Great To Have Nate
by Jeff Clark on Mar 2, 2010 10:09 PM EST
in Boston Celtics Games
Email
PrintWhen it looked like the Celtics might let another 2nd half lead slip away, Nate Robinson stepped up with some timely buckets. Which was the idea behind bringing him in. He finished the game with 14, which tied him with KG for second on the team behind Ray Allen with 18 to pace the Celtics. As usual, Rondo spread the ball around with 11 assists and 10 players got points on the board.
Also, nice to see Shelden Williams get some quality minutes and do some good work with them.
Good to get back into the win column.
82 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Nate.
Yeah, it’s great to have Nate off the bench. You know you’ll get points. Good win.
nice job by the bench
the whole team played with a bit more passion and sense of urgency…still not anywhere near their best game, but a win is a win is a win.
- JoeB
Not a great win, but it was a decent one.
Bench played well.
Robinson gets the game ball.
Boy its nice to have him be able to not just come in and shoot reliably but also play the point reliably also.
Looks to be a nice pick up so far by Ainge.
Can somebody get Baby some shoe lifts the man has no length or jumping ability to finish around the rim.
The thing about Baby
is that we aren’t using him the way we used him last year. We don’t want him posting up on a regular basis. He has a great mid-range jumpshot and can set great picks with his wide body, so he just needs to run pick and pops with Nate for most of his shots. When he isn’t doing that, he just needs to crash the offensive boards and look to kick it back out for the extra shot. Leave the posting up to Wallace.
by Celticsbloke on Mar 2, 2010 10:35 PM EST up reply actions
Badly out-rebounded and nearly beaten...
by a team that is on pace to go 28-54!
Much nicer to watch than Marbury or Cassell
He is my favorite mid season PG pickup of the KG era.
It's Kind of Sad...
…to see Kevin Garnett ($18,800,000) struggling to keep up with Jonas Jerebko ($457,588).
aint that the truth.
ouch!
"You're about as useful as a one-legged man at an arse kicking contest." Rowan Atkinson
by The Village Idiot on Mar 2, 2010 10:20 PM EST up reply actions
Even Swedish rookies
…are entitled to have a great game. He had one. KG played well enough, that’s all that matters for us.
Jerebko also played great the last game against the Celts
But Garnett was out that game
yeah but
when KG was healthy, guys like Jerebko would have been shut down. And that was the difference between blowing teams out in 2008 and having to fight to win every game this year.
by Celticsbloke on Mar 2, 2010 10:44 PM EST up reply actions
I don't know
That Swede is young, tall (6’10"), strong, and quick. He’d be hard to stop for anybody, the way he was playing.
I saw him
against a couple of other teams and he did nothing. The Bucks were one team, I forget the other. I thought I’d keep an eye on Jerebko because he was so impressive against the Celtics, but he just didn’t look that great against the other teams I saw. The only conclusion I could draw was that teams like the Bucks can cope better with a young, physical presence than the Celtics right now! Not good!
by Celticsbloke on Mar 2, 2010 11:56 PM EST up reply actions
its not just kg
collectively with powe, pj, posey on help…..etc, then add in perk, pierce, and G——the inside game was shut down—-and big baby was icing on the cake. Im hoping we can pick up some kinda lengthy big man on waiver to clog up the paint and be active on the boards.
malcontents....the lot of you
All too true
All anyone needs to do to know that KG and the Celtics are no longer need elite is watch clips of Jonas making KG look like an old man.
by Celticsbloke on Mar 2, 2010 10:39 PM EST up reply actions
Doc's mysterious decisions
WHY did Doc sit Nate Robinson, the HOTTEST player on the court at the time, with 3 minutes left in the game?
Why did Doc play Paul Pierce, the WORST player on the court at the time, with 3 minutes left in the game?
And… are we happy yet with the Nate trade?
Where is the mystery?
What was mysterious about bringing your all star PG who is an exceptional defensive player back into the game to finish it? Don’t get carried away with that hot player / cold player folklore. How many times have we seen a player go 4-4 from 3 only to end the game 4-8 from 3?
Put your best team out their to close the game.
by guava_wrench on Mar 2, 2010 10:26 PM EST up reply actions
I'm sorry... is Paul a point guard?
Paul is not part of anybody’s “best team” right now. More like their “worst”.
even slumping
Pierce is a better free throw shooter than TA or Quis.
And he’s a much bigger receiving target than Nate (for recieving in-bound passes).
So you want him out there when the game turned into a free throw game.
Technically, the substitution you might argue for would be Nate for Rondo, since Nate is a better free throw shooter than Rondo. Of course, Rondo made his FTs so that is moot.
Good point
…about FTs. But wasn’t this way before it got to be FT time? He could have sent Paul in a lot later, letting Nate continue to do his (extremely hot) thing a while longer.
DRJ
I generally don’t disagree with you but with THIS, you are way off. Paul has been playing poorly, but you don’t sit out your best clutch performer, your captain, with 3 minutes left. Other teams have to respect his shot and drive and thus he becomes the focus of the Piston’s D.
by overthebackboardooh on Mar 2, 2010 10:42 PM EST up reply actions
Of all the problems the Cs have had this season
…Paul seems to me to be the worst. Because it feels like a true decline… like he just doesn’t have it anymore. It doesn’t seem like a “slump” anymore, so much as a true (and, most problematically, permanent) decline.
not sure about this
he was fine earlier…he’s looked bad since he’s had all the crazy injuries (knee infection, knee dislocation from butler landing on it in washington, hand issue from the lakers game). if he doesn’t have any other major injuries the rest of the way, and he still looks like this come april, yeah, then i’d definitely be concerned.
by guy incognito on Mar 2, 2010 11:42 PM EST up reply actions
if by fine you mean doc's pat response
doc says everybody’s fine….when their not. What I liked most about P’s game this year is when he set his mind on defense, but even when we were 26 and 4 I thought he seemed a step slow. Not the Pierce of last years playoffs even. He’s efficient from the perimeter, but not as effective slashing as in years past.
malcontents....the lot of you
nate and shelden
1) yes nate! thats what ive been waiting to see! some nice quality backup to help keep the celts in it
2)can we play shelden more, hes not worse than BBD, he has a twitter, and he can rebound. thats a winning combo right there :)
~Aaron
Totally Agree!!!
Example… Why BigBaby take 14 shots???… IN 18 MINUTES!!!!!
bbd vs mr. candace parker
BBD can score better than shelden can, but do we really need a lot of scoring of the bench from our big when we have nate, quis and scal/sheed (on a good night)?
mr Candace can rebound better, and thats what we’re lacking. i say put shelden in the rotation! he was the one getting it done before we started sucking
~Aaron
by bostonceltics on Mar 2, 2010 10:34 PM EST up reply actions
Some one Else Noticed
That’s way out out of balance. I would say he’s forcing, not letting it come to him.
Interestingly, Doc had Shelden AND BBD on the floor at the same time - rare.
Haven’t seen that before this year. They actually had a couple of nice plays together.
Shelden played 15:47, scored 6, had 1 assist and pulled down 4 rebs (2 & 2). He posted a -2 for that time.
BBD played 17:57, scored 12, had 3 assists, a steal and pulled down 3 rebs (2 & 1). He posted a +5 for that time.
BBD also took a great charge in the 4th. He’s getting pretty good these last few weeks at setting for those.
Hard to see how Shelden played as well as Davis did in this game. But I’ll give that he’s gotta be rusty.
Good job by the bench overall. Refs can't keep their whistles out of their mouths.
The starters played ‘ok’ and executed the Free-Throw game well in the last couple minutes, but the game was won by the bench.
It was an awkward game because the officials seemed incapable of just letting the players play. They called 41 total PFs (pretty evenly so this is NOT a complaint about fairness) leading to 61 Free Throw shots (we shot 31, they shot 30).
49 of the game’s 205 pts were scored at the line. I.E. 25% of the game was just watching guys take free throws. How exciting that must have been for the attending crowd …
Yeah, they were nuts
…as usual. But they were evenhandedly nuts this time, unusually. We’re thankful for small favors.
credit to the bench
the bench played like a nice solid unit in the 4th quarter. Nate provided some nice scoring, Shelden provided overdue rebounds, TA and Quisy played solid D and kept the ball moving on offense and BBD, well, Baby got some buckets when he was close to the hoop and he hustled. I don’t know what happened to BBD’s shot since last year but other than the 1 jumper he hit tonight, it’s been non-existant.
Starters still need to come out with a purpose at some point this year.
nate
why doesn’t the little guy get more minutes? I think he definitly deserves more then the ninth most minutes on the team…Why does Doc wait till the end of the first and third quarters to put him in?
Ours is not to ask why
Ours is to sit and watch Doc make his unfathomable substitution decisions, and pray not to die.
I would guess it has a lot to do
with Nate still learning the offense.
Tommy even commented that at one point Nate seemed to lapse into a Knick offensive set play.
Give it time. He got 15 minutes and Daniels got 20. Together they kept both Ray and Rajon to less than 36 each. That’s a small victory right there!
The Invisible Shrinking Pierce
What happened to the Truth? He is nobody doing nothing for no one except the opposition anymore.
He's Not Quick Enough to Get to the Basket Anymore
That’s also sad.
I don't think its his quickness
Though that is worse too since his foot injury. For Pierce, it has never been about quickness. I think his problem is there’s no LIFT.
If you take a longer look at this season and the playoffs last season, Pierce has been struggling to get the LIFT he used to get. That means he is no longer a threat taking the ball to the basket and hasn’t even had the confidence to back people down and shoot his jumper over them from the top of the key as he was doing so successfully only just over a year ago.
I’m hoping its not old age, just excessive wear and tear after two and a half long, hard seasons. If we are really lucky, he can get healthy and be the finisher we need again, but just like KG, the odds seem to be against us.
by Celticsbloke on Mar 2, 2010 10:54 PM EST up reply actions
Its neither lift or quickness
Its KG and Sheed. KG used to play closer to the basket which made his defender stay at home and that would leave Pierce in a 1 on 1 situation with his defender so by the time he got to the basket the help off KG would be late which would result in a layup or foul. Other teams coaches would tell their players to give Sheed and KG a little room for their jump shots. That’s what opposing coaches would prefer to see, they like baiting KG and Sheed into shooting jump shots rather than having them post up. As a result when Pierce drives he has his defender to contend with (which he is quite competent in handling) and the opposing teams bigs waiting for him near the rim.
by Scal4theallstargame on Mar 2, 2010 11:42 PM EST up reply actions
I don't get it
If KG or Sheed was playing closer to the basket, it would be easier for their defender to step across and help out on Pierce, than if they were further out stretching the floor. So I don’t agree with what you are saying there.
In any case, Pierce used to get to the basket and draw fouls or score with three guys hanging off him. Doesn’t seem like KG’s defender was staying home on him on those plays! I never see that anymore. What I see is that Pierce clearly does not get as far off the floor as he used to and players who never used to block his shot are swatting him left right and centre.
I see the same thing with his mid-range jumpshot too. If he still has the lift to shoot over people, why have the Celtics gone away from what was their money play in the 2008 playoffs, which was Pierce setting a screen for Rondo and forcing the switch onto a smaller guy who he can back down and shoot over from the top of the key?
by Celticsbloke on Mar 3, 2010 12:09 AM EST up reply actions
What I mean
Is that if you have a wide open KG 5 feet away from the basket then he will easily sink the shot so his defender will not leave him that close to help on Pierce because he can just drive and pass if KG’s defender leaves him. However if KG’s 18 feet from the basket then his defender will gamble off him early and help on Pierce knowing that KG (while decent) is not a good shooter from 18 feet. And any opposing coach would rather see KG shooting wide open 18-20 footers all night than have Pierce driving, laying it up and/or drawing fouls.
With that said I must agree with you that Pierce is not getting the same results as he did in 08, 09 and even in the first month and a half this season (before having his knee drained). Perhaps he’s not recovering as well or quick as we all suspected he would.
by Scal4theallstargame on Mar 3, 2010 12:50 AM EST up reply actions
That's funny DR J...
But seriously prescribe him some steroids or something, the C’s don’t have any reiable wingmen anymore and that should be the easiest spots to fill.
Pierce-Allen-Allen-Daniels? All mediocre at this point. We’re in trouble sorry to say…
give him time
he just started lifting on his legs post-knee-draining recently, so he doesn’t have his legs under him. plus, the whole finger problem.
by guy incognito on Mar 2, 2010 10:37 PM EST up reply actions
Fewer calls too
Also, doesn’t get the calls going to the hoop that he used to.
Was at a meeting and missed the entire game
The best news I heard was when I got in my car and heard they only had a 9-point lead. I did not have to worry about the double-digit jinx. Sounds lilke Nate had a great game off the bench and the bench in general was outstanding. As has been said a million times before this season — not pretty, but a win is a win.
bench bailed the starters out
thank you nate and the second unit. doc should have left you guys in cuz you deserved it. for all of his assists I thought rondo stunk again tongiht. 6 turnovers and most of them bad ones. the one that really got me was the no look behind your head pass to tayshaun prince when he had a break away . We had at least fast breaks in the first half that we didn’t convert because of bad passes. Baby did take 14 shots but I didn’t mind too much because he was aggressive and was getting good shots- they just weren’t falling. pierce was nowhere to be found and honestly he stunk up the joint tongiht. ray was solid as was kg although his effort on the glass wasn’t so great. wallace also was weak on the glass ans gave up position too easliy
6 TOs is not great, but its not terrible for a PG – especially given 11 Assists. PGs always have the most TOs because they handle the ball so much.
KG had 9 rebounds and most importantly, he had 8 defensive boards (remember, that the Cs as rule are mostly indifferent about offensive rebounds). That is NOT a bad night on the glass. Its actually pretty good. That’s more def boards than Jerebko had (7) and tied with Ben Wallace for most in the game.
Sheed had a bit of this and a bit of that – 10 pts, an assist, a block, 2 steals, 5 defensive rebs, 1 offensive reb. Overall he was +7 for the game. Hard for me to criticize that effort.
I found it funny when....
in the beginning of the game the Piston commentators were saying how C’s weaknesses are rebounding and having Sheed stick around the 3 point line for too long.
If majority of the league knows your weak spots….when will the C’s finally take some responsibility and work on it?
Anyways pretty or ugly….a win at this point is great to have. :)
P.S. Awesome effort by the bench…and it def is great to have Nate.
who hatin' now!
Still rather have Billy? When was the last time Billy did anything like that in a MEANINGFUL GAME? Nate is going to be huge, pardon the pun, off the bench for this team. Sure Eddie was nice while he was here, but Nate can just do things on the court Eddie can’t.
by KG's Knee on Mar 2, 2010 10:50 PM EST via mobile reply actions
nate won them the game. doc actually made good substitutions the whole game. pp at the end made a smart foul on wallace. shelden was not great but very serviceable. when they get perk back, i would like to see shelden get some of rasheed’s minutes. sheed was falling all over the floor tonite. bb davis really hurt this team with his stupid thumb incident. rondo played poor defense on stuckey in the beginning of the game, got better later. all in all, the c’s look mediocre at best; at worst, they look old and brittle. it seems after kg sits for a while in half 2, he comes back hobbled. he did play some nice side to side d in the 3rd, but only in spurts.
Need a Whole Team Effort to win against any nba team! Otherwise the winning effort is harder to carry forward to the next game. Whole Team, including Nate.
by thirstyboots18 on Mar 4, 2010 9:12 PM EST up reply actions
Doc and Glenn Davis
I think that Doc almost blew the game again by not making timely substitutions… Nate saved him and the game. It is very hard for anyone who has been sitting for almost an entire quarter to come into the game with 2-4 mn left and make shots when the game is on the line… and how about throwing the ball at Rondo for the crucial FTs at the end? I almost could not watch as I thought that he would miss and that the Pistons would come back and tie it!
Regarding GB, it is now obvious that he is not the guy we need at this position. He has no jumping abilities (can he even dunk) and is not in basketball shape. He also took the most shots tonight of any C’s (14!)! We need a long athletic PF who can rebound and is aggressive around the rim. Someone that can receive an alley hoop from Rondo and dunk it with authority.
I’ll take the win, but again, Nate save the day for Doc and the starters tonight.
davis knows
guys are disjointed on offense….. He’s being opportunistic…that said: I expected waaaaay more from him this year. What a shame.
malcontents....the lot of you
Wait a minute... Rajon 7-8 FTs
I’m going have to double & triple check that line. Rajon beasting 7-8 tonight from the line… what does this mean? He has seemed to have stints of hot/cold bursts from the line. But never can I remember him making 7 shots in relatively few attempts.
All right, glad to hear about the crucial RR FT finish ^^
The two most important things about Nate are
He’s young and our point guard if Rondo goes down, and every game I watch , RR takes at least one HARD hit and I wonder if he’s gonna get back up and continue.
If Perk, PP, KG, Quis, BB can go down, so can RR. (Ray Allen only one that doesn’t seem to break).
Davis has no arch on his shot right now
Really flat, so less likely to go in.
This game was won at the 3-pt line, and the C’s were fortunate the refs evened up the fts.
But the defensive swoon continued – it won’t be long until the PA average reflects the change…
by nba is the worst on Mar 3, 2010 8:21 AM EST reply actions
Nate Was Great Addition
I love the energy, hustle and confidence he brings! Oh yeah, the scoring too !!!! Ha
we were lucky to win this game and we still didn't play well
this could easily have been our third loss in a row and but for Nate robinson and some inspired play from our bench we would have lost this game. Doc may think that changing hte starting unit is a bad thing but what I saw out of our starters last night did not instill confidence in me. Part of that probably is because Pierce is clearly not himself and was not ready to play last night. He was a step slow on everything and was front rimming all of his shots. The mental focus though still was not there. Rondo had 6 turnovers and they were bad turnovers caused by poor decision making on his part. He is the key and he has to play better and smarter if we are to have any chance. Ray Allen I thought played well and right now he is playing at a much higher level than the other starters. His defensive effort is there and he’s become much more consistent on offense. I wish I could say the same for the other starters but they’re still struggling. KG doesn’t have lateral quickness any more and he can no longer guard anyone on the perimeter. Jonas Jerebko beat him like a drum last night every time he had the ball. Sheed played his usual matador D and failed to box out or rotate defensively on several plays. He also didn’t run the floor on the break. Luckily he hit a few threes but I don’t know what there is left to say about him. He’s not in shape, he doesn’t hustle and on defense he reaches on every play and commits hacking fouls. Other than the fact that he’s a 7 footer who can score in the post when he puts his mind to it, there’s not much to like about his game. Pierce needs to return from FUnky Land and get his head and his body in the game. He’s been on vacation for about 6 weeks now and it’s time for the captain to show some fire out there. If he’s still hurt then he should sit and let Daniels play. Back to the mental focus: TOny ALlen Can’t foul Rip from behind the 3 point line in that situation- he just can’t ! That’s inexcusable at this stage in his career. DItto for inbounding the ball to Rondo not once but twice at the end of the game. KG has to know the situation. Or Ray ALlen dribbling out of bounds. WTF!!! We need to clean all of that stuff up since we’re just giving away points. That doesn’t even include the technicals that we get on a nightly basis.
Williams Needs More Minutes
Did anyone see Doc’s post game press conference? I wish I could find it online. Classic Doc spinning. I can’t believe I heard him say "every time Sheldon gets a chance to play, he does well." No kidding! I’ve been saying this all year long. Why doesn’t he play more then?
Then he said "some of these guys don’t play for about 5 or 6 games and then when they come in, they’re ready." He was obviously talking about Williams again but of course he never actually addresses WHY he only plays once every two weeks or so. How about letting him play more consistently? He’s no worse than Scal (I think he’s MUCH better than Scal, actually) and I think he brings a lot more to the table in terms of defense and rebounding.
I just don’t understand Doc’s decision making on substitutions, especially when the team has had a lot of injuries and has not had any energy or heart for months now. Williams is the type of player that comes in and gives you everything he has and leaves it all on the floor. There is no reason why he should not be playing instead of Scal. It is really frustrating. It’s time to shake things up a little….
No team spirit
I was watchin the championship dvd and there was so much spirit lot of chemistry b/w players. I dont see it now. Last season there was a reason for pity party as KG was out but now hes here. I dont see the aggressiveness. Even if they win a game their faces r so dull. Luks like they r already satisfied wid their games wid 1 championship.
Already v had 3 old veteran players y did they take sheed? we need some young (not ameture) offensive player. They traded 3 point shooter eddie which made lot of difference last 2 games where we cld not shoot 3 points. This pistons game was atleast better wid nate. I think they shd nt be contented wid just 1 championship and be wanting more … go cels
Comments For This Post Are Closed
Secondary Sidebar
User Tools
Related FanPosts on CelticsBlog
Related FanShots on CelticsBlog
FanPosts
Community blog posts and discussion.
Recent FanPosts
In Association With
Ball Don't Lie - NBA - Yahoo! Sport
- Days of NBA Lives: Wherein Roy Hibbert tap-dances to Maine
- Grizzlies Valentine’s Day cards are the key to love
- Kevin Love would like the NBA to take the MLB’s approach on All-Star games
- Kobe Bryant fires a few hilarious salvos at Jeremy Lin
- Brandon Jennings states the obvious regarding his 2014 free agency, everyone goes nuts
Certain photos copyright © 2012 by Associated Press or Getty Images. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of Associated Press and Getty Images is strictly prohibited.
