Here’s a little mix to set the mood for tonight’s must win at the Garden. Grit and Balls.
Thanks to Devin for the tip.
We Believe
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Tag Archives: boston celtics
Painful Loss Despite Rondo’s Heroics
Here’s a video that sums up pretty much how every Celtics fan feels right now…
Last night could have been one the most heart 
breaking playoff losses for the C’s thus far. Just utterly painful. Falling short of the win in OT to the Heat. The only positive was Rondo’s incredible performance, nearing a triple double with 44 points, 8 rebounds, and 10 assists, but even that gets overshadowed by the loss. When asked about his performance, Rondo responded, “We lost, simple as that.” Exactly why as much as I want to talk more about Rondo’s night, I just can’t. One of the biggest problems the Celts had and have had was giving up second chances. There’s no way they win giving the Heat offensive boards like that. It’s just not going to happen. Regardless, the C’s better come out firing on Friday when the Heat come to the Garden for game 3, a must win for the Celtics. And Leibo…we’re missing your boy Avery…bad.
Rondo on the Tip-Off
With the news of his suspension today I should probably talk about that, but it’s too depressing. We’ve already lost one team to heartbreak in the playoffs this month so I can’t really use any more depressing news. Instead, check out this compilation video of Rondo. Not going to lie, I don’t think I’ve ever paid attention to him during the tip but after watching this you bet all eyes will be on him now.
Another Big Win For C’s
The Celtics (32-24) came up with another big win last night over the 76ers (29-27) as they won 103-79 in a game blew wide open in the second quarter. The Celtics had a balanced attack led by KG (20), Brandon Bass and Avery (18), and Pierce (17). Ray Allen came off the bench again and chipped in with 10 points on 4-9 shooting. Rajon Rondo had his 17th straight game with over 10 assists as he racked up 15 last night. The 76ers were led by Nikola Vucevic and Andre Iquodala who had 14 and 13 points. After Evan Turner exploded against the Celtics for 26 points earlier this season, they have held him to 16 points in the two games following.
Avery Alert:
Avery got the start over Ray for the second straight game, and had another solid start. He shot 6-12 from the field and made his only three. He also had 5 assists and 4 rebounds. It’s going to be interesting whether or not Doc ends up putting Ray back into the starting lineup in a few games or sticks with Avery. I’ve also heard that Pietrus may be in the mix to start when he comes back from his head injury but I find that very unlikely. In the past nine games Avery has started 8 of them. In the first quarter, when the starters play a majority of the minutes, the Celtics have given up 12, 15, 21, 20, 19, 27, 18, 19, and 22 points respectively. The only game he didn’t start was against the Spurs. The Celtics ended up giving up 27 points in that first quarter.
The Celtics take on the Heat tomorrow in Miami at 7 PM.
Celtics Heat Recap
Rajon Rondo must love playing on national television. I’m sure you’ve already heard but Rondo had his 18th triple double last night. Of those 18, 14 of them have come on national television. Rondo used and abused his way around the court against Mario Chalmers and Norris Cole for 16 points, 14 assists and 11 rebounds. Pierce scored 23 for the Celtics, as all the starters had double figure points for the night. The Celtics won 91-72 to move to 30-22 overall and are in 4th place now with a full game lead over the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Heat fall to 37-14 on the season, LeBron James led the way with 23 points and Wade was 2nd with 15. Chris Bosh had only 4 points on 2-11 shooting. The Heat were -30 while LeBron James was on the floor.
The Celtics are quickly looked upon as title contenders. After weeks of talk of throwing this season away, they are now in danger of becoming overrated by the fans and ESPN. Since the injury to Ray Allen’s ankle, they have been on a 5 game winning streak. The combination of Rondo-Bradley backcourt has been phenomenal so far, and I wouldn’t be mad at Doc if he stayed with the lineup when Ray comes back. Doc has to get a lot of credit for the team this year, rolling with the punches and just continuing on.
Extra Notes:
The Heat shot 7-17 from the line; compared to 20-22 for the Celtics. Rondo has 13 consecutive games with at least 10 assists. LeBron had 0 assists for the 2nd time in his career.
Avery Bradley Alert:
Celtics are now 5-0 since Avery came into the starting lineup after Ray’s troubling ankle issues. He played Wade even last night scoring 13 points when Wade only scored 15. But Wade took seven more shots. Avery’s cutting has been big in the past few games, keeping defenders honest by back cutting and then surprising them with his ever improving jumper. His confidence just keeps growing and growing. He went 5-10 from the floor last night and 1-3 from 3.
Avery Bradley’s Big Block On Wade
Avery had this monster block on Dwayne Wade last night. Pretty much summed up the night for the Heat. I’m telling you guys, Avery Bradley’s going to do BIG THINGS.
Player Profile: Ryan Hollins
Name: Ryan Hollins
Height: 7’0”
Weight: 240
Born: Pasadena, California
High School: John Muir
College: UCLA
Drafted: 2006, 2nd Round, 50th overall by the Charlotte Bobcats
Previous Teams: Charlotte Bobcats, Dallas Mavericks, Minnesota Timberwolves, Cleveland Cavaliers
Misc: Cleared 6’10” at the Pac-10 Championships his sophomore year in the high jump, finished 9th in NCAA regionals and 6th in the Pac-10 championship
Career Stats
|
Year |
Team |
GP |
GS |
MPG |
FG% |
3P% |
FT% |
RPG |
APG |
SPG |
BPG |
PPG |
| 2006–07 | Charlotte |
27 |
0 |
6.9 |
.556 |
.000 |
.600 |
1.1 |
.0 |
.2 |
.3 |
2.4 |
| 2007–08 | Charlotte |
60 |
1 |
8.9 |
.489 |
.000 |
.671 |
1.8 |
.2 |
.2 |
.5 |
2.5 |
| 2008–09 | Charlotte |
18 |
1 |
10.2 |
.543 |
.000 |
.667 |
2.0 |
.2 |
.2 |
.9 |
3.6 |
| 2008–09 | Dallas |
27 |
2 |
9.6 |
.525 |
.000 |
.515 |
2.3 |
.1 |
.2 |
.6 |
2.9 |
| 2009-10 | Minnesota |
73 |
27 |
16.8 |
.558 |
.000 |
.690 |
2.8 |
.7 |
.3 |
.5 |
6.1 |
| 2010-11 | Cleveland |
70 |
16 |
16.9 |
.598 |
.000 |
.681 |
2.7 |
.4 |
.3 |
.6 |
5.3 |
| 2011-12 | Cleveland |
24 |
7 |
15.1 |
.500 |
.000 |
.600 |
2.3 |
.3 |
.2 |
.5 |
3.7 |
| Career |
299 |
54 |
13.1 |
.554 |
.000 |
.658 |
2.3 |
.4 |
.2 |
.5 |
4.2 |
Career Highs:
Points – 19 Rebounds – 12 Assists – 3
Steals – 3 Blocks – 4
Analysis:
Hollins is obviously a poor offensive player, relying on his athleticism for most of his baskets. But he is a good defensive player who plays hard. The Cavaliers were almost ten points better per 100 defensive possessions when he was on the floor. Even with his subpar offense, his defense made such a difference that they were a net 6 points better per 100 possessions on offense and defense when he was out there.
According to John Hollinger’s scouting report Hollins is a
- Lean athletic big man who can run the floor and make spectacular dunks
- Poor shooter with no post game. Can make short runners. Loses cool easily
- Amazingly bad rebounder. Capable pick and roll defender. Lacks strength
Hollinger goes on to say that Hollins was outrebounded by every single player in the league except for Andrea Bargnani and Brian Cardinal.
He worked out all summer with Kevin Garnett and KG is a big fan of Hollins. KG talks about his work ethic and the way he approaches the game. Also apparently KG had a hard time making friends and Hollins seems to be there for him in that respect. “Summertime’s the time when you’re working on things, but for me, I don’t make a lot of friends, and I can say that I made one in him. I like the way the kid approaches the game. He wants to be more than good. You see it in his face; you see it in his work ethic. I’m a big fan of his, so I’m glad he’s here.” KG’s not the kind of guy who throws around praise about people he’s played against. I’m sure Danny Ainge factored that in when he was looking for big men to sign.
Hollins is an interesting player because he’s a high flying 7 footer who can’t rebound. He looks good running the floor, especially with Rondo running the point. He will definitely help the Celtics on the defensive end and give KG’s knees a break from banging in the post for 40 minutes every night. If he could develop some sort of offensive game or rebound a little more. He could be extremely useful to the Celtics. He sometimes needs to keep his head, he got a technical in the first two minutes of his time with the Celtics, but there nothing new for a team with Rondo and KG.
Not a bad move by the Celtics, personally I was really hoping for Fesenko, but Danny Ainge could do a hell of a lot worse.
Throwback Thursday
This week in sports history…
1822 – The city of Boston, MA was incorporated.
1983 – Northampton, MA – The first women’s collegiate basketball game was played at Smith College.
1904 – A patent was issued for a “baseball catcher”.
1934 – The first Masters Golf Championship began in Augusta, GA.
1953 – The Boston Celtics beat Syracuse Nationals (111-105) in four overtimes to eliminate them from the Eastern Division Semifinals.
Finally…Center Grades
|
Player |
Points |
Rebounds |
Assists |
Blocks |
Steals |
+/- |
PER |
|
Kevin Garnett |
15.1 |
8.3 |
2.6 |
1.12 |
.94 |
+136 |
20.4 |
Up until last week, KG would have been placed with the power forwards, but with the injury to Jermaine O’Neal, KG has been moved to center and thrived. KG doesn’t have the quickness that he used to in his prime but understands maybe better than anyone else in the NBA how to use his body defensively and to be in the right position.
Positives: By all accounts KG, has not Pierce or Rondo has been the Celtics best player this season. He has the highest PER on the team as well as the best +/-. As I said up above, KG just understands the game. He is still quicker than most centers and gets to good position defensively and the five game win streak was correlated to KG being switched to center. His jumper from outside is still pure as ever. He stretches the floor just like Bass does, and allows room for Rondo, Ray, and Paul to drive the lane. He is still the heart of the Celtics and he brings the intensity to every single game. Last season according to Synergy, KG was the second best defensive power forward in the game, behind Taj Gibson.
Negatives: He has lost the quickness and the ability to jump that he had as a youngster and it shows on both the offensive and defensive ends of the floor. Quicker players just go right by him as he helplessly looks on. Also, KG doesn’t seem to want or feel the need to box out. If he stuck a body on some players he would have saved at least 30 offensive rebounds this season for the Celtics. His knees are also a constant worry for the Celtics and his minutes need to be monitored.
Grade: B+
|
Player |
Points |
Rebounds |
Assists |
Blocks |
Steals |
+/- |
PER |
|
Jermaine O’Neal |
5.0 |
5.4 |
.4 |
1.72 |
.32 |
+26 |
9.7 |
Positives: Jermaine O’Neal is the rare NBA player who has completely transformed his game. Long gone is the high-flying center that would sky for dunks on one end and have highlight reel blocks on the other. He still blocks shots now, but it is completely due to his great positioning and timing instead of athletic ability. He is also the rare player who has the ability to not only block shots, but be in position to take charges. Before his injury Jermaine was up and away leading the NBA in charges taken this year. He is also one of the Celtics best rebounders and provides much needed big man depth for the team.
Negatives: His offensive game has much to be desired. He has a decent 10-15 foot jumper, but outside of that, does not bring much else to the table. He is constantly hurt and his latest wrist injury, may keep him out for the rest of the season. Poor guy, because his body just doesn’t seem to be able to hold up anymore. On top of the wrist, his knees are farther gone than KG’s.
Due to the uncertainty with his wrist for the rest of the season. The Celtics may look to cut Jermaine O’Neal to open up space to sign another big man for the playoff run. They also were looking to trade his expiring contract. While I love Jermaine and his passion, I am not sure that the Celtics are going to have him on the roster past this season.
Grade: C+
|
Player |
Points |
Rebounds |
Assists |
Blocks |
Steals |
+/- |
PER |
|
Greg Stiemsma |
1.7 |
2.3 |
.3 |
.89 |
.25 |
-82 |
11.1 |
Positives: The steamer has been a fun player to watch this year. Burdened with big expectations after a big preseason, Stiemsma has played well in some situations and looked lost in others. He is averaging almost a block every 9 minutes and has shown great defensive ability. He also has a better than expected 10-15 foot jump shot that he’ll hit every once in a while.
Negatives: He is not always ready to play and will sometimes just look lost or confused out there. He takes chances defensively going for the big block and can look silly out there. Other than a few jumpers, he is extremely limited offensively and has terrible hands. You gotta love the steamer though.
Grade: C
Throwback Thursday
Here’s a new addition to the Boston Sports Blog…Throwback Thursdays. Each Thursday we’ll post a few historic events in Boston sports or other interesting events that occurred at this time years ago. Enjoy.
1939 – Boston Bruins won the Prince of Wales Trophy, clinching the NHL regular season championship. Marked the first time the trophy was awarded for this reason.
1954 – NBA raised the basket from 10 ft to 12 ft for an exhibition game between the Minneapolis Lakers and the Milwaukee Hawks.
1955 – Baseball commissioner Ford Frick said that he was in favor of legalizing the classic spitball.
1982 – The NCAA college basketball tournament selections were televised for the first time.
1995 – Dominique Wilkins of the Boston Celtics became the ninth NBA player to achieve 25,000 career points.
And why not use this post to give a little old school tribute to the B’s in the video below.
Boston Sports Blog 