Post Game Thread - vs Nets, Home, Pre-season

[bobheckler]

http://espn.go.com/blog/boston/celtics/post/_/id/4715242/rapid-reaction-celtics-100-nets-86



Rapid Reaction: Celtics 100, Nets 86
October, 22, 2014
OCT 22 10:15 PM ET
By Kyle Brasseur | ESPNBoston.com





BOSTON -- Prior to Wednesday’s preseason finale against the Brooklyn Nets, Boston Celtics coach Brad Stevens described his team’s play thus far as a healthy dose of both good and bad.

Rookie Marcus Smart’s all-around performance in the game that followed would fall in the former category.

Smart saved his preseason best for last, pacing the Celtics with 16 points and shooting 62.5 percent in the team’s 100-86 win over the Nets. Smart added four assists and two steals in 15:38 played, all in the first half.

While Smart’s defense has mostly proved NBA-ready this preseason, his offensive performances have been lacking. Entering Wednesday having hit just 19 of his 52 shots (36.5 percent) -- 44 of them coming from behind the arc -- Smart hit two of his five 3-point tries and all three of his 2-point field goals.

He added a 4-for-4 performance at the free throw line for his preseason high in points despite the limited minutes. Jared Sullinger was the only Celtics starter to appear in the second half, while Nets coach Lionel Hollins opted to keep the majority of his projected opening night starters off the court for the entire game.

Nitty gritty: Following a 19-rebound performance on Sunday against the Nets, Sullinger pulled in 17 boards Wednesday night. He also scored 15 points. Still managing his knee following surgery last season, Gerald Wallace put together a strong game, including two back-to-back fast-break scores in the second quarter. He posted 12 points off the bench. Mason Plumlee (15 points, 11 rebounds) and Mirza Teletovic (15 points, 3-for-6 from three) led the Nets.

Feeling Young again: Celtics rookie James Young returned to action for the first time since straining his hamstring while warming up Oct. 6. Young checked in midway through the second quarter, nailing a 3-pointer on his first shot attempt. He finished with five points and four rebounds in 25 minutes of play.

Loose balls: After finishing the first quarter tied at 25, the Celtics ran away with a 33-19 advantage in the second quarter. Their largest lead of the night was 23 points. ... Every player present for the Celtics took the court, including Tim Frazier, who was told by Stevens Tuesday that he was going to be waived. ... The Celtics finish their preseason having allowed more than 100 points to an opponent in only one of their eight games (a 116-109 loss to the Toronto Raptors Oct. 10).

What it means: Their preseason schedule over, the Celtics (5-3) will get ready to face the Nets again next Wednesday at the Garden for each team’s season opener. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.



bob



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[bobheckler]

Ok, so beating the Nets without KG and Lopez wasn't a fluke.  In fact, last night they didn't have Deron Williams, Jarrett Jack or Andrei Kirilenko either, so we played against their 3rd string.  Did this game actually happen?

1.  Sully is in full-blown beast mode.  15 points and 17 rebounds in 25 minutes.  Yeah, I know there was really only one player out there that had a chance to snatch a rebound away from him (Plumlee) but damn!  If there was one negative it was his 5 TOs and, to tell the truth, I didn't even realize he had that many until I looked at the boxscore this morning.  What I saw, during the game, was a man sucking up every single rebound and dominating every player that tried to defend him.  He was only 1-4 from beyond the arc (he's still shooting 50% from 3 for the pre-season despite this bad night) but was 7-10 for the night.  That means that he was 6-6 from 2.  Wow.  I'm thinking that the reason why Brad is starting Kelly at center is because he wants him to get the exposure and minutes but just cannot, for the life of him, wrap his mind around starting Kelly at 4 in front of Sully.  Who can blame him?

2.  Speaking of, Kelly had some beautiful assists, man does he have great court vision, but otherwise another almost-invisible night for him.  He did some little intangibles that coaches notice, like putting his body on the stronger Plumlee and boxing him way the hell out of bounds and away from a possible rebound, but you didn't hear his name mentioned much.  It's like he's forgotten his offense, and that's the best part of his game.  Shooters gotta shoot, or they lose their rhythm.

3.  Jeff Green also had a non-existent night.  He's played well in the games he has played in the pre-season overall and I'm not going to project a one game absence into "there he goes again" as long as he doesn't keep doing it because, if he does, then there he goes again.  He got stripped of the ball and just took off downcourt after the guy.  A Celtic got back and forced the driver to do a stutter step to get past him and that was all the time Uncle Jeff needed to catch up and make a Sportcenter block of the layup.  Great pursuit.  If he's not taking over on offense, then he needs to do that and he certainly didn't take over on offense.  2 points on 2-4, zero rebounds, zero assists, zero steals.  He only played 9 minutes.  Green's play wasn't bad enough to bench him, I'm hoping/presuming Brad just wanted to rest him and give Wallace and James Young some floor time.
 
4.  In fact, James Young played a Celtic team-high 26 minutes.  He chased his man around a bit too much, not enough anticipation, but there was effort.  He shot 2-8, but so what?  We know he CAN shoot and this is only his second pro game, ever, after missing all of summer league so I'm not worried about rookie jitters.  One nice little thing he did was to put a body on 6'11" Miles Plumlee and seal him on the inside so he could get the rebound when it caromed wide.  He also showed great hustle on a flying out of bounds steal to Wallace.  Welcome to the NBA, kid.

5.  Crash played solid basketball.  You can see he's athletically limited by the way he laid the ball in on backdoor passes and didn't dunk them.  Good thing basketball is about doing the right thing at the right time and being in the right place to do them and not about running fast and jumping high.  12 points on 6-8 and every single bucket, all 6, were at the rim because Crash slashed (I like the way that sounds, "Crash slashed", I hope I get to see it a lot this year).  

6.  Zeller had trouble finishing last night, but he was getting good shots at the rim.  They just weren't going in.  2-9 but 7-7 from the line for 11 points in 23 minutes.  Keep running those plays and they will, they are good shots.  9 rebounds.  He's starting to look like he belongs, much more so than his first couple of games.  He'll look real good when Rondo comes back because his forte is PnRs and Rondo is as good a point guard on delivering PnR passes as anybody in the league.

7.  It's amazing just how much of a pest tiny Phil Pressey is on defense.

8.  Against the Brooklyn Scrubs (I mean, Nets) we had 52 points in the paint and 10 fast break points.  I wish I could translate those numbers into regular season performance but, against that squad, you really can't.  They are as bad as the Sixers starters.  Boy, does that say bad things about the Sixers that their starters are comparable to the Nets' 3rd string.


Ok, so pre-season is finally over and, for the most part, I think we looked ok.  Brad's style isn't burned in yet, there are still breakdowns, but I'm starting to see patterns of what they're trying to do.  It doesn't look like just a bunch of guys running around like crazy, like last year, we're actually looking coherent in our running around.

Bring it on.



bob



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[Sam]

I care about the team as a whole.  And, last night, the team looked great.  I couldn't care less about who was missing for them, especially when the allegedly chief catalyst for our team was also missing.

They pushed the ball.  They spaced the floor particularly well.  The motion offense was very much in evidence, and the ball movement alone directly accounted for many baskets.  I even saw a vertical weave that took me back more than half a century.  It seemed that, almost every time a Celticc player moved on offense, a screen was set for him.  I counted as many as four different screens in a 12 second span.  They shot very well because so many of their shots were open.  They had 29 assists on 38 made field goals (76%), which is phenominal.  No Celtics had more than Phil Pressey's 5 assists, and 13 Celtics had at least one assist.  Now that's moving the ball with purpose.  They took 83 shots, which actually means something because the number of shots reflected pace rather than a lot of missed shots (46% shooting).  Yes, they had 19 turnovers (several due to brand new player combinations), but the Nets had 25—symptomatic of a high-paced game in the preseason.  They held their own in rebounding action at both ends.

When there was actually a contest going on rather than organized grabass (aka the second half), the Celts had some initial difficulties with the Nets' penetration, but the flex defense kicked in, and I remarked on the Game On Thread how frequently there were two or three Celtics around whichever Net had the ball down low.

I won't listen to any caveats about the exhibition nature of the game (or the aforementioned missing players).  The simple fact is that no one can erase what I saw.  They have the ability to do what they did last night.  The ability cannot be denied.  What they need to do is to become consistent in submitting that kind of game over and again versus all comers.


If I could be assured that, come the end of the season, the Celtics had consistently submitted games like this one, I'd be happy regardless of their won/lost record.

Individual Positives to date:

• The aggressiveness of Jeff Green

• The emergence of Marcus Thornton as an instant energy, momentum changing 6th man

• The relentlessness of Sully in low post offense and rebounding action

• The ability of Zeller to pass, score and defend to a reasonable degree (a long-term backup to "Mr. X" in the making?)

• Brandon Bass' steadiness and desire to keep improving (even beyond the arc)

• Gerald Wallace's combination of energy and smarts applied in both ends of the court

• Marcus Smart's improved three-point shooting, strength in penetration, and movement along the learning curve as far as running a team

• Avery Bradley's improved three-point shooting and improved ability to finish in penetration

• James Young's display of athleticism and shooting accuracy, which just have to be harnessed along with improved defensive instincts (of which he's already shown some promise0.

Question Marks

• Is Kelly center material?  So far, he looks uncomfortable playing with his back to the hoop.  And I believe that discomfort is affecting his overall game.

• Can Phil Pressey delete the hiccups that seem to plague him at some point in every game?  He's good at penetrating, but he's too short to finish in traffic.  He's a fine passer, but about every fifth-to-tenth pass winds up where it shouldn't.

• Is the falloff in Evan Turner's play being caused by the inconsistency of combinations in which he's playing, or is there something more in play?

Go Celtics!

Sam

[hawksnestbeach]

Bob, Sam, Thanks for the analysis; I missed the game because this time of year, budget time, is particularly hectic. I did watch several preseason games and at this point, think Kelly is not center material. He's a 4. Phil is improving, but his height will always plague him, force him to make decisions that a 6'2'' guard doesn't have to. Evan Turner? I'm glad we landed him, but the jury is out on what we got. Marcus Smart? I think NYcelt predicted just how good he is - very good! Hawk

[Sam]

So Hawk,

Would you keep Will Bynum and eat Phil's contract?

Just curious because I'm torn myself.

Sam

[bobheckler]

BOB



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[bobheckler]

bob


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