Large Saturday Notebook: Jamal Crawford Should Die of Gonorrhea and Rot in Hell, Lester in Memphis, Caution with KG, The Flu Hits Pierce
Posted by Zach Lowe on Jan 9, 2010
• Let’s start with the efficiency numbers from last night in Atlanta:
Pace: 86 possessions (very slow)
Offensive Efficiency: 99 points/100 possessions (New Jersey Nets-level)
Defensive Efficiency: 108 points allowed/100 possessions (slightly below average)
As you can see, the offense was a larger problem in this game than the defense. And for once, it wasn’t the turnovers; the C’s coughed it up 15 times last night, about their average.
This was just a matter of Boston failing to get good shots and, as a result, missing them.
• But if you’ll allow me a rare moment of optimism. Last night’s loss has Jeff Clark at CelticsBlog worried about the C’s ability to beat young teams, Brendan says he fears a playoff match-up with the Hawks more than any match-up and Frank Dell’Apa once again sounds the alarm in the Globe about the Hawks rebounding edge (39-36) last night.
Let’s all slow down for a second. The Hawks are a really good team. On a lot of nights, they play as if they belong in the conversation with the Magic, Celtics and Cavs in the East. And maybe they do.
But the C’s lost a highly-contested game on the road without Kevin Garnett in a game in which they made one shot over a 9:00 minute stretch in the 3rd quarter.
This is not a disaster. Sure, the Hawks grabbed a few key offensive boards late in the game, but they pulled down 27 percent of all available offensive rebounds overall—almost exactly league average.
Also, for better or worse, the C’s turned the Hawks into a long-distance jump-shooting team for much of the 2nd half. Chris Forsberg at ESPNBoston has the numbers from ESPN’s Stats and Information group:
It wasn’t just Crawford who was hot from the outside. The Hawks shot an impressive 58.9 percent (20 of 34 overall) in the second half, doing most of their damage away from the bucket. Atlanta hit 62.5 percent (10 of 16) of its attempts that came from more than 17 feet out, compared to 55.6 percent (10 of 18) inside of 17 feet.
Can Atlanta pull that off next time?
Let’s all relax and enjoy our Saturday, OK?
At least more than Perk and Doc Rivers will enjoy theirs, judging by the quotes after last night’s game.
• Perk was unusually talkative last night and had this to say about the intensity with which Atlanta seems to play against Boston. (Via the Globe):
“I think you’ve got to be more physical with this team. Sometimes we kind of look over them, guys don’t take them seriously. They take us seriously. Every time they play us, they’re physically into us. You can just tell when we play them they’ve got something to prove.
“I watch a lot of basketball throughout the league and I watch how they play us and I watch how they play other teams and there’s a big difference. They don’t have the same intensity against other teams they bring against us.’’
• Doc also raises the issue of physicality in the Globe:
“I thought they were more physical, I thought they attacked,’’ Celtics coach Doc Rivers said. “We’re supposed to be the physical team, we haven’t been against them. They’ve been far more physical than us. We have a great spirit on this team and I don’t think we had that [last] night. It happens. I thought . . . on the floor, we were awful – very little talking. And then a lot of excuse-making. That happens and it won’t be the last time. But that’s twice now Atlanta has been the better team.’’
The C’s committed just 14 fouls last night, their second-fewest in a game this season. Is it possible, in some weird way, that 14 fouls against the Hawks is too few? Perhaps the lack of depth (without KG and a flu-ridden TA) took some of the aggression out of the C’s defense? I mean, this has been among the more foul-prone teams in the league over the last three seasons. It’s sort of built into their defensive system.
• Speaking of the flu, Doc expects it is isn’t done making its way through the team. (Via Steve Bulpett in the Herald):
Rivers was happy to see House, who missed the previous game with a stomach virus. “But now we’ve got Tony feeling bad and Paul (Pierce) feeling bad,” said the coach. “I just think it’s going to run through the team, so we’re going to get through this probably in the next couple of weeks. Most likely every single guy will get sick at some point.”
Though Eddie isn’t a medical doctor, he’s claiming he did not have the flu, according to Bulpett:
Said House: “It wasn’t the flu, so y’all don’t have to worry about that. I’m cool. It was just a stomach virus or something like that.
“I felt a lot better (Thursday) than I did the day before. The day before that I was terrible. I feel 100 percent right now.”
• KG’s knee is apparently healed to the point at which he could play in a pinch, but the C’s aren’t going to allow that, and KG, to his credit, isn’t making noise about playing before the hyperextended knee is fully healed. Via the Herald:
“We’re just going to wait,” Rivers said before the 93-85 loss to the Hawks. “The only thing we do know is that historically with hyperextended knees, if you want them to be 100 percent you’ve got to allow it to heal 100 percent before you put him back in there.
“You can play him – Kevin could play today – but then it would just keep getting worse, keep getting tighter. We’re just not going to go down that road.”
This is smart. We’ve been over this before. Sigh.
• As you know by now, Lester Hudson has a new home in Memphis. The Grizzlies claimed Hudson, 25, off waivers, meaning the C’s (for now, at least) will not be able to sign Hudson to a 10-day contract. I don’t think they wanted to do that anyway. The Grizz could always waive Hudson and bank the savings, and he doesn’t look to receive much playing time as the third point guard behind Mike Conley and Jamaal Tinsley.
Doc gave Lester a nice little back-handed compliment on his way to Memphis (via Dell’Apa’s notebook in the Globe):
“He’s got an NBA body, NBA ability, now he’s got to turn his mind into an NBA player – he’s got to become a better thinker, understanding how important all the little things are.’’
Good luck, Lester. CelticsTown has a nice reflection on Lester, mostly gleaned from a two-part interview the site did with Hudson before the season.
• Just so you know, the quote that titles this post (about Jamal Crawford) is a reference to Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (which I’m convinced will be studied for its comedy in film classes 50 years from now like we analyze Chaplin today) and an expression of irrational frustration. I don’t actually wish those things about Jamal Crawford, a nice fellow who carried Atlanta for stretches last night but will doom that team in a big game at some point this season. Just wait.
• I wish the people who made the move The Blind Side didn’t feel as if they had to embellish the book so teenage girls would enjoy the movie.
That’s it for now. Enjoy the weekend. We’ve got the Raps in one of those Toronto Sunday matinees tomorrow—games the Raps always seem to be better prepared for than opponents who never play at 1 p.m. after a night of fun on the town going to bed early in the hotel.
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