Welcome to Chemistry 101

Posted by Brendan Jackson on Nov 3, 2010 1037816 commentshttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F2010%2F11%2F03%2Fwelcome-to-chemistry-101%2FWelcome+to+Chemistry+1012010-11-03+13%3A26%3A23Brendan+Jacksonhttp%3A%2F%2Fcelticshub.com%2F%3Fp%3D10378

Your instructor will be the 2010-2011 Boston Celtics.

Team chemistry is an essential ingredient to any championship run and there was no better example of the Celtics strength in that area than last night.  Talk of the Celtics’ chemistry has been on a roller coaster ride since the offseason.  It was questioned when GM Danny Ainge went out and signed former Allstars and perennial starters to be bench players.  It was highly-touted when the team’s training camp camaraderie/hijinks were documented.  It was questioned when the fight between Von Wafer and Delonte West was reported.  And finally, it was rubber-stamped on last night’s win and thrown in a “Reason for Win” bin in some bloggers basement (who me? No…I use a filing cabinet).

The Celtics season is only four games old and we might have witnessed their most beautiful game of the season.  This win may not make more of an impact than a tally mark in the “W” column but the way it was won will hopefully be indicative of things to come.

Detroit is a team down on its luck.  They are winless on the season, they have multiple key players side-lined with injury, and two of their best players (Tayshaun Prince and Rip Hamilton) will be mentioned in trade rumors this entire season.  The Pistons were the unfortunate lone casualty of last night’s beautiful display of basketball.

When qualifying that “beauty”, the conversation pretty much starts and ends with the Celtic turnovers- or lack thereof.  You could talk about how the Celtics shot over 50% from the floor as a team, or about how the bench players played over 10 minutes, or about how the Celtics shot 18-for-18 from the free throw line.  Those are all, well, more than well-and-good.  However, they are not as good or as beautiful as eight measly turnovers.

The Celtics limited their turnovers to eight twice last season and have only committed eight or fewer turnovers 15 times in the big three era.  Last night, Rajon Rondo was the biggest surprise in the turnover department as he failed to commit any on his way to 17 assists.  The volume of assists is starting to become commonplace but zero turnovers is unprecedented. Rondo had been averaging 4.7 turnovers through the first three games of the season.  Most of these turnovers were committed when trying to make the extra pass, the “SportsCenter” pass, or forcing something in transition.  Rondo was a different man last night.  He did not force anything that was not there, he slowed it down in transition when necessary, and he did not make the unwarranted extra pass.  With his 17 assists and 0 turnovers, Rondo joined an exclusive list of players.  This list includes some names you have already heard mentioned in comparison with Rondo and some names you will continue to hear as the season continues.  These guys include John Stockton, Scott Skiles, Steve Nash, and the Celtics’ very own Doc Rivers.

The chemistry was so symbiotic last night, even the Celtics’ most disappointing player this season was getting in on the act.  Jermaine O’Neal made up for a lackluster first half by going 3-for-4 in the third quarter with two made midrange jumpers.  For all the doubts surrounding O’Neal’s potential impact on this Celtics team, he ended up playing well for his first significant time on the court this season.

Now that I have heaped ample love on the Celtics, I have to give the Pistons some credit.  Their transition defense was terrible last night.  When the Celtics were not driving coast-to-coast en route to easy layups, Rondo was pulling back and hitting a trailing Ray Allen for a wide-open three.

The Celtics hit all cylinders last night against a bad team.  Tonight, they will try to do the same thing against a young, talented Bucks team that gave the Cs all sorts of trouble last year.  While there is little time to savor last night’s win, there is still hope that the Celtics will start acquiring some good habits: single-digit turnovers, shooting over 50% from the field, five-man bench unit playing double-digit minutes, making freethrows.

The streak starts tonight?