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FAST BREAK: NETS CUT DOWN CELTICS IN PAUL PIERCE, KEVIN GARNETT HOMECOMING
WEEI

By Ben Rohrbach 
 
This game was obviously more about Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett‘s return to Boston, but the basketball portion of the evening was a sloppy mess of Atlantic Division basketball.

Pierce and Garnett combined for 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists in a 85-79 Brooklyn victory, handing the Celtics (15-31) a 17th loss in their last 20 tries. Meanwhile, the Nets (20-22) moved within 1.5 games of the division-leading Raptors.

Rondo (13 points, 8 assists, 8 rebounds) engineered a Celtics comeback that brought the Celtics within three points in the final minute, but a Garnett dunk off one of the C’s 16 turnovers put the game out of reach. Brandon Bass led the Celtics with 17 points and eight rebounds, Chris Johnson netted 12 points on the night his first 10-day contract is set to expire and Gerald Wallace also added a dozen.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Sweet emotions: It’s almost as if everyone forgot they had to actually play a basketball game. Pierce and Garnett finished scoreless in the first quarter (0-3 FG), and the Nets were 4-of-18 in the opening 12 minutes. The Celtics weren’t any better, as Brooklyn took a 35-34 halftime lead. (Fitting, the C’s had 34 first-half points, by the way.) Pierce didn’t score his first points until the third quarter, when he sunk a pair of free throws 1:08 into the frame.

Oh, shoot: After Brad Stevens ripped his team for settling for too many jumpers against the Thunder, the Celtics fell into the same trap in the third quarter against Brooklyn, taking 12 of their 18 shots outside the paint and making just three in the frame. Meanwhile, the Nets built a six-point cushion heading into the fourth quarter.

Sully-Green: While Rondo and Bass enjoyed stellar games against their former teammates, Jeff Green and Jared Sullinger struggled offensively opposite the two C’s legends. Through three quarters, the pair was a combined 3-for-18 from the floor, and Stevens actually gave more crunch-time minutes to Gerald Wallace and Humphries.

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Paying tribute: As usual, the folks behind the video tributes did a masterful job putting together pieces for both Pierce and Garnett. Likewise, the crowd responded accordingly, chanting “Paul. Pierce.” before the Nets lineup was introduced, cheering their introductions and tearing the roof off the Garden when the Garnett and Pierce tributes were played on the Jumbotron during the second timeout and following the first quarter, respectively.

National TV Rondo: Whether it was the bright lights or just a natural progression, Rondo enjoyed his best game since returning from ACL surgery. He played 14 first-half minutes, also his most this season, producing eight points, five rebounds and four assists by the break. Whether he meant his “just another game” comment about his former teammates’ return or not, Rondo showed little emotion as he remained focused on his comeback.

Bass swishing: Only a handful of the current Celtics were on the roster with Truth and Ticket, and Bass was one of them, getting the start over Kris Humphries. Like Rondo, he responded with a solid game against his former mates, even driving past both of them for a dunk at one point. After failing to grab more than five rebounds since Jan. 15, he asserted himself on the glass, leading a solid team rebounding effort that included double-digit offensive boards.
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Rapid Reaction: Nets 85, Celtics 79

By Chris Forsberg | ESPNBoston.com

BOSTON -- Rapid reaction after the Brooklyn Nets defeated the Boston Celtics 85-79 on Sunday evening at TD Garden:

THE NITTY GRITTY
Thanks goodness the focus of this game wasn't on the actual basketball game in the early going. The first 40 minutes were an absolute eyesore, masked kindly by a celebration of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett with the duo playing their first game back in Boston (hop HERE to watch the chills-inducing tribute videos that ran during the first half of the game). The two teams combined to shoot 38.6 percent overall, but the Nets got a team-high 17 points from Andray Blatche, while Andrei Kirilenko and Alan Anderson kicked in 11 points apiece. Garnett and Pierce finished with six points apiece, but had some key late-game baskets. Brandon Bass, back in the starting lineup on Sunday, turned in a team-high 17 points while Rajon Rondo added 13 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists over a season-high 30:21.

TURNING POINT
Despite trailing by as much as 12 and mustering just 53 points through three quarters, the Celtics actually made a fourth-quarter charge. Boston scored 14 points in less than four minutes, capped by a Chris Johnson 3-pointer that trimmed Brooklyn's lead to 73-70 with 4:38 to play. Brooklyn pushed its lead back to eight, but Boston made another charge, this time a 3-pointer by Rondo pulling Boston back within three at 80-77 with 35.6 seconds to go. The Celtics got a chance to tie, but a turnover led to a Garnett breakaway layup that essentially sealed the game.

LOOSE BALLS
The Celtics turned the ball over 18 times for 17 points. At one point late in the third quarter, the Celtics had more turnovers than made baskets. ... Joel Anthony and Vander Blue logged healthy DNPs. ... Vitor Faverani, fresh off a quick D-League assignment on Saturday, played five minutes and hit the only shot he took while registering two points and a rebound. ... Gerald Wallace played nearly 41 minutes against his former team, turning in 12 points and five rebounds, but was a team-worst minus-14 overall. ... Jeff Green missed 11 of the 13 shots he took while finishing with eight points.

WHAT IT MEANS
The Celtics (15-31) lost their second straight and fell for the 14th time in 16 games. Boston still owns the fourth worst record in the league. The Celtics open a back-to-back on Tuesday in New York before returning home to play the 76ers on Wednesday. The best part for Boston is that all the emotional returns are complete and the team should be able to focus now on building towards its own future over the final three months of the season. 

112288

Not a dry eye in my house..............had tears running down my cheeks........

It was a magical moment we all shared in time .......................for those 6 golden seasons in the sun...........we all shared unity in one Celtic Nation under green............the lows and the highs..................and the mountain top of 17.  But now as time races forward ..............and those years slowly fade into the far corners of our mind.......................I know that somewhere in time, we will always be there together again as one..................Thanks Paul...........Thanks Keven........Forever a Celtic...............forever Green.

112288

112288 wrote:Not a dry eye in my house..............had tears running down my cheeks........

It was a magical moment we all shared in time .......................for those 6 golden seasons in the sun...........we all shared unity in one Celtic Nation under green............the lows and the highs..................and the mountain top of 17.  But now as time races forward ..............and those years slowly fade into the far corners of our mind.......................I know that somewhere in time, we will always be there together again as one..................Thanks Paul...........Thanks Keven........Forever a Celtic...............forever Green.

112288

That is a very nice tribute. Thanks for sharing.

Pierce never left his team like some pussy from Ohio, could you imagine Bird or Magic or Jordan or any of them leaving because they wanted to play somewhere else because they couldn't get it done? take the easy way out? Pierce was never the most talented, but the most ballsy and loyal....thanks Paul you are a true original, a worthy captain of the most storied franchise in hoops.

Now that was tough, on so many levels. Kind of like a divorce-reunion, where the old spouse looks better than the new one. I was going to throw something at the TV, but didn't have the strength. Hawk.

Hi,
I'm back from vacation. And was treated by a very emotional game right away.
Very, very nice tribute to PP and KG. You won't see it very often nowdays.
As for the game itself, it's very nice to see RR back. Based on what I saw last night he's going to be back to 100% in November/December 2014.
I wonder if BrSt gave Pressey green light to shoot whenever he's open? Regardless, he needs to spend the summer practicing just that.
The new guy, Johnson (it was the first time I saw him play), looked good: a lot of energy and desire to get the job done.
Nice to see Sully be able to block.

AK

It was a ragged and slow-moving game, but I imagine both coaches will be cutting their charges some slack because of all the emotion floating around the TD Garden.  The fact that Rondo started to look more like his old self despite the atmosphere speaks well for his powers of concentration.

The only other glimmer I saw was (and continues to be) Johnson's play.  The guy just tries hard on every Celtics' or opponent's and maintains a nice balance between not trying to force things and being willing and confident to step up when appropriate.  I isolated on him at the defensive end, and there's no wasted motion and no false hustle there.  He just makes a pest of himself and, when the other team is thwarted, zips down the floor as though that's his reward for putting out so well at the offensive end.  I particularly liked his drive to the hoop (he was fouled) at a time when they desperately needed something going toward the basket.  Perhaps Brad has been playing him at crunch time so as better to evaluated his potential; but he could well have done so because Chris was one of the five Celtics playing the best basketball.  What's not to like with this kid?

By the way, Vander Blue didn't play, which makes him a long shot to gain another 10-day stint. But there should be no question about John's continued tenure with the team and, if he continues to play as he has, his ability to help the team measurably.

Sam

The whole night was magical and kodos to all the hard work that went into putting everything together. You have to ask though where was geno? I died with laughter when they were interviewed after the game and both of them were looking for thier friend they took such pleasure in sharing together. I can't recall one time where Garnett was not flashing a brilliant smile at the sight of watching Geno dance for him.

Mike,

Could it be possible that, since Geno almost always appeared only when the Celtics were blowing out the other team, he has become Rip Van Winkle this season?

Sam

Sinus,

Where did you go on Vacation?

112288

The first half is going into the Ugly Hall of Fame.  Both squads were just awful.  Too much emotion running through them, but that's what made this game so special, isn't it?

Perched high atop my bar stool @ Clooney's (Thank You, ESPN.  I'll bequeath you my liver in my will.  At that point it will be worth about as much as your lousy reporting) I was gripped by the emotion.  It didn't help that the guy sitting next to me, fairly inebriated but otherwise a nice guy, kept saying over and over again "Pierce is an assassin".  What made that interesting is that until the last few minutes Paul Pierce couldn't throw the ball in the harbor from the No Name and that he was already that drunk and the start time of this game was 3:30PST.  Another lazy Sunday, interrupted by a 2 1/2 hour period of drama.

As far as I'm concerned, the whole Pierce/Garnett reunion turned out just the way it was supposed to work out, except for the final score.  We honored them, they both were choked up, the 18,624 fans in attendance were reduced to a blubbering sea of protoplasm and they both showed their greatness by closing the game out like champions.

1.  This qualified as one of those "big games" Rondo likes to get up for.  Rondo had 13 points on 5-14, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.  Pierce and Garnett had 12 points on 5-16, 7 rebounds and 5 assists combined.  Not bad huh?  Sorry, I'm not buying it.  First, I didn't mention Rondo's 6 TOs.  8 assists and 6 TOs.  He's still making bad decisions.  I realize that is not the game we've seen over the years, but it hurt us last night.  Walk it up, walk it up, walk it up.  How many times did we see that last night?  We had 10 fast break points.  Which one was, in my opinion, the prettiest?  The one where Rondo passed the ball early cross court to Wallace at half court who hit a streaking Chris Johnson at the rim.  In other words, the best fast break basketball we played was when Rondo gave the ball up and didn't bring it up himself.  The book on Rondo was that he didn't run from 2008-2012 because he had old teammates who couldn't run for 30+, so who is going to run the break with him?  Aside from the fact that John Wall and Ty Lawson seem to have figured it out, what we saw last night was Rondo still not playing like a full court point guard.  Is a half court point guard what this team needs for its future?  Rondo has value as a lure for other elite players as free agents.  What if he's traded for an elite player who can also draw elite players?  The other difference I saw was that Rondo is not the "go to" guy.  He's not the assassin.  Pierce had that "big step and lean forward at the foul line, and then step back" jumper with 2 1/2 minutes left in the game after we had rallied and cut it to 6.  Everybody knows he does that, everybody in the league, he's been doing it for 15 years and still nobody can stop it.  That's an assassin.  20 seconds left, 3 point game, and Rondo commits his 6th TO and Kevin Garnett, who is way the hell out at the top of the circle, steals it and goes coast-to-coast.  That's an assassin.  Rondo had the ball and pounded it into the floor, pounded it, until someone helped him out with a pick.  Then, when he couldn't penetrate off the pick, he pounded the ball into the floor even harder until someone came and gave him another pick.  Tick, tock, tick, tock. He comes off the 2nd pick and then throws the ball away to KG.  Where was that pass going?  Outside, not inside and certainly not in the direction of the rim.  Not even the general direction.  Rondo is not an assassin.  He's not.  He's the assassin's facilitator.  Can a facilitator be considered a franchise player?  Maybe, if he's Bob Cousy, but Bob Cousy could score as well as pass. By the time the game was over, the guy next to me didn't know which way up was, even as the opposite of the direction he was going, but he still knew what an assassin looked like.

2.  I don't like our offense.  Sorry, I don't.  I think it's garbage.  It's what I call "frontsy-backsy".  You set a pick for me and then I pass it back to you.  None of it towards the paint.  It's all about finding the slightly more-open jumpshot, even if it's further away.  Have you seen any back picks on the low blocks?  Have you seen Sully backpicking for Hump or Bass to break them free underneath?  Have you seen any pindowns lower than 12'-15' to free a shooter up for a shorter mid-range shot?  Staggered double screens to let Wallace or Green break free and slash into the paint?  We don't have the monsters to dominate inside, but our bigs might be more effective if they got a little help getting loose from their friends but you have to run plays to do that. When the players aren't just standing around the perimeter, they're just setting picks out the perimeter.  I saw a few nice give-and-goes to the basket last night, one by Rondo to Vitor jumps out at me, but that's not common.  All play down low is one-on-one.  Kelly sealing his man on his hip and Pressey throwing him the ball.  Sully sealing his man on his hip and getting fed.  It's two-man ball and not using other players to break that player free.  I don't like Brad Stevens' half court offensive sets.  Another sub-.400 fg% game, our 3rd in the past 5 games.  You cannot win like that.  Can.  Not.  The one game we won, the OT in D.C., we shot 46.1%.  The other non-sub-.400 was 42.7%.  Not good.  At some point you have to stop looking at the shooters and start looking at the plays they are running.  We took an anemic 74fgas last night and 26 of them were 3s.  Think about that.  We're a team that takes over 1/3 of our shots from far away, and we were 7-26.  No wonder our fg% sucks night-in-and-night-out.  I know Stevens is a rookie, but I don't think he has adapted to the NBA offense anywhere near as well as he has to the defense. I suppose, if there's a silver lining here, it's that nobody is going to try and hire our assistant coaches away this off-season, for a change. Unless we change our playbook, though, that's definitely a mixed blessing.

3.  Sully was 1-7 and 5 rebounds last night.  He is officially in a slump.  He's back to what he was the first half of last year, where he's trying to go inside against the taller players of the NBA one-on-one.  He was being more clever about that earlier this season, but I think frustration is now making him trying to muscle it in himself.  He's still great at hauling in the weak-side offensive rebound, he had 4 last night, but that's because the big trees have left him to stop a penetration.  Penetration?  Wow.  What a concept.  To do that, though, you have to run plays that go towards the rim and not just around the horn for another 3.

4.  Chris Johnson is playing himself into a contract for the rest of the season.  He's hitting his shots, 4-6 last night and 48.3% since signing with the Celtics, and 4 rebounds.  One thing I like about him is that when he gets a rebound he immediately looks for a guard to give it to rather than trying to run it up himself.  Him and Wallace were really running the floor well yesterday.  He's listed as a SF, but at 201# he's going to have to learn how to be a SG.  His 6'11" wingspan is disruptive to defensive rebounders and shooters.  He's playing very disciplined ball, nice to see for such an unheralded newbie, but what I want to see is if he can create his own shot or does he have to be fed a face-up jumper.  The way he's playing, we'll have 42 more games to watch and see if he can create his shot this year.  If this year is about player development, Danny might have found a good one.

5.  A very nice game by Crash.  He played everybody tough, he ran the floor very well and just did is usual all-round game (when he's on his game).  He played like he had something to prove, even though we were in Boston and not Brooklyn.

6.  Green, 2-13, 1-7 from 3.  Definitely NOT being the asshole KG told him he should become.  This was a big game.  This was a personal statement game.  This was a "look at me, Paul and Kevin, I'm all grown up now and can take over as the head of household" game.

7.  Being assigned to the Red Claws = you're playing next game.  Maybe not a lot, but the warm ups will come off.  Beautiful pick-and-roll between Vitor and Rondo. We need more of that, A LOT MORE.  We've been saying that Vitor's Euro pick-and-roll will mesh well with Rondo when Rondo's back.  Last night was one instance where we might have been right, but once is not a trend, pattern, glimmer or anything other than a flicker.

8.  We have a problem at 4 and that problem is that both Bass and Hump play better/minute when they start.  Bass had a very solid 17 points on 6-6 and 5-6 from the line.  He bailed us out a couple of time with some buzzer beaters.  8 rebounds and that fantastic defense back on the break.  That was something else.  Put him on the bench and start Hump, who also does well, and Bass wilts a bit.  That's a shame since that probably means one of them will have to go and I like them both.

9.  I'd pay money to see Kelly dunk the ball.  In fact, I am paying money and will be there to see the payoff on 3/1 vs the Pacers.  If Wiggins is as nice a Canadian as Kelly, he'll drop to us in the draft, but then I won't want him.  I want anger.  I want resentment.  I want a player like Paul Pierce, who was drafted tenth and consciously and deliberately punished the nine teams who passed over him for years.  Nice guys finish last, or they don't finish nice.  Kelly needs to get pissed off at getting pissed on by everybody in the league.  I will say he played some pretty good defense on a couple of sequences, bothering shots and blocking two of them.  3 of his 5 rebounds were offensive and he created opportunities for offensive rebounds for others by keeping the ball alive.  He does seem to have a talent for disruption on the offensive boards.  Put on 15# and he could be a good man-to-man defender against players his size.  On offensive, though, we need a lot more 'tude.

10.  Not a good game by Pressey.  Aside from his shooting percentage, he had 3 assists and 3 TOs.  That's his calling card, if he's going to do well he can't backslide on that.

11.  Jason Kidd couldn't be bothered to put on a tie.  I guess he didn't want to take a chance of ruining his wardrobe, just in case one of his players "accidentally" spilled his drink on him.

No Bradley, no Bayless.  Then again, no Lopez.  Would Wallace still have had as good a game if he had come off the bench because Bradley was playing?  At this point I don't have confidence in players "stepping up".

Our execution is very weak.  We're late getting into half court sets and that is putting ridiculous pressure on our shooters to just hit the rim.  I blame it on a combination of Rondo walking it up and Stevens' playbook.  We're dying by the 3 a lot more than we're living by it, but we're not changing.  Bass, Hump and Sully want to ram the ball down the opponents' throats, but nobody else does and, when they try to do it, it's by themselves.  Too many players standing around on the perimeter waiting/hoping the ball gets rotated around to them for a 3.

I've been waiting patiently for Rondo's return, to see what that would bring, and there is no joy in Mudville right now.  I'm not talking about his lack of explosiveness or rusty timing, those are temporary, I'm talking about how our offense has slowed down with his return and we're still living at the perimeter.  Only 74fgas and 26 3pt fgas.  The worst of both worlds.

A volcanic emission of semi-solid rock by Gerald Wallace about the lack of 5-man unit team play is being ginned up now.  The question is, can he do it without pointing fingers directly at The Two Princes?


bob



.

112288 wrote:Sinus,

Where did you go on Vacation?

112288

Dominican Republic. Those living in NE would appreciate it in the middle of January. I did, coming from 84F to 14F  

AK

Sinus,

Great place and a great place of world to be in this time of year.   Florida is the only place I have time to get to............not as nice a place as DR.

112288

bobheckler wrote:The first half is going into the Ugly Hall of Fame.  Both squads were just awful.  Too much emotion running through them, but that's what made this game so special, isn't it?

Perched high atop my bar stool @ Clooney's (Thank You, ESPN.  I'll bequeath you my liver in my will.  At that point it will be worth about as much as your lousy reporting) I was gripped by the emotion.  It didn't help that the guy sitting next to me, fairly inebriated but otherwise a nice guy, kept saying over and over again "Pierce is an assassin".  What made that interesting is that until the last few minutes Paul Pierce couldn't throw the ball in the harbor from the No Name and that he was already that drunk and the start time of this game was 3:30PST.  Another lazy Sunday, interrupted by a 2 1/2 hour period of drama.

As far as I'm concerned, the whole Pierce/Garnett reunion turned out just the way it was supposed to work out, except for the final score.  We honored them, they both were choked up, the 18,624 fans in attendance were reduced to a blubbering sea of protoplasm and they both showed their greatness by closing the game out like champions.

1.  This qualified as one of those "big games" Rondo likes to get up for.  Rondo had 13 points on 5-14, 8 rebounds and 8 assists.  Pierce and Garnett had 12 points on 5-16, 7 rebounds and 5 assists combined.  Not bad huh?  Sorry, I'm not buying it.  First, I didn't mention Rondo's 6 TOs.  8 assists and 6 TOs.  He's still making bad decisions.  I realize that is not the game we've seen over the years, but it hurt us last night.  Walk it up, walk it up, walk it up.  How many times did we see that last night?  We had 10 fast break points.  Which one was, in my opinion, the prettiest?  The one where Rondo passed the ball early cross court to Wallace at half court who hit a streaking Chris Johnson at the rim.  In other words, the best fast break basketball we played was when Rondo gave the ball up and didn't bring it up himself.  The book on Rondo was that he didn't run from 2008-2012 because he had old teammates who couldn't run for 30+, so who is going to run the break with him?  Aside from the fact that John Wall and Ty Lawson seem to have figured it out, what we saw last night was Rondo still not playing like a full court point guard.  Is a half court point guard what this team needs for its future?  Rondo has value as a lure for other elite players as free agents.  What if he's traded for an elite player who can also draw elite players?  The other difference I saw was that Rondo is not the "go to" guy.  He's not the assassin.  Pierce had that "big step and lean forward at the foul line, and then step back" jumper with 2 1/2 minutes left in the game after we had rallied and cut it to 6.  Everybody knows he does that, everybody in the league, he's been doing it for 15 years and still nobody can stop it.  That's an assassin.  20 seconds left, 3 point game, and Rondo commits his 6th TO and Kevin Garnett, who is way the hell out at the top of the circle, steals it and goes coast-to-coast.  That's an assassin.  Rondo had the ball and pounded it into the floor, pounded it, until someone helped him out with a pick.  Then, when he couldn't penetrate off the pick, he pounded the ball into the floor even harder until someone came and gave him another pick.  Tick, tock, tick, tock.  He comes off the 2nd pick and then throws the ball away to KG.  Where was that pass going?  Outside, not inside and certainly not in the direction of the rim.  Not even the general direction.  Rondo is not an assassin.  He's not.  He's the assassin's facilitator.  Can a facilitator be considered a franchise player?  Maybe, if he's Bob Cousy, but Bob Cousy could score as well as pass.  By the time the game was over, the guy next to me didn't know which way up was, even as the opposite of the direction he was going, but he still knew what an assassin looked like.

2.  I don't like our offense.  Sorry, I don't.  I think it's garbage.  It's what I call "frontsy-backsy".  You set a pick for me and then I pass it back to you.  None of it towards the paint.  It's all about finding the slightly more-open jumpshot, even if it's further away.  Have you seen any back picks on the low blocks?  Have you seen Sully backpicking for Hump or Bass to break them free underneath?  Have you seen any pindowns lower than 12'-15' to free a shooter up for a shorter mid-range shot?  Staggered double screens to let Wallace or Green break free and slash into the paint?  We don't have the monsters to dominate inside, but our bigs might be more effective if they got a little help getting loose from their friends but you have to run plays to do that.  When the players aren't just standing around the perimeter, they're just setting picks out the perimeter.  I saw a few nice give-and-goes to the basket last night, one by Rondo to Vitor jumps out at me, but that's not common.  All play down low is one-on-one.  Kelly sealing his man on his hip and Pressey throwing him the ball.  Sully sealing his man on his hip and getting fed.  It's two-man ball and not using other players to break that player free.  I don't like Brad Stevens' half court offensive sets.  Another sub-.400 fg% game, our 3rd in the past 5 games.  You cannot win like that.  Can.  Not.  The one game we won, the OT in D.C., we shot 46.1%.  The other non-sub-.400 was 42.7%.  Not good.  At some point you have to stop looking at the shooters and start looking at the plays they are running.  We took an anemic 74fgas last night and 26 of them were 3s.  Think about that.  We're a team that takes over 1/3 of our shots from far away, and we were 7-26.  No wonder our fg% sucks night-in-and-night-out.  I know Stevens is a rookie, but I don't think he has adapted to the NBA offense anywhere near as well as he has to the defense.  I suppose, if there's a silver lining here, it's that nobody is going to try and hire our assistant coaches away this off-season, for a change.  Unless we change our playbook, though, that's definitely a mixed blessing.

3.  Sully was 1-7 and 5 rebounds last night.  He is officially in a slump.  He's back to what he was the first half of last year, where he's trying to go inside against the taller players of the NBA one-on-one.  He was being more clever about that earlier this season, but I think frustration is now making him trying to muscle it in himself.  He's still great at hauling in the weak-side offensive rebound, he had 4 last night, but that's because the big trees have left him to stop a penetration.  Penetration?  Wow.  What a concept.  To do that, though, you have to run plays that go towards the rim and not just around the horn for another 3.

4.  Chris Johnson is playing himself into a contract for the rest of the season.  He's hitting his shots, 4-6 last night and 48.3% since signing with the Celtics, and 4 rebounds.  One thing I like about him is that when he gets a rebound he immediately looks for a guard to give it to rather than trying to run it up himself.  Him and Wallace were really running the floor well yesterday.  He's listed as a SF, but at 201# he's going to have to learn how to be a SG.  His 6'11" wingspan is disruptive to defensive rebounders and shooters.  He's playing very disciplined ball, nice to see for such an unheralded newbie, but what I want to see is if he can create his own shot or does he have to be fed a face-up jumper.  The way he's playing, we'll have 42 more games to watch and see if he can create his shot this year.  If this year is about player development, Danny might have found a good one.

5.  A very nice game by Crash.  He played everybody tough, he ran the floor very well and just did is usual all-round game (when he's on his game).  He played like he had something to prove, even though we were in Boston and not Brooklyn.

6.  Green, 2-13, 1-7 from 3.  Definitely NOT being the asshole KG told him he should become.  This was a big game.  This was a personal statement game.  This was a "look at me, Paul and Kevin, I'm all grown up now and can take over as the head of household" game.

7.  Being assigned to the Red Claws = you're playing next game.  Maybe not a lot, but the warm ups will come off.  Beautiful pick-and-roll between Vitor and Rondo. We need more of that, A LOT MORE.  We've been saying that Vitor's Euro pick-and-roll will mesh well with Rondo when Rondo's back.  Last night was one instance where we might have been right, but once is not a trend, pattern, glimmer or anything other than a flicker.

8.  We have a problem at 4 and that problem is that both Bass and Hump play better/minute when they start.  Bass had a very solid 17 points on 6-6 and 5-6 from the line.  He bailed us out a couple of time with some buzzer beaters.  8 rebounds and that fantastic defense back on the break.  That was something else.  Put him on the bench and start Hump, who also does well, and Bass wilts a bit.  That's a shame since that probably means one of them will have to go and I like them both.

9.  I'd pay money to see Kelly dunk the ball.  In fact, I am paying money and will be there to see the payoff on 3/1 vs the Pacers.  If Wiggins is as nice a Canadian as Kelly, he'll drop to us in the draft, but then I won't want him.  I want anger.  I want resentment.  I want a player like Paul Pierce, who was drafted tenth and consciously and deliberately punished the nine teams who passed over him for years.  Nice guys finish last, or they don't finish nice.  Kelly needs to get pissed off at getting pissed on by everybody in the league.  I will say he played some pretty good defense on a couple of sequences, bothering shots and blocking two of them.  3 of his 5 rebounds were offensive and he created opportunities for offensive rebounds for others by keeping the ball alive.  He does seem to have a talent for disruption on the offensive boards.  Put on 15# and he could be a good man-to-man defender against players his size.  On offensive, though, we need a lot more 'tude.

10.  Not a good game by Pressey.  Aside from his shooting percentage, he had 3 assists and 3 TOs.  That's his calling card, if he's going to do well he can't backslide on that.

11.  Jason Kidd couldn't be bothered to put on a tie.  I guess he didn't want to take a chance of ruining his wardrobe, just in case one of his players "accidentally" spilled his drink on him.

No Bradley, no Bayless.  Then again, no Lopez.  Would Wallace still have had as good a game if he had come off the bench because Bradley was playing?  At this point I don't have confidence in players "stepping up".

Our execution is very weak.  We're late getting into half court sets and that is putting ridiculous pressure on our shooters to just hit the rim.  I blame it on a combination of Rondo walking it up and Stevens' playbook.  We're dying by the 3 a lot more than we're living by it, but we're not changing.  Bass, Hump and Sully want to ram the ball down the opponents' throats, but nobody else does and, when they try to do it, it's by themselves.  Too many players standing around on the perimeter waiting/hoping the ball gets rotated around to them for a 3.

I've been waiting patiently for Rondo's return, to see what that would bring, and there is no joy in Mudville right now.  I'm not talking about his lack of explosiveness or rusty timing, those are temporary, I'm talking about how our offense has slowed down with his return and we're still living at the perimeter.  Only 74fgas and 26 3pt fgas.  The worst of both worlds.

A volcanic emission of semi-solid rock by Gerald Wallace about the lack of 5-man unit team play is being ginned up now.  The question is, can he do it without pointing fingers directly at The Two Princes?


bob



.

Bob, I've been waiting for someone to point out that Rondo is still playing Rondo-Ball. That is, he hasn't changed his game one bit. This has been one of my pet peeves against Rondo for a long time (that and his inability to stay in front of his man on defense) and I'm a bit tired of playing the role of "old curmudgeon" so thanks for taking over for me and pointing it out.

I agree with everything you've written about the team and the coaching in this post. Very perceptive.

great post as always bob

The offense was just plain bad. No one was moving and there were wayyyy too many three-point attempts. The lack of transition was perpetually apparent, and rhythm was never really found. Oh Avery, you are missed.

I didn't have too much against Rondo's play yesterday, aside from his rather poor shooting (but he's not a true shooter) and his 6 TOs, considering the fact that his teammates weren't running at all. Wallace was the main guy making an effort to get out on the break and made a beautiful layup from a court-length pass by Rondo.

You have to analyze the offense as a whole. Why should Rondo be the only one running? He's not even at full-speed yet and he still has his brace on. And to reiterate another point, players were not moving at all on offense, basically allowing Brooklyn's defense to remain set for a majority of the game.

The overall offensive philosophy has to change. The notion that a profuse amount of three-point shots is a recipe for victory is severely misguided. It encourages laziness.

This is not a team that lives on transition and uptempo basketball. Even with Rondo added to the roster, this isn't going to change unless Stevens himself makes that change. I can't say its his fault, as the entire team has been playing this way all year.



KJ

Bob,

1. As an unabashed Celtics lover, I'm trying my best to cut Rondo some slack because he's coming back from a very serious injury. For example, it could be that his walking the ball up is one way of pacing himself. But, with every passing (no pun intended) game, the excuses are becoming more difficult. This was arguably his best game since his return but—despite his decent stats—he doesn't give me confidence out there; and last night, the 6 turnovers were a prime reason. His future value has to be evaluated along with everyone else's, and this isn't the first time I've wondered whether a more orthodox and less self-absorbed PG would be better-suited to a solid, multi-faceted offense.

2. You've got nothing on me in disliking the offense. I haven't liked it since the championship season, and this year's offense is rock-bottom. If Brad's trying to keep it simple, he should know that it's equally easy for opponents to defuse. An offense predicated on swinging the ball (lazily, by the way) around the perimeter, setting a few desultory picks with no apparent goals, and being reduced to hero shots more often than not isn't my idea of a development initiative. The fact that 25% of the Celtics' field goal attempts were threes during the championship bothered me; the fact that 25% of the Celtics' field goal attempts have been threes during this season has bothered me; but the fact that 35% of the Celtics' field goal attempts last night were threes makes me wretch. That doesn't suggest development to me. What it does suggest is that the inmates could be running the asylum. If that's a shot at Brad, so be it.

3. I don't believe Sully's in a slump. Think about those finger-in-the-nose jumpers he his three games ago. I think his shooting hand is really bothering him. He was holding it last night. And, for a guy who needs both hands to rebound, it's not doing him any good in that department either.

4. Johnson appears to be a real find. He approaches the game intelligently, has ample physical attributes and skills on both offense and defense, seldom makes errors, and gets A for effort in every game. In fact, he may be the best slasher on the team since Green seems to be in a penetrating funk. (I like that double entendre.)

5. Wallace plays hard in virtually every game, whether or not people choose to recognize it.

6. As I've been saying for a while, the jury's out on Green, and the vote is running dangerously close to condemnation.

7. That was a nice pick-and-roll between Rondo and Vitor. More than one per game would actually mean something.

8. I don't get the overload at PF. What the Celtics have at their disposal is a nice three-man "big" man rotation of Humphries, Bass and Sully. Perhaps, if Brad agrees that they're better when they start, the starting assignments could be rotated. At any rate, in the interest of "development," Olynyk and Vitor (to a much lesser extent) are taking up time that impairs the Celts' frontcourt efficiency. Several weeks ago, I first said I hoped Kelly would see DL time, and the same goes for Vitor. (One game wasn't what I was thinking.)

9. I like your phrase, "talent for disruption," which is not only what Kelly needs but also precisely what the Celtics need in the middle.

10. I like to think Pressey was a victim of a poorly played game in general. It's not a stretch to say that his growth curve has outstripped that of any other Celtics rookie.

11. I can't be bothered about Kidd.

The team quite obviously appears to be floundering badly—not just in terms of W/L record but also in terms of any substantive development. This is the moment when someone needs to take charge big time and point the team to some kind of a positive track. Wallace? Rondo? Brad? Danny? Wyc? Please, someone, take the reins, find the path, and wield the whip.

Sam

Sam,

In regards to your closing paragraph, I think Stevens needs to start the trend (as he is the coach). His strategies have shown varying degrees of success (and failure) and he still appears to be experimenting to "see what works."

What we do know is that a combination of talent, chemistry, and hard work is "what works." There is an obvious talent deficiency and the other two categories have only seen intermittent success. Hard work won't guarantee wins, but it gives a better shot to win.

Getting back to Stevens, he's gotta get them running more, all of them. Rondo has to, but so do the others.



KJ

Bob, why so overly optimistic?

k_j_88 wrote:

I didn't have too much against Rondo's play yesterday, aside from his rather poor shooting (but he's not a true shooter) and his 6 TOs, considering the fact that his teammates weren't running at all.

You have to analyze the offense as a whole. Why should Rondo be the only one running?

KJ

Granted these quotes are taken out of context, but how could you possibly believe this? Rondo's teammates are almost always in the front court waiting for Rondo to walk the ball up. And then he just stands at the top of the key pounding the ball forever! The shot clock runs down and someone has to take a desperation shot, often Rondo himself. Rondo is not the only one running. He is the one who almost never runs. That may be because of his injury, but it's not the main point. The point is, that he's not passing the ball up the court. There is no pushing the ball up the court. It takes forever for the ball to arrive. The defense is set and we're back to a half court game with no Paul Pierce and no Kevin Garnett. It's a recipe for disaster which is what I and many others are seeing.

Does Brad see it? Does Danny see it? That's what matters.

Berlin-T wrote:

k_j_88 wrote:

I didn't have too much against Rondo's play yesterday, aside from his rather poor shooting (but he's not a true shooter) and his 6 TOs, considering the fact that his teammates weren't running at all.

You have to analyze the offense as a whole. Why should Rondo be the only one running?

KJ

Granted these quotes are taken out of context, but how could you possibly believe this? Rondo's teammates are almost always in the front court waiting for Rondo to walk the ball up. And then he just stands at the top of the key pounding the ball forever! The shot clock runs down and someone has to take a desperation shot, often Rondo himself. Rondo is not the only one running. He is the one who almost never runs. That may be because of his injury, but it's not the main point. The point is, that he's not passing the ball up the court. There is no pushing the ball up the court. It takes forever for the ball to arrive. The defense is set and we're back to a half court game with no Paul Pierce and no Kevin Garnett. It's a recipe for disaster which is what I and many others are seeing.

I probably should have clarified what I meant, sometimes I do forget to do so.

Before Rondo made his return, there has been an obvious lack of uptempo basketball. We've seen it occur in spurts, and those spurts have often been headlined by offensive success. But these instances are so far and few between, why should any of us expect such an instant change? The problem is the overall offensive philosophy.

Too many three pointers are being taken. And a long missed shot going into a fast break for the other team is as good as a turnover in my book. Guys are getting trapped in the corner. Brooklyn was double-teaming Jeff Green at the arc, so he wasn't able to make as many advances to the hoop.

The motion offense is still essentially being used, despite Rondo's return to the lineup. Stevens has not augmented his approach to the offensive side of the game even with Rondo. Before Rondo, there was little motion to the motion offense. After he's been back, we're seeing the same issue. I remember a play from this game and I was watching Rondo at the top of the key waving his arm to signal guys to *move.* The only guys that really move on a consistent basis are Bradley (who is now injured), newbie Chris Johnson, and hustle man Wallace. Humphries can also be counted amongst this group. But that's where it ends. Green, Sullinger, Bass, Olynyk, and Faverani are cement statues in many instances and find themselves trapped in isolation. Pressey falls into both categories but mostly he is in motion.

Rondo has shown more and more flashes of his former self. He's getting his rhythm back and has made some beautiful court-length passes for easy layups. I really don't think this opportunity is presenting itself that often because the court isn't being run consistently. And sometimes when the pass is made, the receiving player fumbles it out of bounds for a turnover. Rondo easily possesses both the court vision and passing ability to make this play frequently, but guys gotta run and execute.

Before when I asked the question "Why should Rondo be the only one running?" I didn't mean to imply I thought he was running a lot, because he isn't. I'm just making the case that its hard to expect Rondo to have maximum success on a one-man fast break when he can't play at full-speed yet. And it shouldn't be a one-man fast break. They all should be running, and that's not happening. It hasn't been happening throughout the year so why should there be expectations for some marked change now?

To reiterate a point I've made before, the offense itself is just plain bad.



KJ

sam wrote:Bob,

1. As an unabashed Celtics lover, I'm trying my best to cut Rondo some slack because he's coming back from a very serious injury.  For example, it could be that his walking the ball up is one way of pacing himself.  But, with every passing (no pun intended) game, the excuses are becoming more difficult.  This was arguably his best game since his return but—despite his decent stats—he doesn't give me confidence out there; and last night, the 6 turnovers were a prime reason.  His future value has to be evaluated along with everyone else's, and this isn't the first time I've wondered whether a more orthodox and less self-absorbed PG would be better-suited to a solid, multi-faceted offense.

2. You've got nothing on me in disliking the offense.  I haven't liked it since the championship season, and this year's offense is rock-bottom.  If Brad's trying to keep it simple, he should know that it's equally easy for opponents to defuse.  An offense predicated on swinging the ball (lazily, by the way) around the perimeter, setting a few desultory picks with no apparent goals, and being reduced to hero shots more often than not isn't my idea of a development initiative.  The fact that 25% of the Celtics' field goal attempts were threes during the championship bothered me; the fact that 25% of the Celtics' field goal attempts have been threes during this season has bothered me; but the fact that 35% of the Celtics' field goal attempts last night were threes makes me wretch.  That doesn't suggest development to me.  What it does suggest is that the inmates could be running the asylum.  If that's a shot at Brad, so be it.

3. I don't believe Sully's in a slump.  Think about those finger-in-the-nose jumpers he his three games ago.  I think his shooting hand is really bothering him.  He was holding it last night.  And, for a guy who needs both hands to rebound, it's not doing him any good in that department either.

4. Johnson appears to be a real find.  He approaches the game intelligently, has ample physical attributes and skills on both offense and defense, seldom makes errors, and gets A for effort in every game.  In fact, he may be the best slasher on the team since Green seems to be in a penetrating funk.  (I like that double entendre.)

5. Wallace plays hard in virtually every game, whether or not people choose to recognize it.

6. As I've been saying for a while, the jury's out on Green, and the vote is running dangerously close to condemnation.

7. That was a nice pick-and-roll between Rondo and Vitor.  More than one per game would actually mean something.

8. I don't get the overload at PF.  What the Celtics have at their disposal is a nice three-man "big" man rotation of Humphries, Bass and Sully.  Perhaps, if Brad agrees that they're better when they start, the starting assignments could be rotated.  At any rate, in the interest of "development," Olynyk and Vitor (to a much lesser extent) are taking up time that impairs the Celts' frontcourt efficiency.  Several weeks ago, I first said I hoped Kelly would see DL time, and the same goes for Vitor.  (One game wasn't what I was thinking.)

9. I like your phrase, "talent for disruption," which is not only what Kelly needs but also precisely what the Celtics need in the middle.

10. I like to think Pressey was a victim of a poorly played game in general.  It's not a stretch to say that his growth curve has outstripped that of any other Celtics rookie.

11. I can't be bothered about Kidd.

The team quite obviously appears to be floundering badly—not just in terms of W/L record but also in terms of any substantive development.  This is the moment when someone needs to take charge big time and point the team to some kind of a positive track.  Wallace?  Rondo?  Brad?  Danny?  Wyc?  Please, someone, take the reins, find the path, and wield the whip.  

Sam

sam,

Sully's shooting 40% over his past 10 games.  He's a career 45% shooter and is shooting 43%, overall, this season.  I call that a slump.  If his slump is coinciding with our overall crappy play, that would explain it.

I agree about Pressey 100%.  My observation was about this game in particular and how he needs to continue to improve and not backslide.  Pressey had a career-to-date game in DC where most of the team wasn't that great but him and Green really lit it up (and Johnson making an impression).  So, he can play well when everybody else is struggling.  I'm not down on him, in fact I'm quite impressed with how far he has come since camp.

We have 3 veterans at 4 (Sully can now be called a veteran).  We have Kelly.  We have no center because Vitor isn't playing.  As a result, the 3 veterans are getting decent minutes each.  Sometimes they get 30+, sometimes less.  When we acquire a center, whenever that is, that will shrink those available minutes because there's only 48 minutes available at 4 and right now Sully is getting most of his minutes at 5.  If Sully's minutes at 5 shrink to 15mpg due to the arrival of a legit 5 (and even less if Danny can pick up another backup 5), then the minutes tighten up at 4 significantly.  Ergo, my perception of a logjam.  We're ok now, but this is a bandaid/transition roster.  All 3 of our veteran PFs are starters on a lot of teams.  Unless Danny pulls off some coups and brings in some players that make them say "Wow!  I don't care how many minutes I get I just want to be a part of this!", like what happened in 2008 and what happened in Miami with the arrival of LBJ and Bosh, then why wouldn't they want to play somewhere that will better utilize their talents by giving them the minutes?



bob


.

worcester wrote:Bob, why so overly optimistic?

worcester,

Time to wake up and smell the sarcasm, I guess.  :-)

I'm not pessimistic.  That's just not who I am.  I honestly cannot think of a single instance in which a pessimist has excelled at anything.  How can you excel when your hearts not in it because you think you're pre-ordained to fail or come up short?  I am, however, a proudly brutal pragmatist.  I am a dedicated disciple of the 'ism' of "Whatever works" and, quite frankly, get into more arguments with people because of my disdain for theory than anything else.  As far as I am concerned a theory that doesn't deliver results in line with its promise is mere superstition.  My observations of this game are about this game, perhaps with a larger perspective (e.g. Rondo walking the ball up now just as he always had, the Stevens set offense over this awful losing streak) and sometimes strictly of this game only (e.g. Pressey had a bad game).

Stevens fell for the fools gold of thinking Bradley could be a point guard.  So did Doc.  After a few games Stevens figured it out and switched Crawford to point and that worked better.  He started Vitor at center in the beginning of the season until he saw that he wasn't ready and then he switched Sully to 5 and that worked better.  He started Bass at 4 and has switched to Hump as Hump proved he deserved it.  I'm perplexed why he's not seeing his offense as "not working" but I'm willing, based upon my observations, to continue to bear with him because I see that he doesn't fear adjustments and change and focuses more upon results.  Not that I have any choice, he has a 6 year contract.

I'm pointing out what I consider to be current and/or ongoing problem areas.  I'm not saying they cannot or will not be fixed, one way or another.  Between Danny and Brad, there will be fixes.

How's that for optimistic?



bob


.

slump bob? hes got 2 bad injured hands