[recap] [box score]
Pretty entertaining season-opener. For posterity's sake, let the record show that Miami broke this game open in the third quarter, leading by as many as 18. But LeBron James had to sit the final nine minutes due to muscle cramps, and Boston was able to cut the lead to four before going scoreless over the final 2:09.
Given the unique composition and playing style of these two teams -- no true center played a single second of this game, for either side -- it's pointless to draw any real conclusions about lineups and how Doc Rivers is planning on using all of his newfound depth. At one point in the fourth quarter, Jeff Green and Paul Pierce were in the frontcourt with Rajon Rondo, Jason Terry, and Leandro Barbosa in the backcourt. I don't expect we'll see much of the three-point guard, two-small forward lineup this year.
The defense was awful, too, as bad as it has been in the last five seasons. For now, I'm going to chalk that up to all the fresh faces, and offseason rust. I'd be surprised if defense was a major problem with this team all season. (With that said, I do wish we'd stop giving up so many easy transition buckets to the Heat, something we could do simply by paying a little more attention as we run back on defense.)
I don't want to get too far ahead of things and read too much about the team into one game. But I do think it's appropriate to give some quick thoughts on how particular players looked in this one.
Courtney Lee, replacing the departed Ray Allen and the injured Avery Bradley in the starting lineup, looked very good guarding Dwyane Wade in the early going. He got into foul trouble, though, for the same reason that Bradley often found himself in trouble with the referees last year: Neither has a good feel for when, on a given play, to dial down the physicality. Bradley is young enough to develop that instinct and to earn some more respect from the officials as his career goes on; Lee's already got several years in the league under his belt, so it's a concern worth keeping an eye on. Offensively, Lee was pretty passive, but did find a couple of open jumpers by running the floor.
Rondo put up another gaudy stat line, picking up where he left off last season. His aggressiveness on offense in looking for his own shot was good to see; he rarely took an ill-advised, and we're so much more effective offensively when the defense has to respect his scoring ability. He was a little sloppier with the ball than I'm comfortable with, but at this point, I think that's just something we'll have to live with.
Leandro Barbosa exploded for all 16 of his points in the fourth quarter, looking like the Brazilian Blur of old. Barbosa clearly can still fill it up off the bench, the kind of player we've been lacking the last several years. Barbosa was basically an afterthought this offseason, signed solely for depth. He showed in his first game in green, however, that he's more than that. He's one of several players we supposedly have who will bring much-needed scoring punch to the second unit.
I say "supposedly" because the other two -- Jason Terry and Jeff Green -- were uniformly awful. Terry's shot was off all night, and when he's not hitting, he's not effective. I'm not worried about him. Green, on the other hand, still worries me. The ball just stops when it gets to him. It's not that he's selfish -- at least, I don't think he is. He honestly looks like he just doesn't know what to do with the ball once he gets it. He's too indecisive, which allows the defense to recover. Even his on-court demeanor is disconcerting -- facially, he looks meek and overwhelmed out there. Given that this is the same stuff I was worried about when I saw him during his first half-season after he came over from Oklahoma City for Kendrick Perkins (he missed all of last year), I'm worried. I'm not hitting the panic button yet, but I'm worried.
Not to alarm anyone, but I didn't think that KG looked right. Nothing noticeable like a limp; it simply looked like that he maybe didn't have his legs under him yet. Hopefully, that's all it is. But he was mostly a non-factor on offense, and he let Chris Bosh beat him for a huge bucket down the stretch after the Celtics had cut the lead to four. Boston would do well to remember how effective Garnett was offensively last year against Miami in the Eastern Conference finals. Even when we're playing small-ball, we shouldn't forget the favorable matchups we might have underneath.
Brandon Bass turned in a typical Brandon Bass game. And that's a good thing.
Pierce had a strong first half but faltered a bit in the second. He looked like a different player than the one who limped to the finish line last year. It sounds like he doesn't have any lingering injuries.
Due to the unique circumstances of the game, rookie Jared Sullinger didn't get a lot of action in his regular season NBA debut. I didn't see much to report on, other than I think he found himself in a switch situation matched up against James, and he actually forced James into a jumper. Given that defense is the biggest concern around Sullinger (well, that and his health), I'd consider this a good sign, too.
Two other quick notes. First, Wade said that Rondo's flagrant foul on him in the waning seconds was a "punk move." That's up for the individual to decide; Rondo did get him around the head and neck area from behind. Either way, though, I find it ironic that Wade would speak out, given that he basically did the same thing to Kobe Bryant last year -- in the All-Star game (breaking Kobe's nose in the process). And isn't it some fundamental principle of basketball that if you take the ball to the basket in the waning seconds of a game you already have in hand, against perhaps your chief rival, you're gonna get hit?
Secondly, damn you, Ray Allen, for making it so hard to quit you. After saying all the wrong things in the weeks leading up to the game, he said all the right things in the post-game interview with Craig Sager. I was all set to write him off, and then he has to go and talk about how much he loves his former teammates and how he's a New Englander for life. I know I' being played for a sucker here, that he's just telling me what I want to hear. But I guess I'm not ready to hate Ray yet. (Although if he consistently plays as well against us as he did on Tuesday, that day will come soon. Also, how jarring is this? Say it ain't so, Flo!)
Don't despair. It's one game out of 82, and we have a lot of new pieces to integrate. Plus, at least we're not the Lakers, who marked the debut of Dwight Howard and Steve Nash with a listless loss to the Dirk Nowitzki-less Dallas Mavericks.
Milwaukee's up next, on Friday, and their deep front line should be an interesting contrast to Miami's small lineup. That should afford us our first extended look at Sullinger, as well as give an idea of how Doc plans to use Darko Milicic and Jason Collins. (I don't think Chris Wilcox will be ready.) Heck, we might even see Darko in the starting lineup. Anyway, NBA League Pass is running its annual free preview week to start the season, so check this one out. And if you're in the Washington Metro area, we're at the Wizards on Saturday.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Monday, October 29, 2012
Viewing Alert
It's not yet Halloween, but it might as well be Christmas Eve. The long national nightmare is over, and basketball is back. I hardly watched any of the baseball postseason, and my interest in the NFL seems to get weaker every year. These next eight months are what I live for.
Three games on the NBA slate Tuesday night, two on national TV, and one of those includes Boston. I'd like to say it's just another game, Game 1 of 82, but we all know that's not true. It's Boston at Miami on ring ceremony night, when LeBron James and the rest of the Heat receive the treasures the Celtics came within a quarter of denying them last spring. You can bet Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo and especially Kevin Garnett aren't going to like witnessing that.
And, of course, watching right along with them will be Ray Allen -- only he'll be congratulating his new teammates, rather then trying to ruin their night with his old ones. Allen won't start, which means we won't get to see him interact pre-tip -- generally the most cordial moment of an NBA games, when the players get together and bump fists in a mutual show of respect -- with his former brothers, a couple of whom barely will acknowledge his existence. But once he enters the game...well, it's going to be interesting.
There's a basketball game to be played, too, and there are a lot of reasons for Celtics fans to be excited on the eve of the season. Sure, the (new) Big Three era is over, and its memory may be forever tainted for some. But I think we're better this year than we were last year, when we came within just a few minutes of our third, and most surprising, trip to the Finals in the last five years. I haven't been able to make the time to do a full-on season preview, and I'm not going to do that now, but here's a quick viewing guide if you haven't been paying close attention in the offseason.
New faces. Boston's got a lot of these, and the good news is that most of them are passable NBA rotation players. That seems like a small thing, but when you've been reliant on the likes of Keyon Dooling and Marquis Daniels -- both good teammates, to be sure, but of limited effectiveness -- it's a nice luxury to have. Courtney Lee, Jason Terry, and Leandro Barbosa will bolster the backcourt, while rookie Jared Sullinger joins journeymen Darko Milicic and Jason Collins as new faces up front. And all eyes will of course be on Jeff Green, who has recovered, thankfully, from the heart problems that kept him out last season. In a vacuum, Green isn't worth what the Celtics are paying him over the next four years, but it's money they couldn't have used elsewhere this season. So as long as Green looks even decent in the early-going (and he was impressive at times in the preseason) that should keep the pressure off of him until Pierce and Garnett leave and the Celtics are trying to building around him and Rondo.
New style? I only watched one preseason game (the blowout of New Jersey) but I was struck by just how fast Boston's pace was. Rondo is always looking to run, but last year in particular, he didn't have anyone to run with him. That'll change this year, at least for as long as he's paired with Lee. (The presumptive starter at shooting guard, Avery Bradley, is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.) Lee likes to get out on the break, and I'd expect a lot of two-on-ones and one-on-zeroes for him -- at least early in the season. Rondo was looking for his own a bit more than usual in the game I saw, to mixed reviews. I like that he's looking for his offense more, but for as long as he's a poor jump shooter, he's always going to have however many open 15-footers he wants. He needs to be discriminating and not take them early in the shot clock with no rebounders.
New rotations. Part of the reason Boston couldn't run that much in the past is that they didn't have the horses -- or even the bodies, really -- to play at that pace and preserve the aging legs of Pierce, Garnett, and Allen (something that may have made the difference in the playoffs). Now we do, but with all that depth comes Doc Rivers' responsibility to define roles and find minutes for everyone. Doc's already announced that he will use three starting lineups, which is a little terrifying given that managing minutes and lineups is his weak suit as a head coach. But there's no denying that the possibilities are exciting, with Doc able to go big or small according to matchups, or to ride the hot hand on offense, or field a lockdown defensive team -- whatever he wants.
8 p.m. Eastern on TNT. The only excuse for missing it is not having power.
Three games on the NBA slate Tuesday night, two on national TV, and one of those includes Boston. I'd like to say it's just another game, Game 1 of 82, but we all know that's not true. It's Boston at Miami on ring ceremony night, when LeBron James and the rest of the Heat receive the treasures the Celtics came within a quarter of denying them last spring. You can bet Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo and especially Kevin Garnett aren't going to like witnessing that.
And, of course, watching right along with them will be Ray Allen -- only he'll be congratulating his new teammates, rather then trying to ruin their night with his old ones. Allen won't start, which means we won't get to see him interact pre-tip -- generally the most cordial moment of an NBA games, when the players get together and bump fists in a mutual show of respect -- with his former brothers, a couple of whom barely will acknowledge his existence. But once he enters the game...well, it's going to be interesting.
There's a basketball game to be played, too, and there are a lot of reasons for Celtics fans to be excited on the eve of the season. Sure, the (new) Big Three era is over, and its memory may be forever tainted for some. But I think we're better this year than we were last year, when we came within just a few minutes of our third, and most surprising, trip to the Finals in the last five years. I haven't been able to make the time to do a full-on season preview, and I'm not going to do that now, but here's a quick viewing guide if you haven't been paying close attention in the offseason.
New faces. Boston's got a lot of these, and the good news is that most of them are passable NBA rotation players. That seems like a small thing, but when you've been reliant on the likes of Keyon Dooling and Marquis Daniels -- both good teammates, to be sure, but of limited effectiveness -- it's a nice luxury to have. Courtney Lee, Jason Terry, and Leandro Barbosa will bolster the backcourt, while rookie Jared Sullinger joins journeymen Darko Milicic and Jason Collins as new faces up front. And all eyes will of course be on Jeff Green, who has recovered, thankfully, from the heart problems that kept him out last season. In a vacuum, Green isn't worth what the Celtics are paying him over the next four years, but it's money they couldn't have used elsewhere this season. So as long as Green looks even decent in the early-going (and he was impressive at times in the preseason) that should keep the pressure off of him until Pierce and Garnett leave and the Celtics are trying to building around him and Rondo.
New style? I only watched one preseason game (the blowout of New Jersey) but I was struck by just how fast Boston's pace was. Rondo is always looking to run, but last year in particular, he didn't have anyone to run with him. That'll change this year, at least for as long as he's paired with Lee. (The presumptive starter at shooting guard, Avery Bradley, is still recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.) Lee likes to get out on the break, and I'd expect a lot of two-on-ones and one-on-zeroes for him -- at least early in the season. Rondo was looking for his own a bit more than usual in the game I saw, to mixed reviews. I like that he's looking for his offense more, but for as long as he's a poor jump shooter, he's always going to have however many open 15-footers he wants. He needs to be discriminating and not take them early in the shot clock with no rebounders.
New rotations. Part of the reason Boston couldn't run that much in the past is that they didn't have the horses -- or even the bodies, really -- to play at that pace and preserve the aging legs of Pierce, Garnett, and Allen (something that may have made the difference in the playoffs). Now we do, but with all that depth comes Doc Rivers' responsibility to define roles and find minutes for everyone. Doc's already announced that he will use three starting lineups, which is a little terrifying given that managing minutes and lineups is his weak suit as a head coach. But there's no denying that the possibilities are exciting, with Doc able to go big or small according to matchups, or to ride the hot hand on offense, or field a lockdown defensive team -- whatever he wants.
8 p.m. Eastern on TNT. The only excuse for missing it is not having power.
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