Day After Notebook: Ray on the Play, Daniels Healing, the Hudson Spot

Posted by Zach Lowe on Jan 7, 2010 52316 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F01%2F07%2Fday-after-notebook-ray-on-the-play-daniels-healing-the-hudson-spot%2FDay+After+Notebook%3A+Ray+on+the+Play%2C+Daniels+Healing%2C+the+Hudson+Spot2010-01-07+13%3A48%3A59Zach+Lowehttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D5231

Some quickies to get you started after a fun, fun game:

• Ray describes the Rondo lob in the Globe:

“We [practice that play] pretty much all the time, but you’ve got to have somebody as athletic as Rondo is. From their perspective you don’t want [a 3-pointer] to go in and you don’t want something lucky to go down, but at the same time the only thing we could do was get a lob to the basket at that point.’’

You may not want a three-pointer to go in, but with 0.6 seconds left, the lob is a much bigger threat. A shooter standing 24 feet away does not have time to set his feet and take his normal wind-up with 0.6 seconds left. You’re looking a desperation shot that looks sort of like a touch pass.

So if you’re Udonis Haslem there, you have to leave Scalabrine and deal with Rondo. In Haslem’s defense, the play unfolded so perfectly—and Rondo is so fast—that I’m not sure he could have done anything to stop the play even had he reacted properly.

Update: Red’s breaks it down here. Great stuff. Go read it.

• Don’t expect the C’s to fill the Lester Hudson roster spot anytime soon, though it’s clear the intent is to leave it open for a lop-sided (2-for-1 or 3-for-2 trade) if the chance comes up. Here’s Ainge in the Herald:

“This just gives us a roster spot that we don’t feel we need to use right now,” Ainge said. “We do save some money with this, but that wasn’t why we did it.”

And:

“But we’re trying to win now, and we think it’s better to have a spot free. You never know what players might become available down the line, and sometimes there are trades where you bring back more players than you send out. And you don’t want to have to be in a position where you’re waiving somebody (with a guaranteed contract) if you don’t have to.”

One more bullet, after the jump.

Also in the Herald: Marquis Daniels says he’s healing quickly from thumb surgery and  hopes to return before the All-Star break:

Past reports said he was shooting to come back after the All-Star break, but when asked yesterday if there’s a new timetable, he said, “Maybe before then. It all depends. When I go back and get this removed again, I hope everything will be good. . . . It’s healing really good.”

Daniels has been running, and he will go back and have this new cast removed in about three weeks.

As for his mood, he said, “It’s good. I mean, guys keep my spirits up. It’s great to be on a good team. If you’re on a bad team, it usually goes down the other way. But we’ve got a bunch of comedians around here, so it keeps your spirits up.”

Good news. The absence of Daniels and the team’s lack of faith (probably justified) in House as a back-up point guard has resulted in a jump in minutes for Rondo, Pierce and Ray Allen. The sooner that stops, the better.