Ich weiß, ich hinke ein wenig hinterher, aber ich wollte euch diesen sagenhaften Spielzug der Boston Celtics dennoch nicht vorenthalten. Möglicherweise war es der ‚Play of the Year‘, darüber lässt sich sicherlich streiten und wenn nicht, dann war er dennoch nicht minder spektakulär. Es freut mich auch zu sehen, dass Tony Allen offenbar wieder fit ist. Corey Brewer, you’ve been posterized!

Sehr sehenswert war auch der linkshändige Bounce Pass von Rajon Rondo (0:43) zu Tony Allen, der dann wiederum Kendrick Perkins unter dem Korb findet. Es lässt sich nicht leugnen, die Celtics spielen seh ansehnlichen Basketball.

]]> http://loscy.com/2009/12/22/the-tony-allen-non-disappointment-outlook-theory-tandot/ Tue, 22 Dec 2009 00:56:53 +0000 Loscy http://loscy.com/2009/12/22/the-tony-allen-non-disappointment-outlook-theory-tandot/

TA Doin' Work?

This is my holiday gift to you. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanuka, or nothing, you are getting a stress-relieving gift about how to handle the next 56 games with Tony Allen at the quasi-helm.

I’ve heard a lot of good anecdotes from various nooks and crannies on the internet in the last few days about Tony Allen’s recent performances. When Tony Allen made his ***triumphant*** return on December 8th against Milwaukee, many of us held out breath… watched TA make a great pass or drive through the lane… then watched TA exercise his patented dribble-off-the-knee move (if you’ve done this, keep it on the DL, otherwise you’ll owe TA crazy royalties)… then make a good pass… then carry the ball… on and on again. The same routine. We are impressed, then flustered, then hopeful, then woefully disappointed.

The next three games against Washington, Chicago, and Memphis gave us the same riveting roller coaster feelings: ups and downs ups and downs ups and downs and downs and downs. It had only been 3 games and the “TA One Man Act” had already grew tiresome.

Then Philadelphia happened. I was fortunate enough to get a ticket with friend @KWAPT (yes, the ingenious creator of voteforperk.blogspot.com) and we were about 7 rows back from the hoop on the Celts’ bench end. Basically, we were in primo position during the first half to see TA work on the offensive end. And yes, he worked. Then the second half came along, and TA continued to work. TA was doing so much work, in fact, that @KWAPT and I started filming on our phones to get some raw footage to pitch to some Boston-based producers: “TA Doin’ Work”.

But seriously.
TA was playing defense. TA was moving without the ball. TA was refraining from proving his galls via long range jumpers. TA was making the extra pass. TA didn’t turn over the ball (at all: he finished with 0 TOs). TA ran the floor. TA was playing defense. TA was playing defense. TA was playing defense.

I kept finding myself looking at KWAPT and saying, “I mean, really? Am I jinxing this?”

On my way home, despite the fact that the Celtics lost the game (and their streak), the TA performance really was a bright spot in the game. I mean, Tony Allen actually played well.

Then I realized, don’t fall into this trap again. Don’t do it.
Then I came to another realization: TA was usually wishy-washy during the game. Again, in any given 5 consecutive possession, TA could have exploded down the middle to throw down a vicious dunk, then foul a guy shooting a long range tre, dribble of his knee (royalties!), not switch off his man when needing to switch, and then breaking his thumb while being 10 feet away from where the play is developing. But this Philly game was different: TA actually had a near flawless game. Again: no turnovers, no remarkably visible defensive lagging, and doing what he was supposed on to on the offensive end.

I allowed myself to be pulled out of the depths of TA hellish disappointment with a ray of hope. Could this be the year? Could Tony Allen being Tony Allen today?

Then Minnesota came rolling in. And TA had another monster game: 24 minutes, 5/8 FG, 5/7 from the stripe, 6 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, 0 turnovers (is this the first time in TA’s career where he played 2 games with substantial minutes and did not turnover the ball in either game… ?).

Everyone’s been asking who has been adorning the #42 jersey in the last two games and curious when the real TA will stand up? But everyone’s been thinking the same thing: when will TA disappoint us again?

Jokes aside, I give to you my gift for the holidays: The “Tony Allen Non-Disappointment Outlook Theory (TANDOT)”. It’s simple to learn, yet complex to master.
The 4 principles of TANDOT state the following:

• Take it one game at a time. For you crazy micro-managers, take it one offensive and defensive possession at a time if you want. There will be turnovers. There will be moments where TA falls asleep on defense or makes a silly foul. But then there will be monster dunks. There will be crisp passes leading to an electrifying finish. There will flashes of brilliant athleticism. But, do take it one game at a time.
• Don’t pin an entire season’s worth of hope on this one role player. If you do, you’ll be disappointed regardless of how well he plays. There is a reason TA is not a starter: he’s got a limited skill set that cannot translate to starter minutes for this Celtics team. But what can he do? Help sustain a lead and not make things worse. TA looks like he is playing with a chip on his shoulder, and I’d like that chip to remain there as long as possible.
• Don’t start thinking TA can fill a role that he cannot. TA is not a point guard, TA is not a versatile wing man that can play bigger forwards upwards of 6-8/6-9. TA might be able to bring up the ball a few times when on the floor, but Quisy (or someone else other than Eddie) has to be the ball handler. What TA is: an explosively quick and fast off-guard that can play good stuck-on perimeter defense, a pure slasher to the hoop, a crafty guy that can create on the move and off the dribble, and he can run the floor with ease. TA doesn’t all of the sudden magically have a high basketball IQ. He just doesn’t. TA won’t be able to make the difficult rotations. He just won’t. He can’t be the full-time ball handler. He just can’t. Don’t jam the TA circular peg into the Celtics’ much needed strong wing / point guard squared hole.
• Take anything he gives you. Just take it for face value. Don’t get over-excited, and just be relieved when our starting five is back on the floor.

If you/we adhere to these principles, it will make watching TA from here on out much more satisfying and a lot less stressful.
As we watch and tweet during games, be sure to use TANDOT when you’re on the verge of frustration! So Tony Allen dribbles off his knees (royalties!)? TANDOT! Tony Allen takes 6 steps without dribbling? TANDOT! Tony scores on our own basket as he gets turned around? TANDOT!

Learn it. Tweet it. Live it.

–

Article of the Day: A Slight Drizzle on Last Night’s Parade (via CelticsHub)

I’ve seen two things in recent weeks that have really made my heart flutter. Yes. I said it… flutter. My heart is freakin’ fluttering!

Boom! Sheed dropping a D bomb!

I’ve seen Sheed tackle the monster task of playing inside more than out… GASP! And I’ve seen Perk finally closing quarters in meaningful and/or close games. Both of these changes have undoubtedly been a contributing factor the the recent win streak (¡11!), and I hope will continue to make beating our beloved team increasingly difficult.

While the nit-pickers out in the world can argue about how to fill the wing role left open with Quisy’s absence and our severe lack of a reserve point guard to handle and distribute the ball within the second unit, let’s dwell on that at a later point and time, shall we? For now, let’s really focus on the positives: the increase of Sheed inside and Perk closing out the final 6 minutes when it matters.

Since Quisy’s been out recovering from surgery, a robot by the name of Tony Allen -3.0 has stepped into fill the minutes. When Quisy was playing efficiently, it was partly due to the spacing the second unit could give him to slice through the lane: it was too risky to leave Sheed and Eddie wide open on the wings, meaning teams couldn’t collapse on Quisy when he got into the paint. The catch-22 of it all was Sheed was back behind the 3-point line in order to give Quisy the room, but when Quisy kicked out, we were left with Sheed’s rendition of Bombs Over Baghdad. Sheed has been a streaky shooter this season; whether it be due to the murmurs of him being out of shape or him taking the inch Doc gave him to shoot 18 miles away, the simple fact of the matter is that Sheed was launching a lot of threes without much success. With Quisy out, Sheed has fallen back into the post more and more. For the first time this season (I am guessing on this based on previous numbers, so of course there is room for me to be wrong on this), Sheed has had a batch of 5 games where he has taken more shots in the post than from deep range (excluding longer mid range jumpers). Hallelujah. Halle-freakin-lujah. Check out the hotness that is NBA Hot Spots:

Love the HotSpot...

Sheed has taken a total of 18 shots from downtown in the last 5 games, and made 7 of those shots leaving him at 39% (rounding up…). That is a great percentage for him, and a good amount of threes for a big man to keep his defenders both honest and on their toes. On the inside, Sheed has taken a total of 21 shots in the last 5 games, and made 11 buckets resulting in a fantastic 52% FG. This, my dear friends, is what you call efficiency! Sheed has been in a wonderful groove in the last 7 games (all of the games in December). Sheed is having his best and most efficient month out of the previous three: he averaging the least amount of minutes (19) out of the 3 months but having stronger and better numbers across the board… Sheed has his highest ppg out of all 3 months (11.0), his highest FG% (42%), highest FT % (90%), most blocks per game (1.6), least amount of fouls (2.1), and least amount of turnovers per game (.1).

Sheed! Inside!

This is what we all signed on for: a 20 minute big man that can play smart interior defense and provide help on the offensive post from the bench. Yes he could be a starter, but those are not where our needs are. We know he loves to pull the massive trigger on that long ball, but that needs to be fired on selective plays instead of it being a go-to default move. I really like the way Sheed is playing on both ends of the floor and he is proving to be our best bench player during our 11-game win streak. If we keep this algorithm simple, then it basically comes down to this:

1/3(Sheed’s long ball) x 3/1(Sheed’s inside play) = W

W = wins.

And Perk. Perk Perk Perk Perk Perk. There is a grass roots movement to vote for Perk onto the All Star team. Okay. We all know that we are not going to garner the kind of numbers it will take to get Perk the sheer volume of votes to get in the game… So we will have to just rely on the coaches to get Perk in. But that doesn’t mean we give up: visit @kwapt site (http://voteforperk.blogspot.com) and vote anyways.

This really shouldn’t have been an argument at all this season. Perk has worked to earn the closing spot with fellow starters Rondo, Ray Ray, Pierce, and KG. This is our opening squad, and this is our closing squad. At the very least, anyone could have made the argument that Perk is a co-anchor of our defense: Perk holds down the paint so that KG can make those quicker switches. But the surprise to many of us this season is that Perk has all of the sudden turned into an offensive threat with the addition of so many of his post moves and ability to front defenders with the ball. Now, Perk is not only our defensive stalwart, but turning into a light (dieted version of an) offensive weapon as well. It only makes sense for Perk to be on the floor when it matters. We hired Sheed to be a bench guy that could fill in the front court in case of an injury; we did not bring Sheed on to close out our games. This is Perk’s job… to perform with Rondo, Ray Ray, Pierce, and KG.

Perk! Perk! Perk!

Credit goes to Doc on both of these fantastic changes. Doc saw the symptoms, diagnosed the problem, and found the ideal remedy.

Let’s keep the gravy train rolling through Christmas.
Orlando: we’re coming for you.

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Articles of the day: Rondo’s Latest Trick – Consistency (via CelticsBlog), Rajon – “I’m Sleeping Better” (via Red’s Army), It Took 24 games, But… (via CelticsHub)

–

My favorite KG pic so far this season:

KG: a portrait of intensity.

Loscy's Boo.

If you’re familiar with these parts (yes, you!), then you’re familiar with Loscy’s fondness of one Rajon Rondo. And by fondness, you know I mean a (un)healthy obsession with the point guard’s abilities and style of play. I’m a bit of a gym rat, and I’ve incorporated too many of Rondo’s plays/moves into my game: using my speed and quickness to navigate underneath the hoop and circle out if no play develops, the behind the back fake, senseless gambles on defense… Now, am I really trying to compare my game to Rondo? Well, yes, I am… trying to.

Trying to.

Back to what matters. With 22 games underneath the Celtics’ belt, it’s a wonderful time to give a full evaluation of our fearless floor general, Rajon Rondo. Be fair warned: this is the Rondoness of all Rondo articles: the real mother-load. Prepare yourself. I’m going to tackle 3 major points: (1) in what ways was my pre-season prediction of Rondo right on, (2) the statistical importance of Rondo’s play this season, and (3) the empirical evidence of Rondo’s play that has helped fuel the current 9-game win streak.

–

(1)

Back in September, I explained in excruciating detail about WHY Rondo mattered the most. It was a changing of the guard, of sorts: the team’s success hinged upon KG’s knee, Pierce’s and Ray’s ability to stay effective throughout a long season, a deeper front-court bench, the continued development of Perk, and of course, what Rondo was going to bring to the table. In my post, I came up with 9 areas of Rondo’s game that needed to improve in order to make him a top 5 point guard.

To read the original article, peep it here. Below, you’ll see the areas that I originally noted as an area Rondo needed to improve, a quote from the original article, and then a reflective tidbit.

#9. Improve that outside shooting.
“He needs to develop that knock-down 17-footer from both elbows. If Rondo can even become a 35% shooter from these places, then teams really won’t know how/where to guard him.”
Well, Rondo hasn’t turned into Ray Allen Jr. overnight, but he’s knocking down his shot with more frequency. According to 82games.com, funny enough, Rondo is shooting .349 from what would be actually considered a jump shot selection. Rondo is choosing to take his jump shots from straight up near the top of the key and just off the elbows. While he isn’t catching and shooting, Rondo is able to shoot off the dribble when defenders play off of him. He’s making people pay 35% of the time.

#8. Stop bitching if he’s bitching.
“In a contract year, this is a big decision for Danny/Wyc/Doc to make: is Rondo worth big money? Is he worth the 5 years/$55 million?”
Yeah, the front office thought he was worth more. Since his re-signing, he’s been butter. And yes, the kind of butter that causes clogged arteries and congenital heart failure. Oh yeah… we haven’t heard a freakin’ lick of a bad attitude from Rondo this season. Was all of it blown up this past summer by the media? You betcha.

#7. Be picky/choosy when you gamble.
“For a guy with one of the quickest first steps in the league, he shouldn’t be getting burned by anyone.”
While we are seeing Rondo leave his man less, we are still seeing it. But, his ability to just man up and fight through picks is improving. Oddly enough, Rondo’s leading the league in steals with 2.5 per game.

#6. Toughen up.
“Cassell advised him to always pick himself up, shake it off, and cry about it later. Don’t sit on the ground and let the other team know that you’re hurt.”
Yup. This has been huge. Rondo has been knocked around, but he’s not lingering on the floor like an English football diva.

#5. Get rid of the floater.
“Because of the quickness that he can get into the paint and the fact that his jumper is not pretty or even effective, he often puts up one-handed floaters while on the move.”
I’ll admit defeat here: his floater is falling. But the floater is different this year: last year he spotted up that floater front on. This year, he is falling away, fading, and drifting. Rondo’s floater this year isn’t straight up and the fading away is almost giving him more time to get himself squared up and set. I like the way the floater is developing this year.

#4. Get faster.
“The quickness in movement of hands and feet can only get better in small increments that may not even be noticeable… but Rondo still has the track legs in him. Rondo can get faster.”
Rondo is faster this year. He’s also quicker. Chris Johnson might find out how fast Rondo actually is soon enough…

#3. Continue to mix up the half-court ball with up-tempo ball. 
“This is something Rondo needs to keep learning: when is a good time to push, and when is a good time to back-off and set up?”
If you have listened to what Doc has been saying, this is one of the biggest areas of improvement from Rondo: when to push, when to set. As opposed to adjusting to an opponent’s tempo, Rondo is setting the tempo and forcing others to react. Because of his ability to change gears so quickly, it can be difficult for defenders to tell what Rondo will do; this of course plays into our favor.

#2. Be smarter.
“A big area of improvement since his rookie days is the ball-handling. Rondo’s getting better at protecting the ball… but not as well as he could be.”
With a respectable 4:1 assist/turnover ratio, this has been huge. Knock… on… wood…

#1. Consistency. 
“One game he looks to be a premier point guard, and then another he looks to be enjoying the best seat in the house. One game he is dominant, and another he is happy to be giving high-fives to players that he admired while in his teens (KG, Pierce, Ray).”
I’m not even going to make a comment: in the last few close games during the 9-game winning streak, Rondo has been consistent and ferociously focused. We are seeing more consistency out of him this season than ever before. It’s not a coincidence that the Celts are playing well when Rondo is out to compete every night.

Take a breath. 1/3 of the way through.

–

(2)

Statistically, Rondo is on pace to have have an overall career year. Rondo’s PER is at a stellar 20.08, which is good enough for 29th in the league and just behind D-Will. Not too shabby. But a closer look at HOW his stats have translated into wins for the Celtics, we have to hop on over to hoopsstats.com.

Check out a glimpse of how important Rondo has been to the Celtics’ wins:

From hoopsstats.com

The notables:

When Rondo is playing 36+ minutes, the Celtics are 7-1
When Rondo is shooting over 50%, the Celtics are 9-1
When Rondo has 4 or more steals, the Celtics are 6-0
When Rondo has an efficiency recap of 22+, the Celtics are 8-0 [ NBA Efficiency recap = ((Points + Rebounds + Assists + Steals + Blocks) - ((Field goals attempts - Field goals made) + (Free throws attempts - Free throws made) + Turnovers)) ]

So the basic moral of the story: Rondo plays well translates into wins for the Celtics.

–

(3)

The freakin' terminator in #9.

There have been 3 bits of interconnected empirical evidence that have me beyond excited for what we may see from Rondo as the season progresses.

First, it’s in Rondo’s aggressive play. While Rondo has been hesitant at times to shoot and choose in favor of distributing, we are seeing Rondo constantly on the move with and without the ball. When Rondo has the handle, he is pushing that ball into places to free up guys on the wing and the bigs underneath. When Rondo is eating up the clock, the team’s offense isn’t effective. Take a look at the chart below:

Rondo is most effective when he is aggressive from the time he touches that ball (0-10 seconds) and is least effective when he is running down the shot clock (16-24 seconds). The point production for shots under 10 seconds is egregiously different than the point production when Rondo is just dribbling or holding. The numbers don’t lie.

From 82games.com

Second, Rondo is confident. It’s a subtle expression in his eye and a huge swagger in his step. Rondo is growing up, and he’s taking control of games.

Third, Rondo is closing quarters. This is huge. Rondo has the confidence and aggression and determination and grit to close out quarters. The 2 best recent examples: the Bucks and Wiz. Rondo came alive and played nearly the entire quarter in both games in order to shut down Brenden Jennings and Gilbert Arenas. On the offensive side of each game, he was silky smooth and used his speed, quickness, handle, and court vision to scalpel his way to a clean victory. We are witnessing a point guard that can close a quarter and showed that he could do it in the playoffs… and also for a run of the mill regular season game.

–

Final words:
In Rondo We Trust.

So I received the first round of voting results from the NBA this week, and needless to say, the results are a bit surprising. If you’ve watched enough Celtics games this year, you’d think Kendrick Perkins has really taken a big leap forward, becoming a Rick Mahorn-like intimidating presence in the paint, while improving his low post game (season averages: 12 PPG, 8 RPG, 2 BPG, 65% FG Pct). It’s very noticeable that when he’s not in the game, the Celtics turn into a jump shooting squad that if cold, can give up a lead in a hurry. You could even say he’s become the top “enforcer” in the East. That said, take a look at the early returns:

Centers:
1. Dwight Howard (Orl) 625,279
2. Shaquille O’Neal (Cle) 206,657
3. Andrea Bargnani (Tor) 67,310
4. Al Horford (Atl) 52,747
5. Andrew Bogut (Mil) 45,920
6. Brook Lopez (NJ) 39,420
7. Jermaine O’Neal (Mia) 38,956
8. Rasheed Wallace (Bos) 36,855
9. Kendrick Perkins (Bos) 19,408
10. Brad Miller (Chi) 17,188

Nevermind that Horford and Jermaine O’Neal aren’t exactly traditional centers, Perk’s own backup, Rasheed Wallace, has nearly TWICE the votes! As a basketball fan, this offends me greatly. Perkins may not have the gaudy offensive stats, but his defense is such that he can control Howard, and definitely O’Neal, in the paint. Bargnani is clearly benefitting from the overseas vote, but at this point in his career, he, Bogut, and Lopez aren’t even close.

Yes, I know this is mostly because the hard-working Perk toils in obscurity behind the Big Three, “it guard” of the moment Rajon Rondo, even ‘Sheed, who is coasting on past glory. So SportsCenter 5 is calling for a special election – get out and do your part. There’s even a handy website set up called, appropriately enough, VOTE FOR PERK!. Check it out and cast your ballot.

-SI

If you’re reading this blog, you might be one of the following:

• A) a die hard Celtics fan
• B) a casual basketball fan that likes to laugh at what a homer might say
• C) my mother
• D) a realist basketball lover that likes to read mind-boggling, cut-throat analysis of a game we all love
• E) a very nice friend

CSL!

If you are either A, B, or D, then you probably know about one of the best basketball podcasts out on the net: Celtics Stuff Live. Jon (@csl_duke), Justin (@csl_justin), and Kevin (@henkink) do a fabulous job of bringing together wonderful Celtics analysis that has plenty of humor organically woven into the show. You can catch their podcast every Sunday night when Jon, Justin, and Kevin have a special guest (such as Mike Gorman, Jess Camerato, Austin Ainge…), chat with live callers on air, and address email/twitter questions from fans. Additionally, once a week you can catch their weekly podcap after a Celtics game. Be sure to check their schedule each week at http://www.celticsstufflive.net.

I trust Jon and and Justin and Kevin’s take on the Celtics more than most. They have a wonderful eye for the game, and an even better appreciation of what it means to be a Celtic fan.

Jon was nice enough to answer some questions from Loscy.
Enjoy.

2008 Boston Celtics: World Champs.

1. What’s the biggest difference between the way the 2008 team was built and the way the current 2010 team is built?
The biggest difference between construction of the 2008 and 2010 teams is arrival of Rasheed Wallace. Let’s not forget that until PJ Brown rolled into town in late February, the C’s relied on Leon Powe and rooke Glen Davis for their front court depth. It’s even more remarkable looking back that the team did as well as it did relying on young players in important reserve roles.

2. How many more good years does Pierce have in him?
Though it depends on what a “good year”  is, I’d say Pierce is good for another 3 years at an All Star level and 5 as a starter. The problem Paul faces is that the most athletic and diverse players on a court are the guys he has to guard. This may shrink his window of influence.

3. What’s the ceiling for Rondo?
Rajon Rondo does not have a ceiling. He has innate abilities and intuition about the game of basketball that will be with him until he’s 40. He has athleticism that can match anyone in the league. The only thing holding him back is not his unreasonably criticized jumpshot, but his inability to be a consistent force on the court. If Rondo can learn to be more consistent with his effort and aggression level, he can be the best point guard in the league.

Heeeeeeeeeeere's ¡Rondo!

4. Did you ever play basketball growing up? If so, what was your go-to move?
I “played” basketball, but I won’t snow you and tell you I was good. I was not. I was slow, unathletic, and until I turned 16, short. I loved the game as much as anyone, but that only goes so far and entering high school as one of the shortest kids in your class isn’t a great way to become a varsity player. Of course now I’m 6-2 and I bloomed a bit late, but the athleticism never really came around. As for a go-to move? It became a lot more effective for me when I grew, but I watched a lot of McHale growing up and his up and under was a frequent friend out of my bag of tricks.
5. What awards/accolades could you see any member of the Celtics winning this year (realistically or what you hope)?
Though it is a big man award, I think the only individual honor I see a Celtics player winning is the Defensive Player of the Year and Rajon Rondo being the recipient of that. Rondo racks up a ton of steals and he is becoming highly regarded as an on the ball defender. Of course he has a ways to go in not gambling for steals, but DPOY is, not unlike baseball’s Gold Glove, an award that doesn’t always go to the person most deserving.

6. Will the Celtics will another serious rebuilding era of 3-5 years after the window for this team closes, or can you see the Celts staying contenders (ECF Semi contenders) annually?
What the Celtics look like after The Big Three era ends will be answered in the next 18 months. Rondo is locked in and if he can become a more consistent threat then they should be competitive. The question is how the team makes over the wing positions. I would suspect Pierce is here for life, so a lot of this depends on whether Ray Allen re-signs this summer and how much he costs. Even if Pierce, Allen, and KG are not replaced with All Star players, you have to feel confident in Danny Ainge that he can get the guys he needs to fill in around Rondo (and possibly Perk if he re-signs after next year).
7. Do we need a real back-up point guard?
We need Marquise Daniels to get healthy and give him the keys to handle the ball full time. I don’t think anyone on the second unit knows who the “point guard” is and thus the group seems disorganized. I think a wing defender is a bigger priority right now because I think Eddie and Quisy will figure it out.
8. Could Tony Allen and Scal combined rent us a decent PG with an expiring contract?
Even in this era of a Swine Flu Pandemic, I would accept a bag of used kleenex for Tony Allen. As for Scal, until Glen Davis returns I wouldn’t want to pull the trigger on anything, but I’m not sure how much the Celtics get for these guys unless it is to assure the C’s of a chance to acquire a guy who might get bought out or take someone off of another team’s books. I think with the Summer of 2010 looming, it will be a weird trade market this February.
9. Do you see Perk getting re-signed for a long term deal once his contract is up?
I’d like to think Perk re-signs here and I see no reason why the Celtics wouldn’t want that. They will have plenty of cap space after next season, so they can back the Brinks truck up for him. I think the only issue for a Perk re-signing is how much will need to be devoted to adding a wing player will cost. Might it cost sending Perk in trade? Maybe, and writing that might make my CSL partner Justin Poulin’s head explode.
10. What are your thoughts on how the time share of minutes will work between Glen Davis (refusing to call him Baby) and Shelden?
Shelden started very strongly and I think saying that he’s been bad or knocked out of the rotation is unfair. However he does seem lost at times and still needs time to acclimate to his teammates. Still, Baby missed a lot of time and will be very rusty coming back. I would suspect that it will be a true competition for Shelden and Glen with perhaps each sharing the minutes Shelden has been occupying with one getting the minutes in the first half, and the other getting the second half minutes. May the best man win… so long as no one is getting punched in a moving vehicle.

–

Be sure to check out Celtics Stuff Live for more information.
Thank you to Jon for your time and answers.

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Articles of the day: Perkins v. Bogut Had an Old-School Feel To It (via CelticsBlog); He [KG] Doesn’t Know What He’s Saying Half The Time (via Red’s Army); Daniels Out 8 Weeks: What Does This Mean For the C’s Bench (via CelticsHub)

-all photos property of freelantz-
For additional photo inquiries please contact jessica@freelantzsports.com The following is a sampling of photographs taken as the Oklahoma City Thunder hosted the Boston Celtics on Friday, December4, 2009. The game was dominated by the green, as the Thunder fell 105-87.

The Celtics had a ‘magnificent seven’ reach double-digit scoring, led by Kevin Garnett’s 22 and 21 from Paul Pierce. They shot 56.5 percent from the field and held the Thunder to 47.1 percent shooting, including a dismal 17.6 percent from 3-point range. Oklahoma City was led by Kevin Durant, who had a game-high 36 points.

Perk is a freakin' all-star: and you know this, man!

There are things in life that we hold as pure truths. Life is better when we keep things simple. Honesty truly is the best policy. Random acts of kindness do actually make this world a better place. Kendrick Perkins is a freakin all-star.

Before the season started, I submitted a question to @csl_justin and @csl_duke from Celtics Stuff Live. The question was pretty straight forward: will Kendrick Perkins have a breakout year? I thought the answer was yes. Justin and Duke also thought yes. Perk was going to keep adding to his game, stepping up, and being as solid as ever. We were going to see a few more dimensions to his offensive game while steadily making his defensive prowess louder and more consistent.

Many of us thought yes. But did we think we’d see THIS KIND of breakout year?

Vote for Perk '10.

We’ve known that Perk has been a stalwart defender for the last couple of seasons. Much of what made Perk so effective never shows up in the box score. You can’t quite quantify his importance to a team or its ability to win. But when KG went down shortly after the all-star break in February 2009, Perk matured in an instant. Perk filled in quite beautifully as the quarterback of our defense and to anchor the crew that was charged to make stops. The Celtics fan base observed this, soaked it in, and smiled because of it. This little known factoid became a national headline when the Celtics took on the Magicians during the Eastern Conference Semis. Dwight Howard was shut down, and it wasn’t the first time that season (read this article that was written during the series).

When Dwight Howard ate Cleveland alive during the ECF, everyone knew why: there was no defender strong, fast, or smart enough to shutdown Dwight. Perk has continued that kind of hidden but excruciatingly important defense this season.

But there is a difference. Yes we know that Perk does the dirty work. Perk muscles his way to clog up the paint against opponents attempting to slash to the hoop. Perk boxes out opponents’ bigs so that someone in green can get the boards. Perk plays help defense to force bad shots. This is the type of dirty work that just doesn’t show up in the stat sheet. Yeah, Perk’s still doing those things. But his slimmer physique has given him a considerably quicker first step. Perk can slide from one spot to another so much faster this year than in the past. In other words, Perk has the strength to body up a big one on one but now the quickness to cover more ground in less time.

So back to that difference: Perk’s play is starting to translate into noticeable stats:

• Perk has 38 blocks this season, which is good for 5th best in the association.
• Perk’s blocks are almost an equal balance between jump blocks and close blocks.
• More impressive than that, Perk has a 1.88 ratio of blocks/fouls.
• Perk is shooting 64% from the field. Whoa.
• Perk is averaging a career high 12 ppg.

But the kicker in all of this? Perk’s game is continuing to develop in ways that still don’t show up in the stat sheet:

• Perk’s improvement in setting legal screens (hip hip, hooray!).
• Perk’s vision to see the passing lane.
• Perk’s ability to execute a pass when a player is on the move and cutting to the hoop (very new).
• Perk’s ability to not only back down a player on the post, but to also front him.
• Perk’s evolving post moves: spins, hesitations, ball fakes.
• Perk’s slowly increasing range from the baseline.

See more of his stats at 82games.com and basketball-reference.com.

Simply put, this man is a beast. Perk is truly contributing to making a great team greater.
Kendrick Perkins is a freakin all-star, so go get your vote on at http://voteforperk.blogspot.com (created by none other than @kwapt).

A vote for Perk is a vote for you.

I have a few thoughts to share about the Spurs, the Celtics, Allen Iverson, and maybe some Real World/Road Rules Challenge if I feel up to it.

I will start with Iverson because, well, why not? It isn’t technically “news” anymore, but Iverson inked a deal with the Philadelphia 76ers, with whom he made his Hall-of-Fame case and MVP-worthy status seemingly forever ago. That dynamic will be interesting, but not as much as the events that preceded it.

Iverson, in a matter of weeks, went from being the bellyaching selfish player who couldn’t recognize his own basketball skill mortality to being the kid that nobody else would let play in the sandbox. I am still not sure how he managed to pull this maneuver off, although I am glad he did (probably had something to do with Larry Brown being on his side).

He has become this sympathetic character who desires only to play basketball and to win games, something that nobody could disagree with. When he retired, although I can’t think of one logical person who believed he would stay that way, the typical highlight reels were played on SportsCenter and the sports world remembered exactly what made Allen so great.

I became nostalgic, as did most NBA fans that tuned in anytime after 1996, and longed for Allen to come back and cement his legacy. This isn’t exactly what I had in mind seeing as how the 76ers aren’t on any radar screen right now; however, it is a tremendous runner up.

Now Allen can finish his career where he belongs, in a city that will cherish his remaining minutes on the court and appreciate the tremendous impact that he has made, not only in Philadelphia, but also around the league. That is, as long as he doesn’t have to come off of the bench.

The 76ers have to start Iverson, right? He is certainly a better scorer than Williams at this point and they serve primarily the same function of scoring point guard. He comes to a team with already defined roles, well, I am not sure what exactly Elton Brand’s role is anymore with Eddie Jordan preferring to rest the big man down the stretch. Still, he can come in and contribute to a team that needs Allen as much as he needs them.

Speaking of the 76ers, I underestimated the impact of Andre Miller on the teams he plays on. He isn’t going to be a Baron Davis type of scoring threat or as flashy as Nash or Paul, but he is as solid as they come. Without him, the 76ers are nowhere near as capable (although they did have to deal with injuries), and the Blazers are a far better defensive team.

Okay, on to the next one: the San Antonio Spurs. I watched the Spurs and Celtics game last night while studying for exams and a few things struck me. The first of which is that I must have overestimated Richard Jefferson as much as I underestimated Andre Miller. I managed to forget the impact of age and wear and tear on a player after they have spent around a decade in the league. I thought that Jefferson could breath some new life into the aging Spurs and be a more productive Bruce Bowen.

Well, so far, I have been wrong about that. He hasn’t been a tremendous defensive player and he has resorted to shooting threes more often than driving. There is nothing wrong with playing that way, it worked for Bowen and the Spurs, however, he isn’t as good as I thought he was. Now, this can all be turned around by a winning streak of 8-10 games which is nothing less than typical for a Popovich coached Spurs team.

The Celtics were clearly the superior team last night, at least from what I saw. Kevin Garnett had one of his good days and his knee seemed to hold up nicely. If the Celtics are going to contend late in the year they will pray that Garnett’s knee doesn’t become troublesome down the road. Anyway, he played with his usual fire and passion and displayed that outside shooting touch that made him impossible to defend when he was an upstart in Minnesota.

Now this has become trite at this point, but Garnett single-handedly impacts this defense more than just about any other player in the league (for me it’s a toss up between KG and Howard just because of the fear he puts into players when they think about driving into the lane). He makes everyone around him better and brings the intensity that you need in order to play great defense.

Also, Ray Allen is probably the most eloquent speaker that I have seen on the basketball sidelines this year (including Stan Van Gundy). He acts like he plays: smooth, calm, collected, introspective, and you never doubt for a moment that he is going to deliver. Long live Jesus Shuttlesworth.

Also, when Matt Bonner matched up with Brian Scalabrine I thought that my TV was going to explode. Not only are these two white NBA basketball players who aren’t exactly sculpted, but also they each sport the fire hair. I couldn’t believe what my eyes were telling me to be the truth. A matchup like that doesn’t happen too often, kind of like a solar eclipse in both rarity and magnitude.

And I feel really dumb and shallow about this, but I can’t stand Kendrick Perkins. I mean, I love his play and think that he has developed into a worthy starting center that plays tremendous defense against some of the best in the league, but there is something about him that irks me beyond all comprehension. I think it is his King Tut beard that he is trying to grow, sort of like Rashard Lewis only not as suave. Plus, he just looks angry all the time, when really, he has no reason to be. If he would just shave that chin music then I would love to watch Perkins play at all times.

This is where the Real World/Road Rules challenge stuff would go, but I don’t have the energy to delve into the dilemma on the Champions team. However, I am so glad that Casey was finally sent home and I am really rooting for the Challengers to overthrow the Champions, even though I know that this is a hope beyond all hopes.

Vote this beast onto the all-star team: http://www.voteforperk.blogspot.com/

We’ve all been lost before. As a kid, I would get separated from my parents when I wandered off to explore something shiny. As a teenager, I would get separated from my friends when I wandered off to explore something shiny. As a husband, I still get separated from my wife when I wander off to explore something shiny.

There is a moment when we look around, can’t find our familiar faces, and we are overcome with emotion. That very instant of realization that we are lost is followed by either extreme panic or detective mode. We either become frozen from fear or look to find our way. The cool, calm, and collected approach is always the way to go.

In the last couple of weeks, some fans have been lost because they felt the Celtics were lost. We looked old. We looked slow. We looked out of sync. We looked old. So many of you that are reading this are shaking your head saying, “No, I didn’t think that! I knew it would be okay!” But don’t fool yourself. Lots of people were panicking. Lots of people were convinced the Celtics had lost their way.

But you know who wasn’t panicking? The Celtics. You know who knew the Celtics weren’t lost? The Celtics.

In the last 5 games, the Celtics have been playing pretty well. The Celtics didn’t go into extreme panic when dropping a few games in a short week and a half span; they went into detective mode. There were comments from Danny. There were comments from Doc. Both gentlemen made it publicly clear that the players needed to clean up their act. They were the only ones that could fix the inconsistencies in their play. The players figured out what they were missing: they returned to playing within their means and rediscovered their identity.

Dare I say it... is he back?

The current Celtics team is built on team defense. We win by playing defense. We have weak-side helpers that force opponents into tough shots. We have weak-side helpers to help the helpers force opponents into difficult situations. We rotate. We share the defensive load. Our perimeter defenders are just as important as the interior ones. Two years ago, the team talked about the “no lay-up” philosophy. If a team kills us because they are making tough, long-range, low-percentage shots, then so be it. The Celts weren’t going to give up any bunnies.

But this year, in games that we have lost and in close games that we have won, our defensive rotations were egregiously slow. Recently, though, we have been rotating. From my couch and section 322, we are playing with a fiery intensity. We aren’t giving up when players get by. Instead, we are fouling them, sending them a message, and forcing them to earn their points. We aren’t taking defensive possessions off. We are playing hard on defense to get the ball back to the other side of court. We are sliding. We are talking. We are rotating. We look alive. Thank goodness, we look alive.

Collpase! Collapse! Collapse!

When we played Phoenix (and lost), Indiana (and lost), and Orlando (and lost), we played to their game. We accommodated and adapted to their style. We are not a flat-out uptempo team. We are a team that can have up-tempo possessions, but all fast pace / max out on shot attempts doesn’t play into our strength. Quality, not quantity. Our strength is in our half-court sets. It’s not always the traditional half-court set: we can push and set up quickly because our PG is the damn near fastest thing on earth besides U-Bolt. We have bigs that can run. We have swingmen that know where to set up on the wing and when to move. When Rondo is aggressive and getting to the hoop, shots open up. When players are making cuts, shots open up. When we are mixing up the tempo by pushing the ball up the court and settling into our offense, shots open up. When it comes down to it, though, when we move the ball, we get good looks. Our starting 5 are all competent passers. The unselfish mentality makes passing even easier. We have a pure point guard that looks to create and has incredible court vision. We have one of the best passing power forwards in the history of the game. We have a small forward that can do anything he wants whenever he wants.

All day. Every day.

If we make our defensive stops first and just move the ball on offense, this team will be unstoppable. We are too deep, to cohesive, and too good to lose if we play the way we play.

It’s actually pretty simple: our defense breaks down other teams’ offense and our offense breaks down other teams’ defense. In the last few games, we’ve been doin it and doin it and doin it well.

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Article of the day: The Semi Transition Game: Embrace it (via CelticsHub)

Picture of the day:

By Jordan.

The Captain gets the game ball: solid D, great offensive punch, final play call.

Let’s face the facts: the Celtics are playing mediocre ball and have been for the last week and a half. Despite their 10-4 record, it’s mediocre ball at best. This most recent game against New York raised more questions than answers.

I’m a teacher. I teach world history and economics. I ask a lot of questions. My students ask a lot of questions. We all ask a lot of questions. It can more often than not show a deeper understanding of a topic. Other times, it’s just the perfect thing to do when we are absolutely bewildered by a topic.

I’m bewildered.
I’m going to stop diagnosing.

Hey ¡RONDO! why aren't we seeing more of this?

Here are 34 questions for the Celtics because I just don’t know what else to say. Why 34 questions? Because #34 is Paul Pierce. Paul Pierce is the Truth. So by the power of transitive property, 34 = The Truth. I am hoping these 34 questions lead to some level of enlightenment and higher understanding.

1. Why is overall energy level so inconsistent and why aren’t we
2. Why is our offense settling for so many low percentage jumpers with the shot clock expiring?
3. Why are we not attacking the hoop more?
4. Why is Rondo playing like a $3 million PG on some nights and an $11 million PG on other nights?
5. Why is our help defense scheme look so slow?
6. Why is Ray Allen getting so many more minutes than he needs?
7. Why isn’t Quisy getting more playing time?
8. Why is Sheed shooting 3s like I shoot 3s?
9. What’s going to happen in a few weeks when Glen Davis returns (remember: no more Big Baby)?
10. When will KG finally be in game shape?
11. Actually: will KG ever be back to being in good game shape (even if he can’t jump)?
12. When will everyone realize how unbelievably good Pierce is playing right now?
13. Will Danny many any trades before the new year?
14. If Danny were to make trades, what do we really need right now?
15. Is our PG by committee / PG by convenience working?
16. Will the Real Eddie House please stand up? Please stand up?
17. Has Doc ripped into his team yet about what the heck is wrong with them?
18. Is this the kind of play we can expect for the rest of the season?
19. Is it a good sign that Rondo can’t hit his FTs because it means he is finally changing his shooting style   for the firs time in his career?
20. Will Doc force Sheed down on the block more?
21. Why isn’t Perk closing out quarters more often?
22. Aren’t we a defense-minded team?
23. So why aren’t we a) playing defense better and b) letting one of our team’s best defenders (Perk) get more minutes on the floor?
24. Why haven’t we seen more dynamic lineups on the floor (like Rondo, Pierce, KG, Perk, Sheed; or Ray, Pierce, Quisy, KG, Sheed; or Rondo, Piece, Quisy, Perk, Sheed)?
25. Will TA’s first game in the 2010 season be in Celtic green?
26. Will Scal continue to be 100% efficient on the floor for as little minutes as he is getting?
27. Should we trade Scal (with TA) and if so should we get him more minutes?
28. Is JR Giddens the epitome of practice hero and game zero?
29. Will Shelden William’s interior game improve with more touches?
30. Why can’t our team get offensive rebounds (is it not built into our defensive scheme?)?
31. Why have we started so slow offensively in almost every game this season (what happened to those 30+ points from 2008-2009?)?
32. Why are we giving up so many points in the first half?
33. Why are we turning into a team that either wins/loses a game in the 3rd quarter?
34. Is the whole “sleep experts” advice of bypassing pre-game shoot arounds in favor of naps really working?

I want to see an absolute spanking tomorrow night against the 76ers on Wednesday night. I want Philly to waddle off the court.

Cool, then we done.

Next question?
Cool, then we done.

Articles of the day from my 3 favorite Celtics sites: It’s not time to trade Ray Allen (yet) at CelticsBlog, Myth or Fact: The Celtics are shooting too many 3s at RedsArmy, Do you believe Doc at CelticsHub.

On July 4, 1776, our founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence, announcing that the colonies were no longer going to be part of the British Empire. Despite supporting the movement, Perk was not amused.

12% of the season finished, 88% left. Plenty. Of. Time.

I want to stress very early on in this post that I am not freaking out. You are not freaking out. Well, you might be freaking out, but there is no need for you to be freaking out. It’s far too early to be freaking out. We are just a tad over 1/8 of the way through the season. A measly 12% through. Calm down, folks.

Yes we have dropped 2 games, but it really isn’t a big deal. Our loss column is filled with the number 3, but there is also the number 8 in the wins column. Only 1 team in the entire NBA has played more games than us (Portland), while some teams like Milwaukee and Indiana have played 8 and 7 games, respectively. We still have the 3rd best win % in the East.

Let’s also face this fact: out of the 3 teams that are responsible for handing the Celtics a loss, Atlanta is the only one that could push us in a 7 game series. Neither Phoenix nor Indiana could take us in 7 games: both teams were on fire and couldn’t miss– you can’t repeat those shooting nights over and over again. There is a difference between taking a team down during any given game and taking a team down 4 times out of a possible 7 chances. 7 game series are designed to allow the better team to prevail. The Celtics are better than the Suns and the Pacers. Case closed.

Why you should feel good:

• Boston is the only team with a double-digit positive point differential in the entire league at +10.2.
• The Celtics are 2nd in points allowed by opposing teams with 88.3 per game.
• On BasketballReference.com, the Celtics are ranked 1st in Pythagorean W-L (Pythagorean Wins; the formula is G * (Tm PTS14 / (Tm PTS14 + Opp PTS14))); ranked 2nd in SRS with a score of 7.95 (read the explanation here: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/blog/?p=37); and ranked 1st in BR’s team defense rating with a score of 97.8 (Defensive Rating (available since the 1977-78 season in the NBA; for players and teams it is points allowed per 100 possessions.)

We are a good team. We are designed to win a series, not every game. We are designed to win a series, not every game.
We have smart players and great coaches that have high basketball IQs: whatever is going wrong in a series, as long as we are healthy, we will rectify and fix.

But… of course, we did just drop 2 games to younger, more athletic teams.
Let’s see these 5 things as we move forward against the next 5 games: Golden State (Wed), Orlando (Fri), New York (Sun), Philly (Wed), and Tor (Fri) in the following week and a half.

Perk is a beast. The beast needs to close out the 4th.

• Keep rebounding. It’s pretty simple: the more boards a team gets, the less the opposing team gets. More rebounds = more possessions and more chances to score while at the same time taking away chances for the opposing team to score. We need to box out. We need to send 2 guys into crash the boards while sending the other 3 into transition.
• More Quisy. More Shelden. I want to see these 2 get a few more minutes: with Pierce banged up, I’m hoping we see more Quisy. His title, thus far in the young season, should be Mr. Efficiency. Everything he does is efficient, modest, controlled, and important. Quisy matters to this team as much as Posey mattered to the 2008 team. Quisy is the swingman we need to go deep in the spring. As for Shelden, he’s been Mr. Pleasant Surprise (self-explanatory).
• Perk closing the game. Perk is a Beast. Right? Right. Sheed is in a bit of a funk and I’d like to see him get a few more minutes in the middle of the game instead of the end; I want to see Perk close out the 4th. I’m choosing defense over offensive possibility. I’ll always choose defense over offensive possibility. If you have Perk in, he is guaranteed to play solid interior defense on every defensive possession. Not to say Sheed is a slouch on defense, because he has been great, but Perk can still jump. Perk can still box out stronger guys and do the dirty work underneath that he is genetically and athletically designed to do. Let him close out the quarter because it makes sense.
• Rondo needs to take 12 shots a game. While it was great to see him pushing to create for his teammates against Atlanta this past Friday, but we need to see him aggressively taking it to the hoop. We need floaters. We need lay ups. But more importantly, we need the opposing team’s defense to collapse on Rondo when he enters the paint. If he is going to get players better, clearer looks, the defense needs to bite on the possibility of him shooting/scoring so the other guys are free/open. Rondo will usually be pass-first, so it’s not like we are changing his game. We just need to see him take some more shots.
• Mix up the line-ups. I will have to stop saying this eventually, but for now, I’m still begging for it. I want some dynamic diversity in our line-ups: a speedy lineup, a big lineup, a mix of starters and reserves. Doc has a deep bench that can cause opposing teams major headaches if he is able to mix-in different lineups together. The Celtics are in the position to set the tone with lineups and make other teams match-up against us, as opposed to us having to match up against other teams like we had to do for much of last year.

So if there are 4 blue jerseys around Rondo... Hmm...

My hands are steady. There are 71 more games to play.
Settle in for the ride.

Article of the day: NBA Mate’s “David Andersen can shoot”

Genius at work.

Before I get into the story, let me first share with you that Daryl Morey (HOU), Sam Presti (OKC), an Danny are my 3 favorite GMs. They’re crafty in their own ways, but all three have an UNCANNY ability to recognize talent in different ways. Morey has been known to find players that are fighters, play with an abnormally large chip on their shoulders, grit out every possession, and understand how to play in a system. Presti just finds the right complimentary players. In time, if he can hold onto his core young guys of Harden, Westbrook, Green, and especially K-Durant, my gosh they are going to be a force. Presti has found some great defensive-minded players and as they mature, they will be great in the middle of the pack team in the West. We know about Danny’s track record with draft picks and trades.

So on Thursday, November 12th, I get an update from Twitter about a new follower. I have trouble trusting my young eyes: Daryl Morey? Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.

I immediately investigate, and as it turns out, the freakin’ GM of the Houston Rockets is indeed a new follower. Aside from the fact that he would be my most famous follower, Morey only followed 84 other people at that point. I was part of an elite group.

Yup. For real.

I immediately send Morey a direct message asking if a measly blogger like myself can attend the statistical conference later on next year, and he writes back immediately:

Yup. This is also for real.

Of course, I flatter him a bunch and tell him that he wins the award for being Loscy’s most famous follower. I didn’t ask him how he found me, and I wish I had… because 9 hours later he un-followed me. I was irked by the whole ordeal.

Daryl: what did I do to make you leave?!?!

Then… I started to read my tweets the same day. First, there were probably 65+ tweets in that small window of flattery to depression. Hmmm. Maybe Morey was getting sick of the sheer volume of tweets? Probably not. The dude can remember the NYC skyline and draw it from memory after 1 fly-over in a helicopter (seriously: he did it). His ability to push out the crap and keep the goods kind of dismisses that theory. Theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeen I started reading my tweets a little bit closer and realized that I sounded like a child. Some foul language. Some bad jokes.

Ugh.

Daryl: did you leave me (ie, unfollow me on Twitter) because of the content of my tweets, volume of tweets, or both? Most of them were re-tweets. It wasn’t even my material! I was re-gifting!

AGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I was consoled by my wife: “It’s better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all”.
She was so right. So right.

But it still hurts.

Daryl: I promise to be a better Twitter member if you come back.
Now I’m begging.

How pathetic is this?

Would I be this way if the Celtics had won the last 2 nights?

What’s become of me?!?!?!?!?!?!?

DARYL!!!!!!

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Torched by Granger.

We didn’t play sloucher teams. We played a young team that we’ve had many close games with and that was simply hungrier than us. On Friday night, Atlanta out-hustled, out-rebounded, out-swaggered, and flatly out-played us. We got killed on second chance points (20-4) and b*tch-slapped off the glass. The very next night, a young team that is playing pretty well torched us in the second half when our defense fell asleep, everything they threw up found its way to the bottom of the net, and our shots were getting stuck between the rim and backboard.

The common denominator in both losses? Young… teams. We have looked slow, old, and a bit out of rhythm. We forced passes. We weren’t playing good transition defense. We had a tough, tough schedule early on (8 in 12) and our current skid, no doubt, is a byproduct of the early going. It is a funk. It will pass.

What about some radical lineups to start the game in Indy? Why not rest Pierce if he was a game-time decision? Why not start Rondo, Ray, Quisy, Shelden, and Perk? Eh.

It is a funk. It will pass.

I’m not going to hinge the entire season on the last two nights. There is plenty to learn from the games, and the coaching staff will figure it out with the players. But at the same time, should we be worried… at least a little bit? We’ve gone from looking invincible to very vulnerable (sort of like last year after the Lakers game on X-Mas day?)

Celtics: go figure it out, please.

Article of the day: Advanced States in Pacers Game at CelticsHub.com

Want KG on your desktop? How about Pierce? Rondo? Ray?
Get ‘em here.

My theme for these wallpapers is simplicity. I keep my desktop clean and clear of everything except my MAC HD icon, and I like my wallpapers the same.
If you have a picture you’d like as the subject of a clean/clear wallpaper like below, please feel free to inquire. A small price of **linking-love*** can get you the wallpaper of your dreams.

{ note: firefox users might have to rename the file with a ‘.jpg’ at the end for it to properly save as. questions? green.eighteen@gmail.com }

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KG#1 { click HERE for full res wallpaper }

KG#1

Rondo#1 {click HERE for full res paper }

Rondo#1

Perk#1 {click HERE for full res paper }

Perk#1

Perk#2 {click HERE for full res paper }

Perk#2

Pierce#1 {click HERE for full res paper }

Pierce#1

Ray#1 {click HERE for full res paper }

Ray#1

Shelden doing what Shelden does: crashing the boards.

Sometimes I have these ideas. They are really creative, cool, and catchy. Then I find out, in due time, that my idea has already been thought of and often executed to a higher level of functionality and desirability than I ever could have thought.

But my philosophical question stands: if I thought of an original idea autonomously without any prior knowledge of the actual existing idea, is that moment of intellectuality actually mine as well? I would argue… yes.

This is my predicament. Let me share with you, just for a moment, my ideas for upcoming columns for this week:

• The efficiency of Shelden Williams on the glass and the impact of his hustle on the floor
• The Celtics current struggles to get to the FT line
• Rondo’s match-ups with some of the league’s best PGs early on and how he will behave
• The strength of our bench offensively compared to last year

Ok. Celtics Hub wrote about the Celtics issues with getting to the stripe this morning. Celtics Blog wrote about Shelden’s work in the paint. Celtics Blog wrote about whether Rondo was going to be talking trash against D-Will this week when playing against the Jazz. Celtics Hub mentioned the strength of the second unit on offense referencing my go-to stat site of 82games.com.

Seriously?

I guess you can’t contain good ideas from good writers that are hungry in this early season. We are all eager to perform full, all-out dissection of Celtics games. I’m going to keep these topics on my sticky note in case they crop up later on in a different form. The Rondo article will appear later on this week (not quite hit so far in the Celtics blogosphere).

For today? Let’s talk about Glen Davis. Notice how I’m following Wyc’s lead: no more Big Baby if I can help it. While it is a bit of a reflex to just refer to him as Big Baby, Baby, or BBD, I’m going to do my best to call him Glen Davis, Davis, or even Glen. Have you actually stopped to think about how his school teachers used to call him “Glen”? Think about an 11 year old 5’-9” 191 in front of you with 5 kids pinned to the ground: “Excuse me, Glen, can you stop killing those kids?”

What happens when Glen returns?
Well, let’s answer that by figuring out what Glen brings to the Celtics.

• An ability to stretch the floor with his improving mid-range jumper
• The power to box out the bigger bigs on opposing teams to make way for guys like Rondo to get boards (you know, the guys that can actually get off the ground)
• An improved ability to finish near the rim
• He plays hard and hustles and is willing to sacrifice his body
• A tough, tough guy who can get beat up and play physical (so our big finesse players don’t have to)

Those are all qualities that we need from a role player. There is no doubt about that. But… what about Glen’s deficiencies in his game?

• He can’t play above the rim (at all)
• He can’t rebound because he can’t get off the floor
• Glen whines and cries
• While he’s heavy, he doesn’t have length to guard the taller PFs in the league
• While he may be agile for a guy his size, he still isn’t that quick in the grand scheme of things
• There’s a relatively low ceiling for his post moves: who knows how much better they’ll really get

The perfect system for Shelden Williams.

In comes Shelden Williams. (follow him on twitter @sheldenwilliams, one of the best NBA-ers to follow)
There isn’t a better scenario for Shelden: The Landlord™. While the lotto pick got lost in the shuffle during his bounce-around to teams like ATL, SAC, ATL, MIN, and then back to SAC, there is no better system for him than the Boston Celtics. The Landlord™ is surrounded by veterans, especially veteran bigs like KG and Perk (while Perk is young, this is his 7th year…) and he isn’t being asked to carry a team in any way. Specifically, his role has been defined very early on and clearly and he is proving that his minuscule salary was one of the best off-season pick-ups. Rebound, play defense, hustle = playing time and salary.

Understand that I have no college/university allegiance. I don’t follow college basketball: it’s overwhelming. Regardless if you like Duke or not, you have to respect it’s program. Regardless if you like Coach K or not, you have to respect him. There is an atmosphere of hard-work, an expected high level basketball IQ, and that you can play a role for a team expected to win in a pressured situation.

Guess what? The Celtics system is the same. Duke bled blue for its team and players, while Boston bleeds green for its team and players. A great fit.

Glen Davis. Not Big Baby. Not Baby. Just Glen. Davis.

When Glen finally returns, his minutes are in danger. They are even more in danger come playoff time when we’ll have an 8-9 man rotation. Who is going to fill the other bigs role off the bench besides Sheed? If I’m judging based on where Glen left last season at the conclusion of the Orlando series with the way that The Landlord’s™ playing, I’m going with The Landlord™.

• Shelden hustles.
• He has bought into his role with the Celtics.
• He rebounds.
• He lays defense.
• He’s got length.
• He isn’t selfish.

Most of all? Shelden seems to be playing with chip on his shoulder and is out to prove something… but he’s mature enough to know how to handle the situation. Shelden, Quisy, and Sheed are all shaping up to be a 3-3 hat trick for Danny this summer.

The ever-efficient Pierce 2.0 is on a hot streak scoring inside and out. Photo by Jesse D. Garrabrant NBAE via Getty Images.

Only in Boston.
Only in Boston can you find fans that aren’t 100% happy when their basketball team is 6-0.
Only in Boston can you find fans calling into local sports radio and complaining about what needs to be fixed after only 1 week of basketball.

Only in Boston.

We will start with something noteworthy: the Wall Street Journal and Dave Berri is ranking the Celtics starting 5 among the top 5 starting 5 of all time.Despite our winning ways, sure enough, I can poke and prod at some of the things that the Celtics still need to address. Much like last year’s 19-game win-streak that was ended by the Lakers on Christmas Day, we weren’t playing our best ball despite the impressive record. Doc said over and over again that there were things the team needed to do better even though they were winning.

¡ RONDO !

This is what separates the good teams from the great teams: even when winning, or at times dominating, winners find ways to keep improving. The 2008-2009 Celtics had some serious issues with depth and length off the bench. These issues became even more evident when KG and Powe went down… making it nearly impossible for the Celtics to get past the front-court heavy Magic.

We saw these issues fixed during the off-season: re-signing Glen Davis (I’m going to see if I can stop calling him Big Bay for a little bit, too, Wyc), picking up Quisy, Shelden Williams, and most importantly adding Rasheed Wallace to our bench.

So why is this 6-0 2009-2010 Celtics team still not perfect?

Starting out slow.

Game 1 v. Cavs – down 21-7 early on.
Game 2 v. Bobcats – only had 12 points through the first 8 minutes.
Game 3 v. Bulls – only had 16 points through the first 10 minutes.
Game 5 v. 76ers – only had 10 points through the first 10 minutes.
Game 6 v. T Wolves – really? do we even have to talk about this one?

We’ve been anything but quick out of the gates. Part of the issue is that it is only the first week, but shots just aren’t falling early. I heard the other day that the team decided to forgo some of their pre-game shoot-arounds in favor of giving the guys additional time to sleep. They met with sleep experts and are trying to buy into rest instead shots. Am I reaching on this one? Maybe. I am hoping it is just early and we see the team come out firing… but there have always been some inconsistencies, offensively, with this starting line-up of Rondo-Ray-Pierce-KG-Perk: sometimes they will light you up for a 38 point quarter and other times have 18 on the board. I’m hoping to find some consistency in rhythm on offense… sooner than later.

Forcing passes.

Part of our sluggish start also comes with some forced passing. Sometimes we aren’t passing (remember that play against Minny when Ray dribbled down, dribbled around, and then threw up a terrible shot after holding onto the ball for 20 seconds?) and sometimes we are passing too much (how many good looks do we want to pass up?). I’m not sure which situation is worse, but both are pretty undesirable. Rondo isn’t the only perpetrator here, so bring those fingers slowly down. We are throwing the ball into places that shouldn’t be thrown and thus resulting in turnovers.

Turnovers.

Oh yeah. Turnovers. The little statistic that is already starting to rear its ugly head only 1 week in. After 6 games, the Celts have already turned the ball over 83 times (averaging 13.8 TO/game). If the Celtics are giving up the ball almost 14 times per game, opponents are getting an easy 14 points a game if they can convert just 50% of the recovered turnovers into buckets.

Mixing in starters and role players.

I’ve been screaming for this during live game chats over at Red’s Army and Gino’s Jungle and over Twitter and to my wife during games: mix in the bench players and starters! We know the starting 5 have so much ubuntu in them they’re practically crapping it out during the game. The second unit is gelling quite nicely with Eddie, Quisy, Ray/Pierce, Shelden, and Sheed in. Scal is starting to acquire some minutes as he makes his return, and the players are playing pretty well together. But I would love to see some serious mixing up of line-ups during the close of the second and third quarters. I want to see Rondo-Ray-KG-Sheed-Perk or Quisy-Pierce-KG-Perk-Shelden or Eddie-Ray-Pierce-Sheed-KG (shooter’s line-up!) in. Why not mess around to make the chemistry that much more explosive or to make their anticipation that much tighter?

KG looking more mobil with each passing game. Photo by David Sherman NBAE via Getty Images.

Going into the game tonight against the Suns, I’d love to see Doc read my blog and really pay attention to the advice that I’m giving to him free of charge. It seems like a simple game-plan: stop Nash and Amare and let everyone else hurt you. It’s as simple as that. The run-n-gun offense only works when their point guard can penetrate and their big man can finish. It just so happens Rondo and KG are two of the best defenders in the league. How convenient.

Be Green.

¡ Rondo !

It’s been all tricks AND treats for the Celtics for the first three games.

TREAT
Rondo’s command. Rondo has been in control of all three games against Cleveland, Charlotte, and now Chicago. I’ve stressed over and over again that one the most important aspects to becoming a top 3 point guard in the league rests in his ability to learn how to control the pace of games– when should Rondo push the ball to hit or create an easy bucket in transition and when does he need to slow it down and set up the offense. So far in the first three games, Rondo’s had full command over the pace.
As the guys over at CelticsHub.com pointed out this morning, Rondo has 37 assists to just 5 turnovers. While it’s still early, Rondo is averaging just a touch over 7 assists per turnover. 2 years ago, Rondo started the season with almost as many turnovers as assists and now, he’s an assist/turnover ratio machine.
We’ve known over the last few seasons that this kid can rebound, but I see him more aggressive and feisty than ever before on the offensive glass. There have been multiple possessions where he’s had more than two consecutive offensive boards. Thank goodness for his anticipation, hops, quickness, and freakishly large hands.
By the way, if you’re keeping track of whether Rondo is a top 3 point guard… he’s taken down Mo Williams, Raymond Felton, and Derrick Rose. We’ll keep track at Loscy of these match-ups throughout the season (see sidebar to the right).

TRICK
KG being KG. Does he have that ALL THAT explosiveness and burst of speed back that we are accustomed to? No, not yet. As I wrote about the other day, it doesn’t matter. KG will find his way back into basketball shape and be able to run up and down the court better and be quicker on lateral slides/transitions. But for now, he’s doing everything we need him to do. We need him to jump out of the gym. Many nay-sayers believed KG would be done because of the mysterious knee injury (including a certain Sports Guy) when he told the media countless times that his knee is fine. KG has told all of you to shut up about his knee, and I highly advise you do so unless you want him to bite out your kidneys.

TREAT

Pierce 2.0, refresssssshed.

Dear Cleveland, Charlotte, and Chicago:
Thank you for obliging to my demands that you frequently leave Pierce wide open on the wings. Thank you for letting him launch threes without a single defender in his face. Pierce has been an impressive 10-17 (59%) from behind the arc and a terrific 18-34 (53%) from the floor. He’s also tacked on 14-15 from the stripe (94%). The slimmed down version of Pierce (“Pierce 2.0”) is a lean-mean shot dropping machine. Thank you Coach Brown, Brown, and Del Negro for not forcing any of your players to guard Pierce and allowing him to showcase why he’s one of the most prolific scorers in Celtic history.

TREAT
Last night against the Bulls, EVERY SINGLE Celtic player that logged time in the game finished with a positive +/- rating. Let me say that again: anytime any of the Celtic players were on the floor last night, the Celtics were consistently outscoring the Bulls (and able to make stops) Hey junkies: when’s the last game where every player on a team had a positive +/- rating?

What a positive sign (sorry, had to do it).

TRICK

Ray Ray doing what he does.

Yes Ray is 34 years old. Yes all of the “experts” are talking about how we will likely see a slow down in production because of age. I know it’s only game 3, but Ray looks as efficient as ever. AS EVER. Has anyone moved off the ball as well, quickly, cleverly, and efficiently as Ray Allen? Maybe Reggie Miller. That’s the only person I’ll let you put in his company. Props to Ray, as well, for passing my all-time favorite player in NBA history (John Stockton) on the all-time scoring list.

TRICK & TREAT
Rondo’s ally-oop to KG in transition last night. BOOMING. This was both a trick (KG’s knee is fine) and treat (glad to see one of my favorite plays from last year resurrected).

TREAT
The team’s defense is getting tighter and tighter. The Celtic core players were bragging about Quisy and Sheed’s high basketball IQ in the off-season, and now we have some pretty reliable living proof. Quisy and Sheed know the defensive schemes pretty well so far. I’ve been really impressed with Shelden Williams and Eddie House’s D, too. The landlord is slowly carving out a niche for himself on this team and crashing the boards with controlled recklessness. I love it, Shelden.

(other) TREATS
George Hill (Spurs) is nasty. I want to see him in green.
Gilbert Arenas has returned to form.
Shawn Marion might have found a home in Dallas.

Rondo’s 16 assists via Red’s Army:

Welcome back, NBA. I’ve missed you.

In the words of the prolific and substantive Busta Rhymes:

“What y’all wanna do? Don’t we always comin through, me and my crew
Lemme hear ya say “FIRE IT UP”! (FIRE IT UP!) Say “FIRE IT UP”! (FIRE IT UP!)”

The last two nights, our crew in green has certainly come through.
And even more than that? I’ll speak on behalf of the entire Celtics’ fan-base on this one: we are all freakin’ fired up.

After just two games, I can tell you that I have a great feeling about this team.
After just two games, I can tell you that this team is going to be successful.
After just two games, I can tell you that we can separate ourselves from the rest of the pack.
After just two games, I can tell you that we have so many good things to look forward to.
After just two games, I can tell you a lot.

Rajon.

Yeah that's Mo Doucheiams watching in the background.

If you are familiar with these parts, you know that I cannot say enough good things about Rondo. He’s been aggressive out of the gates: Rondo has been attacking, attacking, and attacking. We know he’s put on some muscle, but his speed, quickness, and agility seem to be at yet another unimaginable level. His killer crossover just turned into a mightily killer crossover on amphetamines. It almost seems like Rondo is trying to learn his way around this new gear. While he’s had some turnovers, we’ll see them fade away as he gets more games under his legs. His court vision? Sharp as a razor. He’s had some great looks, especially to Pierce on the wing and KG on the move toward the hoop. I like what I see: the more aggressive Rondo is, the more efficient and effective our offense runs.

Pierce.
Pierce has visibly slimmed down. He’s lost some bulk in his upper body and he is moving better than I’ve seen him move on the court in the last few years. I saw this first hand in the pre-season game against the Knicks when Pierce had that reverse dunk on a breakaway. His first step looks quick. Against the Cavs on Tuesday, Pierce twice (read: twice!), jab-stepped and faked out Lebron to take the ball to the hoop. On both occasions, the crappy Cleveland defense collapsed on him to send him to the line. Pierce is running the floor so well but he’s still big enough that he doesn’t lose the size advantage he’s always had on smaller forwards. Just when you thought match-up problems against Pierce couldn’t get worse for other teams…

Pierce 2.0

KG.

If you're curious, he banked that shot right over Shaq. Dance big man, dance.

Welcome back, Binky. While you’ve noticeably lost so much explosiveness, it’ll either come back as you get back into shape or it won’t. If this is all of the power you will have in your legs, that will be fine. You’ve marked your return to quarterbacking our defense and helping to spread the floor with your shots from the elbows and baseline. Honestly. Welcome back.

Perk.
Perk’s starting to pull the trigger on that 10 foot jumper on the baseline and I’m liking it. Every single year, Perk has added another dimension to his game. This year, a 10 foot jumper? Yeah I’m on board for that. And the stalwart defense? Yup. Still there.

Quisy.

QUISY!

The best pick up of the off-season? Likely. He’s tied for that nomination with a teammate. Quisy looks like he’s been in this system for the last few seasons. For a guy that is helping to run the offense and asked to D up on Lebron, he’s been pretty impressive. I love how Quisy fits into the offense. I love that he pulled the trigger on the baseline for three after Cleveland kept egging him on. I love that he can put the ball on the floor and create his own shot in the paint. Most of all… I love that he can handle the ball and no one can take it away from him. Quisy has the kind of ball handling/control that looks like it is easy to take away, but it’s far from that.

Sheed.
The other guy that is tied up for the nomination for best pick up of the off-season. Sheed’s defensive abilities usually get lost amidst his on the court antics, but plenty of us have noticed what he’s doing. He’s made all of the right rotations off screens. He can guard the opposing big man on his own. Sheed has made the timely fouls when necessary. On offense, he spaces the floor as well as any other big man. Love it.

Eddie House.
I’ve noticed a significant change in the way House is playing. He’s actually commanding on the court like a point guard. He’s much more vocal and seems to be assuming a good leadership role for that second unit. After all, Eddie is the vet of that second unit. I think it is helping to make him more effective but also helping that second unit to gel. I really like this, but am looking forward to seeing him drop threes like bombs sooner than later. He had a slow start last year on his way to a record setting percentage from behind the arc, so I’m going to be patient.

Have you seen the new Celtics promotion for tickets? Check it out:

One of their tag-lines this year is that the Celtics have RELOADED. We have reloaded, and it’s not just the added ammunition of Quisy and Sheed. KG is new. Pierce is new. Ray is new. Rondo is new. Perk is new. This entire team has a new look, feel, taste, and swagger.

Last of all, the team as a whole looks like they are having one heck of a time playing basketball. The team looks like they want to play together so they can chalk up a W together. They look like they’re having fun: every single one of them. For the older vets like Pierce/Ray/KG/Sheed, the smile is genuine because they know Father Time is knocking on their door.

And for the record: I’m having just as much fun watching as they are playing.

2 down. 80 to go.

2-0.

The odds in Las Vegas are in the Lakers favor to repeat as NBA Champions in 2010. What’s not to love? The Lakers bring back everyone and swap out Trevor Ariza for the more talented Ron Artest. Kobe Bryant doesn’t want to stop winning, and you could see that in his face Tuesday night when he got his ring. Yes, Bryant was happy, but he wants more, he’s far from content with four championship rings and that’s why Bryant is so great.

If the Lakers are in fact going to win the title, they’re going to have to beat some really great teams, I don’t think it’s going to be easy and that’s why I don’t think the Lakers will repeat as NBA Champions. If you want know who will win the NBA title in 2010, then you better read the predictions after the jump.

Sorry Pau, but you will not be getting your second ring next summer.

Just in case you’re not caught up:

Read my Eastern Conference and Western Conference previews.

Western Conference Finals

San Antonio Spurs vs. Los Angeles Lakers

By the time March rolls around, I think it will be clear to most people that this will be the Western Conference Finals matchup come May. The Lakers and the Spurs have had some classic battles throughout the years, and this one could be the best yet.

The Lakers are loaded, but the Spurs just re-loaded. The addition of Richard Jefferson gives the team so much more flexibility in their offense, and it will help even out the fact that the Lakers have both Artest and Bryant to guard a team’s best wing player. Ginobili and Jefferson won’t put up the points like Kobe, and Artest will be able to frustrate either, but they’ll both be able to produce. As for Tony Parker, he will be more than capable of giving Derek Fisher fits on the offensive end.

The Lakers are able to kill teams down low with players like Lamar Odom, Andrew Bynum and most notably Pau Gasol. With Tim Duncan, Antonio McDyess and Theo Ratliff, the Spurs have the size and quality defenders to contain all three of those players down low and keep rebounds on the Spurs side, especially with the addition of the already impressive rookie DeJaun Blair. In addition to the big men down low, Spurs center Matt Bonner will be able to stretch the floor with his effective three-point shooting.

This matchup is pretty even, but I think the Spurs are better defensively, have a better bench and are more disciplined each game than the Lakers are.

When the Lakers made it to the NBA Finals last year, they were on their game, but before that, they took nights off. The Spurs don’t take nights off, and it’s harder to repeat as champion then come back a couple years later. The Spurs are due for one more title, and if they stay healthy, they should be able to take the Lakers out in this matchup and get one more shot in the NBA Finals.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think anyone on the planet is a better basketball player than Bryant, but I think Duncan is close. I also think that if you look at the Spurs’ roster, guys like McDyess and Ratliff are dying to win NBA titles, and they’re going to play their hearts out knowing it may be their last shot. It’s going to be extremely close, but in the end, I think the Spurs will edge the Lakers.

Spurs in 7

Eastern Conference Finals

Boston Celtics vs. Cleveland Cavaliers

LeBron James is the best player in this series, but the better overall team is obviously Boston.

Rajon Rondo is a better point guard than Mo Williams, by quite a bit too. Ray Allen is also better shooting guard than Anthony Parker, or Delonte West if he ever comes around.

The Cavaliers don’t have much of a bench and by the time May comes around the Celtics should have Glen Davis, Rasheed Wallace, Eddie House, Marquis Daniels, Shelden Williams and Tony Allen. The Celtics have options in their depth and they have plenty of size, along with quality defensive and offensive options. The Celtics are crazy, crazy deep. Cleveland is just not that loaded, and unless they make a trade mid-season, they’re going to have problems keeping up with the Celtics depth and versatility, just like they did with Orland last season.

The combination of Kevin Garnett and Wallace is enough to frustrate anything the Cavaliers can throw at them, on both ends of the floor. Plus, with Kendrick Perkins and Davis, it’s just more bodies to throw at Shaquille O’Neal, who won’t dominate in the series at age 38, by the time May 2010 arrives. Andersen Varejao cannot stop Garnett or Wallace, and he’ll also have problems with Davis, his flopping won’t work in this series, Boston is too tough.

Paul Pierce is a good enough defender to pace James, but more importantly, he’ll make LeBron work on the other end of the floor. The Celtics, in the end will be too much for LeBron and the Cavs. Even with the Diesel there, there just isn’t enough in Cleveland to help LeBron pass this very deep Boston team.

Celtics in 6

NBA Finals

Boston Celtics vs. San Antonio Spurs

It’s clear that both of these teams are deep, from their starters, to their benches, each team is filled with talent. They’re also two of the league’s best teams defensively.

Where Rasheed Wallace is a difference maker in a series against the Cavs, he won’t be as important in a series against San Antonio. Yes, Wallace guards Duncan better than anybody, but he will also have to worry about McDyess, who will for sure remember how Wallace had played lackadaisical during those years they spent together in Detroit–which wound up costing McDyess a couple quality shots a ring. Wallace loses focus and can kill a team just as fast as he can help them, the Spurs don’t have to worry about those problems.

Duncan has always been better than Garnett, and as both players are aging, Duncan still has the edge on him. Garnett is aging much faster than Duncan at this point, and Duncan has always been more clutch and more deadly in the playoffs, nothing has changed, even with his aged. Duncan has always managed to put up bigger numbers in the playoffs than he has in the regular season, or at least over the past five or six years. When Duncan is in the playoffs, he’s another animal, and when the Spurs are healthy, it only makes him more dangerous. Also, keep in mind that Duncan hasn’t had a frontcourt player as talented as McDyess next to him since David Robinson, and you can add the young Blair to that mix.

Both teams have size, both teams have great benches, both teams have shooters.

The difference in this series will come down to composure and coaching, and the Spurs will have the edge in both departments. Both teams are hungry and want to prove that injuries were the reason neither made the finals last year. The pride will be there all series, but coaching is obviously on the Spurs side and that is why they will win this series.

The Spurs know they need to win now, and Duncan has never lost in an NBA Finals in four tries. He won’t lose in his fifth attempt either.

Spurs in 6

2010 NBA CHAMPIONS: San Antonio Spurs