POST GAME PHILLY

All our prayers go out to Mickael Pietrus. He is a gutzy player who brings it hard night in and night out!

11pm *UPDATE Doc just told the media Pietrus is having ct scans and mri's done and will remain in the hospital tonight.


Again we were behind the 8 ball with Ray Allen out, Pietrus going down, Bradley appeared to tweak the ankle late in the first half and departed, short 2 bigs....what did anyone expect except what the final score was. We have to regroup but this is becoing painful to watch. We are in ball games with one hand tied behind our back.

YOOOOOOOO DOOOOOOOOOOOC....WILL YOU PLEASE PLAY MOORE............HE CAN SCORE!!!!!!!!

Despite 17 A Rondo had a soft game. He had very little creativity in the paint. I will give him the benefit because of having Ray and MP out............BUT.................


Next game - Sunday vs. Washington @ Home -6PM - CSNE

POST GAME WEEI 850

FAST BREAK: C’S BEAT UP IN PHILLY
By Ryan Hadfield

The Atlantic division lead was within grasp Friday night in Philadelphia. With a win the Celtics would usurp the 76ers for first place in the standings. Through 18 minutes, it appeared the C’s were well on their way to that goal as they took a 10 point lead.

Then Mickael Pietrus suffered a jarring injury when he drove to the middle of the paint and awkwardly hit the floor after being fouled. It appeared Pietrus landed on the small of his back. He was taken out on a stretcher and to the nearest hospital.

Boston displayed strong fortitude and gave an admirable effort. But coming into the second night of a back-to-back and with Ray Allen was already unavailable due to an ankle injury, the Celtics simply did not have enough firepower to keep up with the 76ers, falling 99-86.

The 76ers had six players score in double figures. After being held quiet in the first half, Elton Brand (20 points, 10-of-15 shooting) and Lou Williams (19 points) exploded to help lead Philly to victory. For the Celtics, Paul Pierce (20 points, 7-of-11 shooting) and Kevin Garnett (20 points) helped shoulder the scoring load early and Rajon Rondo had a spectacular game setting teammates up with 17 assists, but was held to only six points on a night where they needed him to take more than just five shots that he attempted.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Staring on the right foot: Earlier this month when the Celtics visited the city of brotherly love they were blown out of the gym. With the lead in the Atlantic division hanging in the balance, the C’s came out swinging. Pierce had 11 points in the first six minutes of the game. Bass and Garnett each chipped in eight points in a first quarter that saw Boston shoot 65 percent.

Midway through the second quarter, admist a 76ers’ run, Pietrus violently hit the floor, rendering his night over. Given the nature of the injury, it would be difficult to fault the Celtics for struggling, but the veteran squad regained their composure after being aided by a Doug Collins technical foul, taking a 49-43 lead into halftime. A key to all of this was the Celtics’ efficiency. They did a great job limiting the 76ers opportunities in transition, and only committed five first half turnovers.

Core Performance: With Allen unavailable because of an ankle injury and Pietrus injured in the second quarter, the Celtics needed the rest of their starters to pick up the slack. And they did. Bass, Garnett, and Pierce accounted for 37 of Boston’s 49 first half points, and Rondo distributed the ball extremely well.

WHAT WENT WRONG

The Usual Suspects: The Celtics did well in the first half to impose their will and style of play, but they allowed nine offensive rebounds in the first 24 minutes, and 14 total in the game. On the other end, Boston only corralled three offensive boards.

The 46-35 overall rebounding disadvantage accentuates a season-long issue for Boston. The six-point halftime advantage was largely due to holding the 76ers to just 35 percent shooting from the field. But the margin could have been higher for the C’s had they not relented so many offensive boards and second chances.

Another consistent issue for Boston has been both manufacturing and preventing fast break points. Friday night was no different, as the 76ers held an 18-3 advantage

Third Quarter Meltdown: For the second Friday night game in a row, the C’s were dreadful in the third quarter after competing well in the first half. Last week against the Kings, the Celtics only trailed by one at halftime, but then gave up 41 third quarter points. Friday night, Boston actually led by six at halftime, but gave up 37 points, and only scored 17. Brand, in particular, was dominant, scoring 14 points in the quarter.

Injury Bug: Perhaps the weirdest aspect of these fluke injuries to Boston is that they occur as the player begins to flourish in his role. By all accounts, Jeff Green came into camp early and was excited to contribute. His heart condition found in the preseason dismissed those ambitions before he even participated in practice. Chris Wilcox was having a productive season coming off the bench and proving to be a valuable acquisition late in training camp after struggling with minor injuries initially. But just before this eight-game road trip, his season was ended when team doctors discovered he had a heart condition as well.

Finally, Pietrus’ injury tonight came just minutes after a highlight reel dunk. The affable swingman has been a stalwart for Doc Rivers’ bench and a positive influence in the locker room. In addition to Pietrus going down, Avery Bradley, who has also played well of late, hobbled off the court just before halftime and did not return to the lineup. If either Pietrus or Bradley is ruled out for an elongated period of time, one wonders if it will be the final straw which breaks the Celtics’ back.
[b]

Losing both MP and AB to injury was too much to overcome.

The Celts finished the road trip at .500 and that is great.

Looking ahead it its difficult to see how this team can win with so many injuries. The team has a lot of heart.

Dboss

After a brutal 12 day, 8 game road trip the Boston Celtics ended up right where they were at the start of the road trip, 1 1/2 games behind Philly. Not bad.

Talk about lousy scheduling, the flight from Milwaukee to Philly probably about 3 -3 1/2 hours non-stop (it's about 4 1/4 hours with 1 stop on Orbitz) plus they lose an hour heading east, and then they have to play the second half of a back-to-back. Philly, on the other hand, hosted the Knicks at home on Wednesday (losing) and had a day off to lick their wounds, nurse their anger and rest up for the depleted, green road warrior Celtics.

1. Obviously, the number one thought here has to be for Pietrus. No ifs, no ands, no buts. I don't see how he could have a concussion, when the replay clearly shows he didn't hit his head. More likely is a severe neck strain and possible CNS trauma from landing on his back. He was vomiting on the court and that's a sign of head trauma (after eliminating the consideration of a punch/knee to the stomach). As of the time I'm writing this, Pietrus was cleared to travel to Boston, where he will no doubt have further tests run. Still, being cleared to travel is promising. Go Pietrus!

2. When Ray Allen's ankle is so bad he pulls himself out of the lineup, you know it's bad. We need him, so rest up, and we'll try to hang in there.

3. Bradley was playing hellaciously good defense until he tweaked his ankle too. Man, this injury stuff is getting ridiculous! It looks like Moore will get more minutes, but he's not supposed to get them like this.

4. Pierce was on fire last night, but Iggy had a good game too. He back cut Pierce a couple of times (and we've seen that in other games this season too) and hit some big jumpshots. Not a huge scoring game for either player (20 for Pierce, 14 for Iggy) but very good all-round. A team-leading 9 rebounds for Pierce on behalf of a team that needs to rebound better and a team-leading 8 assists for Iggy on behalf of a team that needs better ball movement. Both players leading their teams and addressing needs.

5. Yes, Ryan Hollins really is that bad at the line. A career 66% shooter, he was 1-4 last night (not that those extra fts would have made the difference). I was surprised when Doc inserted him when Pietrus was carried off. The guy just passed his physical that morning! Too soon to say good or bad things about him, but hitting those fts would have been a nice start. Unlike Steamer, who had 6 blocks in his debut, Hollins did not impress last night. Think Steamer gives up too much ground in the low post? Hollins is a toothpick. I'm willing to bet all his defensive prowess comes from giving weak-side help and not man-to-man. Let's see how he does with a day or two with the coaches and running skeleton plays today and tomorrow.

6. Rondo had 17 assists, but he only took 5 fga. It's like he's the assist version of Dennis Rodman, the best pound-for-pound rebounder in the history of the NBA who spurned shooting as beneath him. Rondo has got to shoot more. Layups, jumpshots, whatever. He did a lot of that "walking the ball up" stuff too. Why is it so tough to figure out that if you're not planning on running a play for yourself, it's best to start the halfcourt sets a few seconds quicker, so trot it up instead of walking? If the ball's in your hands, we're all waiting for you.

7. Their bench outscored our bench 32-18. That's the game difference. I like Sasha, I think he has shown flashes of what he can do this season, and I think Q has slid out of his slump a bit (can you "slide" out of a slump and have that be a good thing? Hmm. Maybe "climb" out of a slump?), but when they're scoring on you in bunches you have to score back on them in bunches. Our #1 shooter, Ray Allen, was out. Our #1 on-the-ball backcourt defender, Bradley, was injured. I would have thought that giving Moore some minutes earlier, before garbage time, would have made sense. Q might have been a good choice against Young (although Young is a VERY good bench player) but did Doc really expect Dooling to stop Lou Williams? Wasn't going to happen, and it didn't. 19 points off the bench in 30 minutes for Williams, scoring in a number of different ways. Dooling must have pictures of Doc naked with the leprechaun. I can't think of any other reason...

8. We had only 74 fga. Hard to win when you don't give yourself the chance. Our fg% was better than them, but they had 92 fga. How? 18 fastbreak points for Philly vs a measly 3 for us. Like Milwaukee, they ran on every opportunity. Our transition defense has not been that good the past few games. Fatigue? Maybe, but we're giving up too many easy baskets and we're not getting enough of them ourselves. When Rondo runs we're not running with him. Sasha, Q, JJJ and maybe now Hollins can all run the floor well. Of course, they're never on the court, so that makes it tougher.

9. Obviously, we lost the game in that 37-17 3rd quarter. 6 turnovers in that quarter producing 10 points for Philly vs 0 turnovers for Philly. Not that those 10 points were the difference, but it was so lopsided it's hard to do other things well enough to offset it.

As I said at the top, we came out the back end of a grueling road trip where we started. Considering the relatively easier schedule Philly had during the same time period (how could it have been as bad or worse?) I call that a win for us. We get the currently 11-35 Wizards Sunday at home. They play Atlanta today, so they may be 11-36 by then and playing the 2nd game of their back-to-back-to-back. We then play the 7-35 Bobcats on Monday in Charlotte. You never want to underestimate your opponents, but after the ridiculous trip we just came through these two games against these two opponents couldn't come at a more opportune time.

We still have time to catch Philly.

bob

.

Hi,
Just an update on MP:
cleared to travel

AK

gyso wrote:

bobheckler wrote:


5. Yes, Ryan Hollins really is that bad at the line. A career 66% shooter, he was 1-4 last night (not that those extra fts would have made the difference). I was surprised when Doc inserted him when Pietrus was carried off. The guy just passed his physical that morning! Too soon to say good or bad things about him, but hitting those fts would have been a nice start. Unlike Steamer, who had 6 blocks in his debut, Hollins did not impress last night. Think Steamer gives up too much ground in the low post? Hollins is a toothpick. I'm willing to bet all his defensive prowess comes from giving weak-side help and not man-to-man. Let's see how he does with a day or two with the coaches and running skeleton plays today and tomorrow.

Bob,

The opposing coach picks the substitute shooter whan a player is fouled and cannot shoot the FT's himself. Mike and Donny (one of them anyway) said that Doug Collins showed no class (or words to that affect) when he chose Hollins to come in after a (at the time, it seemed) life altering injury took place. Granted, Mike and Donny (and the rest of us) were quite upset at the time, and Collins did want to make the decision that would best help his team, so from the other team's perspective, Hollins was the best choice to shoot the FT's.

Doc didn't yank him from the game shortly after the FT's, so that surprised me.

gyso,

Thanks for the clarification, now it makes sense.

Given the competitive situation, and if I was the opposing head coach, I'd have picked Hollins too.

bob

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bobheckler wrote:
"He [Rondo] did a lot of that "walking the ball up" stuff too. Why is it so tough to figure out that if you're not planning on running a play for yourself, it's best to start the halfcourt sets a few seconds quicker, so trot it up instead of walking? If the ball's in your hands, we're all waiting for you."

There's been a lot of talk, particularly before the trade deadline, about Doc and Rondo not seeing eye to eye or not being on the same page. It makes you wonder what Doc wants from Rondo that Rondo doesn't want to give.

Unless it's something to do with defense, there's one obvious answer: RUN! All this time people (like me) have wanted Danny to acquire more fleet-footed, fast-break-oriented young guys so they could get out in front with Rondo. It's so easy to see what you want to see and not what's really there. So it's possible Rondo isn't the quintessential playmaker he appears to be.

Maybe we've been spoiled. Cousy ran when he couldn't walk (his final game, for example), K.C. bounded down the court, JoJo ran the ball, so did Tiny and point forward Larry. Although the dark ages have intervened, Celtics-style basketball did then and always will start with pushing the ball.

Rondo doesn't push the ball with every opportunity. Bob has been chronicling it all season. Rondo runs when he feels like it. It's not that he's lazy. Possibly he's pacing himself. Whatever the reason, there's a solution waiting in the wings: when Rondo isn't running, Doc should bring in Bradley (when/if he's healthy).

There's a fine line between confidence and arrogance. You have to play with confidence, but you should never take other teams for granted. Rondo (and Pierce) have crossed that line lately, and predictably, have stumbled.

I noticed during the game that when Rondo was on the sidelines he has his back wrapped, could it be he is fighting through an injury they haven't publicized? I am not looking for excuses for him because at times he has frustrated me to the max! You are right Bob, he picks and chooses his spots
But, I did notice that wrap the other night. What will he do when there is no Ray or KG to bail him out????

I listened to the announcers the other night and all I heard was how hard it
was going to be to get points with Ray out of the game. Where are the
points going to come when he is supposedly "gone"???? Having him come off the bench next year would be a real plus.