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5 days ago

Painful Reminders (Part I): The Celtics Drafted JaJuan Johnson Instead of Jimmy Butler

On June 23rd, 2011, Brian Robb and I stood around a high top bar table in Tommy Doyle’s in Kendall Square.  Before us lay one of the biggest mounds of buffalo chicken wings I had ever endeavor to make disappear.  These 25 cent flappers- one of the few indulgences afforded to the participants of our [...]

16
6 days ago

Chris Wilcox: 2012-13 Final Grade

There are a number of contextually-appropriate ways to craft this post. One would be to forgo words entirely, and represent Chris Wilcox’s entire season with a series of videos. That would involve one part of this: For every eight parts of this: Note the headline on that second clip. Someone was so amused/enraged by Wilcox’s [...]

12
7 days ago

Rajon Rondo’s 2012-13 Final Grade

Here’s a sweeping general statement involving super specific statistics that may or may not mean anything: In the 1423 minutes Rajon Rondo played this season, the Boston Celtics were outscored by 1.3 points per 100 possessions. When he sat (including all contests after he tore his ACL), Boston was better than their opponents by 1.8 [...]

92
7 days ago

Avery Bradley Elected to NBA All-Defense Second Team

Avery Bradley has been a standout defender for the past couple seasons…in the regular season anyway. Now he has a trophy to prove it. The NBA announced this afternoon that the third-year guard has been elected by coaches around the league to the second-team all-NBA defensive team for the first time in his career. Bradley [...]

13
11 days ago

Paul Pierce’s Contract: Dispelling The Myths and Stating The Facts

The first domino to fall this offseason is Paul Pierce’s contract. Until Danny Ainge figures out what he’s doing there, little else matters. As we wait for this decision, we also must face the rest of the offseason, which means it is also rumor season. With that time of year, comes plenty of information floating [...]

42
11 days ago

Final Grade: Avery Bradley (C+)

In his third year in the league, in which promising players often make brash leaps from benchwarmer to starter, from starter to star, Avery Bradley took a big step back. But his regression might be deceptive. When he returned to the Celtics’ lineup on January the 2nd after two in-season months recovering from offseason shoulder [...]

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On Garnett’s (Lack Of) Offensive Assertiveness

Of the dozen or so appalling stories from yesterday’s game, the one that’s bothering me the most this morning is Kevin Garnett’s inexcusable no-show on the offensive end.

Before the series, we talked exhaustively about the need for Garnett to provide the Celtics a consistent post presence. In fact, Garnett’s offensive proclivities have been a regular topic of discussion lately. Chris Forsberg touched on them. As did Jackie MacMullan. As did Doc Rivers.

Coming into game one, everyone knew how crucial it was for Boston to get KG involved and work inside-out.

Here’s his shot chart for the game:

The line score of shame: 9 shots in 37 minutes. Only 3 of them in the paint. 6 total points. 0 free throws.

That’s abominable under normal circumstances. But when you consider the Celtics have no other viable interior offensive threats, that Garnett has matchup advantages over any defender Miami can throw at him, and that the Heat excel at defending the perimeter (where Boston’s other offensive threats reside), what happened yesterday is utterly inexplicable.

Why didn’t Garnett demand the ball more often? Why didn’t Rajon Rondo (and Delonte West) call his number more frequently? Why didn’t Doc call a timeout and insist the Big Ticket get down on the block?

Garnett often avoids direct criticism about his offensive play for the good reasons that you’re all aware of: he’s a stunning team defender, an excellent defensive rebounder, a great teammate, and the defining individual for this team’s culture. But Garnett’s preference for passing and his proficiency from the elbow don’t excuse his failings in game one. Where most of his teammates were impatient on offense, Garnett was, as we have seen many times before, far too willing to fit into the flow of the game rather than alter it.

For his game two inspiration, KG needs to look no further than the last time he was up against Lebron James in the playoffs. Against Cleveland last spring, guarded largely by Antawn Jamison, whose defensive abilities are aptly described as Bosh-esque, KG put up the following totals:

  • Game One: 20 shots in 38 minutes.
  • Game Two: 21 shots in 33 minutes.
  • Game Three: 11 shots in 30 minutes.
  • Game Four: 11 shots in 33 minutes.
  • Game Five: 14 shots in 32 minutes.
  • Game Six: 19 shots in 37 minutes.

There is no reason he can’t do the same thing this year.

And plenty of reasons why he has to.

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