It is amazing to me as I watch Dirk Nowitski in the 3 point shootout. A 7 footer that can shoot 3's like that. It seems like more and more bigs are moving out away from the basket and the old fashioned bang under the basket bigs of the olden days are going by the wayside. I guess that is why I like Perk and Powe so much. They are bigs of the old style. Not to mention they both have incredible work ethics.
In a year, two at the most, Rondo will be in the Skills contest and will probably win it. The skills that they test there is where Rondo excels. In another year, his shot will be more accurate and he will be the PG on a championship team.
The Slam Dunk contest was incredible. It is the best one I have seen. Gerald's Birthday Cake dunk deserved a 10 but that is neither here nor there because Dwight Howard deserved the win. Every one of his dunks were creative and amazing. Maybe Gerald can use this to work harder on his overall game instead of concentrating on being a dunker. I like Gerald and wish the best for him. This dunk of Howard's was off the charts. It will be one of the very best of all time, I am sure. Simply amazing. Seems like a nice guy too in spite of his swing at Rondo.
Doctor J is one of the classiest people on this earth. He has always been one of my favorite players, even though he wasn't a Celtic. I really liked the way he explained how hard Gerald's barefoot dunk really was when a lot of people might have dismissed it as nothing much. On the other hand, I never liked Darryl Dawkins and still don't.
Steve Nash only got 9 points in the 3 point shootout. That is pretty embarassing. I never thought of Steve Nash as a particularly good 3 point shooter but I guess he is if they invited him. But then again, it is way different in the contest than it is in games. I remember Danny Ainge participating in two of the 3 point contests that Larry Bird won. In one of them, Danny had a particularly bad showing, but he was a great 3 point shooter in games. Bird was great in that contest. He played mind games with the other contestants, though. Like his first one when he walked into the locker room before the contest and asked who was playing for second. You can talk trash when you can back it up. Or the last one that he won where he didn't even take off his warmups and as soon as the ball left his hands, he held up his finger and walked to mid court. He needed that last shot to win and he was so sure of himself, he had no doubt that it would go in. Bird didn't shoot jumpers like a lot of players, he shot set shots and that saved his legs for the last round whereas others may have tired out by the end. I wonder why Ray Allen doesn't get invited to the shootout since everyone, including the ever critical Charles Barkley, that Ray Allen is the best shooter in the game.
Speaking of Ray Allen. He seemed to be enjoying himself at yesterday's practice. Doc asked the team if they wanted to walk through some plays or do shooting drills and it took Ray about half a second to shout out "Shooting drills." Ray Allen really hasn't played well so far this season. You know he is capable of playing much better and that should be scary to the teams we will face in the second half of the season. Ray is going to get it going. With Ray shooting from the outside like he is capable of, and a rested KG back and ready to go, and the bench playing like they have been in his absence, the Celtics are a scary team indeed.
KG was there at the East practice yesterday and launched a half court shot along with the others. That is a good sign that the ab strain is pretty much healed. Doc would never have let him do that otherwise. He is going to go through a heavy workout today and if all goes well, he will return to the lineup in Denver on Tuesday. This would be good news for the Celtics since they are facing a tough Western trip and having KG back would be a big boost. Something tells me that he is going to come back with a vengeance. No news yet about Perk's shoulder although he sounded like he expected to be back after the break. I know one thing, Perk didn't take a vacation and is rehabbing his shoulder as hard as he can so he can come back.
KG seems like he is having a great time in New Orleans. He was there to support Rondo in the Rookie Challenge and at one point called him over for a hug. In the East practice today, while his friend, Chauncey Billups, was participating in the half court shooting contest, KG grabbed the mike and said, “It looks good. It ain’t hitting nothin’, but it looks good.”
While at times, Doc has done some things that make me scratch my head, like keeping Powe on the bench when we were getting killed on the boards by Washington and playing small ball when the other team is big and gobbling up every rebound, but overall, I think Doc Rivers is the perfect coach for this team. As the season has gone on, he has been making better decisions in games and I think he is a better coach today than he was at the beginning of the season. I contribute some of that to KG and his cast of veteran players this season. Not just because the veteran players can execute better, but because of their input. This video from YouTube is a case in point.
That is one instance, but I can imagine in every huddle, Ray Allen, James Posey, and KG are giving Doc input and he is smart enough to know when they are right. Another reason that Doc has been so successful this season is that he brought in Tom Thibodeau. The last few seasons one of our biggest failings was that we didn't play defense and were never able to get stops down the stretch of games and we lost way too many games by 5 points or less because of it. The one thing that you can say distinguishes this year's team is their defense and it has been the defense that has won quite a few games this season when the offense seemed to sputter. Tom Thibodeau is the one responsible for that and he is very hands on. He is up and yelling instructions on the sidelines every bit as much as Doc is. If Tony Brown was still in charge of our defense, I just don't see this team being as dominant. KG said it perfectly in this morning's Herald.
“Great job,” he said. “Great job, man. Obviously, I’ve had numerous coaches in my years, and he is the best at motivating players, being very straightforward and the same time being soothing and understanding. It’s a rare mix.”
Doc is the perfect coach for this team just like KG Jones was the perfect coach for the '86 team. It takes a player's coach and a coach who is good with people to manage a team full of superstars. Doc is smart enough to take their input into consideration when coaching and he has been doing it and in the process becoming a much better coach.
Lance Allred was the HORSE champion for the D-League. He also played in the D-League All Star Game. He played for the Celtics summer league team, but didn't stick. He is legally deaf and should be an inspiration to anyone with a handicap that you can do whatever you set your mind to and want to work hard enough for.
Lost in all the excitement of All Star weekend, Atlanta traded Anthony Johnson, Tyronn Lue, Shelden Williams, Lorenzen Wright and draft pick for Mike Bibby. I kind of had a hope in the back of my mind that we might get Lue for a back up to Rondo since Lue for Scal works salary wise and Lue is a good friend of KG's. Lots of big stars on the move this season. All these teams are taking chances now in an effort to match up with Boston. It will be interesting to see how these teams finish the season after their big mid season trades. The trading deadline is coming up quickly. I don't see Danny making a trade as much as I see him looking for a player who is cut from a team or maybe a player who is a free agent. Or, he may just stand pat with what we have. With Big Baby and Leon Powe coming on now and with Pollard hopefully getting healthy we seem to be ok at the 4 and 5. We could use a back up point guard, but Eddie House has been playing well as has Tony Allen. It would be nice to get Pruitt some playing time now to see if he can be counted on if needed in the playoffs.
Rajon Rondo represented the Celtics very admirably in the Rookie/Sophomore game. He started the game and played the first 10 minutes of each half before Tom Thibodeau switched out the players.
He finished the game with 6 points, 6 assists, 3 rebounds, and 3 steals in 18 minutes. He had two very nifty assists. Once was a bounce pass down the middle of the lane for a dunk. The other was one of those where he shifts the ball like he is going to pass then brings it back to shoot, but this time after bringing it back, he passed it to a cutting teammate. KG was sitting courtside cheering him on, which was nice.
The Sophomores continued their win streak over the Rookies with a 136-109 victory. Daniel Gibson of the Cavs was the MVP. He hit 11 3's in the game for 33 points to tie his teammate LeBron James for second all time scoring in the Rookie Challenge. Amare Stoudamire holds the record at 34 points.
Today, NBA TV was showing highlights of the NBA players and affiliates in the New Orleans community as they built houses, schools, and playgrounds to help the people of New Orleans as they struggle to rebuild the city from Katrina.
One of the finalists for this year's Hall of Fame induction is Dennis Johnson. It has always seemed a disgrace to me that DJ wasn't inducted into the Hall of Fame when Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish. and Joe Dumars were elected to the Hall and I would say that DJ deserved it just as much, or even more so.
The evidence was clearly there to prove that he was worthy of being in the Hall of Fame. In 1,100 games, Johnson scored 15,535 points, grabbed 4,249 rebounds and handed out 5,499 assists for career averages of 14.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 5.0 assists per game. He was known particularly for his defense (as was Dumars)and was elected to nine straight All-Defensive First and Second Teams. DJ was also known as a clutch player. He played smothering defense on Magic Johnson in the 1984 NBA Finals. He converted a last-second layup in Game 4 of the 1987 Eastern Conference Finals after Larry Bird's steal. He hit innumerable big shots throughout his career and most importantly, he won championships with two different teams, winning the 1979 NBA Finals MVP award.
DJ was a competitor and was also known for his durability. In 14 NBA seasons, he played in 1,100 of a possible 1,148 games and participated in 180 playoff games. Only 11 other players played in more. When he retired, DJ was only the 11th NBA player to amass more than 15,000 points and 5,000 assists. All that, and he was never inducted into the hall of fame.
Larry Bird called DJ the best teammate that he ever played with. That is saying a lot considering the other Celtic' legends that Larry played with. One of the biggest injustices in the NBA was that DJ been not been inducted into the Hall of Fame when his teammates and contemporaries like Joe Dumars were inducted. DJ is one of the 15 finalists for this year's induction. Maybe this year they will make up for the travesty of not having inducted him in previous years. It is a year too late for DJ to enjoy it, but he belongs there. The NBA needs to right the wrong that has gone on too long.
Ray Allen was on Conan O'Brien and through the wonders of YouTube, we are able to offer you his performance here in its entirety. I think Ray did a pretty good job. What do you think?
Here are comments found around the Knicks boards during their game with the Celtics. I really feel for the Knicks fans as Isiah has literally ruined their franchise. I remember the feeling back when Pitino was in charge in Boston and it isn't a nice feeling. At least that was short lived but it seems as though the Isiah fiasco has gone on forever.
Will the Knicks score more than 59 points today? Yes 50% No 50%
I'm not wasting my time finding pictures for the starting lineups. Screw the Knicks
Knicks will win easily.
I'm watching to see if Curry can learn from Big Baby how much better of a player you can become if you lose weight.
Surely the start of another losing streak.
We are without KG, Perkins and Pollard. (from a Celtics fan)
We are without good players.
Epic loss. 70+ points.
One small step towards Derrick Rose. Sounds good to me.
What are you talking? Knicks will win this game easily. Celtics are dead tired and will have a terrible shooting night.
I pray to god this won't be a replay of what we saw the first time theese teams met this season. That was embarressing.
It might be worse........or very close. They are a team that has started playing like champions even without KG.
I don't think the Knicks have any chance to keep this close. Boston is truly rolling even while KG has been out.
We have a chance. I believe in our Knicks!!
One Celtics announcer: "Eddy Curry has a huge pricetag" Another Celtics announcer: "There is a lot that is huge about Eddy Curry. "
WOW Rondo is a smart player, he let Crawful pass him by purpose to knock the ball loose. This kid is gonna be a defensive stud in the NBA.
Celts don't have kg but they do have the refs
NY/NJ owns Boston now because of the Giants. Keep up your end of the deal Knicks!!
Damn Big Baby is hurt that's my man
Aww does Big Baby need his bottle?
That doesn't look good, Celtics or not, I hope it's not as bad as it looks.
Glen Davis is down. The move was balletic, the result horrific.
We are losing to a team with 7 players in uni now.. LOL...
How do get blown out by a team devoid of bigs and with KG. If Im Thomas Im contemplating suicide.
I wish there was another team in the league as bad as the knicks so we could play them sometimes.
Well you have the team Martin Lawrence Coached in Rebound. But they actually showed heart in the end. They might beat us.
We make bum azz rondo look like a player... That guy is a buster.. Wow.. We stink...
One of the best PG defenders in the leauge. Averaging 10 5 5 2 with less then 2 TOs a game, almost 50 FG%, that's a young stud if I ever saw one.
They're up by 30 and the refs still helping them out.
Rondo just owned us, huge hands.
Paul Pierce is super human. Did you see the trainer placing a lit cigarette on his hand. He was barely wincing. Paul Pierce > NY Knicks.
I hate how Pierce always flails his arms when driving to the basket. He ALWAYS does it.
How are we giving up 101 points with half a quarter left against the Boston goon squad?
Tom Thibedou ... I want this man as the next Knicks head coach.
Every good asistant coach wont make a good head coach!
Every legendary player won't make a good gm or coach!
So true....But if you think Tom will be be good head coach just because he can come up with nice defensive schemes you are sadly mistaken! Usually guys like that are control freaks who seldom allow NBA players the offensive freedom and creativity that is needed to be a balanced team... Examples are Rick Carlisle, Jeff Van Gundy, Scott Skiles to name a few...And eventually PJ will be back as an asistant sooner, rather than later!
Knicks gave this game away. I feel better knowing Boston will get their ass kicked by whoever comes out of the West or the Pistons/Cavs.
The Celtics beat the Knicks 111-103 to end the first half with 5 straight victories and a 41-9 record. The All Star Break couldn't come at a better time as the Celtics have just one big still standing after last night's game. It is like an Agatha Christie mystery as the Celtics bigs have been knocked off one by one until only Leon Powe was left standing. It is ironic that the reason that Leon dropped to the 49th pick was that they were afraid of his surgically repaired knees and he is the last healthy Celtic big left standing at the break.
Scott Pollard has missed most of the first half with ankle problems. Kevin Garnett missed his 9th straight game last night with an ab strain. Kendrick Perkins missed his 3rd game with the strained shoulder. In the first quarter of last night's game with a groin strain. Then, in the second quarter, Big Baby went down holding his knee. He was helped off the floor and left the Garden on crutches with what has been initially diagnosed with a left quad strain. That left Leon Powe as the only big on the Celtics facing a Knicks team with a plethora of bigs. But it didn't matter as the Celtics finished off the Knicks in spite of a couple of lapses that led to some tense moments, especially for Tommy who was beside himself calling for the Celtics to take the ball inside.
This game had a bit of everything. There were the two injuries to the Celtics bigs. Rondo got poked in the eye in the 4th quarter and after the game looked more like a prize fighter than a basketball player as his eye was partially swollen shut. There was a double lane violation on a free throw, something I don't recall seeing before, and possession was decided by a jump ball. There was the irate Isiah Thomas picking up 2 technicals in less than 2 minutes and being ejected. Before he left, though, he gave Doc Rivers a hug. Then there was Crawford getting fouled not once, but three times while shooting a 3 in the 4th quarter. On the third foul, they awarded him 3 free throws. After the first, they changed it to 2 free throws and then changed it back to 3. The Celtics allowed the Knicks 103 points, only the 8th time all season they allowed a team to get to 100. The Celtics built a 27 point lead and then allowed the Knicks to cut it to only 7. It definitely wasn't one of the Celtics better efforts and would be better suited to show what not to do rather than what a team should do.
Leon Powe was terrific right from the start. He started the game by taking two charges in a row from Curry and Randolph in spite of giving up about 40 pounds a piece to NY's two very big bigs. He finished the game with 18 points, 8 rebounds, 1 block and only 3 fouls. He played great defense keeping NY's bigs away from the basket. James Posey came off the bench to supply some much needed rebounding and finished with 5 points, 11 rebounds and 5 assists. Posey is a player who does whatever it takes to win.
Rajon Rondo is certainly scoring well for a player who can't shoot. He has been hitting his jumpers as well as getting to the basket on a regular basis. He finished with 18 points on 9-14 shooting to go with 3 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals and 3 blocks. It is so exciting to see Rondo improving and growing into a top point guard before our eyes this season. Ray Allen found out at half time that he was chosen to replace Caron Butler in the All Star game and played befitting an All Star with 21 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists. Pierce had another Pierce-like game with 24 points, 5 rebounds, 7 assists, and 2 steals to go with 6 turnovers. Tony Allen also had a strong game bringing a spark off the bench and scoring on several drives to the basket along with a 3 pointer to stem the tide of the Knicks comeback. He finished with 14 points, 1 rebound, 2 assists, and 1 block. He also played in your face defense and on a couple of plays caused turnovers because he smothered the other player completely.
The Celtics shot only 42% in the first quarter but picked up the pace and finished the game shooting 51%. In spite being extremely undersized, the Celtics won the battle on the boards with 39 rebounds to 37 for the Knicks. Turnovers were even at 15 with the Celtics committing the bulk of theirs in the second and third quarters as they got sloppy after building a big lead. They turned it over just once in the 4th quarter. The Celtics have a lot to feel good about going into the break. They have the league's best record at 41-9 and finished the half with 5 straight wins in spite of all the injuries. Best of all, they have 5 days off to get healthy as the two toughest months of the season are coming up right after the break. It feels very good to be a Celtics fan right now.
Ray Allen was named to the his eighth All Star Game as he was named as a replacement for Caron Butler. Ray is averaging 18.5 points, 4.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.0 steals per game this season. While these stats are all down from his career averages, the key stat to look at is 41-9. He has sacrificed his game to mesh with the other two stars but has come up big in several games where he was needed. It is nice to see him rewarded for his part in the Celtics success. Congratulations to Ray and it will be fun to see all three Celtics stars in New Orleans along with Rajon Rondo, who is becoming a star in his own right.
Pacers' fans aren't a very chatty group, but here are some comments found around the Pacers' boards during their game with the Celtics.
I would be shocked to get a win here. Hopefully I am wrong.
Travis Diener shall lead us to Victory!!!
I would have said that we could beat the C's without Garnett, but they've been playing so damn well without him. If they can beat Dallas and San Antonio without KG - they can certainly knock us off.
I hate Boston, but boy do they play hard. Hope the pacers can match Boston's intensity. Be nice if someone would point out Paul pierce to granger this time.
Wot happened to their league leading defense
Brian Scalabrine sucks.
Pacers missed a golden opportunity tonight, as they really should have beaten this team.
Everytime we got close the Celtics found a way to pull away again
Wow...we are leaving ray Allen open...Leone powe seems to be sleeking to the basket on every play.
Credit to Paul Pierce. He's doing what has to be done.
Pacers are still leaving the other team's shooters too open...just can't leave Ray Allen or Paul Pierce out there.
Call me a homer if you want, but once again there were a lot of calls that just didn't go the home team's way. As usually, the "stars" get the benefit while those who simply play hard get nah-dah! And I mean that on boths sides, but moreso for the Pacers. The refs clearly choked on their whistles on several non-calls for the Pacers. But that's the way it is.
At least tonight was fun and close. That's saying something against the vaunted Celtics.
I don't like it when the Celtics play down to other teams instead of playing as well as they can play.
Detroit is just as good as Boston
Boston is just like the patriots...they will choke when it comes pressure time!
With KG watching from the locker room and Perk looking on from the bench, the Celtics won their 4th game in a row and have gone 6 and 2 since KG went out. It was a game of runs with the Celtics scoring the first 10 points of the game but then Indiana went on a 13-2 run to take their first lead at 13-12. Pacers were up 25-21 at the end of the first quarter and took an 11 point lead in the second quarter but the Celtics went on a run to go up 51-50 at the half. The Celtics hung on to lead 82-77 at the end of 3 but the Pacers went on a 9-2 run to take an 86-84 lead. The Celtics got down to playing defense down the stretch and won the game 104-97.
Leon Powe started at Center and played very well on both ends of the court. He finished with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist and 2 steals. Doc needs to keep playing this kid even when KG comes back. It would be a real shame to hide him on the bench again. Scal should never get off the bench when KG comes back so that the minutes can go to Powe and Baby. Scal started at PF and had a fairly productive game for him, finishing with 3 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists and 2 blocks.
Rondo continued his strong play of late with 12 points, 7 rebounds, 7 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. He just seems to get better with each game. Paul Pierce has been taking up the slack with KG out and had another terrific game with 28 points, 12 rebounds, 5 assists and 1 block. Ray Allen had a solid game with 23 points on 9-16 shooting to go with 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals and 1 block.
Posey continues to impress by doing a little bit of everything when he is on the floor. He plays great defense and finished with 6 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, and 2 steals. House came off the bench to score 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 steal. Tony finished with 8 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist and 1 steal. This wasn't Big Baby's night as he finished with 3 points and 1 rebound and looked lost at times out there.
The Celtics shot 42% while allowing 43% for the Pacers. The Pacers out rebounded the Celtics 48-42. What hurt the Pacers most in this game were turnovers as turned the ball over 16 times to only 8 times for the Celtics. In 11 of the 15 seasons since the Larry Bird retired, the Boston Celtics have failed to win 40 games for the season. With this win, the Celtics have won 40 games already before the All Star break. Now, that is special.
Shimmy Silenced I have been struck by how far Antoine Walker has fallen since his last stint with the Celtics. He spent last season in Pat Riley's for having too much body fat and now that he is with the Wolves, he is just averaging 19 mpg coming off the bench. He encouraged Pierce to leave Boston if he wanted a ring and now he is playing with 5 other former Celtics and isn't even in the starting lineup. My how the mighty have fallen.
This Has to be a Coincidence The Sonics have 2 former Celtics and technically have 3 players they got from the Celtics if you include Jeff Green who they got with the #5 pick we gave them. The Sonics have the second worst record in the West and third worst overall. The Wolves have 6 former Celtics on their team and have the worst record in the West and second worst record over all. And the Heat have 3 former Celtics including Mark Blount who should count extra because he just just such an unlikeable person. The Heat have the worst record in the league. I mean, this really has to be a coincidence that the three worst teams in the league have the most former Celtics on them, doesn't it?
Leon Davis Celtics Blog discusses these two guys and the Herald and Globe discuss them as well. Mike Gorman dubbed Leon Powe and Big Baby Leon Davis on CelticsStuff Live this week. They have become a two headed monster off the bench. Everyone knows that I have been on the Leon Powe bandwagon since we got him. I like Big Baby too and it is really nice that these two cheer for each other because they bring different things to the game and one night we will need what one brings and the next night we may need the other. But the fact that both are emerging is going to bode very well down the stretch and in the playoffs.
Kevin Garnett With KG having been out 7 games and the team doing well without him, it is easy to forget what this guy brings to the team. Having to sit out like this may be the best thing for the team. For one thing, the bigs on the bench have been getting playing time that they wouldn't have if KG was playing and all except Scal have responded in a big way. Second, you know that when KG comes back after the break he is going to be well rested and loaded for bear. He is going to want to tear into every team we face and that is a scary thing. In case you have forgotten how very good this guy is, here is a reminder.
Experience Giddyupidness I love that from the Kia Rondo commercials. It just seems to fit Rajon Rondo very well. Sometimes it is easy to forget that Rondo is just 21 years old and just in his second season. He has really come out of his shell since KG went down and with every game, he seems to be getting better and better. One thing you have to be amazed at is how a 6'1" point guard can out rebound all of the centers and power forwards from both teams in a game. He has been amazing on the boards lately.
All Star redux Ray Allen still may have a chance at making the All Star team. Caron Butler has been injured and may or may not be able to play. If he can't go, Ray Allen, Jose Calderon, and Hedo Turkoglu would be the top candidates for the spot. I think Ray should get it by virtue of the Celtics' record. Ray Allen may not have the best stats, but he was crucial to the Celtics success and he has sacrificed a lot of his game for the good of the team. That has to account for something.
ABC Announcing The ABC announcers were funny to listen to. They must have referred to Scal as a fan favorite at least 6 times. The Celtics chanting for him seems like more of making the best of a bad situation than his being a fan favorite. The best quote of the day was after Scal got his 4th rebound, they called him a "rebounding demon". Unless I missed something, Scal is averaging 1.5 rebounds and has gone 20+ minutes several times without a rebound. Another time they made a point of mentioning Scal's championship caliber defense. If Danny paid them to raise Scal's stock for a trade, he got his money's worth.
Celtics vs Spurs Having been a Celtics fan the year we had 15 wins in an effort to secure Tim Duncan, the win on Sunday was super sweet. I have suffered through 10 years of having my nose rubbed in the fact that the Spurs had Tim Duncan and we didn't as they easily dominated the Celtics all those years. With the win last year and the win on Sunday, the Celtics have a modest 2 game win streak against the Spurs. The win was sweet because even though the Spurs were missing Parker and Barry, the Celtics were missing two bigger parts of their team with the starting center and power forward both out. The Celtics won that game on sheer grit and determination and with defense. It was one of the most satisfying wins of the season.
Manu Flop Speaking of the Spurs, is there a more irritating player than Manu Ginobili to play against. His attempts to draw fouls on the last two plays of the game were ridiculous. I was so proud of Tony for not falling for it. And speaking of falling, Manu is one of the biggest floppers in the league since Reggie Miller retired.
This one is priceless.
This has to be my favorite, though. How obvious can a flop be?
Big Test The Spurs was a big test for the Celtics but in a lot of ways, the upcoming Pacers and Knicks games are even bigger tests. It would be very easy to let down since neither team can be considered a power house but to prove themselves, the Celtics need to beat the teams they are supposed to beat. They need to fight a let down and come out against both of these teams in the same way they would approach San Antonio or Dallas.
Tom Thibodeau There have been several articles about Doc and how he is responsible for this team's success including one in the MetroWest Daily today. Doc is probably the perfect coach for this team because he has the team's respect because he is a players coach similar to what KC Jones was with the '80's Celtics. But, I personally feel that Tom Thibodeau is more responsible for this team's record than Doc is. It is the defense that has made them as dominant as they are. If this team wasn't playing team defense like they are, their record wouldn't be near as impressive. In Doc's previous 3 years, he talked a lot of defense, but we didn't see any of it. He made that infamous statement that he worked on offense in practices because after all while they were practicing the offensive sets half the team was playing defense. Yes, Doc is doing a decent job of coaching, but it is Tom Thibodeau who is really responsible for the success of this team. You can see both Thibodeau and Doc on the sidelines yelling instructions to the players. Thibodeau was adamant about signing just a one year contract. He interviewed for several head coaching jobs before coming here as an assistant. You have to believe that he will be in demand this season to fill any vacancies. Can the Celtics keep him if they don't offer him the head coaching spot? Can the Celtics be as good defensively without him on the sidelines now that his system is in place? I think we need to try to keep this guy at all costs.
Pierce Kudos One thing that needs to be said is that Paul Pierce has had a terrific season. Before the season, I had my doubts that Pierce would be able to defer to the other two stars and wondered if it would work. One of the reasons that it has worked is Pierce's willingness to take a back seat to KG in the limelight and his willingness on the court to do whatever was needed to win. Some games, like against the Spurs, he will pick up his scoring and take over the game. They needed his scoring in that game. In other games he will concentrate on feeding the others and rack up the assists. He seems to do a little of everything in every game to make the team successful.
16-0 The Celtics are 16-0 against the Western Conference. At first when the Celtics undefeated record against the West was mentioned, there was always, well you haven't faced any of the West's powerhouses. Well, now we have beaten the Lakers twice (granted it was before the Gasol trade), the Mavericks, Denver, Utah, the Blazers, and now the Spurs. The Celtics beat the Mavs without KG and the Spurs without KG and Perk. Granted we still have 2 West coast trips coming up and we have to face both the Hornets and Suns twice, but shouldn't the Celtics get some credit for what they have accomplished so far?
Doc vs Obie Tonight's game matches Doc against former Celtics coach Jim O'Brien. Obie always stressed defense, but nothing like Thibodeau has brought to the Celtics. One thing is for sure, we will see a barrage of threes if we leave them open. Hopefully Doc and Thibodeau will have them ready for it. We know that the Pacers will be up for this game and hopefully the Celtics will be too.
Here are comments found around the Spurs boards during their game against the Celtics.
Spurs win by 5
From what I hear, Perkins isn't playing either, and Pollard's still injured.
.Parker down. KG down. This is a match that both teams can plausibly dowplay, regardless of outcome. It'll be a fullbore game, no doubt -- but I think that Boston will keep the fireworks display in check if they pull it out.
Boston's coming off a real high with that last-second road victory over the T-wolves. Be interesting to see if they'll bring that energy to the start of the game.
Even without Garnett, Celtics have played at a high level all season and they're not about to take it easy against the Spurs. I have really no idea what to expect.
It's going to be a good game I think and it's a shame about the injuries for both sides. All I can offer is the definitive homer "Spurs will slaughter 'em".
I am excited about this game. Hopefully the Spurs pull it off. I'm curious to see if Bowen will be on Allen or Pierce. Duncan should be well off against their frontline. I think he needs to get 20+ shots in this game.
I have no clue which way this game is going to go. My opinion all season is that the Celtics are overrated due to playing out of the East.
Yeah, I've been waiting for this game for a long time now. I think SA will win, just because their losing more of an important piece than us, KG then Tony parker.
GINOBLIIIIII ON FIRE!! Doh! Pierce on fire too.
I generally watch Spurs games in local bars where the TV sound is off. So I'm not used to all this endless, extraneous chatter from the announcers. Don't these guys EVER shut up? Or at least talk about the game at hand?
We have Parker and Barry out, it's even , no excuses by either team using injuries. Plus Boston clearly have the refs on their side so far. It's almost embarrassing how lopsided the calls have been so far.
Boston don't really scare me at all though based on today. Boston played out of their skins on D to beat us while we just coasted and barely lost
Damn, the C's are bashing SA on both ends of the floor, and the Spurs can't get a call. Powe gets superstar treatment, drawing a highly suspect offensive foul from TD going to the basket.
I'm not going to complain about the calls cuz its pointless to me unless its blatant, but the Celtics, as you can see because of KG's arrival, they play aggressive and scrappy D and that's impressive. They are physical. I'm impressed by them and for people to say they are overrated, they are not. They are 15-0 against the Western Conf., swept the Lakers (w/o Gasol), won in Utah.
Yeah, I don't know what is more annoying about this game. The calls that the refs are making, the damn flying camera (I wish someone would nuke it), or the commentators who are so in love with their own voices, but who can't seem to talk about what is going on on the floor.
And the television announcers are horrible all you here is Boston this Boston that
Celts are playing Good D, Spurs are not moving the ball around w/ precision. It's not the officiating guys.
I wish people would stop complaining about the calls, sure, calls have been questionable, but that's NOT why they are losing this game.
If I hear, "the c's playing without Kg" one more time!!!!
And the love for Boston is to be expected. Just wait till the Laker love fest starts up again now that they are "relevant" again as well.
Crunch time....... Down 4 with 2 min....its Manu Time
Manu flopping This is over
That's two horrible shot attempts by Ginobili.
Argh, two last minute plays that Manu tried to draw fouls. They usually don't at the end of games. Didn't even give the Spurs a chance at scoring. It's not the refs fault that Spurs can't rebound.
Then the announcers add fuel to the fire with "the game was physical but you have to admit it was called consistently throughout" Consistent right? Your driving expert gets 12 free throw attempts while ours (ginobili) gets 2. That's pretty consistent.
Small ball killed us today
"And the chant of defense is back in Boston" How many times have we heard that today lol
A loss in the regular season is not such a bad thing. It will really wake the spurs up when it comes to playing Boston. Losses always teach your more than close wins. With wins you usually become a little bit more complacent.
How could they let a fat rookie like Davis to have a big game?!
Davis is a good player though. He was a good pick up for Boston. He was a big reason for beating the Pistons in their last win verus them.
Celtics are tough. They defienltey came out and got the win. The only thing I don't understand is why the guys kept sayin glen Davis was D'ing up Duncan well? Tim shot 50%??? Isn't that pretty good? He scored efficiently. Only 3 turnovers not like 6 or something?
I've interviewed 'Big Baby' and the kid is a joy to talk too and watch play. He plays hard and is skilled. He's a perfect role player for any team to have.
He hustles. He has soft hands. He is a difference player. He'll never be a star, but he's a player you want on your team.
Big Baby played a strong game, and continues to impress, but I'm not sold on him for the playoffs, as a whole. Boston won with more energy than us, indeed
I love how the broadcast made the constant point 10,000 times that Boston didn't have KG....yet I guess it didn't matter that SA is still playing without a core member in Tony Parker and a key bench player in Barry.
Im really not concerned with the Celtics anymore after this game, they didn't impress me in any way. They were playing at a playoff effort level and we werent
I really pi**Ed me off to hear the announcers pronounce the Celtics as the best team in the league. They have the best record right now, but that does not mean that they are the best team. But this could be a good sign------they announced last year that the best team was Dallas, and look what happened to them in the playoffs.
Exactly. Congratulations Boston Celtics on being the most likely team to be this year's 2007 Dallas Mavericks.
The calls had nothing to do with the Spurs losing the game. The Spurs lack of hustle and fundamental execution cost them the game. We were only one or two rebounds away from winning, so it was a decent effort, but just simply not good enough against a team that hustles like Boston does.
Celtics look better than I thought they would...and without KG. They're legit...and I look forward to meeting them in the Finals....but not playing the way we did today.
Bottom line is we got beat today by a bunch of 6'8" and under guys. Simply because we got outworked. We didn't concentrate, we didn't execute, we did nothing right fundamanetally. We made Davis look like an all-star, when the reality is that Duncan should have had 40 points. Powe had two fouls in the first 3 minutes of the game, and what did we do? We failed to go to Duncan. As soon as Powe got his 2nd foul, I thought, "Great, this is our game. Tim should have 30+ points and we should cruise to a 15-point win." Guys, Davis is no more than 2 inches taller than Ray Allen. He's 6'7" at the most. Since when can a fat 6'7" guy guard Tim?
The Spurs got outworked today by a team that was hungry to prove themselves against the reigning champs. The Spurs did NOT beat themselves! The Celtics are FOR REAL!!! It's not like we were making a bunch of lazy passes that were easy steals for the Celtics. Most of the Spurs turnovers came off the Celtics reaching in and getting a hand on the ball or deflecting passes. That's just good defense. The refs were letting a lot of the slapping and grabbing go on both ends, but the Spurs didn't adjust to how the game was being called. The Celtics kept going for the ball with their hands, disrupting the Spurs offense, while the Spurs refused to return the favor and kept playing defense with their feet (although that IS how defense is SUPPOSED TO be played).
Like I said, the Celtics are FOR REAL. They are #1 in the league in almost every defensive category, and as Spurs fans, we all know that defense wins championships. Barring an injury to one of their Big 3, I don't even think Detroit has a chance of beating the Celtics in the playoffs. They WILL be in the NBA Finals. The question is: Will the Spurs be there to face them?
I think the Pistons in a 7 game series would have a legit chance. They have already looked good against Boston at times this year. They have players to give Boston trouble
Boston is a good team but they are not tested at all in the playoffs to put them as a finals lock
Pop wanted to stay small in this game. That drives me nuts sometimes as Spurs gave up so many key offensive rebounds to the Celtics. Playing small with Davis in there really does not help.
The Celts are a VERY GOOD defensive team (the numbers don't lie; #1 in the league in 4 defensive categories). I feel the East is theirs to lose. The Pistons have a CHANCE to beat them in a 7 game series, but my money is on the Celtics to come out of the East. They are the better defensive team and they have 3 legit "game breakers" on offense.
Besides, it's not like the Celtics are a bunch of rookies with ZERO playoff experience. Garnett and Pierce have been to the conference Finals and Allen has been in the semis. Posey has won a ring, House has made deep runs with Phoenix and New Jersey. They have guys with playoff experience.
I know a lot of people here won't admit it, because they just beat us..but Boston is currently the best team in the NBA, and they are favored to win the East..it'll be Boston or Detroit either way, and it'll be tough for the West..why? Because the West is going to be tough for the ENTIRE playoffs..1 to 8, every game is going to be tough..
In the East, it's much easier..so whoever comes out of the West is going to be tired and worn out compared to those East teams..
I know Boston is for real. But the wizards and cavaliers will probably beat them out. Sometimes its about the right matchups and dodging bullets. Pistons wiz and cavs can all potentially take out the Celtics.
It's amazing how SOME are dismissing the Celtics, they are a pretty darn good team Spurs lost to a really good team today, one that has the BEST chance to get to the Finals from the East along w/ the Pistons.
The Celtics are a great team right now - their record against the West says it all. But I think they're peaking too early.
My thoughts as well. They have 3 big players with crappy to good role players. However over the course of the season, one if not two or three of their big guys will wear down. It's all about minutes.
IMO the fans today got ripped off for not seeing bonner and scot pollard play. Boston is the best team in the NBA right now..they have the best D in the NBA with Garnett, and are near the top even without him..they are a solid team..Rivers and Thibodeau deserve a lot of credit..
Perkins doesn't make a difference in today's game, since Big Baby played a solid game for 30 minutes..KG is always a difference maker, but Parker obviously is too..
The Celts energy definitely had the upper hand on the Spurs today. I had an odd feeling from the second half that the Spurs didn't have enough energy to keep up with the Celts young guns. Also, the key players like Pierce 33pts and the Celts getting second chance rebounding and points led to the Spurs getting outplayed on defense to which led to today's loss. This game loss here proves that a couple of upgrades are needed to keep the Spurs fresh on the roster and keep their chances to repeat as champs in distance.
Regardless of Boston (who had KG and Perkins out), Tony Parker and Brent Barry weren't playing today, either. Between the two teams, I still like us in a playoff series. The experience and depth of the Spurs is better.
We are a contender either way.but can we really win 3 tough playoff series, and then expect to beat either Boston or Detroit, who will be coming off 2 series, since the 1st one will most likely be a sweep for both teams?..
It just sucks that Saliabrine made a Kareem Jumphook vs us. I knew right there and then we lost the game...
I spit on the ground after that shot..but he HAD to make one..he was bricking everything else..
It was Big Baby Davis that predicted the loss for me. The way he slipped in the post and grabbed those rebounds to either rebound off the Spurs miss or giving the Celts a chance on gaining second chance points.
Was really peeved at the last two plays by Ginobili. He tried pulling a Chauncy Billups and drawing a foul on a shot and ended up taking a wild shot and got nothing. Why not go for a good three. Pull up and square up with the basket. Stop trying to draw a foul.
Boston showed more intensity during this game. Big Baby definitely annoyed Duncan a bit, but Duncan was fine. He does need to focus a bit more.
