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I had a chance to talk with Bobcats rookie Kemba Walker prior to the Celtics game against Charlotte on Tuesday night. Here is what the UConn star, who is averaging 12.3 points, 4 rebounds, and 3.6 assists per game had to say. 1. How much communication have you had with Michael Jordan this year? Walker: [...]
Yes. This is a “pat myself on the back” post because a) I’m a jackass and b) I predicted something correctly. Back on January 8th, I predicted that the next ten games will tell us everything we need to know about this Celtics’ team. If they struggled, it was time to blow it up. If [...]
One day before he’s scheduled to pass Larry Bird for second on the Celtics’ all-time scoring list, Paul Pierce won the Eastern Conference Player of the Week award. Pierce averaged 22 points, 6.3 assists and 5.8 rebounds in four Boston wins, playing point forward in Rajon Rondo’s absence. Pierce is only 9 points behind Bird [...]
Via ESPN Boston’s Chris Forsberg, who knows a great, playful rant when he hears one, here’s Kevin Garnett discussing his not-so-newfound aptitude for three-point shooting after the C’s took down the Grizzlies. “When I walk around the streets, y’all stop acting like y’all shocked that I can shoot 3’s. Everybody in Boston, everybody in the [...]
I talked with Memphis guard O.J. Mayo prior to the Celtics-Grizzlies, Super Bowl Sunday game at the Garden. Here is what the 4th year man out of USC, who is averaging 12.5 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 2 assists per game had to say. 1. You started every game your first two years in the league, [...]
Excuse the cliché, but Mo Williams is the Cavs’ barometer or X-factor or whatever you want to call it. When he shoots well, they are basically unbeatable. When he’s off, you’re in the game. He was off for 24 minutes before exploding in the 3rd quarter of Game 1.
How’d it happen? Bad defense or good offense? Let’s take a look. Here is Mo’s first hoop of the 3rd, a lay-up off a screen/roll with Jamison at the 8:53 mark:
Oy.
Here’s a still as Williams turns the corner with Rajon, fighting over the Jamison screen, right behind:
Garnett has chosen to stick with Jamison. This isn’t necessarily a bad decision (Jamison is a mid-30s three-point shooter), but it puts a lot of pressure on Rondo (to catch up to Mo) and the C’s back line (to help out if Rajon can’t catch up to Mo). Mo drives straight ahead, so Rondo really doesn’t have a chance to get back in front of Mo.
And the back line? Well, you see Perk on the left edge of the paint, guarding Varejao. He gives Mo a reach and a wave but never blocks his path and doesn’t jump to contest the shot. Not sure why. Perhaps he anticipated a stronger move from KG to cut Mo off, or maybe the C’s emphasized sticking near Varejao—an ultra-dangerous cutter.
Verdict: The Boston defense I know does not allow lay-ups like this.
Mo’s second basket was his facial on Pierce. We’ll spare the Truth and move on to Mo’s third basket of the quarter, a jumper at the 4:46 mark:
Note that the play starts with a Boston turnover. The cough-up didn’t lead directly to the jumper, because Boston rushed back on D. But the C’s will not beat the Cavaliers four times in seven games if they turn the ball over 16 times per game while forcing just nine Cleveland turnovers; if that keeps up, this may be a sweep.
In any case, KG plays this screen/roll much more aggressively, jumping out to cut off Williams even though it means giving Jamison a head start on the roll:
KG lingers long enough for Rajon to catch up to Mo. Williams crosses Rajon up, but Rondo contests pretty well.
Verdict: Tip your cap. This is solid D.
We don’t have to fast forward much to get to Mo’s next hoop, a lay-in on the next Cavs possession:
Ugh. The problems start right away, and they start partly because Antawn Jamison slips the screen—hoops lingo for cutting down the lane before he really sets the pick—and Rajon and KG almost collide as a result:
With Boston confused, Williams is going to be able to turn the corner easily. Note Sheed guarding Varejao at the right elbow. Varejao is going to set a second screen for Mo when Williams begins his drive right, but Sheed doesn’t follow him. This is the right decision—Jamison is cutting unguarded to the hoop, and Sheed switches off of Varejao and onto him.
By the time Williams gets in the lane and goes to shoot, things look like this:
Your instinct is to just curse out Sheed, right? He stands there, flat-footed, not even bothering to do much more than wave at Williams before turning and looking for the rebound. And I get that reaction, believe me.
Two things in Sheed’s defense: 1) He’s already moved around a lot on this play—from Varejao to Jamison and then back into the paint to wave at Williams. He’s probably tired, and his momentum is not going in an ideal direction in order to leap for the shot block. 2) He knows Jamison is lurking under the hoop in strong rebounding position, and he may feel the rebound is a crisis worth addressing.
Verdict: Lots of defensive problems here.
Guess who scored again on Cleveland’s next possession? This time it’s a jumper at 3:50:
The Cavs were smart on Saturday: When Sheed was on the floor, they called a bunch of screen/rolls involving Sheed’s man as the screener. This forces Sheed out on the perimeter, and Sheed simply doesn’t have the quickness anymore to leap out on the ball-handler and recover to find the screener.
Instead, he tends to lay back as Rondo tries to catch up to the ball-handler:
Again, Sheed just waves. It’s aggravating to watch. Once Williams picks up his dribble, you want to see Sheed leap out with his hands up.
I just don’t think he can really do that anymore. If he jumps out to cut off Williams at the start of the play (as KG usually does), Mo is just going to blow by him. And if he contests the shot aggressively, he’s not going to be able to rush back onto Jamison or Varejao to either fight for the board if Mo shoots or recover if Mo dishes the ball to one of Cleveland’s bigs.
Mark my words: When Sheed is in the game, the Cavs are going to involve his guy in screen/rolls for the same reason their opponents involve Shaq’s guy in screen/rolls. At 35, Sheed isn’t up to playing this sort of defense anymore. He’s a useful post defender and interior helper (at times) but he’s helpless north of the foul line.
Verdict: It’s blah defense, but it’s smart offense, too.
One more: Mo draws a shooting foul at the 3:12 mark and knocks down both FTs:
KG plays this one the same way Sheed played the last one—by laying back and conceding the Williams J while Rondo recovers. (Though you can bet KG would have contested this one more strongly than Sheed contested in the prior clip). Williams takes advantage and launches; Rajon clips him in his rush to mess with the shot:
The more I watch these plays, the more I think Jamison is a canny screener. Why doesn’t KG jump out to cut off Mo on this play, as he did on so many others?
It might be because Jamison surprises him with the location of screen. Watch the clip carefully: Jamison starts this possession at the top of the key, and KG is right with him. But as Mo approaches, suddenly Jamison slides out nearly 5 feet to set a screen out beyond the three-point line.
That may have caught KG by surprise.
Verdict: The C’s could have played this better, but it’s not an easy play to defend.
So there you have it. Not surprisingly, there’s a mix here of good offense and poor defense. You can live with Mo Williams taking contested 20-footers, even if the contest isn’t that strong; these are the worst shots in basketball, after all.
But those uncontested drives? The Celtics cannot afford to give those up to Williams if they want to win this series.
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