Deja Vu Averted

by Jeff Clark on Dec 20, 2009 8:29 PM EST in Boston Celtics Games

The Celtics were flat on Friday and lost to a team they had no business losing to. You would think that they would keep the throttle down tonight, but not so much. After building a 20 point lead early in the 2nd quarter, they let the Wolves maintain that margin by trading baskets for much of the game. Then the Wolves made a run in the 4th forcing Doc to insert the starters back in the game. Where's the killer instinct? Like Tommy said, when you go up big early, go for a 50 point win. Oh well, it ended up being a large win anyway. I just hope they can shake this trend.

Question for number 42: Who are you and what have you done with Tony Allen? I only ask so I can welcome you to the team and make sure you disposed of the body properly. (15 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, and zero turnovers)
Pierce was a perfect 6 for 6 from three point range. Gotta love that.
We may have seen the play of the year with that Eddie House around the back save to Tony for the facial dunk and the foul.
There was a nice encore with Rondo lefty-spin-long-bounce pass to Tony who put a wraparound pass into Perkins' hands for the easy slam.
Al Jefferson still has it. Nice to see.
I will say, the goodwill I have for that team with Big Al and Ryan Gomes is nearly negated by the presence of Rambis and Laimbeer.
Johnny Flynn (go Syracuse!) sure can play, can't he?
Rondo keeps racking up the assists. 15 tonight to go with his 13 points. All Star. Period.
Seven, count 'em, seven players in double figures (and Eddie added 7).
Tommy had some fun with the fact that there were only 2 refs (due to the snow). Good times.
According to Jessica Camerato: "Celtics improved to 4-0 when scoring more than 30 points in the first quarter. They are also 4-0 on Sundays."

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And Ryan Gomes was wearing a nice suit

Good win……..can we take Sheed out of the noose yet?

Perk played a great game …I would add that too

Is it Soup Yet?

by Master Po on Dec 20, 2009 8:35 PM EST reply actions

yup

another day another double double for him

he did pick up a tech, so I guess he didn’t learn as much from watching Sheed as we thought – or perhaps he learned too much

"We few, we happy few, we band of brothers" Henry V

by Jeff Clark on Dec 20, 2009 8:37 PM EST up reply actions

Outside of the 4th

We played a great game and let the Wolves know that they weren’t stealing one like the Sixers did. Good stuff. : )

by Tai on Dec 20, 2009 8:44 PM EST reply actions

whoever 42 is, i like him

to be fair, before the knee injury, TA looked like he was really stepping up to a different level. he’s always had the potential.

by guy incognito on Dec 20, 2009 8:46 PM EST reply actions

Who was that #42... and what have they done with Tony Allen??

Wow. I retract every negative thing I said about TA. Make this kid an All-Star!!

But really… TA was (obviously) excellent in this game. One great play after another, each time making the right decision… handoff to Sheed, pass to Paul, dunk for the and-1, taking the open shot… the right moves at the right times. And terrific D on the other end. Player of the game, in my book. (Even his fouls were either good ones or undeserved.) A big, very pleasant surprise.

Though he has taken a lot of raggin’ for his bad decisions in the past, and though he might not have been the brightest bulb in the bunch in the past… the kid has ENTHUSIASM, ENERGY, and TEAM SPIRIT. Some of which our vets sometimes forget.

Some of us thought Doc was nuts to give TA PT. We were wrong, Doc was right. So far, so good.
====

Cs came out with guns blazing in Q1 and Q2, as expected after Friday’s embarrassments. But then, amazingly, they ONCE AGAIN came out with low energy in Q3 (what is WITH those guys??). So Doc wisely inserted #42 again to save the day. And once again, he did a great job. Gotta love that kid, the way he played tonight.
====

Sheed behaved perfectly tonight. As we hoped, as some expected… I think they had that talk with him, and he listened. Whew.
====

Refs were disgusting, once again, in their incompetence. For a while it looked like just incompetence, not bias. But then in the 2nd half it started looking like bias again. Our guys (Perk, House, et al) were getting SLAMMED and getting no calls, while the Wolves were getting the little touch-fouls. How can you not hate those refs?

But… refs are like bad weather, or bad luck. They happen. Like manure happens. Just gotta deal with ’em. As the Cs did tonight.

by DRJ1 on Dec 20, 2009 9:00 PM EST reply actions

Well Said!

I will say, the goodwill I have for that team with Big Al and Ryan Gomes is nearly negated by the presence of Rambis and Laimbeer.

I heartily agree!

by BleedinGreen417 on Dec 20, 2009 9:33 PM EST reply actions

here’s my question— all things being equal, would we be better off if instead of big al in the kg trade, we kept al and traded perk? even tho al is a much better offensive player, perk can do more things and his offense has improved more than al’s defense. i say, danny spun gold.

by nazzbo on Dec 20, 2009 9:37 PM EST reply actions

Still wasnt the best performance

Throughout stretches of the second half, Tony Allen was our best player. He also showed more desire to win the game and convincingly. It’s an unspoken rule in the NBA. If you are a winner, you don’t just want to win, you want to play at all times like you’re about to open the floodgates. And amplify that. The Celtics tend to get lazy and complacent when they think the game is in their hands. That’s a recipe for meltdowns, no matter who the opponent.

TPD 4 3333333

by TradeProposalDude on Dec 20, 2009 10:34 PM EST reply actions

I'm enjoying this TA honeymoon quite a bit

Nothing more to add. He’s been terrific the last couple of nights. More of the same, please, and perhaps I’ll be able to stop calling it a “honeymoon.”

-sw

Growing up in the Weinman household, you learn two rules very quickly if you aspire to reach double-digits in the years-of-age category: Hate thy Knick, hate thy Yankee.

Go Celtics, Go Dodgers. -sw

by Steve Weinman on Dec 21, 2009 12:27 AM EST reply actions