Boston Celtics Basketball - Celtics news, rumors and analysis - CelticsHub.com » Brendan Jackson http://celticshub.com Wed, 08 Feb 2012 23:17:09 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Celtics Beat the Bobkitties 94 to 84 http://celticshub.com/2012/02/07/celtics-beat-the-bobkitties-94-to-84/ http://celticshub.com/2012/02/07/celtics-beat-the-bobkitties-94-to-84/#comments Wed, 08 Feb 2012 03:43:05 +0000 Brendan Jackson http://celticshub.com/?p=26530
Charlotte Bobcats 84 Final
Recap | Box Score		 94 Boston Celtics
The Celtics convincingly defeated the Charlotte Bobcats on Tuesday night but the story of the night was Paul Pierce passing Larry Bird as the Celtics’ second all-time leading scorer.  We got postgame reactions from the Captain himself and Kevin Garnett and Brian Robb will have grades and more reaction later on tonight.
For now, I’ll leave with my Daily Dime reactions.  I was tweeting about this game all night on behalf of @CelticsHub, @DimeSmash, @DimeAlert, and @DimeUpdate.  Follow, follow, follow.
Here are some of the postgame dimes I dropped:

MVP (Most Valuable Player): It was a toss up between Kevin Garnett and
Paul Pierce but the Celtics captain gets the nod for a few reasons: 8
rebounds, 9 assists and a record-breaking 15 points.

LVP (Least Valuable Player): Tyrus Thomas.  The Bobcats starter
tallied two points, 3 boards, and one near-fight. It may be about time
to move some pieces around and get Mullins or Brown in the permanent
starting lineup.

Defining Moment: With around ten minutes to go in the third quarter
and the Celtics nursing an 8 point lead, Paul Pierce hit a three point
shot to vault himself into second place on the all-time Celtics’
scoring list. The crowd went wild and after that the Bobcats never got
closer than four points.

X-Factor: Ball sharing.  The Celtics racked up an astounding 31
assists tonight while the Bobcats only managed 19 (under the league
average of 20.4 (Hoopdata)).

That Was Worth the Price of Admission:  Usually that phrase is
reserved for a barn-burner or a slugfest.  This was a blowout but also
showcased some young talent on the Bobcats and a broken record for
Paul Pierce.

]]> http://celticshub.com/2012/02/07/celtics-beat-the-bobkitties-94-to-84/feed/ 5 Game 24/66: Bobcats (3-21) @ Celtics (13-10) http://celticshub.com/2012/02/07/game-2466-bobcats-3-31-celtics-13-10/ http://celticshub.com/2012/02/07/game-2466-bobcats-3-31-celtics-13-10/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 23:09:52 +0000 Brendan Jackson http://celticshub.com/?p=26510 Charlotte at Boston
TD Garden
7:30 PM
CSNNE

Offensive Efficiency

Charlotte: 92.0 points/100 possessions (30th)
Boston: 100.0 points/100 possessions (17th)

Defensive Efficiency

Charlotte: 106.4 points allowed/100 possessions (28th)
Boston: 94.5 points allowed/100 possessions (2nd)

Probable Charlotte starters: Kemba Walker (PG), Reggie Williams (SG), Boris Diaw (SF), Tyrus Thomas (PF), Bismack Biyombo (C)

View from opposing bench: Queen City Hoops

REVENGE

Eight long years ago, the Charlotte Bobcats selected Brandon Hunter in the 2004 Expansion Draft.  Hunter, if you don’t recall, was one of the first second round sensations Danny Ainge was able to select during his tenure as GM of the C’s.

Like many great second round picks before him, Hunter was an under sized power forward that played well above his station and seemed poised to blaze the trail for the undersized power forwards to come (Ryan Gomes, Leon Powe, and Glen Davis).  Unfortunately, after showing promise in 12 games during the 2003-2004 NBA season, the Charlotte Bobcats pilfered Hunter from the C’s and promptly traded him 5 months later to the Magic for Keith Bogans.  Hunter’s career was never the same.

Now, every time Celtics play the Bobcats it’s a revenge game.  The Ballad of Brandon Hunter rages on tonight as the C’s look to stay on track against the worst team in the league.  You could make an argument that the Wizards and/or Nets are worse, but I won’t.

WHY IT’S WORTH WATCHING

Say it with me now: BIZ-MAK BEE-OM-BO!

This guy has Serge Ibaka athleticism and an awesome name to boot.  Hopefully, you’ll see him block some shots and dunk some balls tonight.

We’ll have more as the night continues including the injury report and the pregame interview with Doc Rivers.  Follow us @CelticsHub for that schtuff and in-game Tweets!

]]> http://celticshub.com/2012/02/07/game-2466-bobcats-3-31-celtics-13-10/feed/ 4 I Am Awesome! http://celticshub.com/2012/02/06/i-am-awesome/ http://celticshub.com/2012/02/06/i-am-awesome/#comments Tue, 07 Feb 2012 03:34:17 +0000 Brendan Jackson http://celticshub.com/?p=26477 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 they played well, then anything is possible.

I’m exaggerating. Instead of boldly predicting a Celtics’ turnaround, I gave three feasible situations and provided commentary as to what each would mean. Let’s recap:

Best Case Scenario:

8-2. Let’s assume 10-0 is completely out of the question. The Celtics lose one game in each of the home-and-homes while avenging early season losses to the Pacers and Knicks.


Most-likely Scenario:

7-3. On the conservative side, but let’s say the Celtics steamroll through the Raptors, Suns, and Wizards only to catch Orlando on the SEGABABA making them 4-1 at that point. Let’s also say they lose to Indiana (SEGABABA) and New York, two teams that can definitely beat the C’s.


Worst Case Scenario:

5-5. The Celtics lose to Phoenix (because they seem to lose to them every year regardless of personnel), both games in Orlando (they’re playing much better than the C’s right now), Indiana (because the C’s haven’t beaten them this season), and Carmelo Anthony proves to be too much. Phoenix has been pretty terrible this season, so the C’s could theoretically win that game but also drop one of the home-and-homes with the Cavs, thus still leaving them at 5-5.

As we all know by now, the Celtics went 8-2 and achieved my so-called “Best Case Scenario”. I love how I wrote that 10-0 was completely out of the question. In retrospect, the two C’s losses were completely winnable games (Phoenix because they are bad team, and Cleveland because the C’s gave that game away). Could you blame me for being pessimistic? At the time the Celtics had just accomplished their first 5 game losing streak of the Big Three era.

After going back and reading the comments it looks a couple of you were optimistic and for that I say KUDOS! For those of you of that thought the Celtics were done, SHAME!

And with that, I leave you with the scariest thing I saw tonight:

That would be the Lou Williams Bobble Head. I’m not sure which will be haunting Kobe’s dreams more tonight, Lou Williams or his bobble head.

]]> http://celticshub.com/2012/02/06/i-am-awesome/feed/ 1 The Celtics Played Today? Celtics 98, Grizzlies 80 http://celticshub.com/2012/02/05/the-celtics-played-today-celtics-98-grizzlies-80/ http://celticshub.com/2012/02/05/the-celtics-played-today-celtics-98-grizzlies-80/#comments Sun, 05 Feb 2012 20:13:28 +0000 Brendan Jackson http://celticshub.com/?p=26360
Memphis Grizzlies 80 Final
Recap | Box Score		 98 Boston Celtics
Make sure you follow us on Twitter at @CelticsHub before, after and during the games as we tweet out videos of pre and post game interviews. Today’s Pregame interview: Doc Rivers. Today’s Postgame interview: Chris Wilcox.

Kevin Garnett, PF 33 MIN | 9-12 FG | 5-6 FT | 9 REB | 2 AST | 24 PTS | +12
Garnett had a throwback game tonight. He mixed it up by going hard to the basket, spotting up, and sprinkling in some nice turn-arounds in the post. Today was also his third consecutive game with a three. KG was so close to an A+ but he was one mistimed jump away from a double-double so I had to keep it an A.

Paul Pierce, SF 31 MIN | 5-12 FG | 10-10 FT | 6 REB | 6 AST | 21 PTS | +28
Don’t get me wrong, Pierce had a great game. Still, we all know he can shoot better than 5-for-12.

Jermaine O’Neal, C 26 MIN | 2-5 FG | 7 REB | 0 AST | 4 PTS | +10
JO’s contributions didn’t show up on the stat sheet but he was diving all over the place for loose balls and really gave the C’s everything he had today.

Ray Allen, SG 29 MIN | 4-14 FG | 1-1 FT | 4 REB | 1 AST | 12 PTS | +2
Ray was chuckin’ today and the shots were just not falling for him. Like all good shooters, Allen kept shooting and knocked down some huge treys in the second half to really stretch the C’s lead.

Rajon Rondo, PG 35 MIN | 2-6 FG | 1-2 FT | 5 REB | 14 AST | 5 PTS | +11
I think it’s safe to say Rondo is back. He was instrumental in pushing the pace and finished with a customary 14 dimes. That’s almost enough for my T ride home.

Chris Wilcox, PF 12 MIN | 5-5 FG | 2-2 FT | 5 REB | 12 PTS | +9
If Wilcox can consistently play like he did today, even without the scoring, he’ll have a permanent spot in the rotation. Wilcox was incredibly active on both ends of the floor and looks to have his legs under him. The C’s haven’t had a big man this active since Leon Powe.

Sasha Pavlovic, SF 9 MIN | 0-1 FG | 0 REB | 0 AST | 0 PTS | -2
Spelled Pierce for some minutes…
Mickael Pietrus, SF 20 MIN | 2-5 FG | 2 REB | 1 AST | 6 PTS | +18
It’s weird to see that Pietrus only made two threes. Every time he shoots the ball it’s almost as if the momentum dramatically shifts in the C’s favor. It seemed like he had ten big deep-balls today.
Greg Stiemsma, C 4 MIN | 2 REB | 1 AST | 0 PTS | -3
When Stiemsma’s in the game lately, it means good things are happening to the C’s!
JaJuan Johnson, F 22 MIN | 5-8 FG | 4 REB | 1 AST | 10 PTS | +8
Triple J better be in the rotation now. He’s played so well in the C’s last two games, I would like to see KG get some days off on SEGABABAs and Johnson get some real burn.
E’Twaun Moore, G 4 MIN | 1-2 FG | 0 REB | 0 AST | 2 PTS | -3
One nice jumper and one shot clock violation. What happens to Moore when Dooling gets healthy?
Avery Bradley, SG 17 MIN | 1-3 FG | 1 REB | 2 AST | 2 PTS | 0
Could have been better, could have been worse.

Five Things We Saw

  1. The C’s continue to get contributions from everyone. It doesn’t matter who they play or who their opponents are. Let’s see how long the good times roll.
  2. The small ball lineup with Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Avery Bradley, Kevin Garnett, and another big did not work. I’m interested to see how any lineup with AB and Rondo works.
  3. Marc Gasol had a ROUGH game which played into the Celtics’ dominance. 3/14 with 6 boards ain’t going to cut it when you’re a) one of your team’s best players and b) your team’s only low post option.
  4. There was a very interesting dichotomy in the way the Celtics’ and Grizzlies played in the second half. When the C’s bench came in, there was great ball movement and lots of open shots. The Grizz on the other hand, had a lot of on-on-one or one-pass-and-shoot isolation plays.
  5. Chris Wilcox reprised his roll as the Celtics’ “Anderson Varejao” only adding in the “right-place-right-time” scoring today. With Brandon Bass out, the bench scoring had to come from somewhere and Wilcox was happy to oblige.
]]> http://celticshub.com/2012/02/05/the-celtics-played-today-celtics-98-grizzlies-80/feed/ 11 New England Going For The Weekend Sweep: Celtics 91, Knicks 89 http://celticshub.com/2012/02/03/new-england-going-for-the-weekend-sweep-celtics-91-new-york-89/ http://celticshub.com/2012/02/03/new-england-going-for-the-weekend-sweep-celtics-91-new-york-89/#comments Sat, 04 Feb 2012 04:06:13 +0000 Brendan Jackson http://celticshub.com/?p=26316
New York Knicks 89 Final
Recap | Box Score		 91 Boston Celtics
Grades and highlights will be up later but for now, here are five things we saw.

Five Things We Saw

  1. The Knicks are a different team on defense and the biggest difference has nothing to do with Tyson Chandler. They pressure the wings and trap the ball handler from time to time. They also do a fair share of reaching and poking at the ball. Tonight it worked in their advantage but its effectiveness is completely dependent on the officiating crew.
  2. The Celtics have their equivalent of Anderson Varejao in Chris Wilcox. “Equivalent” is an obvious overstatement, but Celtics fans got to see what it would be like if Varejao wore green for a brief time in the second half. Wilcox was all over the place, getting his hands on rebounds, attacking the offensive glass, and diving on the floor for loose balls. The effort was very much appreciated by the team and the Garden Faithful.
  3. The “No Basket” basket by Pierce was almost the craziest thing I had ever seen. I guess he didn’t beat the shot clock and he definitely traveled (although I don’t think there’s a chance they could have overturned that on a travel call) but for a few glorious moments, the Garden was BANANAS! B-A-N-A-N-A-S!
  4. Tonight was the perfect example of why you wouldn’t want Carmelo Anthony as your best player. He shot the Knicks out of this game in the fourth quarter and when he was forced to give the ball up, the rest of the Knicks seemed too uncomfortable to take a shot.
  5. The Celtics out-rebounded the Knicks 40 to 37 and won. Mark it 8, dude.
]]> http://celticshub.com/2012/02/03/new-england-going-for-the-weekend-sweep-celtics-91-new-york-89/feed/ 11