POST GAME BOB CATS

JUST A REMINDER- HAPPY PATRIOTS DAY TOMORROW & THE BOSTON MARATHON!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just a fun game to watch. Just one bone to pick with Doc.......Will you play MOORE!!!!!!!!!!!!! He is the best shooter on the team next to RA. If someone gets hurtin the playoffs.....would it not make sense to give the kid some playing time experience now!!!!!!!!!

Steam Boat 6 blks - 8 rbs- 6 pts/ Rondo 20 pts - 16 assists/ Bradley 22 pts - 2/3 from beyond the arch


KEY GAME WATCH - Tor over Atl, Miami over NYK, Orlando over Cleveland,

NEXT GAME TUESDAY @ 8PM AT NYK - TNT/CSNE

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POST GAME ESPNBOSTON


Rapid Reaction: Celtics 94, Bobcats 82

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

Without the Big Three in Charlotte, Rajon Rondo appears to tell his teammates, 'I got this.'
Rapid reaction after the Boston Celtics defeated the Charlotte Bobcats 94-82 Sunday evening at Time Warner Cable Arena:

HOW THE GAME WAS WON
The Killers B's -- Avery Bradley and Brandon Bass -- each chipped in a game-high 22 points, but it was Rajon Rondo -- operating without the Big Three -- who barely left the floor (43:14) while registering 20 points, 16 assists, and 6 rebounds to pace the Celtics past the hapless Bobcats. Gerald Henderson scored 22 points for the Bobcats.

TURNING POINT
When the Celtics showed up? If only that were true for Boston. Even without the Big Three, this one should have been easier than it was against the seven-win Bobcats. It was a four-point game with under six minutes to play when the Celtics got moving in transition and Rondo fed Bradley for a 3-pointer from the right corner (quickly becoming his sweetspot). Bass added a mid-range jumper (speaking of sweetspots) next trip down and Boston led 81-74 with 5:38 to play. Mickael Pietrus added a trifecta and Rondo a driving layup as the lead ballooned to 12 soon after.

BOLD PLAY OF THE GAME
Greg Stiemsma, starting in place of Kevin Garnett, matched his career high (set in his NBA debut in New Orleans) with six blocked shots, the final of which was an emphatic denial of a driving Bismack Biyombo in the third quarter. Stiemsma even stood there mean-mugging Biyombo a bit as Bradley chased down the rebound. Biyombo did get a bit of revenge, rejecting a Bass layup attempt at the other end just seconds after. Regardless, the rejection king on this night was Stiemsma, who swatted both Biyombo and Henderson twice in the win.

RONDO'S STREAK ROLLS ON
Maybe it's perfunctory at this point, but Rondo's double-digit assist streak reached 22 games in Charlotte. Heck, Rondo had 12 points and 7 assists at the end of the first quarter. For those that wondered how Rondo would fare without the Big Three alongside, the answers was a resounding, "Just fine."

WHAT IT MEANS
Despite the opening night stumble in Toronto, the Celtics wrapped up their lone back-to-back-to-back of the season at 2-1 and will gladly take it. Garnett and Paul Pierce got to enjoy an extended weekend in Manhattan; Ray Allen got to rest his sore right ankle back home; and Boston emerged from the trip with a four-game lead in the Atlantic Division with a chance to essentially wrap up the No. 4 seed with a win Tuesday in New York. All in all, a solid trip. The Celtics get one day to catch their breath before playing the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

I really enjoyed this game, watched it with my brother who was visiting from Boston, Avery Bradley, Steamer and Brandon Bass and ofcourse Rondo were all great. I don't want anyone to think I'm not rooting for Steamer, hes got a knack for blocking shots, I thought he easily could have had 8 or 9 blocks. Hes a finese player, reminds me of the smoothness of Alvin Adams without the offense, but with a unique timing, reach and ability to swat shots in all directions. Hes obviously making great strides as is Avery Bradley, he stepped up, I'm not a stat guy, but heard some comment that for some recent stretch going on right now hes shooting something like 70% from 3!!! sick with that defense and he knows how to do the midrange game now too, he does a great Pierce imitation on the fouline midrange jumper, hes what 21 and is a 5 tool player!!!! Danny is unbelievable, who heard of this kid in college?

How great was Rondo? 3 games in a row and he was routinely great again, just another clinic and without the Big 3, he always has moments where he makes a boneheaded pass or blows a lay up, then you see what kind of stats he routinely piles up anyway, hes just so damn good fast, quick and such a great handle and vision,he makes every fast PG look slow, imagine if he played close to the perfect game? in a league with so many great point guards we are so stacked. How would you feel if your DJ Augustine or Kemba Walker you have to go against Rondo and then when Rondo is not covering you another kid baby stud AB gets in your grill and can even amp up the D another notch....well their FG% spoke volumes.

I felt sorry for that Bobcat team, Tyrus Thomas is on that team and actually played, Jordan likes drafting midget PG's? Biyambo is he trying to develop him into the next Perk? if he had Tyson Chandler and Gerald Wallace with Gerald Henderson they would still be in lottery, but with enough pieces that the next lottery pick could actually help the franchise possibly turn the corner. Jordan just butchered that franchise like nothing I've ever seen, how come more pundits aren't calling him out on this? wasn't DJ Augustine in same draft as Rondo and went earlier? hes not even barely an average PG at best in this league.

Well we are in great shape, love AB the way he fortifys Rondo, we don't let any opposing PG's rest, can't wait to see AB have his moments defending Rose and Westbrook. Onward and upward!!!

Good news and bad news time. the good, the Raptors beat the Hawks (in Atl) and we are now 1/2 game ahead of them in the 4-5 homecourt matchup. The bad news, the Hawks play in Toronto tonight but then they finish up with a 5 game home stand with NO back to backs! Our game with them Friday will be HUGE! I think we can and will handle the Hawks even without homecourt but I still would love to have it.

Should the Celtics defeat both Orlando and Atlanta in the 2 remaining head to heads with them, wouldn't the C's own tie breakers against both if regular season records wound up identical?

The Celtics won the first game of the post Three Amigos Era. Ok, that's a little premature, but with no KG, Ray or Pierce it felt like it. Granted it was against the truly pathetic Charlotte Bobcats but what-the-hell, I'll take it. As Cowens said on the Game On thread "I think Kentucky could beat the Bobcats".

1. Quoting from the same post from Cowens, "Avery Bradley is a stud". In a game where we needed more scoring from him, we got 22 points on 9-14 shooting, including 2-3 from 3. He is really getting comfortable shooting those 3s from the corner. In fact, he's getting comfortable shooting, period. He hit a couple of Bobcat momentum stoppers from the elbow too. Remember when we'd cringe everytime he'd rear up for a shot? Well, I don't doubt he'll hit a shooting slump sometime, everybody does, but I don't think we should fear his outside shot anymore. There was a stretch in the 2nd quarter where the 6'5" Gerald Henderson Jr. just shot a few over him, but usually he played his sticky D effectively. 35 BIG minutes (is that a career high?) for a player that is making Ray Allen's offer to move to the bench look like genius, on top of classy.

2. Rondo had 20 points and 16 assists for the game. That's the good news. The bad news is that he had 16 points and 11 assists at halftime. Another 1/2 game for Rondo. He also had 8 turnovers. He made a lot of bad decisions in the second half. He didn't attack the basket in the second half like he did in the first. I can understand why though. He kept ending up on the floor after dropping in a layup and not getting a call. In fact, he got T'd up as time ran out in the 2nd because he didn't appreciate the non-call. He has averaged over 37mpg during these 3 back-to-back-to-back games so I guess fatigue can be a somewhat legitimate excuse, but he's only 26! We had 3 TOs in a row that let them make this a game and 2 of them were just really dumb plays by Rondo. His brain just never made it out of the locker room after halftime. I don't think I've ever had as turbulent a love-hate relationship with a Celtic player like this before. He's amazing, and yet...

3. Steamer had 6 blocks and challenged everything. Unfortunately, coming off your spot to challenge a drive takes you out of rebounding position but the first rule of basketball is "stop the ball". I'd like to get more than 5 rebounds from my starting center. Would I be willing to give up a few blocks, as well as un-statted intimidated shots, to keep him in better rebounding position to get those rebounds? Hmmm, tough call on a team that needs better rebounding. I guess I'd like to have the specialist do his thing and have his teammates crash the boards and get the ball instead. After all, there may be no rebound to be had if the shot is blocked. Also, we have got to look at his steals totals. He had 4 this game. 4! In his last 5 games he has averaged 1.8 steals per game. Considering he has averaged 23:24 minutes in those games, that's VERY efficient (2.77 steals per 36/mpg). Denying his man the ball, with steals, takes him out of the game and gives us another possession.

4. Speaking of teammates crashing the boards Sasha had 7 in 15 minutes. No offense, only 1ft, but 7 boards when two of our 3 best rebounders (KG and Pierce) were out is a disproportionally significant contribution. This is what I'm talking about. If Player A leaves his man to pick up someone else's, you have to rotate to take his man. In this case, Sasha grabbed or chased the ball wherever it went. If I get nothing else from him but this type of board-cleaning and his usual sticky, physical defense, I'm happy. He was awarded his free throws because he passed up a jumpshot and drove to the iron. I liked that too. If our reputation is as a jumpshooting team, use that to draw them out and then attack the interior defenders. Good job by Sasha doing that.

5. JJJ and Moore's frustration levels must be approaching medical concern levels. Two players who were always in rhythm because they got a lot of playing time in college are having trouble understanding the life of an end-of-bencher in the NBA. JJJ came in and committed 3 fouls in 2 minutes and they were just "out of position" fouls. He just wasn't where he was supposed to be and it cost him. It was actually pretty painful to watch. On a night when a solid contribution by a big off the bench would have been greatly appreciated, he only played 6 minutes because he was like a fish out of water. Moore came in and only played 1 minute. He scored on a nice penetration. Yes, he can score. With Sasha and Daniels able to fill in minutes for the absent Ray Allen, Moore's opportunities haven't been coming. It doesn't help Moore that Sasha, and even Q, come off the bench cold and play well either. Yes, the NBA game is bigger, faster and stronger than the college game but the biggest difference is the 4" muscle between the ears. Sasha and Q and even Dooling understand this and can keep themselves mentally able to deal with extended periods of bench time and still come in and deliver when called. JJJ and Moore are struggling to learn this. It's a first, for them.

6. A very good game by Brandon Bass. 22 points on 9-19 with 9 boards and 3 blocks. Just a good, all-round player. 3 blocks from an undersized PF shows this man's heart and grit (and pretty decent timing too). We all know that he is deadly from 16' but I also love the way he isn't so enamored with his jumpshot that he won't put it on the floor and rock the rim if you come up on him too much.

7. Sadly, we're back to the old Mickael Pietrus. The one who IS too enamored with his 3s. 3-11 from 3 last night. His defense is good, I'm loving his defense, but he's so strong and athletic why doesn't he attack the basket more? He tried once last night, and got blocked, and then gave up on the idea.

8. Hollins got 20 minutes last night. Another night of fairly ineffectual high energy from him. To be fair, a lot of it wasn't his fault. He kept attacking the hoop and Rondo kept making poor alley oop passes. It would appear that Hollins offensive portfolio consists of alley oops, alley oops and, just to make the defenders who think they know him think twice, alley oops. He is one-dimensional. Beggars can't be choosers and I'm happy to have him or any other guy his size right now. Interestingly, I saw Hollins set up in the low post, something you very rarely see Steamer do. He didn't do anything when he was there, but it was a more conventional, KG-like look which lets the offense run its usual sets.

9. Off nights for Kemba Walker, Byron Mullens and Reggie Williams. Lucky us. Kemba can create his own shot, Mullens is a good shooter from range and Williams can just flat-out shoot the eyes out of the basket.

10. Want to know how pathetic the Bobcats are? They shoot 41% from the floor for the year, last night (without 3 Celtic starters) they shot 40.5%. The worst rebounding team in the league (us) outrebounded them 44-37. Two Celtic frontcourt players out, and we still outscore them in the paint 50-34. We only give up 89.2ppg, they only score 82. We average 91.7ppg offense, last night we score 94. And without the Three Amigos.

Ok, so our bench is better than their team. Considering how bad their team is I say "BFD", but we need wins now to stay competitive with Orlando and Atlanta and this W counts the same as every other one.

Orlando played in Cleveland last night and play tonight, in Orlando, against Philly. Philly's far enough back in our rear view mirror, I'm rooting for them this game. They had a night off while Orlando is playing the 2nd game of a back-to-back. Atlanta's playing the road game in a home-away against Toronto, losing to Toronto in Atlanta last night. Can Toronto win back-to-back? Atlanta is 16-16 on the road this season, while Toronto is 12-19 at home. Then again, Atlanta was 19-8 at home and Toronto was 9-20 on the road prior to last night's game. Just goes to show, ya neva know.

A gutsy decision by Doc to have KG and Pierce and Allen not even show up in Charlotte paid off. Really sent a message to the rest of the team that "Garnett, Pierce and Allen aren't walking through that door anytime soon" and they accepted that and stepped up.

Let's finish strong and get a homecourt series.

bob

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A montage of Steamer's "Block Party Weekend". I love how often he does NOT block it out of play, but to a teammate. He's not Russell (who is?) but Russ started that. Hakeem did it a lot too. NO, Steamer is not either of those great players, but he does do THIS like them.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=y8HbGFeeGj4



bob


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Bismack Biyombo getting Stiem-rolled. Ball stays inbounds into Avery Bradley's hands.



https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=kut6KmWM_n8


bob

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Rondo, turning Reggie Williams into stone with a look away.




The Celtics Killer B (as in "Backcourt")




Look at how quickly Steamer recovers after the initial headfake by Biyombo and then controls the tap.




Steamer, defending what amounts to a 2-on-1 after a steal. Has a bit of a swagger afterwards. The kid is starting to feel "it".




Hollins doing pretty much the only thing he can do. This wa still in the 1st half, when Rondo was delivering those passes well.




Bradley SKYING for the rebound, dishing to Bass for the +1. Note Bradley and Hollins going to the front of the rim. Even if Bass missed without a foul, they were going to get the offensive rebound.





Bradley with a corner 3.




bob



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