Celts Run Past the Bulls

I have to apologize to Doc. I never thought he’d give Big Baby the minutes he deserved because he is a rookie. I’m happy to say that I was wrong. Love watching that kid play.

Scalabrine got a DNP-CD tonight.

Wasn’t KG supposed to disappear on 4ths? He’s clutch, after all.

Better than advertised.

stats are for losers. kg would have scored at least 26 if he were on a loser. instead he was parsimonious and made the big shots. ray takes a lot of shots to get his points. so what. he plays d and is always there as a bail out option. pp gets a mere 10 pts. last 2-3 years he gets 30 pts but misses the key free throw near the end of the game. tonite on a bad shooting game—8 for eight from the line. meanwhile- bbd, rr and mr. posey-vavoom.

agree on big baby, that guy just knows how to play, now lets see if the c’s strength coaches are as good as advertised, if over the next year or so he gets a little more athletic and slim (though i love watching him as is, reminds me of charles barkley more than anybody else) he could be one of those monster first bigs off the bench, even now he is just flat out good. i also agree that pp might be being a little too unselfish, his game is pure scoring, he can do other things, fantastic d tonight by him, but that offense is his thing, would like to see the offense centered around him for a good portion of the game, RA will find his shots in that setup and hit them. and, wow, did you all see RA beet gordan to that lose ball, who’s old? KG says big baby is the heart of the team, but man, RA is the toughest little guy we have seen around here in a long, long time. mean, tough and clutch, I love the guy, , RA that is. he is not just a jump shooter, he moves without the ball, makes the smart play, knows when the team really needs an agressive play, a point, and goes for it, drives and finishes way better that I ever knew, RA is the man. I cant remember anybody since danny ainge that played way, just mean. i am in heaven, and the bulls played well tonight, I know, i live here and see them all the time, that is as good as they can play. and kudos to KG for doing the thing he seems to shy away from, that is, just taking his time and being the dominant big on the post that scores, he wont always do that, but tonight he did.

Doc is headed for coach of the year if he continues these substitution patterns. Big Baby is a steal and is in a perfect situation to contribute. The team chemistry seems perfect. I can’t even remember last year anymore, in fact, can’t even remember the last two decades. Things are once again as they should be.

Only caveat, Skyles saw fit to bench Sire Tyrus. That said,
I dont think he would have been a difference maker vs the Cs team.

Big Baby a steal? Hardly. He was projected as a lottery pick if he came out a year earlier and Danny didn’t use our first 2nd round pick on him but rather on Gabe Pruit. While Danny has scored a hit on BB, the jury is out on Pruit. If Danny had understood BB’s true potential it would have been BB that got the three year contract and not Pruit.

I said if often in the post draft ctitique that Gabe Pruit won’t make it as a PG but I’ve seen enough from him in DL to get a modicum of excitement about his chances for an NBA career. While surprisingly deficient defensively (based on post draft hype) I saw enough of his silky smooth shot and athletic “moves” to the basket to realize that he’s got considerable untapped offensive potential. He could eventually give us what Gerald Green never did.

By comparison, I was disappointed in the Basketball IQ that Brandon Wallace displayed in DL. He was two steps too slow as a help defender, did not move toward the basket for defensive rebounds when guarding the perimeter and still needs alot of work on his offensive game. He could learn much from Posey’s smart play and unless I see more from him in DL, I’m inclined to believe that he’d learn more on the bench watching Posey than he’ll learn in the DL (where he has no role model).

Not even picked until the second round
Thirty-four players before him found
Leads rookie PER, man among men
If that ain’t a steal, then fine me ten

The thing that I love about this amazing start is that the C’s are only going to get better. They’re still learning how to play with each other. They’re still getting their rotation nailed down. Tonight I loved to see:
1.) A win in chicago
2.) Great play by bbd and a great call by Doc to use him
3.) More aggression by KG on offense including a clutch shot at the end of the game. I love the unselfishness but he’s been maybe to deferential to other players recently and I think that impacted his ability to pass out of the double team. Good to see the aggression is back.
4.) A little expressed emotion between KG and RA. KG was a little upset when he had position on his man down low and RA took the ball to the hoop. Not that I want to see this on a regular basis but I think it’s a good sign that these guys are now comfortable enough with each other that they don’t have to always say all the right things. They can get a little upset at each other. I’m talking in moderation here, the more honest they can be with each other the more they are going to improve their games and the tighter they are going to get. We really need that before the playoffs which are a completely different brand of basketball.

the paper says they posed the question to paul about our schedule and the fact that we haven’t played any of the upper echelon teams whereas orlando has play both the spurs and the suns already. some would take that as a negative but i see that as a huge positive. were spending the first 20-25 games learning to jell, finding the right combinations of players, roles and figuring out whos gonna contribute for this team right now while beating up on maybe some lesser teams. rondo is trying to gain consistency and improving now before the eye of the storm hits so that when its time to really “ante up” against the elite we’ll be ready. things are shaping up great for us right now.

Last night we were too unselfish to a point. But you have to love this style of play. I too am surprised that Doc is playing Big Baby as a key player. Nice going Doc!