Celtics Central

It was another strange game.

If you haven’t broken out the worry sticks yet, go ahead. It’s time. We have a few dead horses to beat.

I’m just going to bullet point things:

Kevin Garnett, ice cold for most of the game, and a dubious reputation for not wanting to take the big shots, took a pass from Paul Pierce, the game’s leading scorer…and calmly drilled the winning basket as time expired.

Garnett also made Boston’s last basket in regulation with 1:07 left.

Rajon Rondo took the final shot in regulation… a three pointer, because a play never developed…and of course, missed.

Paul Pierce made a huge block on Al Harrington and then was blocked at the other end.

Harrington looked like Reggie Miller hitting three pointers in this one, though most were wide open looks, due to poor perimeter coverage.

From Steve Bulpett of the Boston Herald….

When asked if Garnett is hurt, Harrington replied…

“To be honest, throughout my career, no disrespect to him, I could always get around him.”

I’d pin that one up if I were KG.

Eddy Curry is actually playing basketball again and already acting like his weight watchers butt should be getting special foul call treatment.

Curry pushed Rajon Rondo in the back while Rondo was airborne getting a rebound, sending Rondo to the ground just because Kendrick Perkins had grabbed a little of Curry’s jersey before Curry attempted to go up with a shot. The ref wouldn’t make the call though it all happened right in front of him.

That Rasheed Wallace was called for a foul when Curry got away with doing the exact same thing to Wallace didn’t matter, I guess. Wallace grabbed and pulled his own shirt while looking at the ref, demonstrating that Curry grabbed his jersey and the unappreciative referee gave Wallace a technical  for the effort.

Shelden Williams played poor defense in his 9 minutes, no matter what the plus/minus says. There were two adjustments he didn’t make on Harrington that I saw.

Celtic rotations on pick and rolls continue to be erratic at best, and down right poor at times.

Kendrick Perkins solid 2 way game of 16 points on 6-7 shooting, 13 rebounds and 4 blocks will be lost in all the other stuff that sticks out.

On a make up call for missing a Kevin Garnett trip of a Knick player, Ray Allen had an offensive foul called on him, when he was clearly fouled by his defender.

Rasheed Wallace went 0-6 overall and 0-3 from the three point arc. He is now 0-11 on his three point attempts, and 5–41 in his last 8 games.

Paul Pierce, the game’s leading scorer with 33 points, drew double coverage as he moved to the right elbow. A wide open Kevin Garnett stepped inside the arc to receive a wide open pass and drilled an 18 footer at the top of the key as time expired in overtime to snuff out the Knicks.

The Boston Celtics continue to look very human….or is that…. I hate to say it…..very old?

The Cs established a 10 point first half lead before the Knicks came back to take the lead. The Celtics jumped out to an 11-0 run to start the second half and had the lead up to 14 points at 67-53 before the Knicks came back and retook the lead… again.

The Knicks were up 86-79 with 8:52 to go in regulation.

The 3-10 Knicks had won their last two contests and are starting to play with more confidence.

That the Knicks played pretty good defense at times, belies the fact that the Celtics continue to miss open shots. Ray Allen, KG, Rasheed Wallace, and Rajon Rondo laid enough bricks to build a small skyscaper.

Rajon Rondo looked more like the Rondo we have come to expect, even flirting with a triple double again, finishing with 14 points, 10 assists and 9 rebounds. He added 4 steals and just 2 turnovers. Foul shooting continues to be his Achilles heel as he went 4-8 in a game where one more make could have won the game.

Strange Game - Garnett = Captain Clutch
Paul Pierce carried the scoring weight for most of the strange game, drilling 6 of 7 three pointers, but the game winner went to Kevin Garnett , on a smart pass from Pierce. KG had a terrible shooting game,  4-15 on the night, and was noticeably favoring his leg at one point in the contest.

Garnett was missing shots all night and was 1 for 10 when he finally hit an 18 foot jumper to bring the Celtics to within 4 at 84-88 with. He would go on to hit 2 more clutch shots, including the game winner.

The Celtics can hardly take too many real positives from this one. They barely beat a team they should be toying with. Does this mean any young team that can get up and down the court , no matter how bad they are, will give them trouble? That answer is yes right now.

The Celtics’ 10-4 record is deceptive. They are not a very good team right now. Notice how I keep using the phrase ‘right now’.

One would hope that they are going to solve these problems, and sooner is better than later.

The Numbers

Paul Pierce led the team with 33 points on 9 of 17 shooting, but a stellar 6 of 7 from three point land, with 9 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 blocks, a steal, and 3 turnovers.

Rajon Rondo was a rebound shy of a triple double, in a solid all around effort, but his unbelievebly poor outside shooting and foul shooting was also a factor in this loss, oops, I mean win.

Ray Allen scored 13 points on 3 of 13 shooting and has officially joined the three point shooting slump. He si shooting just 30% on the season. Ray is just 2 -14 over the last three games. He is 5 for his last 28 three point attempts. His overall percentage is good at 46%. Ray added one rebound, two assists, a steal and two blocks.

Kendrick Perkins – except that 4 of Perkins 13 boards were on the  offensive glass, his numbers were mentioned above and he continues to to be one of the more stable players on the team. But he misses some defensive assignments as well.

Kevin Garnett‘s health is the biggest concern as he doesn’t go out to the perimeter as well as he used to. If teams pick up on that and try to make KG really have to stretch to the arc to defend, it seems as if he doesn’t recover as quickly. So he seems to cheat a bit. The rest of the Celtics haven’t been picking up the slack. Fixable, but it illustrates a slight reduction in mobility for KG right now.

Garnett got busy when they needed it most with 3 of 5 very big shots. His 1-10 shooting was uncharacteristic, as he missed shots he normally makes. He also added 7 rebounds, but just one assist, no blocks, no steals and 3 turnovers. That A KG type game at all. That Al Harrington, and Wilson chandler were able to guard him in single coverage speaks to the situation.

The Bench didn’t do its job, even though Eddie House was hitting the three ball for 10 first half points in just 9 minutes. He added zero points in 9 more minutes the rest of the way.

Shelden Williams hasn’t been as good lately as he was earlier in the season. He is still missing assignments defensively and it hurt against Al Harrington in this game.

For as bad as Rasheed Wallace shot and played, it does deserve mention that he had 4 steals to tie for the team lead. He is and can be an active defender. That he hasn’t been so more, is problematic. He added 4 rebounds.

Marquis Daniels had the worst plus minus on the team at -14, though I’m not sure that was all his fault. I’d have to go back and look at tape. Nonetheless he shot 3-4 for 6 points and added 2 rebounds.

Brian Scalabrine his required three pointer in an otherwise 11 plus uneventful minutes.

The NBA reports that the new Developmental League team, the Maine Red Claws, will be getting its first Boston Celtic, 6′ 6″ Bill Walker, to play for its team.

Here is the release:

BOSTON’S WALKER ASSIGNED TO NBA D-LEAGUE’S MAINE RED CLAWS
- Assignment is First in Red Claws History –

NEW YORK, Nov. 21, 2009 – Boston Celtics guard/forward Bill Walker was assigned to the Maine Red Claws, the Celtics’ NBA Development League affiliate, it was announced today.  The assignment is the first for Maine, which begins its inaugural season in the NBA D-League, and the second for Walker, who was assigned to the Utah Flash last season.

Walker, 6-6, has appeared in one game for the Celtics this season, playing two minutes.  Last season, Walker appeared in 29 games for Boston, averaging 3.0 points and 1.0 rebound in 7.4 minutes.

In 15 games in the NBA D-League last season, Walker averaged 18.9 points, 5.3 rebounds and 1.5 points in 30.5 minutes.  Scoring in double-figures in 14 games, Walker scored a career-high 29 points in a Nov. 29, 2008 road loss to the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in McAllen, Texas.

Originally selected in the second round, 47th overall, of the 2008 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards, Walker was acquired by Boston on June 28, 2008.

In two years at Kansas State, Walker averaged 15.3 points, 6.0 rebounds and 26.6 minutes earning Third Team All-Big 12 honors from the Associated Press and the league coaches as a redshirt freshman in 2007-08.  He also earned Big 12 All-Rookie Team honors and was twice selected as Big 12 Rookie of the Week.

Walker, the season’s second player to be assigned to an NBA D-League affiliate, is expected to join the Red Claws in Portland, Maine today, in time for Monday’s preseason game against the Springfield Armor at the Augusta Civic Center in Augusta, Maine.  The Red Claws tip off the season on Nov. 27 when the team travels to the MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass. to face off against the Armor.

Celtics fans can follow Walker and the rest of the Red Claws by logging onto nba.com/futurecast to watch all of the team’s games live, online, for free.

In was called a ‘pivotal game’ by Rashard Lewis, the Magic defeated the Celtics a second straight time in Boston.

The Celtics couldn’t put the ball in the ocean, starting out 5 for 24 in the first quarter and shooting just .345 on the evening, the lowest since the Kevin Garnett trade, according to the TV announcers. Not only did they shoot 2 for 19 from the three point line, but they even missed numerous lay ups all night long.

No doubt part of that was solid defense from the Magic, and especially the presence of Dwight Howard. While Howard has miles to go offensively, he isn’t given enough credit for just what his presence in the middle does to opposing shooters without even challenging every shot. The thought of him near by causes NBA players to miss easy shots.

Paul Pierce must have missed at least four lay ups, Rajon missed a couple, and who knows who else did.

Paul Pierce led the Cs with 21 points on 7 of 19 shooting, 0-4 from the three point line. Kevin Garnett had a double double (13 and 11) and 3 big blocks, including one on Dwight Howard, and 2 steals. Ray Allen and Rajon Rondo tied for team honors with 6 assists each.

Kendrick Perkins received another technical and played just 14 minutes on the evening due to foul trouble. Rasheed Wallace replaced Perk and led the Celtics with 13 rebounds, though his shooting also had the disease.

The difference in the Celtics tonight was that they played gamely throughout, but were lacking the supreme confidence we are used to seeing from them in previous years. They would know and we would see that they knew…that they were going to hit the shots that would give them the lead and continue hitting shots to crush the will of their opponents. That was missing in this game and has been for at least seven games now.

That they were able to play tough, solid defense was an improvement over previous recent games. They held a team that averages 100 points a game to 83 points and just 41% shooting .

Off season acquisition, Vince Carter, replacing the departed Hedo Turkoglu in the Magic’s line up, helped Orlando hold off numerous Boston runs to hold on to this win. Carter scored 26 points on 10 of 29 shooting, but dropped 10 of those points on difficult shots in the critical 4th quarter to beat Boston.

Rasheed Wallace

Wallace was having a bad shooting game with everyone else, going 1-9 until the comeback in the fourth. Rasheed finally played a game below the arc and showed why he should be there much more often. His defense was solid and he helped the Celtics out rebound the Magic 43-42.

Sheed still took too many three point shots, coming up with a goose egg, 0-8. I hope the Celtics move away from this strategy and begin to use Wallace in a more traditional way. It will benefit everyone. Even when Rasheed is hitting them, I can’t get behind that as a singular and limited use of the man.

Wallace played a clutch 4th quarter, scoring 6 points on 3 of 7 shots, while grabbing 6 rebounds and picking up two big steals.

Wallace finished with 9 points, 3 steals, and a block.

The Celtics got into an immediate hole, 22-8, in the first quarter, and ended the quarter down 29-13. They closed the gap but couldn’t catch the Magic until Rasheed Wallace made a jump shot with 2:54 left in the game tying it at 78.

Vince Carter then made one of his most difficult shots and the biggest of the game. With Paul Pierce right on top of him, Carter stepped towards the basket, moving Pierce backward, and spun and hit a fade away over the recovering Pierce’s outstretched arm for an 80-78 lead.

The Celtics would not score again, missing 5 straight shots on basket and turning the ball over once.

The loss drops Boston to 3-4 over their last seven games and they are now 5-3 at home. The Celtics lost only six home games all last season. They are 9-4 overall.

Poodles Bite Pit Bulls?

Their previous win was the 7th game ‘thumping’ of the then reigning champs in the second round of the Eastern Conference playoffs last season. That officially ended the Celtics reign and announced that the Magic were for real.

Right after the NBA Finals, Paul Pierce tweeted that the Magic looked like poodles against pit bulls in their series against the Lakers. Seemingly always under rated by many, the Magic are for real.

Any doubts about that legitimacy were erased last night in a game that the Magic took control of in the first quarter 29-13. The Celtics defense was lacking again as Orlando shot a blistering .647% in the quarter, making 11 of 17 shots.

That the Magic made big shot after big shot to stop Celtic runs through out the game was the testament to their character on this evening.

This truly was a character deciding contest. The Magic showed that they could and would hold on to a lead in the face of some gutsy, if not efficient basketball. They made enough shots and played very solid defense to take home a win.

With Jameer Nelson out again, Rajon Rondo was unable to take advantage of 34 year old Jason Williams, shooting just 3-11, with 3 turnovers, but handing out 6 assists and grabbing 6 rebounds.

Ray Allen scored 15 points and added 4 rebounds.

While the Celtic bench players played relatively well (all had pluses in their time in the game), it was the starters that needed to play and they again were outplayed by their counterparts.

The Celtics had 17 fast break points to the Magic’s 5. They outscored the Magic in the paint 38-24.

The Celtics had 21 points off turnovers to the Magic’s 9.

It was those statistics that kept the poor shooting Celtics in this game.

The team’s lack of clutch shooting down the stretch ultimately lost this game.

The Celtics next game is Sunday in New York against the Knicks at 1:00 pm.

The Celtics theme this season is ‘Reloaded’.

I guess that would make the Orlando Magic ‘revised and reloaded’. The team coming to Boston this evening for a rematch of last season’s playoffs has been the poster team for that.

The Orlando Magic and Boston have identical records at 9-3. The Magic are on a 3 game winning streak and in second place to the hot Atlanta Hawks in the Central Division.

The Celtics are still trying to find their rhythm on both ends of the court. Their record belies the fact that they are still working things out.

They are going through periods of lackluster play. Led by Paul Pierce’s 18.4 points, Rondo’s 9 assists and Kevin Garnett’s 7.3 rebounds, the Celtics are on target for a 60 win season. But if the playoffs started tomorrow, the Celtics would be a team with issues of inconsistency, and I am not really sure why.

Though remaining second best in points allowed, the Celtics are playing inexplicably pedestrian defense lately. They have work to do to be considered in the conversation for the best defensive team ever. The offense is lethargic at times as well.

As a team, they are getting to free throw line less often and are among the league’s worst (26th) in attempts this season.  After struggling for a while with rebounding, the Cs are back to where they were last season in rebounding differential (2nd) with a healthy +4.5.

The Celtics are the second most accurate shooters in the NBA at 48.6%. They are the most accurate in the NBA from the three point line at 39.7%.

The Celtics play a methodical offensive pace (25th in the NBA), and only fast break when the opportunity really presents itself.

The Magic changed 2/5ths of their starting line up in the course of adding Vince Carter, Ryan Anderson, Brandon Bass, Matt Barnes, Jason Williams.

They gave up Rafer Alston, Courtney Lee and Tony Battie in trade with the Nets for VC and Ryan Anderson. Hedo Turkoglu signed as a free agent with the Raptors.

With PG Jameer Nelson out again with injury, unretired Jason Williams is getting the starting nod over Anthony Johnson.

SF Rashard Lewis is back and starting after his 10 game suspension. He almost had a triple double in the last game, against the OKC Thunder, with 17 points, 10 rebounds and 9 assists.

Orlando is led by Dwight Howard with 18.1 points and 10.7 rebounds. Vince Carter is second with 17.1 points. The surprise is 6’ 10” Ryan Anderson, viewed as a throw in on the Vince Carter trade. He is third on the Magic in scoring with 14.3 points. That will change with the returning Lewis getting some of Ryan’s minutes.

Like last season, the Magic are second in three point attempts and second in makes. They play an outside/in game. Carter is shooting a career high 43.8% from the three point line this season.

Kendrick Perkins raised his status around the league with his defense of Dwight Howard in the playoffs last season, while Howard was exposed for his rudimentary offensive game (read: no go to move).

This Magic team gives the Celtics more trouble than most any other team in the NBA and have a winning record against the Celtics since the Garnett trade to prove it.

This will be a good test for a Celtic team that apparently has trouble getting up for lesser teams. They better be up for this game or they will be adding another loss to their record.

The Celtics took some time to find themselves. Thanks to an attacking, energized Rajon Rondo, they stopped a two game losing streak.

Repeating another uninspired performance for more than a half, the Cs ended strong, played with energy, and more in the team concept as the game went on.

Rajon Rondo came alive in the 3rd quarter with 12 points, 4 assists and 3 rebounds as the Celtics broke open a close game. He was the energetic difference as the Celtics finally put some daylight between themselves and the pesky Warriors.

They held the sharp shooting Warriors to 7 of 19 shooting while making 11 of 20 of their own shots in the pivotal quarter.

The Celtics were up only 49-48 at the half when they outscored the Warriors 31-19 to take a commanding 80-67 lead heading into the final period. That broke the game open and the final score was 109-95.

Playing with a healing knee, Paul Pierce led the Celtics in a gritty performance with 19 points on 7 of 12 shooting including 2 of 4 three point shots. He supported Rondo’s critical 3rd period assault with 7 of his own points in the quarter.

Rondo drove home 18 total points with a series of aggressive drives on 8 of 12 shooting, including a rare three pointer, driving and kicking for 12 assists for game honors, while grabbing 7 rebounds to tie for the team lead with Kendrick Perkins. Rondo also led the team with 36:35 minutes played. He was, by far, the most energetic Celtic on the court.

It started as yet another lackluster, give and take game with a team they should be giving a whupping to and taking charge of.

Instead it was still anybody’s ball game halfway into the third period. Both teams were shooting at least 50% at the half. The Warriors were even playing better defense than the Celtics for much of the time.

Perkins was the Celtics leading scorer at the half with 12 points as the Cs tried to push the ball inside time and again against the undermanned Warriors.

Then Rajon Rondo began his one man assault in the 3rd quarter. He was by far the most active Celtic on the court, though the Celtics didn’t start to break away from the undermanned Warriors until the 8:49 mark of the quarter. At that point it was tied at 55.

By that time Rajon had already begun to take over offensively, setting the tone and setting the table offensively.

The Break Away 12-0 Sequence

The Celtics took off on a 12-0 run to go up 67-55 over a 4 minute period.

Rondo dropped a pass into Perkins who had great position on the right block against Mikki Moore. That was something Perkins was able to do all night. Moore fouled him as he went for the lay-up. Perkins hit 1 of 2 free throws.

Pierce and Rondo worked a little two man game, when Paul threw an in bounds pass from the left top, then came all the way around underneath to the weakside, losing Corey Maggette. Rondo followed behind Pierce and hit him with the pass from underneath the basket as Monte Ellis reacted to help much too late. Paul drained the open side jumper to make it 58-55.

Rondo drove and kicked, but was fouled by Monte Ellis. Kevin Garnett missed an open jumper. Then Rondo came down off a Warrior miss and found Pierce underneath and behind the defense for a wide open lay up, but Pierce missed.

Ray Allen had his running lay up blocked by Maggette on a fast break attempt.

The next Celtic score was a thing of beauty.

Perkins set a great screen on Anthony Morrow, freeing Rondo at the top left coming toward the top middle. Ray Allen set a screen below the rim on Corey Maggette who was trying to stay with Garnett as KG came along the baseline towards the right. As Garnett came around, Rondo showed his quarterback skills, hitting him for a perfectly timed pass for a lay up as Monte Ellis (who was guarding Ray Allen) reacted too slow (again). Two point conversion to make it 60-55.

Anthony Morrow fouled Pierce at the top of the key and Pierce hit the two free throws. 62-55.

Perkins blocked Monte Ellis’ shot underneath into a jump ball. Perkins tapped the following  jump ball back to Kevin Garnett who threw a touchdown pass the length of the court to a streaking Rondo for a quick lay up. 64-55.

Then Perkins comes over and screens Morrow off as Rondo drives the middle. Anthony Randolph picks up and bumps the leaping Rondo, but Rajon puts in an off balance lay up and hits the foul shot.

Rondo lets out an expletive as he made just his…gulp…4th foul shot…of the season. 67-55. He went 1 for 4 from the line on the evening.

That was a 4 minute unanswered barrage with most of it occurring in the last two minutes. Rondo was the catalyst for all of it, but good Celtic team work got people freed up, mostly for lay ups.

The Warriors would make chase for the rest of the game, but the Celtics lead got no lower than 9 points the rest of the way.

Twp three pointers near the start of the 4th quarter, one by Rasheed Wallace, and one by Eddie House, made it 86-70 and the game was no longer in doubt.

Marquis Daniels had two nice baskets, one a reverse lay up and the other a turnaround over his defender in the key in the first half.

The Numbers
Six Celtics scored in double figures and Wallace came close with 8 points, including 2 of 6 three pointers (and 1 rebound in 16 minutes).

After Rondo and Pierce, Ray Allen contributed 15 points, mostly around the hoop, and Kendrick Perkins had 15 points and 7 rebounds.

Garnett had 12 points, including an alley oop, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, and a steal in 31 minutes.

Pierce added 4 rebounds, 2 assists, a steal and a block to a solid effort playing with a tender knee.

Eddie House finally found the range with 3 three pointers and 11 points in 17 minutes.

Shelden Williams had another solid game with 4 points and 3 rebounds in 15 minutes.

The Celtics scored 48 points in the paint and held the league’s best fast breaking team to 12 fast break points.

The Celtics scored 30 points off Warrior turnovers to giving up just 17 points off 19 Celtic turnovers.

The Warriors were led by Corey Maggette’s 23 points and Monte Ellis’ 18. Rookie Steven Curry added 13 points. 8 Warrior players suited up and all played.

So the Celtics looked better and better as the game went, They even turned around a 21-14 rebound deficit at the half to a 36-35 Celtic advantage at the end.

It is still a bit discomforting that it takes Rajon Rondo to get this team going. They used to all play with much more energy. Maybe they have become too used to playing with great efficiency. This is one of the most efficient offensive teams in the league. A little wasted energy on the defensive end, in the name of taking things to another level, would be a good thing. The elder Cs appear to be in energy conservation mode. I’m sure it’s just one of those things.

Holding the high scoring Warriors to 47 second half points is a good start. Let’s see if it a trend.

The Orlando Magic, the team that has had the most success against the Celtics over the Garnett Era comes to Boston on Friday.

This is the team that the Celtics feel they would have beaten in the playoffs if they had Kevin Garnett healthy and playing.

The Magic will again be without Jameer Nelson, who went out with injury recently.

It appears that Pierce will start tonight after all.

It was being suggested that Pierce’s knee injury needed some time off. Well, Paul says that the past two days are time enough and he is feeling good enough to go.

Gary Washburn and Frank Dell’Apa report for Boston.com….

Pierce sat out most of Monday’s session with a left knee sprain, and the Celtics originally planned to keep him out of action yesterday. But Pierce said he had recovered from the injury, sustained late in the third quarter of Friday’s loss to Atlanta, and he worked out without a brace or tape on his leg.

Paul Pierce…

So the captain demonstrates his grit once again. Sometimes I think we don’t appreciate how much of a ‘gamer’ Paul Pierce is.

Love knowing you can’t even keep him out of practices. That has to bode well for the team’s younger players.

Now if they can only get in sync and start playing less like boys and more like men, and stopping acting like they’re the new kids on the block maybe we will be able to beat the Jacks ‘Em Five….somebody stop me, quick.

Gary Washburn of the Globe reports that Kendrick Perkins says practices are still not great….

“I think our energy’s been high, [but] these past few practices haven’t been good, I don’t think,’’ Perkins said after yesterday’s workout. “They haven’t been our best practices. We’ve been turning over the ball, just being sloppy the last two practices.

“I thought as far as Doc and the coaching staff, they had the right game plan for practice. As a team, we haven’t had the perfect execution for practice. We just gotta get back on the right track.’’

If they don’t, they’ll get run over by another team that likes to push the ball, the Golden State Warriors (#1 in pace). The Nelsonettes meet the Beantown Ballers in a few hours to see who ends up having more work to do.

Young and athletic teams are a problem for the Celtics. Intimidating glares by Kevin Garnett just don’t seem to change things much either. Maybe they are too young to know that’s supposed to scare them. There is no substitute for outplaying a team to really intimidate them, I guess.

They hitch it up at 7:30 tonight.

The whacky world of the Golden State Warriors comes to Boston tonight.

There is no greater calamity of a franchise than the Golden State Warriors right now. Not the Clippers. Not the Timberwolves. Not the New Jersey Nets. Well, maybe New York, but they’ve been that way for a while.

Don Nelson’s arbitrary ways with players and line ups led to a 29 win season last season. They are 3-7 at this moment and on a 2 game losing streak, as are the Celtics.

If you want to know what is wrong with the Celtics defense, just watch a replay of the Rockets defense against the Lakers last week-end. That was an energetic and cohesive defensive unit. They moved around the floor as one, especially in the painted area, cutting off and defending with great vigor almost everything the Lakers tried. Honestly, they were five men with a single mind.

For those who thought that Rick Adelman wasn’t a defensive coach, think again. He had that team of role players playing inspired defensive ball against the league champs as they upset them 101-91. They also played the Lakers tough in the previous post season with Yao Ming and Dikembe Mutombo out. I am impressed.

On the other hand, it is no coincidence that rookie Brandon Jennings 55 point Milwaukee rookie record explosion came against the Warriors. The Warriors have the worst defense in the league. Taking nothing away from the great young point guard, but he was poorly defensed at times. Jennings absolutely played a tremendous game and made the Warriors look silly.

Now that Stephen Jackson has gotten his wish and was traded to the Charlotte Bobcats, rumors are starting that Monte Ellis wishes for the same. Don Nelson has feuded privately and publicly with Ellis. The Warriors are reported to be starting to call around about Ellis.

They lost Michael Pietrus, then Baron Davis, then Matt Barnes. Derek Fisher was traded to Utah for a bag of shells. Nelson feuded with Al Harrington before Harrington forced a trade to New York, privately stating recently Nelson would have ruined his career.

Don Nelson has turned into L’Enfant Terrible and appears to continue to have the backing of Warriors ownership and GM Larry Riley, Don’s friend.

Not that everything is Don’s fault. This organization, from top to bottom, is making Donald Sterling’s Clippers look good.

They have a talented young big man in Anthony Randolph, who is languishing on the bench with inconsistent minutes while Mikki Moore starts. If they were in a pennant race, it might be understandable. But they are not a contending team, even before the Jackson trade.

Now talented scorer Kelenna Azubuike is out for the season with a knee injury.

The Warriors will welcome Raja Bell from the Bobcats, who will sit out as he gets surgery on his hand, and fellow ‘Cat Vladimir Radmanovic. Strangely, ‘Radman’ will probably welcome the trade. The Warriors style will allow him to play to his strength – shooting.

The Celtics will have had three days off again. They needed it to figure out what they are doing wrong.

For those in panic mode due to the 2-3 record over the last 5 games of the far too passive Celtic juggernaut, consider this….

The Celtics current 8-3 record (.727) projects out to a 60 win season (.731). That is about where I had them (63 or 64 wins) at the start of the year.

But I don’t want to minimize the recent poor play of the Celtics. They are not playing as hard, nor as smart as they can. There is something missing from this team’s chemistry and even game plans.

Rasheed Wallace must become more than a statue at the arc. The team must defend more cohesively and energetically, play the pick and roll better, close out the perimeter players quicker, get back against the fastbreak, and rebound a bit better at both ends of the court. Other than that… they are okay.

Rajon Rondo has been playing a somewhat curious game this season. The timing of when he shoots is inconsistent and he is shooting less outside shots at the moment. He continues to miss badly with his outside shot, can’t hit a free throw (25%) and rarely gets to the line this season (12 attempts in 10 games) . Too often, it seems he has to be prodded by Doc Rivers to step up his scoring and defensive effort.

Rondo’s rebounding is down as well. He is an active defender, especially with steals (leads the league), but his fundamental defense can be inconsistent. He still gets beat on the drive and reaches around to save the play with a wraparound knock away. His turnovers are down, and assists are up slightly at 8.7, and his field goal percentage is a solid 58%.

Paul Pierce may sit out tonight’s game with a sore ankle. If he does, Marquis Daniels will start in his place. Tony Allen will suit up in that case, but it is unsure whether he will be the back up or only play in an emergency.

After starting the season on fire from deep, the Celtics are shooting 4–27 from the three point line in their last two games combined.

The Celtics are ‘tryin’ to get the feeling again’. The Warriors might be the right team to do it against.

I’m out like Barry Manilow.

There is a trade rumor coming from Marc Stein of ESPN’s True Hoop Blog that the Kings and 76ers are trying to get the Celtics interested in a 3 way trade.

It would send Andres Nocioni to the Celtics with Tony Allen and Brian Scalabrine heading to Philly, while the hard-to-trade Samuel Dalembert and J.R Giddens goes to the Sacramento Kings. The 76ers would receive Kenny Thomas from the Kings.

According to Stein, the Celtics have been interested in Nocioni since he was traded to the Kings last season.

Over on Celticsblog.com a survey of fans suggests it is a no brainer, with those in favor at 77% as I write this.

Talent-wise, it appears to be an immediate upgrade. Nocioni is kind of like former Celtic Ryan Gomes. Versatile offensive small forward that can play some power forward, but not as proficient on the defensive end. He also has a much bigger salary than Gomes.

Nocioni will get $7.5 mil this year, then $6.85 mil., then $6.6 mil., then a team option for $7.5 mil.

Here are the pluses for the Celtics:

1) Andres is a solid veteran with playoff experience.

2) Slightly taller and with a stronger body than Marquis Daniels. He has only missed significant time in one year – 06-07 he missed 29 games. 80 game player for the rest of his career.

3) More outside offense (37% career three point shooter) to spread the floor.

4) That could help send Wallace back inside more, where he really should be spending more time when the two are on the court together.

5) The Cs have been seeking offers for Tony Allen and J.R. Giddens since training camp. It allows them to move both of them for a player they can use.

6) Nocioni fits a piece they are missing…a solid back up at small forward.

7) Though not strong defensively, he is a hard nosed player. He could possibly fit the Celtics defensive schemes.

Andres in 29 years as we speak, so he is an in-betweener that way. He’s a Goldilocksers –
not too young, not too old.

The negatives for the Cs:

1) His contract.

Now…in the aftermath of letting Posey go and Tony Allen’ s disappointing year, I said that the Celtics should have signed Posey and worried about the later years… later. The same can be said here, and Nocioni is younger than Posey. If Danny has been interested in him since last season, I wonder if that has changed at all in light of the salary commitments they added since then.

2) His defense is questionable.
82games.com has him as –4.2 in individual production (14.1 vs 18.2). But that can be misleading. James Posey who absolutely helped the Celtics defensively in the Championship season, while better, still had a negative production number  –3.0 (13.9 vs 16.8). But Posey is well known as a defensive specialist. Nocioni is not.

One message board poster suggested that Andre was responsible for shutting down Kevin Durant the last time the Kings and Thunder played. Granted Kevin shot just 9 for 23 in that game, but Durant scored 37 points, his second highest total of the year. He also was 18-18 from the free throw line, though Nocioni only had three fouls. That suggests that others were guarding KD and were fouling him to stop him.

Two things –
a) Nocioni gives the team 6 more fouls to use
b) Can he become a better defender in the Celtic system? Even if he doesn’t, he still has fouls to give.

A couple of questions:

1) Would a chance to play for a true contender reinvigorate Andres’ game? That question was also asked with Rasheed Wallace, BTW. It should.

2) What other possibilities might be out there, say a solid defensive small forward, something the Celtics really could use?

With the cap going down and as teams drop out of playoff races, will there be an even better opportunity with a bit more patience? Dec 15th is the first date certain players can be moved.

My developing opinion…

If Danny doesn’t have his eye on any other players that might fit better and could become available later, then I would pull the trigger on this.

But understand… Nocioni is not James Posey, Bruce Bowen, Dahntay Jones, Trevor Ariza, nor any other defensive stopper.

I am of the opinion that the Celtics roster is in need of help. I suggested that, and that Danny knows that as well, in this preseason prediction article here.

The recent play of the Celtics has done nothing to change my mind. In fact, it feeds that opinion. I would prefer a younger player, as I think the Cs need some youthful athleticism. Nocioni will 30 years old in a few weeks on November 30th.

But I also believe that they must go ‘all in’ to win this season. Championship opportunities are just too hard to come by – if that is your goal. Garnett will probably never quite return to pre-injury jumping ability. None of three stars are getting younger.

The only thing that changes that is if Danny Ainge already has an eye toward the longer term and realizes that he needs to bring in another top tier player this coming summer to continue to compete for multiple years beyond.

Another outlet is reporting that ESPN is incorrect and nothing is going down with Dalembert.

I like Andres Nocioni’s game. I understand his limitations. While not perfect for what the Celtics need, he does help. They give up some guaranteed 2010 flexibility ($7.5 mil) for help now.

We’ll have to see how this all plays out.