Boston Celtics @ New Jersey Nets: 1/12/08 - Recap

by Jim Weeks on Jan 12, 2008 7:43 AM EST in Green Bandwagon

In his recent look at who should make the All Star team John Hollinger made a strong argument against Jason Kidd for the back up point guard. Hollinger happily placed Jose Calderon in the game and said the following about Kidd,

"Kidd has produced so many triple-doubles that a lot of people mistakenly think he's playing as well as ever, but this just isn't true. The dude won't shoot the ball anymore and rarely makes the ones he takes. He's at 36.5 percent from the floor and has lost more than two points off his 40-minute scoring average.

At the same time, he's seen a massive spike in his turnover ratio, forking it over on 14.3 percent of his possessions. Folks, that's plain terrible."

Now I can see that to a degree. Last night Kidd was 4-15 from the field, which included 1-7 from beyond the 3-point arc. And his 5 turnovers did not help. However, I'm still terrified of him. He had 9 assists and the potential for numerous more as he got his team ridiculous looks. It's frightening when he gets in transition. He's a star and without him the All Star game just won't work as well. The fans need him to prevent the exhibition game from becoming an awful And1 event, albeit with famous guys. In closing if Kidd were an excellent shooter he would be one of the top five NBA players...of all time. I really believe that. Of course if he were an excellent shooter maybe he wouldn't pass so well and rebound like a much bigger man.

I'm not the first person to notice that Vince Carter does not take it to the rim like he did early in his career. However, when you look at the long shorts, tights, baggy uniform and overall the way he carriers himself, Carter just seems like an old man. If he were willing to drive to the hoop and get to the line, that could be a really dangerous Nets team. Also according to Tommy Heinsohn Carter is playing with a substantial brace on his back.

I'm not entirely convinced that there is a better team out there for Kidd, even with Carter playing on the perimeter all night. Richard Jefferson is a player. Meanwhile, Josh Boone and Sean Williams are willing to run and rebound. Although, it would be nice if Boone were decent from the line.

In the end Boston's defense took over and the Celtics won by a score (86-77) that was deceiving, given how close the game was. It does seem like the Celtics have hit the point in the season where they realized just how long it is. They were cruising and blowing out teams for so long that I wondered when they would start to look like a normal team. In now way am I upset or complaining.

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