Celtics Central

Known around the boards as ManchvegasBob, Jack Jemsek takes a Celtic True or False test and follows each with comment.

Jack has been deciphering the statistical secrets of the Celtics for a few years now.

After carrying the blog banner on Celtic17 in fine fashion when I left for Celtic Central and the CT Post, Jack’s analytic insights, and statistic-oriented breakdowns now appear on CelticsStuffLive at the Comcast Sport Net site from time to time.

With analysis once deemed “too good to pass up” by Yahoo Sports own Kelly Dwyer, Jack has generously agreed to answer 12 true or false questions, here after known as the Dirty Dozen. And he followed with comment. Some answers may surprise you, some may not. See if you agree with Jack.

here goes…..the Dirty Dozen:

Q&A for Jack Jemsek

1) The Celtic’s season so far is better than expected. T or F
False – Anytime you subtract you star frontline player/defensive player of the year, then the expectations for the team are never going to measure up. I’m a defensive nut when it comes to basketball as well, so you can imagine that I’m not too happy with the Celtics’ performance without Garnett on the floor. Injuries aside, you have to be elated with the performance of most Celtic players this season, so a true statement would be that the team “exceeds expectations” when reviewing the Celtics season on a player-by-player basis.

2) Garnett’s injury and subsequent Celtic play shows that he is the true MVP of this team. T or F
True – Garnett makes everyone better on the team, and you might as well just amplify that effect by a factor of 10 due to his defense contribution. Have I stated that I love defense?

3) Rajon Rondo is a bona fide member of the Big Four. T or F
True – Some may say this is premature, as he’s only been playing at his current level for one year, but we know what he’s done this season, and can see it continuing in future years to the point where he will be an all-star caliber player for years to come. I think Celtics Central equated him to a Jason Kidd type of talent, and that could be right on.

4) Tom Thibodeau’s ‘genius’ is directly proportional to the players playing. T or F
True – It appears that Thibodeau caught lightning in a bottle when was paired with a healthy Kevin Garnett last year. But this year, there’s just no disputing it, the record-setting defense was more about Garnett than about Thibodeau.

5) The Celtics broke too fast from the gate. Garnett went too hard too soon. Doc River’s should have held the Celtics and KG back a bit early in the year. T of F
False – I think that everyone of the Big Three were getting a few minutes less than they had the year before. What would have been better was if Doc would have abandoned the 1st unit and 2nd unit concepts, but from his perspective, maybe he had to play Eddie House, Tony Allen, Brian Scalabrine, Leon Powe and Glen Davis consistently making for that deep rotation. Otherwise, it would have been a 5-way tie for playing that 6th man. Also, perhaps Garnett’s time had arrived and it was his turn to face a genuine season-ending injury.

6) Paul Pierce is worn down. T or F
False –Pierce appears to have lost his edge, but in reality he’s been healthy and plays stronger in the 4th quarter when needed, as evidenced by his leading the Celtics in points scored in the clutch. He’s proven more than anyone that he can adapt his game and give the Celtics what they need given the players they have on the court. Pierce has made mental adjustments if anything, that allows him to see the game in terms of the winning in the long run versus the in-the-moment victories that immature players sometimes embrace too tightly.

7) Ray Allen is just a glorified jump shooter. T of F
False – If you are a UConn fan, that’s an inflammatory question! Are you trying to stir controversy within your CT-based news blog? Ray Allen is only a victim of his shooting excellence, and then he is also a victim of his circumstance of playing on a such a well-designed team with so many stars that he can actually embrace his role as an outside shooter a bit more at this point in his career.

Glen Davis will get richer, but not with the Celtics next season. T or F
False – Glen Davis is a nice complement to Kendrick Perkins and the Celtics should and will keep him at what his market worth will be, which I estimate to be around the Mid-Level Exception. If he is getting more than that, Davis has hit the jackpot and a.k.a. Big Game James Posey, and the Celtics will have to bid him adieu. However, I think the Celtics will likely value him more than the other bidders, and forsee him staying, especially with the news that Leon Powe will need a 3rd ACL surgery on one of his knees.

9) The Celtic bench is over rated. T or F
False – The Celtics bench has always been under-rated because they don’t have the pedigree of other benches. The fact is, the way Doc plays his bench as a dedicated unit, the level of scrutiny is always high because you don’t see the bench players benefiting by playing with two or more of the starters. For instance, Rondo or Perkins rarely play without both Pierce and Ray Allen in the line-up. So to sum up my feelings, the Celtics bench is as under-rated as the Celtics starters may be over-rated.

10) The Celtics should have kept Sam Cassell, instead of Marbury. T or F
False – That’s an easy question – Marbury can still suit up and play, although apparently he can’t shoot anymore, he still has the handles and that’s what they needed most in their back-up PG. Cassell has officially played zero minutes for the Celtics and Kings this season. Which would you choose knowing that?

11) The Celtics should have signed Posey. T or F
False – At this precise moment in time, I think the Celtics can look forward to using that James Posey money next year for Glen Davis. Posey doesn’t appear to have helped the Hornets get over the hump, and has been on the underwhelming side of things thus far in the playoffs, they played as well without Posey to start the season, due to the continuing improvement of Rondo, Perkins and the younger bench players. Then Eddie House goes and sets the 3-point shooting percentage single-season record for the Celtics.

12) The firing of ‘Lucky’ was an omen. T or F
False – Lucky who? It was the hiring of the NBA’s last “Dance Team” that did it. Anyway, the guy didn’t have a strong enough arm to toss those T-shirts to the balcony seats where I would be sitting – so what good was he?

Great questions – thanks for inviting me Tom!

Thank you, Jack. Some great answers. Though I think we differ about Pierce being tired. Seems very plausible from watching him, in my opinion. Though your points addressing that are quite cogent, too.

So do you readers agree? You can e-mail me or comment at the end, if you like.

BTW…CelticsStuffLive’s Kevin Henkin should be checking in with his responses as well. We’ll put Kevin’s up when we get them.

Tom

The weary Boston Celtics escaped with a narrow victory, saving them the embarassment of having to explain why they were swept at home by the young and talented Bulls.

Two former UConn Huskies battled each other for everything they were worth. The Bulls had a block party with fourteen. The Celtics countered by out rebounding them 50 to 36. The Celtics had an incredible 21 offensive rebounds.

Celtic Starters Did Valiant Battle
A heroic Rajon Rondo had a triple double on a bad ankle. Kendrick Perkins rose the occasion with a double double with 16 points on 7 of 9 shooting with 12 rebounds. Glen Davis scored a career high 26 points on 12 of 21 shooting with 9 rebounds. A weary Paul Pierce added 18 points and 8 boards. Ray led the Cs in scoring and won the game. We will get to that incredible performance shortly.

A large story were the benches. The Celtics bench did not come through as Leon Powe hurt his knee and played just 8 minutes. It is said that he is questionable for the rest of the playoffs.

Marbury, Moore, and House were ineffective at both ends of the floor. The Bulls bench scored 27 points to the Celtics 9 points. That, as much as anything, was the difference in the game. It also meant that the starters had to play longer minutes than hoped for.

Thanks to Ray Allen, the exhausted Celtic starters will get two days rest to catch their breath for what has turned into a real dog fight.

Like the last game, two opposing guards could not guard each other. This time Ray and Ben Gordon were dueling.

The Celtics won, and worked extremely hard for the victory. The sights of Kevin Garnett, Doc Rivers, and company walking off the court with confident expressions and pursed lips of satisfaction belie the fact that a 41-41 team is giving them everything they can possibly handle. It looked like they just beat Phil Jackson’s Lakers. It was Vinny Del Negro’s Bulls.

The question that will be debated is whether, like last year with the Hawks, they breathed life into a team they should have destroyed, or are the Bulls coming together at the right time, a la the Cavaliers in the round after?

The psychology of the game and talent make up of the Bulls is such that it could be a little of both. If Boston comes out strong in that first period in the opening game, does the confidence of each team set them on drastically different courses than what we have now?

The Bulls roster has been talented from day one. It got better after the trade. They are even missing Luol Deng. Former King Brad Miller was very effective tonight with 16 points, and 9 rebounds off the bench and the team played extremely well when he was in (+19).

Ben Gordon was magnificent in shooting himself to a career playoff high of 42 points on 14 of 24 attempts. Ray Allen chased him, but could rarely catch him. The Bulls team scored 115 points on a highly efficient .500 shooting. Thanks to Ray Allen, it wasn’t enough.

Ray Allen – Captain Clutch
Ray Allen bounced back from a 1 for 12 shooting game on Saturday and a 1 for 4, two point first half to blow up the Bulls chance for a two game sweep for 28 second half masterful points.

Ray shot 9 of 18 on the game, but came out blazing with 16 third quarter points and followed with 12 more in the fourth. Ray scored the Celtics last six point with two straight three pointers in the last 30 seconds. The first gave them a 115-113 lead. The last was the game winner after his UConn counterpart backed him off and hit a deep two to tie, over the outstretched hand of Glen Davis. Ben Gordon scored the last eight Bull points.

The two shooters put on a three point shooting clinic under pressure. Well, Ray’s were. The Bulls are playing without any pressure.

Rajon Rondo played another heroic game. He went down with a twisted ankle with 5 minutes left in the first half. He returned with a vengeance in the second half and played 40 minutes under duress. You would hardly know it. He finished with a gutsy triple double of 19 points, 16 assists, 12 rebounds, and 5 steals. His performance was as just as important as Ray’s. He made steals and grabbed rebounds at critical times, refusing to let the game get away.

Rajon and the Celtics managed to keep Derrick Rose under wraps this time. Using traps at the top, they were able to get the ball out of his hands tonight. Derrick finished with just ten points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds.

The athletic Bulls blocked 14 shots to set a team playoff record, Rajon was blocked 5 times and Pierce 4 times. Tyrus Thomas had 6 blocks in just 20 plus minutes in an amazing display of leaping/blocking ability. Joakim Noah blocked four shots.

If anything is to be gained by this game, it is that the Bulls are up to playing 48 minutes evenly with the Celtics without Kevin Garnett. They are proving to be a solid and feisty team that won’t back down from a fight. Again, they are dangerous because they are talented, and playing without any pressure to win.

The Celtics continue to have problems defending the Bulls’ talented starting guards. The Celtics are missing Kevin for that was well. He is so mobile that he could ‘show hard’ on guards on picks out front and recover to his own man in time. Very few bigs in the league have that ability.

The Bulls are playing extremely well at home right now. I’m really not sure what to expect in three days, when the series moves to Chicago. Adjustments must be made or the series will return to Boston with the Bulls in the lead.

If the Celtics are without Powe, it further complicates things, as Mikki Moore doesn’t seem ready to play significant minutes. The Celtics may have to go to small line ups and see how they fare.

We’ll keep you posted.

It’s just been announced that Coach Brown won the award after guiding Cleveland to the best record in their history and the best record in the NBA at 66-16 matching the Celtics record last season.

The Cavs matched more than the Cs record. They play the toughest defense in the league along with the Celtics. Cavs gave up the least points (91.4), tied with the Celtics for lowest field goal accuracy against (43.1%), had the best three point accuracy against (33.3%), 4th lowest rebounds allowed (38.9), 4th lowest assists allowed (19.1), among others.

They had the biggest winning margin at 8.9 points per game, and went 39-2 at home, only losing the final home game because they rested Lebron and Mo Williams.

But their biggest surprise was their improved offense. Coach Brown took a lot of heat early in his reign of coaching Lebron, the Boy Who Would Be King. Brown was always defensively oriented, to the detriment of the offense, which was highly predictable, uncreative, slow paced to a fault, and did not use James to his best potential.

After opening things up a bit a few years ago on offense, dunks, fast breaks, and easy baskets returned, making it more fun for the players, and fans and easier to score.

The addition of Mo Williams this off season has made a huge difference on that end of the floor and has given LeBron James a consistent second scoring option when he needs it.

Anyway, congratulations go to Mike Brown and the Cavaliers who are having a dominant season.

I only have time for a quick assessment for tonight.

Let me start with a re-print of a portion from my playoff thoughts at CelticsStuffLive at Comcast Sports Net New England….

(will) the Celtic guards’ assignments (be) putting too much pressure on all the interior defenders?

It will be critical that Powe and Davis make those rotations on time. Tyrus Thomas and Joakim Noah are energetic leapers and will no doubt try to disrespect the Celtic shot blocking abilities.

Derrick Rose attacks the middle relentlessly. Can Rondo stay in front? Or will Perkins, Powe, et al. be wiping their noses on his numbers as he goes for the rim?

We now know the answers to those questions and they aren’t good. Derrick Rose turned the Celtics defense every which way but loose.

Open questions:

Rajon Rondo was great at one end of the floor and completely undressed at the other. You could say that there were two naked point guards out there. But Rose had a day for the ages and the record books.

As a shocked James Brolin says in Westworld after being bitten by the mechanical rattlesnake, “That’s not supposed to happen.”

So Rondo was beaten at every turn (literally) and embarrassed. I guarantee that seeing him at the post game press conference, he was still shocked. I’ve never seen any guard except Chris Paul “play” Rondo like that this season. It opened the crack in the gates to questioning his true defensive abilities. I have to say that those who question his resolve that game are farther off base than Ricky Henderson with a walking start. Rondo was brutally tired from trying to give his every once of effort. The shock was that it wasn’t nearly enough.

But Rajon’s penchant for attempted poke aways from behind after getting beat, does mask his inability to stay in front of the slipperiest guards he has faced. But that is just fact of life with Chris Paul, perhaps Deron Williams, and now Derrick Rose.

I’m in agreement with Rose’s team mate Luol Deng when he says that no one in the NBA can stay in front of Rose. Devin Harris is not Derrick Rose.

Derrick must be defended with traps as far away from the basket as possible. In the event he breaks the trap, then ‘turn ins’ into a shot blocker should be Plan B From Inner Space to stop his rim love.

Rebound?
This is the time for the courageous to step up for the Celtics. Glen Davis had a tough luck shooting game and was a just missed lay-up away in the final seconds from being a hero and tieing the game. It bounced around and out. Then Glen fouled out.

Glen Davis must do a better job on the boards. Three rebounds is just unacceptable for the team’s starting power forward. He can do it. He must do it for the Celtics to keep the leaping Bulls off the offensive boards. Glen must become another beast on the boards like Perkins.

He and Leon can’t get lost on transition defense. The Bulls take off for the other end when the shots go up. They don’t wait to see who gets the rebound. The Bulls outbounded the 2nd best rebounding team in the league by 53 to 45.

The Celtic Stars
I still say that Paul Pierce looks a bit tired out there. This season has worn on him more than any other player, IMO. Those bursts of defensive and offensive energy have been lacking from his game for a while now. If he is done, the Celtics are done.

Ray Allen. We were right here last year. I don’t want a reason. Ray must get untracked and Rondo must help him get untracked or the Celtics might not make it out of the first round.

I thought it. Dan Shaughnessy beat me to writing it. No one wants to hear it, but this Celtic team are the Celtics before the Garnett trade, and after the Ray Allen trade. Remember what everyone thought then? We would be a mid level playoff team…and that was with Al Jefferson still here! What would that make this team now?

Davis and Powe are second round draft picks playing against lottery picks in Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas. I love both of our guys, but would you not trade both guys for the other two? Well, Tyrus Thomas’ personality would hinder me from doing that, but still…

Two Thoughts on Powe and Davis
1) Glen Davis is only in his second year. People forget that. Remember Rondo last year? Everyone would say RR is far more talented. But even Rondo-like talent takes time to develop. Granted PG is much more difficult to master. Glen is learning on the job, but this is his chance to shine.
2) We will find out if we are over rating our two short power forwards…or not.

Poor Starts
The starters come out flat much too often. This is a blazing opportunity for Glen Davis to be a big help. He can be an energy player and could help set the early tone. Glen can inspire a team and he can definitely inspire the fans. They love him when he gets it going. He is so used to being told that he needs to ‘not go beyond himself’ and fit in, that this opportunity to lead may have been buried somewhere along with his first instincts this season.

You can disagree all you want, but we need to see some of that risk taking instinctiveness that has been largely killed in Glen. Glen should go hell bent for leather (Spaulding) and let the chips fall where they may. Glen’s instincts are good. It’s when he thinks too much that things slow down and trouble develops. He has excellent passing skills. He must use them much better.

Leon Powe
Powe rebounded well and scored capably enough in limited minutes. What he didn’t do was defend well. We need his athletic ability to contend with the Bulls frontline.

Marbury and Rondo should be putting pressure on the Bulls defense, with drives, drives and kick outs and pick and rolls. Get Ray, Paul and Eddie some open looks. The house will cave in on the Bulls if they do.

I go along with the idea that the Bulls played a great game and the Celtics played poorly…and almost won. But I’m a bit worried about the young Bulls gaining strength and the Celtics have already demonstrated an unpredictability in the early rounds of the playoffs. So far, the lessons of last year haven’t been learned by this year’s team. Or is that Garnett just means far more than we thought?

As Doc Rivers said, “The Bulls could care less about last year.”

The Celtics have everything to lose. The Bulls have nothing to lose. I expect a solid Celtic win tonight, if not, then we must understand that we are over rating our role players. Re-evaluation for next year is in order.

Gametime: 7:00 pm

Hey everyone…

Trufan.com asked me to throw my hat into the ring on this. So what the heck. I know I could never win. The competition in this part of the woods in something fierce and actually I don’t run a high impact, nor highly controversial blog. But I hope I am informative, and entertaining in my own way.

With my ego in check, I’ll take whatever support I can muster. So….

There’s voting for your favorite blog and awards. Hot dogs and balloons for everyone. Please give me consideration if you think I deserve it. If not…well, I’ll know it, won’t I?

I used to be able to track how many readers I had when I wrote for Celtics17. It helped to determine what kind of articles fans responded to. I can’t get that feedback here at the CT Post, or so I’ve been told. For some reason, I’ve always had pretty decent readership, but very few commenters. I can’t really figure out why.

My point is that the lack of reader comments with my stuff is misleading. I’ve found that a decent amount (multiple hundred at Celtic17 anyway) of people check in to read on a regular basis. I was happy with that. Still am.

For the record. I know I have taken some unpopular stands on certain players and issues, Glen Davis, Doc Rivers, Rajon Rondo, Mike Woodson and Sam Cassell come to mind. But hey, you don’t want to be reading the same thing being regurgitated everywhere, do you? You don’t have to agree with me, just give some thought to what I’m saying. That’s all I ask.

So…let me make my plea (sales pitch) as to why you might vote for me…

Hopefully, you will agree that:
1) I do a slightly different recap for games than everyone else. I try to bring in a quote or stat or factoid that has not made it into the other recaps. I think we all see the games pretty much alike. Weird if we didn’t. If you get just one new thing from reading my recaps and articles, then I’ve done my job.

2) Player interview tidbits – try to glean something a bit different from the players. It’s hard when you aren’t from a top media outlet. But I’m not using that as an excuse. Just be aware that it is a factor. The players are media savvy.

3) If you’re from Connecticut or are a fan of UConn, I try to do something on UConn players, when they play the Celtics. I have something coming up on Caron Butler’s thoughts about Paul Pierce, with a little time he gave me.

4) I’m not an assassin, and frankly try not to be. I know that can be boring for some internet readers. I like to give players the benefit of the doubt, if possible. I take my responsibility as a public blogger seriously.

5) I give you a little insight into both locker rooms before and after games.

6) This may sound unnecessary to say but everything I put out there, I try to make sure is truth – at least as I know it and/or see it. If it’s rumor, I say it’s a rumor.

7) Whatever I do as opinion, I try to give a solid justification why I believe what I believe. Again, rarely do I get arguments or someone challenging my thoughts, but I’m welcome to the possibility.

Last – It’s been an absolute blast going to games, seeing it all happen live, seeing things as they actually are behind the scenes, getting to interview the players, and getting to know my media colleagues.

9) Of course I think I’m right! That is why I wrote it.

Anyway, thanks for reading and perhaps throwing some love my way. It would be appreciated.

Here is the announcement:

Contacts: John Gates/Emily Lippard
Elevate Communications
617-861-3651/617-861-3674
jgates@elevatecom.com/elippard@elevatecom.com

For Immediate Release

First Annual New England Sports Blog
Competition to Award $2,500Nominations are now being accepted for the New England Sports Blog of the Year
and Best Blogs Covering the Red Sox, Celtics, Bruins and Patriots

Boston, MA (April 16, 2009) – TruFan.com, a social network dedicated to local sports fans, announced today that nominations are now being accepted for the first annual New England Sports Blog Awards, a special awards program to honor and celebrate the region’s fast growing community of sports bloggers and the professional sports teams they follow.

The inaugural New England Sports Blog Awards are presented by Ace Ticket, one of the nation’s leading ticket agencies that provides its customers access to the best seats for sporting events, concerts, theatre and special events in Greater Boston and across the country.

Award Categories
• Best Red Sox Blog
• Best Celtics Blog
• Best Bruins Blog
• Best Patriots Blog
• New England Sports Blog of the Year (all blog categories are eligible)

How to Enter/How to Win
All sports bloggers who write blogs devoted to covering and commenting on one or all of Boston’s four major professional sports teams are encouraged to enter. Fans are also encouraged to nominate their favorite New England sports blog on TruFan.com.

• Nominations for all award categories can be submitted at http://www.trufan.com/BlogAwards from April 16th to April 27th.

• After the nomination period, four nominees will be selected as finalists for each award category through fan balloting. Fans and bloggers can vote for their favorite New England sports blogs at http://www.trufan.com/BlogAwards April 29th to May 11th.

Awards Ceremony
The winning sports blogs and bloggers will be announced on May 12th at a special awards ceremony at McGreevy’s located at 911 Boylston Street in Boston, Massachusetts. A $2,500 grand prize will be awarded to the winner of New England Sports Blog of the Year. Additional prizes will be distributed to the other award category winners.

About Trufan.com
TruFan.com is a social network dedicated to the local sport fan. TruFan.com is focused on empowering fans and enhancing their overall online experience by providing access to timely and relevant sports media that has been enhanced by other fans that share their passion for the home team. TruFan.com members add to sports media content with their own videos, pictures, comments and more.

Trufan communities include Sawxheads.com, Patsheads.com, Celtshead.com and BlackandGoldheads.com. Trufan.com is privately held and based in Brighton, Massachusetts with an office in North Adams, Massachusetts. For more information, please go to http://www.trufan.com.

# # #

Heads up for every Celtic fan. Following Steve’s photo is the announcement from CelticsStuffLive for tonight at 8:00pm.

This should be a treat…

Steve Bulpett is the longest tenured beat writer in the NBA with, I believe, 24 years with one team, the Boston Celtics. He started in the Larry Bird years. Erudite, with a bit of wit and sarcasm thrown in, Steve knows basketball and the Celtics. Give it a listen, if you can.

Please join us on Sunday night for a special edition of Celtics Stuff Live, kicking off the first round of the playoffs. Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald will be sitting in and co-hosting the show with Jon and Justin for the first hour. Obviously a lot has happened over the past week leading up to today’s match-up with the Chicago Bulls and Steve will be taking your calls during his appearance. Kevin Garnett’s knee has been by far the hottest topic and garnered some criticism for Doc by our very own Jon Duke. It’s a bizarro world when Justin Poulin actually disagrees with his co-host and leans more toward the thoughts of The Sports Guy.

Here is the link…

CelticsStuffLive with Steve Bulpett

They may have to give media people a list.

For what, pray tell, you ask? For media people to keep up with what can be asked about and what can’t.

I have to start by saying that one thing I noticed right away as a game time reporter, is that players and coaches are extremely patient with dumb and/or repetitious questions that the media barrages them with on a regular basis.

They will answer slightly different versions of the same question three or four times in a row, and often day after day. I’m sure they get coached on the conflicted relationship with the media. Their patience is truly admirable and appreciated by all.

Obviously, the playoffs can get people a little on edge. To that end, it appears some questions are declared verboten from here on out.

Tyrus Thomas
Pre-game, I stood by Tyrus Thomas sitting by his locker for about a minute and a half, just waiting for him to look up from his Blackberry and acknowledge my existence. When he finally did, I asked him if I could get a few comments.

Upon his agreement, I started to ask him about his former college teammate at LSU, Glen ‘Big Baby’ Davis (I read that it was a subject that Thomas, a notoriously temperamental player, enjoyed discussing recently). Another Boston reporter joined me when he heard the question.

Tyrus Thomas…

“Honestly, I just told the other reporters, I don’t want to talk about that right now. I’m here to play basketball, play a playoff game, and not discuss Big Baby all day. I’m done with those questions for the day.”

Other reporter…
How about after the game, will you talk about Baby then?

Probably won’t. Probably won’t until after this series is over.

Really?

Yeah. I’m burnt out of those questions. I’m not here for that. I’m here to win playoff games. I’m not here to talk about Baby.

Check. No Big Baby questions to Thomas.

Segue to the post game press conference with Doc Rivers.

When asked about Rondo and Rose’s match up…

Well, I don’t care about the Rondo/Rose battle, honestly. I understand what you’re saying. I care more about the Bulls and the Chicago/Boston battle. The last thing I’m going to do is make this a Rondo/Rose battle. We’re going to have to battle all of them.

Then Doc did address the question…

Rose. like I said, he was unbelievable. So was Rondo. Rondo was fantastic tonight in his own right. So we’ve got other guys who have to pitch in, too.

Later someone commented on KG not being on the bench in the second half, drawing this impatient comment….

Guys, Kevin is not in the playoffs. I’m not answering Kevin Garnett questions. I didn’t even notice, honestly, until someone told me that he wasn’t on the bench and I could care less.

You know, he(ck), he was on the bench in the first half and we were down eight points. So, you know, this is about the players in uniform. Kevin is gone. And he ain’t coming back. The guys in uniform have to play.

Check. No more Kevin Garnett questions.

Doc Rivers on referring to last year…

I told our guys, let’s stop referring to last year, too. This is this year. We lost game one at home. We didn’t do that (last year).

Check. Last year: out. This year: in.

Doc on bad refereeing…

Our guys were complaining (about the refs) and it’s the first thing I squashed. It ain’t the refs. The refs had nothing to do with this game.

Alright. So it looks like the players have a few restrictions as well. no ref blaming. Check.

There will be a test after the next game to see who remembers everything that can’t be mentioned.

Obviously, Doc has been under a lot of strain with Garnett and Ainge’s situations, and this game was a very disappointing loss. Not that he needs one from me, but Doc gets a pass. The players don’t.

Tyrus Thomas has such an infamous reputation that I wanted to experience him for myself. He didn’t disappoint. But, in fairness, after that, he did answer the rest of my predictable questions with predictable, but polite answers.

Big Baby is far ahead of Thomas in at least one category: maturity. Now who would have thought the naturally playful Big Baby would be beating anyone in maturity? Hard to imagine those two together in college. I don’t know if I would have taken Baby then, but I’ll definitely take him now.

Suffice to say, that after yesterday’s disappointing showing by the Celtics there are a lot of unanswered questions.

Here are a few more questions that I think I can get added to the ‘don’t ask” list:

To Bulls coach Vinny Del Negro…
How do you think Scott Skiles would do with this team?

To Doc Rivers…
Do you think this team misses Posey and Brown?

To Ben Gordon…
So, who are you really going to sign with next season? I won’t tell, honest.

To any player in the Celtics’ locker room?
Who was the one player who voted for McCain this past November?

To any Bulls player….
Can you talk about Larry Hughes team first approach and how his contagious positivity made you a better team?

To any NBA player..
What referee do you find easiest to con and get calls to go your way?

I can think of more, but I probably got myself in trouble already.

Hey, guys. It’s all in fun…right?

I know…don’t ask.

If you didn’t know, you would never guess that this was rookie Derrick Rose’s first playoff game. He single handedly destroyed the Boston Celtics with a record tieing 36 points. The Bulls beat the Celtics in overtime by 105-103.

Yes, Tyrus Thomas hit 4 big jump shots, three in OT. Yes, Joakim Noah grabbed 17 rebounds, and the two of them were the ‘block brothers’ with 3 each. But Derrick Rose was the irresistable force for the Bulls. He was a force of nature that swept through the Celtic’s defense like a summer tornado through a trailer park in Arkansas.

6′ 3″ Rose’s 36 points tied the rookie first game playoff record held by 7′ 2″ Kareem Abdul Jabbar (Lew Alcindor) from 1970. Rose was a giant in his own right. But the truth is that Celtics lost because they just did not play well themselves.

Celtic Stars – Not Clutch Today
The Celtics two clutch stars, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce each missed winning shots. Pierce, after making two clutch foul shots to go up 94-93 with 37 seconds left, made his first with 2.9 seconds left, but missed the game winning foul shot, and Brad Miller grabbed the rebound. Ray missed three pointers with 28 seconds left in regulation and the Celtics final shot of the game with one second left on OT.

Kendrick Perkins…

“We played a bad game and still almost won it.”

The team shot just 39.4% with Ray Allen missing 11 of 12 shots. The best Celtic shooters were shooting blanks most of the time. Eddie House went 2 for 8, and Paul Pierce was 1 for 4 in the first half and 8 for 21 overall.

And wouldn’t you know it, the team that was missing the player considered the most intense in the NBA, came up short in the intensity department.

An upset Doc Rivers in the press conference afterwards….

“I thought early on in the first half, – first of all, we had no defensive energy – I mean, to think that we worked on transition ‘D’ for two days and the first play of the game (Joakim) Noah gets a (fastbreak) dunk – now that was extremely disappointing.”

The biggest turnover of the game was right after the Celtics scored in overtime. Glen Davis scored the first points of OT with a reverse lay up, putting the Cs up 99-97. Ray Allen blocked Ben Gordon’s shot and the ensuing fast break pass was mishandled by Perkins. It would have been the momentum boost that was always just out of the Celtics’ grasp the entire game.

After letting the Bulls get going right from the opening minute and getting their confidence up, the Celtics were a Heinz commercial as they seemed to played ‘catch up’ the whole game.

Rivers again…

“I thought we fought in the second half better, but we allowed them to get comfortably on our home court in the first half.”

Holding the Bulls to 18 points and fueled by Rondo (9pts), Pierce (8pts), and Davis (7pts), the Celtics came from 11 down in third to go one up, 72-71, heading into the 4th quarter. They didn’t score until 8:46 of the 4th, and it see-sawed back and forth from there.

I asked Luol Deng before the game if Rajon Rondo could stay in front of Rose.

“I don’t think there is anyone in the league who can stay in front of him.”

After watching his 36 point, 11 assist performance on 12 of 19 shooting, combined with a perfect 12-12 from the foul line, I don’t think there will any arguments from the Celtics, particularly from his counterpart, Rajon Rondo.

Rondo played a strong game and almost counteracted Rose at both ends of the court, scoring 29 points of his own, on 12 of 21 shooting, 9 rebounds, 7 assists, a three pointer, and two steals. But the Celtics totaled just 16 assists on 39 made baskets. That means it was a lot of one-on-one basketball, not the way the Celtics play.

Rondo was exhausted trying to keep up with Derrick Rose…

“It took a lot out of me, I mean me personally. He’s one of the toughest point guards to stay in front of. He’s definitely quick, and he also uses his strength to elevate over myself and our bigs tonight. So, he played a great floor game. He had 11 assists tonight, creating things. Creating mismatches on the other end for us defensively. So, I give him a lot of credit.

Mentally or physically tired?

“Both. But I’m going to get back, I’ll watch film tonight, see what I need to do better. And I’ll be fine on Monday. Just right now, I’m just extremely tired.”

Paul Pierce added 23 points, Ray Allen couldn’t make a shot all night, finishing with 4 points. Glen Davis added 18 points on 6 of 15 shooting, but fouled out near the end of OT. Kendrick Perkins helped with 14 points on 7 of 11 shooting.

Paul Pierce…

“I hope this is a wake up call. I hope we realize that the Bulls, they come to play, but they’re not just a team that’s happy to be in the playoffs. They’re here to play, so hopefully this was a wake up and this is reality. Let’s pick up our play.”

If they don’t, they be could starting their summer vacations sooner than anyone thought. That is a reality that absolutely no one expected.

Oh yeah, home court advantage vanished in a single game. I expect the Celtics to respond like champions, but you don’t want to give a team like the Bulls a fighting chance. They have nothing to lose, and they are very talented.

For the Celtics, it is about pride now.