The Stephon Marbury era in Boston is off to a good start.
[recap] [box score]
His stat line won't blow you away: 13 minutes, eight points on 4 of 6 shooting, two assists, a rebound, a steal, and a +/- of -7. (For those of you not familiar with the +/- stat, this means that the Pacers outscored the Celtics by seven points when Marbury was on the floor.) But from the moment he entered the game, with 16 seconds left in the first quarter, his impact was noticeable. The home crowd rose to give the newest Celtic a standing ovation, and Steph drank it in, with a grin from ear to ear.
Pressed into playing time without even a practice under his belt thanks to the Tony Allen injury and Gabe Pruitt suspension, and playing in his first NBA game in more than a year, Marbury showed little of the rust that might be expected from someone who has taken so much time off. Marbury's ballhandling will allow Eddie House to move to his preferred position of off-guard with the second team, and Stephon's jumper and ability to get to the basket will provide the second unit with some much needed offense.
Marbury was also on the court during the most important stretch of the game, the first few minutes of the fourth quarter, when Boston extended its 80-75 leads to 92-79. Marbury played a crucial role during that stretch, too, assisting on two Ray Allen jumpers, drilling a 17-footer of his own, sliding over on defense to force Rasho Nesterovic to badly miss a layup, and then hitting a driving layup at the other end. If he plays the way he did tonight for the rest of the season, he will be what the doctor ordered -- exactly what Sam Cassell was supposed to do last year when we signed him.
Of course, the media hate Marbury. This column by Adrian Wojnarowski, for example, calls Marbury a loser, and while most NBA writers prefer to mince their words, there's no doubt that many of them have a similar opinion of Marbury. He's an easy target, the poster child for greedy professional athlets in a time of national economic crisis, a man who was paid $20 million by his former team to stay away -- not just not play, not just not practice, but to completely disassociate himself from the franchise. And now he'll be paid an additional $1.2 million to, as many think, ride the coattails of the defending champions to the ring he craves and one more lucrative contract before his NBA clock strikes midnight.
Marbury will wear Antoine Walker's number 8 as a Celtic, the green-and-white version of his preferred number 3 hanging from the TD Banknorth Boston Garden rafters in honor of the late Dennis Johnson. Whatever digit hangs on his back, however, Marbury will forever be number 3, that number being tattooed on the left side of his head. It's a stylized number 3, the logo of Starbury, his athletic shoe and apparel company. Marbury's detractors can perhaps point to it as a sign of his ego and me-first mentality.
But perhaps it can be something to rally around for these Celtics, a group that, now that it has a target on its back, needs something around which to rally. Those outside the team hope or expect (or both) that Marbury's famous ego will destroy the team's chemistry, a chemistry built by three superstars putting aside their individual accolades for Ubuntu and the good of the team. The challenge this season is to mesh with the unmeshable, to humble he who seems incapable of that feeling. In short, to prove everyone wrong.
So far, so good.
VIEWING ALERT: Next game is Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern on ABC. The opponent is Detroit, which snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 93-85 win in Orlando Friday night. Rip Hamilton, returning to the starting lineup in place of the injured Allen Iverson, keyed the victory with 31 points. Iverson went to Detroit Friday for treatment of his bad back, and his status is uncertain for Sunday.
Friday, February 27, 2009
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Playing Catch Up
Quite a lot has happened since my last post. Basketball first: We crushed Phoenix. We blew out Denver. And we lost to the Clippers.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
Very frustrating loss, and not just because of the terrible call at the end of the game. It's not the sole reason we lost, but now that I've mentioned it, I might as well bring it up now and get it over with. Score tied at 90 with 34 seconds left, Rajon Rondo goes to the line for two free throws. He hits the first, misses the second, and Glen Davis chases after the rebound with the Clippers' Mardy Collins. I was at the game in the 300 level and this happened in the completely opposite corner of the arena, but Davis came up with the ball as the whistle blew.
Rhymes With Hondo: "Hmm. Didn't look like a foul."
PA announcer: "Timeout, Clippers."
How'd the Clips call timeout when we had the ball??? There was no mention of a foul call, but that had to be it. Unless ... no, that couldn't be it. But Baby still has four fouls. Really? My theory was confirmed when I returned home. This from a buddy who watched the game on TV:"I think the Clips announcers summed it up where it was one of those plays where [Clippers coach Mike] Dunleavy said 'we're calling a TO on the rebound' and the ref just jumped the gun."
As best as I can tell, and I haven't seen a replay, Collins may have reached for the ball before Davis, and the ref gave the timeout too early. There was more than a shotclock left and we still would have had to do some work, but that offensive rebound was huge.
Still, we did a ton of stuff wrong all game long. Here's what Doc had to say, from the Boston Herald via CelticsBlog:
"We were awful. We absolutely did not deserve to win that game. I thought we played slow all night. We pouted all night. We just thought we could show up and win a game, and we didn’t."
And then:
"We didn’t make the extra pass all night. We walked the ball up the floor all night. There were so many things we did poor. The fact that we actually had a chance to win is amazing."
He's right, but he deserves some of the blame.
Two major errors in this game.The first is familar to regular readers. We went to isolating Pierce at the foul line way too early, with maybe five minutes to go in the game. Once we did that, I turned to my friend and said "If we run this play the rest of the way, we're going to lose." And we did, and we did.
A couple factors contributed to this failure. For one, Pierce looked completely disinterested in this game from the getgo. Two, he wasn't hitting his shot, although he showed some signs of both in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Three, he had twice disclocated the thumb on his shooting hand in the third quarter (X-rays are negative, by the way). Also, unlike Dallas, against whom this play worked so well, the Clippers were doubling Pierce, which they can do off of Rajon Rondo. Pierce doesn't pass so well out of the double team, in part because he has a pretty sloppy handle. It bogged our offense way down, and resulted in at least one turnover and too many other empty possessions. I just don't get why we don't look for Ray Allen more often in those spots.
The second major error Doc made came when the Clippers took a 92-91 lead on the possession immediately following the phantom timeout call. Though there were 19 seconds left, Doc called our final timeout. There are three reasons to call a timeout in a final possession situation like this:
1)Advance the ball to half court
2) Set up a play
3) Get the right personnel on the floor
The first two simply do not apply in this particular case. Nineteen seconds is plenty of time to get the ball upcourt and into a set. And the set we ran is the same set we had been running for the last several possessions. I see no reason to call a timeout to make sure we knew to get the ball to Pierce.
The third reason, personnel, may apply here, as Eddie House subbed in for Rondo after the timeout. It's true that the pick and pop works better with House than it does with Rondo since the defense actually has to worry about Eddie, so I suppose this substitution made sense. But I don't think that this play is so much better than our others that we need to call our last timeout there.
Why does it matter? Because after Pierce missed and Zach Randolph hit the second of two free throws on the other end, we had 5.2 seconds left ... and no timeout to advance the ball. Just another one of the little things that I don't think Doc does very well.
Okay, on to the other stuff.
Gabe Pruitt was cited for DUI in the wee hours after the game. Not really big news, but I suppose it's possible some sort of disciplinary action is forthcoming, either from the league or the team.
The Clippers game was the first for our brand new backuip power forward/center, Mikki Moore, who we signed earlier in the week. I like the signing, although I would have liked Joe Smith more (though Smith has not yet been bought out by Oklahoma City). Moore, who pronounces his first name "Mikey," is by all accounts a good teammate and locker room guy, and he brings size and a strong work rate defensively and on the glass. His weak spot is his offense and for that reason some are worried about his suitability for the role P.J. Brown played last year. But I'm of the opinion that Brown wasn't nearly as valuable as he was made out to be last year. If you want to argue that we need a better offensive player than Moore or Brown this year because we don't have James Posey, well, I'm listening. But I'm not worried that Moore isn't going to give us what we need.
Moore hit a couple of jumpers in his debut, but was generally pretty slow on some defensive rotations, a combination, I'm sure, of him not even practicing with the team before stepping on the court and having played all of six minutes in two weeks. I'm sure he'll shake the rust off.
Also, in case you haven't heard, we're almost certain to sign Stephon Marbury tomorrow. I'll let you go to Google and read whichever report(s) you like most, and I'll have more on this when (if) it happens. This post is long enough already.
Next game is Friday night, at home vs. Indiana. No national TV, though we do get the Pistons at home at 1 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
Very frustrating loss, and not just because of the terrible call at the end of the game. It's not the sole reason we lost, but now that I've mentioned it, I might as well bring it up now and get it over with. Score tied at 90 with 34 seconds left, Rajon Rondo goes to the line for two free throws. He hits the first, misses the second, and Glen Davis chases after the rebound with the Clippers' Mardy Collins. I was at the game in the 300 level and this happened in the completely opposite corner of the arena, but Davis came up with the ball as the whistle blew.
Rhymes With Hondo: "Hmm. Didn't look like a foul."
PA announcer: "Timeout, Clippers."
How'd the Clips call timeout when we had the ball??? There was no mention of a foul call, but that had to be it. Unless ... no, that couldn't be it. But Baby still has four fouls. Really? My theory was confirmed when I returned home. This from a buddy who watched the game on TV:"I think the Clips announcers summed it up where it was one of those plays where [Clippers coach Mike] Dunleavy said 'we're calling a TO on the rebound' and the ref just jumped the gun."
As best as I can tell, and I haven't seen a replay, Collins may have reached for the ball before Davis, and the ref gave the timeout too early. There was more than a shotclock left and we still would have had to do some work, but that offensive rebound was huge.
Still, we did a ton of stuff wrong all game long. Here's what Doc had to say, from the Boston Herald via CelticsBlog:
"We were awful. We absolutely did not deserve to win that game. I thought we played slow all night. We pouted all night. We just thought we could show up and win a game, and we didn’t."
And then:
"We didn’t make the extra pass all night. We walked the ball up the floor all night. There were so many things we did poor. The fact that we actually had a chance to win is amazing."
He's right, but he deserves some of the blame.
Two major errors in this game.The first is familar to regular readers. We went to isolating Pierce at the foul line way too early, with maybe five minutes to go in the game. Once we did that, I turned to my friend and said "If we run this play the rest of the way, we're going to lose." And we did, and we did.
A couple factors contributed to this failure. For one, Pierce looked completely disinterested in this game from the getgo. Two, he wasn't hitting his shot, although he showed some signs of both in the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. Three, he had twice disclocated the thumb on his shooting hand in the third quarter (X-rays are negative, by the way). Also, unlike Dallas, against whom this play worked so well, the Clippers were doubling Pierce, which they can do off of Rajon Rondo. Pierce doesn't pass so well out of the double team, in part because he has a pretty sloppy handle. It bogged our offense way down, and resulted in at least one turnover and too many other empty possessions. I just don't get why we don't look for Ray Allen more often in those spots.
The second major error Doc made came when the Clippers took a 92-91 lead on the possession immediately following the phantom timeout call. Though there were 19 seconds left, Doc called our final timeout. There are three reasons to call a timeout in a final possession situation like this:
1)Advance the ball to half court
2) Set up a play
3) Get the right personnel on the floor
The first two simply do not apply in this particular case. Nineteen seconds is plenty of time to get the ball upcourt and into a set. And the set we ran is the same set we had been running for the last several possessions. I see no reason to call a timeout to make sure we knew to get the ball to Pierce.
The third reason, personnel, may apply here, as Eddie House subbed in for Rondo after the timeout. It's true that the pick and pop works better with House than it does with Rondo since the defense actually has to worry about Eddie, so I suppose this substitution made sense. But I don't think that this play is so much better than our others that we need to call our last timeout there.
Why does it matter? Because after Pierce missed and Zach Randolph hit the second of two free throws on the other end, we had 5.2 seconds left ... and no timeout to advance the ball. Just another one of the little things that I don't think Doc does very well.
Okay, on to the other stuff.
Gabe Pruitt was cited for DUI in the wee hours after the game. Not really big news, but I suppose it's possible some sort of disciplinary action is forthcoming, either from the league or the team.
The Clippers game was the first for our brand new backuip power forward/center, Mikki Moore, who we signed earlier in the week. I like the signing, although I would have liked Joe Smith more (though Smith has not yet been bought out by Oklahoma City). Moore, who pronounces his first name "Mikey," is by all accounts a good teammate and locker room guy, and he brings size and a strong work rate defensively and on the glass. His weak spot is his offense and for that reason some are worried about his suitability for the role P.J. Brown played last year. But I'm of the opinion that Brown wasn't nearly as valuable as he was made out to be last year. If you want to argue that we need a better offensive player than Moore or Brown this year because we don't have James Posey, well, I'm listening. But I'm not worried that Moore isn't going to give us what we need.
Moore hit a couple of jumpers in his debut, but was generally pretty slow on some defensive rotations, a combination, I'm sure, of him not even practicing with the team before stepping on the court and having played all of six minutes in two weeks. I'm sure he'll shake the rust off.
Also, in case you haven't heard, we're almost certain to sign Stephon Marbury tomorrow. I'll let you go to Google and read whichever report(s) you like most, and I'll have more on this when (if) it happens. This post is long enough already.
Next game is Friday night, at home vs. Indiana. No national TV, though we do get the Pistons at home at 1 p.m. Sunday on ABC.
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Whew!
Time for a sportswriter cliche: That sound you heard today was the entire city of Boston letting out its collective breath.
Boston media are reporting a two-to-three week break for Kevin Garnett. I can live with that, even though it means he won't be on the floor when RwH sees the Celtics take on the Los Angeles Clippers in person on Wednesday. In addition to the rest of the road trip, Garnett may also miss home games against Cleveland (March 6) and Orlando (March 8), two games that may well have big implications on the race for home-court advantage in the East. We're currently 1-1 against the Cavs and 2-0 against the Magic this season, and we face them each on the road later in the season. The tiebreaker for homecourt is head-to-head record, so these games are especially important if we finish up the season tied with either of them in the standings.
Regardless, sitting KG is the right thing to do; home court is nice, but not as important as having a healthy Garnett for the playoffs. Danny Ainge is saying that this won't speed up the team's attempt to add a big man. I get the sense that we're waiting on Mikki Moore to see if Joe Smith becomes available. I suppose that's the smart thing to do, but it's important that we not miss the boat on both of them, and especially with Garnett out, the sooner, the better. If we can avoid these next few weeks being a total washout, we should.
VIEWING ALERT: Next game is Sunday in Phoenix at 2:30 Eastern on ABC. No Garnett for us, and no Amar'e Stoudemire for Phoenix, who may be out for the rest of the season with an eye injury. Even without Amar'e, however, the Suns put up 140 points in a Friday win over Oklahoma City, the third straight game they've reached that impressive milestone. That streak coincides with the firing of first-year head coach Terry Porter. Assistant Alvin Gentry took over for Porter and re-installed the up-tempo offense that the Suns had so much success with under Mike D'Antoni, and for whatever reason, it's clearly working.
Our last game against Phoenix was a very comfortable Boston win in which Kendrick Perkins did not play. Garnett did a great job on Shaquille O'Neal and Brian Scalabrine, of all people, actually outscored Stoudemire while starting in Perk's stead. With KG out, keeping Perkins out of foul trouble as he matches up with O'Neal is imperative.
Boston media are reporting a two-to-three week break for Kevin Garnett. I can live with that, even though it means he won't be on the floor when RwH sees the Celtics take on the Los Angeles Clippers in person on Wednesday. In addition to the rest of the road trip, Garnett may also miss home games against Cleveland (March 6) and Orlando (March 8), two games that may well have big implications on the race for home-court advantage in the East. We're currently 1-1 against the Cavs and 2-0 against the Magic this season, and we face them each on the road later in the season. The tiebreaker for homecourt is head-to-head record, so these games are especially important if we finish up the season tied with either of them in the standings.
Regardless, sitting KG is the right thing to do; home court is nice, but not as important as having a healthy Garnett for the playoffs. Danny Ainge is saying that this won't speed up the team's attempt to add a big man. I get the sense that we're waiting on Mikki Moore to see if Joe Smith becomes available. I suppose that's the smart thing to do, but it's important that we not miss the boat on both of them, and especially with Garnett out, the sooner, the better. If we can avoid these next few weeks being a total washout, we should.
VIEWING ALERT: Next game is Sunday in Phoenix at 2:30 Eastern on ABC. No Garnett for us, and no Amar'e Stoudemire for Phoenix, who may be out for the rest of the season with an eye injury. Even without Amar'e, however, the Suns put up 140 points in a Friday win over Oklahoma City, the third straight game they've reached that impressive milestone. That streak coincides with the firing of first-year head coach Terry Porter. Assistant Alvin Gentry took over for Porter and re-installed the up-tempo offense that the Suns had so much success with under Mike D'Antoni, and for whatever reason, it's clearly working.
Our last game against Phoenix was a very comfortable Boston win in which Kendrick Perkins did not play. Garnett did a great job on Shaquille O'Neal and Brian Scalabrine, of all people, actually outscored Stoudemire while starting in Perk's stead. With KG out, keeping Perkins out of foul trouble as he matches up with O'Neal is imperative.
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Utah 90, Boston 85
A frustrating loss, but one that needs to be kept in persepective.
[recap] [box score]
The big difference in tonight's game was that Kevin Garnett went out just before halftime with what they're calling a sprained right knee. Apparently the knee has been bothering him a bit of late, and when he went up for a rebound on a break, he seemed to tweak it a bit on takeoff. It was a scary moment, as it always is when there's a non-contact knee injury. But it looked like KG wanted to return, and probably would have if it was, say, the playoffs. As frustrated as I get when the Celtics lose, shutting him down for the night in the hopes that he can come back Sunday against Phoenix was the right move.
And yes, Utah was also missing their power forward, Carlos Boozer. But Boston is definitely the least deep of the title contenders this year; more than any other team, the Celtics are reliant on their starters, in particular Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. We can't realistically expect to win against a good team like the Jazz without one of those three, particularly in a place as difficult to win as Utah.
This game was winnable, though. The Celtics hit just 19 of 29 free throws. And I didn't much like the offense down the stretch. We went to the pick and roll with Rondo and Pierce, like we did against Dallas last week, but Pierce wasn't hitting his shots, probably because he played more than 45 minutes and was battling a very physical Utah defense the whole night (because I'm trying to keep this loss in perspective, I'm not going to complain about the officiating, which was inconsistent, at best, all night). Pierce picked up one offensive foul on that play, and missed almost everything else. We went to the well too early, and too often. When we have Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo (who caused some problems for Deron Williams in the fourth quarter), we shouldn't run that play into the ground. We've got other options.
The cap to the frustrating night came when Utah missed a free throw with eight seconds left up three, but got the offensive rebound and sealed the game. Boston had no timeouts left, and the three-point shooting team was in. With no timeouts remaining, Doc couldn't sub in, and that left Allen and Pierce on the low block, and Utah overwhelmed them and got the board. When I was watching them line up, I was worried about that exact thing happening, but I guess with no timeouts, there's nothing Doc could have done.
Time to put this one past us. Hopefully KG will be fine for Sunday (2:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC) and we can get a win against a Suns team that has put up an average of 141 points in two games since firing Terry Porter. Alvin Gentry has re-installed their uptempo offense, and even though both those offensive explosions came against the hapless Los Angeles Clippers, 141 points against any NBA team is impressive.
Patrick O'Bryant, we hardly knew ye. The young center -- whom Boston signed as a free agent in the offseason -- was shipped to Toronto in a three-way deal that resulted in Raptors reserve point guard Will Solomon being sent to Sacramento. Boston's take? Another heavily-protected second-round pick from Sacramento, quite similar to the Cassell deal. Like the Cassell move, this is a clear money-saving measure - the picks are protected enough that it's quite possible we'll never actually get them.
I had hoped that O'Bryant -- our only true backup center -- would evolve into something under the tutelage of Clifford Ray, but it seems as though he lacks the toughness, defense, and half-court offense to fit into the Celtics' current plans.
Shipping Cassell and O'Bryant out leaves us with two roster spots open to sign players who may be bought out in the coming days. The most desirable target is Oklahoma City veteran power forward Joe Smith, who was part of the Tyson Chandler trade a few days ago that was rescinded after Chandler failed a physical. Smith has been a buyout candidate all year, and would be a very nice fill-in for our undersized bench corps.
The other rumor is Sacramento power forward Mikki Moore, whom the Kings were allegedly trying hard to move before the trade deadline. I'd rather have Smith, but Moore would be better than nothing.
I suppose it's possible that if Boston signs both of them if both are bought out. However, I still wouldn't rule out Cassell returning to the team. I have to wonder if the injury to Tony Allen had something to do with the O'Bryant trade: did we move Cassell with the intention of signing a guy like Smith, then have second thoughts about leaving our backcourt so thin when it was realized that Allen would miss two months? It's hard to imagine that the front office didn't at least suspect that Allen would miss significant time, but anything's possible. Either way, a frontcourt contributor has to be our top priority, but I would be surprised to see a backcourt acquisition down the stretch here. The Knicks' Stephon Marbury is probably the target, though we still need him to be bought out before we can sign him. If not the Starchild, then Cassell seems like the most likely option. I don't know of other guards who are likely to be bought out. Under NBA rules, Cassell cannot re-sign with Boston until 30 days have passed from the day he was traded, but I can't see any other team picking him up in the interim. Even if there was interest from other contenders, I'm sure his preference would be to return to Boston.
There were some rumors that we were trying to get Andres Nocioni, traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Kings as part of a deal for Brad Miller and John Salmons. I can see the appeal of Nocioni -- a tenacious defender with a bit of a mean streak who can hit the three; someone in the mold of James Posey, who was so key to the title last year and who signed with New Orleans in the offseason. But the rumored deal included some size: O'Bryant, Scalabrine, Glen Davis, along with Tony Allen. I've gotten conflicting reports on whether it was just all or some of that group, but either way, I'm glad we didn't do it. We could probably use Nocioni, but it doesn't make sense to bolster the wing at the expense of an already undersized second-team frontcourt.
Despite a lot of small deals, it was a relatively quiet trade deadline in terms of biggest impact deals. The biggest move and the one that matters to the Celtics was the Orlando Magic acquiring Houston point guard Rafer Alston (the Rockets then filled their hole at the point by acquiring Memphis' Kyle Lowry, who will share time at the 1 with Aaron Brooks). Jameer Nelson's season-ending shoulder injury left the Magic with a big hole, and if Alston can knock down some three-pointers, the Magic might not miss a beat.
[recap] [box score]
The big difference in tonight's game was that Kevin Garnett went out just before halftime with what they're calling a sprained right knee. Apparently the knee has been bothering him a bit of late, and when he went up for a rebound on a break, he seemed to tweak it a bit on takeoff. It was a scary moment, as it always is when there's a non-contact knee injury. But it looked like KG wanted to return, and probably would have if it was, say, the playoffs. As frustrated as I get when the Celtics lose, shutting him down for the night in the hopes that he can come back Sunday against Phoenix was the right move.
And yes, Utah was also missing their power forward, Carlos Boozer. But Boston is definitely the least deep of the title contenders this year; more than any other team, the Celtics are reliant on their starters, in particular Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen. We can't realistically expect to win against a good team like the Jazz without one of those three, particularly in a place as difficult to win as Utah.
This game was winnable, though. The Celtics hit just 19 of 29 free throws. And I didn't much like the offense down the stretch. We went to the pick and roll with Rondo and Pierce, like we did against Dallas last week, but Pierce wasn't hitting his shots, probably because he played more than 45 minutes and was battling a very physical Utah defense the whole night (because I'm trying to keep this loss in perspective, I'm not going to complain about the officiating, which was inconsistent, at best, all night). Pierce picked up one offensive foul on that play, and missed almost everything else. We went to the well too early, and too often. When we have Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo (who caused some problems for Deron Williams in the fourth quarter), we shouldn't run that play into the ground. We've got other options.
The cap to the frustrating night came when Utah missed a free throw with eight seconds left up three, but got the offensive rebound and sealed the game. Boston had no timeouts left, and the three-point shooting team was in. With no timeouts remaining, Doc couldn't sub in, and that left Allen and Pierce on the low block, and Utah overwhelmed them and got the board. When I was watching them line up, I was worried about that exact thing happening, but I guess with no timeouts, there's nothing Doc could have done.
Time to put this one past us. Hopefully KG will be fine for Sunday (2:30 p.m. Eastern on ABC) and we can get a win against a Suns team that has put up an average of 141 points in two games since firing Terry Porter. Alvin Gentry has re-installed their uptempo offense, and even though both those offensive explosions came against the hapless Los Angeles Clippers, 141 points against any NBA team is impressive.
Patrick O'Bryant, we hardly knew ye. The young center -- whom Boston signed as a free agent in the offseason -- was shipped to Toronto in a three-way deal that resulted in Raptors reserve point guard Will Solomon being sent to Sacramento. Boston's take? Another heavily-protected second-round pick from Sacramento, quite similar to the Cassell deal. Like the Cassell move, this is a clear money-saving measure - the picks are protected enough that it's quite possible we'll never actually get them.
I had hoped that O'Bryant -- our only true backup center -- would evolve into something under the tutelage of Clifford Ray, but it seems as though he lacks the toughness, defense, and half-court offense to fit into the Celtics' current plans.
Shipping Cassell and O'Bryant out leaves us with two roster spots open to sign players who may be bought out in the coming days. The most desirable target is Oklahoma City veteran power forward Joe Smith, who was part of the Tyson Chandler trade a few days ago that was rescinded after Chandler failed a physical. Smith has been a buyout candidate all year, and would be a very nice fill-in for our undersized bench corps.
The other rumor is Sacramento power forward Mikki Moore, whom the Kings were allegedly trying hard to move before the trade deadline. I'd rather have Smith, but Moore would be better than nothing.
I suppose it's possible that if Boston signs both of them if both are bought out. However, I still wouldn't rule out Cassell returning to the team. I have to wonder if the injury to Tony Allen had something to do with the O'Bryant trade: did we move Cassell with the intention of signing a guy like Smith, then have second thoughts about leaving our backcourt so thin when it was realized that Allen would miss two months? It's hard to imagine that the front office didn't at least suspect that Allen would miss significant time, but anything's possible. Either way, a frontcourt contributor has to be our top priority, but I would be surprised to see a backcourt acquisition down the stretch here. The Knicks' Stephon Marbury is probably the target, though we still need him to be bought out before we can sign him. If not the Starchild, then Cassell seems like the most likely option. I don't know of other guards who are likely to be bought out. Under NBA rules, Cassell cannot re-sign with Boston until 30 days have passed from the day he was traded, but I can't see any other team picking him up in the interim. Even if there was interest from other contenders, I'm sure his preference would be to return to Boston.
There were some rumors that we were trying to get Andres Nocioni, traded from the Chicago Bulls to the Kings as part of a deal for Brad Miller and John Salmons. I can see the appeal of Nocioni -- a tenacious defender with a bit of a mean streak who can hit the three; someone in the mold of James Posey, who was so key to the title last year and who signed with New Orleans in the offseason. But the rumored deal included some size: O'Bryant, Scalabrine, Glen Davis, along with Tony Allen. I've gotten conflicting reports on whether it was just all or some of that group, but either way, I'm glad we didn't do it. We could probably use Nocioni, but it doesn't make sense to bolster the wing at the expense of an already undersized second-team frontcourt.
Despite a lot of small deals, it was a relatively quiet trade deadline in terms of biggest impact deals. The biggest move and the one that matters to the Celtics was the Orlando Magic acquiring Houston point guard Rafer Alston (the Rockets then filled their hole at the point by acquiring Memphis' Kyle Lowry, who will share time at the 1 with Aaron Brooks). Jameer Nelson's season-ending shoulder injury left the Magic with a big hole, and if Alston can knock down some three-pointers, the Magic might not miss a beat.
Tony Out Two Months
Thumb surgery.
So I'm clearly not TA's biggest fan, but this hurts a bit. We're used to playing without him - we've gone 12-3 in games he's missed this year - but he's still our only experienced backup wing player, and our best defender off the bench.
Fortunately, Gabe Pruitt has shown that he can be a contributor, and Tony is scheduled to be back for the playoffs, so we don't absolutely need to go out and make a trade. The only thing I worry a little about is wear and tear on Pierce and Ray Allen. Pierce is averaging 37 minutes per game this year, a full minute more than last year, and Ray is averaging 36 a night, just slightly more than last campaign. Neither has missed a game, either. That's already more minutes than most Celtics fans would like to see these guys play, and now they stand to see the floor even more.
The injuries to Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine have led Doc to play rookie and D-League callup Bill Walker some. Hopefully he continues to get some minutes spelling Pierce.
VIEWING ALERT: Tonight at Utah, 10:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
So I'm clearly not TA's biggest fan, but this hurts a bit. We're used to playing without him - we've gone 12-3 in games he's missed this year - but he's still our only experienced backup wing player, and our best defender off the bench.
Fortunately, Gabe Pruitt has shown that he can be a contributor, and Tony is scheduled to be back for the playoffs, so we don't absolutely need to go out and make a trade. The only thing I worry a little about is wear and tear on Pierce and Ray Allen. Pierce is averaging 37 minutes per game this year, a full minute more than last year, and Ray is averaging 36 a night, just slightly more than last campaign. Neither has missed a game, either. That's already more minutes than most Celtics fans would like to see these guys play, and now they stand to see the floor even more.
The injuries to Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine have led Doc to play rookie and D-League callup Bill Walker some. Hopefully he continues to get some minutes spelling Pierce.
VIEWING ALERT: Tonight at Utah, 10:30 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Cs Say Goodbye to Sam Cassell
For now, anyway.
Cassell and cash to Sacramento for a second-round draft pick ... a conditional one ... in 2015. It appears that we've essentially paid the Kings to take Cassell off our hands.
That's not entirely accurate, but it's not entirely inaccurate, either. I set out to try and lay out the implications of the deal, but the only thing that makes my head spin more than NBA salary cap considerations is trying to explain NBA salary cap considerations to others. As is often the case, the CelticsBlog community has some great insights (though some of those, like theories of Oklahoma City trading Joe Smith to Sacramento, are now outdated -- more on this a little later).
This seems to have financial benefits to both teams, as Boston saves luxury tax money and Sacramento will likely cut Cassell, bolstering themselves with whatever money Boston sent them in the deal.
To me, this makes it unlikely that we do a trade before Thursday's trade deadline. Cassell would have been a good throw-in for salary purposes in such a deal. The speculation is that we're freeing up a roster spot to sign a veteran who gets bought out.
Who might that be? Estranged (and strange) Knicks guard Stephon Marbury has been discussed for months now, but he's not going anywhere without a buyout, and I haven't heard any movement on that front in some time.
Before he was traded to New Orleans today (along with Chris Wilcox, for Tyson Chandler), Joe Smith seemed a likely candidate to be bought out by Oklahoma City. He would have been a very nice addition, though the Celtics would likely have had to outbid many contenders -- including Smith's old team, the Cleveland Cavaliers -- for his services.
That window seems closed at this point. By trading Chandler, New Orleans has likely thrown its chances of a deep playoff run away in the name of saving money. However, they can at least spin it as a move made for basketball reasons, given Chandler's injury problems this year and the added depth of Smith and Wilcox up front). Were they to cut Smith and his $4.8 million salary, that'd be a difficult argument to make, and there'd be quite an uproar at the Hornets ignoring a playoff run despite currently hanging on to the sixth seed in the West through a myriad of injuries to important players. There's already something of an outcry from players and fans. I just can't see them cutting Smith.
That might leave us back with Cassell, which I'm not thrilled about. He hurt us more than he helped us last year, and Eddie House and Gabe Pruitt have shown they are more than capable of backing up Rajon Rondo at the point. Giving Doc Rivers a full bench to use can be a dangerous thing to do.
Cassell and cash to Sacramento for a second-round draft pick ... a conditional one ... in 2015. It appears that we've essentially paid the Kings to take Cassell off our hands.
That's not entirely accurate, but it's not entirely inaccurate, either. I set out to try and lay out the implications of the deal, but the only thing that makes my head spin more than NBA salary cap considerations is trying to explain NBA salary cap considerations to others. As is often the case, the CelticsBlog community has some great insights (though some of those, like theories of Oklahoma City trading Joe Smith to Sacramento, are now outdated -- more on this a little later).
This seems to have financial benefits to both teams, as Boston saves luxury tax money and Sacramento will likely cut Cassell, bolstering themselves with whatever money Boston sent them in the deal.
To me, this makes it unlikely that we do a trade before Thursday's trade deadline. Cassell would have been a good throw-in for salary purposes in such a deal. The speculation is that we're freeing up a roster spot to sign a veteran who gets bought out.
Who might that be? Estranged (and strange) Knicks guard Stephon Marbury has been discussed for months now, but he's not going anywhere without a buyout, and I haven't heard any movement on that front in some time.
Before he was traded to New Orleans today (along with Chris Wilcox, for Tyson Chandler), Joe Smith seemed a likely candidate to be bought out by Oklahoma City. He would have been a very nice addition, though the Celtics would likely have had to outbid many contenders -- including Smith's old team, the Cleveland Cavaliers -- for his services.
That window seems closed at this point. By trading Chandler, New Orleans has likely thrown its chances of a deep playoff run away in the name of saving money. However, they can at least spin it as a move made for basketball reasons, given Chandler's injury problems this year and the added depth of Smith and Wilcox up front). Were they to cut Smith and his $4.8 million salary, that'd be a difficult argument to make, and there'd be quite an uproar at the Hornets ignoring a playoff run despite currently hanging on to the sixth seed in the West through a myriad of injuries to important players. There's already something of an outcry from players and fans. I just can't see them cutting Smith.
That might leave us back with Cassell, which I'm not thrilled about. He hurt us more than he helped us last year, and Eddie House and Gabe Pruitt have shown they are more than capable of backing up Rajon Rondo at the point. Giving Doc Rivers a full bench to use can be a dangerous thing to do.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Boston 99, Dallas 92
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Paul Pierce.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
I had a very early version of FIFA International Soccer for my computer, and if I could maneuver my digital forward to a certain spot on the field -- 18 yards away, on the left side of the penalty box -- and fire a shot while pressing the down and right arrow keys, I would score a goal more often than not. The same combination of keys was deadly on breakaways in a mid-90s version of NHL Live. In one version of EA Sports' college football game, one pass play, Halfback Circle, was good for 15 yards every time. In fact, Halfback Circle was so effective that among my friends, the term "Halfback Circle" became a part of our vocabluary, a term for the status quo.
In the fourth quarter of Thursday night's win over the Dallas Mavericks, the Boston Celtics ran the NBA version of Halfback Circle.
Paul Pierce had 18 fourth-quarter points, and the majority of them came on the same action. It's a very simple play. Three Celtics spread out across the floor well below the free throw line, and Pierce sets a pick for Rajon Rondo. This forces the defense to switch, usually giving Pierce a height mismatch on the man who was guarding Rondo. Pierce locks his man behind him, essentially posting up on the free throw line. Rondo loops a pass to Pierce, who turns and faces up, 17 feet from the basket. If Pierce has a shorter man on him, like Jason Kidd or Jose Juan Barea, he uses his height advantage to shoot over him. If, as Dallas did towards the end of the game, the opposition puts a bigger defender on Rondo so there's less of mismatch once the pick and post forces the switch, Pierce will make a fake, take a hard dribble to the right to create space, then step back and take a jumper.
Boston ran this play over and over again the fourth, and Dallas couldn't stop it. Even when Pierce was covered by the 6'8" Devean George, he was unstoppable. The last time he did it was particularly impressive, as Pierce actually lost his balance on his drive to the right. Unfazed, he stumbled backward, somehow regained his balance, and dropping in the game-sealing 14-footer that put the Celtics up four. (This one's near the end of the highlights clip at the ESPN link, above.)
Its effectiveness against the Mavs aside, I hate this play. For starters, it really bogs the offense down, as everyone else just sort of stands around and watches Pierce play one-on-one. Second, there's so much fighting for position between Pierce and his defender that he has to be careful to not draw an offensive foul. Third, the pass is a difficult one, a lateral pass that must be weighted perfectly and is susceptible to being picked off from a weakside help defender. Fourth, there's always that going-to-the-well-too-many-times feeling, like Pierce has to miss eventually.
He didn't Thursday night, and that's why Boston won.
They won in dramatic fashion, too, coming back from a 15-point third quarter deficit on a strong opponent's home floor. The texture of the game changed late in the third, as Kevin Garnett picked up his fourth and fifth fouls in quick succession jockeying with Dirk Nowitzki off the ball. KG's fifth led to two quick technical fouls and an early exit for Doc Rivers. From that moment on, however, the defending champs played with much more intensity than they had exhibited up to that point. A game that had been played with the dispassion you might expect on the second night of a back-to-back right before the All-Star break turned into a slugfest with a playoff feel to it.
The whole team played with guts. Leon Powe and Glen Davis, Garnett's undersized understudies, controlled the boards in the fourth quarter and forced Nowitzki -- who was having a brilliant night -- into some difficult shots with their physical play. Rondo was outstanding all game, notching a 19/15/14 triple-double.
Boston now heads into the All-Star break with a 44-11 record, the league's best mark, a half-game up on the 42-10 Los Angeles Lakers and a game and a half up on the 40-11 Cleveland Cavaliers. The break comes a third of the way through a six-game Western road trip, and Boston has a week off before facing Utah on Thursday, February 19 (viewing alert: 10:30 p.m. Eastern, TNT). They follow that up with a Sunday-Monday back-to-back at Phoenix and Denver. Next comes the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday the 25th, giving RWH a rare opportunity to catch the team in live.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
I had a very early version of FIFA International Soccer for my computer, and if I could maneuver my digital forward to a certain spot on the field -- 18 yards away, on the left side of the penalty box -- and fire a shot while pressing the down and right arrow keys, I would score a goal more often than not. The same combination of keys was deadly on breakaways in a mid-90s version of NHL Live. In one version of EA Sports' college football game, one pass play, Halfback Circle, was good for 15 yards every time. In fact, Halfback Circle was so effective that among my friends, the term "Halfback Circle" became a part of our vocabluary, a term for the status quo.
In the fourth quarter of Thursday night's win over the Dallas Mavericks, the Boston Celtics ran the NBA version of Halfback Circle.
Paul Pierce had 18 fourth-quarter points, and the majority of them came on the same action. It's a very simple play. Three Celtics spread out across the floor well below the free throw line, and Pierce sets a pick for Rajon Rondo. This forces the defense to switch, usually giving Pierce a height mismatch on the man who was guarding Rondo. Pierce locks his man behind him, essentially posting up on the free throw line. Rondo loops a pass to Pierce, who turns and faces up, 17 feet from the basket. If Pierce has a shorter man on him, like Jason Kidd or Jose Juan Barea, he uses his height advantage to shoot over him. If, as Dallas did towards the end of the game, the opposition puts a bigger defender on Rondo so there's less of mismatch once the pick and post forces the switch, Pierce will make a fake, take a hard dribble to the right to create space, then step back and take a jumper.
Boston ran this play over and over again the fourth, and Dallas couldn't stop it. Even when Pierce was covered by the 6'8" Devean George, he was unstoppable. The last time he did it was particularly impressive, as Pierce actually lost his balance on his drive to the right. Unfazed, he stumbled backward, somehow regained his balance, and dropping in the game-sealing 14-footer that put the Celtics up four. (This one's near the end of the highlights clip at the ESPN link, above.)
Its effectiveness against the Mavs aside, I hate this play. For starters, it really bogs the offense down, as everyone else just sort of stands around and watches Pierce play one-on-one. Second, there's so much fighting for position between Pierce and his defender that he has to be careful to not draw an offensive foul. Third, the pass is a difficult one, a lateral pass that must be weighted perfectly and is susceptible to being picked off from a weakside help defender. Fourth, there's always that going-to-the-well-too-many-times feeling, like Pierce has to miss eventually.
He didn't Thursday night, and that's why Boston won.
They won in dramatic fashion, too, coming back from a 15-point third quarter deficit on a strong opponent's home floor. The texture of the game changed late in the third, as Kevin Garnett picked up his fourth and fifth fouls in quick succession jockeying with Dirk Nowitzki off the ball. KG's fifth led to two quick technical fouls and an early exit for Doc Rivers. From that moment on, however, the defending champs played with much more intensity than they had exhibited up to that point. A game that had been played with the dispassion you might expect on the second night of a back-to-back right before the All-Star break turned into a slugfest with a playoff feel to it.
The whole team played with guts. Leon Powe and Glen Davis, Garnett's undersized understudies, controlled the boards in the fourth quarter and forced Nowitzki -- who was having a brilliant night -- into some difficult shots with their physical play. Rondo was outstanding all game, notching a 19/15/14 triple-double.
Boston now heads into the All-Star break with a 44-11 record, the league's best mark, a half-game up on the 42-10 Los Angeles Lakers and a game and a half up on the 40-11 Cleveland Cavaliers. The break comes a third of the way through a six-game Western road trip, and Boston has a week off before facing Utah on Thursday, February 19 (viewing alert: 10:30 p.m. Eastern, TNT). They follow that up with a Sunday-Monday back-to-back at Phoenix and Denver. Next comes the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday the 25th, giving RWH a rare opportunity to catch the team in live.
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Boston 89, New Orleans 77
Nice to rebound from a couple of home losses to Western teams with a win on the road. We'll try to do the same thing tonight in Dallas at 9:30 pm Eastern (VIEWING ALERT) on TNT.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
This game was really ugly through three quarters, and it didn't get much prettier in the fourth, except on the scoreboard. And it was the bench that did it for the Celtics. Tied at 64 heading into the fourth, it was seven and a half minutes before any of the Big Three (reduced to the Big Two due to a thumb injury to Ray Allen; more on that later) made a bucket in the fourth. By that time, Boston had a ten point lead. Glen Davis had a couple of buckets, but give most of the credit here to Eddie House and Leon Powe. House had eight of his 12 points in the fourth; Leon had seven of his 11 in the period. Good stuff from both of those guys. It's been a while since Leon's had this kind of game. Here's hoping he keeps it up, and Doc lets him.
So, yeah, Ray hyperextended his thumb somehow in the first quarter, and didn't play in the second half. He says he's going to try to play tonight, but he also said that he couldn't grip a ball last night, and I don't see how that's going to change in less than 24 hours. This will leave us awfully thin in the backcourt, as Tony Allen didn't even make the Texas trip with his own thumb injury. In Ray's stead last night, Gabe Pruitt started the second half, though House was clearly the more effective player. Still, it's hard to see a Rondo-House backcourt being able to effectively defend the much taller Dallas guards (Jason Kidd is 6'4", Antoine Wright is 6'7"). I imagine that if Ray can't go, Pruitt will start, and Rondo will probably go close to the full 48.
This injury also might affect Ray's ability to play in the All-Star game, his nomination to which I keep meaning to write about, but also keep running out of time. I am out of time now, as well. Maybe over the weekend.
Finally, having had League Pass for a year-plus now, I've heard most NBA teams' announcing crews, and none is more annoying than New Orleans'. I don't know how Bees fans listen to these guys every night. It's not just that they're biased, though they are. Most announcers for halfway decent teams are; I think the only team this year I've heard whose announcers aren't biased are the Sacramento Kings. Besides, it would be a bit hypocritical for a Boston fan to hate on biased announcing, as Tommy and Mike are the worst (best?) when it comes to that.
No, these guys were just flat-out annoying, the kind of people you roll your eyes at when you spot them from afar at a party. The color analyst is always making terrible jokes; I like a good (or bad) pun more than most, but there are only so many times that you can talk about Leon's "Powe-tential." The play-by-play guy is always encouraging these jokes, and I also thought he went a little overboard on a couple of crossovers by Chris Paul. They were nice moves, but not the anklebreakers this guy said they were, and besides, the guys whose ankles were allegedly broken - Gabe Pruitt and Eddie House -- aren't exactly institutions of the NBA All-Defensive Team. (For his part, the color analyst told Gabe Pruitt to "Dust your keister off, because he just dusted you!" after Paul took him to the cup. Ugh.) And the sideline reporter takes his job waaaaaaaaay too seriously. They do a promotion where the fans get to ask the broadcasters questions, and last night's question was "Which team besides New Orleans has the best chance to win the championship?" and while I actually can't remember what the sideline guy's answer was, he put way too much explanation in it for being a sideline guy.
Also, last night's trivia question for the NO fans was "Which Hornet won a championship with Boston last year?" and it was multiple choice -- and somehow 12 percent of the people texting in the answer got it wrong.
I'm convinced that those 12 percent were taking advantage of an ingenious plan a few of my friends and I dreamed up at a Clippers game this season. They have a promotion where you text the answer to a question they post on the JumboTron and you have a chance to win prizes, and we figured that we would just text a random letter (A, B, C, D) every night there was a Clippers game around the time they usually put the question up. Alas, you have to be present at the game to win - I think you have to go to some booth or something.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
This game was really ugly through three quarters, and it didn't get much prettier in the fourth, except on the scoreboard. And it was the bench that did it for the Celtics. Tied at 64 heading into the fourth, it was seven and a half minutes before any of the Big Three (reduced to the Big Two due to a thumb injury to Ray Allen; more on that later) made a bucket in the fourth. By that time, Boston had a ten point lead. Glen Davis had a couple of buckets, but give most of the credit here to Eddie House and Leon Powe. House had eight of his 12 points in the fourth; Leon had seven of his 11 in the period. Good stuff from both of those guys. It's been a while since Leon's had this kind of game. Here's hoping he keeps it up, and Doc lets him.
So, yeah, Ray hyperextended his thumb somehow in the first quarter, and didn't play in the second half. He says he's going to try to play tonight, but he also said that he couldn't grip a ball last night, and I don't see how that's going to change in less than 24 hours. This will leave us awfully thin in the backcourt, as Tony Allen didn't even make the Texas trip with his own thumb injury. In Ray's stead last night, Gabe Pruitt started the second half, though House was clearly the more effective player. Still, it's hard to see a Rondo-House backcourt being able to effectively defend the much taller Dallas guards (Jason Kidd is 6'4", Antoine Wright is 6'7"). I imagine that if Ray can't go, Pruitt will start, and Rondo will probably go close to the full 48.
This injury also might affect Ray's ability to play in the All-Star game, his nomination to which I keep meaning to write about, but also keep running out of time. I am out of time now, as well. Maybe over the weekend.
Finally, having had League Pass for a year-plus now, I've heard most NBA teams' announcing crews, and none is more annoying than New Orleans'. I don't know how Bees fans listen to these guys every night. It's not just that they're biased, though they are. Most announcers for halfway decent teams are; I think the only team this year I've heard whose announcers aren't biased are the Sacramento Kings. Besides, it would be a bit hypocritical for a Boston fan to hate on biased announcing, as Tommy and Mike are the worst (best?) when it comes to that.
No, these guys were just flat-out annoying, the kind of people you roll your eyes at when you spot them from afar at a party. The color analyst is always making terrible jokes; I like a good (or bad) pun more than most, but there are only so many times that you can talk about Leon's "Powe-tential." The play-by-play guy is always encouraging these jokes, and I also thought he went a little overboard on a couple of crossovers by Chris Paul. They were nice moves, but not the anklebreakers this guy said they were, and besides, the guys whose ankles were allegedly broken - Gabe Pruitt and Eddie House -- aren't exactly institutions of the NBA All-Defensive Team. (For his part, the color analyst told Gabe Pruitt to "Dust your keister off, because he just dusted you!" after Paul took him to the cup. Ugh.) And the sideline reporter takes his job waaaaaaaaay too seriously. They do a promotion where the fans get to ask the broadcasters questions, and last night's question was "Which team besides New Orleans has the best chance to win the championship?" and while I actually can't remember what the sideline guy's answer was, he put way too much explanation in it for being a sideline guy.
Also, last night's trivia question for the NO fans was "Which Hornet won a championship with Boston last year?" and it was multiple choice -- and somehow 12 percent of the people texting in the answer got it wrong.
I'm convinced that those 12 percent were taking advantage of an ingenious plan a few of my friends and I dreamed up at a Clippers game this season. They have a promotion where you text the answer to a question they post on the JumboTron and you have a chance to win prizes, and we figured that we would just text a random letter (A, B, C, D) every night there was a Clippers game around the time they usually put the question up. Alas, you have to be present at the game to win - I think you have to go to some booth or something.
Monday, February 9, 2009
San Antonio 105, Boston 99
Kind of a surprising game yesterday.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
I'm not used to seeing that kind of intensity, particulary on the defensive end, from San Antonio on the defensive end. I'm not used to the Celtics -- not these Celtics, anyway -- losing games when they're up three and the ball with a minute to play. And I'm certainly not used to seeing Matt Bonner score 23 points.
As always, I'm (reluctantly) impressed with the Spurs. So good defensively when they apply themselves like they did against us, and a seemingly endless roster of unflappable players who step up in big moments. Rookie George Hill, out of IUPUI, had all seven of his points in the fourth quarter. Bonner pulled the Spurs to within one late, after which Roger Mason Jr. - who is making a habit of these things - drained a leaning three-ball to take the lead for good.
The one thing I didn't like too much about this game was that I thought Paul Pierce really forced the offense, particlarly late in the third and early in the fourth when he was playing with the second string. He's obviously the man in that spot and we need scoring from him, but he's gotta recognize that teams are focused on him in those situations, and a good defense team like the Spurs won't let him get in the lane. I also with we'd stop running that set where he posts up on the same latitudinal line as Rajon Rondo, 15 feet from the basket on the opposite elbow, and Rondo loops the ball to him. That's a pass that's just waiting to get stolen in a big moment. It's long, slow, loopy -- and wost of all, easy to see coming.
We lost a chance to pick up a game on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the race for Eastern supremacy (and homecourt advantage through the Eastern Conference finals). The Los Angeles Lakers dealt the Cavs their first home loss of the season, and this is about the only time it's' acceptable to be happy about a Lakers win. LA picked up another win against us for home court should we both make the Finals, but I still think that the loss of Andrew Bynum is enough to keep up with the win pace of the elite Eastern teams.
Two off days now before a New Orleans-Dallas back-to-back in advance of the All-Star Game. It's the start of a six-game road trip. The Mavs game is on TNT on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
I'm not used to seeing that kind of intensity, particulary on the defensive end, from San Antonio on the defensive end. I'm not used to the Celtics -- not these Celtics, anyway -- losing games when they're up three and the ball with a minute to play. And I'm certainly not used to seeing Matt Bonner score 23 points.
As always, I'm (reluctantly) impressed with the Spurs. So good defensively when they apply themselves like they did against us, and a seemingly endless roster of unflappable players who step up in big moments. Rookie George Hill, out of IUPUI, had all seven of his points in the fourth quarter. Bonner pulled the Spurs to within one late, after which Roger Mason Jr. - who is making a habit of these things - drained a leaning three-ball to take the lead for good.
The one thing I didn't like too much about this game was that I thought Paul Pierce really forced the offense, particlarly late in the third and early in the fourth when he was playing with the second string. He's obviously the man in that spot and we need scoring from him, but he's gotta recognize that teams are focused on him in those situations, and a good defense team like the Spurs won't let him get in the lane. I also with we'd stop running that set where he posts up on the same latitudinal line as Rajon Rondo, 15 feet from the basket on the opposite elbow, and Rondo loops the ball to him. That's a pass that's just waiting to get stolen in a big moment. It's long, slow, loopy -- and wost of all, easy to see coming.
We lost a chance to pick up a game on the Cleveland Cavaliers in the race for Eastern supremacy (and homecourt advantage through the Eastern Conference finals). The Los Angeles Lakers dealt the Cavs their first home loss of the season, and this is about the only time it's' acceptable to be happy about a Lakers win. LA picked up another win against us for home court should we both make the Finals, but I still think that the loss of Andrew Bynum is enough to keep up with the win pace of the elite Eastern teams.
Two off days now before a New Orleans-Dallas back-to-back in advance of the All-Star Game. It's the start of a six-game road trip. The Mavs game is on TNT on Thursday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern.
Saturday, February 7, 2009
National TV viewing alert
Boston plays San Antonio Sunday at 1 p.m. Eastern on ABC.
Oh yeah, we beat New York on Friday by virture of a strong fourth quarter. Exactly the kind of game we let slip away when we lost seven of nine right after the loss to the Lakers on Christmas Day.
In other news, Doc Rivers is $15k lighter after being fined for criticizing the officials after Thursday's loss to the Lakers. The officiating was bad, but he's wrong about the last play - Ray Allen wasn't fouled. Gotta give it to Doc; he's successfully sloughed responsibility off on the zebras, when, as I enumerated Friday, it belongs on his shoulders.
Ugh, I just wrote "loss to the Lakers" in reference to two different games in the same post. Yuck.
Oh yeah, we beat New York on Friday by virture of a strong fourth quarter. Exactly the kind of game we let slip away when we lost seven of nine right after the loss to the Lakers on Christmas Day.
In other news, Doc Rivers is $15k lighter after being fined for criticizing the officials after Thursday's loss to the Lakers. The officiating was bad, but he's wrong about the last play - Ray Allen wasn't fouled. Gotta give it to Doc; he's successfully sloughed responsibility off on the zebras, when, as I enumerated Friday, it belongs on his shoulders.
Ugh, I just wrote "loss to the Lakers" in reference to two different games in the same post. Yuck.
Friday, February 6, 2009
Los Angeles Lakers 110, Boston 109 (OT)
First, all credit to the Lakers. Third game in four days at the end of a road trip and they played a lot tougher than they did in last year's Finals.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
You could blame the officials for this one. You could put it on Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen being slowed by the flu. I point directly at Doc Rivers.
After Lamar Odom hit a couple of free throws to put the Lakers up by one in overtime with 16 seconds left, Boston called a 20-second timeout. Here's the lineup Doc came up with: Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Glen Davis, and Kendrick Perkins. To be fair, Davis was in the game because Garnett had fouled out with a few minutes left in regulation.
The first problem I have with this lineup is: NO EDDIE HOUSE!
Never mind the fact that Eddie was the only guy who had his jumper going (4-for-6 from deep), or that he has killed the Lakers the last season and a half, or that the guy he would have replaced, Davis, was having a terrible shooting night. We needed Eddie in to space the floor.
KG was out, and Rondo and Perkins are limited offensively to the point where you don't have to worry too much about them. Davis was having an awful game. The Lakers were able to focus their defensive energy on Pierce and Allen, and neither had room to operate. Eddie would open up the court more, and of course he's very dangerous if the Lakers happened to leave him open.
Secondly, in the absence of House, Doc chose to play Davis instead of Leon Powe. I've been ranting about Doc's choice of Glen Davis over Leon Powe for a while now, and last night it finally came back to bite us. I remember writing a few weeks ago that while Davis might have the potential to produce a little more on a given night, he also has the potential to shoot us out of any game. Last night, though he did make one big jumper, he did almost exactly that, going 1-for-8 from the field. I've said something similar before, but I'll say it again: Glen Davis should never go 1-for-8 in an important game on this team.
What was especially infuriating about watching Davis clang shot after shot down the stretch (while getting abused by Lamar Odom -- an admittedly tough cover for Davis -- on the other end) is that Doc finally let Leon Powe out of purgatory and Powe responded with 10 points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes (on 5-of-7 shooting). And yet it was Davis who played the crunch-time minutes.
Anyway, I'm pretty sick of talking about this game. Very good win for the Lakers. We'll see what implications it has. The one obvious one is that were the two teams to meet in the Finals after posting the exact same overall record during the regular season, the Lakers would get homecourt advantage. That would be very important should it come to pass, but I'm not too worried about it. The odds of two teams ending with the same record aren't great to begin with, and I have to figure that the Lakers are going to lose a couple here and there that they would have won with Andrew Bynum. The other consequence would be confidence on the part of the Lakers, since they've now won in a building they couldn't win in last June.
The Celtics will try to start a new winning streak when they play New York tonight. Next natioanl TV game is San Antonio on Sunday, at 1 pm. Eastern, on ABC.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
You could blame the officials for this one. You could put it on Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen being slowed by the flu. I point directly at Doc Rivers.
After Lamar Odom hit a couple of free throws to put the Lakers up by one in overtime with 16 seconds left, Boston called a 20-second timeout. Here's the lineup Doc came up with: Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Glen Davis, and Kendrick Perkins. To be fair, Davis was in the game because Garnett had fouled out with a few minutes left in regulation.
The first problem I have with this lineup is: NO EDDIE HOUSE!
Never mind the fact that Eddie was the only guy who had his jumper going (4-for-6 from deep), or that he has killed the Lakers the last season and a half, or that the guy he would have replaced, Davis, was having a terrible shooting night. We needed Eddie in to space the floor.
KG was out, and Rondo and Perkins are limited offensively to the point where you don't have to worry too much about them. Davis was having an awful game. The Lakers were able to focus their defensive energy on Pierce and Allen, and neither had room to operate. Eddie would open up the court more, and of course he's very dangerous if the Lakers happened to leave him open.
Secondly, in the absence of House, Doc chose to play Davis instead of Leon Powe. I've been ranting about Doc's choice of Glen Davis over Leon Powe for a while now, and last night it finally came back to bite us. I remember writing a few weeks ago that while Davis might have the potential to produce a little more on a given night, he also has the potential to shoot us out of any game. Last night, though he did make one big jumper, he did almost exactly that, going 1-for-8 from the field. I've said something similar before, but I'll say it again: Glen Davis should never go 1-for-8 in an important game on this team.
What was especially infuriating about watching Davis clang shot after shot down the stretch (while getting abused by Lamar Odom -- an admittedly tough cover for Davis -- on the other end) is that Doc finally let Leon Powe out of purgatory and Powe responded with 10 points and eight rebounds in 16 minutes (on 5-of-7 shooting). And yet it was Davis who played the crunch-time minutes.
Anyway, I'm pretty sick of talking about this game. Very good win for the Lakers. We'll see what implications it has. The one obvious one is that were the two teams to meet in the Finals after posting the exact same overall record during the regular season, the Lakers would get homecourt advantage. That would be very important should it come to pass, but I'm not too worried about it. The odds of two teams ending with the same record aren't great to begin with, and I have to figure that the Lakers are going to lose a couple here and there that they would have won with Andrew Bynum. The other consequence would be confidence on the part of the Lakers, since they've now won in a building they couldn't win in last June.
The Celtics will try to start a new winning streak when they play New York tonight. Next natioanl TV game is San Antonio on Sunday, at 1 pm. Eastern, on ABC.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Boston 100, Philadelphia 99
I picked a bad night to be busy. Ray Allen hits a game-winner and I missed it because I was busy with law school stuff.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
You can look at the box score and highlights yourself. The one thing I want to say is that for those who have followed Paul Pierce's career, it's so refreshing to see him notch the game-winning assist. Not that he's an inherently selfish player; just that there was a time when everyone knew who was taking a last-second shot for Boston.
Nice screen by Glen Davis to free Ray, too. Davis had a double-double starting for Kevin Garnett, who missed his second straight game due to illness. I think I'd better get used to Davis over Powe in the lineup.
As alluded to at the end of the ESPN clip, above, Boston now owns the two longest winning streaks in the NBA this year; the 19-gamer that ended Christmas Day in Los Angeles, and this current 12-gamer. Our next game? Thursday night against those very same Lakers, at 8 p.m. on TNT. Actually, they aren't "those very same Lakers": They are of course without Andrew Bynum, though that didn't matter much against New York on Monday night - Kobe Bryant set the Madison Square Garden single-game scoring record by dropping 61 on the Knicks (highlights). I don't think the Lakers can beat us with Kobe dominating the ball like that - we're much better defensively than the Knicks. There's some speculation that Bryant went out and played the way he did because he felt responsible for Bynum's knee injury (Kobe fell on Bynum's leg, causing the torn MCL). It will be interesting to see if Kobe continues in the "I've gotta do everything" mindset, or reverts back to trusting his teammates like he did so well last year.
Speaking of Bynum, another contender suffered an injury loss that deals a serious blow to their title chances. Orlando Magic PG Jameer Nelson tore the labrum in his right shoulder after being fouled by Dallas' Erick Dampier Monday night. He may miss the rest of the season.
I' m not as high on Nelson as this guy is (scroll down to the comments section to see the friendly back and forth we had about Jameer) but this is obviously a big blow to Orlando, whose backup point guard is journeyman Anthony Johnson, and whose backup to Anthony Johnson is ... nobody. They've got to make a move, but whatever move they make, it won't compensate for the loss of Nelson. They should still win the Southeast (they currently have a nine-game lead on Atlanta), but barring similiar injuries in Cleveland or Boston, they are facing a second-round playoff series on the road. Pretty harsh for a team that's started 36-11.
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
You can look at the box score and highlights yourself. The one thing I want to say is that for those who have followed Paul Pierce's career, it's so refreshing to see him notch the game-winning assist. Not that he's an inherently selfish player; just that there was a time when everyone knew who was taking a last-second shot for Boston.
Nice screen by Glen Davis to free Ray, too. Davis had a double-double starting for Kevin Garnett, who missed his second straight game due to illness. I think I'd better get used to Davis over Powe in the lineup.
As alluded to at the end of the ESPN clip, above, Boston now owns the two longest winning streaks in the NBA this year; the 19-gamer that ended Christmas Day in Los Angeles, and this current 12-gamer. Our next game? Thursday night against those very same Lakers, at 8 p.m. on TNT. Actually, they aren't "those very same Lakers": They are of course without Andrew Bynum, though that didn't matter much against New York on Monday night - Kobe Bryant set the Madison Square Garden single-game scoring record by dropping 61 on the Knicks (highlights). I don't think the Lakers can beat us with Kobe dominating the ball like that - we're much better defensively than the Knicks. There's some speculation that Bryant went out and played the way he did because he felt responsible for Bynum's knee injury (Kobe fell on Bynum's leg, causing the torn MCL). It will be interesting to see if Kobe continues in the "I've gotta do everything" mindset, or reverts back to trusting his teammates like he did so well last year.
Speaking of Bynum, another contender suffered an injury loss that deals a serious blow to their title chances. Orlando Magic PG Jameer Nelson tore the labrum in his right shoulder after being fouled by Dallas' Erick Dampier Monday night. He may miss the rest of the season.
I' m not as high on Nelson as this guy is (scroll down to the comments section to see the friendly back and forth we had about Jameer) but this is obviously a big blow to Orlando, whose backup point guard is journeyman Anthony Johnson, and whose backup to Anthony Johnson is ... nobody. They've got to make a move, but whatever move they make, it won't compensate for the loss of Nelson. They should still win the Southeast (they currently have a nine-game lead on Atlanta), but barring similiar injuries in Cleveland or Boston, they are facing a second-round playoff series on the road. Pretty harsh for a team that's started 36-11.
Monday, February 2, 2009
Andrew Bynum Update: Torn MCL
Updating yesterday's post, Lakers center Andrew Bynum is out 8-12 weeks with a torn MCL.
I feel bad for the kid. He's on the verge of becoming a monster, but he can't stay healthy. Hopefully these are just freak accidents and he's not going to be injury prone for the rest of his career.
I feel bad for the kid. He's on the verge of becoming a monster, but he can't stay healthy. Hopefully these are just freak accidents and he's not going to be injury prone for the rest of his career.
Boston 109, Minnesota 101
[recap] [box score] [highlights]
So it turns out that I was completely wrong, and that flagrant-twos do not result in an automatic suspension. So while Kendrick Perkins' foul on Jason Maxiell Friday night cost him ten grand, it didn't cost him a game, and he was in action Sunday. That turned out to be a very good thing, indeed, as our frontcourt rotation was nonetheless shortened, as Kevin Garnett missed this game, as he is apparently suffering from the flu -- an illness that may keep him out of Tuesday's matchup with Philly.
(That's a striking example of too many ases - as'? Can't be! - that I'm going to leave intact as a reminder to continue to work on my writing.)
I overslept and missed the first 18 minutes or so of this one, but it appears that after a fast Wolves start, the Cs jumped all over the young visitors with a 33-20 second quarter that resulted in a 62-44 halftime lead. Minnesota came back valiantly, but Boston hung on behind 36/8/6 from Paul Pierce, assisted by 22 points from Ray Allen, 14 points (including a dozen in the first half) from Tony Allen, and 12 points from Glen Davis, who started in Garnett's stead.
Al Jefferson is a monster, by the way, and his 34 points and 11 rebounds kept an overmatched team's faint hopes alive. Anyone who thinks that Celtics GM Danny Ainge ripped off Wolves coach/GM Kevin McHale (a former Celtics teammate) is crazy. KG was the key player to last season and I don't think Boston wins the title with Jefferson in his place, but in locking up a 23-year-old (22 at the time) power forward who is a 20/10 machine, McHale got good value for an aging superstar who was too long in the tooth to be the centerpiece of the franchise. This isn't anywhere close to as bad as the trade the Lakers pulled off with Memphis to bring in Pau Gasol last year.
Speaking of the Lakers, the Gasol deal was in response to the season-ending knee injury suffered by Andrew Bynum last January. In a cruel twist of fate, Bynum was injured Saturday night during a win over Memphis, when Kobe Bryant fell on Bynum's other knee after a drive to the basket. Bynum underwent an MRI on Sunday, and the results should be known some time on Monday.
I think ESPN's Stephen A. Smith overstates the case a bit -- as he so often does -- in the link above when he says that if Bynum is done for the year, their championship hopes end. It certainly weakens them, but without Bynum, they are still by and large the team that made the Finals last year. Lamar Odom should flourish stepping back into his starting role, and the Lakers should still be the favorites to come out of the West even if Bynum is on the shelf for the rest of the season.
Even if Bynum comes back at some point during the 2008-2009 season, however, there are implications for the rest of the league. He is bound to miss at least some time, and the Lakers will undoubtedly lose some games they would have won had he been healthy. Those few games could be crucial, as the team with the best overall record in the league gets home court advantage throughout the playoffs, including the Finals. The Lakers have nine losses, tied for fewest in the league with Boston and Cleveland (Orlando is one back in the loss column, with ten). While Los Angeles probably can hang on to home court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs even if Bynum misses the rest of the year (San Antonio is currently five games back), they are in serious danger of losing home court advantage to whatever East team they might meet in the Finals. Home court isn't everything, but when teams are evenly matched, as they are this year, it can often be the deciding factor (Cleveland, for example, hasn't lost a single game at home this season).
Such is the world of the NBA: one team's loss is every other team's gain.
Next game for Boston, as alluded to above, is Tuesday at Philadelphia. No national TV, though clear your calendar for Thursday night, as the Celtics host the Lakers at 8 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
So it turns out that I was completely wrong, and that flagrant-twos do not result in an automatic suspension. So while Kendrick Perkins' foul on Jason Maxiell Friday night cost him ten grand, it didn't cost him a game, and he was in action Sunday. That turned out to be a very good thing, indeed, as our frontcourt rotation was nonetheless shortened, as Kevin Garnett missed this game, as he is apparently suffering from the flu -- an illness that may keep him out of Tuesday's matchup with Philly.
(That's a striking example of too many ases - as'? Can't be! - that I'm going to leave intact as a reminder to continue to work on my writing.)
I overslept and missed the first 18 minutes or so of this one, but it appears that after a fast Wolves start, the Cs jumped all over the young visitors with a 33-20 second quarter that resulted in a 62-44 halftime lead. Minnesota came back valiantly, but Boston hung on behind 36/8/6 from Paul Pierce, assisted by 22 points from Ray Allen, 14 points (including a dozen in the first half) from Tony Allen, and 12 points from Glen Davis, who started in Garnett's stead.
Al Jefferson is a monster, by the way, and his 34 points and 11 rebounds kept an overmatched team's faint hopes alive. Anyone who thinks that Celtics GM Danny Ainge ripped off Wolves coach/GM Kevin McHale (a former Celtics teammate) is crazy. KG was the key player to last season and I don't think Boston wins the title with Jefferson in his place, but in locking up a 23-year-old (22 at the time) power forward who is a 20/10 machine, McHale got good value for an aging superstar who was too long in the tooth to be the centerpiece of the franchise. This isn't anywhere close to as bad as the trade the Lakers pulled off with Memphis to bring in Pau Gasol last year.
Speaking of the Lakers, the Gasol deal was in response to the season-ending knee injury suffered by Andrew Bynum last January. In a cruel twist of fate, Bynum was injured Saturday night during a win over Memphis, when Kobe Bryant fell on Bynum's other knee after a drive to the basket. Bynum underwent an MRI on Sunday, and the results should be known some time on Monday.
I think ESPN's Stephen A. Smith overstates the case a bit -- as he so often does -- in the link above when he says that if Bynum is done for the year, their championship hopes end. It certainly weakens them, but without Bynum, they are still by and large the team that made the Finals last year. Lamar Odom should flourish stepping back into his starting role, and the Lakers should still be the favorites to come out of the West even if Bynum is on the shelf for the rest of the season.
Even if Bynum comes back at some point during the 2008-2009 season, however, there are implications for the rest of the league. He is bound to miss at least some time, and the Lakers will undoubtedly lose some games they would have won had he been healthy. Those few games could be crucial, as the team with the best overall record in the league gets home court advantage throughout the playoffs, including the Finals. The Lakers have nine losses, tied for fewest in the league with Boston and Cleveland (Orlando is one back in the loss column, with ten). While Los Angeles probably can hang on to home court advantage throughout the Western Conference playoffs even if Bynum misses the rest of the year (San Antonio is currently five games back), they are in serious danger of losing home court advantage to whatever East team they might meet in the Finals. Home court isn't everything, but when teams are evenly matched, as they are this year, it can often be the deciding factor (Cleveland, for example, hasn't lost a single game at home this season).
Such is the world of the NBA: one team's loss is every other team's gain.
Next game for Boston, as alluded to above, is Tuesday at Philadelphia. No national TV, though clear your calendar for Thursday night, as the Celtics host the Lakers at 8 p.m. Eastern on TNT.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
