March 30, 2008

Celtics Advance to Next Round

After defeating the Miami team from the ACC, 88-62, Boston moves on and Miami goes home.

That was a NCAA tourney game, wasn't it? Well, at least one team looked like a college team.

Oops. That was the Miami Heat, an NBA team, loosely speaking. They were on the receiving end of a record setting defensive game by the league leading Celtics. I might add that Boston played without malice. It actually could have been much, much worse.

The 'Heat' were cold (Yes, I liked writing that.) and utterly unprepared to face an NBA juggernaut. The Ron Rothstein coached team ended up setting an NBA record for field goal futility. They managed only 17 made shots for the game - an NBA record since the shot clock came about during the 1950s. I watched a painfully large part of the 'event'.

The previous low of 18 was by the Chicago Bulls (sans Jordan/Pippin, etc.) on April 10, 1999, ironically, against the Miami Heat. If there is a bright side to the accomplishment, the Bulls were even worse with 18 more attempts (77). Tonight, the Heat managed only 59 attempts for a still dubious .288 FG%.

The NBA record for least attempts is 53, accomplished twice in 1997. No wonder the league made changes in foul calling to create a freer flowing offense. Thank you very much. But it was deja vu all over again for quite abnormal reasons.

It is as much an indictment of Miami's throwing in the towel on the season and bringing in nameless players on 10 day contracts. Marion is out. Dwayne Wade is out. Chris Quinn is in. After the 2 most experienced players on the team (Davis, Blount) the rest of the team has less than 4 years of NBA experience combined according to the announcers. They can't possibly expect them to compete like an NBA team. Pat Riley's absence for college scouting adventures speaks volumes about the situation.

The Heat are now 4-20 since the trade that moved Shaq to the Suns and brought Shawn Marion to South Beach.

So we got what we expected as the Celtics jumped out to a 22-4 lead and took their foot off the pedal for the rest of the game. They were happy to maintain a 20 point lead for the long run, as they worked all 12 active players into the game. The Cs biggest lead was 31.

No starter played more than 25 minutes as Leon Powe led the team with 27 minutes, 17 points, and 13 rebounds (6 offensive). In a game like, I really wonder how helpful it is for anyone on the team to play.

Tony Allen got necessary PT, but the team as a whole played down to the competition. And I will give the Heat players some credit. They did try to play solid defense at times throughout the game. Those combined factors resulted in a poor offensive performance by the Celtics. But really, who cares?

The Celtics scored 88 points on .386% from the field and .259 from the arc. They out rebounded the 'Blountiful' Heat 54-31. They gave up just 10 points in the paint and mercifully scored only 38 in the middle themselves. The Heat had 12 assists. The Celtics had 23. Need I go on?

Of note, Doc played Sam Cassell and PJ Brown with 3 starters for a while, in order to get them comfortable playing together.

There were strange line-ups and substitutions in the course of play. At one point, Ray Allen played SF, with Eddie House and Sam Cassell in the back court. If you find out which one was the point guard, let me know. On one possession, it ended up being Ray Allen anyway. Cassell contributed 9 points on 8 attempts, and 2 assists in about 15 minutes

The Celtics toyed with them throughout. Perkins blocked the league's newest version of Dan Dickau, Chris Quinn, twice. KP had three blocks and 8 rebounds in 24 minutes. Pierce had 10 points, 2 steals and 4 assists. Garnett led the team with 5 assists in just 21:30 minutes while adding 12 points and 8 rebounds. Rajon Rondo provided 8 points, 6 rebounds and 2 assists in 22 minutes.

Glen Davis had a nice hustle put back on a miss by Powe on a fastbreak and folks......that's a wrap.

What tonight didn't solve or resolve is any suggestion of rotation for the play-offs. Doc plans to play Tony Allen, PJ Brown, and Sam Cassell more as they head toward the regular season's finish line. Doc says it is important to get Tony Allen going. The other two are still getting up to speed with their team mates and plays. That means others will have to take a step back in minutes to get that accomplished.

Doc has plenty of options now. The question arises - does he have too many choices? And will he choose the right ones for the right situations? It's not as easy as it looks. Chemistry can be a fragile thing. As it looks right now, Cassell and Brown may not play as much as I originally thought. The problem is that the other players roles have been pretty well defined at this point and the team is playing very well with the original cast. Inserting Sam and PJ is more of a delicate operation than it looks from a distance.

Still, I think Doc will get it done with this Veterans Administration, and have all hands on deck for an all out assault on capturing the NBA crown. While the rest of the games are largely presupposed wins, it will be the playing time and performances of the rotations that will be of great interest until we hit the play-offs.

With just 5 more wins out of the last 9 games, the Celtics will have accomplished the greatest single year turnaround in the history of the league. That looks like it will most likely happen. For long time Boston Celtic fans, it will be a highly appreciated event.

Posted by Tom on 8:53 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 28, 2008

Celtics "Half" to Send a Message

New Orleans, more than any other American city, is a tale of two cities.

After Hurricane Katrina, it was in a state of complete and total devastation. I had relatives and friends living in the devastated area that was southern Louisiana. They are starting an inexorably slow rebuild there, and still have many problems to overcome. The full time return of the New Orleans Hornets has provided some much needed hope, entertainment and a tremendous feel good distraction for the "city that America forgot".

On any given night, they can see what could be the best point guard in the NBA running their team, a solid coach, a top rebounding/defending center, an All Star power forward and a team that appears to me to overachieve, especially defensively. They are the 5th best in the league in points allowed at 95.2, though I'm still not quite sure how they do it. They have run out to a 49-22 record, due to the magnificent play of their point guard. They are play-off bound and can make a splash.

They came in on a 5 game winning streak, a recent win over the Celtics at their house, and with the 2nd best road record in the league (22-11).

Throughout the first half, New Orleans was looking very much like they thought they could play with Boston. They had taken over in the 4th quarter in the previous match up in New Orleans and were ahead at the half in Boston with a surprising 60 points to Boston's 56.

It was simply a tale of two halves.

First half - New Orleans 60 points. Second half - New Orleans 32 points.

By half time I was beginning to wonder what was up. Did this team really have the ability to play with Boston on the Celtic's home court? Could they win two in a row and in Boston? Did they want the game more? They certainly needed it more considering the dogfight that is taking place in the west over pole positions for the play-offs.

The 2nd half became a message statement to the Hornets recent sting of the Celtics.

Mr. Everything, also known as Paul Pierce, was incredible tonight as he put in yet another superb game with 27 points on only 7 of 11 shots. Paul did what Paul does best and that is get to the line for a perfect 13-13 to go with 9 assists and 6 rebounds. He was turning Bonzi Wells every which way but loose this time around, with a variety of moves including a few drive-shoulder-forward-then-step-back fade aways. He has now made 22 straight foul shots.

As the season has worn on, Pierce has made it a regular habit of drawing the post defenders, then constantly feeding the big men underneath. Tonight, Leon Powe was the main receiver with 12 points on 5-7 shooting while adding 7 rebounds in a strong effort off the bench.

Last night the crowd broke into an MVP, MVP chorus for team captain Paul Pierce. It will never happen, but Paul Pierce's name should be in the running for MVP. He has been that good this season. He has the whole game working now. A more complete 2-way player with as many offensive skills as Paul has would be hard to find. He is just doing it all, over the course of this season.

Kevin Garnett's consistency with his shot and defense have made things easier for everyone. Tonight he has 21 points on 9 of 15, with 13 rebounds and yet another game changing 2nd half defensive effort. Excellence every night out is what Kevin gives you.

Rajon Rondo can mark down another strong game against a top NBA point guard. He played Chris Paul mano a mano, scoring 17 points on 8 of 10 shooting, with 4 assists, a steal and blocked CP3 on one drive.

Ray Allen was excellent in support with 12 points in only 27 minutes, splashing two big threes, and playing solid defense.

Tony Allen played solid defense over 20 minutes, at times being asked to guard Chris Paul, adding 6 points on 3-5 shooting and had a beautiful assist on a drive, underneath to Powe.

David West and Chris Paul were both put under wraps by the Celtics' game altering defense in the pivotal 3rd quarter. The Hornets scored just 15 points to the Celtics 32. CP3 was held to 3 points and 2 assists by Rondo and solid help defense. West had just 4 points in the quarter as Garnett and Perkins shut down the mid range and the middle.

The Celtics shot a blistering .595 and took excellent care of the ball with only 6 turnovers. By the same token, New Orleans had zero steals against them, zero turnovers at the half and finished with 7 TOs for the game. I can't remember when the last time was that the Celtics hadn't caused a TO against an opponent by the halftime.

The Celtics' bench did much better in the 2nd half than the first, led by Powe and Tony Allen.

The Celtics have now beaten every team in the NBA. Only the Utah Jazz had accomplished that feat until tonight.

Sam Cassell played a total of 3 seconds. I'm wondering when the last time that has ever happened to him. 3rd grade maybe?

The rest of the schedule gets decidedly easier for the rest of the season, starting with the Miami D-Leaguers on Sunday. We should see more of Cassell and Brown going forward, as Doc gets them comfortable with the system and the plays.

At this point, it is fine tuning for the play-offs, and going for home court advantage all the way through the play-offs.

Posted by Tom on 10:11 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 27, 2008

Who is the clutchest Celtic?

82games.com has a 'Clutch Stats' page and seems to be keeping it updated fairly regularly.

I just looked at it and thought I would share some Celtic stats and observations from it.

First of all, I don't completely agree with its very premise - that basic scoring percentages in the final 5 minutes of a game with a team within 5 points of the lead (either ahead or behind) is an accurate way to define clutchness. But it's close enough to get a good idea of who performs well in a close scenario.

As with all statistics, a little 'modular' thinking is required. Every save in baseball is not equal. Neither is every assist in basketball. But they are in the record books. So why not a parameter for clutchness.

I won't debate the premise. But I will share where the Celtics came out.

Number one in points scored (on a 48 minute basis)? Ray Allen.

It justifies my thinking about Ray's clutchness for the Cs. He is the most prolific scorer on the team under the criteria. Ray is 52nd overall at 26.2 points. Kevin Garnett is the next Celtic at 21.1, followed by Paul Pierce at 20.2. Overall, not surprising at all.

Because each of these stars have taken turns trying to win at crunch time, none of the three has dominated the scoring, as they might have, if still starring on other teams. But Ray is slightly ahead, as I thought he might be. Ray has had a knack for coming up big at the ends of games.

Lebron James is hands down number one in the league at 60.7 points (per 48) in crunch time. Kobe is number two at 53.5. Neither one surprises for reasons obvious even to a blind man on Mars.

But here is a surprise...

Guess who is a clutch Celtic foul shooter?

One Mister Rajon Rondo. He is shooting 87% from the foul line in these circumstances. While he hasn't taken a lot, he has made most of those he was asked to. 87% would stand with almost anyone. Johnny Rondo has nerves of steel, and rises to the occasion, it seems.

James Posey has shown to be a clutch foul shooter all year and leads the team is FT accuracy at 88%. While neither Rondo nor Posey take a lot, they have been more than good when they did.

Paul Pierce has quietly upped his foul shooting this season, including crunch time. He is 3rd on the team at 83% in those moments. He seems more focused, and his form even seems more of a crouch this season. He had a recent streak of foul shooting in the low 90s. He once said this season, that he wasn't sure people noticed that he had improved in this category. Paul, they will now know.

Ray Allen is surprisingly 4th with a pedestrian 78%. Ray is 4th in the league overall (.907), but not so much in the last 5 minutes. That was a little surprising. Far behind is Garnett at 68%.

But who hits their shots with the best accuracy in this situation?

The envelope please.....

"And the winner is....Rajon Rondo. It's an upset folks!"

That is correct. in 28 games that fit the parameters, Rondo leads the Celtics with a .444%. He is followed by Ray Allen at .431%. Garnett is next at .410%. Posey is far back at .267%, followed by Pierce at a paltry .250%. Who would have thunk it.

One thing - the low-high range for all the Celtic players mentioned here was from 28 to 34 games and from 81 minutes to 134 minutes, so each had a significant enough amount to time to make comparisons with.

The best clutch 3 point accuracy?

Ray Allen at 33%. Posey was next at .308%. Pierce was next at .182%. Needless to say, unless it was Ray Allen shooting, the Celtics haven't won too many games with 3 point bombing at the end. It also follows Doc's 'take it to the hoop' philosophy, and with those numbers, reinforces his thinking, doesn't it?

Ray Allen actually is 5th in the league with 3 point attempts at 12.1 (per 48 min.). No other Celtic comes close. Pierce is way down at 4.2 (per 48 min.), and who could blame him with a .182% success rate.

Pierce, not surprisingly, leads the Celtics in foul shot attempts at 11.4 in crunch time.

One more surprise stat.

Guess who leads the Celtics in rebounding in clutch situations at the end of games?

We have a multiple clutch stat winner, folks....

Rajon Rondo at 13.9. Yes, he even beats 7 foot board eater, Kevin Garnett, who gets 13.2 boards in those situations.

One final thought - the only Celtic with a positive plus/minus was James Posey at +9. Every other Celtic is a strong minus. That seems to mean that the other teams are uniformly outscoring the Celtics in those situations. With only 15 losses, that would also suggest that teams were mostly closing in on a Celtic lead.

So young and 'never nervous' Rajon Rondo is the top rebounder, top FG%, and 2nd in FT% for each of these stats. While I'm not sure he is who I want taking the last shot or shooting the game winning foul shots for us, when he has been asked to do so, he has responded with great success. He has shown a knack for making big plays all year. Clutch time is no exception. In fact, he has excelled in such moments.

You can take your pick who you want taking the shot in the last few minutes with the game on the line, but for me -

if it's a three pointer - give me Ray.

if it is a drive to get fouled - give me Pierce. He mostly makes those clutch FTs now.

If it is a mid range or drive to score - give me Garnett.

Oh yeah, if you want the rebound - put Rondo in there. He has come up with big rebounds so often, you almost expect him to find his way to the ball against anyone. Remember that rebound he slid in front of Dirk for? He has an uncanny knack for rebounding.

Some surprising numbers, some not so surprising. The plus-minus numbers would indicate that the Cs need a little work in those close, end of game situations. but with a 56-15 record, I guess there isn't too much to be concerned about.

And Rondo is quietly answering all critics with his play as he hones his craft.

Posted by Tom on 9:39 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack

March 26, 2008

The Defense (Almost) Never Rests

Well, it did in the second quarter and the entire first half against Amare Stoudamire, who had 22 by the half way mark.

But it was there for the rest of the game and stopped a high power offense from reaching triple digits. At the same time the Celtics went for a size large in points themselves by winning 117-97.

Green fuel stopped solar power. How could the Suns could shoot .559 for the game and not make 100 points? It happened because they were limited to an anemic 68 shots on goal. The Cs had 86 attempts and a solid shot .523. It was also due to 21 Sun turnovers from pressure defense that is the Celtic's road to success.

Garnett and Pierce carried the team to victory with 30 and 27 points respectively. Garnett was steady all game and Paul had little explosions of scoring. Sometimes I don't think I appreciate Kevin Garnett enough. Ditto for Paul, as he was vintage Pierce with 9-9 from the line, with 9 of 16 shooting, often against supposed tough defender, Raja Bell.

The other Celtic road to success is points in the paint. Tonight they had over 50 against the former king of the paint and his associates.

After the Celtics went up by 15 in the first quarter, the Suns came back behind Stoudamire, to even things by half time, 57-57.

A 16 point 3rd quarter punctuated by Amare getting shut out, put the Suns in a hole they didn't have the means to climb out of this evening. They scored just 40 in second half as the Celtics shut the door.

Meanwhile, the Celtics maintained an amped offense with 60 second half points.

Rajon Rondo had an ankle breaking drive and score against Steve Nash that was so bad, Nash was good naturedly razzed shortly after, on the bench, by his own team mates. Rondo played a tremendous game overall, going for 14 points on 7 of 12, with 6 assists and 6 rebounds, while helping to contain the 2 time MVP point guard. Rondo's growth is amazing.

Unsung heroes of the game include Kendrick Perkins with solid defense and a double double (13 points, 10 boards) and Leon Powe, who drew a critical foul on Shaq with an attempted lay up. James Posey did his best work off the stat page as well, except for 3 steals. Even Eddie House was active on defense, while contributing 6 points in 12 minutes.

Ray Allen had, what seemed to me to be, a quiet 14 points, on 5 of 10 shooting, but dished out 8 assists to lead the team. He epitomizes the team concept on this team as much as anyone, perhaps more.

In a game that meant much more to Phoenix, Boston evened up the season series with a message win at the right time.

Doc had to ratchet down the minutes and Cassell (6 minutes) and Brown (DNP) took the hit. It also keeps some of the previously established chemistry in place.

How the minutes go from here on will be interesting to see. I know for sure that Doc won't have a 12 man rotation for the play-offs. But who comes in when might be an open question depending on the circumstances of each game.

Doc certainly has some very different options, and skill sets on the bench for different game and match up situations. Will he go traditional, shorten the rotation, make some hard decisions, and sit a few players for the duration? Or will he break new ground in 'substitution philosophy' in a record breaking year and have the 'flavor(s) of the night' each night, come play-off time?

The Hornets come to town for a rematch and another big game on Friday night.

Posted by Tom on 9:55 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 22, 2008

Celtics Hiccup in Final Road Game

If the Boston Celtics could only have gotten this game to end after three quarters, all would be well in Beantown tonight. As things are, it's still not so bad. But it was almost perfect.

The Celtics played great basketball for 19 quarters on this trip. It looks like they mentally started to board the plane by the 4th quarter. Actually they met some great 4th quarter defense and apparently tired. Because of that, they go home 4-1. After being up most of the game, they uncharacteristically made poor plays on both ends of the floor and lost 113-106.

In their previous game, Boston shot .345%, was out rebounded by 2...and won in Dallas. Tonight the Celtics shot .554%, out rebounded the Hornets by 15....and lost. Usually 106 points scored is an automatic double digit win for the defensive minded Celtics.

After being up by 15 for most of the game, the Celtics still had an 8 point lead thanks to a Paul Pierce drive and difficult lay-up at the buzzer, ending the 3rd with his 22nd point(s). It looked then like the Hornets were making a move...finally.

A 5-0 sweep on their toughest road trip of the year would have been a reality if the game ended then and it would have been very sweet to fly home with.

Instead, the Celtics had to go south to be beaten by the West. David West, that is. The under rated Hornet power forward poured in 27 points in the second half in a variety of ways, and finished with 37 for the contest.

Instead, the Celtics fell apart in the all important 4th quarter. They were the team making bad passes, bad shots, and playing bad defense. They simply lost focus.

Instead, they turned the ball too many times to hold the lead. They had only 3 TOs sixteen minutes into the game. They had 13 in the second half. They coughed up the ball, and the win.

Instead, the tough defense played in the 4th quarter was against them, as they were held to 17 points. I stand corrected. I now know that more than Tyson Chandler plays defense on the Hornets. At least, they do when it is need it most.

Wells Steals the Show

Bonzi Wells alone stole the ball 8 times, and played aggressive defense on Paul Pierce in the 2nd half, especially in the 4th quarter. Paul had 22 points at the end of three, but finished with 28. Bonzi had the best plus/minus of the game, by far (+23). Yes, that Bonzi Wells. He had 6 steals (Hornets record) in the 4th quarter drive to take the lead, including 3 in two minutes, culminating with an assist to West for his 30th point, to take the lead at 94-93 with 6 minutes left in the game. It was the first time New Orleans led since 6-5 to open the game. Boston began to fade away.

At this point, Ray Allen had 2 big unforced TOs on bad passes and missed a hurried 3 pointer on consecutive plays that opened the door to David West scoring 7 straight points for a 98-93 lead. Perhaps too late, at this point Perkins was substituted in for Posey as even West was driving the middle.

Boston went 5 minutes, from 8:53 to 3:53 without scoring a point, while the Hornets scored 9 straight points to lead 99-93.

The Hornets continually found a man open in the right corner for most of the night, as Celtic rotations were late or non-existent. They never really solved that play.

For the first 30 minutes, it was looking too easy. The Celtics had gone up as much as 15 points in a 'less than Celtic' effort. I was losing respect for the Hornets by the minute. This was one of the top teams in the west? Really?

Instead, New Orleans was doing what most good teams do, they were not panicking. They were patiently waiting.....waiting for that opportunity that always seems to present itself in any game. They also kept slowly closing the point spread between themselves and the best team in the league.

Turnovers killed the Cs. After not doing so for a long time, Paul Pierced tried to force his way through double teams a few times. Pierce alone had 4 TOs in the 4th quarter. Bonzi Wells knocked the ball away twice and was guarding Pierce when Julian Wright doubled down and picked up another.

What David West and Bonzi Wells started, Chris Paul finished. CP3 got into foul trouble in the first half as Rajon Rondo aggressively attacked the basket for 13 first half points. Chris Paul re-entered the game with 5:21 left and the Hornets up 94-93. He scored 7 straight points in the final 2 minutes to maintain the lead and finished with 19 and 7 assists in 29 minutes.

Boston was led by Pierce with 28, followed by Rondo with 23 pts., 7 assists, 2 steals and 3 TOs. Kevin Garnett added 19 points and 12 rebounds.

The Celtic bench performed poorly while the Hornets bench, especially Jannero Pargo, played very well. When Chris Paul went to bench in the first half, they actually closed the gap with Pargo playing a big role for them. Pargo had 15 points and 6 assists in 20 minutes for them.

Contrary to the previous three games, this one did not feel anything like a play-off game, from the very start. While the Celtics can be forgiven for letting this one get away, it shows what happens when you let good teams hang around. A solid defensive effort would have iced this.

The next Celtic game is at home on Monday against the hot Philadelphia 76ers.

Posted by Tom on 11:23 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 20, 2008

Dallas Does Defense; Celtics Grind Out Win

The Boston Celtics, led by their three stars and some mighty defense, beat Dallas by 94-90 in another meat grinder of a game.

These have all been 'grind it out' games. Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett have both used that term this season. It is one of Tiger Woods' pet phrases to describe how he goes about a round of play and a tournament. "I'm just out there, grinding it out." It is the best way to describe these three Texas games.

The Celtics are now an impressive 3-0 against the Texas Triangle (San Antonio, Houston and Dallas) in this toughest of road trips of the year for the Men in Green. They haven't accomplished that since 1987. The Celtics now stand at a league best 55-13 and are on a 14-1 tear since their 3 game losing streak on their last west coast swing. They have a modest 4 game winning streak to put on the line against the Hornets on Saturday.

We have come to expect great defense from the Celtics. The defensive effort by Dallas wasn't far behind in this game. Yes, the Celtics missed some open shots. But Dallas earned the 'D' in its name in this game.

The Celtics demonstrated the fortitude necessary to gut out yet another tough, tough win. They shot just .345 from the field in Dallas' house where they were 29-5, tied with Boston as the 2nd best home court record in the league. Dallas is now 29-6 and the Celtics are 6-0 against the three Texas teams this season. Most of the statistical battles were dead even, as neither team could control the game for very long.

While the trip is slowly wearing the Celtics down, or so it appears at times, they have dug deep and found the will and energy to pull out 3 difficult wins against 3 potential title contenders on their home courts. They have kept to the game plan, had a few strong performances from the bench, kept their poise under pressure and willed themselves to these wins.

In a very evenly played game, Paul Pierce led the Celtics with 22 points on 6-14 shooting and 10-13 foul shots. He had two season highs with 13 rebounds and 3 blocks, to go with 3 assists. His assist total should have been at least a few higher as he continues to draw the coverage on drives and passes to open big men around the bucket. Perkins and Powe both missed shots that would have meant more dimes for multiple threat Paul Pierce.

Paul drew fouls at critical times all night while hitting the deck often. He was getting up slowly each time, but found the energy to put together enough points to engineer a few comebacks. He scored eight 4th quarter points, all on free throws, including 8 for 8 at one point.

James Posey added 12 points, including 8 in the decisive 4th quarter while doing a credible job guarding Jerry Stackhouse and Josh Howard all night.

Garnett and Perkins teamed up to played tough defense on Maverick big man Dirk Nowitzki. Though Dirk had a big night with 22 points and 19 rebounds, he only shot 8-20 and missed two big shots in the final minute. Perkins fouled out in the 4th quarter. The Celtics held Dallas to a combined .393% shooting.

Meanwhile Dallas did a excellent job on Kevin Garnett with aggressive double teams as Garnett had to work very hard for his points, scoring 20 on 7-22 shooting. He added 13 boards and 3 big steals.

It was Ray Allen who came in after sitting for most of the 4th quarter, to hit a big 3 point basket to give Boston a 90-88 lead with 32 seconds left. He redeemed himself for throwing a bad pass on a sure fast break lay-up to Sam Cassell on the play before. Ray was 7-17 and 3-9 from downtown on the evening, finishing with 20 hard fought points.

The Celtics finished off the Mavericks by hitting 4 clutch free throws by James Posey and Kevin Garnett sandwiched around a Dampier lay-up that brought Dallas back to within 2 points at 92-90.

It was an off night shooting for the point guards from both teams as Kidd, Rondo, and Cassell shot a combined 2-24. Kidd at times was wildy off on his shots, though he added 11 boards and 9 assist.

The Mavericks have yet to beat a team over .500 since the Kidd trade.

Boston's win was even more impressive considering the off nights from both point guards and the poor overall team shooting. The team is developing the timing of a successful boxer that musters up the energy at the right time to flurry and score to take the fight away from his opponent.

Boston next opponent is the league's 4th best team, the 46-21 New Orleans Hornets, on Saturday in this unofficial Starbucks Grind-It-Out (bait and switch metaphor alert!), 5 game road trip.

Posted by Tom on 11:12 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack

March 19, 2008

Is the West Really Better?

I wasn't able to watch this game as it happened. In fact, I just finished watching the tape. Maybe that's a good thing.

I would have posted great superlatives about the Big Green Celtic Machine and such. Boo-ya! and woo-hoo! Indeed, they rocked....and rolled the Rockettes, 94-74.

By getting time to ponder the recent 2 wins against two of the west's best (Houston and San Antonio) on their home courts and without Ray Allen, it has made me rethink a few well accepted propositions.

The West is the better conference?

The west may be deeper but I'm suspicious that it is not better. They don't play something on the left side of the country the way they play it on the right side. It's called defense.

Granted, it is played best by only two or three teams in the east, but is really only one team in the west that hangs their hat on defense, and that team is San Antonio.

The points allowed by the Rockets and the Hornets notwithstanding, only the Spurs have proven they can play lock down defense in the play-offs to turn it into wins. And everyone knows it is defense that wins play-off games.

I am as surprised as anyone about the Celtics defense this year. But darned if it isn't exactly the right way to win ball games. More important, it is the right way to prepare for a title run. The increased physicality of the play-offs, the regression to half court basketball, and the inside/outside game all make the strategies of the Boston Celtics look dead on. They are going to be tough to beat and the toughest play-off series of all just might be the Eastern Conference Finals.

Is the west over rated? Boston has now faced most of the west's best and has come out looking very, very good. They don't have battles out west like the Detroit and Boston battles. They just don't. The shiny, bright records of 10 teams makes the west looks imposing. But that just might be fool's good.

As Tracy McGrady said last night....

I’ve never seen a defense like that. I mean, if they play defense like that, night in and night out, the NBA is in trouble because that was defense at its finest.”

That is what Boston does on a regular basis. They play defense at its finest. When they forgot that was what made them a special team, they lost to two western teams (Denver and Golden State in consecutive games) at their own game - offense.

Defensively, the top 2 teams are the Celtic and Pistons. The Spurs are right there.

Houston plays good solid defense. By points allowed, as the benchmark, the Hornets do too, though I haven't seen enough to really make a judgment call on them. Yet, beyond Tyson Chandler, who on that team scares you defensively?

The modus operandi of this year's Celtics is to play championship level team defense and to win the battle in paint.

If you take a look at the points in the paint numbers on most any night, Boston wins, and wins that category big. Boston has three point shooters, but they are mostly decoys and outlets. They, no doubt will make you pay if you pack the middle. But that ball is going inside, and going inside often, no matter how hard you try to stop them from doing it.

Boston beat Houston by 52 -34 in the paint. Houston has the best record in the west. But they are not the best team in the west. Boston outscored the Spurs in the paint by only 34-30. The Cs lost to the Jazz at home and lost the battle in the middle by 50-40. It's not a coincidence.

Control the middle and you control the game. A more solid tandem defensively than Garnett and Perkins, I haven't seen. Perkins' inside defense has been quite good since the very start of the year. He is now becoming even better and he is contributing in other ways much more often now. Garnett is definitely the quarterback and the cornerstone of the Celtics' inside defense. When KG went out, the Celtics kept winning, but they weren't controlling the middle as they do when he plays.

There are a number of teams that could win it all, but it is rare that you win the NBA title by outscoring the opponent.

Boston's handling of both San Antonio and Houston certainly levels the commonly accepted tilt to the west, in my opinion. If they can sustain it throughout this trip, it also speaks well to their ability to maintain a high level of play against top competition for multiple games - like is needed in a playoff series.

Boston is showing it can match up against a variety of situations, styles and opponents. They now have depth at every position where a Sam Cassell, Glen Davis, Leon Powe, Eddie House, James Posey, or P.J. Brown can come in and hurt you while you are paying attention to Garnett, Pierce, or Ray Allen. And don't forget about Rondo.

I used to think that the east is handicapped because their top teams don't face high level competition like the western teams do on a regular basis. I'm beginning to think that the west might be handicapped because they don't face Detroit, Boston and even Cleveland style defense on a regular basis.

I am a believer that there is more than one way to win a championship. But it is the way that the Celtics are going that is the tried and true way.

Posted by Tom on 9:07 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 18, 2008

Celtics Dig Hole. Dig In. Dig Out.

The Ray Allen-less, but surprisingly confident Boston Celtics and Paul Pierce were poised and brought the noise against the always tough San Antonio Spurs.

The Celtics dug a deep hole in the first quarter, going down by 17-6 without Doc Rivers ever calling a time out to stop the Spurs run. His first time out was at 2:49 with the score at 21-8. They scored a season low 11 points first quarter points. But his 'no panic' approach must have worked.

After having their score tripled at 11-33 early in the second quarter by the defending champion Spurs on their own court, the Boston Celtics said, 'We've got them right where we want them.' and went on to prove it.

Showing the poise that championships are made of, from that point on they outscored the Spurs by 51-26 to get the score to 62-59. Their defensive pressure increased and they got great play from both point guards.

With San Antonio leading by nine at 81-72 with about 5 minutes left in the game, it looked like the Spurs were going to salvage a win after losing every bit of the 22 point lead first half lead and falling behind by as much as three in the 3rd quarter.

That's when Paul Pierce went to work and scored 7 of the next 9 Celtic points on a number of drives to the hoop. Manu Ginobili then hit a very difficult running bank shot to make it 85-81. The Celtics came down and worked the ball around the horn to find an open Eddie House on the baseline arc for a 3 pointer and his only basket of the night.

Tim Duncan, who was bottled up all night, responds with an arcing lay-up over Kevin Garnett for only his 10th points of the evening. Pierce is fouled and continues his improved clutch 4th quarter foul shooting this season by hitting them both for 9 of Boston's 15 points in this unlikely comeback.

Pierce then steals the ball from Ginobili and Sam Cassell shows why Boston waited to sign him as he drains a 3 pointer for his 17th points of the night with 46 seconds left, to give Boston the lead for only the second time in the game.

At this point, Doc Rivers appears to be a master of the substitution as he brings in Rondo for House, and he quickly gets a huge rebound of a Garnett miss. But before the 62% foul shooter can get rid of the ball, he is fouled. Rondo then makes them both with 16 seconds left for an almost insurmountable lead of 4 points at 91-87.

After Ginobili is fouled and makes two for his 32 points of the evening, Doc sends in 90% foul shooter House for Rondo, who gets fouled and makes them both for a 93-89 lead with 9 seconds left.

Tony Parker answers with a quick lay-up with 4 seconds left. With Boston now leading by only 93-91, Garnett's in bounds pass is intercepted by defensive specialist Bruce Bowen, who gets it to Big Shot Bob Horry standing at the arc with enough time to face up and shoot a three pointer that would have counted at the buzzer had it gone in. It didn't, and an indefatigable comeback wasn't wasted.

St Patrick's Day luck prevails once again for the Boston Celtics. They beat the Spurs last year as a terrible team, in San Antonio for the first time in the Tim Duncan era. They did it again this year as a great team that almost made its own bad luck.

In a strange first half, Boston had only one assist for the entire team, for a season low. After falling behind by 22 they came back to be within 10 by half time. Except for Parker, the rest of the Spurs starting five scored a meager 22 points.

While Pierce was outstanding, Rajon Rondo added 20 points on 18 shots. Sam Cassell must be influencing Rondo already.

The Celtics rebounded by committee, as Pierce and Garnett each had 8 while Rondo and Perkins added 6 each and Sam grabbed 5 more, as they out rebounded the Spurs by 40-34.

Pierce led the team with 22 points and Garnett added 21. Kendrick Perkins went scoreless as he concentrated on keeping Duncan busy. Posey's contributions were unsung as well, and on the defensive end, as he scored but 2 points in 29 minutes.

This was an extremely poised Celtic team that played tonight.

The Celtics play the white hot Houston Rockets next and will look to break their 22 game winning streak in Houston.

Posted by Tom on 1:25 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 15, 2008

Bucks Congienal Hosts to Celtics: Lose by 22

The Celtics beat the Milwaukee Bucks 99-77 in a game that was decided in the second quarter.

The new additions, Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown, led the team in assists and rebounds respectively with 5 and 9.

Motivation is a funny thing.

Note the Utah Jazz. They went out and celebrated their solid win against the league's top team last night, the Celtics, by losing to...... the New Jersey Nets tonight.

It is important to note that before last night's revenge game against the Beantown ballers, the Jazz lost to the Bulls, and had to comeback strong to beat the very same Bucks team that Boston wore down and swallowed up earlier this evening. My point is that the only game they really got up for was against the Celtics.

Boston played the Bucks without their starting center, Andrew Bogut, while Boston was without Ray Allen. Call it a trade off. Still, Boston took the lead for good, 14-12, on a Kendrick Perkins hook shot with 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter.

They made their move and put the game away with about 4 minutes left in the 2nd quarter, courtesy of a Michael Ruffin flagrant foul, in a 33 second, 7 point scoring burst, that drove an 8 point lead to 15 points. For a Buck team that's heading towards Lottery Street once again, that proved too big of a hill to climb. The rest of the game was academic.

The Breakaway Sequence

With the score at a still competitive 38-30, Paul Pierce made a behind the back pass to Rondo under the hoop for 2 points. After a Charlie Bell miss, Rondo fed Garnett underneath for a dunk while getting a modern era flagrant foul from Michael Ruffin as Ruffin pushed Garnett on one shoulder as he was in air completing the dunk. Garnett dropped to the ground, on his back, unhurt, and managed a number of hand slaps with his team mates before they lifted him up. Garnett then made one of the two fouls shots.

On the ensuing inbounds play (that you receive as a reward for the flagrant foul), Paul Pierce drove for a reverse lay-up and and a 15 point lead. At this point, you could hear the Milwaukee Bucks folding on the dotted line. The lead was 18 by the half and ballooned to 23 before the game was over.

Sam Cassell had come in at the 3:34 mark of the 1st quarter, and started off by hitting his first 4 shots. He had a tie up for a jump ball, and 3 steals to go with 10 points, and 5 assists in about 23 minutes.

But it was Eddie House who put on an offensive display with 17 points (7 for 11) in 21 minutes including 3-5 from beyond the arc. He added 3 rebounds and 2 steals in a solid outing.

The Celtics defense was very good as they held the Bucks to .341 FG%, 5 for 26 from downtown, and a mere 24 points in the paint. The Bucks were held in check all night and had only 3 players in double digits led by Charlie Bell's 16.

It may be just in my mind, but even last year, I remember that very bad Celtic team trying hard and making moves to make the games competitive. There was no such motivation on this team that seemed resigned to its fate.

Paul Pierce played an aggressive and solid game, so we can forgive 3 TOs, including a second behind the back pass to Garnett that KG wasn't expecting underneath the hoop. Paul scored 13 points on 5 of 8 shooting with 7 rebounds and 3 assists in an abbreviated 27 minutes.

P.J. Brown got solid burn in this game, contributing 9 rebounds (6 offensive) with 4 assists and 4 points in about 24 minutes.

Garnett led with 19 points on 8 of 16 shooting, but grabbed only 2 rebounds and dished 2 assists. He and Perkins combined for the solid interior defense that it all revolves around. Rondo played a solid game with 13 points on 6 of 9, with 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

That is really pretty much it. Desmond Mason and Bobby Simmons got testy a little bit, but that was the most life you could observe in the Bucks for the evening.

With Milwaukee GM Harris reputed to be on his way out, one wonders if Coach Krystowiak might not be far behind.

The Celtics get a real reading on where they are, starting Monday night against San Antonio.

Posted by Tom on 11:46 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack

Celtics Get Jazz-ersized: Let One Slip Away 110-92

It turned out to be the Celtics worse loss of the year, beating the previous 12 point loss to Charlotte by 6.

One team beat the other off the starting line and it was all catch up from there. Sound familiar?

The Celtics got a taste of what they have been dishing out to lesser opponents of late - an early deficit from which they weren't able to recover. The Celtics led at 6-4....and never again. By the end of the 1st quarter it was a 10 point deficit. The final score appears worse than it was, as the Celtics made numerous attempts to overtake a well prepared Utah squad.

The Cs got it down to 5 in the second quarter before it enlarged to 13 by the half. They cut it to 4 once and 5 four times in the 3rd quarter, the only quarter they outscored (25-17) the revenge minded Jazz. The closest they came all night was 3 at 79-76 in the 4th, though they battled back on mini runs throughout the game.

Paul Pierce....

It seemed like every time we got it to like 4 or 6 points, they pushed it back to 9 or 10. We could never get over that hump. The defense struggled all night. But they run their plays to perfection.

Kevin Garnett....

...I think every time we made a run ourselves, they cut it short. They did what we usually do to teams. They cut the run short and they make a run of their own.

Yes, they did.

Doc Rivers added...

They just kicked our butt and I thought they just wanted it. They played harder. They played more aggressive. They were physical. They were tougher and they beat us. It doesn't happen often, but it happened tonight.

When Deron was asked if this game was circled....

Yeah, I was definitely looking forward to the game. They were one of the last teams to beat us at home.....we have 3 losses at home.....definitely wanted to avenge that.

For Utah it was a classic game. For the Celtics it was a somewhat weird game.

Garnett, who has been coming out on fire of late, came out cold, going 1-5 in the first quarter. Paul Pierce was ineffective as well, being shut out on a single attempt. Ray Allen and Kendrick Perkins picked up the slack with 9 and 6 points respectively. Rondo tried as well as they were leaving him open and he hit 2 jumpers. Then Ray, the one Celtic having real success offensively, slipped and hurt his foot (bruised heel) and was gone for the game.

Neither Pierce nor Kevin was able to get anything going at all in the first half. Pierce finished the game with 1 for 7 and anemic 8 points

This was one of KG's worse halves as a Celtic as he was 1 for 7 with 3 points and no rebounds at the half way mark. His defense was un-Garnett-like as well as he left Mehmet Okur open up top for 8 points on 3-4 shooting. Kevin recovered enough in the 2nd half to go 5-5 for 15 points and an unspectacular 6 rebounds. He did contribute 6 assists as Jerry Sloan played Kevin as Doc has played Tim Duncan, another great passing big man, leaving him in single coverage at times so as to stop the passing options.

The Jazz did a good job of collapsing in the middle on shooters, though the Celtics continued to drive and managed 40 points in the paint. They were not gotten easily. Utah did some damage in the paint of its own with 50 points. I don't know for sure, but that could be a season high for the Celtic defense.

The Jazz completely suffocated the Celtics on the boards in the first quarter going 13-5. The Celtics had only 6 rebounds by 8:33 mark of the 2nd quarter. Yet another weird stat for this game.

Deron Williams led both teams with 32 points largely on 17-18 from the foul line. Deron drove to the hoop so often and with so much success that Perkins laid a flagrant one foul on him on one drive. His had ice on his head afterwards...

It's alright. I got a headache, I'll be alright though. I'm going to get some Tylenol and get some rest.

He and Carlos Boozer played very well with Boozer getting 17 points and 12 rebounds. The Jazz outrebounded the Celtics 38-29 for the game.

Utah has not been a strong road team, but did well enough tonight to get the best team in the NBA on a night where they played with a power shortage.

Kevin Garnett...

Energy. I could tell off the bat energy-wise, yeah. We weren't our normal selves.....but we fought for 48 minutes.

The Celtics left the locker room rather early, while the Jazz were ebullient in theirs.

The Celtics play in Milwaukee on Saturday night, then go on to their Texas road trip plus New Orleans, making it the most difficult stretch of competition, by far, of the year.

Posted by Tom on 2:51 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 12, 2008

Boston Crushes Seattle for 10th Straight

Call them the Green Crush. It was almost boring to see how easy this win was. Almost.

I still enjoy watching the high level of ball this team is playing to dismantle their opponents.

The Boston Celtics just defeated the extra-young and lowly Seattle Supersonics, who were not super, and any sonics heard were the Celtics getting to the rim and scoring at will. The Celtics pumped up the volume to a 37 point lead before coasting home with a 111-82 win at home for their 10th straight win.

After putting together 3 different nine game streaks this year, the team now has the longest Celtic winning streak since the Bird-led 1985-86 season when they won 14 straight. It was also the team's 51st win this year and put Doc Rivers at an even .500 (324-324) for his coaching career.

Paul Pierce scored all of his 14 points in the first quarter when Seattle tried to keep up with the Beantown Ballers. He did most of his damage the old fashioned Paul Pierce way, on drives to the middle, shooting an efficient 6-9. After that, Pierce turned into a passing forward, taking just 2 shots the rest of the way, while finishing with 11 assists for a dub-dub. Pierce was stellar in his 26 minutes tonight.

Boston shot .542 while scoring 34 first quarter points to Seattle's 24. Ray Allen added 6 and Rondo and Leon Powe contributed 4 points each. The lead ballooned to 20 in the 2nd quarter, all but deciding this contest. The Celtics were hitting at a smooth and deadly .553 clip by half time. Without much effort, the lead ballooned to 37 points before the team coasted home with the win.

Along the way, every eligible Celtic player played and scored and played at least 10 minutes. Seattle emptied its bench too, as 24 different players played tonight. 'Summer league in March' time.

Games against bottom feeders will be like this for the rest of the year. Each type of team is playing for vastly different reasons as one looks at play-off seeding, the other at lottery seeding.

This allowed Doc Rivers to rest his starters more and team high minutes went to James Posey at 26:24, as he scored 10 points, grabbed 5 boards, and added 4 assists.

The Celtics defense was just too much for this young, offensive minded team, as the Men in Green took turns turning off the hot player, from Kevin Durant to Earl Watson, and keeping the clamps on Jeff Green and Chris Wilcox. In an aberration, Johan Petro took team high honors in attempts with 15, making 6 for 12 ineffectual points.

Sam Cassell and P.J. Brown got solid minutes as they work to get comfortable with their new team. Rajon Rondo did not have one of his better games. He got 2 quick fouls, played 16 minutes total, with 2 assists and 6 points, even missing a couple of lay-ups on the same play.

Eddie House was perfect from the field with a 5-5 night and 11 points in 17:26, adding solid defense on Earl Watson, adding 5 assists, 4 rebounds and 2 steals in one of his best performances in a while.

Kendrick Perkins was solid as usual in 22 minutes but failed to get at least 10 rebounds for the first time in 6 games. He had 5 boards and 5 points in an abbreviated evening.

Kevin Garnett tie with Ray Allen for team lead in scoring with 18, as his jumper was going once again. Allen has been a groove from downtown for about 12 games now and is getting hotter. He was silk with a precision-like 8 of 10 this evening, with 2-3 from beyond the arc. He is 11-17 for 65% over his last three games from the three point line.

Boston's bench scored 50 of the team's points and grabbed 26 of the team's 46 rebounds with solid contributions from everyone. Tony Allen led the team in rebounding with 7.

The team is just controlling games, breaking the will of opponents and doing it early. Philadelphia tried to compete in the 2nd half the other night but was dismissed anyway. The Sixers defeated the Pistons tonight. This Celtic domination is reminiscent of the 1980's teams.

Next up will be a more worthy opponent and one with revenge as a motive. Utah, 4th best in the west, at 43-23, comes to Boston on Friday. They have the league's best home record and only 3 home losses this year. One of those three losses is courtesy of the Celtics.

Posted by Tom on 10:17 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 11, 2008

Boston Chills Philly 100-85

The Boston Celtics cooled off a rather warm 76er team, while winning their 50th game and moving their own win streak to 9 straight.

It demonstrated the difference between the top playoff teams and the bottom ones in the east.

The Philadelphia team has surprised everyone and was on a 4 game win streak and had won 12 of 15 coming into this game. They are playing for .500, respectability, and a play-off spot in the weak Eastern conference. They are within 4 games of .500 (after this loss) at 30-34, are currently in the 7th play-off spot and are earning respect with every win. No one expected that from this squad.

Boston has been rolling along, and clicking on all cylinders for a while now. Boston can beat you in a variety of ways. Tonight they did so by two well established themes since the beginning of the year.

1) Quality over quantity...

From the trades this summer, and the carefully added role players, to Boston's low shot attempts, (the lowest in the league by 2 full shots at 76), but high FG%, (4th in the league at 47% - at one time they were #1) the team has gone for quality over quantity.

Tonight they were outshot by 17 attempts (78-95), but they made 7 more baskets (37-30) en route to their victory. Far from unusual, it is the team's MO this year.

2) The Three Shall Lead Them...

Lead them they did. The three stars scored 64 of the team's 100 points, were the only players in double figures and set the tone defensively, as always, starting with Kevin Garnett.

The Celtics jumped out to a 15-0 lead, held on when the Sixers caught up at 44, and made a strong 3rd quarter push behind Kevin Garnett's 12 points to push the lead back to 14 from which they maintained a comfortable margin for the rest of the game.

Kevin Garnett shot an uber efficient 11-14 for 26 points, making his first 7 shots, not missing until the 3rd quarter and adding 12 rebounds while playing his usual remarkable defense. That is what happens when you don't double Kevin Garnett regularly, as Philly chose not to on many occasions this evening.

Paul Pierce had 8 first quarter points, 15 by half time, on 6-9 shooting, 3-5 from downtown, and finished with 17 in 28 minutes, while playing solid defense on Andre Iguodala (5-14 for 17 points).

Ray Allen continued his torrid 3 point shooting, scoring 10 first quarter points, 21 points for the game, on 8-12 shooting, going 4-6 from beyond the arc. He is 33-62 over his last eleven games for a superb .53% that is even more impressive when you factor in that he is taking 5.6 three point shots per game. That is quality and quantity.

Add in Kendrick Perkins contributing yet another gem of a game with a career high 6 blocks in the first half (3 against Dalembert, 3 against Andre Miller), 11 rebounds, 7 points, while locking up Samuel Dalembert (2 points) for most of the game. Kendrick keeps his goal of 10 boards a game alive in 29 plus minutes.

Rajon Rondo had a Rondo-esque game with 7 rebounds, 8 assists, 6 points, 2 steals and made life difficult for a hard driving Andre Miller (7-20), a player who normally gives Rondo trouble.

The Celtics did lose a 'points in the paint' war they normally win, by 42-30. But it isn't as surprising when you see that this team takes it to the hoop most all the time now. No more Kyle Korver 'inside out' game for them. Andre Miller, Andre Iguodala, Thaddeus Young, and even Louis Williams were attacking the painted area all night.

The low degree of success is a credit to Perkins and Garnett's defensive prowess for the most part, as the Philly ballers shot just .316 for the game to the Celtics .474. That was essentially the game.

Sam Cassell played tonight for the very first time as a Celtic, but was held scoreless in 5 minutes while picking up 4 fouls.

The Celtics keep warm, cooled off Philly, and gave them something to think about if they ever meet in the play-offs.

The Celtics are now 50-12. It is the first 50 win Celtic team since 1990-91 when they won 51 in the tail end of the Larry Bird years. .

They return home for a game Wednesday night against Seattle.

Posted by Tom on 12:06 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 9, 2008

Brian Scalabrine Takes Dare: Goes Bald for Charity

The Boston Celtic's universal good guy, 6' 8" red headed Brian Scalabrine caused quite a stir in the Celtic's locker room before the game the other night.

The red head was sporting a swimmer's bald head look. The instantly recognizable red locks were gone.

For the quintessential team player, it was unusual to see Brian drawing attention to himself.

But it turns out to be for a good cause. Brian had attended a local event for St. Baldrick's.

Doc was asked about it and drew some attention and laughter from the reporters during the Bulls pre-game interview....

It's for a good cause. He scared the (heck) out of me. I thought he was our security guy, Phil Lynch. I really did. I mean I'm not kidding. He's sitting there and I'm like, 'Phil's in great shape.' (laughter). He's shaved his head for charity, and to raise money. If he did it, other people will do it and follow. .....Anybody who's willing to pay that price and look that way is pretty cool. But please ask him about it. I'm sure it's very important to him.

Said Brian....

It's a charity out of Connecticut called Saint Baldrick's and they raise money, it's sort of like a dare. I dare you to cut your hair. It's how it kind of started. They contacted me a couple of weeks ago and said they were doing an event at The Greatest Bar, in Boston, during the Bruins game. And I said OK, I'll go there and do it. They shaved like 20 heads and I got mine done. It is done for awareness for cancer for kids.

The Foundation is dedicated to "Shaving the Way to Conquer Kids' Cancer"

In eight years, events have taken place in 18 countries and 46 US states, raising over $34 million, and shaving more than 46,000 heads.

Their website is here if you would like to know more.

Posted by Tom on 9:09 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 8, 2008

Memphis: Out of Gas-ol

What happens when a well oiled Big Green Machine meets up with a Memphis team that had run out of Gas-ol a while ago?

Welcome to the Boston "3" Party, (you knew I was going to say it), they made 15 from beyond the arc, and coasted to an easy 30 point Celtic victory. You can say it was a Boston Massacre though the Grizzlies were amazingly cooperative.

The Celtics had this contest won in the 1st quarter, shooting 74% and jumping out to a 17 point lead, unless you want to be kind and say it wasn't until the 2nd quarter before you knew the inevitable final outcome. Memphis' grizzliest game of the year (biggest loss) was witnessed by its 2nd sell out crowd of the year.

The spectacular play of the 2007-8 Celtics, a result of the cohesive, coherent, co-mingling of 3 top players, led by marquee name, Kevin Garnett, continues to cut through the league like a hot knife through butter. It is a sight many want to see first hand, even at the expense of their own team.

It has led a league revival and dominoed a number of mid season big name trades/acquisitions by top teams trying to really, truly be able to compete for the NBA title.

Memphis decided to go the other way and cast its fortune with a youth movement and a pairing down of contractual obligations. The Grizzlies have basically thrown in the towel and given up on the season for the second year in a row. Former Celtic employee, Chris Wallace won the GM job in the pre-season and precious little since then. He got the mandate to break it all down and start over during the season. Bye Bye - Pau Gasol, Damon Stoudamire, and any idea of being competitive now.

Tonight's game was mailed in by the Grizzlies, so there was no need for the Celtics to really work themselves up either. The Cs won with solid defense, one arm tied behind their back, and the other shooting open 3 pointers.

They had so many open looks from the three point line, it must have seemed like a bad practice game. The Celtics made 15 of 30 from beyond the arc. The "3" party was led by Ray Allen, James Posey with 5-8 each, and Paul Pierce (4-8). Even Rajon Rondo got into the act with his 5th made three pointer of the season. Ironically, 3 point specialist, Eddie House shot blanks at 0-5.

The Grizzlies were so compliant, the Celtics only shot 15 free throws.

The Celtics shot .580 overall and except for a 2nd quarter blip, when they were dysfunctional offensively, and outscored by the Griz 17-14, they were in complete control. For the team many compare to a Lamberghetti, cruise control was on for most of the game,

The Celtic big men controlled the boards 45-31 as Kendrick Perkins continued to make good on his goal of 10 rebounds a game. He finished with a double double (11 boards, 13 pts.) for the 4th straight game. He put in a sparkling game on 6-7 shooting, adding 3 blocks in a mere 25:23 minutes of playing time. He drew a technical to boot.

Kevin Garnett added 17 points and 8 rebounds in 27 minutes. No Celtic played 30 minutes or more. It was the 2nd game of back to backs for the Cs and they had arrived in Memphis around 4:00a.m. The Grizzlies looked like the tired team instead.

Ray Allen led the team with 23 points on 9-13 overall. Pierce followed with 19 points, including 2 foul shots, having made at least his last 13 straight, while James Posey rang up 15 points total. Rajon Rondo contributed 3 points and 9 assists, while Eddie House played 28 minutes, adding 8 points and 7 assists.

The bench contributed 44 total points....and a good time was had by all.

Kevin Garnett cracked the 20,000 point milestone in the first half, becoming the 32nd player in league history to accomplish that. Only Shaquille O'Neal (26,008), Allen Iverson (22,488), and Kobe Bryant (21,039) have done so among active players.

The Celtic Love Train keeps on rolling for its 8th straight win and runs it's league best road record to 21-8.

Next stop is Philadelphia on Monday.

Posted by Tom on 10:35 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Bulls 'Boylan' Mad, Gooden Plenty Mad, Too.

He was a little late, but smiling Sam Cassell finally arrived as a fully signed and delivered Boston Celtic last night, and gave a press conference before the game.

When asked what the response from his new team mates was...

They mostly said, 'It's about time.'

(Referring to the long whispered rumors and the immediate recent delay due to a death in the family.)

Sam was smiling, but the Bulls weren't, as they lost to the Celtics 116-93.

Was it the fatigue? Was it the refs? Or was it the Celtics overpowering performance?

The Chicago Bulls were in a foul mood tonight. (I always wanted to write that line. Tonight's the night.) They were yakking with the refs quite a bit.

While the Celtics hopped on the Bulls early and rode them to an easy 23 point win, the Bulls rode the refs enough to make their point and get a 29 to 13 foul shot attempt advantage in the 2nd half. It took 4 technicals to make their point before the game was through.

Coach Boylan received a technical himself and said this after the game...

We were fatigued and they beat us up on the glass. We just didn't have an answer for them....The shooting percentage, which was below 30% against the Celtics, will be a hard night for you. We dug ourselves a hole with poor shooting and couldn't seem to get out of it.

Whatever it was, the Bulls were getting under the referees' skin, particularly Ken Mauer's. They were tagged with 4 technicals and an ejection of new comer Drew Gooden in the 2nd quarter, that brought a loud cheer from the house.

Gooden would only say this afterwards...

I didn't think I was too verbal out there but he made his decision, and bygones be bygones.

The Celtics enjoyed a huge disparity in first half foul shot attempts (30 to 9) as they ran up a 20 point half time lead through a balanced scoring attack. 4 Celtics were in double figures by half time, led by Kevin Garnett with twelve.

Kendrick Perkins had 10 in the 1st quarter, and finished with his 3rd straight double double after having none previously. He had said after the Detroit game that was his goal, ten rebounds a game. So far, so good. Add in 6-6 from the foul line and 3 blocks for good measure. Kendrick Perkins is playing as good as he has ever played. It is great to see him come alive like this. The timing couldn't be better, as his game seems to be reaching a whole new level.

Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo also had ten 1st half points each, and Leon Powe went 3-3 for 6 points in 8 minutes. Mount St. Pierce had another 3rd quarter eruption for 16 points, the lead ballooned to 28, and that was the game. Pierce led the team with 22 points in only 25 minutes. A 27-17 half time rebound advantage grew to 55 -35 by the final score. It was mostly academic in the second half.

Pierce, Garnett, Ray Allen and Kendrick Perkins did not play in the 4th quarter.

Pat Self on Back Time

I said this should happen in my pre-game comments....

the Celtics should roll over this team, and get some PT for some players who need it, while the big three get a little rest.

Players who got needed PT included P.J. Brown, who entered the game as a Celtic for the first time to big applause with 1:24 left in the 3rd quarter. He played 5 minute and was quite productive with 6 rebounds and a 3 point play. He did drop a few passes.

Doc said...

I thought he was great. You could see, you know, bobbling the ball was basically...saying you're going at NBA speed. And it's a whole different speed than those YMCA pick up games. ...but you could also see some of the things he can do already, which is nice.

When Sam Cassell was shown on the Jumbotron, sitting on the bench in street clothes, he drew a very loud and sustained applause from the crowd with many standing up for him.

With the Bulls getting outplayed in every facet of the game, Ben Gordon said they should take something from every game, even this one. What would that be?

We've got the Pistons coming up. They're right up there with the Celtics. We just know that when we go on other teams home floors, we got to be a lot sharper early on in the game and not let things get out of our grasp. They'll continue to rally off that.

On the foul calls..

Guys have been around the league long enough, that you know some nights they go your way, some nights they don't. You just have to play through that. I don't think that determined the outcome of the game, though. They just outplayed us.

After the emotional win against Detroit 2 nights ago, there was no letdown. The team played very well on both sides of the court as Chicago offered none of the trouble that Detroit did. The Celtics are 48-12, have won 7 straight games and 10 straight home games.

The Celtics now fly out to play Memphis tomorrow night.

Posted by Tom on 2:44 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 7, 2008

New Bulls Come to Town

Celtic ratings are up and the Chicago Bulls are in town for a contest at 8:00 pm.

Comcast Sports Network say that ratings of Celtic games have risen 107% since last year. Hardly surprising with the mega high profile changes and phenomenal success of the team, right from the start with a 9-0 winning streak out of the gate.

The Celtics have be aware of a possible emotional let down after the intensely fought big game against the Pistons. After beating the Pistons the last time, the Beantown Ballers went out and lost to Charlotte the next game.

P.J. Brown will probably get some PT this evening. The last game was just too intense of a fire to throw 'newbie' oldie P.J. into after not playing competitively since last year's play-offs, coincidentally, with these same Bulls.

Sam Cassell is expected to be with the team as well. While he will also be available for game duty, there is no word either way, at this time, whether he will play tonight.

New Bulls Coach Jim Boylan is trying to work in their two new players, guard Larry Hughes and forward Drew Gooden over the last 7 games. After starting 1-4 with the new players they have won their last 2 in a row.

But the way they have done it is wildly inconsistent. They gave up 64 points in the paint to the Memphis Grizzlies. That is correct....64 points. But they came back and limited Lebron and the Cavs to a lowly 24 PIP last evening. Joakim Noah had an explosive 20 rebound game against his former team mate, and good friend (not!) Ben Wallace. Noah has to follow up his performance of last night with another one this evening to give the Bulls a chance.

You have to throw the Bulls' season stats out the window a little bit with the major makeover to the line-up. That makes it harder to predict what to expect tonight.

The Bulls have no inside presence. That includes on offense. Are they a doughnut team ? At this point, I think so. Except they will attack the middle with the talent they have. They scored 48 points in the middle in each of the two recent wins. Kind of like the Celtics 'smalls' in that respect. Pierce, Rondo, both Allens will attack the middle as a committee. Interior passing helps quite a bit. Nocioni, Deng, Hinrich, Gooden will try to do much the same.

Gooden and Noah could comprise a tenacious rebounding tandem. The Bulls out rebounded both Memphis and Cleveland, though it should be mentioned that the Cavs were without big Z.

The Celtics pride themselves on rebounding well, and Perkins has noticeably lifted that part of his game of late. Noah and Perkins are both coming off 20 rebound games. Collision expected.
Winner..KP?

Who will Chicago try to have Kevin Garnett? Noah? Gooden? Tyrus Thomas will miss this game. KG should be a match up nightmare for Chicago.

Barring that letdown I mentioned, the Celtics should roll over this team, and get some PT for some players who need it, while the big three get a little rest. That is Doc's biggest job for this evening, making sure they are up for this game.

T

Posted by Tom on 11:22 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

March 6, 2008

10 Afterthoughts from the Detroit Game

A few things deserve mentioning.

1) Paul Pierce played a heck of a defensive game, the entire game. If you wondered why the offensive numbers looked so mundane for double P, wonder no more.

He was all over Tayshuan Prince. Prince looked inept out there and Paul was a major reason why. Paul also helped on other players with exceptional energy. And bear in mind, he was happy to do it and looked not, for his own shot. Big kudos for Paul to do what needed to be done. Oh yeah, before you it was just Prince being Prince, even Detroit fans said that Prince was on a nice streak coming in.

2) Detroit ball movement- Rip said it to me (as one UConn guy to another) after the game as one of biggest problems they have to fix and things will be fine. And it's true. They broke down into a lot of one on one stuff when the Cs defense took their first option away.

3) How Rip did so well on Ray...

"Just have to get into his air. Close up his air space, stay tight on him."

4) Jason Maxiell on Rondo's dunk and the game generally...

"He went tight to the rim...good dunk."

We decided to come out a little bit too late. We came out slow. They shot some tight rim and attacked it. We (have) guys who been there before. They been to championship before. They know what they're doing. Allen hasn't been there. Pierce hasn't been there. (if we meet in the play-offs) it's gonna be a tough series."

Were you surprised by anything tonight?

Ummm...na. We knew they were going to come and play hard, play their game like it was a championship game, and they did.

5) The late arrival (4 a.m.) was a factor, I believe. Was it the difference? It possibly explains the slow start and that was a huge setback. I won't say the out come would been different, but you never know.

6) I'd like to comment on the idea that Steven A. Smith put forth (I read about it, I didn't hear it myself) that the Celtics put all their 'cards on the table' and that will hurt them in a return meeting in the play-offs with the Pistons.

I've felt all along that that the Cs have been intentionally 'holding back' stuff that they will bring out in the play-offs. Stuff like..... KG playing a strong offensive post game, like he did tonight. Well..that is the main thing and KG rebounding more as well.

KG has averaged a much higher board number than he has put up this season. It is not by mistake, in my opinion. I believe he will crash the boards in certain games and in certain series, far more than he has on a regular basis so far.

But as far as putting all their cards on the table..I don't see that any great secrets have been revealed.

7) The Celtic shot distribution was skewed this game as well. KG had 22 and Rondo 16 of the Celtics 76 attempts. No one else hit double digits. That is far from normal.

Usually Doc makes sure all three stars have about the same amount of attempts. While the Celtics didn't do that last night, they did execute under pressure much better due to Perkins, Rondo, and even Davis playing calmer under pressure. Their 'assists per made basket' was the highest of the series.

8) Garnett's attacking Wallace early in the 4th, and getting the 4th and 5th fouls on him, was huge strategically. That opened the door for Perkins to go wild on the boards with 10 in the final period.

9) Speaking of inexperienced players, how about Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson? They both looked tight. Maxiell missed a sure dunk. He played 18 minutes and that was his only shot. He had been a factor of sorts in an earlier game. Amir was just schooled by Garnett.

10) Talking about not playing all your cards...

I liked that Doc tried to keep the 2nd unit out there, even when they started to lose the lead in the 2nd quarter. They will never get the chance to respond to pressure like that unless you give them the chance. Then he brought KG back before the lead was completely lost. I was understanding of what Doc was trying to do, contrary to those who think he left that unit in too long. Remember, this isn't the play-offs. Doc is trying to get the whole team ready for games like these.

Well, 10 things to think about is enough for now.

I was going to add a Mensa Sudoku game for jollies. But that's enough. Go back to work now.

Mensa Sudoku sounds like some foreign player's name, doesn't it? Nevermind, get back to work.

T

Posted by Tom on 1:05 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

Celtics Grind out a Huge Win; Beat Detroit 90-78

The Boston Celtics are the first team to clinched a play-off spot and added home court advantage against the Pistons, their adversary last night, and expected rival for the Eastern crown. They are now 47-12 and riding a 6 game winning streak.

Paul Pierce had said that this team would be scary if Perkins played as big as he did the other night. He did. It was.

Kevin Garnett had a monster game with 20 first half points in the face of a defense that is as tough as their own, and a season high 31 for the game. Kendrick Perkins turned into a 20 rebound eating beast, with 10 in the crucial 4th quarter, also a season high. The Celtics owned the boards once again as they grabbed 50 to Detroit's 38. They ran out to a big early lead (17-3) and made Detroit play catch up all night.

It was a highly physical game. Playoff atmosphere? Hmmm....that depends on who you asked.

The Celtics jumped out to an early 17-5 lead and held on for a 23-13 1st quarter.

Chauncey Billups said.....

It's going to be a grind every time. It's going to be a grind. It's great basketball. They're not going to surprise us and we're not going to surprise them.

A grind it was. As mentioned, a very physical game was allowed by the refs. But it wasn't a play-off atmosphere for Rasheed Wallace.....

Nah, not for us....not for me. I have been in more intense play-off games. That was a good regular season match up though.

Statement game for the Celtics? Though many players were asked, no one on the Celtics was willing to utter that 'statement'. Why? They already know better. Most every player called it a big game for themselves, and it was. But they know that Detroit isn't going to lose their confidence and fold up their tent because they lost 2 out of 3 regular season games to the Celtics.

Paul Pierce knows about that from past experience as well....

You don't want to get too over confident against them. I remember in 2002 when we were , I think, like 3-1, or 4-0 against the New Jersey Nets (during the regular season) and lost to them in the Conference Finals.

The player that propelled this win on both ends of the floor was Kevin Garnett. We received a sampling of what to expect from him come play-off time. When the game began, he came out firing...and hitting, and sett