Don't overlook the Hawks My first thoughts this morning were of tonight's game. The Celtics should easily beat the Hawks, but this has all the makings of a trap game. The Pistons are looming on the horizon on Wednesday and it would be easy to dismiss the Hawks while thinking of that game. But with the addition of Bibby, the Hawks can't be dismissed. They have won 3 of their last 4 and are playing very good basketball since the trade.
What a difference a point guard makes Danny has been looking for his point guard since he got here. There have been a series of point guards going through the roster since he got here: Marcus Banks, Orien Green, Delonte West, and Sebastian Telfair to name a few. Danny has finally hit the jackpot with Rajon Rondo. This kid is for real. His 16 assists were the most for a Celtics point guard since Sherman Douglas had 18 in 1985. He has gotten better and better with every game this season and I have a feeling that he is just scratching the surface of what he is going to be. There is a great site on YouTube that has highlights of Rondo from every Celtics game. Watch them and be amazed. I liked what Donny Marshall had to say the other day. When Tanguay asked him if Bibby would be another tough matchup for Rondo, Donny said that we are getting to the point where teams will see that they are playing Rondo and say, "We are playing Rondo tonight and it will be a tough matchup for us."
Sixth Star The Celtics are running the Sixth Star contest again where the fans vote for the player who most exemplifies Celtic Pride. We hear the phrase "Celtics Pride" a lot, but what is it really. This quote from John Havlicek's biography explains it.
He also had the inner drive that characterized "Celtics pride." After his first year Havlicek went home and worked hard to improve both his outside shooting and his dribbling. The next season he led the team in scoring
. So, an inner drive is what characterizes Celtics Pride. To me, this has to be Leon Powe. This kid has gone through more tough times than most 10 people have to go through and has come out on top. He has been stuck on the bench for long stretches and never complained but stayed ready and every time he gets minutes, even if it is just 2 or 3 minutes, he produces. This kid is Celtics Pride personified. He has my vote. But, saying that, I am a little hesitant to vote for him because Ricky D won it two years ago and was traded. Then, last year, Delonte won it and was traded. I don't want Leon to go anywhere else but I do believe he deserves this award.
Small Ball Small ball for long stretches still frustrates me. James Posey is not a power forward. Against the Bobcats, we were doing great with the big lineup with Perk at center and KG at the 4. When Perk was taken out, we had a 13 point lead and with Doc going with small ball, the Bobcats cut the lead to 5. It wasn't until Doc FINALLY put Perk back in that we stopped their run and got back on track. What amazes me is that it took Doc so long to put Perk back in. Small ball is ok for short spurts but not for most of the 4th quarter. Hopefully, this will stop with PJ Brown here.
Perk is a Beast I love Perk and make no secret of it but even I was amazed at his play against the Bobcats. He was ... well, he was a Beast!! One thing I noticed in this game is that Perk was going straight up for layups and dunks more instead of automatically putting it on the floor and risking it being taken away. You can tell he has been working on it. I knew that Perk had this kind of game in him and whether it was PJ Brown coming on board that inspired it, or that the shoulder is better or that he just decided to be more aggressive and not defer so much to the others, I expect Perk to continue to play this way. You heard it here first (Well, maybe second as my friends at Perkisabeast probably said it first.) Perk had 5 blocks in this game. He is learning how to block shots without picking up a foul. Like Rondo's game, I can see improvement from game to game in Perk's play. The NY Times had a long article on the Celtics and the difference that Kevin Garnett has made from last year to this year. If you haven't read it, you should do so. It is very entertaining. One passage however had me chuckling as he described Brian Scalabrine.
Of all the Celtics, Scalabrine is the only one who actively wants to be interviewed. He is also the least intimidating pro athlete I have ever met. He has been in the N.B.A. seven years and was signed by Boston for $15 million, so he’s obviously physically gifted. He’s more mobile and more dexterous than the average 6-foot-9 American. But Scalabrine doesn’t look anything like a pro basketball player: he has red hair and a bread-dough body, and he wears a knit hat that would have looked goofy on a Beastie Boy in 1991. He says the word “absolutely” a lot, and he sounds like Bill Walton when he does so.
Charles Barkley Hates the Celtics Charles Barkley never has anything nice to say about the Celtics. This week, I have heard him say that the Celtics are not among the elite teams in the NBA, that Pierce is not an elite player and that Sam Cassell has nothing left in the tank and that the Celtics can't match up with Detroit and Cleveland. Maybe it goes back to his playing days with the Sixers when the Celtics were the enemy and he still considers them the enemy.
I leave you with today's video of the Rajon Rondo Show against the Bobcats. Some exciting stuff. Two things stand out to me as I watch this. One, Rondo spends a lot of time crashing to the floor and into the people on the baseline. He should be wearing full body armor. Second, Rondo had 16 assists because his teammates were finishing and making their shots. An assist isn't an assist unless the passee does what he is supposed to when he gets the ball. A point guard can be very good but won't be great unless he has the players around him who will finish the plays. Rondo's assist to Perk where he had to wait for Perk to get there was a fun play to watch. But, later in the game, Perk tried to return the favor and handed off to Rondo for a layup but Rondo didn't finish the play. So, as good as Rondo is, and as impressive as his 16 assists are, it takes the rest of the team to make those plays. Ubuntu.
