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February 29, 2008
Win #45 for the Celtics
The next win for this Celtic team will be a career high for coach Doc Rivers, a one time Coach of the Year with Orlando.
Doc Rivers patiently, and loyally developed one of the youngest rosters in the league for a few years, and dealt with a few 'interesting' and challenging personalities along the way (Marcus Banks, Gary Payton, Paul Pierce, Mark Blount, Ricky Davis, and Antoine Walker - just to name a few.) It wasn't the way he wanted it. But it was the way it was.
Patience is a virtue or...
All things comes to he who waits....
like a three all star team led by one of the 5 most coveted players in the league.
Glenn 'Doc' Rivers ended up with a coach's dream roster this year that has just gotten better with the signing of P.J. Brown and the imminent signing of Sam Cassell.
To the surprise of everyone, this Celtic team hangs it hat on defense. Kudos to Doc for being willing to bring in Larry Brown (who ended up passing on Beantown) and finally bringing in Tom Thibodeau to construct this team's defensive schemes.
They have made quick work of much of the NBA up to now and lead the entire league with 45 wins.
Tonight's Game
Tonight, they did just what they had to, and used not one ounce of energy more, to beat the Charlotte Bobcats. They made the Bobcats look good, and the score was closer than it should have been, by perplexingly settling for jump shots in the 4th quarter. They could have had their way in the paint in spite of Emeka Okafor and Nazr Mohammed in the middle for the Bobcats for much of the quarter.
The team went from looking very good to looking rather careless in spurts, depending on what play you were watching. They missed a number of fast breaks with careless passing and decision making, but they were quite unselfish with the ball night as they garnered 33 assists on 41 baskets.
Rajon Rondo had a career night in that department with 16 dimes to go with 9 points and 6 rebounds while doing an acceptable job defensively on high scoring Bobcat guard Ray Felton.
Felton and Jason Richardson took over half of Charlotte's shots (43 of 82) as Richardson didn't meet a shot tonight he didn't like. He led the 'Cats with 30 points on 10-26 shooting.
It seems that Pierce concentrated on defending JR for the rest of the game and scored just 13 points on 5-15 shooting, though he did hit a key mid range jumper near the end when Charlotte was within a few possessions of tying it up.
Ray Allen was on all night, going 5-7 from downtown and leading the Celtics with 23 points. Kevin Garnett added 17 points and 9 boards, though few were of his baskets were inside. KG played 32 minutes but did not look himself, even though he engaged in his usual on court trash talking, this time with a frustrated Nazr Mohammed. They each received technicals.
Garnett received a quick 2nd foul in the first quarter trying to cover for Paul Pierce when Richardson got by Paul and was heading for an easy two. PP looked disgusted (at himself) on the play. Even though Garnett went out and Davis came in, the Celtics made a run to tie the game and eventually took the lead in the quarter.
Many of Rondo's assists went to big man Kendrick Perkins. Perkins scored 11 first quarter points on an assortments of dunks and lay-ins. PK ended with one of his most productive games as a pro, finishing with 19 points on 8-10 shooting, 9 rebounds, 5 blocks, 2 steals, 2 assists, and 4 TOs.
I'm wondering if it is any coincidence that Rondo and Perkins each had big games as new comer PJ Brown has been practicing with the team, and was in attendance, while Sam Cassell is on the way. Hmm.....
Brown has said he will try to mentor the young bigs on the team and his locker is next to Glen Davis' in the practice facility.
Leon Powe played well with 9 tough points in the paint and 4 boards in 11 minutes, while James Posey was throwing more dimes (5) and hitting threes (2-4) to go with 4 boards.
Glen also had a solid game with 7 points and 4 rebounds in 14 plus minutes. Big Baby gave Emeka a big back ache as he lowered the boom on Okafor on one play, as he jumped on his back (literally) when he tried to stop a sure lay-up from behind. Okafor crumpled to the ground under the weight. It was something to behold. Davis received a flagrant foul on the play.
The Celtic bench all contributed nicely as Charlotte's defense left much to be desired. I've read that the team has given up on coach Sam Vincent as they have only won a single game ( are now 1-12) in the entire month of February. While it seemed they were competitive tonight, it was more of a case of the killer whale playing with a baby seal, before eating it as its next meal.
The Celtics played a fairly slow almost deliberate game against them it appeared to me, in spite of their 108 points.
So, Doc's next win is a milestone, though he has many more to add before the season is done.
Their next opponent is the Atlanta Hawks in the TDBanknorth Garden at 6:00pm
Posted by Tom on February 29, 2008 10:23 PM
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