Just what the Doc ordered
Posted by Brian Robb on Mar 21, 2009
Celtics 105, Grizzlies 87
Finally. That was my gut reaction in the closing moments of this one. On a night when there was an endless array of Celtics highlights coming fast and furious in the 2nd half, one moment stood out to me: Bill Walker’s baseline tomahawk throwdown with 5:47 left in the 4th quarter.
While the dunk was spectacular, it was not to play itself that made an impact. Instead it was the jubilant reaction of the starting five who watched with glee while the bench unit finished the Grizzlies off. We got many more camera shots of the starters yucking it up on the bench once this contest was no longer in doubt. After the injury turmoil of the last month, I had almost forgotten how common this scene on the bench use to be earlier this season.
Yes believe it or not folks, there was a time this year where this team routinely dispatched inferior opponents like the Grizzlies by the 4th quarter with little fanfare. There was no concern about the starters’ being overworked, (Ray Allen led the way with only 35 minutes tonight) no worrying about the team’s offensive rhythm. (30 assists tonight)
All in all there was really nothing major to complain about in many of these games usually except for the bench giving up big leads. The second team’s expansion of a double digit lead in the 4th and offensive firepower (51 points from six players) made sure that wasn’t an issue in this one.
Thus we had a 2nd half performance tonight where this team firing on all cylinders. (minus another off night from Paul Pierce) To be frank, this was a game this team needed after a month of play where nothing came easy for the Green. Earlier this season, blowouts out like this were routine and almost made many of the C’s games too predictable in my eyes. There was no drama, the outcomes were never really in doubt, it was like the Patriots undefeated regular season run a couple years back. Most opponents just didn’t have a real chance after the opening tip.
After a month of nailbiters and sometimes downright ugly basketball, I clearly have realized how spoiled I was of ever growing tired of those blowouts in the first place. I will not be making that mistake again anytime soon. Tonight’s effort though should serve as a notice to the league that while this team is far from being 100 percent, it is slowly but surely returning to its championship form.
A collection of remaining thoughts on an enjoyable night of basketball:
—I feel as if I have almost insulted Big Baby by not mentioning his career performance to this point. One week after Leon Powe went for 30 against the Grizz, Big Baby filled the void tonight by going for a career high 24 points of his own with a very efficent scoring line, making 8/11 from the field and 8/9 from the line.
Perhaps even more impressive than the scoring total was the way he did it, scoring on jump shots, strong moves to basket and even a powerful dunk on a putback. I had been one of the biggest critics earlier this year of Big Baby’s new found love of jump shooting, lamenting that it was keeping him from driving to the hoop and in turn made him a one dimensional player. It is clear however that in recent weeks Baby has found a balance in his offensive game between the extremes, making him a very dangerous force off the bench for this team. And after hitting a crunch time jumper Friday night in San Antonio, I have to give credit where credit is due after I attacked Baby when he missed similar jumpers in the Lakers loss a few weeks back.
To be honest, I did not expect the team to be able to reap the true fruits of his Baby’s new jump shooting abilities for a year or two, but the rewards are clearly in ahead of schedule. It makes me excited to see what the new look Baby and a rejuvenated Leon Powe will be able to do together in a couple weeks when Powe returns from a sprained knee. More observations after the jump
—Let’s continue the bench lovefest with some props for Eddie House. Another 15 points last night was pivotal with nine of those points coming on treys in the 1st half that helped to jump start what had been a stagnant Celtic offense to that point.
Eddie has shot 50% from 3 point land in the last three months, which is even more impressive when you consider the team has battled to find four healthy reserves to put in with him on many nights. House’s importance to this team in creating instant offense off the pine can not be overlooked when looking at the C’s success these past two years.
—My esteemed colleague Zach Lowe has touched upon Perk’s impact on the offense earlier this year and his sharp observations were apparent again in last night’s affair. Perkins had a relatively unspectacular line of 9 points and 5 boards upon first glance at the box score. However when the Celtics struggled in the first quarter offensively (scoring only 21 points), Perk’s lack of involvement in the O was evident having missed his only shot of the quarter.
The third quarter was a different story for the C’s starting unit, putting up 26 points and outscoring the Grizzlies by nine during the frame. The team ran their sets smoothly and looked completely in rhythm. Unconcidentely Perkins was highly involved in the team’s offense, making three of four shots including a couple on that nice turnaround move he’s been going to a lot lately in the paint.
I feel that this team is most dangerous when Perk is a factor in the post. With KG primarily being a jump shooter on offense, Perk is the only legitimate post presence we have in the starting five. With a couple of new moves added to his post repertoire, he can contribute down low and when other teams have to account for his presence on the block as a real threat, it really opens up the floor for the rest of the team’s shooters.
—It was game 12 of the Stephon Marbury era and his progress is still very limited at this point as he struggles to get comfortable within the team’s offense. He dished out 4 assists but still looks very hesitant offensively and has not been attacking the hoop at all. I have been preaching patience on Marbury as he has struggled to get his bearings but its clear Starbury will have to make some serious strides in his game soon to become a contributor for the C’s during the playoffs.
—Finally nice garbage time performance by Bill Walker with the resounding dunk and a couple nice jumpers. With Paul and Ray in line for more rest the next few weeks, Celtics fans have to be excited to see Walker get more consistent playing time.
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