. I wish your son strength and stamina in his recovery and your friend comfort and serenity along with those of you that surround and support her.

Best regards

Magic meltdown continues. They've scored 51 points so far against the Sixers tonight and there's only 2:40 left in the game.

Wow.