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Kevin Garnett Can Still Score
by Greg Payne on Nov 7, 2009 8:55 AM EST
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Kevin Garnett doesn't want to be asked any more questions about his surgically repaired right knee, but he did manage to provide some further answers last night for any remaining pundits.
Garnett posted a season-high 26 points against Phoenix on 13-20 shooting, but it wasn't enough as the Celtics fell 110-103. Still, in weighing the positives and the negatives, a big night from Garnett certainly holds some significant weight. I think the questions and uncertainties with Garnett will quietly remain for some time, but nights like last night will eventually bridge the gap so we can all move forward for good.
Because against Phoenix, he brought out the majority of the tools in his toolbox against the defense of Amare Stoudemire and Channing Frye. He established the jump shot early on, but much to the approval of this writer, he worked his way inside as the night went on. It wasn't long before Garnett was dipping, ducking and drop stepping his way through the paint, putting in some hanging hook shots and up and unders. He also threw down a steady collection of tip-in alley-oops that came from a variety of distributors.
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Living by the Three and Dying by the Three
by Greg Payne on Nov 7, 2009 8:54 AM EST
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Through the first six games of the season, the Celtics shot 57-126 from deep, good for 45.2 percent. The team reached something of a peak with their three-point shooting on Tuesday against the Philadelphia 76ers when the guys knocked down 14 of their 20 attempts in the midst of a 31-point blowout.
However, the following night against the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Celtics' red hot shooting from deep grew as cold as the Minneapolis weather in the heart of winter. The Celtics made just five of their 19 three-point field goal attempts against the Wolves and barely managed to squeak by Al Jefferson and company, with a 92-20 victory.
Two days later against the offensive-minded Phoenix Suns, the game plan called for the ball to be pounded down low against the likes of Amare Stoudemire and Channing Frye. The Celtics ended up losing 110-103, but 60 of those 103 points were scored in the paint. Clearly, scoring in the paint was possible against the Suns. Unfortunately, Boston apparently forgot about this strategy in the game's final three minutes and they resorted to bombing away from deep, which played a key role in the team's first loss off the season.
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Flash Forward
by Jeff Clark on Nov 5, 2009 9:52 PM EST
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Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. - Matthew 6:34
The Celtics are rightly focused on the present. They need to maximize this window of opportunity. However, they cannot completely sacrifice the future. Life beyond the Big 3 isn't all that far away. Rajon Rondo just signed a contract that won't end until 2015 so the subject of our future is on my mind.
Of course there's nothing we can do about tomorrow, so there's truly nothing worth worrying about. However, that doesn't mean we can't gaze at the horizon and speculate about it a bit.
There are far, far too many variables to make any sort of well defined predictions about who will be playing for the Celtics 2, 3, or 4 years from now. Barring unforseen circumstances, you can count on Rondo, Pierce, KG, Perkins, Sheed, and most likely Big Baby to be on the roster next year. Everyone else is a free agent.
The Celtics will have a good shot at bringing Ray Allen back with a short term extension. Assuming he doesn't opt out this summer, Paul Pierce will be eligible for an extension the next year. But at some point those two, along with Garnett, will transition to being support players. I expect Pierce to retire in Boston but KG, Ray, and Sheed could each eventually be moved near the end of their contracts.
At some point, the next generation (led in theory by Rondo) will have to take over the reins. Perkins is the other young cornerstone to build around, but he'll need to stay healthy and be resigned first. Having Rondo and Perkins takes care of the two hardest positions to fill, but we'll need more than that to compete for more championships.
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Rondo's Offense Brings the Celtics Back
by Greg Payne on Nov 5, 2009 2:06 PM EST
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Rajon Rondo's assists will hold more meaning to the Celtics than his points this season. With the likes of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kevin Garnett and Rasheed Wallace beside him, it's expected that the Celtics will not have any trouble putting the ball in the basket.
But nonetheless, in the wake of Rondo signing a 5-year, 55 million dollar extension on Monday, it was comforting seeing his scoring come to life against the Timberwolves last night. Particularly amidst some rather tired performances from his more offensively efficient teammates.
With Pierce and Allen shooting a combined 9-25 for the game and the Celtics trailing 55-45 with 9:45 remaining in the third frame, Rondo's scoring took precedent and served as the main cog in Boston's third quarter revival. Rondo tallied 14 points in the third period, but was not necessarily scoring in the conventional way.
When the Celtics hosted the Hornets on Sunday, Chris Paul took matters into his own hands at the point guard spot with a steady barrage of three-pointers, mid range jump shots, driving layups and free throws. He was a scorer in true form. Against the Wolves last night though, Rondo took a different approach. He snuck his way into the lane on multiple occasions for easy buckets off passes from doubled teammates, he stole the ball at the top of the key from the Wolves and went the length of the court for a layup and in one instance a Garnett block led to a full court pass to a streaking Rondo for another uncontested lay in. He also managed to tie the game at 68 with 2:35 left in the frame on a putback off of an offensive rebound.
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New Celtics embrace Ubuntu early on
by jimmyt on Nov 5, 2009 6:00 AM EST
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Together on the court; together off the court. That's the recipe for success for the 2009-2010 Boston Celtics. While it's clear that these players are clicking with each other on the court, it's how they treat each other off the court that makes them more than just teammates, but brothers.
Brought in by Doc Rivers during the 2007-08 banner season, the philosophy known as Ubuntu has played a major role in the recent success of the Boston Celtics. Whether it's the extra pass for the easy basket, or the help defense that Boston is known for, Ubuntu is everywhere. Fans and returning players of the Boston Celtics are very familiar with the term by now.
But what about the new guys on the team? It's not like Ubuntu is practiced by many, if any, other NBA teams. You can't expect them to grasp the concept of Ubuntu at such an early stage in the season, can you?
Yes, you can.
Rivers, along with last year's returning players, have made it clear early on that Ubuntu is returning, after what some might call a brief hiatus last season. While it is still very early in the season, all signs point toward the "togetherness" that Ubuntu preaches.
"In Africa, a guy was driving through the country and had no food and water," Celtics rookie Lester Hudson explained. "He stopped at a village, but didn't have to ask for food or water- they gave it to him without him asking- so that was a sign of generosity."
Hudson was told by Rivers to do a presentation of what Ubuntu means. Hudson researched the origin and its meaning and presented his findings to the team shortly before the start of the regular season.
"It's like one team, all together for one goal," Hudson explained. "I see it all the way. Everybody is helping each other, everybody is doing their role, whenever somebody needs another, we help them out."
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Boston's Bench Buries Philly in Fourth
by Greg Payne on Nov 4, 2009 11:20 AM EST
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The Celtics improved their undefeated record to 5-0 by knocking off the Philadelphia 76ers, 105-74, Tuesday night. Paul Pierce finished with 21 points, but as has been the case in multiple instances this season, he, along with Kevin Garnett, Rajon Rondo and Kendrick Perkins did not need to break a sweat in the fourth quarter.
The Celtics' starters scored just four points in the game's first six minutes, but the bench helped them build a 69-54 lead heading into the fourth quarter. Doc Rivers went with what has become a typical second unit of Rasheed Wallace, Eddie House, Marquis Daniels, Shelden Williams and Ray Allen to start the fourth and that contingent cooked the fish that the other starters helped reel in for them.
"In the third quarter the starters came out and played and then the second unit came back in and stretched the lead," said Rivers afterward.
Allen finally was replaced in the fourth quarter by Lester Hudson with 6:50 remaining in the frame and the score, 85-58. Not many benches in the NBA are capable of taking a 15-point lead and and transforming it into a 27-point mountain that opponents have absolutely no chance of scaling. Boston's second five outscored Philly 16-4 in this stretch, which speaks volumes of its offensive capabilities, as well as its defensive potential. The bench finished with a season-high 62 points on the night.
Granted, Wallace was ridiculous from three-point nation in this one, knocking down six of his eight attempts in his Philadelphia homecoming (he finished with a season-high 20 points). But this really served as the first game this season in which the bench personally finished off an opponent, which was a great sign.
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Emphasizing The Good
by Jeff Clark on Nov 4, 2009 7:46 AM EST
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Rasheed and Garnett don't get into the low post enough.
Rondo needs to develop a jumper.
Eddie isn't really a backup point guard.
Daniels is a tweener without a true position.
Hogwash! Nonsense! Ridiculous! Flibberflabber!
Doc Rivers is a genius. Think about it. If he focused on all the negative things you could nit pick about each and every player on this team, they'd spend so much time second guessing and overthinking that they wouldn't be focused on what makes them great.
Sheed and KG are really good at shooting from the outside, so that's what they do. They are virtually unblockable from 15 feet out. Their defenders are usually slow-footed behemoths that venture outside about as much as the typical hobbit leaves the Shire. (Yes, I realize how dated that reference is, and yes, I know I just compared 7 foot centers to hobbits, ...lets just move on) The point is, they like to shoot from outside. They are pretty good at it. Why not let them do it? Why not reward two guys that bust their butts on defense by letting them float a little on offense? (Especially when they can clear the lane for Neanderthals that actually like to hit people, ...you know, like Perk)
Rondo has worked on his jumper and we all would like him to be able to hit at least a midrange jumper from time to time. However, even without much of an outside game, he's doing pretty well thank you very much. Forget simple assists-to-turnover ratios. Right now you almost have to start inventing new stats for him. So far in 5 games he's turned the ball over only 12 times and stolen it 14 times. He's got a 1.4 assist-to-points ratio (52/37). Oh yeah, and he's the starting point guard on an 5-0 team and he's got a championship ring and a huge new contract. Eat your heart out CP3.
Eddie was put on this earth to do one thing exceptionally well, and that is to shoot the basketball. This whole business about him being too short to be a shooting guard and not a true point guard is just a distraction. All I know is that when you throw him the ball with a quarter of an inch of space he will catch, square, release, and follow through so fast that it seems like a blur on the screen.
Daniels is part of the reason he can focus on the catch and shoot because Daniels is perfectly happy bringing the ball over half court. He's perfectly happy playing 3 different positions on the court. He's perfectly happy playing one position on offense and another on defense. He's perfectly happy being the utility infielder of this team. So why ask him to be defined or confined to a particular role?
Doc is a genius because he lets these players be who they are.
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Rondo: Contract? NBA Guards Keeping Him Busy
by tenaciousT on Nov 3, 2009 6:05 AM EST
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Or so he will tell you. You almost believe him, too.
The new $55 million dollar contract is agreed to and settled now.
But you would never have gotten the idea that anything unusual was occurring from his pre game answers on Sunday. Here is how much of the pre-game locker room interview with a seated Rondo went.
Are you thinking about the negotiations?
Naw. I’m thinking about Chris Paul.
You’ve got the vibe on him already, I’m sure. This kid gives the appearance of being the cool cat with a soprano voice. His soft spoken demeanor only slightly veils his enormous confidence. Throw a bit of poker player in to get the whole vibe.
But he could have truly been as calm as he seemed. He was holding a winning hand anyway you want to look at it. His only question is…'Do I cash in my hand now or next year?' Either way, he is making big, big bucks.
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