Delayed Game-on Observations

They just ran a redemption play. Smart made a great outlet pass to a flying Bradley, who finished perfectly. And the same two followed up with a similar play except that Bradley wound up too far under the hoop and smartly passed to Bass for the bucket.

Injuries or no injuries, Crash looks in midseason form. He's been posting up low and doing something productive almost every time he touches the ball. I realize he's more known for his defense, but he's one of the Celtics' better offensive players tonight.

Rondo hit a lot of threes in pregame warmups.

The defense that seems most effective for the Celts is a combination scrambling, hedging, doubling, recovering hodgepodge. They're forcing quite a few turnovers. Sully is actually looking pretty good on defense when he's out on the perimeter. His footwork is excellent, and he's staying in front of his man. I think the conditioning is paying off.

Smart is calling out defensive signals like a veteran. He's already the defensive leader when he's in the game.

It's halftime, and he already has two or three steals, a block and numerous deflections. His challenge will be to acquire enough finesse to function as more than a placeholder on offense. He's made a couple of good passes and some poor ones, but he have very little conception of how to orchestrate a game.

Turner's a decent pick and roll passer but lacks the arsenal of moves to be even an acceptable floor general.

Thornton just sandwiched two threes around a lost dribble.  He appears to be a trick or treat player who is more treat than trick (4 of 6 threes so far in limited minutes). He has the ability to be aggressive on defense. He just timed a dash perfectly, stole the ball, and was off to the races.

On offense, the Celtics have to find some way to keep their bigs from being doubled whenever they go to the hoop. Without great height/jumping combinations, the bigs are susceptible to being blocked of havinig their shots altered.

I'm slowly changing my mind about Turner. In addition to pick-and-roll passes, he can drive and dish to the perimeter. He doesn't orchestrate the offense but he can take advantage of opportunities.

Young runs the floor very well.  Turner just tipped the ball back to Young the trailer for a nice fast break bucket.  Turner definitely has good court awareness.

Overall reflections:

• The Celtics' defense is ahead of the offense.  On defense, they're very aggressive....doubling, recovering, and forcing turnovers and rushed shots.  As the game progressed, they became increasingly adept at challenging mid-range jumpers, which was the weak spot in the going.  They seemed to be using a flex defense that collapses on opponents who are under the hoop; and, without a so-called rim protector, they did a pretty good job of collectively protecting the rim.  They're developing a knack for crowding their defensive assignments without fouling—not a bad substitute for lack of a shot blocking threat.

• On offense, they're pretty much in free lance mode.  The pick and roll is their current go to play, and they're often a bit slow in executing it, which places more pressure on the roll player than is desirable.

• I was hopeful of up-tempo basketball by the Celtics. But it was the exception rather than the rule. Tommy and Mike were excited about the 88 shots taken by the Celtics, and Tommy felt (perhaps wishfully) that the 6ers were exhausted by the pace set by the Celtics. But I believe the shot total wasn't a function of an up-tempo game as much as of their many missed shots and the 16 offensive rebounds they registered. And it didn't seem to me that the 6ers were particularly fatigued. The 76ers scored 19 fast break points to 9 by the Celtics. And it wasn't because of lack of defensive rebounds (the Celts had 36).

• High impact players included Brandon Bass (still Steady Eddie with the jumper and continuing last year's efforts at taking it strong to the hoop); Even Turner (the MVP of this one with his court awareness, clever passing, relentless slashing, and sneaky rebounds); Kelly Olynyk (whose high post play against a tentative, foul-prone Nerlins Noel really picked up in the second half); Crash Wallace (whose dynamic, floor-burn-punctuated play was complemented by a high energy performance out of the low post); and Sully, who was up to his usual tricks under the offensive board as he submitted a ho hm double double).

• Despite missing a lot of shots, James Young displayed a smooth stroke from outside and a knack for getting down the floor and finishing well on the break.

• I was underwhelmed by Tyler Zeller, who appears to prefer reaching in over moving his feet on defense.  He didn't show much of an ability to run the floor; but neither did the team as a whole until late in the game.  To his credit, Zeller did start a couple of breaks with his defensive rebounding, but his impact on the game was minimal.

• Maxwell Smart showed occasional flashes of being a pretty accomplished passer, and I'll attribute his horrendous shooting performance to first game nerves.  But, if he continues to stink it up from the field and exhibit only mediocre floor management skills, we'll be welcoming back Rondo not only for his playmaking ability but for his relative shooting prowess.  At present, Turner is a phenomenal upgrade over Maxwell at the "1" position.  However, Smart not only played extraordinary defense; he also was calling out defensive signals like a veteran.

• For some time, I've been worried about Avery Bradley's game.  Okay, his miserable three point shooting in this game could have been an aberration.  And he was 50% in terms of finishing rather botching fast breaks.  But I noticed nothing remarkable in his defense, and I'm seriously concerned that—for one reason or another—he cannot or will not be the disruptive defensive force for which he has a well-earned reputation.

•Marcus Thornton had 14 points in 14 minutes. In this game, his contribution was pretty much an individual achievement. But, given the typical ebbs and flow of a highly competitive game, I continue to believe he could contribute more flow than ebb as a sixth man point machine.

• Pressey played only token minutes.  I had the feeling that, if he had been the primary floor general (freeing Turner up to do wing duties), the offense would have had a much better flow than was actually the case.

• It was a first game, and the game plan emphasized looking at different players in different situations; so it's impossible and ill-advised to draw any major conclusions at this point.

Go Celtics

thanks Sam,

I ended up missing the game as NBA TV blocked the game in my area (too close to Philly I guess) and the web- streaming sites I went to all were full or Virus laden pop ups.

so as usual I am reliant on reading what others saw.

one note on Turner.....it has been said that he is MUCH better with the ball in his hands. Perhaps last night was a sign that it could be true.

Kelly O at center?.....now who would have thunk that.......

kdp,

It's strange if they blacked it out in Philly because the game was in Boston. Sorry you didn't get to see it. At first, the Celtics looked pretty bad—sort of lethargic and not really in synch. Then, as time went on, they seemed to settle down, play more smartly, and play the way they were most comfortable. While this probably meant some of Brad's system wasn't on display all that much in the second half (especially the motion offense), it did show that the individual players on this team have talent.

Turner is one guy who, left to his own devices, does really good things with the ball in his hands. And it wasn't as though he was flaunting Brad's schemes. In fact, Evan was the best pick and roll guard on the floor for the Celtics.

As far as Kelly goes, I've given up doubting him in any way because he keeps fooling me (and, I think, many others as well). The "X factor" with him is his smarts because, what he lacks in skill or physique, he figures out ways to circumvent the problems.

Take care. It'll be a real pleasure having you on the game on threads.

Sam

kdp59 wrote:thanks Sam,

I ended up missing the game as NBA TV blocked the game in my area (too close to Philly I guess) and the web- streaming sites I went to all were full or Virus laden pop ups.

so as usual I am reliant on reading what others saw.

one note on Turner.....it has been said that he is MUCH better with the ball in his hands. Perhaps last night was a sign that it could be true.

Kelly O at center?.....now who would have thunk that.......

kdp,

If you live in the Philly area could you give us your opinion of Turner? You must have had the opportunity to watch him a lot. Do you think his game will fit in with us or did you see things when he was in Philly that gives you pause?



bob



.

I really don't watch any games except the Celtics when I can, so I can't be of any help with Turner, except what I have read about him.

Now that's my kind of fan!

Sam