1) The return of Paul Pierce. The captain was quiet against Detroit (nine points on just six field goal attempts) but exploded against Charlotte, shooting 9-for-13 (including four-for-six from three-point range). Pierce finished with 27 points in 26:30 of playing time, his first 20-plus-point game since he scored 35 in a losing effort at Atlanta on January 29. Pierce has missed five games since then with injuries and has been banged up the whole time, but still, more than a month without a 20-point game isn't the Truth we know.
2) The emergence of Nate Robinson. Nate broke into double figures for the first time as a Celtic in the loss to New Jersey, but had an impact in a Boston win for the first time against Detroit. He scored 14 points and played well enough that Doc didn't bring Rajon Rondo back in the fourth until the three-minute mark of a tight game. Robinson then scored 16 points against Charlotte. Doc's comment after the Detroit game was spot on: "That's exactly what we need from Nate. We want to wind him up and let him go."
By the way, Kendrick Perkins' return Wednesday from an illness marked the first time all season that the Celtics have had a completely healthy roster. Take notice, NBA: When we're at full strength, we're 1-0 and have an average margin of victory of 24 points!
In other news, we're apparently about to sign Michael Finley. On the face of things, I don't really mind: We're not paying him much of anything, and I don't know of any players who are likely to be bought out so that we can sign them for the stretch run like we have in years past. Even with Finley, we've got an extra roster spot.
What's interesting is that most reports stated that Finley asked for his release from the Spurs do to a lack of playing time. If true, that would suggest that Finley thinks he'll get more playing time in Boston, and that I do mind. Finley can't play worth a damn anymore. I saw him when the Spurs came to L.A. to face the Clippers, and I said to my companions at the game: "Finley should just retire. He doesn't look like he belongs on an NBA court." Any burn that Finley gets that takes playing time away from Robinson and Marquis Daniels and even Tony Allen (who, I must admit, has played well this year) is bad for Boston.
Now, it's also been speculated that Finley was looking for a better shot at a title, as San Antonio has been disappointing this year. If that's the case, fine, although I'm skeptical: I think I read somewhere that the Lakers were interested in Finley, and especially with Boston's recent struggles, if Finley was just ring-hunting, it stands to reason that he would go join the defending champs.
Lastly, I want to point out that Bill Walker has back-to-back 20-plus-point games for the Knicks. Walker was part of the Robinson deal. I was disappointed to see Billy Sky go, but not terribly upset, because it was clear Doc wasn't going to give him much of an opportunity. Whether Walker's recent good stretch will continue and whether it indicates a mistake Doc made I don't know, but I personally feel vindicated that the kid has shown he can play in this league, as I have thought all along.
4 comments:
Here's the thing I don't see any blog mention: Popovich, the best coach in basketball, wouldn't play him. On a team that hasn't exactly been contender worthy, I might add. There's an obvious reason for this.
Yet he'll come in, Doc will play him because he loves old dudes, and he'll be ineffective, and Doc will make excuses in post-game interviews.
How does Danny not realize that sometimes he needs to protect Doc from himself?
Seems like Walker is a good fit for a D'Antoni-coached team. Not to say he couldn't have been productive in Boston if Doc had given him a chance, but it seems like with his athleticism and somewhat raw offensive skills, an up-and-down system makes good use of his skills.
Along with Robinson, I thought our bench in general has been quite good the last two games. Though they ended up giving up a lot of the lead, the 2nd unit had a very strong 2nd quarter against the Pistons. It's also a little jarring, IMO, to see how much more effectively we rebound when Sheed isn't in the game. I'm not sure we can play Sheed and KG at the same time, because we get killed on the boards.
@cmoney: That's precisely what worries me. If he really was upset about playing time in SA, that means he thinks he's gonna get it here, which means we probably told him he would. I definitely don't understand Danny's motivation, either, and not just re: Doc; why pay for an old guy who, as you mention, couldn't get time on an under-achieving team?
@ the Ass. Commish, in the NBA, minutes = stats, so in addition to the D'Antoni factor, we can discount Walker's numbers further because of that. But Walker was a lottery talent who fell out of the first round due to injury. Again, I'm not saying we shouldn't have moved him, just that I didn't think he got much of a chance.
Regarding your point about rebounding, we obviously can't NOT play 'sheed and KG together at points. I'm not going to war with Glen Davis or Shelden Williams down the stretch, and there are times Perk will be ineffective or otherwise unavailable.
I realize we can't NOT play KG and Sheed together. I just thought it was jarring in that game to see two young guys on the floor at the same time...it somehow seemed to make even clearer how poorly KG and Sheed are moving. Also, and this might be my imagination, but I feel like Sheed and KG have demonstrated pretty awful hands when it comes to rebounding this year. I feel like there have been a ton of rebounds that have gone off their hands that they haven't controlled.
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