They’re Back Baby! C’s-Mavs Analysis
Posted by Brian Robb on Mar 21, 2010
I saw pieces of this game out last night, at the bars, but watching this tremendous effort, from front to back on DVR this morning, made me feel as excited as I’ve been at any point this year about this team.
Ever since this team stringed together three home blowouts wins, with the stinker in Cleveland stuck in between there, I’ve felt very optimistic about this squad. At that point, they hadn’t proven anything, but the signs of progress, especially on the offensive end were prevalent. I went around at work Thursday, telling anyone who would listen, that I liked this team to go undefeated on this road trip, and go on a run from there. Understandably, I was looked at like I had 3 heads.
Hanging around in the C’s locker room after those home games though, I noticed a different demeanor about this squad. On the floor, they were taking care of opponents and doing it efficiently. The offensive execution was as good as it’s been all year. The starters were playing cohesively, providing energy for a change.
Off the floor, it appeared to be the same kind of business like mentality. KG, the unquestioned vocal leader of this squad, was the only member of the team speaking at the podium after home wins. Paul Pierce was staying silent, before and after games in the locker room, instead just letting his play to the talking for him on the floor.
Zach posted earlier how he was “cautiously optimistic” about this team right now. Given this team’s track record, that’s the smart play. I’m willing to go further then that though. This team, barring injuries will be taking care of business the rest of this season. I smell a winning streak, an extended one, as the C’s position themselves for the 3 seed. They are inching their way back to their 08 form with Rondo and Perk ahead of the curve and KG obviously a step back. The offense is back, the health is back, the positive response to adversity is back, this team is embracing it all now as it regains its swagger.
This season has been a marathon, and this team has been crawling from about the 8 mile mark. Now though, the C’s have found their stride around mile 22 and caught their second wind. So watch out Eastern Conference, the rumors of the Celtic demise have been greatly exaggerated.
Now let’s take a closer look at the Mavericks game, in bullet form:
* Let’s start with how good the starters played. After coming up empty on their first 4 FG attempts, the C’s first unit came out aggressive, attacking the basket on their way to 30 first quarter points and 6 point lead.
* A big part of this 1st half surge was the resurgence of Kendrick Perkins, offensive weapon edition. The big fellow was determined down low, with a couple early buckets with a nice soft touch and an impressive 1 against 3 against the porous Dallas interior defense.
Perk’s struggles offensively have been more of a confidence issue that anything else, in my opinion. He had been reverting back to his old bad habits, (hesitating, bringing the ball down) and it had sapped him out of his production. Like the rest of the C’s, Perk appears confident again with the ball in his hands and this team is reaping the benefits. 11 points on 5/7 shooting overall.
* What can you say about Paul Pierce? The guy is a man on a mission lately, finally getting healthy and getting to the basket with deceptive shiftiness like the good old days. It doesn’t look fast, but the Mavs can’t stop it as Pierce scored 8 of his 10 buckets at the rim! He went 8/9 from close range and I can’t tell you how great a number that is.
This was all without having his long range game going until late, with Pierce going 10 of 17 overall and 1 of 5 from downtown. The Captain did plenty of damage from the stripe as well, 8 of 10 from the line to finish up with 29 points…..just beautiful to watch and reminiscent of early this season when Pierce was getting some consideration for top 10 MVP candidate.
* C’s did a great job of shutting down Nowitzki in the 1st half, but they had trouble containing the rest of the Mavs as Shawn Marion and Jason Terry put up big numbers early on. Doc noted in the postgame that they bodying up on Dirk early on, denying him the ball, something they rarely do, but the coaches didn’t like it since it freed up the other Mavs weapons. They switched back in the 2nd half, and sure enough Dirk broke out, but the rest of the Mavs stayed quiet. C’s win. Sounds like a good plan to me.
* Cold shooting by both teams early on, no 3′s for easier side in the opening frame.
* Glen Davis was the only member of the C’s bench to play well, providing energy and looking like a man possessed around the hoop (7 points, 4 boards). That being said, he had two boneheaded plays at the end of the 1st quarter, committing a dumb foul on a Mavs fast break, resulting in a “and 1.” On a steal at the end of the quarter, Davis ended up throwing up a “buzzer beater” from halfcourt with 4 seconds still remaining on the clock. Mavs even had enough time to rebound it and throw up a shot of their own…..keep up the good work Glen….but keep your eyes on the clock.
* Speaking of steals, there were 21 combined in his contest, including 11 by the Celtics. Half of these steals came on one possession in the 2nd quarter, where both teams played hot potato with the ball, trading turnovers for literally 45 seconds before the C’s finally broke out for a Pierce layup. Someone needs to find this sequence and post some circus music with it on Youtube. Entertaining stuff.
* Dirk Nowitzki plays no defense……zilch.
* Very nice to see C’s offense play this well, despite struggling from deep (5/17) as a team. Ray had his stroke going, but no one else did. When everyone is on their game from deep, watch out.
* Bench had a meh performance, but you know what, that’s ok. They have carried this team for a lot of contests this year, so its a nice change of pace to have the starters carrying the load for a change. Nate had no rhythm shooting, Sheed was working hard down low but couldn’t get anything going. Like I said, it’s fine, they tread water for the most part when they were in there, before letting the starters come back in and take over.
* Marquis Daniels has been very unimpressive lately. I’m wondering if Doc will consider waking up TA at end of the bench for some minutes if Daniels doesn’t wake up soon.
* Rondo looked very comfortable from the mid range, going 3 of 3 from 16-23 feet. Very encouraging. C’s looked terrific from this range all night, shooting an astounding 10 of 13 from that part of the floor. Naturally, they shot 3 of 11 from 10-15 feet. Go figure. (Numbers from Hoopdata.com)
* The Dallas arena music is beyond annoying. They blast it all night long, it was brutal to hear over the TV, I can’t imagine how bad it is live. Make some noise Mavs fans for goodness sakes. And I thought the Garden was bad with the music.
* KG had an off night offensively, but was getting zero help from the officials down low. Didn’t make a FG until the 3rd quarter, finished 3 of 9 overall. Terrific effort on defensive end from the guy though, and with other starters carrying the load offensively, will take this performance.
* The fact I haven’t mentioned Rondo yet is a crime. This may have been his best game of the year. He went for 20 and 10, except it was 10 boards this time. Rajon can be one of the best rebounding guards when he wants to be, and tonight against Kidd, he came out with something to prove. In addition, Rondo attacking beautifully in the closing moments, abusing Kidd on the defensive end with three big buckets in the paint.
Rondo only had 5 assists, but did a great job keeping everyone involved, keeping the ball move, and getting the ball to the right people. Only 2 turnovers as well in 39 minutes. Me likey.
* The C’s outscored Mavs 27-11 in the final 5 minutes. The offensive execution was like a perfectly run relay race, with the baton being passed around to the entire starting unit. Pierce, Allen, KG, Rondo, everyone pitched in and the end results were….well spectacular.
* I haven’t talked much about the defense, but it was great, when it needed to be all night long. The last few possessions, Dallas was relegated to long jumpers along with another steal by Pierce, resulting in a layup by Rondo and the C’s putting the Mavs away for good.
* Anyone still want to trade Ray Allen for Caron Butler?
That’s all for now. C’s go for the sweep tomorrow night in Utah. For now, back to NCAA hoops.
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