Archive for February, 2009

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For the Sweep: Celtics-Pistons Preview

February 28th, 2009

There’s a lot of nice historical trivia for hoops buffs to like in this one. For example:

• As of this second, the C’s would play the Pistons in the 2-7 match-up in the first round, making this a Premature Playoff Preview. The last time they met in the first round was in 1989, when Detroit swept Boston.

• The Celtics are going for their first season sweep of Detroit since taking all four from the Pistons in 1991-92.

• The Celtics have a (recent) history of trapping Rip Hamilton, and it will be interesting to see how Stephon Marbury handles what could be a more complicated defensive strategy against two bigger guards. (More on this later).

• And, most interesting in a FreeDarko sort of way, we’ve got the first and fourth overall selections of the 1996 draft on opposite sides, two controversial guards (Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury) who have had everything about their games questioned more than almost any other star player in the modern NBA era.

In their primes, one was an uncatchable lightning bolt whose fearlessness and desire made even his harshest critics sometimes forgive the 41 percent shooting; the other was a scoring point guard who was quick enough to beat speedsters off the dribble and strong enough to bounce off defenders and finish at the rim.

Now, one is regarded as something of a loser; his absence has improved Denver and his presence has coincided with the stunning fall of the Pistons pseudo-dynasty. The other has no reputation left at all and is trying one last time to save a scrap of his legacy.

Then there’s Ray Allen, picked one spot behind Marbury and in every way the opposite of these two–calm, quiet, consistent, never doubted.

Back to this game. Iverson’s injured (stiff back), and of course (the basketball gods have been cruel to AI sometimes) that resulted in the Pistons immediately snapping their eight-game losing streak against Orlando Friday.

But good God, the Pistons are bad–and boring. What happened to this team? They play the second-slowest pace in the league, they can’t shoot threes (28th in attempts, 26th in percentage), they are 24th in offensive efficiency and their vaunted defense (DEE-TROIT BASKETBALL) has slipped all the way to 13th in the league.

As Mr. Hollinger tells us today, the Pistons are 7-18 over their last 25 games and are in danger of falling out of the playoff picture in the Eastern Conference. Hollinger nails a bunch of the reasons–the Chauncey-AI trade, bad signings (Kwame Brown), a rookie coach making lineup changes on the fly, a fading young point guard (Rodney Stuckey, averaging 8.5 points, 3.6 assists and 35.6 shooting per game in February) and an old core with lots of miles on their legs.

This team is getting by (to the extent they are even doing that) because they take care of the ball (lowest turnover rate in the league), defend the three well … and, really, that’s about it. Pick a random category and they are bad or mediocre at it.

Offensive rebounding rate? 19th. Ratio of FTAs to FGAS? 26th. Forcing turnovers? Twenty-seventh, and hooray for that, because we all know the Celtics treat the basketball like they are not very interested in it.

We talk match-ups and Marbury after the jump. » More: For the Sweep: Celtics-Pistons Preview

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Posted in Previews

Celtics loss to Clippers used as marketing focus

February 28th, 2009

Here’s an advertisement that popped up on a southern California newspaper’s Web site:



Lame? Very. But it’s also a pretty huge testament as to how elite the Celtics are looked upon around the league. Or how desperate the Clippers are at shedding the perception as an afterthought in the Los Angeles market.

As an avid NCAA enthusiast, an upset like this would certainly work from a marketing standpoint, if say, Appalachian State beat Michigan. But in a league of 30 teams, there’s not really an immense talent gap that NCAA football has.

Sure, the Clippers beating the Celtics is arguably the biggest upset this season thus far. But it’s an NBA season of 82 games, and doesn’t quite work as a marketing ploy that does work at the college level.

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Posted in Photo Essays

Marbury Era: Day 1

February 28th, 2009

Well, the debut of Stephon Marbury in green has come and gone, and most people seem pretty happy with it.

Peter May called it an “impressive debut” considering the layoff, Bob Ryan is on board though skeptical and the Herald guys essentially give Steph’s debut a thumbs up.

Here are some random thoughts on Steph and last night’s game in general:

• Did anyone else feel that the whole night was sort of…unbecoming of the Celtics? The introductory press conference, the standing ovation, Marbury high-fiving children and grinning, the over-cheering at every positive thing Marbury did.

For the defending NBA champions (and the greatest franchise in sports), everything felt a bit desperate last night. (And I agree with Bob Ryan that there is some desperation here. Ryan’s response to Danny Ainge’s statement that the team didn’t feel the need to make a move: “I don’t believe that, and neither does anyone else in the league”).

I’d rather have seen Steph say “no thanks” to the press conference (was it mandatory?), ditch the high-fives and come into the game with a straight face. I want him treated like — and behaving like — any other fringe player competing for a roster spot and playing time.

As you’ll see below, I think Steph can help this team win, and his play showed no me-first tendencies. Admittedly, I get too caught up in image and perception of the franchise. But I was uneasy with the adulation and pomp last night.

I believe in redemption and comebacks and all, but it’s not as if Steph is coming back from a bad injury or a personal problem. He’s basically coming back from being an idiot. The whole night just felt strange to me. Am I alone in this? Yes? Ok, then.

• It is undeniable that Marbury can be a transformative force off the bench for 12-15 minutes per game. The second unit looked completely different with a competent point guard–we haven’t seen a crisp, accurate pick-and-roll pass from the bench mob all season like the one Marbury delivered to Powe in the second quarter.

• My favorite quote of Steph’s early Celtic career: “Defense. They play defense. It’s the only thing they talk about.” He almost seems shocked that a team could be so obsessed with defense. As for Marbury’s defense, we got what we are going to get from him–a so-so performance. He tried hard, though. He looked eager to fit in with the team’s defense-first mentality.

• Doc proved willing to experiment with a small line-up featuring Marbury and House in the back court and Ray Allen as the nominal small forward–and it worked during that nice early stretch in the fourth, when the C’s opened up a 92-79 lead.

To some extent, though, that’s easy to do against a Pacers team playing small without Dunleavy and Granger. It will be interesting to watch how Doc continues to tinker with small lineups and new combinations–especially considering he’s got 20 games to find out how Marbury fits with this team. And KG will only play in half those games, and Tony Allen may not play in any of them.

This is going to be the coaching staff’s biggest test of the season, and it’s one that makes me nervous. Integrating a piece as significant as Marbury this late is difficult, and it’s doubly difficult when two or your rotation guys can only begin their own Steph-integration process at the last minute.

• Kudos to Glen Davis for a nice, diverse offensive game last night, as pointed out by Brian Robb. Allow me to play Debbie Downer: Two rebounds? Two rebounds in 25 minutes of play? Glen Davis is a bad rebounder. His defensive rebounding percentage is about 13 percent, and that’s terrible for a power forward. (Powe’s, for instance, is about 19 percent). The Pacers killed the C’s on the offensive glass last night, and while some of that can be chalked up to luck (T.J. Ford grabbed five ORBs, suggesting he was in the right place a few times), a bit of the blame has to go to Baby.

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Posted in Notebook, Roundup

Oh Baby! C’s win in Marbury’s debut

February 28th, 2009

Celtics 104, Pacers 99

A five-point home win over a mediocre Indiana team missing two of their best players generally wouldn’t be something to write home about.

However after a week’s worth of speculation regarding the debut in green of one of the NBA’s most controversial characters, it proved to be a big night in Beantown.

And despite an impressive debut for number 8, (more on him later) Stephon Marbury’s performance did not steal the show for the evening. Instead, it was the play of Glen Davis that caught my eye.

I have had a very tumultuous relationship with Big Baby this year. He has been up and down year for Baby as he has been attempting to add a shooting facet to his game. Last night was clearly one of the ups as he delivered one of his best performances of the season on the offensive end, finishing with 18 points.

The point total wasn’t the thrilling part of his game for me. Instead it was Davis’ willingness to adapt his shot selection during the contest that allowed him to become an effective weapon for the Celts down the stretch. Let me explain.

Rewind back to Wednesday Night for a second. Davis played extremely well during the Clippers game. He made five straight jumpers from all over the floor during the first three quarters and looked to be firing on all cylinders.

Therefore when he took and missed a sixth jumper in the final moments of the close game, no one could fault him for that. He was hot all night and it was a shot everyone could live with.

Last night was a different story as it was clear Baby’s jumper was not falling from the onset of this contest. He missed the first three jumpers he took in the opening frame. Baby fought through it initially and ended up having a decent night overall with his jumper, hitting and missing a few more over the middle quarters before sitting at the start of the fourth.

When he reentered the game with six minutes remaining, he proceeded to miss an open 20 foot jumper almost immediately. Most nights this miss would not dissuade the big fellow from continuing to shoot but something seemed to change his thinking. Baby appeared to realize that the jumper wasn’t “on” and adjusted his game accordingly.

Davis remained a pivotal player in the surprisingly stagnant offensive 4th quarter by the starters once they returned to the game. The group almost fumbled away a double digit lead with bad shots and turnovers in the final few minutes.

Davis remained active with the offense however and helped stabilize the troops with his play on two possessions down the stretch when the Celtic lead had dropped to 3. Let’s take a closer look at these possessions.

(1:31) Paul Pierce is dribbling on the perimeter at the top of the key. Baby sets a strong pick allowing Pierce to go left on the outside of the lane towards the hoop drawing three Indiana defenders. Instead of popping out after the pick, Davis rolls strong to the hoop with Pierce and The Truth makes a great pass to reward Davis who finishes with a layup and draws the foul. This play stops Indiana’s 6-0 run and opens up a 6 point Boston lead.

(0:44) Kendrick Perkins passes to an open Davis at right elbow with time expiring on the shot clock. Baby squares up for the jumper but headfakes to shake the Indiana defender running at him. He drives to the lane and throws up a 10 foot floater shot that doesn’t look pretty but gets the roll and goes down. Celtics once again go up by 6.

As a Celtics fan, these developments were a great sign for the maturation of Baby’s game. Doc Rivers had been encouraging the power forward to take his jump shot and develop it all season long without any sign of hesitation.

The thing I despised about this progress was that when Big Baby added the jump shot, he appeared to forget about what made him such an effective NBA player in the first place; being a force down low. These plays last night reminded me that Baby could still play this way.

Overall this performance shows me Davis is on his way in finding a equilibrium for both parts of his game. Once he fully achieves this, he becomes an incredibly dangerous and versatile power forward and a huge asset for this Celtics team off the bench down the line.

Doc Rivers appeared to understand this reality long ago that Baby needed to add the jump shot as a part to his game to truly reach his ceiling as a player. He has been willing to deal with the growing pains on the floor that go along with it for the former LSU star. This patience which I and many other Celtic fans have lacked with the shot is a sign to me of a great coach that knows how to manage a team both for the present and the future.

Thoughts on Marbury after the jump.

» More: Oh Baby! C’s win in Marbury’s debut

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Posted in Game Recaps

Welcome, Stephon: Now please, don’t mess it up: Celtics-Pacers Preview

February 27th, 2009

Celtics: 46-13; Off. Eff. 110.8 (6th); Def Eff. 100.3 (1st)

Pacers: 25-35; Off. Eff. 107.1 (18th); Def Eff 109.0 (19th)

If Stephon Marbury really makes his Celtic debut tonight, it’s fitting that it will come against Indiana, the only other team in the NBA that boasts a point guard (Jamaal Tinsley) so hated by coaches and teammates that they banished him. For the Celtics’ sake, let’s hope that Marbury’s debut is the only drama in this game.

The Pacers are a thoroughly mediocre team that excels at nothing and ranks in the middle of the league in almost everything, and they will be missing their best player (Danny Granger) and their alleged second-best player (Mike Dunleavy Jr., who may not be as good as Troy Murphy).

Plus, the Pacers are terrible on the road (7-24). Of course, the Pacers have been strangely feisty against the league’s three elite teams, having split with the Lakers and taken a game each from Cleveland and Boston.

There are some interesting things to watch here. The Pacers push the pace (ugh, sorry), and the Celtics have had occasional trouble against fast-playing teams this season.

After Indiana won the first game of the season series, 95-79, Kevin Garnett told reporters, “That was the first time we’ve seen that kind of offense, to be honest. They did a good job of running it.” Troy Murphy, he of the 43 percent three-point shooting mark, will test the Davis/Powe/Moore combo on pick-and-pops, something KG would usually handle.

Murphy’s been averaging 19 per game since Granger’s injury, well above his 13.5 ppg average for the season. The Pacers jack it up from deep in general; about 25 percent of their shot attempts are threes, the ninth-highest percentage in the league. If the C’s close out, they’ll be fine.

As far as match-ups go, the Pacers have been playing more small line-ups since Granger aggravated a foot injury on Feb. 18. Expect to see any three of Jarrett Jack, T.J. Ford, Brandon Rush and Marquis Daniels on the court at the same time for big chunks of the game.

All of these guys have increased their scoring (or at least their field goal attempts) since Granger’s injury, especially Daniels, who’s averaging 21 per game over his last four. The Pacers smallish line-ups will allow the Celtics to continue featuring House and Rondo together and to (gulp) see how Marbury functions with the other guards.

The one player the Pacers don’t have an answer for defensively is Pierce. He’s too big for the above-mentioned four guys and too quick for everyone else on the team. Dislocated thumb and all, I expect him to attack early.

I’d also like to see Kendrick Perkins attack Jeff Foster in the post when Foster’s in at center for Roy Hibbert, who has been starting lately. Then again, I’m always happy when Perkins is involved in the offense, so perhaps you should disregard that.

Other things I’m hoping to see:

• After committing 20 turnovers against the Clippers in Wednesday’s ugly loss, let’s hope the C’s can take care of the ball against a Pacers team that’s just 19th in the league in forcing turnovers.

• More good shooting from Big Baby, who made some jumpers Wednesday that were contested a little more aggressively than his usual makes.

Anyway you slice it, this should be an easy win. And that would be nice, considering the C’s have tough home games against Cleveland and Orlando coming up next week.

After the jump, we review the season series so far against the Pacers. » More: Welcome, Stephon: Now please, don’t mess it up: Celtics-Pacers Preview

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Posted in Features