Celtics Central

There will be many other tests along the way. The season is 2 games old.

But the new Celtics were tested to their fullest as the current division champions, the Toronto Raptors, let it be known that they will not be taken lightly. They almost weren’t taken at all. The final outcome had to go to overtime before the Celtics could put it away – barely.

Toronto was 2-0 coming in and left their home court with a big “L” to a team that is just gathering momentum and seeing how the new pieces fit together.

But let’s put some things into perspective and look at some interesting things from last night’s game:

1) This Celtic team has not found a chemistry yet.
That will take 10-15 games before chemistry becomes a natural occurence.

2) Asst. Coach Tom Thibodeau coached and the score was 38-31 at half time. Is his defensive
outlook having an influence? It seems so.

3) Star Chris Bosh and Andre Bargnani, the tall, talented Raptor frontline had zero baskets and
2 pts at the half. Bargnani finished the game shooting 2-13 and Bosh 5-15.

4) That means Garnett, Perkins and Posey did a great job. They look like they will make a nice
defensive trio.

5) Posey did very well guarding both Bargnani and Bosh, proving he can guard top PFs.

6) Ford had the team’s first 8 points, setting up what was to occur throughout the game. Last
night, he was pretty much unstoppable.

7) Jason Kapono is proving Colangelo made the right decision to throw all that money his
way. He is on his way to becoming a league fixture from downtown, in the same way as
Korver, Barry, and a few notable others have done for teams. It opens up the middle or
makes teams pay if they don’t . Was that really defense I actually saw him
playing? (rubbing my eyes)

Pat Riley is even admitting he may have made a mistake not retaining Jason. From Dan La Patard, Miami Herald,com…….

”If I had to do it over again, probably we may have invested in Kapono,” Riley admits. “Young. A specialist. He can really shoot the ball.”

Carlos Delfino looks good in a Raptor uniform. He never could convince Skip Saunders to
give him the real minutes or freedom to show what he can do in Detroit. He looks like a true
Raptor type player – decent all around skills and plays good defense. Pierce went 3-13 and
Delfino was a part of that. He can also hit the 3-ball from time to time.

9) Speaking of 3-ball, Posey came up big in last night’s game including 2 consecutive threes in
the final minutes that could have meant the win – if only someone could have stopped T.J.
Ford. He was not only Ford Tough, he was Ford Quick, and Ford Clutch. Without his game,
the Raptors were done and done early.

10) Did I say 3-ball? Ray Allen was 7-11 from downtown, showing why he is so dangerous out
there and 2nd all time. Yet, he is showing he is more than a 3 point shooter. He has had a
number of baskets from inside the perimeter in his short time with the Celtics that show he
is far more than a 3 point specialist.He hits shots with a high degree of difficulty, at least
once a game it seems.

The early surprise of this Celtic team is its defense. They took two straight good offensive units and held them down. The whole team is making the effort. That bodes well as the year goes on, and for play-off time.

What wasn’t so good was having to use Ray Allen for 49 minutes, Garnett for 43.5 minutes, and Paul Pierce for 45 minutes. That bodes poorly as the year goes on. When Garnett went out in the 4th with foul trouble, was when Toronto made its move. They cut 7 of the 10 points from the lead before Garnett re-entered.

Winning this game in Toronto was huge.

boxscore

What started as a defensive game for the Celtics, ended as an exciting shootout between two evenly matched teams.

After scoring just 78 points through 4 periods, the Celtics won, 98-95, with a 20 point explosion in the overtime.

In the overtime, Ray Allen ( 8pts) and Kevin Garnett (10 pts) tag teamed against T.J. Ford (11 pts) and Chris Bosh (6 pts) as the Celtics lit up the Raptors. Ray put the final dagger in with a clutch 3 pointer with 2.6 left on the clock to win the tightly contested match. Ford and Bosh almost matched Boston basket for basket, finishing with 18 in the period.

It was in OT that Toronto decided to guard Garnett with single coverage. KG and the Cs recognized it and went to work. Kevin hit some very big shots over and around his very long defenders, Andre Bargnani and Chris Bosh.

Ray Allen was on all night, as he hit for 13 in the first quarter, on his way to a 33 point game.

Boston jumped out to a solid 16-6 lead in the first quarter. Ford had all of the Raptors’ first 6 points. Boston’s defense, remarkably held Toronto to just 2 points until the 6:32 mark of the first period.

The Raptors were kept in the game by TJ Ford, particularly in the OT with some very clutch shooting, including his 3 pointer with 4.4 left. Ford finished with 32 points.

Rajon Rondo had a tough cover in Ford, one player who is possibly quicker than he is when going to the rack.

Paul Pierce had a tough shooting night (13 pts on 4-17), due in part to some capable defense by Carlos Delphino. Paul took and missed a shot near the end of regulation that would have won it if it had gone in. He took Delphino from the top of the key, drove the left middle and came up short on his jumper with a solid look at the basket.

The Celtics had control of the game for most of regulation. It was a 4th quarter move by the Raptors that whittled down a 12 point Celtic lead. Bosh got untracked with 5 straight pts, before Calderon and Dixon hit consecutive 3 pointers around a Posey missed three, to pull within 4. Then new comer Jason Kapono did what he hired to do, score. He hit a foul shot, a 3 pointer, and another jumper to tie the game for the first time.

After his one game suspension to start the season, James Posey’s first game as Celtic was a good one. He answered the Toronto run with consecutive threes to close out the Celtic scoring in regulation. Posey played 23 minutes scoring 11 points and was a vocal leader in the huddles. He often guarded Chris Bosh as Perkins and Garnett experienced foul trouble all night.

So, two these two teams, different in so many ways, will compete with each other for the division title this year. It looks to shape up as a nice rivalry throughout the season. Rondo and Ford had words last year. Kendrick Perkins and Bargnani seemed to almost get into it on one play tonight.

The Celtics shot well throughout the game (.442 from the floor and .462 from 3 pt. land), though they could have taken better care of the ball (17 T0s). Pierce and Garnett led with 6 assists each as it becomes more evident that Rondo (2 assists) will hand the ball off to one of them after reaching half court. Both stars are good passers and Ray Allen pops out on picks well. It will be a tough offense to defend.

Kevin Garnett finished with another double double, scoring 23 points to go with 13 boards.He was in foul trouble and on the bench for most of the 4th quarter run by the Raptors.

The Toronto Raptors learned tonight that the Celtics aren’t the Nets, and the Celtics learned that the Raptors aren’t the Wizards. Tune in for the next exciting rematch.

Doc Rivers did not coach tonight because he left the team to attend to the death of his father. Tom Thibodeau coached capably in his stead.

Next up for Boston: Denver Nuggets on Wednesday

Game 2 in the journey, as Kevin Garnett is calling it.

This will be an interesting match-up. The Celtics beat Toronto 89-85 in Europe in their first preseason game. Both teams have come a ways since then.

If people think Danny Ainge thinks differently, and I do, then the same must be said of Bryan Colangelo. He took a moribund Raptor roster that was heading nowhere, and transformed it in one preseason into a division winner with a 47-35 (.573). That was an incredible 20 game swing from the year before at 27-55 (.329) The Celtics are looking to do even better, as hard as that may be to believe.

He did it by reshaping the roster with a decidely Euro flavor. He added #1 draft pick Andre Bargnani to be the book-end to franchise player Chris Bosh and filling out the roster with Rasho Nesterovic, Anthony Parker, and Jorge Garbajosa, going against traditional thinking by trading a big for a small, PF Charlie Villanueva for lightning quick PG, T.J. Ford to add to to Jose Calderon.

This off season many think he overpaid for one of last season’s best 3 point shooters, Jason Kapono. But if Jason hits those threes, it opens up the lane for their two prized bigs – Bosh and Bargnani. The other unheralded addition was Detroit reject, Carlos Delphino.

Much maligned, and hard pressed for PT in Detroit, Carlos was reputed to play a pretty good defense. He played 34 minutes in the Raptor’s 37 point beat down of the Nets 2 nights ago, copping 4 steals, 6 boards, and 4 dimes while turning it over but once. Bryan has found another good fit for his ‘team first’ team.

I’ve been slow to be a believer in this Toronto team. If they put together another outstanding season, I’ll have to give credit where credit is due. I actually like what they are trying to accomplish.

Chris Bosh is coming off of a preseason knee injury, and has played limited minutes so far, though I’m sure he wasn’t needed in the 2nd half against the Nets. Bargnani is putting up solid numbers and looks like he has moved comfortably into the #2 option on the team.

These games could be precursors of a rumored NBA Europe division, one day.

So…Boston gets a real test today. The 2-0 Raptors are playing well and will get a second look and a second chance to vindicate themselves against the star laden squad that beat them in October.

T.J. Ford won’t be intimidated by the three stars, from Mike Ganter of the London Free Press….

“…..in between the lines it’s us against them.” “What makes Boston different than Jersey or different than Philly?” T.J. Ford asked yesterday after practice.

“It’s still five-on-five. It’s still basketball. Yeah, they have big names. Yeah, they’re all-stars. Yeah, those guys will probably be hall of famers. It’s all true, but between those lines those guys are just like us. They’re no different. I’m not looking at KG like he’s a hall of fame player

Boston won’t have the crowd on their side this time and will need to stand up to a tough team in their arena.

On a side note, Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald reported a near fight between Glen Davis and Leon Powe during practice yesterday, after Powe gave Davis a bloody nose during a scrimmage. Words were exchanged, but no blows. The two are competing for time at the back-up PF spot. Brian Scalabrine was the first off the bench and played 20 minutes in the opening game to each of their garbage time 2 minutes at the end. This particular story is a good one to watch. All three players bring something different to the game. How Doc decides who gets what PT, and what they do with it will be an ongoing story.

The real story today is how well Toronto defends agains Boston’s three stars. They solved New Jersey’s three stars pretty easily. And Boston will have it’s defense tested by a balanced scoring attack. James Posey will be available to play after serving his one game suspension.

Results later tonight.

T

(Apologies to all for the late posting. Computer troubles.) Boxscore

The Boston Celtics began their quest for a NBA title by beating the Washington Wizards
handily, 103-83, at the TDBanknorth Garden. This is the same team the Celtics lost to 3 straight times last year. But..uhmmm….this is not the same Celtics team.

Led by Kevin Garnett’s 22 pt, 20 rebound game, and Paul Pierce’s 28 point explosion, the Celtics broke a close game open in the 2nd quarter.

Paul Pierce began the night welcoming the fans, choking up a bit when he talked about Red Auerbach. “Red will always be with us.”

In fact, the team honored Red by naming the famed parquet floor, the “Red Auerbach Parquet” complete with his signature emblazoned for all to remember his legacy.

Both teams opened tight, as the raucous crowd (18,624) sounded as if it was almost a play-off game. Add the drama of the new team, led by the 3 stars, arch nemesis Gilbert Arenas guaranteeing a loss for the Celtics on this opening night, and you have a great story unfolding right before your eyes.

The Celtics didn’t disappoint. Garnett missed his first shot badly, but started to get under control after he hit a couple of foul shots. Each of the three Celtic stars took turns missing shots to open the game. The first basket made was, fittingly, a Perkins lay-up after a feed from a driving Ray Allen.

Until the offense got untracked, the team’s defense was solid and kept them in the game. After being down 12-14, and finding baskets hard to come by, Ray Allen actually got the team the lead it would never relinquish by busting out for 7 points on 3 straight baskets. The quarter ended with the Cs up 21-18.

Paul Pierce spearheaded the second unit (Scalabrine, Pollard, Tony Allen, and Eddie House) that started the 2nd quarter, as they pulled away from the Wizards, leading by as many a 22 points. Pierce carved up the Wizards with 15 points in a variety of ways as the Cs outscored the Wiz 37-18.

By the time Garnett and Ray Allen checked back in, the score was 38-26, meaning the much maligned bench of the Celtics had administered a 17-8 whipping on the beleagured Washington team. Paul had 10 pts. in the run, supported by offensive contributions by each player save Pollard. From there, the team ran away to a 22 point lead without even looking that good doing it.

But it was the team’s defense that surprised. They held a potent offensive team to 36 first half points. The team’s defense looks every bit as good as it looked bad last year.

Doc Rivers

…”I was most proud of, at half time…..we leaned on our defense until our offense started clicking. Once it did, then everything took care of itself. I though the big stretch of the game, was the beginning of the 2nd quarter, we had our second unit on the floor, and we increased the lead. I thought that was just fantastic.”

Kevin Garnett sets the tone defensively.

Doc…

We aren’t going to win by outscoring people every night. ….We are only going to win, if you play defense..and that’s everyone. Clearly, having Kevin Garnett changes your defense…..He has great energy. He is able to get out on a lot of pick and rolls a lot of bigs can’t….We scored half our points tonight on pick and rolls in transition, in the post. So… Garnett has the ability to stop them. And that’s big for us.”

He also plays a solid interior D as he stopped a number of attempts to attack the middle, just be being there and being ready. His 3 blocks were impressive, especially the block of an Arenas drive that brought down the house. Gilbert was driving and trying to avoid contact with a long extension that KG just leaped up to cleanly get as Arenas tumbled to the ground. Even the replay drew a thunderous 2nd roar.

The green machine accrued 10 steals with it’s tenacious defense led by Rajon’s 4 and Garnett’s 3.

Doc said, “We got steals from playing solid. We were not gambling. We just played solid D and help D. And by playing help D, the ball literally came to us, instead of trying to make steals. We are much better when we play that way. A couple of times that we did try to go for steals, we got back doored for lay-ups and fouls

.”

But even in a victory as solid as this one, the team was far from perfect. Doc

….”We played good, but we can be much better than that….There’s a lot of things and I mean a lot of things that we have to improve on. I thought in the 3rd quarter, our mindset was not right. We kind of relaxed a bit….. And the game got close enough to make me nervous, and I didn’t think it had to tonight.”

Still, the team was far from disappointing. It lived all the way up to its hype. Garnett’s 20-20 game was supported by 5 assists, 3 blocks and 3 steals. Ray Allen finished with 17 pts. and Rajon Rondo contributed 15, including a couple of jump shots sandwiched around some truly torqued drives. That was on top of some stellar defense on high scoring Gilbert Arenas…which reminds me….

Gilbert was booed with passion most every time he touched the ball tonight. ‘Agent Zero’ had guaranteed a Washington win in Boston. He also has said he wants to score 100 points against the Celtics someday.

Here are a few zeros for number zero:

1) Washington record 0-2 (0-3 after tonight)
2) Wizard 3 pt. shots 0-16
3) Arenas’s 3 pt. shots 0-5
4) Arenas predictions that came true 0-2

Gilbert was a believer after the game…

They proved themselves tonight. You know, with the crowd in it?…
They’re just like us..offensively. When you have it clicking, you have it clicking. You can’t double KG on that block…or Ray Allen or Paul Pierce. That’s a dangerous team. Especially when you’re veterans.”

You know when I made my prediction, you know..someone has to be the villain. I’ll be the villain. I don’t target the players or the actual team…..Someone has to hype up stuff.”

Once they picked up Posey…I thought that was a great move. Because, you know, when you have a team like that, you need glue players. Perkins is playing glue…. I wanted to tell (Rondo)…. you look more comfortable than you did last year.”

Yet he left the door open to skepticism…”Once you sub those guys out, what can you do? If the starting 5 has to play 48, they will be a hard team to guard.”

Well, the stars played about 38 minutes each tonight and the bench did well
enough to break this game open, and that was without Posey who was suspended for one game for an off court incident this summer.

Things look like they are going to shape up into quite a season. Climb on board for the ride.

These two teams compare in interesting ways. Both teams have offensive fire power provided primarily by three players. They are both run by coaches who stress offense. Previously, neither team has played very good defense.

This off season, both coaches hired defensive specialists for assistant coaches. Even then, there is a connection. The Wizards hired Jeff Van Gundy protege, Tom Thibodeau, on July 3rd. On Independence Day, just 24 hours later Tom had declared his freedom. It just wasn’t the right fit.

After the Celtics decided not to go the youth route any longer, during which time Larry Brown was the assistant coach of choice for Doc Rivers, the Celtics landed ‘the one that got away’ from Washington – Tom Thibodeau himself.

What most Celtic fans don’t know is that Washington did not give up on it’s efforts to land a top defensive coach. Three weeks later, they ended up with a very good one. His name is Randy Ayers. His resume is excellent.

From July 24 on the Wizards NBA.com website….

“We are pleased to have Randy join our coaching staff,” Jordan said. “As an assistant with the Philadelphia 76ers, he implemented the defensive schemes for a team that advanced to the NBA Finals, and he has been on staffs that have made numerous postseason appearances. He will fit in nicely with our coaching staff.”

Ayers spent the last two NBA seasons as an assistant coach with the Orlando Magic, where he helped Orlando reach the NBA Playoffs last season with the league’s seventh ranked defensive unit. Having joined the Magic as an assistant coach on June 10, 2005, Ayers saw the Magic cut the opposition’s scoring from 101.8 points per game in the season prior to his hire, to 96.0 ppg in his first season in Orlando and 94.0 ppg last year.

Not too shabby. Previously he was the head coach at Ohio State where he lead then to 4 post season appearances.

This year both teams will run most of their offense through three players. Arenas, Jamison and Butler could score as high a percent of their team’s points as the Celtic’s vaunted threesome – Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, and Ray Allen.

Eddie Jordan is a offensive minded coach. Doc Rivers has stated in the past that he runs practices stressing offense. Both coach’s teams have provided results that bear those thoughts out.

But now each team has reinforced its coaching ranks with top notch defensive ‘wizards’, though the Celtic’s was a Wizard for ‘but a day’.

The Celtics are already showing results. According the Cs own website, the Celtics were the top defensive team in the league for preseason according to Mike Zarren….

The Celtics had the #1 defense in the league this preseason, holding the opposition to 0.884 points per possession.

We have witnesed the defensive stands that held teams in check for long periods of time this preseason. It was something to behold. Rajon Rondo, James Posey and Tony Allen surround and support the great defensive effort of Kevin Garnett with talent of their own on that side of the court. Even Paul Pierce and Ray Allen are hustling around the court and diving for loose balls. It matters. A team is as good as its weakest link defensively. Other teams will exploit those weak links as often as possible.

Early indications already show good results. I expect Washington to get results before the year is through as well.

Tonight’s game pits teams that are similar in some ways. Let’s see how things turn out, and which team’s defensive coach has the early results in their favor.

T

The Boston Celtics begin a highly anticipated campaign after remaking the roster to drive for a title now.

They will unveil league stars Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen alongside Paul Pierce at TDBankNorth Garden against the Gilbert Arenas led Washington Wizards.

It will be a moment filled with excitement, emotion and every Celtic fan’s hopes for the coming year. It has been 20 years since they have enjoyed a championship caliber team. Could this be the year? Many think they have a real chance.

Tonight the talk and predictions stop and play begins. Doc Rivers says his players are ready to get it on. Peter Stringer on Celtics.com reports…..

(Doc Rivers)-

“I can’t wait. I don’t know if excitement is the word, but I just want to get it started. I know this is a long journey we’re going to have to go through,” Rivers. “[The players] are ready. That’s why I ended practice [early]. As a coach, you have to have a feel sometimes, and they wanted to play. They’d like to play right now.”

The Celtics will be without James Posey who will serve a one game suspension tonight for a previous off court incident. Brian Scalabrine is 50-50 with a severe toe sprain, as well. Scot Pollard will see limited minutes as he is just now returning from a sprained ankle.

The rest of the team should be ready to rumble. Little used Brandon Wallace may see daylight due to Posey’s absence.

The Wizard’s Gilbert Arenas has a dislike for the Celtics particularly and has used the off season to talk a little trash – at one point guaranteeing a win tonight. He also has said that he would love to score 100 points against the Cs sometime. Gilbert is a great talent, with a mouth to match, and is coming off of a 34 point game against the Pacers in their opening night game.

The Wizard’s lost in OT (119-110) to that Pacer team, one many expect to be inferior to them. The Wizards have a potent offense, but are not known for solid defense. They attempted to address that area by hiring Jeff Van Gundy protege, Tom Thibodeau, in the off season. Tom stayed all of one day in Washington before backing out. Where did he land? That’s right. Right here in Boston as Doc’s defensive specialist. And the Celtics are the better for it. Preseason indications are that this team will impact games on the defensive end of the floor – for the first time in years.

The starting line-ups are:

Celtics:
PG – Rajon Rondo
SG – Ray Allen
SF – Paul Pierce
PF – Kevin Garnett
C- Kendrick Perkins

Wizards:
PG – Gilbert Arenas
SG – Deshawn Stevenson
SF- Caron Butler
PF – Antawn Jamison
C – Brendon Heywood

Key match ups will pit defensive specialist Rajon Rondo against high scoring Gilbert Arenas, while Washington defensive specialist Stevenson will try to handle Ray Allen. Butler vs Pierce should be interesting as well.

Jamison will not be expected to handle Garnett as I think you will see Haywood help on KG often.

So the real thing finally begins for the new look, star powered Celtics. I’ll be at the game to give you a complete rundown of the action tomorrow morning.

T