POST GAME NEW YORK

Fun game to watch. What I was keying in on is the play of Joseph. They talk about Sullinger having mature moves for a rookie, this kid Joseph is going to wind up a major star for the Celtics someday! Also liked the limited play of Downs. He has a lot of spark and good court vision.

NEXT GAME - HOME - PHILLY - 7:30PM - CNNE


POST GAME ESPNBOSTON.COM

Rapid Reaction: Celtics 109, Knicks 98

Rapid reaction following the Celtics' 109-98 exhibition victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday at the Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y.

HOW THE GAME WAS WON: Jeff Green came through with arguably his finest effort of the preseason, playing 37 minutes and scoring 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting to go along with six rebounds. Jason Terry was right on Green's heels with 22 points of his own, as he sank four of his six 3-point field goal attempts. Boston was further bolstered by a 13-point, 11-assist double-double from Rajon Rondo, and 10 points and eight rebounds from Jared Sullinger.

TURNING POINT: The Celtics trailed by as many as 20 with 7:18 remaining in the second quarter, but they chipped away from there and ended the first half on a 24-9 run, trailing by only five heading into the break. The two teams exchanged buckets for the majority of the third frame, with the Knicks maintaining a slim three-point edge heading into the fourth quarter. But the C's came out strong in the fourth, with rookie Kris Joseph converting back-to-back three-point plays to give Boston its first lead since the first quarter. Green added a deep jump shot minutes later to beat the shot clock and then fired off a three-quarter-court outlet pass to Lee for a wide-open dunk, giving Boston a 94-87 edge with 7:21 remaining. Boston then embarked on a 12-0 offensive run to take complete control and cruise to a lopsided victory.

BOLD PLAY OF THE GAME: Micah Downs seemed to have this locked up after a sleek behind-the-back layup on the left side early in the second quarter, but a monster third-quarter block from Jeff Green couldn't be ignored. A Boston turnover gave way to what, at first glance, appeared to be an easy transition layup for Mychel Thompson, but Green gave chase and launched into the air from behind, completely stuffing Thompson's layup bid.

GREEN DOING IT ALL: Taking advantage of Paul Pierce's night off, Green started at the small forward spot and came through with another strong outing, putting in a preseason-high 25 points. Green brought forth a very balanced offensive game, as he mixed in sleek and strong drives to the rim with a flurry of jumpers from the perimeter. He connected on three of his five 3-point field goal attempts, and 10 of his 16 field goal attempts overall. He also added six rebounds -- an area he said prior to the preseason he wanted to see improvement in. Add in a steady defensive showing, including the aforementioned block on Thompson, along with a fourth-quarter assist to Courtney Lee that helped Boston run away with this thing, and it was a very respectable all-around performance for Green.

JET HELPS BRING C'S BACK: Jason Terry scored 16 of his 22 points during the middle two quarters, over a period of time when Boston was making its comeback and not allowing the Knicks to re-establish a considerable lead. It was a great showing of what Terry can bring to this team off the bench, with his quick release and deep range helping Boston keep pace with a Knicks team that didn't take its foot off the gas pedal until the final quarter. Terry scored six points over the final two minutes of the first half, helping to chop Boston's deficit down to just five heading into intermission.

UNSUNG HERO: Kris Joseph garnered significant playing time for the second consecutive game and came through once again with a solid fourth-quarter effort. His two transition layups to start the final frame were pivotal to Boston's comeback effort, as they kickstarted the offense. Worth noting is Joseph's tendency to hang around the paint and not shy away from contact under the rim. Though he can play along the front line, Joseph isn't necessarily built to battle in the paint, but that hasn't seemed to deter him in his two most recent outings. Joseph finished Saturday's game with 10 points and three rebounds in 26 minutes.

DOWNS STILL FIGHTING: Strong outings from Green and Joseph might have further hindered his chances of making the final roster, but Micah Downs came through with another solid, active effort Saturday. He was a perfect 3-for-3 from the field for six points in just under 14 minutes, including that flashy second-quarter layup, and also grabbed three rebounds. Green's prolific evening probably hurt Downs' chances of increased minutes, but he's so far shown that he's worthy of sticking around. It might simply be a case of not enough roster spots being available.

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i hate to make my first responce to this thread actauly be in favor of a knicks player.... but Copelandsanity??? ya heard it first From Hooter Rooter...

Those were two games where copeland impressed. If the knicks are stupid enough to cut him we should step up quick to snag him. Very energetic and talented kid.

Enough on th knicks.

Jeff Green looked like an allstar. I did not realize that he had a real strong handle. He is scoring in every conceivable way. Wow.

Jason Terry will take and make shots from anywhere. What a weapon to have on this team
We finally have a bench that will put a lot of points on the board.

Sully is an old school basketball player. He plays with a calmness that defies his age.

Courtney Lee made some plays at both ends that makes you realize the team is lucky that Ray turned down the money!

The single biggest change that I have observed is how much faster this team is. The depth will allow players to go all out and not worry about expending too much energy because others guys are ready to come in and keep the pace.

Dboss

Hey Dboss,
Who would you dump to pick up Copeland?

Not sure if Copeland was one of the culprits, since I watched the game via the internet and it wasn't the best of pictures, but the Knicks were firing 3 pters from 5-6 feet beyond the 3pt arc. I can't believe guys trying to make a roster were firing those type shots. I know Novak can shoot but wow. That brings me to another point. Why in the world do we leave him open? He can't do anything else besides shoot. Heck I think I could guard him and be effective.

Tardust,

As Heinsohn said last night, the guys new to the Celtics are still learning the defense. I believe that, with the absence of KG, Pierce, Bass Wilcox and Bradley, Rondo was the lone holdover from last year's Celtics team on the floor last night. Frankly, I was surprised that the Celtics tightened their defense after half time as well as they did.

Chemistry's not just about offense. It affects both ends of the floor. Part of the fun of following this team this year is that I think we'll all learn a lot about the development of chemistry. In fact, I think the learning is well under way.

Sam

Impressions

After 12 minutes I asked myself, What The (insert bleep word here). or use the word firetruck and remove some letter in the middle.
Knicks could not miss but we let them shoot a bunch of layups and we could not. 15 friggin poiints!!

Over the next approximately 30 minutes we put up about 80+ points. Whatever easy shots the knicks had been getting they were not getting anymore. Mom showed up and moved the cookie jar to a higher shelf! Switching was better and at least we were getting out on their shooters and getting a hand up. Even blocked a couple outside shots of theirs.

And rather than go off on to many individuals Green Sully Joseph Terry, ect
Doc and DA would appear to have quite the decisions to make on whom to keep and whom to try to keep under our care in Maine.

Melo goes to Maine. No brainer for me. When he came in in the first grabbed an uncontested defensive board I said jokingly to Marcus, now watch him end up with ONE rebound..........ah I feel like Kreskin!

Based on last night cut KG and PP !! Kidding of course.

Downs looks good, real good. Of course my sidekid (not kick) Marcus informed me that he was in part a big reason why Adam Morrison had success at Gonzaga and that he played the point for them......a 6' 8"point??? Where do I remember that from?

So who stays as part of the 15 and who goes, and who goes to Maine?

Doc and DA must feel like the kid with all the properties in Monoply but the rules say you gotta give some away. So whom are our Baltic and Mediterranean pieces?

Aside from the game it was great to see BobC and his entourage. Must be he feels he needs protection. Arena is in a bit of a seedy area! At least we did not have time to go on a brief tour to show me the buildings where he worked!!! Nice to meet fellow board member Brandon too. Hope his (Bob's) beloved dog Scout gets better too. I introduced myself to Brandon as the board member that Scout tried to KILL!

I miss all the rest of you guys and gal!! and hope we can get together sometime again. We have a most interesting team and on paper, we do look great but we all know that and a dollar will get you a cup of coffee. Proof will be on the court.

Oh and on the ride back to Syracuse the bus hit a damn skunk... smelled pretty bad for quite a while.

Need a nap got home at 2 AM church at 10:30 wife is doing the service as she is our layspeaker.... guess I have to go....... hope she can keep me awake!!

beat

tardust wrote:Hey Dboss,
Who would you dump to pick up Copeland?

Not sure if Copeland was one of the culprits, since I watched the game via the internet and it wasn't the best of pictures, but the Knicks were firing 3 pters from 5-6 feet beyond the 3pt arc. I can't believe guys trying to make a roster were firing those type shots. I know Novak can shoot but wow. That brings me to another point. Why in the world do we leave him open? He can't do anything else besides shoot. Heck I think I could guard him and be effective.

simple tar

watch the rotations, penetration and getting beat weakside and the help and voila a shooter is open... happens. If you don' play help defense you give up layups. And after the first we did do a much better job of this. I'll gamble with novak shooting a three uncontested than another player getting an uncontested layup.

beat

Beat, unless that skunk was less potent than most, I don't think you or anyone around you will have difficulty staying awake in church. An excellent and entertaining eyewitness report.

A Tale of Two Teams

Last night, we saw two Celtics teams, and neither of them was the team we can expect to see against the Heat.

In the first quarter, we saw what can happen to chemistry (and especially defensive chemistry) when only one player from last year’s Celtics team (Rondo) is on the floor: Knicks 28, Celtics 15. I don’t know the exact figures, but the Celtics’ assist to turnover ratio was just plain awful during that period. Definitely more turnovers than assists.

In the last three quarters, we saw what can happen when good professional players and their uber-professional coach make appropriate adjustments: Celtics 94, Knicks 70. The Celts went from down 13 after one quarter to up 11 by the end of the game—a 24-point turnaround.

The quintet on the floor during much of the fourth quarter consisted of Joseph, Terry, Lee, Kurz and Green. They played together for 7:34; and, in that span, they outscored the Knicks 25-6, turning a 3-point third quarter deficit into a 19 point plurality. The point distribution during those 7:34:

8 Joseph
7 Green
6 Terry
2 Lee
2 Kurz

Garbage time commenced with 4:29 left, and basically Kurz, Joseph, Sully, Downs and Melo finished the game, being outscored 9-4 as Joseph and Downs each contributed field goals.

So much for the statistical part of the game.

The unquestioned stars of the game were Green (25) and Terry (22). Green continues to score every which way ranging from threes (3-5) and transition dunks to innovative drives to the hoop. My favorite was a little running LEFT-handed bank shot when he had driven to within about three feet from the hoop. And now he's saying (see other thread) that he wants to be a top-flight defender. On that score, he showed indications of that by racing behind a breakaway and stuffing the layup attempt.

Terry made 4 of 5 threes. I believe I heard that he’s shooting something like 57% from three point land in the preseason. And he didn’t look lost playing the point, although he wound up with only one assist. I still believe he isn’t that much of a catalyst as a PG; but the threat of his shooting really opens up the floor for other guys to take it to the hoop. And drawing double teams should enable him to do an increasingly good job of finding open teammates.

But, for the second consecutive game, I’m giving the Sammy Supporter Award to Kris Joseph for being the unsung hero. He didn’t play much (if any) point; but, with Paul Pierce out (resting his ankle—nothing serious) Kris really looked good at SF. He played nearly half the game (22 minutes), made a couple of rookie errors (only one turnover though), but scored 13 and did most of his damage not in garbage time but during that great run during the first two-thirds of the fourth quarter. And the one word best distinguishing his game was “aggressive.” In fact, it was he who swooped in for an old-style three point play in transition to tie the game and, immediately after, forced his way to the hoop for another old-style three point play to forge a lead the Celtics would never relinquish. This guy can flat-out play! He even looked pretty good on defense—a fact noted by Heinsohn.

Whenever I see Downs enter a game, I say to myself. "Too skinny. Never happen." And then I see him do so many things well, I say to myself: "Self, you may be a bit of an armpit for being so quick to dismiss this kid's potential." He seems sort of like a utility player in baseball. Can do a bit of everything, but does the total equal less or more than the sum of the parts?

A word about the very popular caveat that the Celts weren’t playing against the opponent's iron. That observation works if one is talking about a win or loss—and who cares about that in the preseason? But, in terms of measuring the progress of a team in the preseason, the ability to come back from a big deficit, tighten the defense as the game wears on, and display improving chemistry for an extended period (and especially in the fourth quarter) counts for a lot regardless of the nature of the opponents (as long as they’re NBA players).

One could never characterize this game as a virtually unqualified, fine performance (which was how I’d describe the previous game against the Nets). The Celtics’ pick-and-roll defense still needs a lot of work, although they were missing their best pick-and-roll defender (KG); and the second half went somewhat better than the first. But a guy who’s having to compete hard just to make the Knicks team (Chris Copeland) repeatedly burned the Celtics by featuring the pick-and-roll on his way to 34 points. At this point in the preseason, teams are focusing on things to work on during the upcoming game-free week; and pick-and-roll defense would have to rank as a priority for the Celtics.

All-in-all, this was about as satisfying a contest as one could hope for in the seventh of an eight-game preseason.

As nearly as I can figure it, the Celtics roster may be shaping up something like this until Bradley and Wilcox return:

Active roster:
KG
Pierce
Green
Rondo
Bass
Terry
Lee
Sullinger
Collins
Milicic
Barbosa
Joseph

To Maine (at least):

Melo

Walking Wounded:

Bradley
Green

This would mean that Downs and Kurz would be released, but I would hope they'd opt to sign with Maine. As for what will happen when Bradley and Wilcos return, who knows? Injuries to other players could lead to a season-long game of musical chairs. I hope that doesn't occur, but we'll see. Otherwise, at least by that time, Doc will have a much better line on exactly what the team needs and exactly what he's got.

Go Celtics!

Sam

This team is ridiculously talented - even the 2008 team wasnt nearly as deep as this team. A few injuries could turn that upside down - but honestly, if they stay healthy - WATCH OUT.

They look like they have almost unlimited ability to do whatever they want. They can go big, they can go small, they can play quick, they can run set plays.....so excited for this team.

Mrkleen,

It could have been Doc, but I believe it was a player who was talking, the other day, about the fact that this team has the ability to play many styles. That's something I always attributed to the Russell Celtics. Imagine, in essence, being able to say to the opponent, "Play with whatever style you want and we'll beat you." Or, even better, "We'll play whatever style we feel can lick you, and you try to beat us."

Sam

I didn't get to watch the game, I have a "new girlfriend" thing going and we're not at the point where I can say "let's sit in front of my computer and watch a Celtics game on Saturday night", but I'm enjoying and appreciating all the comments so far.

If Joseph had hit his free throws (he was 5-10) his boxscore would be even better. Even so, getting 10 ftas says something. One of our problems last year was that we didn't get to the line as much as our opponents. It's nice to see a Celtic play with the type of aggressiveness that earns trips to the line, regardless of whether he makes them or not.

Downs Astounds! You gotta feel a bit sorry for a kid that is showing that he deserves a roster slot but loses out to arithmetic.

No Barbosa? I heard the signing was official. Didn't have time to take the physical and drive to Albany?

We outrebounded the Knicks. This is a very promising trend.

We had 31 fta vs 20 for the Knicks. Another promising trend.

We had 22 fast break points vs 13 for the Knicks. Now becoming a well-established trend. Love it.

109 points in a regulation 48 minute game. We're seeing 100+ point games with more regularity now. If we can still maintain our defense like last year, we have got it all.

20 TOs. We've been doing better this year but this sure doesn't seem like it. Rondo with 6. He's starting to record steady double-digit assist games again, but his TOs are up too. I didn't see the game, so I can't comment on how his TOs happened, but the 11 assists to 6 TOs is not a starting PG ratio and certainly not one we know Rondo should be delivering. Oh well, these games don't count and aren't on national TV. Rondo isn't awake yet.

Copeland will make the Knick team. If he doesn't, I'd cut Joseph (or send him to Maine) to open the slot up. This is NOT a knock on Joseph, but Copeland is looking like a "where the hell has he been?" type of player. 34 points on 11-18 shooting in 37 minutes and 3-4 from 3 and 6 boards? 9-9 from the line? Are you kidding me? Where the hell has he been?

A good win. Not top competition due to the starters of both teams (except possibly Sully) sitting out, but a nice opportunity to let players who don't get to play much work their way into the system.


bob


.

Bob, good luck on the distaff side. Would you and she having any interest in joining me for dinner after the game in San Fran? (I believe my wife will not be with me unless her friends decide to go to a restaurant she dislikes.)

A few comments:

Copeland seems like the real deal, and he's listed as a 6' 8" 225 pound SF. He obviously brings more bulk to the table than Joseph does. Based on the two Celtics' games against the Knicks, it's difficult to see how they could cut him. He seems more ready for the NBA than Joseph. But somehow, if it came down to a choice, I'd rather keep Joseph because I believe he could be less of a one trick pony than Copeland. Given the present configuration of the roster, I believe Joseph will be #15, which would mean we'd have to cut him and hope he'd make his own decision to join Maine. I continue to like the kid a lot.

Joseph's collegiate FT percentage went from 40% (are you kidding me?) in his freshman year to over 70% the other three years and 75% in his senior year. Here's hoping he can improve it as a Celtic.

The Celtics are rather consistently outrebounding opponents on the defensive boards. And, in this game, they grabbed 79% of the available boards on the defensive end. Last season, it was more like 72% for the year. They generally lose the battle on their offensive boards, and it would be great if that would change. But, trying to be realistic, I look at each offensive board as gravy and focus more on the defensive boards because they are what prevent enemy putbacks and ignites our own fast break.

The last I heard, there was a Visa problem with Barbosa. I believe he's expected to play tonight.

I'm hoping (but an not certain) that Rondo's turnover total is a function of his not changing his game to allow for the relative unfamiliarity of his teammates with his game. As I said in my post, he was the only Celtic on the floor last night who played with them last season.

Take care, and enjoy your new companion.

Sam

sam wrote:Bob, good luck on the distaff side. Would you and she having any interest in joining me for dinner after the game in San Fran? (I believe my wife will not be with me unless her friends decide to go to a restaurant she dislikes.)

A few comments:

Copeland seems like the real deal, and he's listed as a 6' 8" 225 pound SF. He obviously brings more bulk to the table than Joseph does. Based on the two Celtics' games against the Knicks, it's difficult to see how they could cut him. He seems more ready for the NBA than Joseph. But somehow, if it came down to a choice, I'd rather keep Joseph because I believe he could be less of a one trick pony than Copeland. Given the present configuration of the roster, I believe Joseph will be #15, which would mean we'd have to cut him and hope he'd make his own decision to join Maine. I continue to like the kid a lot.

Joseph's collegiate FT percentage went from 40% (are you kidding me?) in his freshman year to over 70% the other three years and 75% in his senior year. Here's hoping he can improve it as a Celtic.

The Celtics are rather consistently outrebounding opponents on the defensive boards. And, in this game, they grabbed 79% of the available boards on the defensive end. Last season, it was more like 72% for the year. They generally lose the battle on their offensive boards, and it would be great if that would change. But, trying to be realistic, I look at each offensive board as gravy and focus more on the defensive boards because they are what prevent enemy putbacks and ignites our own fast break.

The last I heard, there was a Visa problem with Barbosa. I believe he's expected to play tonight.

I'm hoping (but an not certain) that Rondo's turnover total is a function of his not changing his game to allow for the relative unfamiliarity of his teammates with his game. As I said in my post, he was the only Celtic on the floor last night who played with them last season.

Take care, and enjoy your new companion.

Sam

sam,

Copeland may be a one-trick pony, but what a trick! I didn't see this game, as I have said, but if he played with the energy level of the previous game he is going to be a legit terror in the mold of Kenneth Faried. High energy bigs are formidable since they can take you so many ways.

I'll ask her. I can't ask her to watch the game with us. Who, other than a bonafide Celtic fanatic like you, could handle that anyway? She works odd hours, so we'll see. When I watched the Knick game the other day in the pub, now under new management, I found they took the metal cigarette machine out of the back room where I used to watch the games solo. That sucked because now I didn't have anything to pound on after a great Celtic play or a lousy call by a ref. The bartender said he was glad because he was getting tired of yelling at me from out front to "keep it down back there!". I'm sure the cigarette machine is glad to see the last of me too. It was starting to look the worse for wear. I don't want to scare her off.


bob


.

MONSTER BLOCK by Green! Way to hustle and not give up!






Copeland going WAY over Sully










Kris Joseph soaring






Rondo to JET in the corner. Is that #43, trailing Rondo from the 3pt line, taking advantage of the fact that his man lost sight of him and going to the front of the rim in case JET missed?







Beautiful 3/4 court outlet pass to the racing Lee. Now THIS is old-school Celtic basketball.








bob



.




.

Whatever you think is best, Bob.

Sam

n

Sam,

There are 15 roster spots per NBA team. How does Joseph get cut if he is #15 in your earlier post.

Just to note per Mike Breen from Saturday's telecast on MSG, the rules have changed allowing players to practice with their NBA team and at night play a D-League game. The idea is to keep players on the court in live games verses getting stale on the bench or in the press box.

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