We got a look at the future tonight and it was fun. Doc sat KG, Pierce to rest them since they have another game tomorrow night and the young guys got a lot of run in this game.
Doc started Rondo, Lee, Green, Sully and Collins with Melo, Terry, Kurz, Downs, and Joseph playing off the bench. The Knicks also sat their stars with Melo, Amare and Chandler all sitting this one out.
Boston Celtics' Jeff Green, left, is squeezed by New York Knicks' Mychel
Thompson (20) during the second half of an NBA preseason game in
Albany, N.Y. on Saturday, Oct. 20, 2012. (AP Photo/Tim Roske)
After falling behind by 20 at one point, the Celtics ended the first half on a 24-9 run to pull to within 5. Kris Joseph's consecutive three-point plays to open the fourth quarter, part of a 24-4 stretch, gave Boston its first lead since the the score was 9-8 at the 7:34 mark of the first quarter. They completely outplayed the Knicks down the stretch for the 109-98 win.
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at Boston Celtics (2-4) at New York Knicks (2-1) Preseason Game #7 – Road Game #5 Saturday, October 20, 2012 7:30pm ET TV: CSNNE, MSG, NBA-LP (DTV 752/753) Times Union Center, Albany, New York Referees: Marc Davis, Tony Brown, Eli Roe
This is the second preseason game between these two division rivals. The first game was a spirited affair with the Knicks coming out on top 98-95 in OT. The Knicks are playing in the second of back to back games and although most of their regular starters are listed they may sit them.
In the Knicks' 107-88 loss to the Raptors, Amare played 26 minutes and Melo played 33 minutes. They may or may not play in this one. Amare has pretty much said that he doesn't play to play. Ordinarily, the starters would sit in back to back games but this is New York and this is the Celtics, and after a sub-par effort with porous defense, their coach may want to try to work through some issues. But, who knows.
The game notes have the regular starters listed, but they haven't been right yet, so why start now? Doc has said that he will sit Paul Pierce and Brandon Bass tonight, both of whom sustained minor injuries in the last game, I've put Jeff Green into the starting lineup for Pierce, but I have a funny feeling that Doc may start Kris Jospeh to keep some continuity with his core bench group.
Sherrod Blakely tweeted that both KG and Darko will also be out tonight. It looks like Rondo is playing but may be in limited minutes. No word yet whether Barbosa has reported to the Celtics yet. Last word was he was going through visa paperwork and may be available for Sunday's game.
On an interesting note, Marc Davis will be calling a Celtics game for the first time since his incident with Rondo that resulted in Rondo's suspension. If you recall, a series of terrible and very obviously wrong calls led to Rondo bumping him after yet another terrible call. Let's hope they are both on their best behavior in this one.
Ahead of the game thread, I'll just post this little tidbit from Sherrod Blakely. Pierce, who tweaked his knee when pushed into the photographers by Joe Johnson last game will sit out tonight. Brandon Bass, who also tweaked his knee, the same one that he had problems with last season, will also sit out. Darko will get one more night off to rest his injured wrist. And, KG will sit to rest and avoid injury in a meaningless preseason game. So, we should see lots of sloppy play and also young guys getting some good experience.
What I have enjoyed the most this preseason is watching the Celtics fast breaks. For the first time, Rondo has multiple options on the break instead of getting the ball up court quickly and then having to dribble around while he waits for the rest of the team to get in place. The play above has Paul Pierce running ahead and getting the hoop. More than likely, he won't be the first one up the court every time, especially as the season progresses, but this team is going to have a lot of young athletic players who will be running the court with Rondo every time the Celtics get the ball.
The Celtics have so many players this year who want to run and who will run. Courtney Lee, Jason Terry, Jeff Green, Chris Wilcox, Darko, Avery, Bass, even Pierce and KG will be running because they won't have to play as many minutes this season. And I haven't even mentioned the Brazilian Blur yet. It's going to be a lot of fun once the chemistry gels and the team gets going.
Every year, every coach talks about wanting to get out and run more. They want to run because fast breaks produce easy offense. But then, with the need to play core players big minutes or for lack of effort, teams inevitably don't follow through with their desire to get out and run. I have a feeling that this team is going to run all year. And another key to having a running team is having a player who can rebound and outlet the ball well. The Celtics not only have speed this season they also have some size and players who can rebound. Jared Sullinger has an uncanny knack of being able to snag rebounds. Darko, Bass, Green, and of course, KG all have the ability to rebound and are good passers to outlet the ball to the players who are streaking up the court.
In the last four preseason games, the Celtics have been showing that the fast break is going to be a big part of their offense. Against the Knicks they had 12 fast break points. Against the Sixers they had 14 fast break points. In their last two games against the Nets they had 16 and 17 fast break points. That is exciting. And I expect them to have as many or more fast break points in every game this season. This is going to be a fun team to watch.
We all expect Courtney Lee to be a big part of the team's success this season. So far, in the preseason, his shoot has been short much of the time as he has hit just 4 of 15 shots from beyond the arc. For a player who has shot almost 40% from beyond the arc over his career, his inability to hit from deep this season so far has been a bit puzzling. But the Herald posted a story that explains it.
Now Lee is in a better position to help even more. Even though he’s still made just 4-of-15 3-pointers, his outside shot is coming around — and there’s a physical reason for that. He was injured on Sept. 6 and didn’t get back playing until Sept. 28, a critical period to miss for a player seeking to come full speed into training camp.
“A lot of people don’t know that I was out three weeks before training camp, so I’m still trying to get my legs 100 percent back,” Lee said. “So you notice a lot of my shots, they’re not long they’re short. So that means I’ve got to get my legs back into it.”
So, he's been working his way back from being out for 3 weeks with a deep thigh bruise and now he's getting his groove back. We'll get to see more of what he can do in the season opener, I'm sure. But one thing that we are seeing is his defense. He is proving to be a very good defender. Doc said that he was the best defender against the Nets in the last game.
He also runs the floor very well and in that game, it was so much fun to see him running the floor with Rondo and the opportunities that's going to give the Celtics going forward. He's going to get most of his time at the shooting guard position, but he also has the size to play the 3 in a small lineup and he handles the ball well enough to play the point in some situations. That also allows him to take some pressure off of Rondo when he's on the court. Once he gets his legs back under him and gets used to the system, his versatility and talents are going to be one of the keys to the Celtics success this season.
Now, every year since 2004 Celtics Green has done a fantasy league via Yahoo and every year I come in sub top 3, BOOO!!! Well, twice I got 3rd. Oh well, in any case, according to Yahoo, Boston ranks 5th in Yahoo Fantasy Basketball (much like my team every year). So, congrats to all you Fantasy superstars out there! Below is the results (note Miami didnt crack the top 10!)...
Sports Radio Interviews posted an interview with Ray Allen. One interesting answer from him says that the Celtics made it so he had to leave.
"It was a business decision and the team put me in the position where we had to move. We had to go. Miami was a better choice for us based on what the team was doing, so it wasn’t, don’t boo me, boo the team in a sense. Now it’s out of my control. … When this contract situation came down, everybody in my circle — mom, family, brother, sister, friends from college, people who watched me since I was in high school and since I was in college — nobody wanted me to resign in that situation because they thought, ‘There [is] so much left in you and this team isn’t taking care of you or treating you right.’ That’s the way I felt and it was like, if you are going to come and not put out a good contract on the table then, hey, we gotta think about going somewhere else.”
So, let me get this straight. The Celtics offered twice as much as the Heat did. Danny even offered to include a rare no trade clause in the contract. And, they didn't put a good contract on the table??? And the contract worth half as much and without a no trade clause is better? So because they offered twice as much as the Heat did, we should boo the Celtics and not him for making him leave? I may be missing something but this doesn't make a lot of sense.
He said that it was a shame that KG lost his number. He's scapegoating the Celtics for his decision to sign with their chief rival and that's really a shame. He made the decision. The Celtics made him a good offer. Maybe it wasn't quite as much as KG's offer but then again, Ray isn't as good as KG. Not even close. I guess we, as Celtics' fans, should thank Ray for taking his talents to South Beach. The Celtics are a much better team this season with the players who replaced him they would be with him. But the fact that he's now saying the Celtics forced him out by not making a good offer is disappointing and a shame. I thought he had more class than that.
Nets fans sound a bit different than they did after their team blew out the Celtics. Lots of hate for Deron Williams. When fans are longing to have Gerald Green back, you know there are problems. Of course there are the wheelchair comments after Pierce came up limping after he was shoved into the photographers by Joe Johnson. Funny, he didn't seem to have that mean streak on the Hawks. Not sure why they hate Courtney Lee so much but they do. Enjoy today's comments....
Brook will dominate!
Triple double for Brook…Nets by 7
After we will blow C’s away, I want Regie to kiss up to nets( most notorious hater)
I see some Celtic fans
Winning feels weird (even in preseason) Its the first time I have ever watched a winning team in any sport
Hump's got a big advantage vs Sullinger
Celtics are playing like this is G7 of the Finals.
In their second preseason game against the Brooklyn Nets the Boston Celtics traveled to New York to visit the brand new Barclays Center. In their first match-up we only got a glimpse of the new look Nets as all five starters sat out the entire game. That game still proved to be extremely competitive with the Celtics losing by a point at home. This time around the Brooklyn Nets held the home court advantage and the starters came to play. The Celtics sought revenge for the game Tuesday and certainly looked focused blowing out the Nets 115 to 85.
As the regular season rapidly approaches we looked to see how Doc formulates his line-ups, solidifies a solid rotation, and who will join the three veteran starters in Rondo, Pierce, and Garnett. For tonight's game the Celtics opened up with Rajon Rondo, Courtney Lee, Paul Pierce, Jared Sullinger, and Kevin Garnett. This was a great game for the starting five as each player knew his role and executed to the fullest. Rajon Rondo had a solid overall performance tallying 14 points, 9 assists, and 3 rebounds.
I was especially excited about Courtney Lee tonight who had a breakout performance scoring a team high 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting. The team as a whole did a great job of turning defense into offense and each individual player shot a high percentage from the field. Kevin Garnett had a strong performance going 7-9 with 14 points in just 22 minutes.
The Celtics captain Paul Pierce was certainly "The Truth" tonight hitting all 4 of his shots from the three point line and finished with 18 points tying Lee for a game high. Finally was Jared Sullinger who got the start again at the four spot. Sullinger played well offensively with 12 points on 5 of 9 shooting. Defensively he struggled at times against the larger power forwards Kris Humphries and Andre Blatche but overall put together a solid performance. Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
We wrote about David Stern's new rule limiting teams to 90 seconds between intros and the tip off. Failure to be on the court in those 90 seconds results in a delay of game. Kevin Durant weighed in on the rule from a player's point of view. He doesn't like it because the Thunder has a ritual that they go through that the fans there love.
"I don't like it. I think it's too quick. I think it's too rushed. I like the idea of it – enough of some of the stuff," Rivers said.
"I think they need to change it to two minutes, maybe even 2 ½ minutes. I don't think they factor in the coach actually has to draw up a play first, and then guys break. I hope that will be changed a little bit.
"It makes the first play that you draw up before the game almost silly," Rivers said. "Guys are more focused on running out on the floor."
Doc suggests that if they are looking to save some time they can shorten the intros instead and cut down on some of the music and dancing.
Doc Rivers said he has no idea what kind of shape Barbosa is in, good news is he's healthy, unlike when #celtics picked up Pietrus in '11
— gary washburn (@GwashNBAGlobe) October 18, 2012
#CelticsTalk: Doc Rivers isn't sure when Barbosa will join the #Celtics. Slight chance he'll play in preseason finale vs #Sixers on Sunday.
— A. Sherrod Blakely (@SherrodbCSN) October 18, 2012
Celtics officially announce signing Barbosa. He won't be avail. to play tonight bc of pending visa paperwork. #CelticsTalk
— Jessica Camerato (@JCameratoNBA) October 18, 2012
Much like Terry, Barbosa’s greatest skill is his ability to deliver points off the bench. He has established himself as an offensive sparkplug throughout his three stops in Phoenix, Toronto and Indiana. Barbosa’s best offensive season came back in 2006-07, when he averaged 18.1 PPG off the bench for the Suns en route to the Sixth Man of the Year award. He shot 47.6 percent from the field and 43.4 percent from 3-point range that season.
His numbers have dipped since that season but don’t let the raw numbers fool you: he can still get it done offensively. Barbosa’s statistical declines are due in large part to a decrease in playing time. His minutes per game average maxed out at 32.7 in 2006-07, but he has received less than 25.0 minutes of action in four of his five seasons since then.
To more accurately depict what his offensive numbers really mean, let’s take a look at what Barbosa provides on a per-36 minute basis. He averaged 19.9 points per 36 minutes back in his Sixth Man of the Year campaign and his numbers have been near that ever since. In 2008-09, he has a career-best average of 21.0 points per 36 minutes. In 42 games with Toronto last season, he scored 19.5 points per 36 minutes.
I think Scal was the first person I heard who compared Jeff Green to Laker great James Worthy. Then it kind of caught on because I heard both Mike and Tommy make those comparisons. And fans were starting to make the comparison on a regular basis. Then he dunked on Jason Kidd and we got the comparison again.
But Jeff didn't like being compared to James Worthy without Worthy's blessing. From ESPN Boston:
"Put this Tweet out to James Worthy -- he has Twitter," said Green. "I'm not doing it. Who runs the Boston Celtics' Twitter? ... I cannot be called the great James Worthy without his permission. I'm dead serious. I want you to put that Tweet out. I do not want to be called James Worthy. Get video, I don't care."
Informed the Worthy comparisons were launched by former Celtic Brian Scalabrine doing analysis for Comcast SportsNet on Boston's overseas games, Green reaffirmed his need for permission.
"I've got a message for Scal: You have to ask the great James Worthy if I'm able to have that nickname of James Worthy, because that's a top 50 [player], one of the greatest players to ever play this game, and for me to be called that, it's an honor, but you have to ask his permission," said Green. "So Tweet it, call him, email, whatever you need to do, because I don't want to be called that without his permission."
It seems as though someone got the word out to Worthy because he tweeted this last night:
So now that we have Mr Worthy's blessing to make the comparison, Can we start calling Jeff "Big Game Jeff"? That's one title, Jeff is still going to have to earn and I'm going to enjoy watching him do it this season.
at Boston Celtics (1-4) at Brooklyn Nets (3-0) Thursday, October 18, 2012 8:00 PM ET Preseason Game #6, Road Game #4 TV: TNT, CSNNE Barclays Center Referees: Tony Brothers, Mark Ayotte, Matt Boland
The Celtics and Nets square off for the second time in 3 nights. The
first game between these two resulted in a 97-96 Celtics loss. The Nets
sat all of their starters while the Celtics played their full squad.
But a unit of Kris Joseph, Fab Melo, Micah Downs, Rob Kurz and Jason
Collins lost a 9 point lead in the final minutes to give the Nets a
win. I can honestly say we probably will never see that lineup on the
court again.
I expect both teams to play their starters. The
Nets are at home and the Celtics have just 2 more preseason games after
this one to tune up the lineups. Since Doc hasn't started the same
unit twice, it's hard to tell who will be in the starting lineup for
this one. I'm thinking it will be the traditional starting lineup with
Lee at SG. The Celtics will get to see the new look Nets starting
lineup of Williams, Johnson, Wallace, Humphries, and Lopez.
This
will be the first time ever for the Celtics to play in the brand new
Barclays Center, which will be the home of the Nets from now on. This
will be the Nets' second game in their new home. The Celtics had cut
two players just before Tuesday's game. They have just added another
player in Leandro Barbosa, but I'm not sure if he will be in uniform and
available for the game. Darko is expected to miss this game with the
wrist injury.
The Celtics still have much to work on before the
season starts, and with just 2 games after this one, it seems like a
good time to get serious with the rotations and leave the
experimentation behind. Hopefully they can lower their turnovers and
finally get their pick and roll defense to work.
David Stern has issued a fiat that teams must return to the court for the opening tip no more than 90 seconds after pregame introductions have concluded. If a team isn't on the court on time they get a delay of game warning. This seems like Herr Stern getting a bit heavy handed. If he wants to speed up the game, have his refs stop calling phantom fouls on players or maybe cut out a couple of their TV timeouts for commercials. Most of the teams have their own pre-game rituals and those rituals mean a lot to them. For players who are superstitious, this may just ruin their season.
Remember back to the Celtics' championship season? It was a comfort to every Celtics fan to see each starter stop by James "Nails" Posey to get their hug and words of encouragement. That would be against Herr Stern's new rules. Kevin Garnett has his own ritual where he talks to the basket stanchion for a bit and then bangs his head on it. He also has a ritual where he throws up powder over the announcers. And LeBron James has his own powder throwing ritual. Other teams have their set handshakes, perhaps none better than the OKC Thunder
Kevin Durant is not very happy about the new rules. As a young team and a young franchise, their rituals are part of their makeup and now they are going to have to curtail or stop them. Here is what Durant had to say.
“I personally don't like it,” Durant said of the 90-second rule. “Every player in this league has routines they do with their teammates, rituals they do before the game and before they walk on the floor. The fans like it. The fans enjoy it. You see the fans mimicking the guys who do their stuff before the game. To cut that down really don't make no sense. Why would you do it? I really don't agree with it, but I don't make the rules.”
I don't see KG being all that much in favor of it either. For 16 years you go through the same routine. And now a power hungry dictator tells you that now you have only 90 seconds to get it done and get out there for the tip. I don't see the purpose of it but then again, I don't see the purpose of a lot of the things David Stern decides to make law.
Figures, I leave the computer for 30 minutes and the Celtics sign a veteran point guard. We all knew that a veteran was coming after Dionte Christmas and Jamar Smith were waived yesterday. I had a feeling that they already had the player in place that they were going to sign or they wouldn't have cut them now.
The Celtics added veteran combo guard Leandro Barbosa to the roster today. According to sources, he will be signed to a veteran minimum deal. Of course, we knew that anyone they signed had to agree to the vet minimum because that's all they had to offer. The Celtics now have 17 on their roster, but expect camp invitees Micah Downs and Rob Kurz to be waived before the season. That will leave the Celtics with a full roster of 15 players.
In nine seasons in the league with Phoenix, Toronto, and Indiana, the 6-foot-3 Barbosa averaged 12.5 points and 2.4 assists over 24.6 minutes per game. Doc had said that they weren't necessarily targeting a point guard, but given that we really didn't have an answer to replace Rondo should he be out for any length of time, it seemed logical that if they did sign a vet, it would be a point guard.
The Celtics now have their own Brazilian contingent in the NBA with Barbosa joining fellow Brazilian Fab Melo on the roster. It was reported that Steve Nash had been recruiting Barbosa, a former teammate, to join him on the Lakers. Barbosa previously wore #10 on the Suns and #20 on the Raptors and #28 on the Pacers. #10 was retired for Jo Jo White, but #20 and #28 are available.
Gary Tanguay questions Bob Ryan, aka Grampa Celtic, about this season's Celtic team. He has been most impressed with Jared Sullinger. He refers to Sully's "alleged back issues" and asks how far back we have to go to find a guy we can just throw the ball to in the post and say go to work.
He also feels that we should keep Jason Terry on the bench. If you have a guy who embraces the role of Sixth Man and loves coming off the bench, you should keep him there. Again, he goes back to Eddie House, who also embraced the role. He added that Jet is much better than Eddie House and that we haven't had a guy who could provide energy and instant offense off the bench for awhile.
He calls Pierce cagey and wily and feels that he won't have any drop off this season. He expects Doc to continue to religiously guard KG's minutes and as long as he stays healthy, he will continue to play at a high level.
As far as Rondo being the leader, he feels that KG, Pierce and Rondo all have a specific leadership niche on the team. KG is the emotional leader and the center of the defense. Pierce is the scoring leader and the Captain. Rondo has the ball and is the leader of the offense and of the team on the court. Good stuff. Grampa Celtic still has it!
We know it's bound to happen once in a while. The head coach has a player's back and the ref has enough and out goes the coach. It's happened a few times with Doc and will probably happen again. Last night, Doc put his coaches in that position by staying in the locker room after the half. Word is that Doc just wanted to watch the presidential debate but that's just speculation.
Doc's official reasoning was to have the coaches prepared in case he gets thrown out of a game. So, he put assistant coach Armand Hill in charge for the second half of the game and stayed in the locker room. Hill did a good job for the most part until the final 3 minutes. The Celtics were up 2 to start the second half. Under Hill's coaching, they soon stretched their lead to as much as 12 in the second half. With less than 3 minutes to go, that lead was still nine points. Then the Nets rallied against the Celtics third team that featured Kris Joseph, Fab Melo, Rob Kurz, Micah Downs and Jason Collins. We know that of that group at least 2 will be in Maine, two will be cut, and one will be the 3rd string center.
I would imagine that had this game counted in the least, that lineup would never have seen the light of day. Doc told Hill that he should probably have had a ball-handler on the floor as the Celtics had no one to direct the offense and often rushed shots when they had a chance to take the clock down. But Hill opted to let this odd lineup of young players finish the game and play through it. ESPN details the final play, drawn up by unofficial assistant coach Rajon Rondo.
Boston still had a couple of chances to win the game and unofficial assistant coach Rajon Rondo grabbed the clipboard to draw up a final play. An inbounds lob gave Downs a chance to convert an alley-oop at the rim, but he couldn't get the shot off in traffic.
"We got what we were looking for," Rondo said. "I just can't really comment on it. I think you get fined for saying certain things as a coach, so I think the guys did a great job executing out of the timeout, and it just didn't come up."
Hill chimed in on Rondo's coaching prospects after the game.
"He always says, 'I'll never be a coach,' but he has that instinct," Hill said. "He has a great basketball IQ, so I hope he does it."
The Nets sat their starters last night in the second of back to back games. They still beat the Celtics who didn't sit their starters. The Nets fans seem to take this as a clear indication that they will dominate the Celtics but I think they may be in for a surprise. The Celtics are still finding their way and I have to feel with their talent, will get it together for the regular season. My favorite comment was that they won't know how good the Celtics really are until the playoffs. Sneaky good... Lots of Tommy hate and Paul Pierce hate as usual. Enjoy.....
IMO tonight is a must win. Brooklyn Nets are undefeated and we will remain so !
No starters Avery doesn't want Celts to see us till the Season.
Starters will not play one minute tonight. We want to give the Celtics a chance.
Boston Announcers are young enough to start for the Knicks.
Get ready to hear multiple James Worthy comparisons for Jeff Green Eye roll
God, I hate the Celtics announcers....This will be a painful game to hear
When the Celtics waived Dionte Christmas and Jamar Smith yesterday, speculation began on what the next step would be. Christmas had become a fan favorite and had impressed coach Tyronn Lue in summer league. He also had become close to Jason Terry, who took the rookie guard under his wing. There were several articles touting Christmas as having the inside track to gain one of the two open roster spots. His size, versatility and ability to defend were given as reasons that he was on track to make the team. So, it couldn't have been an easy decision to cut Christmas.
At the same time news came out that Christmas and Smith were waived, the fact that Kris Joseph would get one of those coveted two spots also was announced. This is no surprise as Danny used a draft pick on him and he has a lot of potential. The Celtics like what they have seen from him so far, but he has a ways to go before he gets meaningful rotation minutes. This would be a signing for the future. But what of the final spot? Could Micah Downs or Rob Kurz have moved ahead of the guards for this spot? I don't see it. Downs has played well in a couple of games, but I don't think he's sealed the deal for the spot.
Paul Flannery reports that the Celtics are looking to add another veteran player to fill that last roster spot. It’s possible they could add another player by the end of the week. Derek Fisher and Leandro Barbosa were mentioned as possibilities. It doesn't necessarily have to be a guard, however.
“We’re always looking. It would be great to get another guy, at any position,” Rivers said.
“We can’t forget that Avery is coming back so we don’t want to overdo that point guard thing. When you count Courtney Lee and [Jason Terry] and Avery, all three are ballhandlers. None of the three are pure point guards, but they certainly can play together.”
Some of the more intriguing free agents still out there include the aforementioned Fisher and Barbosa, Anthony Parker, Michael Redd, Kenyon Martin, Josh Howard, Ryan Gomes, Tony Battie, Chris Andersen, Gilbert Arenas, Rasual Butler, Baron Davis, Jordan Farmar, and Ben Wallace. I have to think that the Celtics had a target in mind before releasing Christmas and Smith. It will be interesting to see who they sign.
The new look Nets came to town to face-up against the Boston Celtics at home in the TD Garden. Brooklyn entered the Garden as one of the most improved teams in the Atlantic Division and hope to compete for a division title. The Nets were able to hold onto their franchise player, Deron Williams by bringing in six time NBA All-Star Joe Johnson. The Celtics and their fans have gotten to know Johnson well over the course of the last few years battling in the playoffs with the Atlanta Hawks. This unique make-up presents quite a tough assignment for the Celtics guards as they are arguably one of the best starting 1, 2 duos in the league.
The game was exciting throughout with the Celtic's just falling short in the end 97 to 96. The Celtics started a lineup consisting of Rondo, Lee, Pierce, Sullinger, and Garnett. Surprisingly the Brooklyn Nets decided to start their reserves and sit their normal starting five made up of Deron Williams, Joe Johnson, Gerlad Wallace, Kris Humphries, and Brook Lopez. Of the Celtics starters, Paul Pierce exploded to a game high 29 points in 27 minutes and hit 6 of 9 shots from behind the three point line. Jared Sullinger started again and faced a tough match up against Andre Blatche who poured in 23 points, a team high for the Nets. Rajon Rondo played well getting 5 points and 11 assists. The team as a whole rebounded well grabbing 35 boards but were still beaten to that of the Nets 41. The turnover battle continued but the Celtics were able to reduce the number to 17.
Read more » Leave a comment Link backs Tweet
Dionte Christmas and Jamar Smith cut from the Celtics roster according to NBA source. #celticstalk PGL at 7p
— Gary Tanguay (@Gary_Tanguay) October 16, 2012
It was reported earlier by Peter Yannopoulos that Kris Joseph had made the team and that Jamar Smith and Dionte Christmas had been waived. Yannopoulos is a Canadian sports radio guy and so I was waiting for confirmation from a Celtics source and I got it from Gary Tanguay's tweet and it was confirmed on the pregame show.
I know that Jason Terry had taken a particular interest in Christmas and took him under his wing. Word last week was that he had the inside track for the final spot. Christmas sent this message to Celtics fans. I wish him the best of luck and really hope he catches on with another team..
"Thanks to the Celtics for the opportunity, I really appreciate it," he told CSNNE.com via text message. "Thanks to the fans that were behind me through my ride with the C's."
“I’m just not going to stop here,” he told CSNNE.com after signing his deal in July . “This is definitely just the beginning. The door is halfway open. I’ve just got to kick it all the way open.”
I was never very impressed by Smith, but I really liked Dionte Christmas. He can play and I think he has a future in the league. He had passed up a lucrative contract in Europe for a shot with the Celtics. The question now is what they are going to do with that last spot. Doc has said he likes using Terry as the back up point, but it's possible they may look at one of the free agent point guards who are still available.
There are some veterans out there still looking for a team. Derek Fisher has been discussed as one possibility. Leandro Barbosa is another possibility. And there are others. Another thought might be that the Celtics are looking to keep one of the other camp invitees who has impressed. Micah Downs has been tenacious on the boards and has gotten the attention of the fans so it's possible they may keep him. Or they may just keep that spot open for a veteran who is waived out of camp. Stay tuned. It's about to get interesting.
This one just in from Jason Terry is a Celtic...Terry and Christmas play 2 on 5 vs the Roxbury womens team and lose! Thanks to Tom Reed at thenoctv.com
at Brooklyn Nets (2-1) at Boston Celtics (1-3) Tuesday, October 16, 2012 7:30 PM ET Preseason Game #5, Home Game #2 TV: NBA-TV, CSNNE TD Garden
Referees: Ed Malloy, Sean Corbin, Karl Lane
The Celtics make their Garden debut tonight as they face the Brooklyn
Nets. Both teams are playing in the second of back to back games.
The Celtics are coming off a 32 point loss to the Sixers and the Nets
got a 12 point win vs the Wizards in their very first game in their new
home, The Barclays Center. .
Doc gave KG the night off on
Monday. The Game Notes have Courtney Lee and Jared Sullinger remaining
in the starting lineup for this game and KG back in his starting center
spot. But, so far, the Game Notes haven't been very much help because
the lineups have been changing so much. Even though he's enjoyed
experimenting with all the new pieces he has with this team, it may be
time to start working on setting the rotation. But as with the other
games in the preseason, it's impossible to predict who will start or
what Doc will do in this game.
The Nets currently only have
five players on their training camp roster who are returning after
spending last season with the team. They are playing in a new city and
new arena and so will have little continuity to the past. Three of
those players, Deron Williams, Kris Humphries, and Brook Lopez, will
bring some continuity to the starting lineup. Add in newly acquired Joe
Johnson and Gerald Wallace and they should be a tough team this
season.
Doc has used 4 different starting lineups in as many
games this preseason. He will continue to evaluate players, develop the
core and work on areas of concern in this game. Two areas of concern
are turnovers and pick and roll defense. With 5 games in 7 nights,
Doc will also continue to limit the starters minutes and give the
younger players a chance to show what they can do.
On the 11th, we reported that Darko was wearing a wrap on his wrist after banging it in practice and wasn't expected to miss time but was icing it and wearing the wrap. Last night, he came down on the wrist in the third quarter of the Celtics' lost to the Sixers. He stayed down during the following play and the Celtics called a timeout. After the timeout, he returned to the court and on the next play, he threw down a left-handed dunk.
A Sherrod Blakely reports this morning that Darko has been playing with a strained ligaments injury in his right wrist and that he aggravated the injury last night. He also reports that the pain in Darko's wrist is so bad now that he's contemplating having a cortisone shot to help alleviate the pain.
"I'm thinking about it," Milicic told CSNNE.com. "It (the pain) went away and I forgot about it. And I landed on it, and I got hit on it, and got hit on it and some other stupid (bleep) … the pain keeps coming back."
He is unable to turn his wrist clock-wise or counter clock-wise and also can't bend it upwards.
He is hoping that if the shot alleviates some of the pain, he can continue to play through the injury. He has been a big surprise in camp and has worked his way into the big man rotation off the bench. When asked about the possibility of sitting out the rest of the preseason to let the wrist heal, he had this to say:
"It's not really one of the options I want to take," he said. "We'll see."
That should be another surprise for Celtics fans because Darko was painted as a slacker coming from other teams. He's definitely tough and definitely has the desire to play and help the team. I find that I'm liking Darko more and more.
Well, that was unpleasant to watch. Hopefully the Celtics got that all out of their system and hopefully Doc can start defining roles a bit more so that they can get into a groove before the start of the season. Sixers fans aren't all that bad a bunch. They don't seem to have the vitriol that say Knicks fans or Heat fans or Lakers fans have. My favorite comment was the one about Danny putting the false reports out about Sully. I wouldn't put it past him LOL. Enjoy today's Comments in spite of the loss...
I always want a win over Boston even if it is only preseason.
Thad Young and Lavoy Allen will start at the forward positions with Hawes in the middle. Kwame is out with a strained calf.
Darko is going to dominate!
Looking down from the 200s Andrew Bynum looks like an abolishinist who made a wrong turn at the Wells Fargo Center.
In their second NBA preseason game the Celtics matched up against the 76ers for the first time since last years 2012 NBA Playoffs. The offseason brought all new players to both teams shifting Doc's gameplan and match-ups. One of the most notable differences was the absence of Andre Iguodala who was shipped off to Denver in a multi-player deal that brought former Lakers center Andrew Bynum to Philadelphia. Due to an ongoing knee injury Bynum was sidelined along with Celtic's centerpiece Kevin Garnett.
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Not much to say about this one except to learn from it and move on. The Celtics stayed within 2 in the first quarter but after that, it wasn't even close. Once again, one of the culprits was turnovers as the Celtics gave the ball away 21 times. Another problem was once again their pick and roll defense. That's one thing they have to solve before the season starts because the Heat will eat them alive on the pick and roll if they don't.
Boston Celtics' Paul Pierce (34) drives against Philadelphia 76ers'
Spencer Hawes (00) in the first half of an NBA preseason basketball
game, Monday Oct. 15, 2012, in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/H. Rumph Jr)
The Celtics also shot a horrendous 38% while allowing the Sixers to shoot 49%. The Celtics were out-rebounded 48-42. They had just 20 assists as opposed to 32 assists for the Sixers. They even shot just 11-18 from the line. The concentration just wasn't there. They were outplayed by the Sixers on both ends of the court.
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Taking a page from LeBron's "Not one, not, two, not 3... etc etc" comment when he signed with the Heat, "ESPN the Mag and Marvel Comics have united to create LeBron: King of the Rings, an epic tale of zombies, clones, holograms, bionics and a star who will stop at nothing to fulfill his promise." The preceding hilarity has been brought to you courtesy of ESPN NBA.
In my last post about Jason Terry I mentioned that the media was going to love him because he's always ready to talk and is always quotable. Today he is debuting his new diary for ESPNBoston. He talks about a little bit of everything from the trip to Europe to a little about himself and his background to his excitement about being a Celtic. Here are just a couple quotes from the ever-quotable Jason Terry's diary. He describes the funiest moment on the trip:
The funniest moment on the trip was we were attracting a lot of attention because of KG's [Kevin Garnett] size. He's so tall that they recognized him easily. We were getting bombarded by pictures. So all of sudden, KG takes the camera from one lady and started taking pictures of her. We got quite a crowd around us once they saw what he was up to.
And he talks about the "Wolfpack."
We ate breakfast together. We ate dinner together. At night, I called it campfire style where we bonded and formed a group called the Wolfpack. So it was the same group of guys downstairs at the hotel sitting under heated lamps telling stories and playing cards -- that was really big for us. The Wolfpack was everybody on the team. Everybody every night was down there but we called it the Wolfpack as a team bonding thing.
Doc Rivers said Kevin Garnett is unlikely to play tonight vs. #sixers. He said it will depend on how Garnett looks at shootaround #celtics
— gary washburn (@GwashNBAGlobe) October 15, 2012
With 6 games in 9 nights, it was expected that Doc would more than likely rest his vets in at least a couple of the games. It looks like tonight vs the Sixers might be KG's turn to rest.
I haven't seen any injury news or updates so it is probably just precaution with so many games in such a short time. I'm expecting to see Darko get his first start tonight. We could also see Fab Melo get his first extended minutes. Or, we could see a LOT of small ball. Could get interesting
at Boston Celtics (1-2) at Philadelphia 76ers (1-1) Preseason Game #4, Road Game #3 Monday, October 15, 2012 7:00 PM ET TV: NBA-TV, CSNNE, CSN-P Wells Fargo Center Referees: Scott Foster, Scott Bolnick, Derrick Collins The Celtics begin a busy stretch of 5 games in 7 nights with this game
vs the new look Philadelphia 76ers. Instead of the always hard to guard
Andre Iguodala, Paul Pierce will now be matched up with Evan Turner. Lou Williams is no longer shooting 3's off the bench. Elton Brand is out and Kwame Brown is in. The Celtics have also changed since they last met in the playoffs with the loss of Ray Allen and the addition of Jason Terry, Courtney Lee, Jeff Green, and Jared Sullinger, in particular.
The
Sixers prize free agent from this summer, Andrew Bynum is out
indefinitely with knee problems. For the first two games, the Sixers
started a twin towers front line of Spencer Hawes and Kwame Brown.
Brown strained a hamstring in Sunday's practice and is day to day and
may or may not play in this game. If he can't go, it's possible that
Hawes may slide over to center and Lavoy Allen may start at power
forward. But, as with any preseason game, it's hard to tell who will
start and even who will play.
The Celtics' game notes project the same starting lineup
as the last game, but again, in the preseason it's hard to tell until
just before the game starts who will really be starting. But expect Doc to continue to experiment with lineups, looking to find the strongest chemistry on his first and second units. Gary Washburn reports that Doc will probably rest KG tonight so that could open the door for a Darko start, or for more minutes for Darko, Fab Melo and Jason Collins. Or, Doc could just play small ball all game. It could get interesting.
Both
teams are coming off a close loss in overtime with the Celtics losing
to the Knicks and the Sixers falling to the Nets. We should again see limited minutes for the starters and extended playing time for the young players who are learning the system and trying to land a roster spot.
Danny made several home runs this summer. Jared Sullinger is definitely in line to be the steal of the draft. The Courtney Lee trade brought a versatile and athletic player that few thought he'd be able to get. Darko so far seems to be filling his role perfectly. Fab Melo may be a future star. There have been several signings that make this team very deep and one that will be exciting to watch.
But, the signing that may just pay the most dividends this season is Jason Terry. He was their first target and he was Doc's first call as free agency started. We've seen the NOC videos where he asks fans for their autographs and goes out in the community meeting his fans and tries to learn to speak Bostonian. We also have seen his tattoo with Lucky holding the Larry O'Brien Trophy. From the start, he has embraced being a Celtic with a passion.
“I’m very happy to be here, I can tell you that,” Terry said. “Every day I wake up, it’s still like a dream to me. Obviously, playing with the best point guard in the league and two Hall of Famers, and then playing for a coach that is going to go down as one of the best in history, it’s a blessing. You know, I could easily be somewhere else, but the Celtics chose me and I’m very thankful.”
He has embraced the role of mentor to the younger players and has taken Dionte Christmas, particularly, under his wing. Before camp started, he was at the practice facility every day, and some nights, working with Christmas and the other young players who were there most of the summer working to prepare for the season. He's been very vocal and will be a favorite of the media this year as he's always ready with a soundbite and a fascinating interview no matter what the subject.
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The NY Daily News had this little tidbit hidden away in an article yesterday:
Josh Smith has told the Hawks that he isn't going to sign an extension during the season. He'd rather wait to become a free agent, when he can get a five-year deal. An extension would limit him to a three-year deal, according to the new CBA rules. New GM Danny Ferry has upwards of 10 players who could be free agents at season's end.
I'm not expecting any of the hoopla that surrounded Carmelo Anthony and Dwight Howard as they approached free agency, but there will be some speculation and lots of rumors surrounding Josh Smith this season. If the Hawks don't feel they can re-sign him this summer, they are likely to shop him at the trade deadline. If Josh assures them he wants to stay in Atlanta, it could be a quiet year.
There have been rumors over the past couple of years that Josh has said he'd like to join his buddy Rajon Rondo in Boston. He was with the Celtics out in LA and played flag football with them before training camp. He's been friends with Rondo since their high school days at Oak Hill Academy.
Expect those rumors to intensify now that Smith has eschewed an extension with the Hawks. I predict that there will be Josh Smith trade proposal threads on every Celtics forum and lots of rumors before this is over. He's looking for a 5 year deal at more than likely the max. I'm not sure Danny is going to want to do that this summer. So I'm thinking he won't be a Celtic. But then again, who knows with Danny?
Knicks fans are funny. They really hate the Celtics and they are usually pretty obnoxious about it. But, the Celtics have a few players that even Knicks fans can't hate -Sullly, Fab, Kris Joseph, and Dionte seem to have a few fans among the Knicks fandom. One thing they agree on is that Rondo with a jumper is dangerous. From what I've seen this season so far, Rondo is going to be very dangerous this year. And now, without further ado, here is the very first Comments from the Other Side for this season. Enjoy....
I'm eager to see how we play against Boston. That's competition on our level and just a little taste of what the battle for the Atlantic divison crown will be. I like the MSG ad with the line "a rivalry so intense they have to play at a neutral ground" MSG sure knows how to promote games.
Felton looks stocky , not fat but stocky like a baron Davis build.
Stocky is about the best your gonna get with a Raymond Felton...
Is Avery Bradley aka mini shump gonna play tonight?
Amare's out, Camby's out. White, both Smith bros, Sheed, Brewer and obviously Shump are all out for tonight's game...
I know it's only preseason and so many are sitting out across the league. But that list above is an absolute joke with the amount of injuries
The Celtics added Sullinger...an elite player....
Fab Melo .....all 7 ft of him....great acquisition....
Stephen Green who was out last year,,,,excellent player..
Courtney Lee and Jason Terry,,,5 Excellent acquisitions...
Makes the Celtics a lot stronger than last year...
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In a very entertaining game, the NY Knicks edged the Celtics in their first NBA preseason game. Both teams played their starters for approximately 2 quarters and gave their young guys a lot of run. High scorer of the game was Carmelo Anthony with 23. Jared Sullinger led the Celtics with 14. The Celtics were narrowly out-rebounded 52-50 but the Knicks won on the offensive glass 15-8. The Celtics once again turned the ball over too much with 19 turnovers. Neither team shot the ball well with the Celtics shooting 41% and the Knicks shooting 37%. The Knicks shot 38 free throws to 33 for the Celtics. The Knicks had 44 points in the paint to just 34 for the Celtics. The Celtics got 56 points from their bench, with 40 of those points from players who will be in the regular rotation. That's good news for a team that struggled to score when the starters were out last season.
Doc started the game with Rondo, Terry, Pierce, Bass and KG. Of that unit, Jet played the most minutes at 29 and KG played the fewest with just 17. Pierce and Rondo played 26 minutes and Bass played 18. As was expected, Doc mixed and matched his lineups throughout the game with Bass, Green, Pierce, Jet and Rondo being one lineup he threw out there. Jeff Green once again was impressive in his 28 minutes of play, finishing with 12 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist and 1 block. He had the play of the game when he exploded to the hoop and dunked over Jason Kidd.
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