Building Blocks from Last Night’s Win
Posted by Brian Robb on Feb 2, 2010
A win is a win. That was the phrase Celtics fans needed to say to themselves after last night’s 99-88 victory in Washington. It didn’t come pretty, and it certainly wasn’t easy, but there were elements of the contest, especially the team’s outstanding 4th quarter effort that can be used as building blocks in the upcoming weeks.
Some of you may be laughing at the ridiculousness of that statement. Building blocks after an 11 point win against the lowly Wizards? In a game where the C’s still had 18 turnovers and looked pitiful for stretches in the 2nd and 3rd quarters? I understand the skepticism, but bare with me here. Despite the surface appearance of an unimpressive win, there were many positives, if not encouraging elements of this W that the C’s can and should carry over in the weeks to come.
* Energy from the bench
We’ve seen a lot of it lately from Tony Allen, but little else from everyone else on the pine. Sheed has had his moments helping out with the scoring load, but has done little else to give the team a major spark. Eddie House has been consistently inconsistent for far too many contests shooting from the outside, making him regularly a net minus on the floor. And Big Baby had shown flashes but still is seemingly trying to get comfortable coming back from his broken thumb.
These four players along with Ray Allen started the 4th quarter last night. The team was down 78-74 entering the final frame and had shown no promise of being able to get over the hump against the lowly Wizards.
The C’s have had their struggles lately in all areas of the 4th quarter and while the starters deserve a lot of the blame, the bench hasn’t done much to help matters. Against LA, they started to fumble away an 11 point lead in the 4th. Another double digit lead squandered against Orlando, partially due to the bench. A tie game in Atlanta turned into a quick deficit in the 4th with the bench out there as well.
Doc has had to pull a quick trigger in many of these games, inserting the starters early on in the 4th and quite frankly I can’t blame him a lot of the time for making that moves. The bench unit as a whole has shown the inability to even trend water in any of these games during the 2nd half. And when you’re a struggling team like the C’s right now, you don’t want to lose a game unless it’s your best lineup out there, so Doc brings back in those starters a bit early to try to stop the bleeding. It clearly hadn’t worked well recently, given the C’s inability to close teams out. Things changed though last night.
A sense of urgency was apparent from the start of the 4th in Washington, in a game the C’s desperately wanted. From the opening inbounds of the quarter, we saw signs of life being made on the defensive end of the floor by the 2nd unit. Some spark that Doc and Celtics fans use to see in years past out of the entire group. It started when Rasheed Wallace blocked Audray Blatche’s shot on the first possession. Eddie House was burned by Earl Boykins but recovered enough to block his layup the next time Washington came down the floor. Guys you don’t expect to make those kinds of plays were making them.
The C’s did not score on their first 3 possessions of the quarter, but had set their tone for the frame on the defensive end. While the strong effort continued on D, progress was made on the offensive end, as the team showed some patience. A big part of this process was Glen Davis, who bizarrely did not make an appearance in the 1st half. He took the slight in stride however and left a major impression on this one in the 4th quarter. Not only was his hustle and rebounding outstanding on both ends of the floor, he showed a crucial patience on the block in the post in the early parts of the 4th.
Exploiting a mismatch with Nick Young, the 2nd unit went to him early and often during their half court sets, and he handled the ball perfectly. In the earlier possessions, he waited for the double team to come, and stepped through it to create easy shot opportunities for TA and Rasheed down low. The C’s younger big men, namely Perk and Big Baby have had trouble passing out of double teams down low, so it was pleasant to see the 3rd year forward take advantage of the situation to set up his teammates. Again a basic element of basketball, but something the C’s have had trouble executing this year.
Baby also took advantage of his matchup to go at the hoop and do work down low when the double team wasn’t there, which enabled him to get to the line 4 times in his 8 minutes. Overall his final line from the field was extremely pedestrian, if not forgettable 1 point, 2 rebounds, 2 assists 1/4 from the line. His imprint on the team during the 4th though loomed large. Instead of giving the starters (KG, Rondo) a larger deficit when they reentered the game midway through the 4th, the 2nd unit had started the comeback, turning the 4 point deficit into a 2 point lead. Finally, some progress.
Other Positives
* Doc being cautious with Paul Pierce down the stretch
Rivers admitted after the game he likely made a mistake reinserting Paul back into the contest in the first place, after he went down with a foot injury in the 2nd quarter. Bringing him back in the 2nd quarter, he went down again right before halftime after he collided with Caron Butler with 1 second left, a pointless collision that seemed to reflect the kind of luck the C’s were having lately.
With Tony Allen, playing well in 2nd half with the bench, especially on the defensive end, Doc decided to ride out the final frame with TA filling Pierce’s role with the starters and Rasheed Wallace in place of Perk.
Tony made great use of his 28 minutes, filling up the box score nicely with 10 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, a block and perhaps most importantly just one turnover. Doc has said many times, TA will get minutes if he plays defense, but it’s clear Tony’s value to this team is more important than just his defense right now.
His athleticism, ability to crash the boards, energy, and ability to drive to the hoop explosively is an element that this team, especially the starting unit is in desperate need of right now. The C’s have been afraid to attack the hoop in the 4th quarter lately and if there is one thing TA is not afraid to do, it’s attack. He did it on both ends of the floor last night, helping to prove to Doc he can be counted on during crunch time if called upon. For now, Tony has earned 20-25 minutes a game that he rightfully deserves and that this team needs out of him to keep Ray Allen’s and Paul Pierce’s minutes down. Hopefully TA came keep it up and Doc keeps riding him.
* KG’s shooting touch reappearing
It was a nice line from The Big Ticket, with 8 of 9 from the field. The outside shots were beginning to fall once again and he was taken open looks with no hesitation. This is what this team needs from KG and he has proven he can give it to them this year. He averaged 16 points and 8 boards in December and not coincidentally that’s when this team was playing it’s best ball of the season during an impressive 11 game winning streak.
KG is not all the way back yet clearly to his December level, but he’s making strides to get there. And this team has proven it’s a contender when KG plays to those capabilities. Last night’s effort was a big step towards getting there.
* Rasheed Wallace’s post game
In the last 2 games, Rasheed Wallace has only taken 4 three pointers. Last night, he only took 1 and worked down low in the post with mixed results throughout the 4th quarter. Now did I like our 4th quarter offense running through Sheed? No. However, would I prefer his shots coming in the post rather than outside in the closing moments of the game. You betcha.
It’s tough to call 2 games a trend, but keep a close eye to see if Sheed keeps the majority of his shot attempts down low in the upcoming weeks. He had a nice line overall last night doing it. (14 points, 5 boards, 2 blocks, 1 assist, and just one turnover)
* Rajon Rondo wanting to take free throws in the closing minutes
This was something that went under the radar last night, but bears noting nonetheless. The Wiz employed the hack a Rondo strategy a bit prematurely in this contest, telling Earl Boykins to foul the C’s point guard with the Wiz down just 5 with over a minute left. Clearly, a bit too early to have to foul your opponent to get the ball back. However, Flip wisely believed Rajon was out of rhythm shooting the ball and forced number 9 to the charity stripe where he missed both attempts. Tell me if you’ve seen this story, before.
In past weeks, this would be an early sign of an impending C’s collapse. Luckily for them, they were playing great defense, as well as playing one of the worst teams in the league. The C’s forced a turnover on the other end with a KG steal with just under a minute left. Rajon Rondo then surprisingly came over and DEMANDED the ball from Garnett. KG’s passes the ball off to his point who was fouled once again by the Wiz and sent to the line.
Many C’s fans could have seen this has a stupid move, giving the ball to an subpar free throw shooter in Rondo, who had just missed a pair, especially when you have Ray Allen on the floor, one of the best of all time. I though really liked this sequence. Why? Because Rondo WANTED to take those free throws. He had a look on his face after he was fouled, knowing I just screwed up and now I want to make up for it.
So what did he do? He came down a drilled them both, giving the C’s a 7 point lead and seemingly put the game away for the Green. I would love to see more of this type of play down the stretch from Rondo. Instead of looking to get rid of the ball and being hesitant to take shots, having a killer instinct down the stretch and relishing the opportunities he is given with the ball. It will come across as insignificant in the scheme of things, but I bet hitting those free throws was a big confidence boost for the All-Star last night.
So there you have it, my positives from the Wizards game. Did I really just write over 1500 words about a regular season Wizards game? Yes. Am I over-analyzing this game? Probably. Do I realize the Wizards are one of the worst teams in the league? Yes.
Here’s the thing though. The C’s have lost to many bad teams this year (Philly, Detroit, Indiana) to just name a few. No win is an absolutely gimme for them anymore. And coming off their 4th games in 5 nights this one surely wasn’t either. For me, last night was a potential turning point. They didn’t play a full 48 minutes but they closed the Wizards out when it counted. They got help from all parts of the team, from the top of the bottom. Positive signs and building blocks. That’s what this team needs right now. And last night, we saw a lot of it and I can’t help but be encouraged by it.
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