Guest Review: Game #43 Celtics 87-Nets 85

Alex Goldblatt is a poster on the Celticsstuff list and posts these great no holds barred reviews to the list.  I wanted to share them here, with his permission of course.  Here is the review for the Celtics/Nets game.  I hope you enjoy his reviews as much as I do. 



Well, one heck of the nail biter...

One of the ugliest games of the season - hands down. One of the worst officiating crews of the season - hands down.. One of the worst out of control games (thanks to the losers in crew) I ever seen... OK, from here - just to get it off of my chest...

1. Tatum has arrived.
F*** it!!! I said it - new staple of the C's has arrived! And it's not just about his stat line like 6 blocks - but the demeanor of "never back down" showed up. This kid is a winner - I wish KG was around to teach him to be as fierce as he has to be. His low post, his help D, his play recognition took him to another level tonight. He was PUT BY BS as the focal point at the 4 - and NEVER FALTERED!!! Forget about other rooks - this kid wins games for the contending team. He IS THE REAL DEAL!!

2. Can someone ask KI to trim his beard?? Looks awfully ugly - especially on the 65" TV I have... :)

3. The Nets: there is no tomorrow for the team. They are all dangerous because they have a chance to fight for a second string contracts. There is no incentive in tanking. There are no major players to go after the big pay check. It all comes down to the mano-o-mano switch plays to measure up against the elite. It reminds me of one my favorite movies "The Replacements" - not that it's a great movie by any measure, but it's somehow connecting with my past experience - as well as what we saw tonight. I really don't think that the system they play within is anyhow designed for winning - but rather to test you to the limit to see if you are worthy of keeping around:



4. Theis - OK, I really didn't want to talk about him intentionally. He has great qualities of an aggressive smart player, but also a lot of liabilities. He's undersized, not too quick, very poor shooter, but hustles bar none. And - as tough as a nail. Him and Baynes in the lineup means no prisoners in the post... :)

5. No Big Al tonight almost brought the team down. Instead of winning by 30 - we had a nail biter. Not fun at all, just to recognize the fact that the ball movement died for the sake of iso possessions the Nets wanted to have with their switch D. There was no - ABSOLUTELY NO - C's team play tonight. Tatum came on the top, and that's as far is it goes. So, you can take it in two ways: to say that we have great players, or to say that we suck big time once deviating from the true team identity. I'll go with later.....

6. Morris: I hope he'll buy into the team oriented system. Right now he sucks - big time. He might be OK with the second unit - but yet again, he has to realize he has nothing to prove beyond winning games. Sooner is better...

7. C's playing the zone: looked ridiculous. It was like nobody ever played in the NCAA... Why in the world all 4 stayed on the perimeter on drives?!!! Can we have Thibs back for a few sessions to teach how to play it right?!!!

8. BS in the total zone: Ojeleye, Tatum, Brown, Smart, KI - nightmare of the lineup you wake up screaming in the middle of the night - simply because Morris cannot play the D. And - we won it anyway. I honestly have no idea how - as the C's had no business winning this game. Well, we are 6-0, and the 76rs in London are coming up. Let's see if we can have another 16 game streak... I do believe in unicorns at this point.... :))

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